MUL 



MUR 



the pulp is best prepared by steam- 

 ins. 



MULBERRY CALCULUS. A 

 stone of the bladder of the colour 

 and appearance of the mulberry fruit, 

 and consisting of oxalate of linie. It 

 is uncommon. 



MULCH. Straw or litter half rot- 

 ted. Shrubs surrounded with it are 

 said to be mulched. 



MULE. "The well-known off- 

 spring of the ass and the mare, or of 

 the she ass and the horse. In the 

 latter case, the produce is called a 

 jennet, and is much less hardy, and 

 therefore rarely bred. The term 

 mule is generally applied, in the ani- 

 mal creation, in the same sense with 

 hybrid in the vegetable world, signi- 

 lying the intermixture of two distinct 

 species. Mules are very hardy ani- 

 mals, and therefore much used in 

 warm climates, where they are pre- 

 ferred to horses, either for the pur- 

 poses of draught or carriage. No 

 animal is more sure-footed or inore 

 hardy ; but the pace of the mule is 

 disagreeable to those unaccustomed 

 to its action. The diseases to which 

 the mule is liable are few. He at- 

 tains double the age of the horse, 

 and is much more easily maintained. 

 The mules of the South of Europe ■ 

 are frequently very tine animals, 16 

 or 17 hands in height, active, hand- 

 some, and peculiarly patient of la- 

 bour, but very inferior in beauty to 

 the horse, particularly about the head 

 and tail. The importation of Span- 

 ish jacks has tended greatly to im- : 

 prove mules, many of which, when 

 bred with care, are sufficiently thick- 

 set and heavy for all those purposes 

 in which our largest draught-horses 

 are employed. 



"To have large and handsome 

 mules, the mare should be of a large 

 breed, well proportioned, with rather [ 

 small limbs, a moderate-sized head, 

 and a good forehead ; and the ass 

 should be of the large Spanish breed." 

 They are incapable of propagation. 



MULING. Hvbridizmg. See Hi/- 

 hrid. ^ " ■' 



MULLEIN. Verhascumthapstis. A 

 common, biennial, large weed, with 

 U L- 2 



yellow flowers. They are readily 

 overcome by cultivation, and are usu- 

 ally seen only on neglected fields. 

 There are other species of Vcrbas- 

 cum, but they are unimportant weeds. 



MULLION. The upright post or 

 bar dividing two lights in a window. 



MULTIARTICULATE. A terra 

 applied, in natural history, to the an- 

 tennae, legs, &c., of animals or in- 

 sects which have many joints. 



MULTIFID. Divided into many 

 segments. 



' MULTILOCULAR. Having many 

 compartments or chambers. 



MU.MPS. An irritation of the pa- 

 rotid and neighbouring glands, at- 

 tended with much swelling. 



MUNJEET. A kind of madder 

 cultivated in the East. — (Ure). 



ML'REXIDE. A beautiful red prod- 

 uct of the decomposition of uric acid 

 by nitric acid. Murexan is formed 

 by dissolving murexide in solution of 

 caustic potass. 



MURIACITE. A kind of sulphate 

 of lime, containing common salt. 



MURIATES. Salts containing 

 chlorine, more properly called chlo- 

 rides ; muriate of soda is common salt. 



MURIATIC ACID, SPIRITS 

 OF SALT, HYDROCHLORIC 

 ACID, MARINE ACID. The sub- 

 stance obtained in commerce is a so- 

 lution of the true gaseous acid ; it is 

 of a yellowish colour from impurities, 

 and at specific gravity 115 contains 

 30 per cent, of real acid : this fluid 

 fumes, possesses a disagreeable smell, 

 and is highly caustic ; it decomposes 

 carbonates rapidly, and unites with 

 most mineral oxides. The composi- 

 tion of pure hydrochloric acid is 1 

 equivalent chlorine with 1 hydrogen ; 

 its combining number is, therefore, 

 36 47: it is procu^'^d by distilling 

 common salt with sulphuric acid in 

 an earthen-ware apparatus, and re- 

 ceiving the vapour i.i water. 



Muriatic acid forms soluble com- 

 pounds with many oxides, and is 

 lience extensively u.sed as a solvent 

 in chemistry ; the jiure acid should 

 be colourless and yii.'ld no precipitate 

 with solution of barytes. The pres- 

 ence of muriatic acid and chlorine is 



509 



