M AL 



447 



M AL 



ria aleripharmaca, or Arundo Indica, cul- 

 tivated with great care in the West In- 

 dies for that "part of the plant, which is 

 considered an antidote to several poisons. 

 MAL'ACHITE, from fjux.hot.%'?,, mountain- 

 green. A native green carbonate of cop- 

 per, thus named from its colour. It 

 occurs in veins, and in beds of gneiss, 

 >juca-slate, red sandstone, &c. 



M.vLA.coL'oG\, ; ttA.%;at: and ).oyi>t . dis- 

 course. The science of the molluscs. 



MAIACOPTERY'GH, from fjut>.etxo; , soft, 

 and -rrtjvf , a fin ; soft-tinned fishes. These 

 form the second division of common 

 tishes in the system of Cuvier, and are 

 divided into three orders, characterised 

 by the position of the ventrals, or by their 

 absence. 1. The JIf. abdominales, form 

 an order in which the ventrals are sus- 

 pended to the under part of the abdomen 

 and behind the pectorals. This order 

 comprehends most of the fresh-water 



fishes. 2. The Jf. subranchiati, form an 



order characterised by the ventrals being 



inserted under the pectorals. 3. The 



M. apodes form but a single natural fam- 

 ily, that of the Anguilliformes. Epithet, 

 tiialacopterygious. 



MALACOS'TEOX. from / wX*s, soft, and 

 eirrsav, a bone; a softness of the bones. 

 A rare disease of the bones, wherein they 

 can be bent without fracturing them. 

 The causes are not known, and all the 

 cases on record have proved fatal. 



MALACOS'TOMI, from ^aXa^os, soft, and 

 frtfMt, a mouth. An order of fishes 

 destitute of teeth in the jaws, vulgarly 

 called leather-mouthed. The carp and 

 bream are examples. 



MALACOSTRAC'A, from ^aAaxaj, soft, and 

 6<rra,zov, a shell; soft-shelled-insects. 

 In the system of Cuvier the malacostra- 

 cans form the first section of the crusta- 

 ceans. They are distinguished by having 

 sessile eyes, solid teguments of a calca- 

 reous nature, and ten to fourteen feet, 

 generally unguiculated. They are divided 

 into five orders: the Decapoda, Stoma- 

 poda, Lsemodipoda, Amphipoda, and the 

 Isopoda. The first four embrace the 

 genus Cancer, Lin., and the last, the 

 genus Oniscus, Lin. 



MU.'ANDF.KS, from Fr. mal, ill, and 

 andpre, to go. A disease to which horses 

 are liable, consisting of ulcerous chaps on 

 the inside of the fore-legs, which void a 

 red acrid matter. 



MALAPTERU'RUS. The name given by 

 Lacpede to a genus of abdominal mala- 

 copterygii, of which only one species is 

 known, the M. electrims, the Rasch or 

 Thunder of the Arabs, celebrated like the 

 Torpedo and Gymnotus for its faculty of 

 communicating on electric shock. Name 

 from 4uAax09: 8oft > {, & fin, and 



oufet, a tail. The fish being distinguished 

 from the Silurus by the radiated fin on 

 the back being replaced by a small adi- 

 pose one on the tail, and the softness of 

 the pectoral rays. From the Nile and 

 the Senegal. 



MAL'COUA. The name given by Vaillant 

 to a genus of climbing birds (Seansoriee, 

 Cuv.) of Ceylon. There are several species, 

 said to live chiefly on fruit. 



MALCO'MIA, the Sea-rocket. A genus of 

 herbaceous plants. Tetradynamia Sili- 

 quosa. Temperate climates. 



MALE. 1. In botany, a male flower is 

 one which bears stamens only. Male 

 fern, a name of the Aspidium filix mas, or 

 polypody. Male orchis, a species of orchis 

 called also satyrion and dog's-stone. 

 Male sixedwell, a name of the Veronica 



officinalis. 2. In mechanics, a screw 



which has the thread on the outside of 

 a cylinder is called a male screw; that 

 which has the thread in the inside of a 

 hollow cylinder being termed a female 

 screw. 



MALIC ACID. An acid which may be 

 procured from the juice of many unripe 

 fruits, but named thus from its having 

 been first obtained from that of the apple 

 (malus). It is often associated with the 

 citric, tartaric, and oxalic acid in green 

 fruits. It crystallines, and by distillation 

 affords ptjromalic acid. 



MALLEABIL'ITY. A property belonging to 

 certain metals of being extended into 

 thin plates by hammering (malleus, a 

 hammer). Gold-leaf is the best example 

 of this property. Malleability is directly 

 opposed to brittleness, and differs from 

 ductility (q.vA 



MALLEA'TION, from malleus, a hammer. 

 Aform of chorea in which the person af- 

 fected has a convulsed action of one or 

 both hands, and strikes the knees as if 

 with a hammer. 



MALLE'OLUS. In anatomy, dim. of mal 

 leus, a hammer. The termination of the 

 tibia at the ankle is called malleolus inter- 

 nus; and the corresponding part of the 

 fibula malleolus externus. 

 MAL'LECS. A hammer. 1. A bone of the 



ear is thus named from its shape. 2 



The name given by Lamarck to a genus 

 of irregular and inequivalve shells, placed 

 among the ostracea by Cuvier. The 

 ostrea malleus, Lin., is the best known 

 species. It ranks among the rare shells. 

 It has two ends of the hinge extended, 

 forming something like the head of a 

 hammer, of which the valves, elongated 

 in a transverse direction, represent the 

 handle. From the archipelago of India. 



MAL'LUM. The public assembly of the 

 people according to the usage of the old 

 Teutonic nations. 



MALT, Sax. mealt. Grain (chiefly bar- 

 ley) which has become sweet by the con- 



