Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/771

* MOLLUSK. 693 MOLLY MAGUIRES. faMenod to eai-h other by tlii-ir threads (byssus). The shells (gloehidiuiii) are triangular, broader than long, with the apex hooked. Fossil JIolllsks. Kemains of representatives of all the elasses of inoUusks oecur in the lowest Paleozoic strata, having existed from the Cam- brian period down to the present time. As they are so abundant, owing to their preservation as fossils (the shells in the absenee of the animal being as a rule useful in classification), the mollnsks are of great value as time-marks, and serve to distinguish the different formations. The class which occurs fossil in the earliest (Cambrian) strata, and concerning which there is no doubt, is the tJastropoda. At the base of the Cambrian (Olenellus zone) have been found the shells of such primitive gastropod genera as .Scenella, Stenotheca. Platyceras, Rhaphistoma, and Pleurotoniaria. The last-named genus is re- markable for having persisted to the pre.sent time, as it is still found at great depths in the Atlantic Ocean, ilore doubtful are the pteropods of the Cambrian, of the genera Ilyolithes, Forellella, etc., though their shells are much more abun- dantly found than those of the Gastropoda proper. Of pelecypods the Cambrian forms are obscure and doubtful, the only ones yet found be- ing a tiny little shell (Modioloides), and For- (lilla, which may turn out to be the shell of a crustacean; and this group is comparatively rare even in the Ordovician strata. Of eephalo- pods the earliest known genus is Volborthella, a minute orthoccratite detected in the Lower Cam- brian rocks of Finland and Esthonia, and in the Saint John group, Nova Scotia. The Cambrian, Ordovician, and Silurian mol- lusks jjresent (except in generic and specific characters) comparatively unimportant differ- ences from living forms. The earliest known pelecypods were the forerunners of the Nuculida?; the earliest gastropods were Pleurotoniaria and allied genera, some still living at great depths; the pteropods were in the main similar to ex- isting forms, wliile the earliest cephalopods were the Orthoceratites, which are straight, uncoiled nautiloids. In tens of millions of _years, there- fore, the shelled mollusks have been one of the most numerous and characteristic groups of in- vertebrates, and became more and more differen- tiated and abundant in species, genera, and families as time went on ; moreover, they are ex- tremely abundant in the ilesozoic and Cenozoic eras, hence they aft'ord unusually favorable data for the study of the phylogeiiy of both the chief and subordinate groups. This state of things was taken advantage of by Alpluais Hyatt in studies carried on for nearly forty years, during which he applied the biogenetic law of Fritz Jliiller and Haeekel to the cephalopods, showing that the life of the individual during its rise and decline displays phenomena correlative with the collective life of the older to which it belongs. In these and similar studies he was followed by W'urtemberger and Xcumayr. Their works on fossil cephalopods bear directly on such subjects as quick evolution, the effects of changes of en- vironment, the action of use and disuse, acting throughout numberless generations. The facts gleaned from these mollusks also hear directly on the causes and mode of origin of the diffi'rent classes not only of mollusks. but of all other animal groups. The famous researches on the transmutations of the Tertiary shells of Stein- heiin by llilgeiidorf and hy Hyatt, those of Xeu- niayr on the successive forms of Paludina, and the studies in the variations and evolution of other types by later authors, ])rove how valuable the shells of mollusks are in studies of this nature. For the uses by man of mollusks, as food or ornament, or money, see under Pelecyi'DDA; Gastkoi'oda; Peabl; Clam; Oystek; Shell Money. Consult: Cuvier, Memoircs pour sen-ir n riiisfoire et a I'anatomie des mollusques (Paris, 1817) ; Woodward. Manual of the ilol- lusca (4th ed., London, 1880) ; Adams; The Geii- era of Recent Uliells (ib., 18.53-58) ; Des- hayes, Traite elementaire de conchi/liologie (Paris, IS.'J!)-.')") ; and the new edition, by sim- roth, of the third volume of Bronn's Klassen- und Ordnunyen dcs Thierreichs ; tiould, Invertebrates of Massachusetts (Boston. 1870) ; Fischer, Man- uel d-e couch 1/1 iolofiie (Paris. 1883-88) ; Pelseneer, Introdurtioii a retudc des molliistiues (ib., 1;K)0) ; Tryon and Pilsbury. Mtinualof Vonchology (Philadelphia, 189G) ; Trvon, Manual of Conchol- or/!/ (Philadelphia, 1870-80); Cooke, "The Mol- lusca," in the Cambridge Xatural Uh^torij. vol. iii. (New York, 1896). Morphological works of Owen. Gegenbaur. Huxley, Lamarck. Spengel, Laeaze-Duthiers, Bouvier, Bourne, Peck, liicring. Brooks, Ryder, Hyatt, with monographs by Call on deep-sea forms and numerous recent and fos- sil groups, by Binney, Verrill. Bush, Conrad. Ko- belt, Pfeiffer. Martens, Reeves, Stearns, Chem- nitz, Bourguignant, Pilsbury, and others. MOLLWITZ, m^l'wlts. A village of Prussian Silesia, in the Government of Broslau. seven miles west of Brieg. To the east of it lies the battle-field where Frederick II. of Prussia gained his first victory over the Austrlans under Mar- shal Neipperg. April 10, 1741. The Prussian cavalry was thrown into confusion by the Aus- trian and put to flight. Frederick left the field at the earnest solicitation of Marshal Schwerin, who saved the day with the infantry after a five hours' battle. The Austrians suffered heavily in killed, wounded, and pri.soners. MOLLY MAGUIRES, ma-gwlrz'. A secret order which existed in 18.54-77, and possibly after- wards, in the anthracite coal mining region of nprtheastern Pennsylvania. Here 400 collieries eni])loyed 00,000 men ; Americans. Ciermans, Welshmen. Englishmen, and Swedes cominised in one-half the number, the remainder lieing Irish. Among the latter apiieared the Jlolly Maguires. a branch of the Physical Force Party of Ireland. The order is alleged to have been alliliated with the 'Ancient Order of Hibernians.' About 1805 the Molly ilaguires first Iieeanie generally known as a dangerous organization. In 1875. having been instrumental in forcing a general .strike in the coal regions, it succeeded in obtaining an as- cendency in the councils of the miners, and from that period was prominent in assassinations and other outrages, committed usually on the persons and against the property of justices of the peace, police oflicers, and mining bosses. Only Irish- men, or the sons of Irishmen, who professed the Catholic faith, were admitted to membership; but liy the laws of the Church they could not re- main Catholics in good standing. The order was organized in divisions, each having a chief official known as a 'body-master'; and there were signs and passwords to enable members to distinguish I