M A S 



454 



M Ao 



the fraternity were persons of that craft 

 or occupation, being incorporated by the 

 pope, and endowed with certain import- 

 ant privileges. The society professes to be 

 founded on the practice of social and 

 moral virtue, and inculcates " brotherly 

 love, relief, and truth;" but it has long 

 been nothing more than a wreck of the 

 original institution. 



MA'SOXRY. A term comprehending all 

 works built with stone, and is of three 

 sorts: (I.) Cut masonry, or plane ashlar, 

 consisting of fair cut stones, as in the 

 faces of the superior kinds of build- 

 ings. (2.) Hammer-dressed masonry, in 

 which the stones are squared and picked 

 by the hammer. (3.) Rubble masonry, 

 composed of stones merely axed on the 

 face, and placed according to circum- 

 stances. 



MAS'ORA. A Jewish book containing 

 critiques upon the Hebrew text of the 

 Bible. 



MASORITES. Hebrew rabbins, who in- 

 terpreted the Scriptures by tradition, and 

 invented the Hebrew points to fix the 

 true reading and pronunciation. Hence 

 these points are often termed Masoretic 

 points ; and the expository work of the 

 Masorites is termed the Masora. 



MASQUE, French for mask. 1. A oorer 



for the face. 2. A sort of theatrical 



drama, or rather histrionic spectacle, 

 much patronised during the 16th and 17th 

 centuries, and in which the actors (ori- 

 ginally) appeared with masks. 3. In 



architecture, a grotesque piece of sculpture 

 serving to fill up some vacant space. 



MASS, Sax. maesse. 1. The service of the 

 Romish Church in the celebration of the 



eucharist. 2. The quantity of matter of 



which any body is composed. 3. In 



the^Sne arts, a large quantity of matter of 

 light or shade. 



MAS'SETER, from uMirfaouMt, to chew. 

 A short thick muscle of the lower jaw, 

 situated on the side of the face, and which 

 assists in masticating, by raising the jaw. 



MAS'SICOT (Fr.). The yellow oxide of 

 lead, used as a pigment. It is easily pre- 

 pared by calcination of white lead ; by 

 further calcination it becomes red lead or 

 minium. 



MAS'SIVK. In mineralogy; in mass : not 

 having a regular form. 



MAST, Sax. mac'it, the mast of a ship. 

 1. Masts are of several kinds, as the main- 

 mast, fore-mast, mi/en-mast, lower-mast, 

 top-mast, top gallant-mast, top-gallant- 

 royal-mast. The main -mast is the princi- 

 pal mast of the ship; the fore-mist is that 

 v tiich stands near the stem, and is next 

 in size to the main-mast; the tizen-mast 

 is the smallest mast, and stands half way 

 between the main mast and the stern ; a 

 iov>tr-mntt is the lower part of a mast. 



which is composed of more than one piece ; 

 a top-mast is raised on the head or top of 

 a lower mast ; the to/> gallant-mast is again 

 raised on the top of the top-mast, and the 

 royal top-gallant-mast surmounts the top- 

 gallant-mast ; a pole-mast is one formed of 

 one piece of timber; a made-mnit consists 



of several pieces. 2. Sax. mneste, acorns. 



The fruit of the oak and beech. 



MAS'TER. A word found in all European 

 languages with slight modifications of 

 orthography, and signifying a chief di- 

 rector. Masters in Chancery are assistants 

 to the Lord Chancellor and Master of the 

 Rolls. Master of the Faculties is an officer 

 under the Archbishop of Canterbury, who 

 grants licenses and dispensations. Master 

 of the Horse is an officer of the crown, 

 who has charge of the royal stud. The 

 Master of the Armoury has charge of the 

 royal armour, and the Master of the Ward- 

 robe has the care of the royal robes under 

 the Lord Chamberlain. Master of the Rolls, 

 a patent officer for life, who has custody 

 of the rolls of Parliament, and patents 

 which pass under the Great Seal, and ot 

 the records of Chancery, commissiont, 

 deeds, &c., and who, in absence of the 

 Lord Chancellor, sits as judge in the Court 

 of Chancery. Master of a ship, the same 

 as enptain in a merchantman, but in a 

 man-of-war he is an officer who takes 

 rank immediately after the lieutenants, 

 and navigates the ship under the direc- 

 tion of the captain. Master at A>-m, an 

 officer in a ship of war who has charge 

 of the small arms, exercises the petty 

 officers, and observes the directions of 

 the lieutenant at arms, &c. Master of 

 Arts, an academical degree the second a t 

 Oxford and Cambridge, but the first at 

 the foreign universities, and for the most 

 in those of Scotland. 



MAS'TERSIN'GERS. A class of poets who 

 flourished in Germany in the 15th and 

 16th centuries. 



MASTIC, ) l.Aresinobtainedbymaking 



MASTICH. ) incisions in the Pisttu-in len- 

 tixciis, a tree cultivated in the Levant, 

 and chiefly in the island of Chios. It is 

 yellowish, brittle, and transparent; has 

 a bitterish taste, and aromatic smell. It 

 consists of two resins, one soluble in 

 dilute alcohol, and both in strong alcohol. 

 In this country mastic is used in the 

 composition of the tougher kinds of var- 

 nishes : on the continent, it constitutes 

 an insrrdient in plasters: and in Turkey, 

 it is used in great quantities by the ladies 

 as a masticatory from which circum- 

 stance it is said to take its name. 2. In 



botany. See MASTICH-HEKB. 



MAS'TICH-HTRB. Herb-mastich. The 

 Tht/nnis mastichina, a low shrubby plant, 

 a native of Spain. It has a strong agree- 

 able smell like niastic. 



MASTic-wora. T) e wood of the manic- 



