MOLLUSCUM 



5474 



MOLTKE 



among both civilized and uncivi- 

 lized communities. Mother-of- 

 pearl, which is the inner layer of 

 various marine shells, is put to 

 many useful purposes ; while the 

 pearl is one of the most valued of 

 gems. In China thin shells are used 

 as window-panes ; shells like the 

 cowry have long been used as 

 money among native tribes ; pur- 

 ple dye was formerly extracted 

 from molluscs ; sepia and Indian 

 ink are derived from the cuttles ; 

 and primitive communities still 

 make weapons and household imple- 

 ments from shells. 



Bibliography. British Mollusca, 

 E. Forbes and S. Hanle^, 1853 ; 

 Manual of Conchology, G. W. Tryon, 

 1879; Manual of the Mollusca, S. P. 

 Woodward, 1880; Manuel de Con- 

 chyliologie, P. Fischer, 1887 ; Mol- 

 luscs, A. H. Cooke (Cambridge 

 Natural History), 1895; Mollusca, 

 P. Pelseneer, 1906 ; The Life of the 

 Mollusca, B. B. Woodward, 1913. 



Molluscum. Contagiosum. 

 Disease of the skin, in which small, 

 white tumours appear on the sur- 

 face in various parts of the body, 

 the face and eyelids being often 

 involved. The disease is conta- 

 gious, and the growths, if left alone, 

 persist for a long time, but ulti- 

 mately tend to disappear spon- 

 taneously. Treatment consists in 

 incising the tumour and squeezing 

 out the contents. 



Mollwitz. Village of Silesia. It 

 is 7 m. from Brieg, and is famous 

 for the battle fought here, April 10, 

 1741, between the Austrians and 

 the Prussians. Frederick the Great 

 had seized Silesia, so early in 1741 

 the Austrians equipped an army 

 to recover it. Under Neipperg this 

 marched from Neisse towards 

 Brieg, thus cutting off the Prus- 

 sians from their base. The scat- 

 tered forces of the latter were con- 

 centrated with some difficulty, and 

 the two armies came into touch 

 near Mollwitz. After a few days 

 spent in getting into position the 

 battle began on April 10. The 

 Austrian horsemen opened the 

 fight with an attack on their foes, 

 which resulted in the rout of the 

 Prussian cavalry, Frederick him- 

 self being one of thosa who hurried 

 from the field. However, the 

 trained Prussian infantry pre- 

 sented a far tougher front ; the 

 Austrian cavalry rode repeatedly 

 at them, but in vain, while the 

 Austrian infantry suffered greatly 

 from the precision and rapidity of 

 their fire. These operations were 

 conducted by Schwerin, who took 

 command after the king fled. 



Molly Maguires. Name of an 

 Irish secret society formed in 1843 

 in co. Monaghan for the purpose of 

 intimidating landlords. The name 



was afterwards applied to an 

 American - Irish secret society 

 which flourished in the mining 

 districts of Pennsylvania, U.S.A., 

 1854-77. In 1875 the Molly 

 Maguires engineered a general 

 strike in that region, and many 

 assassinations, acts of intimidation, 

 and other crimes were traced to 

 them. So serious did the situation 

 become that a strong effort was 

 put forth to crush the society. A. 

 Pinkerton (q.v.), detective, suc- 

 ceeded in becoming a member of 

 the organization, and on his in- 

 formation the leaders were ar- 

 rested, convicted, and sentenced to 

 death, and the society soon dis- 

 appeared as a dangerous force. 

 See Ribbonmen; consult also 

 The Molly Maguires and the 

 Detectives, Allan Pinkerton, 1878. 



Moloch. Canaanite fire-god, the 

 Semitic word meaning king. This 

 Septuagint spelling represents the 

 Hebrew Molech, whose worship, 

 notably under Ahaz and Manasseh, 

 involved child-sacrifice and pyre- 

 burning (2 Kings 23). These were 

 sacrifices to Jahveh, and the rites 

 survived among the Jews until a 

 late period, as is proved by refer- 

 ences to them by Ezekiel and 

 Jeremiah. The burning of living 

 children in a brazen, calf-headed 

 Moloch-image is a medieval fable. 

 The national god of ancient Ammon, 

 Milcom, is distinguishable. 



Moloch horridus. Australian 

 lizard of the family Agamidae, 

 also called spiny lizard, spiny 

 or thorny devil. The upper 

 parts are liberally armed with 

 horny spines, the head and de- 

 pressed body are about 4 ins. 

 in length, and the tail about 

 3J ins. Its form is much like that 

 of a toad with a tail added ; and 

 when alarmed it increases the re- 

 semblance by puffing out its body, 

 and making its spines more effec- 

 tive for protective purposes. Its 

 broad blotches of light and dark 

 colour harmonise with the soil and 

 can be varied like those of the 

 chameleon, but to a much less ex- 

 tent. In spite of its appearance it is 

 perfectly harmless, its spines being 

 purely defensive. Its food consists 

 of insects, chiefly ants. See Lizard, 

 colour plate. 



Molokai. One of the Hawaiian 

 Islands, Pacific Ocean. Its moun- 

 tains, scored by ravines and forest 

 clad, rise to 3,000 ft. The leper 

 settlement, the scene of the labours 

 of Father Damien (q.v.), is in the 

 middle of the N. coast. The people 

 live mainly on a narrow fertile 

 strip along the S. coast. Area, 

 261 sq. m. Pop. 2,500. 



Molopo. Former tributary of 

 the Orange river, S. Africa. It 

 emerges from a swallow hole in the 



limestone of Marico dist. near 

 Maf eking, and flows W., forming 

 the N. boundary of Bechuanaland. 

 As it crosses the Kalahari desert 

 it becomes a dry watercourse, bor- 

 dered by trees, which ultimately 

 joins the Orange river. When water 

 flows occasionally along this chan- 

 nel it terminates, by a short new 

 course, in the Abiquas Pan, and 

 does not reach the Orange. 



Molsheim. Town of Alsace, 

 France. It stands at the foot of the 

 Vosges, on the river Breusch, and 

 is a rly. junction. The buildings in- 

 clude a modern town hall and 

 several churches, including a fine 

 Roman Catholic one. Until 1702 

 there was a noted Jesuit college 

 here. There are some manufac- 

 tures, while the vine is grown in the 

 neighbourhood. As part of Alsace, 

 Molsheim existed in the 9th cen- 

 tury or earlier. In the 17th century 

 it became French and it belonged 

 to France until 1871, and was re- 

 stored to that country in 1919. 



Molteno, SIR JOHN CHAELES 

 (1814-86). South African states- 

 man. Born in London, June 5, 

 1814, he went to S. Africa in 1831, 

 and engaged in business and farm- 

 ing at the Cape and at Nelspoort. 

 He took part in the Kaffir War of 

 1846, and sat for Beaufort in the 

 first Cape parliament, 1854. An 

 active advocate of responsible gov- 

 ernment for the Cape Colony, he 

 was appointed the first premier 

 when it was conceded in 1872. He 

 visited England in connexion with 

 Lord Carnarvon's conference on 

 S. African affairs, 1876, and stood 

 for the unification of S. Africa, but 

 strong differences of opinion with 

 Sir Bartle Frere (q.v.) during the 

 next two years led to Molteno's 

 dismissal in Feb., 1878, and for a 

 time he retired from public life. In 

 1880 he was returned for Victoria 

 West, and resumed the office of 

 colonial secretary, but in 1882 he 

 finally retired, being rewarded 

 with the K.C.M.G. He died on 

 Sept. 1, 1886. See Life, P. A. 

 Molteno, 1900. 



Moltke. German battle cruiser. 

 Completed at Hamburg in 1911, 

 she was the second battle cruiser 

 added to the German fleet, the 

 first being the Von der Tann. The 

 Moltke was 610 ft. long, 96 ft. in 

 beam, displaced 23,000 tons, and 

 had engines of 70,000 h.p., giving a 

 speed of about 27 knots. She car- 

 ried ten 11 -in., twelve 5'9-in., and 

 twelve smaller guns, and had an 

 11-in. belt amidships. She was 

 amongst the ships of the German 

 navy surrendered to the Grand 

 Fleet in Nov., 1918, and was sunk 

 by her German crew at Scapa, 

 June 21, 1919. The Goeben (q.v.) 

 was a sister ship. 



