M U 



[304] 



M 



Denbigh, to St. Orme's head and 

 Anglesea; shows slightly round 

 the Clee hills in Shropshire; and 

 presents picturesque cliffs on the 

 Wye, near Monmouth. The moun- 

 tain or carboniferous limestone may, 

 according to Mr. "Weaver, be con- 

 sidered as the prevalent rock in 

 Ireland ; all its counties, with the 

 exception of Antrim, Derry, and 

 Wicklow, being more or less com- 

 posed of it, and in some instances 

 it attains a thickness of 1700 feet 

 and upwards. The prevailing char- 

 acteristic organic fossils are madre- 

 pores and encrinites ; of the latter, 

 some of the upper beds appear to be 

 almost entirely composed. Moun- 

 tain limestone is generally almost 

 a pure carbonate of lime; its purest 

 beds appearing to contain about 96 

 per cent, of calcareous matter ; but 

 by the admixture of other ingre- 

 dients, it often passes into magne- 

 sian limestone, ferruginous lime- 

 stone, bituminous limestone, and 

 fetid limestone. It is a prevailing 

 character of the mountain limestone 

 to be full of caverns and fissures. 



MOT/NTAIN LEATHER. (Bergleder ; 

 corium montanum; cuir de mon- 

 tagne.) A variety or sub-species 

 of asbestus, the same as Mountain 

 Cork, which see. 



MOTJ'NTALN MEAL. (The Bergmehl of 

 Eabbroni.) This singular mineral, 

 says Phillips, was found in the 

 form of a bed by Fabbroni, at Santa 

 Piora, between Tuscany and the 

 Papal dominions ; it is manufac- 

 tured into bricks, so light as to 

 swim in water. Klaproth gives 

 as its analysis, silica 79, alumina 

 5, oxide of iron 3, water 12. 



MOU'NTAIN SOAP. A mineral, a variety 

 of bole, of a black or blackish-brown 

 colour. It is massive, dull, smooth 

 and soapy to the touch, and adheres 

 strongly to the tongue. It writes 

 on paper. Its constituents are si- 

 lex 44, alumine 26-2, oxide of iron 

 8, lime 0.5, water 20-10. It 



occurs in secondary rocks of the 

 trap formation in the Isle of Skye, 

 and in Poland. 



MOUNTAIN WOOD. The berg-kolz of 

 Werner; asbesteligniformofHaiiy; 

 le bois de rnontagne of Brochant.) 

 A subspecies of asbetus of a wood- 

 brown colour, occurring massive 

 and in plates : it has somewhat the 

 aspect of wood, and is occasionally 

 so hard and compact as to resemble 

 petrified wood. It is infusible 

 before the blow-pipe, according to 

 Jameson, but Phillips states that it 

 fuses into a black slag, and is about 

 twice the weight of water. 



MT/CRONATE. (mucronatus, Lat. 

 pointed.) 



1. In entomology, when from an 

 obtuse end a fine point suddenly 

 proceeds. 



2. In botany, when a small point 

 terminates an entire leaf, aa in the 

 vetch, house-leek, &c. 



3. In conchology, when a shell 

 terminates in a sharp rigid point. 



MO'YA. The name given by the na- 

 tives of South America to the mud 

 and slime ejected from volcanos 

 during the eruptions. 



MTJLA'TTOE. An arenaceous stone, 

 with a calcareous cement, deriving 

 its name from its speckled appear- 

 ance, which is caused by numerous 

 disseminated spots of green earth. 

 It occurs in Ireland, and agrees 

 altogether in its characters and 

 fossils with the green sandstone. 



MTJLTISPI'RAL. (from multus, many, 

 and spira, a spire, Lat.) In con- 

 chology, a term for a shell whose 

 spire consists of many whorls; also 

 an operculum of many volutions. 



MULTILO'CTJLAR. (from multus, many, 

 and loculus, a chamber or shell, 

 Lat.) A term applied to shells 

 containing partitions, which divide 

 them into several chambers. Or- 

 thoceratites, baculites, hamites, 

 scaphites, belemnites, &c., are all 

 multilocular shells; the argonaut, or 

 paper natilus, is a unilocular shell. 



