MORSHANSK 



5542 



MORTARBOARD 



sent uniform needle-deflections to 

 left and right of a median line, and 

 in the siphon recorder used on long 

 distance cables are printed in a con- 

 tinuous zig-zag from side to side. 



In British army signalling with 

 flags, lamps, and heliographs the 

 international alphabet is used, the 

 dash being thrice the length of the 

 dot. Some of the numeral -signals 

 are shortened for the purpose of 

 repetition. See Code ; Signalling. 



A - 



<: - 



c - 



- 



E - 



f - - 







H - . . 



1 - - 



J - . 



M _ _ 









Long 



Morse Code. Alphabet, 

 numerals, and punctua- 

 tion symbols used in the 

 United Kingdom 



Morshansk. Town of Russia, 

 in the govt. of Tambov. It stands 

 on the river Tsna and the Moscow- 

 Orenburg Rly., 50 m. N.E. of Tam- 

 bov. The chief industries are brew- 

 ing and the making of tallow, soap, 

 hydromel, spirits of wine ; con- 

 siderable trade is done in grain, 

 cattle, salt, and iron. It is the 

 headquarters of the sect called 

 Skoptsy (eunuchs). Pop. 32,000. 



Mortagne. Town of France. 

 In the dept. of Orne, it crowns a 

 steep hill, 25 m. E. of Alenson. 

 The lofty tower of the fine Gothic 

 church, which was built in the 

 15th-16th centuries, collapsed in 

 1890. Textiles and gloves are 

 manufactured. Pop. 4,000. 



Mortality (Lat. mors, death). 

 Literally, the state of being mortal. 

 It is sometimes used as a synonym 

 for death rate, e.g. the mortality 

 from tuberculosis is very heavy. 

 Tables of mortality consist of 

 figures showing the number and 

 proportion of persons of a given 

 age who will die each year. Bills 

 of mortality are abstracts from 

 parish registers showing the number 

 of persons who died in the parish 

 during certain periods. These were 

 rendered unnecessary by the intro- 

 duction of compulsory registration 

 of births, marriages, and deaths. 

 See Death Rate ; Infant Mortality. 



Mortal Sin. Term used in 

 Roman Catholic moral theology 

 for sins necessarily and immediately 

 fatal to spiritual life unless sin- 

 cerely confessed, repented of, and 

 pardoned. Sins of a lesser degree 

 are known as venial ones. Mortal 



sin has been defined as a direct and 

 wilful transgression against some 

 known command of God, either by 

 omission or commission. Seven 

 sins are reckoned as mortal or 

 deadly, i.e. pride, avarice, lust, 

 envy, gluttony, anger, and sloth. 

 In the Roman Catholic Church it is 

 held that mortal sin can only be 

 forgiven by absolution after con- 

 fession, while venial sins are for- 

 given by simple contrition and by 

 a renewal of 

 grace through 



" =(B^aks ig n, Holy Com- 



_ - (Hyphen). munion or 



otherwise. See 



(Full stop). Mortar Mix- 



- (Comma). ar. MIX 



: (Colon). ture of lime and 



Short sand > etc -> and 



- I . water, used in 



. - - 2. building opera- 



_ 3. tions. Ordinary 



----- + mortar for brick 



5. building c o n- 



_ - - - . 6. gigts of freshly 



- - - 7 - burnt lime and 



- - clean sharp sand 

 _ - 9 or g r jt } without 



~ ~ earthy matter 



and mixed with clean water, in the 

 proportions of one part of lime to 

 three parts of sand or grit. It 

 may be made stronger by reducing 

 the quantity of sand or grit. 

 For fine-jointed, ashlar masonry, 

 mason's putty, formed of slaked 

 lime and water, is often used. 



Cement mortar consists of one 

 parfc Portland cement to two 

 parts sand or equal parts of cement 

 and sand, and is used where extra 

 strength or superior weather-resis- 

 tance is required, as in arches, 

 chimney-stacks, warehouse, qua} 7 , 

 and dock construction, and works 

 of civil engineering generally, 

 especially when the structure is to 

 harden under water. The obvious 

 reason for prescribing clean sharp 

 sand is that impurities prevent 

 adhesion of the lime to the sand 

 grains, while the sharpness affords 

 a better grip than would smooth 

 or rounded particles. Also, if 

 the sand is not clean, the mortar 

 is liable to premature decay. See 

 Adobe; Building; Cement; Lime; 

 Masonry. 



Mortar. Smooth- bored and 

 muzzle-loading cannon, designed 

 to throw shot or shell short dis- 

 tances at high angles of elevation. 

 The older mortars were made 

 of thick metal, had very short 

 barrels, and were mounted on 

 strong frames called mortar beds. 

 The range was altered by varying 

 the charge. The term mortar came 

 into prominent use again in 1914 

 when the Germans used a 21 cm. 

 piece (8-27 in.) throwing a 262 Ib. 

 shell 8,400 yards; the weight of 



gun and carriage was only 97 cwt. 

 They had also a 28 cm. (11 '2 in.) 

 piece which was called a mortar, 

 though the correct designation of 

 both weapons is howitzer (q.v.). 

 See Trench Mortar. 



Mortara. Town of Italy, in the 

 prov. of Pavia. It stands on the 

 Arbogna river, 32 m. S.W. of Milan, 

 and is an important rly. junction, 

 with iron works and factories for 

 making hats, cheese, and machinery. 

 Its o!d church contains some 

 notable paintings. On March 21, 

 1849, the Austrian s defeated the 

 Sardinians here. Pop. 10,500. 



Mortara Case, THE. Diplo- 

 matic incident caused by the 

 alleged abduction of a Jewish child 

 in 1858. Edgar Mortara, son of a 

 Bologna Jew, waa baptized Jan. 

 24, 1858, when five or six years old, 

 by his Christian nurse, who thought 

 that an illness was likely to prove 

 fatal. The archbishop of Bologna 

 thereupon claimed the child as a 

 Christian, took him away from the 

 parents, June 23, and concealed 

 his whereabouts. England, France, 

 and Prussia made representation 

 to Pope Pius IX in 1859, but he 

 refused to interfere, and beyond 

 the fact that the Pope himself had 

 adopted the lad, nothing more was 

 heard of Edgar Mortara until 1870, 

 when the Italians entered Rome 

 and found him in a seminary. He 

 refused to revert to Judaism, and 

 eventually became an Augustinian 

 monK and an able preacher. See 

 The True Story of the Jewish Boy, 

 Edgar Mortara, 1860. 



Mortarboard. Academic cap, 

 also called cater (i.e. four-cornered 

 cap or trencher). It consists of a 

 ^ m^ ram skull cap sur- 

 mounted by a 

 stiff, square 

 cloth -covered 

 board and silk 

 tassel, and 

 derives its 

 popular name from its resemblance 

 to the square board with a 

 handle used by bricklayers. It 

 originated in the old ecclesiasti- 

 cal biretum, or barret cap, the 

 ridged sutures of which were 



Mortarboard as worn 

 at universities 



Mortar employed in old warfare, 



with large shot, which was fitted 



with handles for carrying 



