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MOULD

1272

MOUNT VERNON

Mould (among plants). See PHYCOMY-CETES.

Moulting. See MOLTING.

Mound=BuikTers, the name given to the supposed race whose works, known as earthworks, are found in America, largely in the shape of mounds. There are many theories in regard to them. Some believe them to be the same as the American Indians, the ancestors either of the more civilized Indians found in the southern states or of the Aztecs in Mexico. Others consider them to have been a superior race, of whom nothing is known except these curious remains. From the contents of the mounds their builders seem to have been passing from the stone to the metal age, familiar with copper but possessing chiefly weapons and tools of stone. Some of the mounds seem to have been used as burial-places and others as temples. They are found in the Mississippi valley and in other parts of North America, but most extensively in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. They are mounds varying from 6 to 25 feet in height, though some of the temple-mounds reach higher. One in Illinois is 90 feet high and measures 700 by 500 feet at the base. They usually have a ditch around them, and often are in an inclosure, with low earth-walls and connecting passages, as one at Newark, O., which covers more than two square miles and has about 12 miles of embankments from 2 to 20 feet in height, and another at Marietta, O., covering a large square, with double walls inclosing a passage to the river. When used as burial places, the mounds rarely contain more than one skeleton. There also are curious figures of animals; one in the form of a serpent, *i,ooo feet long and about five feet high, was discovered in Adams County, O. The period when the mounds were built is variously estimated. The Indians found in North America, when settled by Europeans, were very much behind the mound-builders in their arts of living, judging from the remains found. The large trees growing on the mounds are another indication of their age; and the fact that they are never built on the lowest formed river-terraces, is thought to be another proof of their great age, which is estimated at from 1,800 to 2,000 years. See Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley by Squier and Davis; Antiquities of Ohio by Shepherd; and Antiquities of Tennessee by Thurston.

Moun'tain Sheep, wild sheep that dwells in the ''bad lands" and high on the mountains. It is persistently hunted, its flesh is valued and its massive, circling horns are coveted as trophies. Steepest crag it can climb, and dash at great speed down steepest declivity, wonderful stories being told of its agility and feats of endurance. Six

species are found in North America, scattered through the mountains from Mexico into Alaska. The best known is the bighorn, often called the Rocky Mountain sheep; but it has been slaughtered so ruthlessly that its numbers are fast decreasing. A large ram sometimes weighs 300 pounds. The general color is gray-brown, with a light yellow patch on the hindquarters. Ihe horns of one specimen are said to have measured 52^ inches in length, with a basal circumference of i8J inches. The white mountain-sheep is found in various portions of Alaska. See Hornaday's American Natural History.

Mount Car'mel, Pa., a borough in Northumberland County, in eastern central Pennsylvania, 28 miles east of Sunbury. It lies in the anthracite region, on the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania and Philadelphia and Reading railroads. It has three banks, a shirt factory, stocking factory, foundry and planing mill. The town has gained about 5,000 inhabitants in the past decade, its present population being 17,532.

Mount Holyoke (hol'yok} College, a college for women at South Hadley, Mass., founded by Mary Lyon. It was chartered in 1836 as Mount Holyoke Seminary, and was long maintained under this name as a seminary of high grade. In 1893 ^ was rechartered as Mount Holyoke College and the institution was placed in educational facilities and requirements on a standing with the colleges for young men. It has a faculty of 85 and the students number 754-

Mount McKinley is in south-central Alaska, 150 miles north of the head of Cook's Inlet. It is surrounded by irregular mountains of much inferior height, from among which it towers 20,464 feet above sea-level, the highest peak of North America. It is covered with snow, and down its sides creep many great glaciers.

Mount Ver'non, N. Y., a flourishing city in Westchester County, southeastern New York, on the Bronx, 14 miles north of New York City. It is served by the New York Central and Hudson River and New York, New Haven and Hartford railroads. The town is prettily situated, and commands a fine view of Long Island Sound. It includes part of Eastcheste" and of Chester Hill, and has almost doubled its population in the past decade. It is largely occupied by New York business men as a place of residence. There are many fine churches and schools, a Carnegie Library, Mount Vernon Hospital, the Lucas Building, a postoffice, banks and an opera-house. It has a few industries, including manufactures of pens, rubber, jewelry and carriages. It has electric connection with New Rochelle, Yonkers and a number of other towns in the vicinity. Population 30,919.