MOULD-MOULMEIN. being so long, and yet so delicate, as to make it a marvel that they can remain erect.'-(Berkeley). MOULD, the model or pattern from which workmen execute mouldings, ornaments, &c. Also, the shape or bed in which metal and other castings are made. MOULDINGS, the curved and plane surfaces used as ornaments in cornices, panels, arches, &c., and in all enriched apertures in buildings. In classic architecture the mouldings are few in number, and ECHINUS OR OVOLO CYMA RECTA CYMA REVERSA SCOTIA TORUS Classic Mouldings. definitely fixed in their forms. There are eight kinds of these regular mouldings, viz., the Cyma, the Ovolo (or Echinus), the Talon, the Cavetto, the Torus, the Astragal, the Scotia, and the Fillet (q. v.); and each of these mouldings has its proper place assigned to it in each order. See COLUMN. In Gothic architecture, and all other styles, the mouldings are not reduced to a system as in the Greek and Roman styles, but may be used in every variety of form at the pleasure of the artist. Certain forms generally prevail at one period in any style. Thus, in Gothic architecture, the date of a building may in many instances be determined by the form of the mouldings. 2 Various Mouldings. The Norman mouldings were very simple in outline, and frequently enriched with the zigzag and billet ornaments. Fig. 1 is a common Norman form. In the early English style, the mouldings are also simple in outline, and are usually arranged in rectangular divisions, as in fig. 3, and consist of alternate rounds and hollows. In late examples of this style, the fillet was introduced (fig. 2), and led to the more elaborate form of mouldings during the Decorated period (fig. 4). The mouldings of the perpendicular style are generally flatter and thinner than the preceding, and have large hollows separated by narrow fillets, which produce a meagre effect. Each of these styles has its peculiar ornaments and style of foliage; and when these are used along with the mouldings, there is no difficulty in determining the approximate date of a building. MOULINS, a town of France, capital of the department of Allier, on the right bank of the river Allier, here crossed by a handsome stone bridge of 13 arches, lies 213 miles, by railway, south-east of Paris, and 95 miles north-west of Lyon. M. was formerly the capital of Bourbonnais. It is a clean, well-built town, with pretty promenades. The principal buildings are the cathedral of Notre Dame (for the enlargement of which the sum of one and a half million francs was granted in 1852), the museum, the theatre, the public library containing 20,000 vols., the new town-house, the Palace of Justice, and the college. Of the old castle, built by the Duc de Bourbon in 1530, only a square tower remains, which is used as a prison. M. carries on trade in coal, wood, iron, grain, wine, oil, and cattle. Pop. 15,471. MOULMEI'N, the seat of government of the Tenasserim Provinces (q. v.), situated on the northeast corner of the Bay of Bengal, at the junction of the rivers Salween, Gyne, and Attaran, in 16° 29′ N. lat., and 97° 38' E. long. M., one of the healthiest stations in India, is a pretty specimen of an eastern town. It is divided into five districts, each of which is under a goung or native head of police. The streets are, for the most part, shaded with trees, principally of the acacia tribe, and the glossy jack is often seen half covering a native house, its great fruit, as large as a child's head, The principal street, about 3 ripening in the sun. miles in length, runs due north and south, and parallel with the river Salween. The native houses are constructed in the usual Burman style of bamboo, and a thatch made of the leaf of the water-palm. All are raised on piles, according to the universal custom of the country. Men walk about with the green paper chattah, or Chinese umbrella, used throughout the provinces; the gharie, or India cab, dashes along, the attendant imp revelling in heat and dust. heights flash the gilded spires of innumerable M. is backed by a fine range of hills, on whose pagodas; and here, too, are built many pretty residences, commanding a fine view of the town, river, and adjacent country, which for picturesque beauty and varied scenery has few equals. M. boasts various churches, chapels, and missionary establishments, several charitable and educational institutions, substantial barracks, a general hospital, public library, &c. Vessels drawing 10 feet of water can come up to M., under charge of pilots from Amherst, and at spring-tide ships of any tonnage may reach the town. The rise and fall of the water is at that time from 20 to 23 feet. The population of M. is on the increase In the census of 1855 -1856 it is given as follows: Besides the Burmans proper, the inhabitants of M. include Eurasians or half-casts, Taliens, Chinese, Shans, Karens, Armenians, Jews, Malays, and natives of Hindustan. M. possesses great facilities for ship-building, and MOULTING-MOUNTAINS. many fine vessels have lately been constructed in MOUNT, in Heraldry. When the lower part of the shield is occupied with a representation of ground slightly raised, and covered with grass, this is called a mount in base; e. g., Argent, on a mount in base, a grove of trees ppr.-Walkinshaw of that Ilk, Scotland. MOUNT VERNON, the seat and tomb of George Washington, first President of the United States of America, on the right bank of the river Potomac, in Virginia, 15 miles below Washington. The residence of Washington, finely situated on the rising bank of the river, and his tomb, with an estate of 200 acres, have been purchased by a patriotic society of ladies, to be kept as a place of public resort, and a memorial of the MOUNTAIN ASH. See ROWAN. Mount. of the carboniferous series in the south of England MOUNTAIN LIMESTONE, the basement rock and in Wales. It consists of a calcareous rock loaded with marine remains, the greater part of the rock being made up bodily of corals, crinoids, and shells. much as 900 feet. In the north of England and in It has a variable thickness, sometimes reaching as Scotland, the marine limestones are not separated from, but alternate with the coal-bearing strata. See CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. MOULTING is the term applied by naturalists to the periodical exuviation, or throwing off of certain structures, which are for the most part of an epithelial or epidermic character. Thus, in a considerable number of the Articulata, the external covering is thrown off, and replaced many times during life. In some of the minute Entomostracous Crustacea of our pools, a process of moulting, similar to that which occurs in crabs and lobsters, occurs every two or three days, even when the animals seem to have attained their full growth.Father of his country.' In the crabs, in which the process has been carefully observed, the exuvium, or cast-off shell, consists not only of the entire external covering, including even the faceted membrane which forms the anterior coat of the compound eyes, but also carries with it the lining membrane of the stomach, and the plates to which the muscles are attached. During growth, this moulting takes place as often as the body becomes too large for the shell; and after the animal has attained its full size, it is found to occur at least once a year, at the reproductive season. During the early growth of insects, spiders, centipedes, &c., a similar moult is frequently repeated at short MOUNTAINS. The number and altitude of intervals, but after they have attained their full the mountains of the globe are so great that they size, no further moulting takes place. In the Verte-form almost everywhere prominent objects, and brata we have examples of as complete a moulting, and replacement of new skin, among frogs and serpents as occurs in the Articulata, the whole epidermis being thrown off at least once, and, in some instances, several times yearly. In birds, the feathers are periodically cast off and renewed; in mammals generally, the hair is regularly shed at certain periods of the year; and in the deer tribe the casting off and renewal of the antlers must be regarded as a special example of moulting. In man, the continual exuviation of the outer layers of the epidermis is a process analogous to that which takes place on a more general scale in the lower animals. MOULTRIE, FORT, a fortress on Sullivan's Island, at the mouth of Charleston Harbour, South Carolina, celebrated for the repulse of a British squadron commanded by Sir Peter Parker, January 28, 1776. The fort, at that time, was hastily built of Palmetto logs and sand, with 31 guns and 435 men. The spongy wood of the palmetto was found to resist the cannon balls perfectly. The fort was afterwards rebuilt, and in April 1861, took part in the reduction of Fort Sumter, and the commencement of active hostilities in the civil war of secession. MOUND (Lat. mundus), in Heraldry, a representation of a globe, surmounted with a cross (generally) pattée. As a device, it is said to have been used by the Emperor Justinian, and to have been intended to represent the ascendancy of Christianity over the world. The royal crown of England is surmounted by a mound, which first appears on the seal of William the Conqueror, though the globe Mound. without the cross was used earlier. operate to a large extent in modifying the climatic conditions of every country in the world. Yet the amount of solid material so raised above the ordinary level of the land is not so much as might be expected. Remembering that elevated plateaus of great extent occur in several regions, and that the general surface of the earth is considerably higher than the sea-level, it has been estimated that were the whole dry land reduced to a uniform level, it would form a plain having an elevation of 1800 feet above the sea. And were these solid materials scattered over the whole surface of the globe, so as to fill up the bed of the ocean, the resulting level would be considerably below the present surface of the sea, inasmuch as the mean height of the dry land most probably does not exceed one-fifteenth of the mean depth of the bed of the ocean. Mountains, and especially mountain-chains, subserve important uses in the economy of nature, especially in connection with the water system of the world. They are at once the great collectors and distributors of water. In the passage of moisture-charged winds across them, the moisture is precipitated as rain or snow. When mountainthus abstracting the moisture, they produce a moist ranges intersect the course of constant winds by country on the windward-side, and a comparatively dry and arid one on the leeward. This is exemplified in the Andes, the precipitous western surface of which has a different aspect from the sloping eastern plains; and so also the greater supply of moisture on the southern sides of the Himalayas brings the snow-line 5000 feet lower than on the northern side. Above a certain height the moisture falls as snow, and a range of snow-clad summits would form a more effectual separation between the plains on either side than would the widest ocean, were it not that transverse valleys are of frequent occurrence, which open up a pass, or way of transit, at a level below the snow-line. But even these would not prevent the range being an impassable MOUNTAINS. barrier, if the temperate regions contained as lofty mountains as the tropics. Mountain-ranges, however, decrease in height from the equator to the poles in relation to the snow-line. The numerous attempts that have been made to generalise on the distribution of mountains on the globe have hitherto been almost unsuccessful. In America, the mountains take a general direction more or less parallel to the meridian, and for a distance of 8280 miles, from Patagonia to the Arctic Ocean, form a vast and precipitous range of lofty mountains, which follow the coast-line in South America, and spread somewhat out in North America, presenting everywhere throughout their course a tendency to separate into two or more parallel ridges, and giving to the whole continent the character of a precipitous and lofty western border, gradually lowering into an immense expanse of eastern lowlands. In the Old World, on the other hand, there is no single well-defined continuous chain connected with the coast-line. The principal ranges are grouped together in a Y-shaped form, the general direction of which is at right angles to the New World chain. The centre of the system in the Himalayas is the highest land in the hemisphere. From this, one arm radiates in a northeast direction, and terminates in the high land at Behring Straits: the other two take a westerly course; the one a little to the north, through the Caucasus, Carpathians, and Alps, to the Pyrenees; the other more to the south, through the immense chain of Central African mountains, and terminating at Sierra Leone. Most of the principal secondary ranges have generally a direction more or less at right angles to this great mountain tract. The inquiry into the origin of mountains is one that has received not a little attention. Geologists have shewn that the principal agents in altering the surface of the globe are denudation, which is always abrading and carrying to a lower level the exposed surfaces, and an internal force which is raising or depressing the existing strata, or bringing unstratified rocks to the surface. Whether the changes are the small and almost imperceptible alterations now taking place, or those recorded in the mighty mountains and deep valleys everywhere existing, denudation and internal force are the great producing causes. These give us two great classes of mountains. 1. Mountains produced by denudation. The extent to which denudation has altered the surface of the globe can scarcely be imagined. All the stratified rocks are produced by its action; but these do not measure its full amount, for many of these beds have been deposited and denuded, not once or twice, but repeatedly, before they reached their present state. Masses of rock more indurated, or better defended from the wasting currents than those around, serve as indices of the extent of denudation. The most remarkable case of this kind, with which we are acquainted, is that of the three insulated mountains in Ross-shire-Suil Veinn, Coul Beg, and Coul More (fig. 1)-which are about 3000 feet high. The strata of the mountains Fig. 1.-Suil Veinn, Coul Beg, and Coul More.-From Murchison's Siluria: London, J. Murray. are horizontal, like the courses of masonry in a pyramid, and their deep red colour is in striking contrast with the cold bluish hue of the gneiss which forms the plain, and on whose upturned edges the mountain-beds rest. It seems very probable, as Hugh Miller suggests, that when the formation of which these are relics (at one time considered as Old Red Sandstone, but now determined by Sir Roderick Murchison as being older than Silurian), was first raised above the waves, it covered, with an amazing thickness, the whole surface of the Highlands of Scotland, from Ben Lomond to the Maiden Paps of Caithness, but that subsequent denudation swept it all away, except in circumscribed districts, and in detached localities like these pyramidal hills. 2. Mountains produced by internal force.-These are of several kinds. (a.) Mountains of ejection, in which the internal force is confined to a point, so to speak, having the means of exhausting itself through an opening in the surface. The lava, scoriæ, and stones ejected at this opening form a conical projection which, at least on the surface, is composed of strata sloping away from the crater. Volcanoes are mostly isolated conical hills, yet they chiefly occur in a somewhat tortuous linear series, on the mainland and islands which enclose the great Pacific Ocean. Vesuvius and the other European volcanoes are unconnected with this immense volcanic tract. (b.) But the internal force may be diffused under a large tract or zone, which, if it obtain no relief from an opening, will be elevated in the mass. When the upheaval occurs to any extent, the strata are subjected to great tension. If they can bear it, a soft rounded mountain-chain is the result; but generally one or more series of cracks are formed, and into them igneous rocks are pushed, which, rising up into mountainchains, elevate the stratified rocks on their flanks, and perhaps as parallel ridges. Thus, the Andes MOURNE MOUNTAINS-MOUSE consist of the stratified rocks of various ages, lying in order on the granite and porphyry of which the mass of the range is composed. The position of the strata on such mountains supplies the means of determining, within definite limits, the period of upheaval. The newest strata that have been elevated on the sides of the mountain when it was formed, give a date antecedent to that at which the elevation took place, while the horizontal strata at the base of the mountain supply one subsequent to that event. Thus, the principal chain of the Alps was raised Fig. 2.-Principal System of the Alps: 1, Granitic rocks; 2, Paleozoic; 3, Secondary; 4, Tertiary; 5, Recent. during the period between the deposition of the Tertiary and that of the older recent deposits. (c.) But there is yet another way in which the upheaving internal force operates, viz., where it does not act at right angles to the surface, but rather obliquely, and, as it were, pushes the solid strata forwards, causing them to rise in huge folds, which, becoming permanent, form parallel ranges of mountains. The crust of the earth, in its present solid and brittle condition, is thus curved, in a greater or less degree, by the shock of every earthquake; it is well known that the trembling of the earth is produced by the progress of a wave of the solid crust; that the destruction of buildings is caused by the undulation; and that the wave has been so evident, that it has been described as producing a sickening feeling on the observer, as if the land were but thin ice heaving over water. This mode of mountain formation has been explained, when treating of the Appalachians (q. v.), which were thus formed. Many other ranges have had a similar origin, as some in Belgium and in the Southern Highlands of Scotland, as has been suggested by Mr Carruthers. It is evident that in the last two classes the parallel ridges were produced at the same time. Elie de Beaumont has generalised this, maintaining that all parallel ridges or fissures are synchronous; and on this he based a system of mountain-structure, which is too universal and too geometrical to be true. The synchronism of parallel fissures had been noticed by Werner, and it is now received as a first principle in mining. The converse is also held to be generally true, that fissures differing in direction differ also in age; yet divergence from a centre, and consequent want of parallelism, as in the case of volcanoes, may be an essential characteristic of contemporaneity. Nevertheless, Elie de Beaumont has classified the mountains of the world according to this parallelism, holding that the various groups are synchronous. The parallelism does not consist in having the same relations to the points of the compass-for these, as regards north and south, would be far from parallel-but is estimated in its relation to some imaginary great circle, which being drawn round the globe would divide it into equal hemispheres. Such circles he calls Great Circles of Reference. But beyond this, he goes a step further, and proposes a more refined classification, depending on a principle of geometrical symmetry, which he believes he has discovered among his great circles of reference. It is to be feared, however, that his geometrical speculations have little foundation in MOURNING, a particular habit worn to express grief, especially for the decease of friends. The usages regarding mourning have varied much at different times and in different countries. Among the Jews, the duration of mourning for the dead was generally 7, but sometimes protracted to 30 days; and the external indications of sorrow consisted in weeping, tearing the clothes, smiting the breast, cutting off the hair and beard, lying on the ground, walking barefoot, and abstaining from washing and anointing themselves. Among the Greeks, the period was 30 days, except in Sparta, where it was limited to 10. The relatives of the deceased secluded themselves from the public eye, wore a coarse black dress, and in ancient times cut off their hair as a sign of grief. Among the Romans, the colour of mourning for both sexes was black or darkblue under the republic. Under the empire, the women wore white, black continuing to be the colour for men, who did not cut off the hair or beard as in Greece. Men wore their mourning only a few days; women a year, when for a husband or parent. The time of mourning was often shortened by a victory or other happy public event, the birth of a child, or the occurrence of a family festival. A public calamity, such as a defeat, or the death of an emperor or person of note, occasioned a public mourning, which involved a total cessation of business, called Justitium. In modern Europe, the ordinary colour for mourning is black; in Turkey, violet; in China, white; in Egypt, yellow; in Ethiopia, brown. It was white in Spain until 1498. Mourning is worn of different depth, and for different periods of time, according to the nearness of relationship of the deceased. On the death of a sovereign or member of the reigning house, a court mourning is ordered; and in this country, it is usual at the same time to recommend the adoption of a general mourning. In Scotch Law, if a husband die, whether solvent or insolvent, the widow will be entitled to a preferable payment out of the assets for mournings suitable to his rank. And the same privilege applies to mournings for such of the children as are to assist at the funeral. In England, there is no such privilege or distinction. MOUSE (Mus), a genus of rodent mammalia of the family Murida (q. v.), having three simple molar teeth in each jaw, with tuberculated summits, the upper incisors wedge-shaped, the lower compressed and pointed, the fore-feet with four toes and a rudimentary thumb, the hind-feet fivetoed; the tail long, nearly destitute of hair, and scaly. This genus includes Rats (q. v.) and mice; the smaller species bearing the latter name.-The MOUSE-EAR CHICKWEED-MOUTH. COMMON M. (M. musculus) is perhaps not originally British, although now so abundant everywhere. It accompanies man wherever he goes, and readily colonises every region, arctic, temperate, or tropical; its great fecundity, common also to most of its congeners, causing means to be employed every where for the prevention of its excessive multiplication. Aristotle made the experiment of placing a pregnant female M. in a closed vessel filled with grain, and found in a short time no fewer than 120 mice in the vessel. Of cats and mouse-traps it seems unnecessary here to speak, and equally unnecessary to give a description of the common mouse. There are several varieties of this species. That generally found in houses is smaller, and not so dark in colour, as that common in barns and farmyards. A white variety sometimes occurs, and has been perpetuated in a half-domesticated state. The common brown kind is, however, at least as easily tamed, and readily becomes familiar enough. A pied variety is not uncommon in India.-Much has been written about the singing powers of the M.; it being asserted, on the one hand, that mice not unfrequently shew a strong love for music, and a power of imitating the song of birds; whilst, on the other hand, it is alleged that the singing of mice is merely the consequence of throat disease.The M. makes a nest like that of a bird in the wainscot of a wall, among the chaff or feathers of a bed, or in any similar situation. The litter is generally from six to ten in number.-The WOOD M., or LONG-TAILED FIELD M. (M. sylvaticus), is a little larger than the Common Mouse. Its tail is the ears not large. This species is not uncommon in some parts of the south of England; it is also found in the south of Scotland, although less frequently. It makes its nest among the stalks of wheat, reeds, or other grasses, weaving together the leaves and panicles of grasses, the leaves being for this purpose cut into shreds by its teeth. The nest is a very curious structure formed by mere intertwining, without cement of any kind. It is generally suspended among the stalks. It is globular, or nearly so, and entrance to it is through an opening, which almost completely closes up again. -A still smaller species of M.(M. pumilus) is found in the south of Europe.-An American species, the WHITE-FOOTED M. (M. leucopus), common in most parts of North America, and intermediate in its habits between the Common M. and the Field M., is said to depart from houses whenever either the cat or the brown rat appears in them.-The Barbary M. (M. Barbarus) approaches in size to the rats, and is distinguished by its longitudinally striped fur. The name M. is often popularly given to animals considerably different from the true mice, as the Voles (q. v.). MOUSE-EAR CHICKWEED (Cerastium), a having five sepals, five bifid petals, ten stamens, five genus of plants of the natural order Caryophyllacea, styles, and a capsule bursting at the top with ten teeth. The species are numerous, natives of temperate and cold countries in all parts of the world. in Britain; others, having larger flowers, are occaSome of them are among the most common weeds sionally planted in flower-borders and on rockworks. The form and hairiness of the leaves of some of the British species have given rise to the popular name. MOUTH, DISEASES OF THE, occur in different forms, but usually begin with inflammation of the mucous membrane. The inflammation may be equally diffused, or may be chiefly or entirely confined to the mucous follicles. When diffused, it may either present no peculiar secreted product, or the surface may be covered with a curd-like secretion, or with patches of false membrane. It may further be attended with eruption, ulceration, or gangrene, any one of which may impress a special character on the disease, or it may present peculiarities from the nature of its exciting cause, as when it accompanies scurvy, or is the result of mercurial action. The following are the principal forms of inflammation of the mouth, or stomatitis (Gr. stoma, the mouth), as it is termed by nosologists. 1. Common Diffused Inflammation, which appears in reddened, somewhat elevated patches, and sometimes occupies Long-tailed Field Mouse (Mus sylvaticus) and Harvest large portions of the surface of the mouth. It is more Mouse (Mus messorius). longer; its ears are also longer; its muzzle rather longer; its under-parts lighter in colour, than in the common mouse. It is abundant throughout Britain and the temperate parts of Europe, and is a grievous pest in gardens and fields. It lays up stores of grain and other food, either in thick tufts of grass, or just under the surface of the earth. The quantity of food laid up in such stores is often wonderfully large. The Field M. is timid, gentle, and easily tamed.-The smallest British M., and the smallest British quadruped, is the HARVEST M. (M. messorius), of which the head and body are only 24 inches in length, the tail being almost equally long, and to some degree prehensile; the general form elongated and slender, the head narrow, commonly a complication of other diseases than an original affection. When of the latter character, it is generally caused by the direct action of irritants, as by scalding drinks, corrosive substances introduced into the mouth, accumulated tartar on the necks of the teeth, &c. In ordinary cases, cooling and demulcent liquids (such as cream or almond oil) applied locally, an occasional saline cathartic, with a soft and chiefly farinaceous diet, constitute the whole of the necessary treatment. 2. Diffused Inflammation, with curd-like exudation, is almost entirely confined to infants, and is described under its popular name of THRUSH. 3. Inflammation of the Follicles, and Eruption or Vesicular Inflammation, are described in the article APTHE (q. v.). 4. In Ulcerative Inflammation, Cancrum Oris, or Canker, an ulceration often of considerable size, |