M A U 



456 



ME A 



01 mathematics, all necessary for the pur- 

 poses of astronomy, optic*, hydrostatics, 

 n-.eehanics, navigation, fortification, &c. 



MAT'INS. In "the Romish Church, the 

 first part of the dally service. Fr. matin, 

 niurning. 



M VT'RASS, Fr. matras. A chemical ves- 

 sel, having an oval-shaped body and a 

 1 jnu neck, much used for digestions. 



MATHICI'RI*. A genus of herbaceous 

 plants. SyntienesiaPoly-rupfrflita. Nam 

 from matrix, the womb, because of its 

 uses in diseases of the womb. The com- 

 mon wild corn or dog's chamomile, is a 

 British species. The fever-few {impro- 

 perly featherfewi, is also a species (H.par- 

 theinum.} 



MATHICTLA'TIOJI, from mtttricula, a re- 

 pi*er. Registration of a name in admis- 

 sion to membership, as in the universities. 

 Members art; hence said to be matriculated. 



M.i 'THIS, Lat. for womb, from mater, 

 mother. A place where anything is ge- 

 nerated or formed. The matrix of a mineral 

 or metallic ore is the substance in which 

 it is immediately imbedded, or through 

 which it is disseminated. 



MAT ROSS'. In the artillery, a soldier 

 next in degree to a gunner, whom he as- 

 sists in loading, &c. 



MAT'TE. A crude black copper, reduced 

 but not refined, from sulphur and other 

 extraneous matters. 



MAT'TER, Lat. Sp. and Ital. materia, 

 that which is produced. The substance 

 of which bodies are composed, usually 

 divided by philosophical writers into four 

 kinds, tolid, liquid, aeriform, and impon- 

 derable. Solid substances are those whose 

 parts firmly cohere and resist impression ; 

 liquids yield readily to impression ; aeri- 

 form bodies are elastic fluids, comprehend- 

 ing vapours and gases; imponderables are 

 destitute of weight, as light, caloric, elec- 

 tricity, and magnetism. 



MATTHI'OLA. Stock. A genus of plants, 

 mostly herbaceous. Tetradynamia Sili- 

 quosa. The gillyflower (J/. incana] is a 

 native of England. 



MA.UND. A weight used in the East In- 

 dies. It varies in different provinces, but 

 the factory maund is about 80 Ibs. avoir. 



MAL-'NDRIL. In coal mines, a pick with 

 two shanks. 



MAUN'DV -THURSDAY. Mandate- Thurs- 

 day. The Thursday before Good Friday ; 

 the day of command on which the Sa- 

 viour gave his great mandate, that we 

 should love one another. 



MACR, CONGREGATION or SAINT. A 

 learned religious body of the Benedictine 

 order, named after the place of their resi- 

 dence, and established in 1H18. 



MAL-RESUVE'. In architecture, the Style 

 ct building peculiar to the Moors aud 

 Arabs. 



iu s. >LI r>t A Latin term. from Mau- 



solus, king of Caria, to whom Artemisia, 

 his widow, erected a stately monument, 

 one of the wonders of the world, and 

 hence used to denote any very sumptuous 

 sepulchral monument. 



MAW'-WOKM. The Ascaris rermicularis , 

 a species of entozoa found in the stomach. 



MAXIL'LA. 1. The jaw, both upper and 

 under, from [AaaravuMi, to chew. The 

 lower jaw is called the maxilla inferior; 



and the upper jaw the maxilla superior. 



2. The lower jaws only of insects are called 

 marillep. : they are placed behind the man- 

 dibles, and are principally employed in 

 holding the substance on which the grind 

 ing apparatus of the mandible is exerted. 



MAx'iLLARY.Lat. marillaris. Appertain- 

 ing to the jaw (marilla). 



MAX'IMA ET MIN'IMA. In analysis and 

 geometry, the greatest and least values of 

 a variable quantity. The method of find- 

 ing these values is termed Methodm de 

 maximis et minimis. 



MAX'IMUM. 1. In mathematics, the great- 

 est quantity attainable in a given case. 

 2. The greatest extreme as distin- 

 guished from minimum. 



MAT. The fifth month of the year, 

 reckoning from January. Named from 

 Maia, the mother of Mercury, to whom 

 sacrifices were offered by the Romans on 

 the first day of this month. 



MAY'OR. The chief magistrate of a city : 

 in London and York he is called lord- 

 mayor. The title is of doubtful origin. We 

 have Fr. moire, Norm, mafur, mair, meyre ; 

 Wei. mair, one who guards ; mair y bistcal, 

 a land-steward ; matron, a dairy farmer ; 

 matres, a female who superintends the 

 dairy- women; malroni, superintendency, 

 a keeper. A mayor, then, seems to have 

 been originally an overseer, and among 

 country gentlemen a steward or kind 01 

 domestic bailiff, rendered in the writings 

 of the middle ages, tillicus. 



MAYORAZ'GO (Span). The right of the 

 eldest born, in noble families, to inherit 

 certain property on condition of trans- 

 mitting it entire to those possessed of the 

 same right on his decease. 



M.D. Medicines Doctor. Doctor of me- 

 dicine. 



MEAD. Metheglin. A liquor made by 

 boiling with water the honey-combs from 

 which the honey has been drained out, 

 and fermenting : it was long the favourite 

 drink of the northern nations, but is now 

 little used. It takes its name from the 

 northern word for honey. 



MEAL, Ger. ntthl, Dutch meel. The 

 edible partof grain and pulse, ground into 

 a species of coarse flour. The varieties are 

 characterised by prefixing the name of the 

 grain ; as oat-meal, Mrley-meal, &c. 



MEAN. The middle between two ex- 

 tremes. An arithmetical mean is half the 

 sum of the two extremes. Thiu If th 



