MOA 
set the mizen, that is, fit tlie mizen-sail 
right as it should stand. Change the mizen, 
or bring the mizen-jard over to the other 
side of the mast. Peak the mizen, or put 
the mizen-yard right up and down by the 
mast. Spell the mizen, or let go the sheet 
and peak it up. 
MNASIUM, in botany, a genus of the 
Hexandria Mouogynia class and order. Na- 
tural order of Ensatap. Junci, Jussieu. Es- 
sential character; calyx one-leafed, three- 
parted; corolla one-petalled, three- parted, 
with a short tube ; anthers four-cornered, 
terminated by an ovate leaflet; germ three- 
lobed ; stigmas three, spiral. There is but 
one species, viz. M, paludosum, a perennial 
plant, found growing in the marshy woods 
of Guiana. 
MNIARTJM, in botany, a genus of the 
Monandria Digynia class and order. Essen- 
tial character : calyx four parted, superior ; 
corolla none; seed one. There is but oue 
species, viz. hi. biflomin : this plant resem- 
bles minuartia so much in its appearance 
that, without examining the flower, it woidd 
be ranked w’ith that genus ; it is very 
smooth, dichotomous, covered all over with 
approximating, acerose,' connate leaves ; 
flowers terminating in pairs, subsessile, 
generally shorter than the leaves. It is 
a native of New Zealand, and Terra del 
Fuego. 
MNIUM, in botany, a genus of the Cryp- 
togamia hliisci classand order. Natural order 
of Mosses. Generic character : capsule with 
a lid ; calyptre smooth ; bristle from a ter- 
minating tubercle : male flowers headed, or 
discoid. Twenty species are enumerated, 
among which hi. hygrometricum is the most 
remarkable. If the fruit stalk be moisten- 
ed at the bottom, the head makes three or 
four turns ; and if the head be moistened 
it turns the contrary way. By some, authors 
this is ranged with the Bryums ; and Hed- 
wig makes it a Roelreuteria. 
MOAT, or Ditch, in fortification, a deep 
trench dug round .the rampart of a fortified 
place, to prevent surprises. 
Tlie brink of the moat, next the rampart, 
is called the scarpe ; and the opposite one, 
the counterscarpe. A dry moat round a 
large place, with a strong garrison, is pre- 
ferable to one full of water ; because the 
passage may be disputed inch by inch, and 
the besiegers, when lodged in it, are con- 
tinually exposed to the bombs, gianades, 
and other tire-works, which are thrown in- 
cessantly from the rampart into their works, 
l^n the middle of dry moats, there is some- 
MOD 
times another small one called cunette, 
which is generally dug so deep till they find 
water to fill it. The deepest and broadest 
moats are accounted the best, but a deep 
one is preferable to a broad one : the ordi- 
nary breadth is about twenty fathoms, and 
the depth about sixteen. 
To drain a moat that is full of water, 
they dig a trench deeper than the level of 
the water to let it run off, and then throw 
hurdles upon the mud and slime, covering 
them with earth or bundles of rushes, to 
make a sure and firm passage. 
MODE, in philosophy, denotes the man- 
ner of a thing’s existence, which is twofold, 
viz. simple or mixed. 
Simple modes are only combinations of 
the same simple idea : thus by adding units 
together, in distinct separate collections, 
we come by all the several modes of num- 
bers, as a dozen, a score, a thousand, &c. 
Mixed modes, on the contrary, are com- 
pounded of simple ideas of different kinds, 
as beauty, which consists in a certain com- 
position of colour and figure, causing de- 
light in the beholder: such also is theft, 
which is the concealed change of the pos- 
session of a thing, without the consent of 
the proprietor. 
Mode, in music, is defined to be a parti- 
cular manner of constituting the octave; 
or, it is the melodious constitution of the 
octave, as it consists of seven e.«sential 
sounds, besides the key or fundamental. 
See Music. 
MODEL, in a general sense, an original 
pattern, proposed for any one to copy or 
imitate. This word is particularly used in 
building, for an artificial pattern made in 
wood, stone, plaster, or other matter, with 
all its parts and proportions, in order for 
the better conducting and executing some 
great work, and to give an idea of the effect 
it will have in large. In all great buildings 
it is much the surest way to make a model 
in relievo, and not to trust to a bare design 
or draught. There are also models for the 
building of ships, &c. and for extraordinary 
stair cases, &c. 
Models are likewise used in painting and 
sculpture, whence, in the academies, they 
give the term model to a naked man or wo- 
man, disposed in several postures, to give an 
opportunity to the scholars to design him or 
her in various views and attitudes. 
MODILLIONS, in architecture, orna- 
ments in the corniche of the Ionic, Corin- 
thian, and Composite columns. 
The modillions are little inverted coa- 
