MO U 



492 



MUC 



the measure, so as to hasten or retard 

 the pronunciation of the words or notes. 



MO'TIVE POWER. In mechanics, the 

 whole power or force acting upon a body. 

 MO'TOR. A mover, from moveo, to move. 

 Applied to muscles, &c. 



MOT'TO (Italian). A word. By motto 

 is now generally understood a phrase 

 prefixed to something, as an essay, &c. ; 

 or added to a device, as on a seal. 



MOULD. 1. The matrix in which any- 

 thing is cast. 2. In carpentry, a thin 



flexible piece of wood, whereby to form 



the different curves of the timbers. 3. 



In paper-making, a. little frnme, the size of 

 the sheet of paper to be made, composed 

 of several wires fastened together by 

 wire still finer, and having a little ledg- 

 ing of wood, into which the wires are 

 fastened used to cast the sheets of paper. 

 4. Among gold beaters, a certain num- 

 ber of leaves of vellum, of a certain size, 

 and laid over one another with leaves of 

 gold or silver, to be beaten, placed between 



them. 5. In anatomy, the anterior fon- 



tanel or interstice between the parietal 



bones and the frontal of achild's head. 



6. In agriculture, loose earth everywhere 

 obvious on the surface of ground : the 



upper soil. 7. The white down or la- 



nugo which grows on the surface of bo- 

 dies when undergoing humid decay in air. 

 This appears, on examination with a mi- 

 croscope, to be a luxuriant vegetation. 



8. In architecture. See MOULDINGS. 



MOULD'INGS. In architecture, the small 

 projecting ornaments of columns, &c., so 

 called because their forms and dimensions 

 are regulated by the workmen by means 

 of the caliber or mould, an instrument of 

 iron or hardwood, which serves as a 

 gauge in all carved work. The regular 

 mouldings are the fillet, listel or annulet ; 

 the astragal or bead ; the torus ; the sco- 

 lia or trochilus ; the echinus, ovolo, or 

 quarter-round; the cyma reversa, in- 

 verted cyma or ogee; the cyma recta; 

 the cavetto or hollow (q. v.). 



MOTTLD-LOTT. A large room in a dock- 

 yard, in which the parts of the ships are 

 drawn out full size. 



MOULD'WARP, i The mole, which throws 



MOI/DI-WAIIT. ) up the mould of the 



earth. 



MOU'LINE, 1 In mechanics, the roller of 

 MOU'LINET. ) a capstan, crane, &c. 

 MOIJLT'ING. The fall of the plumage ol 

 birds. 



MOUN'TAIN. A term formed from the 

 Latin adjective montanus, from mons, an 

 elevation, and applied to the largest class 

 of elevations on the earth's surface ; but 

 marking no definite altitude except thai 

 it is greater than a hill. 



MOCN'TAIN-LIMESTONE. A name com 

 mon to a scries of marine limestone strata, 

 whose geological position is immediately 



>elow the coal-measures, and above the 

 Id red sand-stone. It exists in vast 



quantity in England and "\Vales, yields 

 11 the common limestone used in the 



country for building, and some varieties 



of marble, &c. 



MOUN'TAIN-SOAP. Amineral of a green- 

 sh-black colour. It has a greasy feel, 



idheres to the tongue, and soils paper. It 



,s a hydrated silicate of alumina and iron, 



and occurs in secondary rocks of the trap 



formation. 



M-. 



il found 



originally in Sweden, but since also in 

 Scotland. It melts at U8 tt F., boils at 

 290 F. ; is soluble in alcohol, but does 

 not form soap with alkalies. 



MOUNTS or PIETY. In Italy, establish- 

 ments of the nature of pawnbrokers' 

 shops, where money is lent out to the 

 poor on moderate interest and security. 



MOCSTA'CHE. The beard of the upper 

 lip, the cultivation of which affords harm- 

 less employment to many whose time 

 would not be otherwise more usefully oc- 

 cupied. 



MOUTH. In architecture, the same a 

 cavetto, which see. 



MO'VEMEXT. 1. The train of wheel- 

 work in a clock or watch. 2. In poli- 

 tics, the movement party are those who 

 are perpetually agitating for popular 

 rights. 



MOXA. In surgery, a Japanese word 

 denoting a soft lanuginous substance, pre- 

 pared from the young leaves of a species 

 of mugwort (Artemisia chinensis or 3Ixa 

 japonica), and employed by surgeons on 



e Continent as a means of forming an 

 eschar, which in England is usually done 

 with caustic. 



M.S. On monuments, an abbreviation 

 of memories sarmm , sacred to the memory. 

 MS. is an abbreviation of " manuscript," 

 and MSS. of" manuscripts." 



Mu'cic ACID. An acid originally called 

 saccholactic and snclactic acid by the 

 French chemists, because it was first ob- 

 tained by Scheele from sugar of milk ; but 

 as all the gums afford it, and as the chief 

 acid of milk is the oxalic, it is now gene- 

 rally called mucic acid. It is readily ob- 

 tained by treating gum-arabic with dilute 

 nitric acid, and applying heat, when a 

 white powder precipitates, which is 

 mucic acid. It is soluble in boilins water, 

 and combines with alkalies, earths, and 

 metallic oxides, forming a class of salts 

 called mucates. 



MC'CILAGE, Fr. from Lat. mucus, the 

 slimy discharge from the nose. Vegetable 

 mucus: one of the proximate elements 

 of vegetables. The same substance is 

 gum when solid, and mucilage when in 

 solution. Perhaps the purest specimen of 

 mucilage is gum-arabic, which, when 

 distilled per se, affords pyromucic s>c:d, 



