wo 
4 
M O S 
MOSQUI'TOS, a town of the ifland of Cuba: twenty- 
feven miles weft of Havannah. 
MOSS, /. [mufcus, Lat. meo]*, Sax.] A plant. See the 
article Botany, vol. iii. p. 2.80.—Though mofs was for¬ 
merly fuppofed to be only an excrefcence produced from 
the earth and trees, yet it is no lefs a perfefl plant than 
thofe of greater magnitude, having roots, flowers, and 
feeds, yet cannot be propagated from feeds by any art. 
The botanifts diftinguifh it into many fpecies : it chiefly 
flourifhes in cold countries, and in the winter feafon, and 
is many times very injurious to fruit-trees ; the only re¬ 
medy in fuch cafes, is to cut down part of the trees, and 
plough up the ground between thofe left remaining; and 
in the fpring, in moift weather, you fhould with an iron 
inftrument fcrape off the mofs. Miller. — Mofs is a kind of 
mould of the earth and trees; but it may be better forted 
as a rudiment of germination. Bacon. —Such mojfes as 
grow upon walls, roofs of houfes, and other high places, 
have feeds that, when lhaken out of their vefiels, appear 
like vapour or fmoke. Ray on the Creation. 
Houfes then were caves, or homely ftieds, 
With twining oziers fenc’d, and mofs their beds. Dryden. 
MOSS, Bottle; fee Splachnum. Club and Fir; fee 
Lycopodium. Heath; fee Coralloides. Tree; fee 
Lichen. Wall; fee Bryum. Water; fee Fontinalis. 
MOSS, f. [rtiojfa, Su. Goth, mvffa, low Lat.] A morafs, 
or boggy place. Still ufed in the north of England and 
Scotland.—In many of the mojfes of the Weft Riding of 
Yorklhire are often dug up birch-trees. Evelyn. —The 
juftices of Northumberland and Cumberland may make 
order in feflions for charging the refpe&ive counties for 
fecuring the fame againft the mofs-troopers; that is, 
thieves and robbers, who, after having committed of¬ 
fences in the borders, do efcape through the waftes and 
•mojfes. Stat. 13 Sf 14. Ch. II. c. 22. 
To MOSS, v. a. To cover with mofs : 
An oak wliofe boughs were mofs'd with age, 
And high top bald w'ith dry antiquity. 
Sh alt (fpea re's As you like it. 
Will thefe mofs'd trees, 
That have out-liv’d the eagle, page thy heels. 
And Ikip when thou point’ft out ? ShaheJ'pearc's Timon. 
MOSS, a town of Norway, in the province of Aggerhuus, 
on the eaft fide of Chriftiania Bay : twenty-eight miles 
fouth of Chriftiania, and fifteen north of Frederickftadt. 
See Mioss, vol. xv. p. 550. 
MOSS, a river of Norway, which runs into the fea near 
the town of Mofs. 
MOSS (Robert), a learned Englilh divdne of the efta- 
bliflied church, w'as born at Gillingham, in Norfolk, in 
the year 1666. He received his claflical education at 
the free fchool of Norwich ; and in 1682 he was entered 
of Corpus Chrifti College, Cambridge, where he took 
his degrees, and was elefted into a vacant Norfolk fellow- 
IJlip in that houfe. When he commenced preacher, his 
fermons made great impreflion, and he had full audiences 
■whenever he was called to perform the duties of the pulpit. 
He offered himfelf as candidate for the office of public 
orator, and alfo for the mafferfliip of his college, but was 
unfuccefsful in both inftances; it was, however, univer- 
fally acknowledged that he loft no credit by thefe compe¬ 
titions. In 1698, he was appointed preacher to the So¬ 
ciety of Gray’s-Inn, London; an office which he held 
through life. In the following year he was appointed 
preacher-afiiftant at the church of St. James, Weftminfter, 
and was afterwards nominated chaplain in ordinary to 
king William III. he continued to hold the fame ftation 
under queen Anne; and, being one of the chaplains in 
waiting when her majefty vifited the univerfity of Cam¬ 
bridge in 1705, he had the degree of doctor of divinity 
conferred upon him in the queen’s prefence. Soon after 
this, an unfuccefsful attempt was made to ejeCI him from 
bis fellowlhip, on account of non-refidence. In the year 
M, O S 
1712, Dr. Mofs was nominated to the deanery of Ely, 
which led him to relign his fellowlhip of his own accord. 
Upon the acceffion.of George I. Dr. Mofs was fworn, a 
third time, chaplain in ordinary, which place he retained 
till 1718, when he was difmiffed on account of the part 
which he took in the Bangorian controverfy. He died in 
1729, in the iixty-third year of his age. He was author 
of a Collection of Sermons, publhhed after his death ; to 
which is prefixed, a character of the author, which fays, 
“ He was of fo open and generous a difpofition, and fuch 
a ftranger to all artificial difguife, that he affirmed, and 
you believed him ; he promifed, and you trufted him ; 
you knew him, and you loved him.” Biog. Brit. 
MOSS'-BERRIES. See Vaccinium. 
MOSS'-CLAD, adj. Clad (as it were) with mofs: 
For whom fo oft in thefe infpiring fhades, 
Or under Campden’s mofs-cltid mountains hoar. 
You open’d all your facred ftore. Lyttelton. 
MOSS'-GROWN, adj. Covered or overgrown with 
mofs.—The mofs-grotvn domes with fpiry turrets crown'd. 
Pope’s Eloifa to Abelard. 
The rude and mofs-grown beech 
O’er-canopies the glade. Gray’s Ode 1. 
MOSS-TROO'PERS, f. A kind of banditti that in- 
fefted Scotland and the north of England, living by rob¬ 
bery and rapine, not unlike the tories of Ireland, the 
buccaneers in Jamaica, or banditti in Italy : the counties 
of Northumberland and Cumberland were charged with a 
yearly fum, and a command of men, to be appointed by 
the juftices of peace, to apprehend and fupprefs them. 
4 Jac. I. c. 1. 13 & 14 Car. II. c. 22. 30 Car. II. c. 2. 
6 Geo. II. c. 37.—The juftices of Northumberland and 
Cumberland may make order in feflions for charging the 
refpefifive counties for fecuring the fame againft the mofs- 
troopers ; that is, thieves and robbers, who after having 
committed offences in the borders do efcape through the 
waftes and mofles. 13, 14, Car. II. c. 22. 
MOSS'A, a town of Germany, in the county of Goritz : 
five miles fouth-weft of Goritz. 
MOSS'A, a town of France, in the department of the 
Sefia : twenty-three miles north-north-weft Vercelli. 
MOSSA'LE, a town of the duchy of Parma : nineteen 
miles fouth of Parma. 
MOSSA'R, a town of Lithuania, in the palatinate of 
Wilna : twenty-eight miles fouth-eaft of Breflaw. 
MOSSAW', a town of Bengal: feven miles north of 
Rajemal. 
MOSS'EL BA'Y, or Muscle-Bay, a bay on the fouth- 
eaft coaft of Africa. The outermoft point of the bay, 
called Cape Saint Blaize, lies in lat. 34.10. S. Ion. 22. 18. E. 
The variation of the compafs in 1797 was 27. 54. W. The 
time of high water at full and change about three o’clock, 
and the rife and fall of the tides fix or feven feet. Dur¬ 
ing the fummer-months, when the winds blow between 
eaft and fouth, or. diredtly into the bay, a heavy fwell 
breaks upon the beach, which makes it dangerous, and 
frequently impracticable, for boats ,to land ; but thefe 
winds are never fo violent nor fo lafting as at the Cape ; 
and (hips may ride at anchor in perfeCt fecurity about 
three quarters of a mile from the landing-place. The 
fouth-weft winds, that frequently blow with great vio¬ 
lence from April to September, bring into the bay a molt 
tremendous fea, fetting round Cape St. Blaize. At this 
feafon of the year it would be highly imprudent for fhips 
to enter into Moffel-bay. A rill of water glides over the 
fandy beach, where is the beft landing, and is eafily con¬ 
veyed into calks in the boats, by means of a hole. To 
the fouth-eaft of this landing-place is another fmall cove, 
tolerably lheltered, and deep enough to admit veflels of 
ten or twelve feet draught of water. At either of thefe 
coves, piers for landing and Ihippingof goods might con¬ 
veniently be conftrufted, and at a fmall expenfe, as ma¬ 
terials may be procured upon the fpot. Boats, however, 
may 
