mortmain 
Here [Slcllyl, In the end, Rome laid her mortmain upon 
Hi'" k, riiirnirhui, iiiul sikrlint alike', turning the Island 
int.. u granary and reducing Its inhabitant* to serfdom. 
J. A. Syiiwiulx, Italy and Greece, p. 143. 
Alienation In mortmain, un alienation of lands or 
Irn.-nn-iits to any corporation, sole or aggregate, ecclesi- 
:iMi<-:il in temporal, particularly to religious houses, by 
whirh the i-Htatf lnvoincs perpetually inherent in the cor- 
IKiratinn anil mmlirlialilc. Mortmain Act, an KliKlish 
statute of 1730 (II (!eo. II., c. 36), based on the Impoliey of 
allowing gifts, under the name of charity, to be made by 
persons in view of approaching death, to the disinheritance 
of their lawful heirs. It prohibits, except in the instance 
of some universities and colleges, all alienation of land 
for charitable purposes (unless on full and valuable con- 
sideration) otherwise than by deed indented and executed 
In the presence of two or more witnesses, twelve months 
before the death of the donor, and enrolled in chancery 
within six months after its date, and taking effect in pos- 
session immediately after the making thereof, and with- 
out power of revocation or any reservation for the benefit 
of the grantor or persons claiming under him. Statutes 
Of mortmain, the name under which are known a num- 
ber of English statutes, beginning in 1226 (I) Hen. III., c. 
88; 7 Edw. I., st. 2 ; i:i Kdw. l.,c : ; 15 Rich. II., c. 5; 23 
Hen. VIII., c. 101, restricting or forbidding the giving of 
land to religious houses. The Mortmain Act (which see, 
above) Is sometimes incorrectly called a statute of mort- 
main. 
mortmalt, See mormal. 
mortn, n. An erroneous form of mornt. 
mortoriO (raor-to'ri-o), n. [It., also mortoro, < 
mnrto, dead: see mort 2 .'] A sculptured group 
representing the dead Christ. 
In the mortonaot the church of San Giovanni Decollate 
at Modena, the dead body of our Lord lies upon the ground. 
C. C. Periling, Italian Sculpture, p. 227. 
mortpayt, [< OF. mortepaye, mortepaye; < 
mort, dead, + paye, pay: see mart 2 and pay 1 , 
n.] Dead-pay. 
The seuere punishing of mort-payet, and keeping backe 
of souldiours wages. Bacon, Hist. Hen. \ 1 1 , p. 101. 
mortresst (mdr'tres), . [Early mod. E. mar- 
tense (Palsgrave), for "mortresse, < ME. mor- 
treus, mortreux, mortrewes, mortrus, morterews, 
mortrels, appar. pi., the sing, 'mortrel, tnortrell 
being scarcely used ; < OP. mortreur, mortreus, 
morteruel, mortereol, a mixture of bread and 
milk, appar. < morter, mortier, mortar (in general 
sense of 'mixture'): see mortar 2 .'] A kind of 
soup, said to have been "white soup," a deli- 
cacy of the middle ages in England. 
Ac thei etc mete of more coste, mortrewet, and Dotages ; 
Of that men mys-wonne thei made hem wel at ese. 
Fieri Plowman (B), xill. 41. 
He cowde roste, and sethe. and broille, and frle, 
Maken tnortreux, and wel bake a pye. 
Chaucer, Gen. Prol. to C. T., I. 884. 
A mortress made with the brawn of capons, stamped, 
strained, and mingled with like quantity of almond bat- 
ter, is excellent to nourish the weak. Bacon, Nat. Hist. 
mortreuxt, mortrewest, ". See mortress. 
mort-safe (mdrt'saf), n. [< mort 2 + safe.'] An 
iron coffin. 
Iron coffins, called mort tafet, were used In Scotland as 
a precaution against resurrectionists. After time had 
been allowed for the wooden coffin to decay, the grave was 
reopened, and the mort *"'' taken out for further use. 
H. and Q., 7th ser., VI. 516. 
mortstonet (mdrt'ston), n. [< mort 2 + stone.] 
A large stone by the wayside between a village 
and the parish church, on which in former 
times the bearers of a dead body rested the 
coffin. 
'Tis here, 
Six furlongs from the chapel What is this? 
Oh me ! the mortJttone. 
Sir H. Taylor, Edwin the Fair, v. 7. 
mortuary (m6r'tu-a-ri), a. and . [= F. mor- 
tuaire = Sp. mortiiorio = Pg. mortuario = It. 
mortorio, mortoro, < L. mortuarius, belonging 
to the dead, ML. neut. mortuarium, also mor- 
tiiorinni, a mortuary, < L. mortuus, dead: see 
mort 2 .'] I. n. Of or pertaining to the burial of 
the dead. Mortuary chaplet, a wreath or crown put 
upon the head of a corpse at the funeral ceremony and 
often left with it in the tomb. Such a garland was known 
by the Romans as corollariutn. In medieval Europe these 
wreaths were common, especially in the case of women 
who died unmarried. They were sometimes made of fili- 
gree-work with gold ami silver wire. Mortuary chest, 
a coffer of wood or other material intended to receive the 
rrniaiitiof bodies once buried elsewhere, when the graves 
have been disturbed. 
II. .; pi. mortuaries (-riz). 1. In law, a 
sort of ecclesiastical heriot, a customary gift 
claimed by and due to the minister of a parish 
on the death of a parishioner. It seems to have 
been originally a voluntary bequest or donation, intended 
to m.ikc amends for any failure in the payment of tithes of 
which tluMU-crasod had IMVII guilty. Mortuaries, wheredue 
by custom, were recoverable in the ecclesiastical courts. 
The curate clamed y" lieiyng shete for a mortuary. 
Hall. Hen. VIII., an. 0. 
The Payment of Mortuaries is of great Antiquity. Itwas 
antiently done by leading or driving a Horse or Cow, &c., 
before the Corps of the IM'ct'asr.l at his Kuncral, It a-> 
considered as a (Sift left by a Man at his Death, by \Vaj of 
3867 
Recompence for all Failures In the Payment of Tithes and 
(Dilutions, and culled a Corse-present 
Bourne'i Pop. Antiq. (1777), p. 25. 
2. A burial-place. Whitlock. 3. A place for 
the temporary reception of the dead ; a dead- 
house. 4. A memorial of the death of some 
beloved or revered person; especially, in the 
seventeenth century, a sword bearing some em- 
blem of the wearer's devotion to the memory of 
Charles I. and the cause of royalty. 
Swords of this type [cavalry sword, time of the Com- 
monwealth] are often called mortuary, as a number of 
them were made In memory of Charles I., and bear his 
likeness upon the hilt. 
Kdi/ertun-CasUe, Schools and Masters of Fence, p. 240. 
mprula (mor'ij-lil), . ; pi. morula (-16). [NL., 
dim. of L. morum, a mulberry : see more*.] In 
i iniiryol.,the condition (resembling a mulberry) 
of an ovum after complete segmentation of the 
vitellus or yolk and before the formation of a 
blastula, when the contents are a mass of cells 
derived by cleavage of the original and suc- 
cessively formed nuclei; a mulberry-mass of 
blastomeres or cleavage-cells. See monerula, 
blastula, gastrula, and cut under gastrulation. 
The number of blastomeres thus increases In geometrical 
progression until the entire yelk la converted into a mul- 
berry-like body, termed a morula, made up of a great num- 
ber of small blastomeres or nucleated cells. 
Huxley, Crayfish, p. 20ft 
morulation (mor-o-la'shon), 11. [< morula + 
-it I ion.'] In embryol., the conversion of the vitel- 
lus or yolk of an ovum into a mulberry-mass 
(morula) of cleavage-cells. 
moruloid (mor'<J-loid), a. [< morula + -oid.] 
Having the character of a morula ; resembling 
a morula. 
Moms (mo'rus), . [NL. (Tournefort, 1700), < 
L. nwrus, a mulberry-tree: see more 4 .] A ge- 
nus of dicotyledonous trees of the apetalous 
order Urticacea>, type of the tribe Morete; the 
mulberries. It is characterized by spicate flowers, the 
fertile with a 4-parted perianth, and by leaves 3-nerved 
from the base. The mulberry-fruit is a multiple fleshy 
fruit formed by the coalescence of many ovaries and In- 
vesting perianths. About 12 species are known, natives 
of the northern hemisphere and of mountains in the trop- 
ics ; some are valued for their edible fruit, and some for 
their leaves, which are used as silkworm-food. See mul- 
berry. 
Morvan's disease. A disease described by 
Morvan in 1883, characterized by a progressive 
anaesthesia and akinesia, especially of the ex- 
tremities, accompanied by trophic disturb- 
ances, including ulceration and necrosis. The 
nerves have been found to exhibit an intense inflamma- 
tion, so that it has been regarded as a multiple neuritis. 
Also called analgesia panaru and partgo-analgcsia. 
morwet, A Middle English form of morroir. 
morwent, n. A Middle English form of morn, 
morroir. 
morweningt, A Middle English form of morn- 
ing. Chaucer. 
morwespechet, . See morroic-speecli. 
mosaic 1 (mo-za'ik), a. and . [Formerly also 
mosaiek, musaick; = F. mosaique = Sp. mosd- 
ico = Pg. mosaico = It. mosaico, musaico, < ML. 
mosaicus, prop, "musaicus, < MGr. "//otwaucof, 
equiv. to Or. uovaeloc. (> L. museus and musi- 
rx), mosaic, lit. of the Muses, i. e. artistic, 
neut. imimiiKi'ii; also /lovaeiov (> L. unix/riim, also 
tnuxiriiiH, sc. opus, mosaic work), (.uovaa, a Muse : 
see Muse 2 . Cf. museum. ~\ I. a. Made of small 
pieces inlaid to form a pattern ; also, resem- 
bling such inlaid work. 
The roofe compact, and adorned with M otaick painting. 
Sandys, Travailes, p. 24. 
In the bottom of this liquid Ice 
Made of Mutaick work, with quaint deulce 
The cunning work-man had contriued trim 
Carpes, Pikes, and Dolphins seeming even to swim. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, ii., The Trophies. 
Mosaic canvas, the finest sort of canvas, prepared for em- 
broidery. Diet, of Ncedleirort. Mosaic glass, gold, etc. 
Seo the nouns. Mosaic theory, a doctrine respecting 
the physiological action of the compound eyes of arthro- 
pods, which supposes that each retinal cell perceives but 
a part of the picture, the several parts being connected 
by the action of the brain as a kind of optical mosaic. 
Mosaic wool-work, rugs, etc., made of variously colored 
woolen threads, arranged so that the ends form a pattern. 
The threads are held firmly in a frame, so as to form a 
dense mass, with the upper ends of the threads presenting 
a close surface ; this surface Is smeared with a cement, and 
has a backing of canvas attached, after which a transverse 
section is cut the desired thickness of the pile, and so on 
with a number of similar sections. 
II. . 1 . Mosaic work ; inlaid work, especial- 
ly in hard materials, as distinguished from in- 
lays of wood, ivory, or the like. The most common 
materials for mosaic are colored stones and glass, pave- 
ments and floors being more commonly made of the for- 
mer. Glass mosaic is composed either of pieces cut from 
small colored rods which are prepared in a suitable vari- 
ety of colors and shades, and by means of which pictorial 
mosaicist 
effects can readily be obtained, us iti Ibnnnn iiumair, m f 
tessera made each by itself, the colors used in thi- m* Him! 
being fewer ami the pieces usually aliout a quarter of an 
Mosaic. Detail from apse of the Basilica of Torcelio, near Venice; 
lath century. 
inch square. The latter variety may be distinguished as 
Byzantine or Venetian mosaic. Mosaic was a usual deco- 
ration among the later Greeks and the Romans, and among 
the Byzantines and their immediate artistic followers, 
as |at Ravenna and Venice, and in the splendid Norman- 
Saracenic churches of Sicily, displayed a preeminent ex- 
cellence of design and magnificence of color. The art has 
recently been revived, with especial success in Italy and 
France. 
Each beauteous flower, 
Iris all hues, roses, and jessamin, 
Rear'd high their flourish'd heads between, and wrought 
Miaaic. Milton, P. I. , Iv. 700. 
The liquid floor Inwrought with pearls divine, 
Where all his labours in momic snine. 
Savage, The Wanderer, v. 
2. A piece of mosaic work : as, a Florentine mo- 
saic; a Roman mosaic; a glass mosaic. 
Uerschel thought that the workers on the mosaics ot the 
Vatican must have distinguished at least thirty thousand 
different colors. O. T. Ladjl, Physiol. Psychology, p. 333. 
3. Anything resembling a piece of mosaic work 
in composition. 
No doubt every novel since time began has been a mo- 
taic. The author fits into one picture bits of experience 
found in many places, in many years. 
A. Lang, Contemporary Rev., LIV. 817. 
Alexandrine, fictile, Florentine, etc., mosaic. See the 
adjectives. Cloisonne mosaic, a modern decorative 
art in which dividing lines, bars, or ridges are made 
prominent features of the design, the spaces between be- 
ing filled with colored material, as opaque glass. Roman 
mosaic. See the quotation. 
The modern so-called Roman mosaic is formed of short 
and slender sticks of coloured glass fixed in cement, the 
ends, which form the pattern, being finally rubbed down 
and polished. Encyc. Brit., XVI. 854. 
Straw mosaic, fine straw In different shades of color at- 
tached by glue to a cardboard foundation : used in vari- 
ous forms of decoration. Art of Decoration, II. S3. 
Mosaic 2 (tn9-za'ik), a. [= F. mosaique = Sp. 
mosaico = Pg. It. mosaico (cf. G. mosaisch), < 
NL. 'Mosaicus (cf. LL. Moseius, Moseus), < LL. 
Moses, Moyses, < Gr. Mwo-r/f, Mum^r, Moses, < 
Heb. Afosheh, Moses, appar. < m/iA, draw out 
(sc. of the water, with ref. to Ex. ii. 3-5), but 
prob. an accommodation of the Egyptian name.] 
Relating to Moses, the Hebrew lawgiver, or to 
the writings and institutions attributed to him. 
Mosaic law, the ancient law of the Hebrews, given to 
them by Moses, at Mount Sinai, and contained In the books 
of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. 
mosaical 1 (mo-za'i-kal), a. [< mosaic 1 + -<i/.] 
Same as mosaic*. [Rare.] 
Behind the thickets again [were] new beds of flowers, 
which being under the trees, the trees were to them a 
pavilion, and they to the trees a monaieal floor. 
Sir P. Sidney, Arcadia, I. 
Mosaical 2 (mo-za'i-kal), a. [< Mosaic* + -a/.] 
Same as Mosaic'-. 
After the Babylonish Captivity, when God did not give 
any new command concerning the Crown, tho the Royal 
Line was not extinct, we find the People returning to the 
old Mosaical Form of Government again. 
Milton, Answer to Salmasius. 
mosaically (mo-zii'i-knl-i), </r. In the man- 
ner of mosaic work. 
mosaicist (mo-za'i-sist), . [< mosaic* + -i>7.] 
One who mates or deals in mosaics. 
