MOS 



491 



MOT 



consequent death of one part of an animal 

 body, while the rest is alive, caused by 

 inflammation, injury, or debility of the 

 part. 2. In Scottish late, nearly syno- 

 nymous with mortmain. 



MOR'TISE AND TENON. A description of 

 joint in wood-work. The extremity of 

 one piece of timber is let into the face of 

 another piece, a tongue being formed at 

 the end of the piece to be let in, which is 

 called a tenon, and the hole cut in the 

 face of the other is termed a mortise. 



MORT'MAIN, Fr. mart, dead, and main, 

 hand. Possession of lands or tenements 

 in dead hands, i.e. hands that cannot 

 alienate. See ALIENATION. 



MOR'TCARY. In laic, a fee paid to the 

 incumbent of a parish, by custom peculiar 

 to some places, on the death of a parish- 

 ioner. 



Mo'Rtrs. The Mulberry-tree. A genus 

 of permanent plants. Moncecia Tetran- 

 dria. Name from otfAatugos, black, the 

 colour of the fruit when ripe. 



MosA'ic,Fr. mosaique, \ Mosaic work 



MUSA'IC, Lat. musivum. j is composed of 

 email cubes of glass, stone, wood, &c. of 

 various colours , and cemented on a ground 

 of stucco, in such a manner as to imitate 

 the colours and gradations of painting. 

 Roman floors were often of mosaic work. 



MOSA'IC GOLD. The Aurum musintm of 

 the old chemists is a bisulphuret of tin, 

 prepared artificially : but the or-moulu, or 

 mosaic gold, at present employed in the 

 arts, is a species of brass, formed by melt- 

 ing together equal quantities of copper 

 and zinc, at the lowest temperature that 

 copper will fuse. 



MOSASAD'RUS, \ A gigantic fossil marine 



MOSOSAC'RUS. ) reptile, most nearly al- 

 lied to the monitors, long known by the 

 name of the Great Animal of MaSstricht, 

 a head of it having been found near that 

 city , in calcareous freestone. 



MOS'CHI-S. The Musk. A genus of ru- 

 minant animals. Name Latin, of Arab 

 moscht. The most celebrated species is 

 the 3f. moschiferus, Lin. ; size of a goat, 

 has scarcely any tail, and is covered with 

 hairs, so coarse and brittle that they might 

 be termed spines. The animal is remark- 

 ably light and elegant. 



MOSLEM. See MUSSULMAN. 



MOSQUE. A Mohammedan temple or 

 place of worship. The word is French, 

 from Arabic masjidon, from sajada, to 

 adore. 



MOSQI-ET'OES. A genus of dipterous in- 

 sects. S<?eCt.-LEX. Motquett is the Spanish 

 name of this troublesome insect, from 

 mosca, a fly ; Latin nwsca. 



Moss. l.The English name for the musei, 

 a natural order of small plants, with leafy 

 steins, and narrow simple leaves. The 

 term moss is also applied to many other 

 mall plants, particularly lichens, species 



of which are called tree-moss, rock-moss, 

 coral-moss, &c. The nr-moss and club- 

 moss belong to the genus Lycopodium. 



2. A bog where peat is found ; called 



often a peat-moss. 



MOSS-TROOPER. In Harder history, those 

 nhabitants who formed themselves into 

 clans and lived by rapine. 



MOTACI'LLA. A genus of passerine birds. 

 The Warblers ; comprehending the night- 

 ingale (Curruca), wheat-ear (Saxicola), 

 blue-bird (Sylvia], wren (Troglodytes), 

 wagtails (Mo'tacilla) , meadow-larks (An- 

 thus}. These are regarded as sub-genera 

 by Cuvier. 



MOTE. Gemote. An old Saxon word 

 for an assembly, meeting, or court; as 

 ward- mote, burgh-mote, &c. 



MOTET (French). A musical compo- 

 sition of a sacred kind, as a hymn. 



MOTH. The English name (Sax. motha) 

 of an extensive genus of lepidopterous 

 insects. See PHAL^ENA. 



MOTH'ER, Sax. tnoder. 1. A female pa- 

 rent. 2. A term formerly applied to 



many chemical preparations and plants, 

 for various whimsical reasons. 



MOTHER CAREY'S CHICKENS. A name 

 given by sailors to the storm petrels. 



MOTHER-OF-PEARL. The shining inter- 

 nal part of those shells which produce 

 pearls. The genus of shell-fish called 

 Pentadince furnishes the finest pearls, as 

 well as mother-of-pearl: it is found in 

 the greatest perfection round the coasts of 

 Ceylon. 



MOTHER- WATER. A name for the liquid 

 which remains after all the regularly 

 crystallisable salts have been extracted , by 

 evaporation and cooling, from any saline 

 solution, as sea- water 



MO'TION. 1. Change of local position, 

 from moveo, to move : opposed to rest. 

 Motion is the effect of impulse ; action 

 proceeding from any cause, internal or 

 external. In the growth of plants and 

 animals there must be a motion of the 

 component parts, though in visible. Che- 

 mical affinity produces often sensible 

 motion of the parts of bodies. The mind 

 produces muscular motion, but there are 

 animal motions which are independent of 

 the mind, as the peristaltic motion of the 

 intestines, and the motions of the heart 

 during life. Mechanical motion is effected 

 by one body acting mechanically on ano- 

 ther. No perpetual motion has yet been 

 obtained. 2. Proposals made in an as- 

 sembly or meeting are termed motions. A 

 bill is introduced into parliament after 

 motion from some honourable member, 

 and the same honourable member may 

 make a motion to adjourn 3. In paint- 

 ing and sculpture, the change of place or 

 position wliich, from certain attitudes, a 

 figure seems tt> be making in a picture 

 4. la music, the manner of brttu,* 



