MOLDAU 270 MOLESKIN In anatomy: A fontanel or space occu- pied by a cartilaginous membrane situ- ated at the angles of the bones which form the skull in a human foetus and a new-born child. In building: A frame to give shape to a structure, as in the building of houses in concrete, beton, clay, cement, etc. In founding: Molds for casting are of several kinds: (1) Open molds into which the metal is poured, the upper surface of the fluid metal assuming the hori- zontal position. Such are ingots and some other objects. (2) Close molds of metal or plaster of Paris, with ingates by which the molten metal enters. Such are the molds for inkstands, cannon balls, bul- lets, type, and various other articles made of lead, tin, zinc, and their alloys, which fuse at a moderate heat. (3) Close molds of sand, in which articles of iron, brass, bronze, etc., are cast. In gold-beating: The package of gold- beater's skin in which gold leaf is placed for the third beating. In paper making: Hand-made paper is made by a mold and deckle. The mold is an open, square frame with a wire cloth bottom, and a little larger all round than the required sheet of paper. In plastering: A thin board cut to a pattern and used in forming cornices, etc. In shipbuilding: A full-sized pattern of the same figure and dimensions as the molding side of the piece which it rep- resents. MOLDAU (mol'dou) (Bohemian, Vlta- va), the chief river of Bohemia, and an important tributary of the Elbe, rising in the Bohmerwald mountains, on the S. W. frontier, at an elevation of 3,870 feet above sea-level, and flowing S. E. to Ho- henfurt where it bends N., and pursues that direction to its confluence with the Elbe opposite Melnik, after a course of 278 miles. MOLDAVIA, formerly an indepen ent state, but since Dec. 23, 1861, joined with Wallachia, the two forming the mod- ern state of Rumania, of which it forms the northern part. It is 14,759 square miles in area and has a population of about 2,145,000. MOLDING, or MOULDING, in archi- tecture, a term applied to all the varieties of outline or contour given to the angles of the various subordinate parts and fea- tures of buildings, whether projections or cavities, such as cornices, capitals, bases, floor or window jambs and heads, etc. There are eight sorts of regular mold- ings; viz. the ovolo, the talon, the cyma, the cavetto, the torus, the astragal, the scotia, and the xlllet. The ovolo and italon, from their peculiar form, seem in- ftended to support other important mold- ^ings or members; the cyma and cavetto,
- being of weaker contour, should only be
,used for the cover or shelter of other parts; the torus and astragal, bearing a resemblance to a rope, appear calculated to bind and fortify the parts to which they are applied ; the use of the fillet and scotia is to separate one molding from another, and to give a variety to the general profile. In joinery: A mode of ornamentation by grooved or swelling bands, or forms- following the line of the object. In min- ing, the ore found on the top of veins near the surface of the ground. In ship- building, giving the correct outline and depth to ship's timbers, etc.; it is one part of the operation of forming. MOLE, in zoology, the genus Talpa, and specially T. europsea, the common mole, about six inches in length (includ- ing the tail, rather more than an inch) ; the body is cylindrical, muzzle long and pointed, eyes minute; no ear conches; the fore-feet broad and fossorial, hind-feet long and narrow. Fur, black, soft and vel- vety with grayish tinge. The normal food of the mole is the earthworm. Geo- graphical range, from England to Japan. Moles, the family Talpidse. In husbandry, a cylindrical plug of iron three or four inches in diameter, and with a sharp point, drawn or driven through the sub- soil to make a drain. MOLECH (mo'lek) , or MOLOCH (mo'- lok) , a heathen deity chiefly mentioned in the Old Testament as the national god of the Ammonites, to whom children were sacrificed by fire. MOLE CRICKET, in entomology, any individual of the genus Gryllotalpa. It is about an inch and a half long, dark brown in color. In the forelegs there is a strong analogy with the moles. Lands infested by the mole cricket are recog- nizable by the vegetation, which is yellow and withered, from the roots being eaten off by the insect in its burrowing opera- tions — not for food, as its diet is chiefly underground insects and worms. It flies occasionally in the evening, and produces a note somewhat like that of the goat- sucker. MOLECULE, the smallest quantity of any elementary substance or compound which is capable of existing in a sepa- rate form. Cohesion and chemical affinity are instances of molecular attraction. See Chemistry. MOLESKIN, a strong twilled cotton fabric (fustian), cropped or shorn be-
