Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/113

* MPONGWE. 85 MUCKERS. as clevpr swindler-.. Tin- political unit is the clan, ruled over l>y the head men. The so-ealled king is chosen I'runi the head men by lot in a solenui conclave, and is reviled and mistreated before being proclaimed. In arts the Mpongwe are at a low level. They are said to cook their food by boiling it in earth- en vessels, apparently not being familiar with the method of roasting. As eanix'-makers they are skillful, and are admirable boatmen. The canoes, usually CO feet long, arc hollowed out by fire and transported often several niilo to water. Around the statinns the ilpotigwe are nominally Christians, but the is(dated natives retain their pagan religion, with its fetisli idols, charms, and belief in witchcraft. MRICCHAKATIKA, mrlch'aka'te-ka' (Skt. mrcchakdtilai. clay cart ) . The title of a Sanskrit play of the sixth century attril)uted to a king named Sudraka. but l)robably written for him by the poet Daudin (q.v.). The play, which is in ten acts, is one of the most exquisite of all the Sanskrit dramas. The scene is laid at Ujjain (q.v. I, ami its central theme is the noble love of the rich courtesan Vasantasena for a mer- chant named Carudatta. who has been reduced to poverty. Pursued by Sansthanaka, the King's brother-in-law, 'asanta.sena seeks refuge in Caru- datta's house, and the pair fall in love. Escorted to her home by the merchant, she leaves her jewels with him on the pretext that she dares not keep them about her. The gems are stolen by a Brahman who is in love with Vasantasena's maid, the soubrette of the play. When Carudat- ta perceives this loss, he and his wife sell all that remains to them and thus make good the treasure ; but the Brahman, on the advice of his sweetheart, surrenders the stolen jewels to their owner, and Vasantasena thus discovers the depth of Carudatta's love for her. In the merchant's home she .sees his little son weeping because he can have but a clay cart, while a neighbor's child has one of gold. She heaps the toy full of jewels for him, and this incident, one of true pathos, gives the play its name. Again pursued by the brother-in-law of the King, she repulses him. Enraged, he chokes her into insensibility, and leaves her for dead, covering her with leaves. She is. however, discovered and revived by a Buddhist monk whom she had saved from a gambling quarrel. Sansthanaka accuses Caru- datta of Vasantasena's murder. He is con- demned and led forth to execution. .Tust as the sword is raised, Vasantasena appears, her lover is saved, and, as polygamy is possible in the Hindu drama, the lovers are united. As a pic- ture of Hindu life of the period, luxurious and corrupt, but with noble and unselfish motives, the Clai/ Cart is of great value. The il ricchakatika, lias been edited bv Stenzlcr (Bonn, 1847), Goda- b(de (Bombay, iSOO), Vidyasagara (Calcutta ISnSi. and Parab (Bombay.' inont. It has been translated into German by Biihtlingk (Saint Petersburg. 18771. Fritze' (Chemnitz. 1870), and Kellner (Leipzig, 1894) : into Dutch by Vogel (Amsterdam. 1807) : and into English by Wilson in his Select Specimens of the Tluntre of the Hindus (.'id ed. London, 1S71). Con- sult Levi, Theatre Indirn (Paris, 18!M)). MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. A comedy by Shakespeare, produced in I;ifl7-n8 and printed in 1(500. It was probably a re<'ast of Lni'e's Lahonr's Won (1590). and was known as Bene- dick and licatrice (ItiLi). The story of Hero and Clau<lio is taken probably from the tale of ".Vriodanle and Giuevra" in Ariosto's Orlando fvrioso, which was translated by Beverly, and dramatized as Ariodunle and Geneiioru (1582). It is found also in Bandello's novels, and in a German play by Jacob .yrer. The Beautiful I'ha'nioian (159C). This contains some features not in the novel but used by Shakespeare, point- ing to some unknown intermediate source. Other- wise the oomedy is quite original, especially the inimitable Doglierry. MUCILAGE (Lat. mucilago, moldy, musty juice, from inucere, to be moldy, from mucus, slime; connected with Gk. yai5|o, myxa, slime. Lat. mungere, to blow the nose. Skt. muc, to release). A name applied to aqueous solutions or jelly-like preparations of vegetable gums or of dextrin (qq.v. ). An excellent mucilage is made by dis- solving gum arable in hot water, filtering the solution and ad<ling some antiseptic, to prevent fermentation and the formation of mold. The United States Pharmacopa'ia contains four mu- cilages, including Mucilago acacice and Mucilago tragacnnthw. MUCIN. See ifrcous Mkmbr.^xe. MUCIUS SCaSVOLA, nm'shi-us sev'o-la. See PoKSKXA. MUCKE, muk'e, Hei.nrich ( 1806-91 ). A Ger- man historical painter, born at Breslau, pupil of Schadow, first at the Berlin Academy, then at Diisseldorf, whither he had followed him. In 1829 he painted with Lessing in Castle Heltorf, near Diisseldorf, a cycle in fresco of episodes in the life of Frederick Barbarossa, and after a visit to Italy in 18:5.3 executed a series of reli- gious and historical paintings, chief among which w-ere: "Saint Catharine Borne by Angels to Mount Sinai" (18:311). a composition of which he subsequently had to paint five rcplica.s. "Saint Elizabeth Distributing Alms" (1S41), both in the National (iallery, Berlin; "The Virgin and Child, with David, Saint John, and Saint Aloy- sius," a large fresco in Saint Andrew's Church, Diisseldorf; "Chriemhilde's Dream;" "Saint Am- bi'ose and Emperor Theodosius at Jlilan;" "Intro- duction of Christianity into the Wupper Valley," fresco in City ?Iall. F.Iberfild ; and a cycle de- picting the "Life of Saint Meinrad, Count of Zollern." at Sigmaringen. MUCK'ERS (Ger. Mucker, sulky person, hypocrite, from JIHG. muckzen, miichzen. from OHG. miickiiz^cn, to nuitter; probably connected w'ith Olr. fiir-niuigthc. hidden). The popular but opjirobrious name, meaning that they were hypocrites, of an extraordinary sect which sprang up at Kimigsberg, in Germany, in 18,30. The movement seems to have originated in the dual- istic and Gnostic views of .John Henry Schiinherr (who was born at Jlemel. in 1771. and died at Konigsberg in 1820) concerning the origin of the universe by the combination of two spiritual and sensiial principles. His followers carried out his system much more completely than him- self. The most notable of them were two clergy- men, .Tohann Wilhclm Ebel and Georg Heinrich Diestel. the former an archdeacon, who founded a society to which women — some of noble birth — attached themselves. Scandal was thereby caused, and Ebel's easily misunderstood expres- sions as to the proper relations of the sexes were made the basis of charges against his chas-