f 
MOR 
to an nnsonnd constitution, or to those 
parts or humours that are infected by a dis- 
ease. 
MORDANT,- in dyinp. When a sub- 
stance to be dyed has lit tie or no attraction 
to tlie matter on which the colour depends, 
so as either not to be capable of abstract- 
ins: it from its solvent, or of retaining it 
-with such force as to form a permanent 
dye, then some intermediate substance is 
iiseil, w hich acts as a bond of union between 
them : this substance is called a mordant. 
See Dying. 
MORDELL4, in natural history, a ge- 
nus of insects of the order Coleoptera : an- 
tennae moniliform or pectinate ; head de- 
flected and bent under the neck; shells 
curved downwards towards the tip; at the 
base of the abdomen, and before the thighs, 
is a broad lamina. There are about thirty- 
four species, divided into sections. A. au- 
tenn-<e, moniliform ; fore feelers clavate, 
hind feelers tiliform. B, antennas pecti- 
nate ; feelers filiform. The most common 
of the British species is M. aculeata, mea- 
suring little more than a quarter of an inch 
in length ; it is black and smooth ; the legs 
are rather long, and the insect, when dis- 
turbed, has the power of leaping or spring- 
ing to a small distance. It is found on 
plants in the gardens. M. clavicornis is 
entirely piccous ; antenna' clavate ; an in- 
habitant of England, and found commonly 
on the flowers of the rhaetim rhahai harum. 
MOREL, the phallus esculentus of Lin- 
ntens, a plant that grows on moist banks 
and wet pastures, and springs up in the 
early parts of spring. It is used for culinary 
purposes. 
MORINA, in botany, so named in ho- 
nour of Louis Morin, M. D., member of the 
Academy of Sciences at Paris, a genus of 
the Dtandria Monogynia class and order. 
Natural order of Aggregalse. Dipsaceas, 
Jussieu. Essential character : calyx of the 
fruit one-leafed, toothed ; of the flower bi- 
fid ; corolla irregular ; seed one, under the 
calyx of the flower. There is but one spe- 
cies, viz. M. persica, which has a thick ta- 
per root, running deep into the ground ; 
stem nearly three feet in height, smooth, 
and purphsh towards the bottom, and green 
to the top ; at each joint come our three or 
four prickly leaves, four or five inches long, 
of a lucid green on the upper side, and of 
a pale preen underneath, armed on their 
edges with spines ; flowers axillary on each 
side, some white and others red on the same 
plapt. It is a native of Persia. 
MOR 
MORINDA, in botany, Indian mulberrp, 
a genus of the Pentandria Monogynia class 
and order. Natural order of Apgregatae. 
Rubiaceas, Jussieu. Essential character: 
flowers aggregate, one petalled ; stigma bi- 
fid ; drupes aggregate. There are three spe- 
cies, natives of the East and West Indies. 
MORISONIA, in botany, so named in 
honour of Robert Morison, M. D., a genus 
of the Monadelphia Polyandria class and 
order. Natural order of Putamineae. Cap- 
parides, Jussieu. Essential character ; ca- 
lyx single, bifid ; petals four; pistillura one; 
berry with a hard rind, one celled, many- 
seeded, pedicelled. There is but one spe- 
cies, viz. M. Americana, a native of South 
America and the islands of the West Indies ; 
flowering there in July, and beating fruit in 
November. In Martinico it is called Bois 
Mahouia, or Devil’s wood. 
MARMYRUS, in natmal history, a ge- 
nus of fishes of the order Abdoniinales. 
Generic character: snout protruded, mouth 
terminal ; teeth numerous and notched ; 
aperture of the gills without a cover ; gill 
membrane with one ray ; body scaly. This 
genus has been recently investigated by M. 
Geoffrey, with considerable minuteness, and 
he has enumerated nine distinct species, of 
which Linnmus was acquainted only with 
three. The body is compressed, and the 
tail of a somewhat cylindrical and inflated 
appearance, and of a considerable length. 
It contains the glands, from which is se- 
creted the oily matter appearing along the 
lateral line ; the stomach is highly muscular, 
and the ^ir-bladder nearly of the whole 
length of the abdomen. Most of the spe- 
cies are inhabitants of the river Nile. 
MOROCCO, in commerce, a fine kind 
of leather, prepared of the skin of an ani- 
mal of the, goat kind, and imported from 
tlie Levant, Barbary, &c. 
The name was probably taken from the 
kingdom of Morocco, whence the manner 
of preparing it was borrowed, which is this : 
the skins being first dried in the hair, are 
steeped in clear water three day? and 
nights ; then stretched on a tanner’s horse, 
beaten with a large knife, and steeped 
afre.sh in water every day till they be well 
come : then they are thrown into a large 
vat in the ground full of water, where quick 
lime has been slaked, and there lie fifteen 
days ; whence they are taken, and again 
returned every night and morning. Tiien 
they are thrown into a fresh vat of time and 
water, and shifted night and morning fog 
fifteen days longer; then rinsed in clegr 
