M U C 
M U C 
2T2, 
when it descends by the posterior part of the 
nasal cavities, in which it is thrown out hv 
spitting, d nis’ lirj.ud is separated from the 
blood by the arteries, and appears to be 
termed in particular crypts, which we find 
abundant 1 } disseminated in the nostrils: it is 
collected also from all the frontal sinuses. It 
is also mined with the lachrymal juice, which 
descends by the channel which passes through 
the os unguis, and dilutes the thickened nasal 
muGus. 
We must particularly consider both the 
abundance and the characters of this liquid 
in tire catarrh, improperly called catarrh of 
the brain, in which the nasal mucus is sepa- 
rated in larger quantity, and remains a longer 
time in its ducts, “"it is,’’ says M. Four- 
croy, “ especially under this circumstance, 
that citizen Vauquelin and myself have ex- 
amined it, as we then procured it with great 
facility. We have also availed ourselves of 
the considerable discharge of mucus which is 
produced by the contact of the oxigenated 
muriatic acid gas, in order to obtain a suffi- 
cient quantity of it for the experiments adapt- 
ed for making us well acquainted with its na- 
ture. It has several times happened to ci- 
tizen Vauquelin, who is very sensible to the 
action of the oxigenated muriatic acid gas, 
that lie has collected by its effect 64 grammes 
of this liquid in less than an hour. By means 
of these circumstances we have been "enabled 
to determine its nature jn a considerably ex- 
act manner. It is known that this liquid is 
very abundant in children, that it is a little 
heavier than water, and adheres to most bo- 
dies, even the most polished.” 
The nasal, mucus is at first liquid, clear and 
. Ihppid, a little viscid and adhesive, without 
spied, pf saline and acrid taste, which irri- 
ta.tes.ihe most delicate part of the skin ; it is 
t heii ready the pffuita vitrea of the ajiiients. 
VY ben exposed to the air and to the fire, it 
comports -itself in. the, same manner as the 
tears, frojn which it differs only by the alum- 
oqnce.of its residuum, which is thicker, and 
frequently lppre coloured.. It affords crystals 
of muriate of soda, of soda in the state of car- 
bonate, and of phosphates of lime and of 
soda; the last are much more abundant than 
the others. It turns paper stained with mal- 
lov/ -dowers green, by its salts: we also find 
in it. an animal matter which is not albumi- 
nous, but -quickly becomes thick and con- 
crete by the oxigen of the air and of the oxi- 
f x'nated muriatic acid; it then acquit, s opa- 
city, and a .yellow or greenish colour, swells 
' considerably^ and, becomes filled with bubbles 
by ihe actio.n of lire, leaving but little resi- 
duum upon the ignited coals. This animal 
mucilage, which is more abundant than in 
tiu* fears, appears to be of the same nature in 
bode 
This liquid, being always -exposed to the 
air, which continually passes through the nos- 
trils, is constantly thicker, more viscid, and 
niftie adhesive, than the tears; and the car- 
bonate of soda which it contains, whilst lire 
latter Vonuuns only -sous, announces that the 
air depo.dt.s in if a part or the carbonic- acid 
which if contains,, .especially as ii is expired 
out of Uv* lungs,.. Consequently, it then ren- 
ders the solutions pf hai'j tos of glroiUian, and j 
of him*, very sensibly imbal. In the nostrils, j 
the beat -of the: plant, especially in catarrhs, j 
and the current which incus.- aiffiy acts upon j 
If, contribute also to .thicken it. r i he j 
mucilage of the nasal humour, when if be- 
comes thick in the air, frequently assumes in 
it the form of small, dry, brilliant, and, as it 
were, micaceous plates. If it has dried in 
very thin layers, it nearly resembles those 
brilliant and light marks which snails leave 
behind them upon the substances over which 
they crawl, t he nasal mucus experiences 
no real putrefaction in the air; we should al- 
most be induced to say that it was unalterable 
and imputrescible, when we see it remain 
without contracting any bad smell, even in 
the midst of water, and at a considerably ele- 
vated temperature. However, this property 
of preservation does not extend so tar as to 
communicate itself to other bodies that are 
immersed in it. 
Water does not dissolve the mucus of the 
nose. It is known that this matter remains 
viscid in that fluid, and that it cannot be di- 
luted in water without much difficulty, even 
by agitation. Hot water and ebullition do not 
render this singular mixture more miscible or 
more soluble. In boiling water, it appears at 
first to form one body with the water ; never- 
theless, we see it separate and fall to the bot- 
tom of this liquid by cooling. It is probable 
that this insolubility is owing to the fixation 
-of the oxigen. Neither has it the property 
of rendering oils miscible with water, nor of 
effecting their suspension by trituration, as a 
vegetable mucilage does. It is on this ac- 
count that when we wash, or even boil, this 
thick humour in water, the salts which it con- 
tains are dissolved and separated,, without 
affecting the mucilage which constitutes its 
base. 
The acids thicken the nasal mucus when 
they are concentrated and employed in small 
proportions ; but when we add a larger quan- 
tity, they redissolve and give it different 
shades of colour. The sulphuric acid tinges 
it purple, and renders it very liquid, forming 
however some flakes in it which sink to the 
bottom. The nitric acid, when rather strong, 
dissolves it of a yellow colour. The muriatic 
add is that which effects its solution the 
most easily and the most completely of all, 
giving it a violet-colour. The alkaline, or 
earthy sails, do not cause it to undergo any 
alteration, nor do they dissolve it. 
The mucus of the nostrils being especially 
distinguished from all the other animal liquids 
by the viscid mucilage w hich it contains in 
considerable abundance, it is evidently from 
the presence of this principle that we ought 
to seek its uses, anil the function which it 
performs in the animal economy. Besides 
the kind of evacuation, sometimes 'fery abun- 
dant, which it procures ; and the proportion 
ot the evacuated matter compared with that 
of the other excretory organs, which it car- 
ries out of the body ; this liquid maintains the 
softness of the membranous rides of the nasal 
cavities, and prevents that dryness which, the 
air passing in continual streams through these 
cavities tends to produce in them. It mode- 
rates the too great sensibility of the nervous 
papillae: which are spread out upon the olfac- 
tory. membrane ; it stops and fixes the odo- 
rous bodies, it blunts their too great activity; 
it purifies the air that is respired, by taking 
■from it the pulverulent particles, which it car- 
ries along with it, and which would be more 
hurtful in the lungs. Being always contained 
in a hot, humid, and arid place, three circum- 
stances which would so eminently promote 
M V 0 
j putrofiction, provident nature has given it 
property w Inch opposes the sapticity which 
j would have expose a -man and the animals to 
a multitude of dangerous vitiations and ma- 
ladies. 
It is known that the mucus of the nostrils 
is capable of changing its nature, and assum- 
ing various properties, in the nasal affections. 
It thickens, becomes yellow, orange-colour- 
ed, or greenish, frequently tinges linen with 
a very lively green cast by drying upon it ; 
it sometimes produces* the sensation of ithe 
presence of copper; and sometimes :t exhales 
a nauseous or lend smell, hi some affec- 
tions it becomes so acrid that it seems to 
corrode the membrane of the nostrils, and 
produces excoriations round their orifices, as 
well as upon the upper lip. Lastly, it is 
sometimes liquid like water, at others ropy 
like oil: in several cases thick, viscid, and 
always transparent, like jelly ; in other cir- 
cumstances, semiconcrete, and white, yellow*, 
or green, like a purulent humour. None of 
these changes have yet been .chemically ex- 
amined, and hardly even ’lias the attention 
which they deserve been bestowed upon 
them. 
MUFTI, or Mitphti, the chief of the ec- 
clesiastical order, or primate, of the bn.ssul- 
man religion. The authority of the mufti is 
very great in the Ottoman empire ; for even 
the sultan himself, if he would preserve any 
appearance of religion, cannot, without hear- 
ing his opinion, put any person to death, or 
so much as inflict nv corporal punishment. 
In all actions, especially criminal ones, his 
opinion is required by giving him a writing, 
in which the case is stated under feigned 
names, which he subscribes with the words. 
He shall, or shall not, be punished. Such 
outward honour is paid to the mufti, that the 
grand seignior himself rises up to him, and 
advances seven steps <o meet him, when he 
comes into his presence. The election of 
the mufti is solely in the grand seignior, who 
presents him with a vest of rich sables, &c. 
It he is convicted of treason, or any great 
crime, he is put into a mortar, kept for that 
purpose in the Seven Towers at Constanti- 
nople, and pounded to death. 
MUGGLEI ONIANS, a religious sect, 
which arose in England about the year 1657 ; 
so denominated from their leader Lodowick 
Muggleton, a journeyman taylor, who, with 
his associate Reeves, averted, that they were 
the two last witnesses of God that should ap- 
pear before the end of the world. 
MUGIL, mullet, a genus of fishes of the 
order abdominales. The generic character 
is, lips membranaceous ; the inferior cari- 
nated within : teeth none; at the corners of 
the mouth an inflicted callus: gill-membrane 
with six curbed rays : body fleshy ; scales 
large ; dorsal fins two. 
1. Mugil cephalus, common mullet. This 
fish, the mugil and mugilis of the antient 
Romans, is a very common inhabitant of the 
Mediterranean and northern seas, frequent- 
ing chiefly the shallow parts near the shores, 
and feeding on the smaller kind of worms, 
sea-insects, and vegetables. Its general length 
is from 12 to 15 or 16 inches, and its colour 
blueish-grey, darker on the -back, and silvery 
on the abdomen ; the sides are marked, like 
those of the grayling, with several dusky 
stripes, according to the rows of scales. 
