M O R 
M O R 
M O R 
MORDELLA, a genus of insects of the 
order eoleoptera. The antennae are thread- 
shaped and serrated ; the head is deflected 
under the neck : the pappi are elevated, com- 
presed, and obliquely blunted ; and the elytra 
are bent backwards near (he apex. There 
are six species. 
MO IDEA, a genus of the monogynia or- 
der, in the triandria class of plants ; and in 
the natural method ranking under the 6th or- 
der, ensahe. 'The corolla is hexapetalous ; 
the three interior petals, patent ; the rest like 
those of the iris. There are 17 species, beau- 
tiful exotics, resembling the iris. 
MO RINA, a genus of the monogynia or- 
der, jn the triandria class of plants ; and in 
the natural method ranking under the 48th 
order, aggregate. The corolla is unequal; 
the calyx ot the fruit is monophyllous and 
dented; the calyx of the flower bilid; there 
is otf seed under the calyx of the flower. 
There is one species. 
MOR IN DA, a genus of the monogynia or- 
der, in the pentandria class of plants ; and in the 
natural method ranking under the 48th order, 
'aggregate . The flowers are aggregate and 
monopetaious ; the stigmata bitid ; the fruit 
plums aggregate or in clusters. There are 3 
species, trees of the East Indies. 
MORI SONIA, a genus of the polyandria 
order, in thcinonadelphia class of plants ; and 
in the natural method ranking under the 25th 
order, putaminece. The calyx is single and 
bitid; the corolla tetrapetalous ; there is one 
pistil ; the berry has a hard bark, is unilocular, 
polyspermous, and pedecellated. There is one 
species, a tree of South America. 
MOR MY HUS, a genus of fishes of the 
branchiostegeous order, the generic character 
is, head smooth ; teeth numerous, notched ; 
aperture of the gills linear, without a cover; 
gill membrane with one ray ; body scaly. 
There are three species. The kannume has 
the tail bifid, obtuse; dorsal tin with (53 rays. 
It inhabits the Nile ; body whitish and much 
compressed. 
MOROCCO, marnquin, in commerce, a 
fine kind of leather prepared of the skin of an 
animal of the goat-kind, and imported from 
the Levant, Barbary, & c. 
The name was probably taken from the 
kingdom of Morocco, whence the manner of 
preparing it was borrowed, which is this: the 
skins being lirst dried in the hair, are steeped 
in water three davs and nights ; then 
stretched on a tanner’s horse, beaten with 
a large knife, and steeped afresh in water every 
day : they are then thrown into a large vat in 
the ground, full of water, where quicklime has 
been slaked, and there lie rifteen days; whence 
they are taken, and again returned every night 
and" morning. They are next thrown into a 
frefli vatot lime and water, and shifted night 
and morning for lifteen days longer : then rins- 
ed in clear water, and the hair taken off on the 
leg with the knife, returned into a third vat, 
and shifted as before for eighteen days ; stoop- 
ed twelve hours in a river, taken out, rinsed, 
put in pails, where they are pounded with , 
wooden pestles, changing the water twice;; 
then laid on die horse, and the flesh taken off; \ 
returned into pails of new water, taken out, and 
the hair-side scraped; returned into fresh pails, j 
taken out, and thrown into a pail of a particular , 
form, having holes at bottom : here they are 
beaten for the space of an hour, and fresh 
water poured on from time to time ; then , 
being stretched on the leg, and scraped on 
either side, they are returned into pails ot fresh 
water, taken out, stretched and sewed up all 
around in manner of bags, leaving out tiie 
hinder legs as an apeiture for the convey- 
ance of a certain mixture. 
The skins thus sewed are put in lukewarm 
water, where dogs excrements have been dis- 
solved. Here tliev are stirred with long poles 
for half an hour, left at rest a dozen, taken 
out, rinsed in freshwater, and filled by a tun- 
nel with a preparation of water and sumac, 
mixed and heated over the lire till read) to 
boil ; and, as they are filled, the hind legs are 
sewed up to stop the passage. In this state 
they are let down into the vessel of water and 
sumac, and kept stirring for four hours suc- 
cessively ; taken out and heaped on one ano- 
ther; alter a little time their sides are chang- 
ed, and thus they continue an hour and a 
half till drained. This done, they are loos- 
ened, and idled a second time with the same 
preparation, sewed up again, and kept stirring 
two hours, piled up and drained as before. 
This process is again repeated, with this dif- 
ference, that they are then oniy stirred a quar- 
ter o 1 an hour ; after which they are left tiil 
next morning, v. hen they are taken out, 
drained on a rack, unsieved, the sumac taken 
out, folded in two troin head to tail, tne hair- 
side outw ards, laid over each other on the leg, 
to perfect their draining, stretched out and 
dried; then trampled under foot by two and 
two, stretched on a wooden table, what flesh 
and sumac remains scraped off, the hair-side 
nibbed over with oil, and that again with water. 
They are then wrung with the hands, 
stretched, and pressed tight on the table with 
an iron-instrument like that ot a currier,- the 
flesh side uppermost ; then turned, and the 
hair-side rubbed strongly over with a hand- 
ful of rushes, to squeeze out as much of the oil 
remaining as possible. '1 he first curse of 
biack is now laid on the hair-side, by means of 
a lock of hair twisted and steeped in a kind ot' 
black dye, prepared of sour beer, wherein 
pieces ot old rusty iron have been thrown. 
When half-dried in the air, they are stretched 
on a table, rubbed over every way with a 
paumelie, or wooden-toothed instrument, to 
raise the grain, over which is past a light 
couch of water, then sleeked by rubbing them 
with rushes prepared for the purpose. Thus 
sleeked, they have a second couche of black, 
then dried, laid on the table, rubbed over 
with a paumelie of cork, to raise the grain 
again ; and, after a light couche of water, 
sleeked over anew ; and to raise the grain a 
third time, a paumelie of wood is used. 
After the hair-side has received al! its pre- 
parations, the flesh-side is pared with a 
sharp knife for the purpose: the hair-side is 
strongly rubbed over with a woollen cap, hav- 
ing before given it a gloss with barberries, 
citron, or orange. The whole is finished 
by raising the grain lightly, for the last time, 
with the paumelie of cork; sq that they are 
now lit for the market. 
Manner of preparing red Morocco : af- j 
ter steeping, stretching, scraping, beating, J 
and rinsing the skins, as before, tney are at j 
length wrung, stretched on the leg, and passed j 
after each other into water where alum has i 
been dissolved. Thus alumed, they are left 
to drain tiil morning, then wrung out, pulled : 
on the leg, and folded from head to tail, the i 
flesh inwards. 
In this state they receive their first dye, 'by- 
passing them after one another into a red li- 
quor prepared with laque, and some other in- 
■ gradients, which the marowquineers kes p a se- 
cret. This they repeat again and again, till 
the skins have got their first colour ; then they 
are rinsed in clear water, stretched on the leg, 
and left to drain twelve hours; thrown into 
water through a sieve, and stirred incessantly 
for a day with long poles; taken out, hung 
on a bar across the water all night, white 
against red, and red against white, and in the 
morning the water stirred up, and the skins 
returned into it for twenty-four hours. 
MORTALITY, Bids of, accounts of the 
numbers of deaths or burials in any parish or 
district. The establishment of registers of this 
kind in Great Britain, was occasioned by the 
plague, and an abstract of them was published 
weekly, to shew the increase or decrease of 
the disorder, that individuals might judge of 
the necessity of removal, or of taking other 
precautions against it, and government be in- 
formed of the propriety or success on any 
! public measures relating to the disorder, 
i The first directions for keeping registers of 
births and burials were contained in the in- 
! junctions to the clergy, issued in the year 
j 1538, which not being properly attended to, 
| were enforced in 1547, and again in the be- 
; ginning of the reign of Elizabeth, who also 
j appointed a protestation to be made by the 
clergy, in which, among other things, they 
promise to keep the register-book in a proper 
manner. One of the canons of the church 
prescribes very minute v in what manner 
entries are to be made in the parish-registers, 
and orders an attested copy of the register 
of each successive year to be annually trans- 
mitted to the bishop of the diocese or his 
chancellor, and to be preserved in the bi- 
shop’s registry. These registers have only 
been occasionally communicated to the pub- 
lic, and that without sufficient particulars to 
supply much information ; but in London, 
and the surrounding parishes, the parish- 
clerks are required to make a weekly return 
of burials, with the age and disease of which 
the person died ; a summary of which account 
is published weekly; and on the Thursday 
before Christmas-day, a general account is 
made up for the whole year. 'These accounts 
of christenings and burials, taken by the com- 
pany of parish clerks of London, were began 
21st Dec. 1592, but were not made public 
till 1594 ; and towards the end of the follow- 
ing year, upon the ceasing of the plague, 
they were discontinued ; at this time the 
London bills of mortality comprehended but 
109 parishes. In 1603, the weekly bills of 
mortality were resumed, and have been regu- 
larly continued ever since; the number of 
parishes included in them has been increased 
at different times, and at present is 146. 
Bills of mortality, especially such as give 
the ages of the dead and the disorders of 
which they died, furnish much use, ul infor- 
mation ; they shew the different degrees of 
healthiness of seasons or districts, the progress 
of population, and the probabilities of the 
duration of human life in any part of the usual 
term of existence; they are the foundations 
on which all tables or the value of annuities 
on lives, or depending on survivorship, have 
been constructed. 
In 1662, Mr. John Graunt published some 
ingenious observations on the London Bills 
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