M U L 
It lives on rice, and other forts of graiil ; and 
has fo fcrong a fcent of mufk, that it perfumes 
every thing over which it happens to rlin. Pen- 
nant (who had it from the moft unqueilionable 
authority) informs us, that it will render the wine 
in a well- corked bottle totally unfit for ufe, by 
only paffing over it. 
Mouse, Dor. See Dormouse. 
Mouse, Sable. See Lemming. 
Mouse, Sea. See Aphrodita. 
MUCOSA. An appellation given by the Ita- 
lians to a fpecies of ray-filh ; called by ancient 
naturalifts, Bos Marinusj and by later authors, 
Raia Oxyrynchus, and L^eviraia. Artedi dif- 
tinguifhes it by the name of the variegated Ray 
with ten prickly tubercles on the middle of the 
back. See Raia. 
MUCU. A Brazilian firti of the lamprey 
kind ; long and flender, with a pointed head, 
fmall black eyes, and a very fmall mouth. The 
body is wholly brown, but more duflcy on the 
back than on the belly ; and on the fides there 
are a number of oblique tranfverfe lines of a 
blackifh colour. This filh abounds in the Bra- 
zilian lakes ; and it's flefii, according to Marc- 
grave, is proper for the table. 
MUD-FISH. The Swedifii name of a fifli 
called by Schonefeldt, and others, Aphud, or 
Aphya. It is a fpecies of the cyprinus, according 
to Artedi; and is diftinguifhed by that author 
under the name of the red-eyed two-inch Cy- 
prinus, with nine bones in the pinna ani. 
Mud-Fish, is alfo a name given to a frefh- 
water fifh found in the Weft Indian rivers and 
lakes, and allied to the trout kind. The length 
of the body is about feven inches ; the under jaw 
is longer than the upper; and they are both 
armed with feveral rows of fmall lliarp teeth. 
The body is entirely covered with minute fcales, 
partly white, and partly black, except on the 
belly, where they are wholly white. 
MUGGENT. A provincial appellation for 
a fpecies of frefh-water wild-duck, the Mufcaria 
of authors ; fo called from it's peculiar quality of 
catching fuch flies as play on the furface of the 
waters. It is about the fize of the common tame 
duck: the beak is fliort, broad, and faffron- 
coloured; the body is mottled with black, white, 
brown, and grey, very curioufiy mixed , the.^ 
crown of the head is black i and the feet are 
yellow. 
MUGIL. The clafllcal name for the mullet. 
See Mullet. 
MULBERRY-SHELL. A fpecies of do- 
lium. 
MULE. A mongrel kind of quadruped, 
ufually generated between an afs and a mare; 
fometimes alfo between a horfe and a fhe-afs. 
Thofe of the firft: kind are reckoned preferable. 
The common Mule is a very healthy animal, 
and generally lives upwards of thirty years. It is 
very ferviceable in carrying burdens, particularly , 
in mountainous and ftony countries, where horfcs 
are not fo fure-footed. The fize and flrength of 
the Mules of this country are at prefent greatly 
improved by the importation of Spanifh jack- 
affes; and it is not improbable that we may in 
time equal the breed of Spain, where it is not un- 
common to give fifty or fixty guineas for a Mule ; 
and indeed, in fome places, the inhabitants would 
find their fituation very uncomfortable without 
them. 
Vol. IL 
M U L 
The Mule Appears to be marked with certain 
fteril ity: and although fome accounts infinuate 
that this animal has propagated it's kind, we are 
by no means inclined to believe them; fince Na- 
ture, which a6ts by unerring rules, has wifely 
placed a barrier between the mixture of different 
animals, and the confufion of fpecies, by denying 
the pov/er of copulation to monltrous produc- 
tions. 
Mules, as already obferved, are extremely be- 
neficial in hilly countries; and the account of their 
manner of defcending the precipices of the Alps 
and Andes is both extraordinary and entertaining. 
In thefe pafl^ages, on one fide, there are fteep emi- 
nences; and, on the other, frightful abvffcs: and 
as they generally follow the direcftion of the 
mountain, the road, inftead of lying level, forms, 
at every little diftance, fteep declivities, of feveral 
hundred yards, downward. Thefe can only be 
defcended by Mules; and the animals thcmfelves 
feem to be fenfible of the danger, as well as the 
caution necefl^ary to be ufed in fuch defcents. 
When therefore they arrive at the edge of one of 
thefe declivities, they ftop without being checked 
by their riders; and if they inadvertently attempt 
to fpur them on, the Mules continue immoveable. 
All this while they appear as if ruminating on the 
danger that lies before them, and preparing them- 
felves for the encounter; they not only attentively 
view the road, but tremble and fnort at the dan- 
ger. Having prepared for the defcent, they place 
their fore- feet in a pofture as if they v/ere ftopping 
themfelves ; then they alfo put their hinder feet 
together, but a little forward, as if meditating to 
lie down. In this attitude, having as it were 
taken a furvey of the road, they inftantly Aide 
down with inconceivable fwiftnefs. Mean while, 
it is abfolutely neceffary that the rider keep him- 
felf fteady on the faddle^ without checking the 
rein ; for the leaft motion would deftroy the equi- 
librium of the Mule, and render the deftrudtion 
of both inevitable. 
But the addrefs of thefe animals, in this rapid 
defcent, is truly wonderful; for, even in their fwift- 
eft motion, when they feem to have loft all go- 
vernment o0 themfelves, they follow exaftly the 
different ■windings of the road, as if they had pre- 
vioufly itttled the route they were to follow, and 
taken every precaution for their fafety. In thefe 
journies, the natives, who are placed along the 
fides of the mountains, and hold by the roots of 
the trees, animate the Mules with ftiouts, and en- 
courage them to perfeverance ; and fome of thefe 
creatures, after being long habituated to fuch tra- 
velling, acquire a kind of reputation for their 
fafety and ficill ; and their value rifes in proportion 
to their celebrity. 
MULGRANOCK; the Blennius Pholis of 
Linnfeus. An Englifti appellation for a fmall 
fea-fiih caught on the Cornifii and other fhores, 
and called by Pennant the Smooth Blenny, 
This very adtive and vivacious fifli is capable 
of living near a whole day feparate from the wa- 
ter. It feeds on fhells and fmall crabs; bites ex- 
tremely hard ; and will hang fuipended from the 
end of a man's finger for a confiderable time. 
The length is about five inches : the head is large, 
and Hoping downwards to the mouth; the irides 
are red; and the teeth, which are flender, very 
fliarp, and clofe fet, amount to twenty-four ia 
the upper, and nineteen in the lower jaw. The 
pedoral fins are broad and rounded ; the ventral 
