M U C
fary for its nutrition, has been controverted. The learned Mr. Monro is of opinion it is not : See his reafons, and his anfwers to what has been advanced by many learned men in favour of the contrary opinion, in the Med. Efl. Edmb. Vol. 2- Art. 9. or the Abridgment, Vol. i. p. 305. Mr. Monro obfcrves farther, that the opening or the Mouth does not only depend on the motion of the lower jaw downwards, but alio on the fuperior jaw being raifed up by the mufcles, which extend the head back- He fays any one may convince himfelf of the truth of this, by putting the blade of a knife oppofite to the conjoined edges of the teeth, when the Mouth is fhut; and the knife being held unmoved while the Mouth is opened, he may, by the help of a mirror, fee the upper teeth raifed remarkably at every aperture he per- forms. Medic. Eff. Edinb. vol. I. art. II. In the fifh kinds the Mouth is very different in the feveral ge- nera and fpecies in its fituation, figure, and proportion, and is by the bed naturalifls made a mark of diitinc-tion among them. In regard to place or fituation, it is, 1. in fome placed in the front or tip of the head ; and in this cafe both the jaws are fome times of the fame length; fometimes the one is confiderably longer than the other. Examples of this fitua- tion occur in moll fifties. 2. In fome the Mouth is placed in the lower or under part of the head under the fnout. Exam- ples of this we have in the ray-fifhes, the fquatina, thepetro- myza, C3V. 3. In. fome fifties it is placed tranfverfely to the body, that is, the opening of the Mouth cuts the fite of the back and belly at right angles : But 4. In others it is oblique. The generality of fifties give us Intlances of the firft fituation j' and the pleuronedti in general give us examples of the lafl. As to figure, there are alfo very many differences. When the Mouth is opened, it is in fome, 1. of an oblong, round, or roundifh fquare fhape ; this we fee inftances of in the cyprini, &c. 2. In others it is oblong and wide ; of this we fee in- ftances in moll; filh. 3. It is fpherical, as in the petromyzse. Thefe are the general diffinctions ; but b^fide thefe there are many lefler diftinftions, which are only degrees of thefe. The proportion of the Mouth to the head is alfo very various ; 1. In fome it is much fmaller than the breadth of the head-; of this we fee examples in the cyprini, cobites, pleuroncdti, and many others. 2. In fome it is equal to the width of the head, or very nearly fo, as in the cotti, filuri, £&&. Artedi^ Ich- thyol. MOUTON d'Or, an old French coin. See the article Ag-
NEL.
MOXA (Cycl.) — The antient physicians ufed flax, as the peo- ple of the eaftern nations now do their Moxa for cauterizing in certain parts of the body. The method of ufing the Moxa is this : A fmall cone of the down or Moxa is to be made up of about a thumb's breadth long, much after the manner they are for a fuffitus. The bafis of this cone is to be ftuck upon the part with a mucilage of gum arabic, and its top is then to be fct on fire by a candle or burning coal. By this means the whole cone will be gradually confirmed, and the part by de- grees cauterized. This is ufed in cafes of the gout ; and if the pain does not ceafe on the firft operation, it is to be re- peated till it does. Trfeijierh Surgery, p. 319. MOYNAU, in fortification. See the article Moineau. MUCILAGINOUS Glands (Cycl)— The rough unequal de- preffion at the bottom of the cotyloide cavity of the olla inno- mtnata is filled by a broad flat mucilaginous gland, bordered with a fatty fubftance, and covered with a fine membrane. The mucilaginous glands of the bones of the leg lie in fmall fpaces, depreflions, and fuperficial notches, near the edges of the cartilages of each joint, and are all covered by the capfular ligaments. In the bones of the foot thefe glands aufwer in number and figure to the depreflions between the cartilaginous edges and ligaments.
In the articulations of the flernum, vertebrae, and ribs, the mucilaginous glands are very fmall ; but they are accompanied by many fatty molecular lying round each joint. The inner nirface of the ligamentary tube which lines the bony canal of A i P 7 Cj 1S lubricated a!fo b y an oily or adipofe fubftance. And the true mucilaginous glands of the occipital and maxil- lary articulations in the bones of the head, are all propor- tioned to the joints to which they belong* and lie between the caplular ligaments and the circumferences of the cartilages. i-Vmjlotv s Anatomy, p. 12 * f e q MUCILAGO, in botany, a name' under which Micheli has comprized fome fpecies of that kind of fungus called mucor, confuting of fmall bladders, or veficies with feeds affixed to
ll?a ^ ? S ' an i epithet ufed b >' «*■»" ** a fort of abfceiTes, wluch are partly made of < flefh and , °'
thick mucous matter. r J
MUCOR, in botany, a name given by Micheli, and continued by Lmnsus, to a genus of mufhrooms, often comprized by
ie fmall varieties of fome of the fpecies. -' '
M C F
and lycogala. Their characters i
and
ccnnrti^^ofroundlmliui^Wdrt^^h^re^"'" meroun fpo,\* -,«: j 1 ■ »•> ' n wmcn ' [ re round nu-
ESfitgSte,**** receptacles ' p ,aced a11 —
MU S. vSjE 1 "* * name »«» ^ *■ Wtai to a
fpecies of the ray-fifh, called by the old authors, teiorafa,
and bos marinus ; and by the lather authors, raja oxyrynchu* and laviraia. It is diftinguifhed by Artedi by the name of the variegated ray, with ten prickly tubercles on the middle of the back. See the article Raja.
MUCOUS {Cyd.y — Mucous Fev'irs, a term ufed by medical writers to exprefs thofe fevers in which nature is endeavouring to rid herfelf of an abundance of pituitous, mucous, and fe- rous matter. The catarrhal fevers of all forts are ex- prelled under this denomination. Junker's Confp. Med. p. 252. See the article Fever.
MUCRONATED, whatever ends or terminates in a point, like that of a fword, c5V.
MUCU, in zoology, the name of a Brafilian fifh of the lam- prey kind. It is long and fiender ; its head is pointed ; its eyes black and fmall ; and its mouth very finall ; and it has no fins. It is brown all over, only of a dufkier colour on the back than on the belly, and has a number of obliquely tranfverfe lines on the fides, which are black. It is an eatable fifh, and is caught in lakes in Brafil. Marggra-ve, Hifl. Braf. p. 96.
MUCUS (Cycl.)— Mucus of Fijhes. The bodies of mod of the fifties called alepidotes by authors, from their having either nofcales at all, or only a few fmall ones, are covered in the place of fcales with this Mucus. It is a tough and thick vif- cous liquor, and flicks firmly to the body, defending thefkin from injuries from ftones, and the like. It is fecieted from certain glands placed about the head, and on moil parts of the body, but particularly in the linea lateralis. Artedi Ich- thyology.
MUDD, in ichthyology, a name given by the Swedes to the fifh called by Schonefeldt and others, aphua or aphya. It is a fpecies of the cyprinus, according to Artedi, and is diftin- guifhed by that author by the name of the red-eyed two-inch cyprinus, with nine bones in the pinna ani. See the article Cyprinus.
MUERDEM, among the Turks, an officer belonging to their mofques, who with his voice calls the people to prayers ; thereby fupplying the want of bells, which the Mahometans will not life. Hofm. Lex. in voc. See the articles Bell, and Mosque, Cycl.
MUFFLE, in metallurgy, is an arched cover, refilling the ftrongeft fire, and made to be placed over coppels and tefls in the operations of aflaying, to preferve them from the falling of coals or afhes into them ; though at the fame time of fuch a form, as not to hinder the action of the air and fire on the metal, nor prevent the inflection of the affayer. The Muffles may be made of any form, fo they have thefe conditions ; but thofe ufed with coppels are commonly made femi-cylindrical, or when greater veflefs are employed, in form of a hollow hemifphere.
The Muffle mufl have apertures, that the aflayer may look in, and the fore part of it mufl be always quite open, that the air may act better in conjuction with the fire, and be inceffantly renewed ; for without this, fcarce any fumes are to be pro- duced, and without thefe, the vitrification of lead is fcarce practicable ; for when the air is once filled with a certain quantity of vapours, it fcarce admits any more afterwards ; and for this reafon a conflant fucceflion of frefh air is neceffary. The apertures in the Muffle ferve alfo for the regimen of the fire; for the cold air ruining into the larger opening before, cools the bodies in the veflel ; but if fome coals are put in it, and its aperture before be then fhut with a door fitted to it, the fire will be increafed to the highefl degree, much more quickly than it can be by the breathing-holes of the furnace. Another ufe of thefe apertures is alfo, that the arfenical vapours of lead and antimony paffing through the holes in the back part of the Muffle, may not be oftenfive to the affayer, who flands be- fore it.
As to the height, length, and depth of the Muffles, thefe mufl be proportioned to the fize and number of the vefTels they are intended to cover ; and care mufl be taken in this, that all parts of the inner furface of thofe vefTels muft be in the reach of the affayer's eye. The rnoft frequent fize of the Muffle however is four inches high, fix or eight inches long, and four or fix inches broad. The fegments cut off at the bafes, for the lefTer holes mufl be of fuch a proportioned height, that the leafl vefTels put under it, may not be in the way of coals or afhes falling into them, for that always hinders the vitrification of lead, and the deflruclion of theother metals and femi-metals, and will fometimes entirely reduce them again when already deftroyed ; and the fcorize, foftened by afhes, foften and re- tard the operation.
Wooden moulds of a proper fhape, are mod convenient for the making thefe Muffles in, and the matter for making them of is the fame with that of the German clay tefls - s that isj either a pure native clay, of a condition to bear the fire, which will be known upon the trial ; or fuch clay, hardened by a mixture of the powder of ftones : And in order to the forming of thefe, the mafs mufl be made tolerably foft and pliant. Knead a fufficient quantity of this mafs with your hands upon a flat flone ; fpread it out evenly into a thin cake or plate, fomewhat longer and broader than you intend the Muffle to be made ; and fo thick, that two or more thin plates or la- mina, of about two lines thick each, may be cut off from it. This is eafily done by rolling the mafs on the flone with Y a
