MOTT

Mott, Lucretia (COFFIN), 1793-1880; American reformer; b. Nantucket, Mass.; removed, 1804, to Boston, and, 1809, to Philadelphia; where, 1811, she was married to James Mott; became, 1817, a teacher and, soon after, a preacher of the Society of Friends; adhered after 1827 to the Hicksite party; was one of the original founders of the American Antislavery Society, 1833; for many years preached against slavery, war, and other evils, and became a leader in the woman-suffrage movement.

Mott, Valentine, 1785-1865; American surgeon; b. Glen Cove, L. I.; was Prof. of Surgery in Columbia College, 1809-26; in Rutgers Medical College, 1826-30; in College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, 1830-40, and in University Medical College, New York, 1840-60; was a very successful surgical operator; invented valuable surgical implements; had wide fame as an accoucheur; was a brilliant lecturer; published a translation of Velpeau's "Operative Surgery," with large additions; a volume of clinical lectures, and many papers and addresses.

Mot'to, word, phrase, or sentence, used as a declaration of faith or allegiance, as a warcry in the Middle Ages, as a part of the achievement of arms in heraldry, or merely as a badge, sometimes inherited. While some mottoes originated as a remark or boast appropriate to special occasion (e.g., Dieu et mon DroitGod and my right-the utterance of Richard I at the battle of Gisors), most mottoes have been chosen deliberately for their meaning and euphony; such obvious phrases as Semper idem (Always the same) and Esse quam videri (To be rather than to seem) have been taken by many persons. The mottoes of nations in Europe are generally those of their reigning families, or of their chief honorary orders, but cities and towns all through the Middle Ages had mottoes of their own; and from this custom have come the mottoes of the states of the American Union. Virginia has Sic Semper Tyrannis (So [let it be] always to tyrants), in allusion to the dagger in the escutcheon; New York has Excelsior; and the Union itself E Pluribus Unum.

Mouf'lon, animal of the genus Ovis, found in S. Europe, and closely related to the common sheep, with which it breeds, and to the big-horn. Its fleece is not woolly.

Moukden (môk-děn'). See MUKDEN.

Mould, Jacob Wrey, 1825-86; American architect; b. Chiselhurst, England; pupil and associate of Owen Jones; illustrated vol. ii of Jones's "Alhambra," and assisted on his "Grammar of Ornament"; with him designed the Moresque-Turkish divan of Buckingham Palace and the decoration of the World's Fair exhibition buildings of 1851; removed to New York to design and superintend construction of All Souls' Church; afterwards was assistant to Calvert Vaux, chief architect of Department of Public Parks, and his successor; employed, 1857-74, in designing and laying out Central Park; last work, design for temporary tomb of Gen. Grant

MOUND BUILDERS

Mould. See MUCORACEÆ.
Mould'ing.

See MOLDING AND CASTING. Moulins (mô-lăn'), capital of department of Allier, France; on the Allier, here crossed by one of the finest bridges in France; 124 m. NW. of Lyons; is a beautifully situated and handsomely built town, with a fine cathedral, large cavalry barracks, and important manufactures of cotton and cutlery. Pop. of commune (1901) 22,340.

Moult'ing, periodical casting off of shell, skin, horns, feathers, or other parts of the integument, such as takes place once a year or oftener (in some animals once every few days) among serpents, batrachians, spiders, insect larvæ, etc. Birds in many cases shed their feathers annually, and many quadrupeds also shed their coat of hair nearly all at once. Deer mostly renew their horns completely every year. Moultrie

(mô’tri), William, 1731-1805; American military officer; b. South Carolina; constructed and defended the fort on Sullivan's Island, Charleston harbor, subsequently named for him, 1776; defended Charleston, 1780; was Governor of South Carolina, 1789 and 1794-96; and author of "Memoirs of the Revolution." Moultrie (mōl'tri), Fort. See FORT MOUL

each other in the general level of their culture. The mounds or tumuli are of earth or earth mingled with stones, and are of two general classes, the one with a circular base and conical in shape, the other with a rectangular base and a superstructure in the form of a truncated and terraced pyramid. The former are generally found to contain human remains, and are therefore held to have been barrows or sepulchral monuments raised over the distinguished dead, or, in some instances, serving as the communal place of interment for a gens or clan. The truncated pyramids, with their flat surfaces, were evidently the sites for buildings, such as temples or council houses, which, being constructed of perishable material, have disappeared. Many of the mounds are small in size, scarcely visible above the general level of the

MOUND BUILDERS

soil, while others reach extraordinary proportions. One at Moundsville, W. Va., is 70 ft. high and 900 ft. in circumference; a rectangular, truncated mound at Marietta, Ohio, is 188 ft. long, 132 ft. wide, but only 10 ft. high; one at Cahokia, Ill., is 97 ft. high, rising from a base in the form of a parallelogram, with sides measuring 700 and 500 ft., respectively.

They are most numerous in S. Ohio and S. IIlinois. According to a careful estimate, there are more than 10,000 in the former state alone.

SERPENT-SHAPED MOUND, ADAMS COUNTY, OHIO.

Many of them are connected with extensive artificial embankments and earthworks, inclosing large areas in lines representing accurately geometrical figures, usually the square and the circle. One of these, in Ross Co., Ohio, incloses 140 acres; while that known as Fort Ancient, on the Little Miami River, extends in the whole circuit of its embankments about 4 m. Nearly 1,500 of such inclosures have been enumerated in Ohio and over 100 in Ross Co., which seems to have been one of the centers of population of this ancient people. Another class of mounds occasionally found in Ohio, but much more abundant in Wisconsin, are those known as animal or effigy mounds. These are of slight elevation, at most 3 or 4 ft., and represent in outline the figure of some animal in gigantic size, often several hundred feet in length. Several remarkable examples of such mounds are found in Ohio, as the Great Serpent mound in Adams Co. and the so-called Alligator (prob

MOUNTAIN

ably an opossum) in Licking Co. It is generally supposed that the object of these effigy mounds was to represent the "totemic animal" or mythical ancestor of the gens or tribe. The period when the mound builders flourished has been differently estimated; but there is a growing tendency to reject the assumption of a very great antiquity.

Mounds'ville (formerly GRAVE CREEK, renamed from large mound in vicinity), capital of Marshall Co., W. Va.; on the Ohio River; 12 m. S. of Wheeling; is in a coal-mining and farming region; has cotton and woolen mills, glass, mineral wool, and shoe factories, brick works, and several sawmills and coal banks; and contains the State Penitentiary. The work of the mound builders here consists of a conical structure, about 70 ft. high and 900 ft. in circumference at the base. A shaft sunk from the apex to the base, 1838, disclosed two sepulchral chambers, formed of logs and covered with stones, containing human skeletons.

Moun'tain, considerable elevation of the earth's surface, either isolated or arranged in a linear manner. Great regions of the earth are much elevated above the sea, forming high plains, called tablelands or plateaus, from which mountains often rise. Such are the great plain of Tibet, in great part over 14,000 ft.; that of W. Asia, from 4,000 to 8,000; and that of W. N. America, of about the same height, from which rise the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada. The elevation of mountains is generally calculated from the sea level. With few exceptions, the mountains of the earth are arranged in continuous lines or chains, and a mountain system consists of parallel chains. The great mountain system of America is that which has been called the Pacific highlands, extending from Alaska to Cape Horn along the W. part of the continent. It consists in the U. S., exclusive of Alaska, of the Rocky Mountains to the E. and the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Mountains to the W., rising from the broad tableland already mentioned, and having between them the great central basin with its subordinate mountain ranges. The highest points in both of these chains attain about 15,000 ft. The highest mountains in Alaska are Mt. McKinley, 20,464, and Mt. St. Elias, 18,024, and in Mexico, Popocatapetl and Orizaba, each nearly 18,000 ft.

In S. America the same great continental system consists of two, and in some parts of its course of three, chains. The general breadth of the whole system of the Andes is between 100 and 300 m., and the greatest height is attained in the plateau of Bolivia and in Chile, where there are peaks of from 20,000 to 23,000, or, according to some, 25,000 ft. In E. N. America are the Atlantic Highlands or Appalachians, extending from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Alabama; these attain their greatest elevation in the Black Mountains of W. N. Carolina, where there are several peaks of over 6,000 ft., one reaching 6,700 ft., and in New Hampshire, where the highest, Mt. Washington, is 6,293 feet. From the plateau of Brazil rises along its E. portion a chain corresponding to the Appalachian; and in Africa there are similar high

MOUNTAIN, THE

lands on the two sides of the continent, those of the E. attaining an elevation of about 19,000 ft. A like arrangement of highlands is seen in Australia, where the highest elevation is about 7,000 ft. In Europe the Scandinavian and the Ural mountains are N. and S. chains, like the Appalachians; but the great mountain systems of the E. hemisphere have a general E. and W. direction. The Pyrenees, the Alps, the Balkan, the Caucasus, the Himalaya, and various subordinate ranges, mark this great mountain belt. The Pyrenees have a crest line of about 8,000 ft., but attain in some peaks 11,000; the Alps have an average height of from 10,000 to 12,000 ft., the highest peak being Mont Blanc, 15,781 ft.; while the Himalayas rise in many points to 25,000 ft., and attain in Mt. Everest 29,000 ft., and the Thian-shan range, N. of these, is from 15,000 to 20,000 ft. We must distinguish two classes of mountains, of widely different origin: those which are produced by the accumulation of matters ejected from volcanic vents and those which have been formed by erosion. The first class, of which Etna and Vesuvius may be taken as types, have been built up as an anthill is raised by matters brought grain by grain from below the surface. The mountains of purely volcanic origin are insignificant when compared with the great systems of mountains which are not volcanic, or in which the presence of volcanic vents is but a secondary fact. These mountains are due to erosion, and are

the remains of great plateaus, the larger part of which has been removed. They are but fragments of the upper crust of the earth, separated by valleys which represent the absence or the removal of mountain land. The popular conception is that mountain chains are due to the folding and plication of strata; but careful study of their structure shows that these are but accidents of structure, in no way essential to the formation of mountains, and sometimes absent.

Mountain, The. See MONTAGNARDS.

Mountain Ash, or Row'an Tree, popular names of small trees, often seen in cultivation, belonging to the order Rosacea, suborder Pomaceœ. They are Pyrus aucuparia of Europe, and P. americana and P. sambucifolia of N. America. They have compound, feathershaped (pinnate) leaves, and in autumn clusters of small acid bright-red fruit. The European tree is most common in cultivation. The wood of all is hard and suitable for turnery. The peasantry of nearly all nations of Europe ascribe supernatural qualities to the wood of the rowan tree, which is used for divining rods and the like.

Mountain Lime'stone, geologic formation of Carboniferous age, occurring in Great Britain. It is metalliferous, lead being the most important ore. Fluorspar, a little petroleum, a few small coal seams, quarries of building stone, and some iron and copper ore are among its economic resources. The name has also been applied to Carboniferous limestones in the U. S., but is no longer so used.

Mountain Li'on. See PUMA.

MOUNT VERNON

Mountain Mead'ows Mas'sacre, in American history, a massacre near Mountain Meadows, Utah, of 123 emigrants on their way from Arkansas and Missouri to California. Attacked while in camp by Indians and, it is supposed, by disguised Mormons, they held their barricade of wagons for three days; they were then promised protection by an Indian agent and a Mormon bishop, John D. Lee, and left their barricade, but were all slaughtered, except seventeen children, who were distributed among Mormon families, but finally restored by the U. S. Govt. to their relatives.

Moun'tains of the Moon, range formerly believed to extend across central Africa, according to Ptolemy, the sources of the Nile. Modern geographical search has failed to find a range in the locality designated by early geographers. Capt. Speke gave the name, 1858, to a range N. of the newly discovered Lake Tanganyika; and the Duc d'Abruzzi, the Italian explorer, claimed, 1906, to have gained the summit of the loftiest peak of the little-known Ruwenzori range, near the equator and just N. of the Albert Edward Nyanza, said to reach an elevation of 18,000 ft. Mount Cal'vary. See CALVary, Mt.

Mount Carmel (Palestine). See CARMEL, MT.

Mount Desert' Is'land, mountainous island long and 7 wide. of the Atlantic, in Hancock Co., Me.; 14 m. Soame's Sound divides it

Southwest Harbors, Asticou, Soamesville, Seal nearly in two. Bar Harbor, Northeast and Harbor, Seal Cove, and East Eden are among The highest point is Green Mountain, 1,535 ft. the villages. It abounds in beautiful lakes. high. The island is a favorite place of summer resort.

Mount Er'ebus. See EREBUS, MT.

Mount Et'na. See ETNA.

Mount Hood. See HOOD, MT.

Mount Ol'ivet. See OLIVES, MOUNT OF. Mount McKin'ley. See MCKINLEY, MOUNT. Mount-Ste'phen, George Stephen (Baron), 1829; Canadian capitalist; b. Dufftown, Scotland; removed to Canada, 1850, and, engaging in business as a merchant in Montreal, amassed great wealth; became president of the Bank of Montreal, 1876; president of the Manitoba and Minneapolis Railway, 1878, and president of the Canadian Pacific Railway, 1881, an office which he held until his resignation, 1888. In 1887 he and his cousin, Sir Donald Smith, gave $1,250,000 to found the Victoria Hospital at Montreal, completed 1893. In 1886 he was created a baronet for his services in connection with the Canadian Pacific Railway, and, 1891, was raised to the peerage.

Mount Ter'ror. See EREBUS, MT.

Mount Ver'non, city in Westchester Co., N. Y.; on the Bronx River; 13 m. NE. of the Grand Central Depot, New York; includes the former village of Mount Vernon, the suburb of Chester Hill, and a part of the town of East

MOUNT VERNON

chester. Some parts of it are about 200 ft. above tidewater, and command an extensive view of Long Island Sound. Pop. (1905) 25,006.

Mount Vernon, magisterial district in Fairfax Co., Va.; on the Potomac River; 15 m. below Washington, D. C.; contains the home and tomb of George Washington, the former having many relics of the Washington family.

Mount Vernon La'dies' Associa'tion, oldest patriotic association of women in existence in the U. S.; founded, 1854, for the purpose of purchasing the Mount Vernon estate, including the mansion and Washington's tomb. In 1858 the association was able to purchase from John A. Washington, Jr., and his heirs 200 acres of the Mount Vernon estate, including the tomb, the mansion, attendant buildings, the wharf, etc., for $200,000 and interest. In 1887 a tract of 35 acres adjoining Mount Vernon was presented to the association by Jay Gould. At present the entire property includes 237 acres.

Mourn'ing, the official or conventional expression of grief. It has varied much. The Hebrews tore the garments, cut the hair and beard, strewed ashes on the head, went bareheaded and barefooted, and lay down on the ground weeping and smiting the breast; the period of mourning was seven days, but for Moses and Aaron they mourned thirty days. The Greeks cut off the hair, put on a coarse, black garment, retired into seclusion, and wailed. When a great general died the whole army cut off their hair and the manes of their horses. The period of mourning was in Athens thirty days, but in Sparta only ten. With the Romans the mourning was mostly done by the women; the men wore black clothes, but only for a few days. Public mournings often occurred in the days of the republic on the occasion of some public calamity or on the death of some great man; during the empire, on the death of an emperor. Then all business stopped; the temples, the Forum, the schools, and the baths were closed. The mourning color was black under the republic, but during the empire white became the mourning color for women. The mourning rites among barbarians and half savages are often horrible, frequently involving serious mutilations. Among civilized nations the mourning customs have become very similar in modern times, and consist mostly in retirement within the house and avoidance of what is bright and noisy. In Europe and America the mourning color is black; in Turkey, violet; in China, white; in Egypt, yellow.

Mouse (plur. Mice), name of the house mouse (Mus musculus), popularly applied to many species of small rodents, chiefly of the family Muride, although a few belong to related families. Such are the jumping mice (Zapus) of the family Zapodide, the pocket mice (Perognathus), belonging to the Dipodida, and the dormice (Myoxus), forming the family Myorida. The field mice, or voles, belong to the genus Arvicola, which includes many species and has representatives in both the Old and New Worlds. The white-footed or deer mice belong to the genus Hesperomys,

by man throughout nearly the whole world, and its amazing fecundity enables it to hold out against many enemies, including the rat. See RODENTIA.

Mov'ing Pictures, pictures produced by the vitascope, an instrument for projecting a rapid succession of pictures in such manner as to cause the illusion of motion due to life.

In

its simpler forms this instrument has long been known. Its present perfection is an outcome of development in photography and electricity. The physiological principle on which it depends is that a definite interval of time is required for the perception of a nerve impression; and, however quick this impression may be, time is required for the perception to vanish. The most obvious illustration of this is that a blow upon the body produces the sensation of pain which may last for hours. About the middle of the nineteenth century Helmholtz measured the velocity of a nervous impression, and found it to be less than 100 ft. per second. Long ago it was observed that the apparent form of a body is modified if its condition be changed from that of rest to rapid motion. The spokes of a rapidly revolving wheel when seen by con

LIZARD WALKING. (After Marey.)

tinuous light are practically invisible, but if the wheel be revolved at the highest speed in the dark, and momentarily illuminated by a single spark from an electric coil, every spoke is plainly visible. Upon this principle an instrument called the stroboscope was invented in 1832. It consisted of a disk through which a series of equidistant narrow radial openings were cut near the circumference. If a moving body, such as a revolving wheel, be viewed through the slits of the stroboscope disk, the eye receives a succession of nearly instantane