MOSTJ 



Kty Ctragurj? of 2Batang. 



760 



MOSTAHIBA. A hard Brazilian wood. | 



MOTE. The nut of the "West African 

 Camp a guineensis. 



MOTHER-CELLS. Cells in which other 

 cells are generated. 



MOTHER-CLOVES. A name i-n the 

 East for the fully expanded flower-buds of 

 Caryophyllus aromaticus. 



MOTHER -OF- THOUSANDS. Linaria 

 Cymbalaria. 



MOTHER-OF-THYME, or MOTHER-OF- 

 TIME. Thymus Serpyllum. 



MOTHER-OF-VINEGAR. The floccu- 

 lent mycelium of various moulds (Mucor, 

 Penkillium, &c.) which forms on the sur- 

 face of vinegar. 



MOTHERWORT. Leonurus, also Arte- 

 misia vulgaris. 



MOUCERON. (Fr.) Agaricus oreades. 



MOUCOTT-MOUCOU. A Guiana name for 

 the seeds of Galadium arborescens. 



MOULDS. A name given popularly to 

 the thread-like Fungi which prey upon 

 | our provisions, and which attack other 

 substances, as gum, glue, ink, &c, living 

 at their expense, and destroying their 

 valuable properties. These, however, be- 

 long to two very different series, Hypho- 

 mycetes and Physomycetes, which we must 

 treat separately. Many of the Moulds are 

 capable of sustaining life when immersed 

 in fluids, contrary to the habit of most 

 Fungi ; and from their capability of appro- 

 priating what is nutritious, and rejecting 

 what is hurtful, they are often developed 

 in solutions of poisonous metallic salts, 

 which would be fatal to Fungi in general. 

 In a solution of sulphate of copper, for 

 example, they become as it were electro- 

 typed by the copper, while they appro- 

 priate the other elements. In such situa- 

 tions, moreover, they are often propa- 

 gated by cells separated from the threads, 

 which in their turn produce new cells ; 

 and therefore they are described as Algaz, 

 under various names. As their spores 

 are often able to sustain a considerable 

 degree of heat without destruction, they 

 occur in situations where they would 

 otherwise not be expected, as in preserved 

 fruits which have been subjected to heat, 

 and when there was no possibility of the 

 access of fresh spores. Where there is any 

 possibility of communication, there are 

 few kinds of vegetable tissues which they 

 cannot penetrate; and in animals, they 

 occur in situations where they must, like 

 intestinal worms, have worked their way 

 through the tissues to the cavities in which 

 they grow. They are amongst the most de- 

 structive agents in the production of dis- 

 ease, as is proved by the potato murrain. 

 In the human frame they are the fruitful 

 source of cutaneous disorders. [M. J. B.] 



MOUNTAIN LAYER, A reddish gela- 

 tinous Alga, belonging to the genus Pal- 

 mella, consisting of a roundish slightly 



lobed frond, growing on the sides of moun- 

 tains, after the fashion of the common 

 Nustoc. It is used occasionally to purgo 

 calves. It was formerly called Ulva mon- 

 tana, though it has little affinity with 

 Uli:a. [M. J. B.] 



MOUNTAIN-PRIDE, or MOUNTAIN- 

 GREEN. A West Indian name for Spatlielia 

 simplex. 



MOUNTAIN-SWEET. A Canadian name 

 for Ceanothus amerkanus. 



MOUREAU, MOURESIOLE, or MOU- 

 RETTE. (Fr.) A kind of olive. 



MOUREILLER. (Fr.) Malpighia. 



MOURIRIACE^E. A natural group of 

 perigynous Exogens, now included in 

 Melastomacea. Mouririawimts the marked 

 ribs of Melastoma, and its leaves are very 

 distinctly dotted. 



MOURNING WIDOW. Geranium 

 phaium. 



MOURON. (Fr.) Anagallis, especially 

 A. arvensis and ccerulea , also Veronica 

 Anagallis. — BLANC- Stellaria media. 

 — D'EAU. Samolus Yalerandi. — DES 

 OISEAUX. Stellaria media. 



MOUSE-BANE. Aconitum myoctonum. 



MOUSE CHOP Mesembryanthemum mu- 

 rinum. 



MOUSE-EAR. ffieracium Pilosella; also 

 Cerastium vulgatum. —, BASTARD, 

 Hieracium Pseudo-Pilosella. 



MOUSETAIL. Mygalurus; also Myosu- 

 rus minimus, and Dendrobium Myosxmis. 



MOUSE-THORN. Centaurea myacantha. 



MOUSSACHE. (Fr.) Cassava starch. 



MOUSSE DE CORSE. (Fr...) Graeilaria 

 Helminthochorton. — PERLEE. Chondrus 

 crispus. — TERRESTRE. Lycopodium 

 clavatum. 



MOUSSELET. (Fr.) Thlaspi perfoliatum. 



MOUSSONIA. A genus of Gesneracea>., 

 separated from Gesnera, and represented 

 by G. elongata. It is known by its sub- 

 shrubby habit, by the short-limbed tubular 

 corolla, whose tube is very slightly in- 

 flated, and by the presence of a thick 

 sinuous ring at the base of the ovary, 

 consisting of five nearly equal glands. 

 The species are very ornamental and of 

 free flowering habit. [T. M.] ! 



MOUTAN. A name given to that section 

 of Pceonia which contains the Tree Pasony 

 (Pceonia Moutaii). This plant, which is 

 sometimes separated as a distinct genus, 

 differs from the other species in having 

 the disk enormously developed, forming 

 an irregular cup which envelopes the five 

 carpels. The shrubby habit, so very rare 

 among Ranunculacece, also separates it 

 from the herbaceous pa?onies destitute of 

 the cup-like disk. Moutan (derived from 

 Meu-tang, king of flowers) is the name by 

 which the Tree Pa?ony is known in China 



