ML'S 



MUS 



detected by the peculiar curdy pre- 

 cipitate they yield with nitrate of sil- 

 ver, which is soluble while fresh in 

 ammonia, but blackens by exposure 

 to light. 



When muriatic acid acts on a me- 

 tallic oxide, there results a chloride 

 of the metal for the most part, the hy- 

 drogen of the acid and oxygen of the 

 oxide forming water. 



MURICATE. Thorny. In zoolo- 

 gy, a surface armed with short conical 

 eminences, having a sharp apex. 



MURID.E. A family of rodents, of 

 which the mouse is a type. 



MURRAIN. "A contagious, ma- 

 lignant epidemic, which prevails in 

 hot, dry seasons among cattle, carry- 

 ing off numbers. It once used to 

 sweep off the horned stock of whole 

 districts. It principally appears in 

 marshy and woody districts, or where 

 draining has been neglected, or the 

 cattle have been exposed and half 

 starved. The disease is known by 

 the animals hanging down their 

 heads, which are swollen, by short 

 and hot breathing, cough, palpitation 

 of the heart, staggering, an abundant 

 secretion of viscid matter in the eyes, 

 rattling in the throat, and a slimy 

 tongue. The early stage of murrain 

 is one of fever, and the treatment 

 should correspond with this : bleed- 

 ing and small doses of purgative med- 

 icine will be serviceable. The pecu- 

 liar foetid diarrhoea must be met with 

 astringents, mingled also with vege- 

 table tonics. In combating the pus- 

 tular and gangrenous stage, the chlo- 

 ride of lime will be the best external 

 application ; while a little of it, ad- 

 ministered with the other medicines 

 inwardly, may possibly lessen the 

 tendency to general decomposition. 

 Above all, the infected animal should 

 be immediately removed from the 

 sound ones." — {Youatt on Cattle.) 



MUSACE.^. A small family of 

 tropical plants, resembling the ma- 

 rantaceae, and including the plantain 

 (Musa sapientum) and banana {M. par- 

 adisiaca), which, together, yield the 

 greater part of the nourishment of 

 tropical America. The leaves are 

 also used for thatch, and the fibres of j 

 510 



the stem for cordage. The curious 

 flowering plants called strelitzias are 

 of this family. 



MUSGHEL-KALK. Shell lime- 

 stone, the strata belonging to the new 

 red sandstone series. 



MCSCI. See Mosses. 



MUSCICAPA. A genus of denti- 

 rostral passerine birds ; they live on 

 insects and small birds. 



MUSCID-f:. A family of dipterous 

 insects, resembling the fly (musca). 



MUSCLE. Fleshy fibres, suscep- 

 tible of contraction and relaxation, 

 and by which the phenomena of mo- 

 tion in animals takes place. They 

 are voluntary, or under the influence 

 of the will, and involuntary, as the 

 heart, the muscles of the intestines, 

 &c. They are of a red colour when 

 idled with blood-vessels, but are nat- 

 urally white, and consist of fibrine, 

 surrounded by cellular tissue, and 

 supplied with nerves, &c. 



The lean of meats consists of mus- 

 cular fibre mostly ; it contains about 23 

 per cent, solid matter, the rest being 

 water. The solid consists of 51 8 

 carbon, If) hydrogen, 150 nitrogen, 

 21-3 oxygen, with sulphur and phos- 

 phorus, and 2 3 ashes per cent. It is 

 one of the most nutritious aliments. 



MUSCOVADO. The brown moist 

 sugar as separated from the mo- 

 lasses. 



MUSHROOM. A term commonly 

 used to designate the tribe of fungi, 

 toadstools. More correctly, the Agar- 

 icus carnpcstris, a mushroom with a 

 white smooth cap, with liesh-colour- 

 ed gills, a pleasant odour, growing in 

 fertile meadows during the autumnal 

 months, and collected as a delicacy, 

 and for the manufacture of catsup. 

 Mushrooms are propagated from 

 spawn, which is kept by the seeds- 

 men, or it may be collected in the 

 fall in those places where the plants 

 abound : it resembles pieces of thread, 

 and is imbedded in earth or dung. 

 When kept quite dry, the spawn will 

 retain its germinating power lor three 

 or four years. The following is chief- 

 ly from Loudon and Bridgeman : 



" A mushroom bed is simply a heap 

 of animal dung and earth, so tern- 



