Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XI.djvu/618

 600 MINIS MINK through. Miniatures on ivory seldom exceed a few square inches in size. Jn England the art has been cultivated by an eminent line of artists from Holbein downward, embracing such names as Nicholas Hilliard, Isaac and Peter Oliver, Samuel Cooper, Hoskins, Flat- man, Gibson, Cosway, Eoss, Newton, Thor- burn, &c., whose works are invaluable for the likenesses they afford of distinguished public characters. According to Dr. Waagen, "in no department have the English artists at- tained so high a state of perfection as in this." Under the first empire the French had many excellent miniaturists, including Isabey, who not only painted on ivory portrait pieces con- taining many figures, but attempted with suc- cess historical subjects; Augustin, Guerin, Saint, Mme. de Mirbel, &c. The most emi- nent American miniature painter was Malbone, whose works are executed with great delicacy, and after the lapse of many years retain much of their original freshness. Of late years the introduction of colored or retouched photo- graphic likenesses has somewhat interfered with the profession of the miniature painter ; but these, owing to their perishable nature, can never wholly supplant portraits on ivory. Pho- tography, regarded simply as an auxiliary to the miniature painter, rather aids than injures him by the data it affords for greater accuracy of drawing and proportions. (See ENAMEL- LING.) See " Original Treatises on the Arts of Painting in Oil, Miniature, Mosaic," &c., edit- ed by Mrs. Merrifield (2 vols., London, 1849). MIXIE, Claude Etienne, a French inventor, born in Paris about 1805. At an early age he en- tered the army as a private soldier, and, after serving several campaigns in Algeria, reached the rank of captain. He now began to study improvements in firearms and projectiles ; and on the supposition that he was from this cause losing his efficiency as a military officer, his dismissal was determined upon. Through the influence of the duke de Montpensier he was retained in the service, and gradually several of his improvements in rifle balls, cartridges, and gun barrels were adopted. In 1849 he was decorated with the cross of the legion of honor; in 1852 he was promoted to the rank of major on the retired list, and soon after was appointed chef du tir, or instructor in the use of firearms, at Vincennes. In 1858 he re- signed this post, and was appointed by the Egyptian government to superintend a manu- factory of arms and a school of gunnery at Cairo. The rifle bullet named after him is said to have been the invention of his friend and instructor, Capt. Delvigne. It consists of an elongated cylinder, conical in front and hollow behind, and fitted with a cap of thin iron, which, by filling the grooves of the barrel as the ball is forced through, gives to the latter a precision and range of flight previously un- known to gunnery. This was the first effectual introduction of the principle of expansion into the manufacture of firearms. MUMUM. See LEAD, vol. x., p. 245. MINK, a small, fur-bearing, carnivorous mam- mal, found in the northern parts of America, Europe, and Asia, belonging to the genus puto- riua (Cuv.), in which are included the ermine and common weasels, and to the sub-genus lutreola (Wagner). The minks have one molar less on each side above and below than the martens (mustela), and are therefore more car- nivorous ; the size is smaller, and the form more slender ; the color is nearly uniform ; the feet much webbed, and their pads large and naked, with the intervals not occupied by hairs. The common American mink (P. vison, Rich.) varies in length (from nose to base of tail) from 13 to 18 in., the tail being 8 to 10 in. additional ; the general color is dark brownish, the tail nearly black, the chin white, but not the edge of the upper jaw ; some specimens are lighter, even to yellowish brown; the head is broad and depressed, with truncated snout, short round ears, eyes small and far forward, long and rigid whiskers in four hori- zontal series ; body long and vermiform, with long neck; short and stout limbs, with five- toed feet, armed with sharp claws; tail long and cylindrical, having on each side of the under surface a glandular cavity secreting a strong musky fluid, whence the generic name ; American Mink (Putorius vison). mammaa six, ventral. The under fur is soft and downy, with larger and coarser hairs inter- mingled; the more southern the locality, the coarser and stiffer is the fur. The mink is an active, destructive depredator in the farm yard, sometimes killing several chickens in a single night, though less sanguinary than the weasel ; it now and then catches a fish on its own account, and frequently steals those left by the angler; it feeds also on small rodents, marsh birds, frogs, and crawfish. It takes up its residence on the borders of ponds and small streams, especially near rapids and waterfalls ; it is an excellent swimmer and diver, and a good runner; it rarely climbs trees, like the martens, unless hotly pursued ; when killed in the water, it almost always sinks. It is read- ily caught in box or steel traps, or in dead- falls, baited with the head of a bird ; it is very tenacious of life, and most active at night. In northern New York the breeding season be- gins toward the 1st of March, while the snow is on the ground; the young, five or six in number, are born about the end of April ; when taken young, it is easily domesticated. The fur of the mink was formerly considered hardly worth collecting, a skin selling for