Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 2.djvu/83

 MOR

tcr being thrown to the bottom, and part remaining fufperided in form of a white cloud, which kept its place without tailing 5. The impregnation being mixed in equal quantities with oil of vitriol formed a coagulum, and made a great eftervef- cence, with copious red vapours, and a itrong Imell of aqua fortis ; and thefe vapours appeared at any time on ftirrmg the mixture for feveral days together. If a larger quantity of oil of vitriol be added to this coagulum, it all becomes fluid, but ferments violently ; and finally there will be a white matter

M O S

prccipitati of '

L *d to the bottom of the clear liquor ; and if a leaf

old be brought near this mixture it will be difiblved even by the vapour which exhales from it. Spirit of nitre has no effect upon this mixture, either in its ftate of a coagulum, or ■when reduced by more oil of vitriol into a clear liquor ; but the volatile fpirit of urine ferments violently without the lean; heat with it.

6. Oil of tartar per deliquium being added to the impregna- tion the liquors would not readily mix, but remained fepa- rate the impregnation finking to the bottom ; but on ftir- ring them thoroughly together, they finally were made to unite into a white fobftance like butter, with a ftrong urinous imell. If a fmall quantity of corrofive fublimate be added to this mixture, the urinous fmell ceafes ; and if oil of vitriol be added, there is a violent fermentation occafioned ; and, in fine, a large quantity of precipitate.

7. This impregnation of Mortar being mixed with an equal quantity of a folution of corrofive fublimate, there is nothing remarkable produced, though the mixture be ever fo much ihaken ; but if a little oil of tartar per deliquium be added to this, the mixture becomes turbid, and, on Itirring all together for fame time, it becomes white and thick like butter. If to this, more corrofive fublimate be added in folution, it becomes orange-coloured ; and, on more ftirring, this becomes again white ; and finally gives a white precipitate at the bottom, of a tranfparent liquor.

8. If inftead of oil of tartar an equal quantity of lime-water be added, this in the fame manner gives an urinous fmell, and the whole difference is, that the mixture will not become thick with this, as it will with oil of tartar.

9. The impregnation of Mortar produced the fame coagulum on mixing with fpirit of urine, that it did with oil of tartar per deliquium ; but it made no coagulation with fpirit of fal armoniac with lime ; the occafion of this difference is, that the fpirit of urine contains a great deal of volatile fait, and the other but little. It is a common error to fuppofe that the fpirit of fal armoniac, which is moft pungent, contains the greateit quantity of fait ; but this is not the cafe, for the fpi- rit made with lime is much more pungent than that with fait of tartar, though the laft is well known to contain a greatly larger portion of fahne particles.

10. If a piece of paper or linnen be wetted in this impregna- tion, and afterwards dried, it takes fire very violently, and foarkles with the fame violence as if it was impregnated with falt-petre.

From thefe experiments it is abundantly proved, that the im- pregnation of Mortar contains a large quantity of a faline and nitrous ammoniac fait ; for a d involution of fal armoniac and fpirit of nitre mixed together are found to produce all the changes in the different bodies before-named, that the impreg- nation does. On the whole, though it has been fuppofed by Mr. Tournefort, and others, that Mortar contained fal-petre, fea-falt, and a fixed alkali; yet there does not appear any proof of its containing any one of thofe fairs ; no fixed alkali can ever be feparated from the impregnation of it ; and tho' the linnen or paper wetted in the impregnation of it fparkled when on fire, yet it is not nitre, but merely a nitrous fal armoniac, which occasions that phenomenon. The fame ef- fect: is produced, if the linnen or paper be wetted with a mix- ture of fpirit of urine and fpirit of nitre. And the feveral ex- periments before recited prove, that there is in Mortar a fpirit of nitre and a fpirit of fea-falt, which with the vo- latile urinous falts form a nitrous or a faline fal ammo- niac. Mem. Acad. Scienc. Par. 1734.

MORTARIOLUM, a word applied by different writers to different things, from their refemblance to a mortar in fhape. The chemifts exprefs by this name a fmall mould made for the fafhioning their cupells ; and anatomifls call the fockets of the teeth the Mortariola of the jaws.

MORTIFICATION (Cycl.)— Mortification, in reli- gion, any fevere pennance obferved on a religious account. How ancient and how univerfal the practice of it has been, and for what reafons obferved. bee the article Fast- ing.

MORUS, the Mulberry, in botany, the name of a genus of trees, the characters of which are thefe : The flower is of the amentaceous kind, confilling of a great number of ftamina, with their apices which arife from a four- leaved cup ; thefe are male-flowers, and the embryo-fruits appear on different parts of the tree, and finally become a fort of compound berry, foft and full of juice, and compofed of clutters of fuc- culent fquammje which contain roundifh feeds. Tourn. Inff. p. 589.

The Ipecies of Mulberry, enumerated by Mr. Tournefort, Suppl. Vol. II.

are thefe : i. The common Mulberry, with black fruit* 2j

The Mulberry with fmall black fruit, and elegantly divided leaves. 3. The Mulberry, with white fruit. 4. The Mul- berry, with fmall purplifh white fruit. And 5. The Mul- berry, with fmall infipid white fruit.

The fruit of this tree, white unripe, is very aftringent j but when thoroughly ripe, it is of a contrary quality, lather pur- gative, cooling, very pleafant, and quenching thirft. Its fy- rup, which is very pleafant, is the only ufe made of it in the fhops.

The more general cultivating Mulberry trees in England might be of greater ufe thaii is at prefent fuppofed hi many refpects. In Devonfhire they have a way of mixing Mulberry juice with their cyder in the making, and thus make the very beit of all Englilh vinous liquors. And as to the great article of breeding filk-worms, though a recommendation from the crown could not bring about the planting thefe trees in fuf- ficient number for it in James the Firft's time, yet the trees have been found to flourifh every where with us when properly planted, and the worms feed very kindly and work very well with us. When this manufacture was firft at- tempted, the people of many parts of England, nay and in fome parts of the dampeft places in Ireland, tried it, and al- ways with fuccefs. The only thing that {topped theprogrefs of fo valuable a thing at that time, was the want of a fufla- cient quantity of Mulberry trees, and the fcheme has been neglected ever fnice. Phil. Tranf. N<\ 133. The tree was always efteemed by the antients for its delicious fruit, before the ufe of its leaves was ever found out* The Romans, in the height of their luxury, preferred it before all the foreign fruits ; and Columella, and the other antients are very exprefs in the methods of propagating it. MOKXI, the Indian name of a peltilential diltemper, very com- mon in Malabar, and in fome other parts of the Eait-Indies, frequently carrying off great numbers of people. MOSCH, a name of a furt of roriferous veilels, faid to have

been difcovered by Bilfius, in the kidneys. MOSCHEL/EUM, a name given by authors to a compound, fragrant and aromatic oil, in which mufk is a very predomi- nating ingredient. MOSCriATEJXINA, in botany, the name of a little plant common under our hedges in fpring, which conltitutes'a peculiar genus ; the characters of which are thefe : The flower con- iifts of one leaf, and is rotated and divided into feveral fcg- ments at the edge. From the cup of this rifes a piliit, which is fixed in the manner of a nail to the middle of the flower; and finally becomes a foft fucculent berry, contain- ing flatted feeds.' Tourn. Inft. p. 156. MOSCHELAPHUS, in natural hitbry, a name given by fome writers to a creature of a mixed nature, produced by the copulation of a flag and a cow. Wagner tells us, that thefe creatures are fometimes feen in the mountainous parts of SwifTerland ; as are alio the Hippotauri, generated between a bull and a mare ; but neither of thefe ever propagate their fpecies. Wagner's Hift. Helvet. MOSCHIFERUM Animal, in natural hift ory, the name of the creature which affords us the perfume called mufk. This creature feems to be neither of the goat nor deer-kind, and it is doubtful whether or not it chews the cud ; it has how- ever no, denies incifores in the upper jaw, which feems a mark that it does ; but it has, according to the obfervation of Arif- totle, exerted teeth or tufks there, in the manner of the boar. His nofe is fharp, like that of a greyhound ; his ears like a rabbit's, about three inches long, and creel; ; and his tail or fcut, about two inches ; his foot is deeply cloven. The hair on the body is about half an inch long, and very thick, and of a brown and white colour. Rafs byn. Quad. p. 140. The Mufk bladder or bag is about three inches long and two over, fwelling out an inch and half from the belly, and ftand- ing as much before the groin, It has no horns, and its tufks by their figure feem intended equally for feeding and fighting. MOSCHOSITERON, a name given by Myrepfus, and other

old writers, to Fcenugreek. MOSS {Cycl.)— Thefe fmall plants, tho* neglected of many ages, have, by the induffry and application of the later bota- nifts, been found a very numerous and very beautiful clafs of plants ; and not without their ufes in medicine and mecha- nics, and to various purpofes of human life. Dr. Dillenius, who has ftudied them with an uncommon care, and given a very valuable hiftory of them, has defcribed more than fix hundred fpecies ; the greater part o( which are found in our own country, though fome peculiar to others ; and doubtlels, there yet remain vaft numbers unheeded and unknown ia many countries. See Tab. of Mojfes.

The Mojfcs of Virginia, Penfilviania, and other parts of North- America, arc in part the fame with ours, and in part different; about two thirds of the number of Mojfesof thefe countries hitherto obferved being common to our own coun- try alio, the reft peculiar to that part of the world. Thofe or South-America, are almoft all wholly different from ours. The Mojjes of Greenland and Lapland are moitly of the fame kind with thofe of our Welch mountains. And in themour- \J tainous