566 M A U 
trances at the extreme ends or Tides, the one for ingrefs, 
the other for egrefs, at a proper time; and no coffin 
ffiould be laid upon another, till at lealt three months had 
elapfed from the time of the interment of the firft. I would 
advife that each coffin ffiould be made perfe&ly air-tight, 
by running hot pitch, or other bituminous matter, along 
the Teams within ; and let the lid or cover be very loofely 
fitted into a rebate, or rabbit, juft deep enough to let the 
fame be done on the outfide, with no other fattening on 
the lid than this, for fubfequent reafons. My next plan 
is, that each coffin havea round Ranch, three or four inches 
diameter, with a caft-iron plate, or valve, ground into 
this flanch, perfectly air-tight, juft over the mouth and 
note of the defumft. The valve to be fo clofe as to pre¬ 
vent the efcape of the lead portion of putrid effluvium. 
Fumigations, or camphorated cotton, &c. might be alfo 
ftrewed about, to render it quite fecure. 
“ I exhibit all thefe preliminary precautions for the en¬ 
tire fatisfaftion of every branch of the legiflature, who 
would otherwife, no doubt, objedl to a plan of fecuring the 
dead at the expenfe of the living. I would then have 
within each coffin a lever, fit to open the faid valve, hav¬ 
ing a line coming through the lid and fattened to an eye 
in the lever, to effefl that purpofe; the other end, drawn 
clofe, but not too tight, attached to the wrift of the de- 
funft; fo that, let there be but the molt feeble motion of 
the hand in any direction whatever, it could not fail to 
open the valve, and keep it fo when it was once open. 
This machinery could be made at a very fmall expenfe, 
and, after a little time, at none at all ; for, being of caft- 
iron, they might be ufed again. The fame motion of the 
hand might (fubjeft to improvement) be made to toll a 
large bell or alarm, to call the fexton. So that, if nature’s 
lalt fpark of vitality ffiould not be for ever extinft, the im¬ 
mured prifoner would receive all the benefit of nature’s 
intended refpite without impediment. The fubjeft would 
at leaft breathe! The next effort would be to efcape from 
the narrow bounded ffiell ! For this, too, I have made 
ample provifion, by having no other fattening to the lid of 
the coffin than merely the cement round the edges. Then 
might a man of the n'ceft fenfibility go down to his grave 
in peace, free from the horrifying dread of being fmothered 
in a fubterraneous and latent prifon, to which we are now 
confined ! 
“ The idea of the machinery for ringing a bell will per¬ 
haps raife a fmile. This idea was fuggefted to me, by 
what I have been informed is pradftifed at the Hotel Dieu 
at Paris. When a fuppofed corpfe is configned to the 
dead-room, wires, which communicate with a bell in the 
furgery, are fattened to the fingers and toes, by means of 
which the fmallelt refult of re-animation would be imme¬ 
diately communicated ; neither is this room kept fo cold 
as to be unfavourable to refufcitation, fhould any fpark of 
life remain. 
“ Let us now fuppofe a maufoleum fo finiffied, and the 
eaftern door opened to let the fepulchral pageant of fable 
ftoles enter, preceded by the prieft reading the burial-fer- 
vice. It would be a molt impofing and impreffive fight! 
Let them then proceed to the w'eitern end, and there dc- 
pofit thedefunft at that extremity of the vault, and fo on 
as long as there was room ; then, at fome diftant time, 
(perhaps a-year) it might be requifiteto place another tier 
above. For this purpofe, I ffiould advife that that row be 
firft covered which was firft interred. No evil, but infi¬ 
nite fecurity, and perhaps infinite benefit, could accrue 
from this plan. When the vault ffiould become fo full 
that two or three tiers would not be fufficiently compact 
to remain, let them proceed to the weftern end, and re¬ 
move the bones and broken coffins, as they now do, to the 
charnel-houfe ; and, after clearing this end, make it the 
entrance-end until full: and fo on, excarcerating each end 
alternately. 
“ Lattly, I would propofe, that every perfon, gentle and 
fimple, ftiould be furniffled with a coffin of this kind ; 
and that every corpfe whatever ffiould be depolited (for 
M A U 
one month at leaft) in the pariffi-vault in tire manner here 
ftated. Thofe perfons who choofe to have their relatives 
or friends interred in family-vaults, or under feparate 
monuments, might then withdraw them. As thefe are ge¬ 
nerally the richer fort of people, the charge of the pre¬ 
vious interment would be a benefit to the pariffl, at the ex¬ 
penfe of thofe belt able to bear it.” 
MAUSSAC' (Philip-James), a learned critic, was born 
about i 590 at Touloufe, where his father was a counfellor 
of parliament. He was brought up to the law, and became 
prefident of the court of aides at Montpellier, where he 
died in 1650. He was accounted one of the beft Greek 
fcholars of his time. He wrote, 1. Notes and Corrections 
on Harpocration ; Paris, 1614, 410. 2. Remarks on the 
Treatife on Mountains and Rivers, afcribed to Plutarch. 
3. Opufcules. All thefe difplay profound erudition and 
judicious criticifm. Moreri. 
MAU'TCHONG COU'NSAN, a mountain of Thibet.. 
Lat. 31. 38. N. Ion. 83. 44. E. 
MAU'TEN, a town of Carinthia, at the conflux of the 
Moledin and the Geil: eighteen miles fouth-weft of Sax- 
enburg, and forty-fix fouth of Brixen. 
MAU'TERN, a town of the duchy of Stiria : feven 
miles north of Knittelfeld. 
MAUTH, a town of Stiria : eight miles north of Win- 
difch Gratz. 
MAUTH, a town of Bohemia, in the circle of Beraun : 
eighteen miles fouth-eaft of Beraun. 
MAUTH'AUSEN, a town of Auftria, on the left bank 
of the Danube: feven miles eall of Steyregg,' and iixteen 
weft of Grein. 
MAU'THER,/. A young girl.—You talk like a fool- 
iffl mauther. B. Jonfon's Alchemijt. 
f MAUTOU'R (Philibert Bernard Moreau de), audi¬ 
tor of the chamber of accompts at Paris, and member 
of the academy of infcriptions. He was born at Beaune 
in 1654, and died in 1737. He wrote fome papers in the 
Memoirs of the Academy of Belles Lettres, and Poems. 
He was alfo the editor of an abridgment of Petavius’s 
Chronology, 4 vols. 12010. 
MAUT'TERN, a town of Auftria, on the fouth fide 
of the Danube, oppofite Stein : thirty-two miles weft- 
north-weft of Vienna. Lat. 48. 23. N. Ion. 15. 38. E. 
MAUT'TERNDORF, a town of the principality of 
Salzburg ; eleven miles fouth of Radftadt. 
MAUVAI'SE, a river of America, which runs into 
Lake Michigan in lat. 44. 19. N. Ion. 86. 40. W. 
MAU'VES, a town of France, in the department of the 
Orne : fix miles fouth of Mortagne, and fix north-north- 
eaft of Bellefme. 
MAUVESIN', a town of France, in the department of 
the Gers : fourteen miles eaft-north-ealt of Auch, and fe- 
venteen fouth-fouth-eaft of Lefloore. 
MAUVILLON' (James), profeflbr of the military fci- 
ences in the Caroline-college at Brunfwick, was defcended 
from a French family, and born at Leipiic in 1743. His 
parents being proteftants, he was educated in the princi¬ 
ples of that religion ; and, his father having been invited 
in 1756 to be profeflbr of the French language in the Ca¬ 
roline-college, he had an opportunity of profecuting his 
ftudies under the celebrated men who at that time were an 
ornament to this feminary. His favourite purfuits here 
were languages, drawing, and the mathematics. Though 
of fmall flature and weak in conftitution, he had a ftrong 
attachment to a military life; but, as this was oppofed by 
his father, who wifhed him to ftudy law-, he went privately 
to the Hanoverian general Wallmoden, and offered to en- 
lift. The general, after fome converfation with his father, 
admitted him into the corps of engineers. When the war 
was ended, finding that his father Itill urged him to ftudy 
the law, he refolved to follow his advice, and with that 
view repaired to Leipfic ; but this plan he foon abandoned, 
and in 1766 obtained a place as afliftant in the Ichool of 
Ilfeld. Here he improved himfelf in the Latin language, 
and foon after, on the recommendation of general Wali- 
moden* 
