Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 17.djvu/14

Rh M O T M O U a while doubted, has since been shown by Mr Salvin (Proc. Zool. Society, 1873, pp. 429-433), on Mr Bartlett s authority, to be perfectly true. The object with which the operation is performed is wholly unknown. It is sometimes incompletely executed, and the tail has then an asymmetrical form. This must have been the case with the example that Hernandez described (I.e.), and brought on himself the criticism of Willughby (Ornithologist, p. 298) for so doing. Much of the bibliography of the family is given in Dr Murie s paper already quoted ; and it may be remarked that in 1734 Seba, probably misled by wrong information, figured (JKerum Nat. Thesaur., tab. 67, fig. 2) under the name of &quot; Motrnot &quot; a bird which has been identified with a species of GTJAN (vol. xi. p. 232), and is the Ortalis inotmot of modern ornithology. (A. N.) MOTRIL, a town of Spain in the province of Granada, is charmingly situated at the foot of an offshoot of the Sierra Nevada, on the edge of a rich alluvial plain about a mile from the Mediterranean and 40 miles south-south east from Granada, with which it is connected by a good carriage road. The town has no buildings of special archi tectural or historical interest. The climate is semi-tropical, and the &quot; vega &quot; or plain of Motril has been found pecu liarly adapted for the culture of the sugar-cane, of which the annual average yield has recently been estimated at 1 13,636 tons. In the district there are five sugar-factories, two in the immediate vicinity of the town, and three at Salobrena, a village about 3 miles to the westward at the mouth of the Rio Grande (Guadalfeo). Some cotton is also grown and manufactured. This neighbourhood is rich in lead, chiefly wrought by companies having very limited capital ; the ore is for the most part smelted on the spot and afterwards sent to Malaga, or direct to England. Zinc and copper are also found, but in smaller quantities. Esparto grass is exported. The population of Motril in 1878 was 16,665. The harbour (El Puerto de Motril) lies about 6| miles to the south-eastward at the village of Calahonda. MOTT, VALENTINE (1785-1865), an eminent American surgeon, was born at Long Island, New York, on the 20th August 1785. He graduated at Columbia College, studied under Sir Astley Cooper in London, and also spent a winter in Edinburgh. After acting as demonstrator of anatomy he was appointed professor of surgery in Columbia College in 1809. From 1811 to 1834 he was in very extensive practice as a surgeon, and most successful as a teacher and operator. He tied the innominate artery in 1818; the patient lived twenty-six days. He performed a similar operation on the carotid forty-six times with good results; and in 1827 he was also successful in the case of the common iliac. He is said to have performed one thousand amputations and one hundred and sixty-five lithotomies. After spending seven years in Europe (1834- 1841) Mott returned to New York and founded the university medical college of that city. He translated Velpeau s Operative Surgery, and was foreign associate of the Imperial Academy of Medicine of Paris. His death occurred on the 26th of April 1865. MOTTEVILLE, FRANCOISE BERTAUT, MADAME DE (1621-1689), was born in 1621. She was of fair family (the poet -bishop Jean Bertaut being her kinsman), and by her mother of Spanish blood. This circumstance attracted Anne of Austria to Madame Bertaut, and the child Franchise was made a member of the queen s house hold and pensioned at seven years old. The influence of Richelieu, however, who constantly endeavoured to deprive the queen of confidantes, exiled mother and daughter to Normandy. There, at the age of eighteen, Francoise married Nicholas Langlois, Seigneur de Motteville, first president of the Chambre des Comptes. She was very soon a widow, but she had before that date (1641) visited the court, renewed her relations with the queen, and been rewarded by a pension increased from 600 to 2000 livres. No sooner did Anne of Austria become her own mistress by the deaths of Richelieu and of her husband than she summoned Madame de Motteville to court and made her her most intimate friend. Through all the intrigues and troubles of the Fronde, Madame de Motteville preserved the honourable reputation of being devoted to her mistress without any party ties or interests. She was also on very intimate terms with Henrietta Maria of England during her residence in France. After Anne of Austria s death Madame de Motteville lived in retirement, but not in absolute seclusion, seeing especially Madame de Sevigne and Madame de la Fayette. She died on 29th December 1689. Some letters of hers are preserved, especially a curious correspondence with &quot; La Grande Mademoiselle &quot; on marriage, but her chief work is her Memoires, which are in effect a history of Anne of Austria, written briefly till the date of Madame de Motteville s return to court, and then with fulness. The author is something of a partisan, but not an intentionally unfair one, and her judgment and power of observation are very considerable. The style of her book is not of the most peculiar or strik ing, but it is simple, easy, and good. The Memoires may be most conveniently read in Michaud and Poujoulat s Collection, vol. xxviii. MOUKDEN. See MANCHURIA, vol. xv. p. 466. MOULINS, chief town of the French department of Allier, is situated 195 miles by rail south-south-east from Paris on the right bank of the Allier, which is here crossed by a remarkable bridge about 1000 feet in length, consisting of thirteen semicircular arches. The town, which stands at an altitude of about 740 feet above sea- level, is adorned with gardens and fine boulevards, and still contains several buildings of historical interest and many houses of the Middle Ages. The cathedral has a very beautiful choir, with richly-painted windows of the 15th and 16th centuries. The nave, in the Pointed style, is of recent construction, as are the two towers with stone spires rising to the height of 312 feet. The white stone chiefly employed is happily contrasted with ornamental columns of black basalt. The chapel of the lyceum, which occupies the site of an ancient convent of the Visitation, contains a richly -carved mausoleum to the memory of Duke Henry of Montmorency, who was beheaded in the reign of Louis XIII. Among other objects of interest in Moulins are some remains of the old chateau of the dukes of Bourbon, and the clock tower. The library of nearly 25,000 volumes contains a manuscript Bible of the 12th century which was used at the council of Constance in 1415. There are no industries of importance, except the manufacture of wire ropes for mines, and of sulphate of barium. The population in 1881 was 21,126. The history of Moulins does not go farther back than the 10th century, and its importance dates from the 14th, when it became the residence of the dukes of Bourbon. After the constable de Bourbon s desertion to Charles V. the town, along with Bourbon - nais, fell into the hands of the king of France. In 1566 an assembly of the states-general was held in the town by Charles IX. and Catherine de Medici. Moulins has suffered frequently from epidemics and inundations, and the ducal palace was destroyed by fire in 1755. MOULMEIN. See MAULMAIN. MOUNTAINS. For mountains in general see GEOLOGY, vol. x. p. 370 sq. The more important groups of mountains are discussed under separate headings, as ALPS, HIMALAYA, ANDES, &c. MOUNT VERNON, a city of the United States, county seat of Knox county, Ohio, and a railway junction on the Baltimore and Ohio and the Cleveland, Mount Vernon, and Columbus Railroads, 45 miles north -north -east of