M U S 
243 
MUS 
the insertion to be at E (Plate Miscel, fig. 
;■ 163,) near the wrist B, the muscle D E being 
& either loose and separate from the bone 
; D, A, B, or bound down to it by some liga- 
ment or fascia R ; in either of which cases 
the bone A B cannot be turned up quite to 
the situation A II, unless the muscle D E is 
I contracted or shortened to D M, which 
I would not only be troublesome but even im- 
1 possible. It would be troublesome, because 
i the breadth and thickness of the arm would 
j be vastly increased, so as to become as big 
| as the belly of an animal. On the other 
hand, the structure of a muscle being such 
| that it cannot be contracted but a little, sel- 
| doni above two or three fmgers’-breadth ; 
| such an insertion as that at E, which requires 
I a contraction of about a foot and a half, 
| would be altogether impossible. Therefore, 
| in fact, we find the muscles inserted near the 
I centre of motion, as at I, lig, 169. 
In order to calculate the force of any 
| muscle, we are to consider the bones as le- 
‘j vers; and then the power or force of the 
muscle will, be always to the resistance or 
1 weight it is capable of raising, as the greater 
distance of the weight from the centre of 
motion is to the lesser distance of the power, 
lienee, it being found by experiments, that 
a robust young man is able to suspend a 
weight R, equal to twenty -eight pounds, when 
the arm is extended in a supine and hori- 
zontal situation, we have this proportion, 
£ viz. the force of the muscle I D is to the 
| weight R, — 28 ft, as the distance D C is 
I to the distance I C. But it is found, that 
! D C, the length of the cubit and hand, is 
i more than twenty times greater than I C, 
the distance of the muscle from the centre 
of motion. Therefore the force of the muscle 
I D, must be more than twenty times great- 
er than the weight R, or more than 28 x 20 
= 560 ft. 
Again, to find the force which the biceps 
and brachiaeus muscles exert, when the hu- 
merus D A, (fig. 170.) is perpendicular to 
the horizon, we are first to consider what 
| weight a man is capable of sustaining in this 
posture, viz. R = 35 pounds, and next the 
quantity of the distances C B, C I, which in 
this case are as 16 to 1. Therefore the force 
of these muscles is to the weight R = 35 
pounds, as the distance C15 = 16 is to the 
'■ distance I C = 1 ; or the force is equal to 
; 560, as before. 
But what appears most wonderful is, the 
force of the muscles that move the lower 
jaw ; which, when taken altogether, do not 
j in a man exceed the weight of 1 pound, 'and 
yet exert a forte equal to 534 pounds, and 
in mastiff-dogs, wolves, bears, lions, &c. 
their force is vastly superior, so as to break 
large bones, as they practise daily in their 
feeding. 
The motions of the far greater part of the 
muscles are voluntary, or dependant on our 
will; those of a few others, involuntary. The 
| former are called animal, the other natural 
; motions. Finally, the motions of some of 
the muscles are of a mixed kind, partly ani- 
mal and partly natural. Those muscles 
E. which perform the voluntary motions, re- 
j ceivfe nerves from the brain or spinal mar- 
row : those which perform their motions in- 
voluntarily, have their nerves from the cere- 
bellum ; and those whose motion is partly 
voluntary, and partly involuntary, have 
. > > 
theirs in part from the brain, and in part 
trom the cerebellum. And as a muscle can 
no longer act when its nerve is either cut 
asunder or tied up, so the same absolute de- 
pendance it has on its artery : for from the 
experiments of Steno and others on living 
animals, it appears that in cutting or tying 
up the artery, the muscle in the same man- 
ner loses its whole power of action, as if 
the nerve had been cut or tied up. 
MUSCOVY GLASS. See Mica. 
MUSHROOM. See Agaricus. 
MUSIC, a science which teaches the pro- 
perties, dependances, and relations of melo- 
dious sounds ; or flie art of producing har- 
mony and melody by the due combination 
and arrangement of those sounds. This 
science, when employed in searching the prin- 
ciples of this combination and succession, and 
the causes of the pleasure we receive from 
them, becomes very profound, and demands 
much patience, sagacity, and depth of think- 
ing. it is generally supposed that the word 
music is derived from Musa, because it is 
previously believed that the invention of this 
art is to be attributed to the muses : but Dio- 
dorus derives it from an Egyptian name, in- 
timating that music was first established as a 
science in Egypt after the Deluge, and that 
the first idea of musical sound was received 
from that produced by the reeds growing on 
the banks of the Nile, by the wind blowing 
into them. Others again imagine, that the 
first ideas of music were received from the 
warbling of birds. However this may really 
have been, it appears at least equally ration- 
al, to attribute its origin to mankind; since 
musical intonation, in the infancy of lan- 
guage, must often have been the natural re- 
sult of passionate feeling, and since also we 
find that wherever there is speech there is 
song. 
The antient writers on this science differ 
greatly as to its object and extent. In ge- 
neral, they give to it a much wider latitude 
than that which it obtains with us. Under 
the name of music they comprehended not 
only the melodious union of voices and in- 
struments, but also the dance, gesture, 
poetry, and even all the other sciences. 
Hermes defines music to be the general 
knowledge of order; which was also the doc- 
trine of Plato, who taught that every thing 
in the universe was music. 
Music, however, properly so called, only 
concerns the due order and proportion of 
sounds ; and is divided into two parts, the 
theoretical and the practical. Theoretical 
music comprehends the knowledge of har- 
mony and modulation ; and the laws of that 
successive arrangement of sound by which 
air, or melody, is produced. Practical music 
is the art of bringing this knowledge and 
those laws into operation, by actually dis- 
posing of the sounds, both in combination 
and succession, so as to produce the desired 
effect ; and this is the art of composition : 
but practical music may, in fact, be said to 
extend still further, and to include not only 
the production of melodious and harmonious 
composition, but also its performance ; and 
to such a facility in execution, and nicety of 
expression, has this department of practical 
music arrived at the present day, that its 
professors, generally speaking, hold a truly 
respectable rank in the various list of modern 
LIh2 
M U S 
artists; and are highly, as well as most de- 
servedly, esteemed by all lovers and patrons 
ot musical taste and ingenuity. 
MUSS JEN DA, a genus of the peutandria 
monogynia class and order. The cor. is 
funnel-form; stigma 2, thickish ; berry ob- 
long, inferior ; seeds disposed in 4 rows. 
There are three species, shrubs of China. 
MUSK. This substance is secreted into a 
kind, situated in the umbilical region of the 
quadruped called moschus moschifer (which 
see). Its colour is brownish red ; its feel 
unctuous; its taste bitter ; and its smell aro- 
matic and intensely strong. It is partially 
soluble in water, which acquires its smell; 
and in alcohol, but that liquid does not re- 
tain the odour of musk. Nitric and sulphuric 
acids dissolve it, but destroy the odour. Fix- 
ed alkalies develope the odour of ammonia. 
Oils do not act on it. At a red heat it has 
the same fetid smell as urine. Its compo- 
nent parts have not been ascertained. 
MUSKET, a fire-arm borne on the shoul- 
der, and used in war. The length ot a mus- 
ket is fixed at three feet eight inches from 
the muzzle to the pan, and it carries a bail 
of 29 to 2 pounds. 
In fortification, the length of the line of 
defence is limited by the ordinary distance 
of a musket-shot, which is about 120 fa- 
thoms ; and the length of almost all military 
architecture is regulated by this rule. See 
Gunnery, Gun-smithery, and Rifle. 
MUSKETOON, a kind of short thick 
musket, whose bore is the thirty-eighth part 
of its length : it carries rive ounces of iron, 
or seven and a half of lead, with an equal 
quantity of powder. This is the shortest sort 
of blunderbuss. 
MUSLIN, a fine thin sort of cotton cloth, 
which bears a downy nap on its surface. 
There are several sorts of muslins brought 
from the East Indies, and more particularly 
from Bengal. 
MUSTELA, the otter, a genus of qua- 
drupeds of the order ferae the generic charac- 
ter is, foreteeth upper six, erect, acuter, 
distinct ; lower six, obtuser, crowded, placed 
within ; tongue smooth. 
M. Ultra, common otter. The common otter 
is found in almost every part of Europe, as 
well as in the colder regions of Asia ; inha- 
biting the banks of rivers, and feeding prin- 
cically on fish. It occurs also in the northern 
parts of America, and particularly in Canada, 
where it appears to arrive at a larger size 
than in Europe. In the river Euphrates, on 
the contrary, it is found to ire no larger than 
a common cat; hut it is probable, t.iat ibis 
is in reality a different species, viz. the M. 
lutreoia, or smaller otter, hereafter to be 
described. The length of the otter is nearly 
two feet from nose to tail , and of tiie tail 
about sixteen inches. Its colour is a deep 
brown, with a small light-coloured patch on 
eacli side the nose, and another under the 
chin. “ The otter, (says Mr. Pennant) 
shews great sagacity in forming its habitation r 
it burrows under ground on the banks of 
some river or lake, and always makes the 
entrance of its hole under water, working 
upwards to tiie surface of the earth; and, be- 
fore it reaches the top, makes several holts 
or lodges, that in case of high floods it may- 
have a retreat, for no animal affects king 
drier; and then makes a minute orifice for 
tiie admission ot air. It is farther observed. 
I 
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