■61 



0}e Creating of SSotaiiD. 



[mucu 



and Japan, where it is a favourite garden 

 Sower. Its native place is said to be the 

 north of China, on Mount Ho-an. In En- 

 glish srardens it seldom attains a greater 

 fieisht than from three to five feet; but in 

 : China it is reported to be sometimes ten 

 feet hisrh. The leaves resemble those of 

 the herbaceous paeonies, but are less 

 ■ leathery: the flower in the wild state is 

 purple, but in cultivation white, pink, 

 I pale purple, and pale with purple or red 

 j spots occur. [J. T. S.j 



i MOUTARDE. (Fr.) Sinapis. — BA- 

 TA.RDE. Ardbis. - BATARDE DE MI- 

 THRIDATE. BiscuteUa. — DES CAPTJ- 

 C1NS. Cochlearia Armoracia. — DES 

 IKDES, or ETRAXGERE. Cleome. — DE 

 HAIE. Erysimum officinale. 

 MOVIXG PLAXT. Desmodium gyrans. 

 l r OWHA. Bassia latifolia. 



MOWLOO. An Indian name for Dio- 

 scorea aculeata. 



MOWRA. A kind of arrack obtained 

 from Bassia latifolia. 



MOXA. A name applied to different 

 substances used in surgery to produce a 

 sore by means of slow combustion. The 

 practice in some countries almost super- 

 sedes every other kind of medical treat- 

 ment. One of the best substances for this 



| purpose is amadou (Polyporusfomentarius). 

 The Japan and China 3Ioxa, however, is 

 prepared from certain species of Artemisia 

 (A. ALoxa, cliinensis, &c). In England, cot- 



. ton-wool, and the pith of the sunflower, 

 which contains nitrate of potash, are more 

 frequently employed. Moxa is not, how- 

 ever,much used in this country, on account 

 of the great, pain it produces, and it does 

 . 1 not appear that it has any compensating 

 advantages over more speedy methods of 



' producing the same effect on the skin and 

 the underlying tissues. pi. J. BJ 



MOXO-MOXO. A Bolivian name for 



j Eupatorium ghitinosum. 



MT7CEDINES. A natural order of hypho- 

 mycetous Fungi, containing those naked- 

 ; spored moulds whose threads are never i 

 coated by a distinct membrane, and are ! 

 | mostly white or coloured. The common 

 species of Aspergillus and Penicillium are j 

 well-known examples. It has been sup- j 

 : posed that different species occur on j 

 ; bodies according as they are acid and alka- I 

 , line, but this does not appear to be con- 

 | firmed by the latest experiments. Their 

 agency in fermentation will be mentioned 

 , under the article Yeast. It is very pro- 

 i bable that more perfect observation will 

 j reduce many of the objects recoenised at 

 i present as species to the condition of 

 ; mere mycelia-bearing conidia. Such ob- 

 servations, however, require repetition, 

 and are so liable to error that they must 

 at first be received with considerable cau- 

 tl0r - [M. J. B.] 



MTJCIDOTJS. Musty ; smelling of mouldi- 

 I ness. 



MUCOR. The typical genus of the 

 mucorinous Moulds, characterised by a 

 globose sporangium, into which the tip of 

 the stem often enters in the guise of a 

 clavate columella, and indefinite sporidia 

 produced irregularly in the cavity. These 

 spores are mostly elliptic ; but sometimes, 

 as in M.fusiger, a species with brownish 

 threads produced not uncommonly on | 

 decaying agarics, the spores are much , 

 elongated and spindle-shaped. M. Mucedo ! 

 is extremely common on fruit, and is be- j 

 lieved to expedite its decay, which is true j 

 only when the surface is broken, or the ! 

 cellular substance communicates with the ; 

 outer air. M. PJiycomyces is noticed in ! 

 the article Mccoeixi. The common spe- 

 cies of Mxicor have their part in the pro- 

 duction of yeast. [M. J. BJ j 



MUCORIXI. A natural order of physo- I 

 mycetous Fungi, analogous to Mucedines, I 

 which they resemble in habit, but pro- i 

 ducing their fruit within vesicles, and 

 not externally. The sporidia arise some- | 

 times indifferently in the sacs, without i 

 any especial point of attachment ; but in 

 Acrostalagymis they rise from the tips of 

 the branches which penetrate the cysts. 

 The bread mould is one of the most 

 familiar examples, but the finest of all 

 is that which grows in prodigious masses 

 on grease, the walls of oil mills, and other 

 unctuous situations. The threads when 

 dry have a peculiar shining aspect, and a 

 dark green colour ; and the species, which 

 is a true Mucor, was formerly assigned 

 to Algce, under the name of PJiycomyces. 

 Several of the species bear two kinds of 

 fruit on the same stem, both the sporidia 

 and the sacs which contain them being 

 different in size and character. Some, 

 again, as Acrostalagmus, appear to assume 

 two forms — an ascomycetous and a gym- 

 nomycetous. The latter must be con- 

 sidered either as bearing stylospores or 

 male fruit. In one genus the cyst is 

 formed after the combination of two 

 branches, as in the conjugate Algce; and 

 in Endodromia there is an active motion 

 within the spores whose nature has not 

 yet been ascertained. [M. J. BJ 



MUCOUS, MUCOSE. Covered with a 

 slimy secretion, or with a coat that is 

 readily soluble in water, and becomes 

 slimy. 



MUCRO. A sharp terminal point. 



MUCROXATE. Abruptly terminated by 

 a hard short point ; thus mucronato-serrate 

 is when the serratures terminate in a hard 

 short point. 



MUCUXA. The plants of this genus 

 are well known to travellers in tropical 

 countries from the exceedingly annoying 

 character of their seed-pods, which are 

 thickly covered with stinging hairs easily 

 detached by the slightest shake, and caus- 

 ing great irritation if they happen to 

 fall upon exposed parts of the body. It 

 belongs to the leguminous order, and 

 consists of a considerable number of 



