MO I 
soles, or brackets, in form of an S, under 
the soffit of tho corniche, seeming to sup- 
port the projectnre of the Jarinier, though in 
reality they are no more tlian ornaments. 
See Architecture. 
MODULATION, in mnsic, the art of 
conducting harmony, in composition, or ex- 
temporary performance, through those keys 
and modes wliich have a due relation to the 
fundamental key. Though every piece lias 
its principal or governing key, yet, for the 
sake of contrast and relief, it is not only 
allowable, but necessary to pass from key 
to key, and from mode to mode ; to assume 
different sharps or flats, and lead the hearer 
through those transitions of tone and har- 
mony whicli interest the feelings and delight 
Die ear. See Music. 
MODULE, in architecture, a certain 
measure or bigness, taken at pleasure, for 
regulating the proportions of columns, and 
the symmetry or disposition of the whole 
building. Architects generally choose the 
semi-diameter of the bottom of the column 
for their module, and ftiis they sub-divide 
into parts or minutes. 
MODUS dechnandi, is a customary tith- 
ing different from the common law. It is 
generally a money compensation which has 
been taken in lieu of tythes, but the term 
extends to any mode of altering the usual 
course of tything. It must be frpjn time 
immemorial, and it must be reasonable. 
MOEHRINGIA, in botany, so named 
from Paul Henry Gerard Moehring, a phy- 
sician, a genus of the Octandria Digynia 
class and order. Natural order of Cary- 
ophyllei. Essential charaeter : calyx, four- 
leaved ; petals four ; capsule one celled, 
four valved. There is but one speeies, 
viz. M. muscosa an annual plant, with a 
slender root; stem filiform from eight to 
twelve inches long, upright, much branch- 
ed; covered with linear, very narrow op- 
posite leaves, dilated at the base ; flowers 
axillary,- erect, on slender, one flowered 
peduncles ; it is a native of the mountains 
of France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, and 
Silesia; among moss on rocks, Ijy the 
trunks of trees, or little rills of water. 
MOHAIR, in commerce the hair of a 
kind of goat, frequent about Angora, in 
Turkey ; the inhabitants of which city are 
all employed in the manufacture of cam- 
blets, made of this hair. 
MOINEAU, in fortification, is a flat 
bastion raised between two other bastions, 
when a re-entering angle before a cni tain 
it too long. The nioineau is commonly 
MOL 
joined to the curtain, but it is sometime* 
separated from it by a foss, in which case 
it is called a detached bastion. The 
moineau is not raised so high as the works 
of the place, because it ought to be ex- 
posed to the fire of the place in case the 
enemy should lodge themselves in it. 
MOISTURE, a term sometimes used fo 
denote animal fluids, the juices of plants, 
or dampness of the air or other bodies. 
MOLE. See Talpa. 
RIole cricket, the same with gryllo talpa. 
See Gryllus. 
Mole, a massive work of laige stone* 
laid in tlie sea by means of cofferdams ; 
extending before a port, either to defend 
the harbour from the impetuosity of the 
waves, or to prevent the passage of ships 
without leave. 
RIOLLUGO in botany, a genms of the 
Triandria Trigynia class and order. Na- 
tural order of Caryophyllei. Essential cha- 
racter; calyx, five-leaved; corolla none; 
capsule three-celled, three valved. There 
are six species, these are all annuals and 
natives of warm countries. 
RIOI.LUSCA, in natural history, the 
name of the second order of the Linnapan 
class Vermes. They are naked ; furnished 
with tentacula, or arms ; for the most part 
inhabitants of the sea ; and by their phos- 
phoreous quality, illuminate the dark abyss 
of the waters. This order is comprised of 
simple animals furnished with limbs, is dis- 
tinguished in the following way. A. mouth 
placed above; of these there are seven 
genera, viz. 
Actinia Mammalia 
Ascidia Pedicellaria 
Clava Salpa 
Dagysia 
B. mouth placed before : viz. the Denis 
and Pterotrachea. 
C. mouth placed before : body with a 
lateral perforation : of these there are four 
genera, viz. 
Doris Limax 
Laplysia Tethys 
D. mouth before: body surrounded with 
feelers on the fore part ; two genera, viz. 
Holothuria and Terebella. 
E. mouth before; body furnished with 
arms : of these there are seven genei a, viz. 
Clio Scylla«r 
Lernaea Sepia 
Lobaria Triton 
Onchidium 
I ? 
