MOL 



variety of the common goat, peculiar to 

 the vicinity of Angora, in Asia Minor 

 It is manufactured into camlets and other 

 expensive stuffs. 



MOHAIR'-SHELL. A species of voluta, 

 resembling stuff of mohair on the surface. 



MOHAM'MEDANS. Followers of the re- 

 ligion of Mohammed, the founder of 

 Mohammedanism, the doctrines and pre- 

 cepts of which are contained in the 

 Koran. 



MOIDO'RE. A Portuguese coin worth 

 twenty-seven shillings sterling. 



MOIS'EAU (Fr.). A small flat bastion, 

 raised in front of an intended fortifica- 

 tion, to defend it from the approaches by 

 means of small arms. 



MOIRE'E METAL'LHICE. Crystallised tin- 

 plate : a variegated appearance produced 

 upon the surface of tin-plate, by wetting 

 its surface, when in a heated state, with 

 nitro - hydrochloric acid (aqua regia), 

 washing it with water, and finally coat- 

 ing it with lacquer. The figures vary, 

 according to the strength of the acid em- 

 ployed and the degree of heat to which 

 the plate is raised. 



MO'LAR-TEETH. Molares Denies. The 

 grinding teeth. From molaris, a grind- 

 stone. 



MO'LAR-QLANDS. Molares Glandules. 

 Two salivary glands situated on each 

 side of the mouth, the excretory ducts of 

 which open near the last dens molaris. 



MOLAS'SE, from mollis, soft. A soft sand- 

 stone of the tertiary strata, employed by 

 the Swiss under this name, for building. 



MOLE. 1. Lat. moles, a mound. A mas- 

 sive work of large stones erected for the 

 purposes of protecting the entrances to 



harbours. See BREAKWATER. 2. Sax. 



mifl, a mark. A small permanent pro- 

 tuberance on the human body, from which 



usually issue one or more hairs. 3. Lat. 



mo/a. A general name with some authors 

 for all those fleshy substances otherwise 

 called polypi, and with others for every 

 coagulum of blood which continues so 

 long in the uterus as to assume somewhat 



of an organised form. 1. Dut. mol. A 



well-known subterranean animal. See 

 TALPA. 



MO'LECCLE, Lat. molecula, dim. of moles, 

 a mass, a particle. Molecules are the 

 smallest particles into which a mass can 

 be conceived to be divided. They are 

 distinguished into integrant and consti- 

 tuent. Integrant molecules are the smallest 

 particles into which a simple body can 

 be conceived to be divided, or the smallest 

 particles into which a compound body 

 can be conceived to be divided, without 

 being resolved into its elements. Consti- 

 tuent molecules are the molecules of each 

 element which form an integrant mole- 

 cule of a compound. 



MOLBNPINA'CEOUS, from mola, a mill; 



M O M 



resembling the sails of a windmill. Af- 

 plied to seeds which have many win^rs- 



MOL'LAH. The title of the higher orter 

 of judges in Turkey. 



MOL'LE (It.). In music, a sound that is 

 flat as compared to another a semitone 

 higher. 



MOL'LITIES, softness ; Lat. from mollis, 

 soft. Applied to bones, nails, &c., when 

 preternaturally soft. 



MOLLUS'CA. 'Molluscs. A great division 

 of invertebrated animals, comprehending, 

 according to Cuvier, six classes, viz. : 

 Cephalopoda, Pteropoda, Gasteropoda, 

 Acephala, Brachiopoda, and Cirrhopoda. 

 in all of which, as the name imports 

 (mollusca, a soft nut, or nut with a soft 

 shell), the body is of a soft consistence, 

 inclosed in a muscular envelope, called 

 the mantle. The pulmonary circulation 

 is double; the blood is white or rather 

 bluish ; the skin is very sensible, and as 

 no particular organ of smell has been de- 

 tected in them, although they enjoy that 

 sense, it has been conjectured to reside in 

 the whole skin. Those in which the 

 mantle is simply membranous or fleshy, 

 are termed naked mollusca, but most frc 

 quently the animal is provided with a 

 calcareous covering called a shell, and the 

 animal is then said to be testaceous. Ste 



MO'L'OCH. The chief God of the Phoeni- 

 cians. 



MOLYBDE'NA. The ore of molybdenum. It 

 is a sulphuret of that metal, and is very 

 similar in its properties to plumbago : 



hence the name f4.o/.i>tiivct, plumbago. 



MOLYBDE'NUM. The metal obtained 

 from the substance called molybdena. It 

 has not yet been reduced to masses of 

 much size, but is readily obtained in small 

 separate globules, by exposing its acid 

 mixed with charcoal to an intense heat. 



MOLTB'DIC ACID. An acid obtained in 

 fine white scales (which become yellow 

 on melting and subliming them), by roast - 

 "ng molybdena, dissolving it in water of 

 ammonia, and adding nitric acid to the 

 solution. 



MOLYB'DOCS ACID. Deutoxide of molyb- 

 denum. It is of a blue colour, and pos- 

 sesses acid properties. 



MO'MENT. 1. An indefinitely small por- 

 tion of time, having the same relation to 



duration that a point has to a line. 2. 



In mathematical analysis, the same as in- 

 finitesimal, increment, or decrement (q. v.).' 



MOMEN'TUM. The quantity of motion in 

 a moving body. The term is Latin, con- 

 racted from motamentum. The momentum 

 of a body is the product of its mass into 

 ts velocity. 



MO'MIERS, Fr. momery, mummery. A 

 name applied to certain religionists of tke 

 so-called Evangelical party 



MOMOR'DICA. A genus of herbaceoo* 





