+------------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+
| |No. 1.|No. 2.|No. 3.|No. 4.|No. 5.|
+------------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+
|A. _Constituents of the | | | | | |
| cement-stones._ | | | | | |
|Carbonate of lime | 65·7 | 61·6 | | 82·9 | 63·8 |
| ---- magnesia | 0·5 | | | | 1·5 |
| ---- protoxide of iron| 6·0 | 6·0 | | } | 11·6 |
| ---- manganese | 1·6 | | | }4·3 | |
|Silica | 18·0 | 15·0 | | 13·0 | 14·0 |
|Alumina or clay | 6·6 | 4·8 | |trace | 5·7 |
|Oxide of iron | | 3·0 | | | |
|Water | 1·2 | 6·6 | | | 3·4 |
| | | | | | |
|B. _Constituents of the | | | | | |
|cement._ | | | | | |
|Lime | 55·4 | 54·0 | 55·0 | | 56·6 |
|Magnesia | | | | | 1·1 |
|Alumina or clay | 36·0 | 31·0 | 38·0 | | 21·0 |
|Oxide of iron | 8·6 | 15·0 | 13·0 | | 13·7 |
+------------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+
No. 1. English cement-stone, analyzed by Berthier; No. 2. Boulogne
stone, by Drapiez; No. 3. English ditto, by Davy; No. 4. reniform
limestone nodules from Arkona, by Hühnefeld; No. 5. cement-stone of
Avallon, by Dumas.
In England the stones are calcined in shaft-kilns, or sometimes in
mound-kilns, then ground, sifted, and packed in casks. The colour of the
powder is dark-brown-red. When made into a thick paste with water, it
absorbs little of it, evolves hardly any heat, and soon indurates. It is
mixed with sharp sand in various proportions, immediately before using
it; and is employed in all marine and river embankments, for securing
the seams of stone or brick floors or arches from the percolation of
moisture, and also for facing walls to protect them from damp.
The cement of Pouilly is prepared from a Jurassic (secondary) limestone,
which contains 39 per cent. of silica, with alumina, magnesia, and iron
oxide. Vicat forms a factitious Roman cement by making bricks with a
pasty mixture of 4 parts of chalk, and 1 part of dry clay, drying,
burning, and grinding them. River sand must be added to this powder; and
even with this addition, its efficacy is somewhat doubtful; though it
has, for want of a better substitute, been much employed at Paris.
The cement of Dihl consists of porcelain or salt-glaze potsherds ground
fine, and mixed with boiled linseed oil.
Hamelin’s mastic or lithic paint to cover the façades of brick
buildings, &c., is composed of 50 measures of siliceous sand, 50 of
lime-marl, and 9 of litharge or red-lead ground up with linseed oil.
MOSAIC GOLD. For the composition of this peculiar alloy of copper and
zinc, called also _Or-molu_, Messrs. Parker and Hamilton obtained a
patent in November, 1825. Equal quantities of copper and zinc are to be
“melted at the lowest temperature that copper will fuse,” which being
stirred together so as to produce a perfect admixture of the metals, a
further quantity of zinc is added in small portions, until the alloy in
the melting pot becomes of the colour required. If the temperature of
the copper be too high, a portion of the zinc will fly off in vapour,
and the result will be merely spelter or hard solder; but if the
operation be carried on at as low a heat as possible, the alloy will
assume first a brassy yellow colour; then, by the introduction of small
portions of zinc, it will take a purple or violet hue, and will
ultimately become perfectly white; which is the appearance of the proper
compound in its fused state. This alloy may be poured into ingots; but
as it is difficult to preserve its character when re-melted, it should
be cast directly into the figured moulds. The patentees claim the
exclusive right of compounding a metal consisting of from 52 to 55 parts
of zinc out of 100.
_Mosaic gold_, the _aurum musivum_ of the old chemists, is a sulphuret
of tin.
MOSAIC. (_Mosaïque_, Fr.; _Mosaisch_, Germ.) There are several kinds of
mosaic, but all of them consist in imbedding fragments of different
coloured substances, usually glass or stones, in a cement, so as to
produce the effect of a picture. The beautiful chapel of Saint Lawrence
in Florence, which contains the tombs of the Medici, has been greatly
admired by artists, on account of the vast multitude of precious
marbles, jaspers, agates, avanturines, malachites, &c., applied in
mosaic upon its walls. The detailed discussion of this subject belongs
to a treatise upon the fine arts.
MOTHER OF PEARL (_Nacre de Perles_, Fr.; _Perlen mutter_, Germ.); is the
hard, silvery, brilliant internal layer of several kinds of shells,
particularly oysters, which is often variegated with changing purple and
azure colours. The large oysters of the Indian seas alone secrete this
coat of sufficient thickness to render their shells available to the
purposes of manufactures. The genus of shell fish called _pentadinæ_
furnishes the finest pearls, as well as mother of pearl; it is found in
greatest perfection round the coasts of Ceylon, near Ormus in the
Persian Gulf, at Cape Comorin, and among some of the Australian seas.
The brilliant hues of mother of pearl, do not depend upon the nature of
the substance, but upon its structure. The microscopic wrinkles or
furrows which run across the surface of every slice, act upon the
reflected light in such a way as to produce the chromatic effect; for
Sir David Brewster has shown, that if we take, with very fine black
wax, or with the fusible alloy of D’Arcet, an impression of mother of
pearl, it will possess the iridescent appearance. Mother of pearl is
very delicate to work, but it may be fashioned by saws, files, and
drills, with the aid sometimes of a corrosive acid, such as the dilute
sulphuric or muriatic; and it is polished by colcothar of vitriol.
MOTHER-WATER, is the name of the liquid which remains after all the
salts that will regularly crystallize have been extracted, by
evaporation and cooling, from any saline solution.
MOUNTAIN SOAP (_Savon de montagne_, Fr.; _Bergseife_, Germ.); is a
tender mineral, soft to the touch, which assumes a greasy lustre when
rubbed, and falls to pieces in water. It consists of silica 44, alumina
26·5, water 20·5, oxide of iron 8, lime 0·5. It occurs in beds,
alternating with different sorts of clay, in the Isle of Skye, at Billin
in Bohemia, &c. It has been often, but improperly, confounded with
steatite.
MUCIC ACID (_Acid mucique_, Fr.; _Schleimsaüre_, Germ.); is the same as
the saclactic acid of Scheele, and may be obtained by digesting one part
of gum arabic, sugar of milk, or pectic acid, with twice or thrice their
weight of nitric acid. It forms white granular crystals, and has not
been applied to any use in the arts.
MUCILAGE, is a solution in water of gummy matter of any kind.
MUFFLE, is the earthenware case or box, in the assay furnaces, for
receiving the cupels, and protecting them from being disturbed by the
fuel. See ASSAY and FURNACE.
MUNDIC, is the name of copper pyrites among English miners.
MUNJEET, is a kind of madder grown in several parts of India.
MURIATIC or HYDROCHLORIC ACID; anciently _marine acid_, and _spirit of
salt_. (_Acide hydrochlorique_, and _Chlorhydrique_, Fr.; _Salzsaüre_,
Germ.) This acid is now extracted from sea-salt, by the action of
sulphuric acid and a moderate heat; but it was originally obtained from
the salt by exposing a mixture of it and of common clay to ignition in
an earthen retort. The acid gas which exhales, is rapidly condensed by
water. 100 cubic inches of water are capable of absorbing no less than
48,000 cubic inches of the acid gas, whereby the liquid acquires a
specific gravity of 1·2109; and a volume of 142 cubic inches. This vast
condensation is accompanied with a great production of heat, whence it
becomes necessary to apply artificial refrigeration, especially if so
strong an acid as the above is to be prepared. In general, the muriatic
acid of commerce has a specific gravity varying from 1·15 to 1·20; and
contains, for the most part, considerably less than 40 parts by weight
of acid gas in the hundred. The above stronger acid contains 42·68 per
cent. by weight; for since a cubic inch of water, which weighs 252·5
grains, has absorbed 480 cubic inches = 188 grains of gas; and 252·5 +
188 = 440·5; then 440·5 : 188 ∷ 100 : 42·68. In general a very good
approximation may be found to the percentage of real muriatic acid, in
any liquid sample, by multiplying the decimal figures of the specific
gravity by 200. Thus for example, at 1·162 we shall have by this rule
0·162 × 200 = 32·4, for the quantity of gas in 100 parts of the liquid.
Muriatic acid gas consists of chlorine and hydrogen combined, without
condensation, in equal volumes. Its specific gravity is 1·247, air =
1·000.
By sealing up muriate of ammonia and sulphuric acid, apart, in a strong
glass tube recurved, and then causing them to act on each other, Sir H.
Davy procured liquid muriatic acid. He justly observes, that the
generation of elastic substances in close vessels, either with or
without heat, offers much more powerful means of approximating their
molecules than those dependent on the application of cold, whether
natural or artificial; for as gases diminish only 1/480 in volume for
every degree of Fahrenheit’s scale, beginning at ordinary temperatures,
a very slight condensation only can be produced by the most powerful
freezing mixtures, not half as much as would result from the application
of a strong flame to one part of a glass tube, the other part being of
ordinary temperature: and when attempts are made to condense gases into
liquids by sudden mechanical compression, the heat instantly generated
presents a formidable obstacle to the success of the experiment; whereas
in the compression resulting from their slow generation in close
vessels, if the process be conducted with common precautions, there is
no source of difficulty or danger; and it may be easily assisted by
artificial cold, in cases where gases approach near to that point of
compression and temperature at which they become vapours.--_Phil.
Trans._ 1823.
The muriatic acid of commerce has usually a yellowish tinge, but when
chemically pure it is colourless. It fumes strongly in the air, emitting
a corrosive vapour of a peculiar smell. The characteristic test of
muriatic acid in the most dilute state, is nitrate of silver, which
causes a curdy precipitate of chloride of silver.
The preparation of this acid upon the great scale is frequently effected
in this country by acting upon sea-salt in hemispherical iron pots, or
in cast-iron cylinders, with concentrated sulphuric acid; taking 6 parts
of the salt to 5 of the acid. The mouth of the pot may be covered with a
slab of siliceous freestone, perforated with two holes of about two
inches diameter each, into the one of which the acid is poured by a
funnel in successive portions, and into the other, a bent glass, or
stone-ware tube, is fixed, for conducting the disengaged muriatic gas
into a series of large globes of bottle glass, one-third filled with
water, and laid on a sloping sand-bed. A week is commonly employed for
working off each pot; no heat being applied to it till the second day.
The decomposition of sea-salt by sulphuric acid, was at one time carried
on by some French manufacturers in large leaden pans, 10 feet long, 5
feet broad, and a foot deep, covered with sheets of lead, and luted. The
disengaged acid gas was made to circulate in a conduit of glazed bricks,
nearly 650 yards long, where it was condensed by a sheet of water
exceedingly thin, which flowed slowly in the opposite direction of the
gas down a slope of 1 in 200. At the end of this canal nearest the
apparatus, the muriatic acid was as strong as possible, and pretty pure;
but towards the other end, the water was hardly acidulous. The
condensing part of this apparatus was therefore tolerably complete; but
as the decomposition of the salt could not be finished in the leaden
pans, the acid mixture had to be drawn out of them, in order to be
completely decomposed in a reverberatory furnace; in this way nearly 50
per cent. of the muriatic acid was lost. And besides, the great quantity
of gas given off during the emptying of the lead-chambers was apt to
suffocate the workmen, or seriously injured their lungs, causing severe
hemoptysis. The employment of muriatic acid is so inconsiderable, and
the loss of it incurred in the preceding process is of so little
consequence, that subsequently, both in France and in England, sulphate
of soda, for the soda manufacture, has been procured with the
dissipation of the muriatic acid in the air. In the method more lately
resorted to, the gaseous products are discharged into extensive vaults,
where currents of water condense them and carry them off into the river.
The surrounding vegetation is thereby saved in some measure from being
burned up, an accident which was previously sure to happen when fogs
precipitated the floating gases upon the ground. At Newcastle,
Liverpool, and Marseilles, where the consumption of muriatic acid bears
no proportion to the manufacture of soda, this process is now practised
upon a vast scale.
The apparatus for condensing muriatic acid gas has been modified and
changed, of late years, in many different ways.
_The Bastringue apparatus._ At the end of a reverberatory furnace, (see
COPPER, SMELTING OF, and SODA, MANUFACTURE OF,) a rectangular lead
trough or pan, about 1 foot deep, of a width equal to that of the
interior of the furnace, that is about 5 feet wide, and 6-1/2 feet long,
is encased in masonry, having its upper edges covered with cast-iron
plates or fire tiles, and placed upon a level with the passage of the
flame, as it escapes from the reverberatory. The arch which covers that
pan forms a continuation of the roof of the reverberatory, and is of the
same height. The flame which proceeds from the furnace containing the
mixture of salt and sulphuric acid is made to escape between the vault
and the surface of the iron plates or fire tiles, through a passage only
4 inches in height. When the burned air and vapours reach the extremity
of the pan, they are reflected downwards, and made to return beneath the
bottom of the pan, in a flue, which is afterwards divided so as to lead
the smoke into two lateral flues, which terminate in the chimney. The
pan is thus surrounded as it were with the heat and flame discharged
from the reverberatory furnace. See EVAPORATION. A door is opened near
the end of the pan, for introducing the charge of sea-salt, amounting to
12 bags of 2 cwt. each, or 24 cwt. This door is then luted on as tightly
as possible, and for every 100 parts of salt, 110 of sulphuric acid are
poured in, of specific gravity 1·594, containing 57 per cent. of dry
acid. This acid is introduced through a funnel inserted in the roof of
the furnace. Decomposition ensues, muriatic acid gas mingled with steam
is disengaged, and is conducted through 4 stone-ware tubes into the
refrigerators, where it is finally condensed. These refrigerators
consist of large stone-ware carboys, called _dame-jeans_ in France, to
the number of 7 or 8 for each pipe, and arranged so that the neck of the
one communicates with the body of the other; thus the gas must traverse
the whole series, and gets in a good measure condensed by the water in
them, before reaching the last.
When the operation is finished, the door opposite the pan is opened, and
the residuum in it, is discharged, in the form of a fluid magma, upon a
square bed of bricks, exterior to the furnace. This paste speedily
concretes on cooling, and is then broken into fragments and carried to
the soda manufactory. The immense quantity of gas exhaled in discharging
the pan, renders this part of the operation very painful to the workmen;
and wasteful in reference to the production of muriatic acid. The
difficulty of luting securely the cast-iron plates or fire tiles which
cover the pan, the impossibility of completing the decomposition of the
salt, since the residuum must be run off in a liquid state, finally, the
damage sustained by the melting and corrosion of the lead, &c., are
among the causes why no more than 80 or 90 parts of muriatic acid at
1·170 are collected, equivalent to 25 per cent. of real acid for every
100 of salt employed, instead of much more than double that quantity,
which it may be made to yield by a well conducted chemical process.
[Illustration: 747 748]
The _cylinder apparatus_ is now much esteemed by many manufacturers.
_Fig._ 747. represents, in transverse section, a bench of iron cylinder
retorts, as built up in a proper furnace for producing muriatic acid;
and _fig._ 748. a longitudinal section of one retort with one of its
carboys of condensation. _a_ is the grate; _b_, a fireplace, in which
two iron cylinders, _c c_, are set alongside of each other. They are
5-1/2 feet long, 20 inches in diameter, about 1/4 of an inch thick, and
take 1·6 cwts. of salt for a charge; _d_ is the ash-pit; _e_, _e_, are
cast-iron lids, for closing both ends of the cylinders; _f_ is a tube in
the posterior lid, for pouring in the sulphuric acid; _g_ is another
tube, in the anterior lid, for the insertion of the bent pipe of hard
glazed stone-ware _h_; _i_ is a three-necked stone-ware carboy; _k_ is a
tube of safety; _l_, a tube of communication with the second carboy; _m
m_, _m m_, are the flues leading to the chimney _n_.
After the salt has been introduced, and the fire kindled, 83-1/4 per
cent. of its weight of sulphuric acid, of spec. grav. 1·80, should be
slowly poured into the cylinder through a lead funnel, with a
syphon-formed pipe. The three-necked carboys may be either placed in a
series for each retort, like a range of Woulfe’s bottles, or all the
carboys of the front range may be placed in communication with one
another, while the last carboy at one end is joined to the first of the
second range; and thus in succession. They must be half filled with cold
water; and when convenient, those of the front row at least, should be
plunged in an oblong trough of running water. The acid which condenses
in the carboys of that row is apt to be somewhat contaminated with
sulphuric acid, muriate of iron, or even sulphate of soda; but that in
the second and third will be found to be pure. In this way 100 parts of
sea-salt will yield 130 parts of muriatic acid, of spec. grav. 1·19;
while the sulphate of soda in the retort will afford from 208 to 210 of
that salt in crystals.
It is proper to heat all the parts of the cylinders equably, to insure
the simultaneous decomposition of the salt, and to protect it from the
acid; for the hotter the iron, and the stronger the acid, the less
erosion ensues.
Some manufacturers, with the view of saving fuel by the construction of
their furnaces oppose to the flame as many obstacles as they can, and
make it perform numerous circulations round the cylinders; but this
system is bad, and does not even effect the desired economy, because the
passages, being narrow, impair the draught, and become speedily choked
up with the soot, which would be burned profitably in a freer space; the
decomposition also, being unequally performed, is less perfect, and the
cylinders are more injured. It is better to make the flame envelope at
once the body of the cylinder; after which it may circulate beneath the
vault, in order to give out a portion of its caloric before it escapes
at the chimney.
The fire should be briskly kindled, but lowered as soon as the
distillation commences; and then continued moderate till the evolution
of gas diminishes, when it must be heated somewhat strongly to finish
the decomposition. The iron door is now removed, to extract the
sulphate of soda, and to recommence another operation. This sulphate
ought to be white and uniform, exhibiting in its fracture no
undecomposed sea-salt.
Liquid muriatic acid has a very sour corrosive taste, a pungent
suffocating smell, and acts very powerfully upon a vast number of
mineral, vegetable, and animal substances. It is much employed for
making many metallic solutions; and in combination with nitric acid, it
forms the aqua regia of the alchemists, so called from its property of
dissolving gold.
Table of Muriatic Acid, by Dr. Ure.
+-------+--------+---------+--------+
| Acid |Specific|Chlorine.|Muriatic|
|of 120 |gravity.| | Gas. |
|in 100.| | | |
+-------+--------+---------+--------+
| 100 | 1·2000 | 39·675 | 40·777 |
| 99 | 1·1982 | 39·278 | 40·369 |
| 98 | 1·1964 | 38·882 | 39·961 |
| 97 | 1·1946 | 38·485 | 39·554 |
| 96 | 1·1928 | 38·089 | 39·146 |
| 95 | 1·1910 | 37·692 | 38·738 |
| 94 | 1·1893 | 37·296 | 38·330 |
| 93 | 1·1875 | 36·900 | 37·923 |
| 92 | 1·1857 | 36·503 | 37·516 |
| 91 | 1·1846 | 36·107 | 37·108 |
| 90 | 1·1822 | 35·707 | 36·700 |
| 89 | 1·1802 | 35·310 | 36·292 |
| 88 | 1·1782 | 34·913 | 35·884 |
| 87 | 1·1762 | 34·517 | 35·476 |
| 86 | 1·1741 | 34·121 | 35·068 |
| 85 | 1·1721 | 33·724 | 34·660 |
| 84 | 1·1701 | 33·328 | 34·252 |
| 83 | 1·1681 | 32·931 | 33·845 |
| 82 | 1·1661 | 32·535 | 33·437 |
| 81 | 1·1641 | 32·136 | 33·029 |
| 80 | 1·1620 | 31·746 | 32·621 |
| 79 | 1·1599 | 31·343 | 32·213 |
| 78 | 1·1578 | 30·946 | 31·805 |
| 77 | 1·1557 | 30·550 | 31·398 |
| 76 | 1·1536 | 30·153 | 30·990 |
| 75 | 1·1515 | 29·757 | 30·582 |
| 74 | 1·1494 | 29·361 | 30·174 |
| 73 | 1·1473 | 28·964 | 29·767 |
| 72 | 1·1452 | 28·567 | 29·359 |
| 71 | 1·1431 | 28·171 | 28·951 |
| 70 | 1·1410 | 27·772 | 28·544 |
| 69 | 1·1389 | 27·376 | 28·136 |
| 68 | 1·1369 | 26·979 | 27·728 |
| 67 | 1·1349 | 26·583 | 27·321 |
| 66 | 1·1328 | 26·186 | 26·913 |
| 65 | 1·1308 | 25·789 | 26·505 |
| 64 | 1·1287 | 25·392 | 26·098 |
| 63 | 1·1267 | 24·996 | 25·690 |
| 62 | 1·1247 | 24·599 | 25·282 |
| 61 | 1·1226 | 24·202 | 24·874 |
| 60 | 1·1206 | 23·805 | 24·466 |
| 59 | 1·1185 | 23·408 | 24·058 |
| 58 | 1·1164 | 23·012 | 23·050 |
| 57 | 1·1143 | 22·615 | 23·242 |
| 56 | 1·1123 | 22·218 | 22·834 |
| 55 | 1·1102 | 21·822 | 22·426 |
| 54 | 1·1082 | 21·425 | 22·019 |
| 53 | 1·1061 | 21·028 | 21·611 |
| 52 | 1·1041 | 20·632 | 21·203 |
| 51 | 1·1020 | 20·235 | 20·796 |
| 50 | 1·1000 | 19·837 | 20·388 |
| 49 | 1·0980 | 19·440 | 19·980 |
| 48 | 1·0960 | 19·044 | 19·572 |
| 47 | 1·0939 | 18·647 | 19·165 |
| 46 | 1·0919 | 18·250 | 18·757 |
| 45 | 1·0899 | 17·854 | 18·349 |
| 44 | 1·0879 | 17·457 | 17·941 |
| 43 | 1·0859 | 17·060 | 17·534 |
| 42 | 1·0838 | 16·664 | 17·126 |
| 41 | 1·0818 | 16·267 | 16·718 |
| 40 | 1·0798 | 15·870 | 16·310 |
| 39 | 1·0778 | 15·474 | 15·902 |
| 38 | 1·0758 | 15·077 | 15·494 |
| 37 | 1·0738 | 14·680 | 15·087 |
| 36 | 1·0718 | 14·284 | 14·679 |
| 35 | 1·0697 | 13·887 | 14·271 |
| 34 | 1·0677 | 13·490 | 13·863 |
| 33 | 1·0657 | 13·094 | 13·456 |
| 32 | 1·0637 | 12·697 | 13·049 |
| 31 | 1·0617 | 12·300 | 12·641 |
| 30 | 1·0597 | 11·903 | 12·233 |
| 29 | 1·0577 | 11·506 | 11·825 |
| 28 | 1·0557 | 11·109 | 11·418 |
| 27 | 1·0537 | 10·712 | 11·010 |
| 26 | 1·0517 | 10·316 | 10·602 |
| 25 | 1·0497 | 9·919 | 10·194 |
| 24 | 1·0477 | 9·522 | 9·786 |
| 23 | 1·0457 | 9·126 | 9·379 |
| 22 | 1·0437 | 8·729 | 8·971 |
| 21 | 1·0417 | 8·332 | 8·563 |
| 20 | 1·0397 | 7·935 | 8·155 |
| 19 | 1·0377 | 7·538 | 7·747 |
| 18 | 1·0357 | 7·141 | 7·340 |
| 17 | 1·0337 | 6·745 | 6·932 |
| 16 | 1·0318 | 6·348 | 6·524 |
| 15 | 1·0298 | 5·951 | 6·116 |
| 14 | 1·0279 | 5·554 | 5·709 |
| 13 | 1·0259 | 5·158 | 5·301 |
| 12 | 1·0239 | 4·762 | 4·893 |
| 11 | 1·0220 | 4·365 | 4·486 |
| 10 | 1·0200 | 3·968 | 4·078 |
| 9 | 1·0180 | 3·571 | 3·670 |
| 8 | 1·0160 | 3·174 | 3·262 |
| 7 | 1·0140 | 2·778 | 2·854 |
| 6 | 1·0120 | 2·381 | 2·447 |
| 5 | 1·0100 | 1·984 | 2·039 |
| 4 | 1·0080 | 1·588 | 1·631 |
| 3 | 1·0060 | 1·191 | 1·224 |
| 2 | 1·0040 | 0·795 | 0·816 |
| 1 | 1·0020 | 0·397 | 0·408 |
+-------+--------+---------+--------+
MURIATES were, till the great chemical era of Sir H. Davy’s researches
upon chlorine, considered to be compounds of an undecompounded acid, the
muriatic, with the different bases; but he proved them to be in reality
compounds of chlorine with the metals. They are all, however, still
known in commerce by their former appellation. The only muriates much
used in the manufactures are, _Muriate of ammonia_, or SAL AMMONIAC;
_muriated peroxide of mercury_, MERCURY, _bichloride of_; _muriate of
soda_, or _chloride of sodium_, see SALT; _muriate of tin_, see
CALICO-PRINTING and TIN.
MUSK (_Musc_, Fr.; _Moschus_, Germ.), is a peculiar aromatic substance,
found in a sac between the navel and the parts of generation of a small
male quadruped of the deer kind, called by Linnæus, Moschus moschiferus,
which inhabits Tonquin and Thibet. The colour of musk is blackish-brown;
it is lumpy or granular, somewhat like dried blood, with which
substance, indeed, it is often adulterated. The intensity of its smell
is almost the only criterion of its genuineness. When thoroughly dried
it becomes nearly scentless; but it recovers its odour when slightly
moistened with water of ammonia. The Tonquin musk is most esteemed. It
comes to us in small bags covered with a reddish-brown hair; the bag of
the Thibet musk is covered with a silver-gray hair. All the analyses of
musk hitherto made, teach little or nothing concerning its active or
essential constituent. It is used in medicines, and is an ingredient in
a great many perfumes.
MUSLIN, is a fine cotton fabric, used for ladies’ robes; which is worn
either white, dyed, or printed.
MUST, is the sweet juice of the grape.
MUSTARD (_Moutarde_, Fr.; _Senf_, Germ.); is a plant which yields the
well-known seed used as a condiment to food. M. Lenormand gives the
following prescription for preparing mustard for the table.
With 2 pounds of very fine flour of mustard, mix half an ounce of each
of the following fresh plants; parsley, chervil, celery, and tarragon,
along with a clove of garlic, and twelve salt anchovies, all well
minced. The whole is to be triturated with the flour of mustard till the
mixture becomes uniform. A little grape-must or sugar is to be added, to
give the requisite sweetness; then one ounce of salt, with sufficient
water to form a thinnish paste by rubbing in a mortar. With this paste
the mustard pots being nearly filled, a redhot poker is to be thrust
down into the contents of each, which removes (it is said) some of the
acrimony of the mustard, and evaporates a little water, so as to make
room for pouring a little vinegar upon the surface of the paste. Such
table mustard not only keeps perfectly well, but improves with age.
The mode of preparing table mustard patented by M. Soyés, consisted in
steeping mustard seed in twice its bulk of weak wood vinegar for eight
days, then grinding the whole into paste in a mill, putting it into
pots, and thrusting a redhot poker into each of them.
MUTAGE, is a process used in the south of France to arrest the progress
of fermentation in the must of the grape. It consists either in
diffusing sulphurous acid, from burning sulphur matches in the cask
containing the must, or in adding a little sulphite (not sulphate) of
lime to it. The last is the best process. See FERMENTATION.
MYRICINE, is a vegetable principle which constitutes from 20 to 30 per
cent. of the weight of bees-wax, being the residuum from the solvent
action of alcohol upon that substance. It is a grayish-white solid,
which may be vaporized almost without alteration.
MYRRH, is a gum-resin, which occurs in tears of different sizes; they
are reddish-brown, semi-transparent, brittle, of a shining fracture,
appear as if greasy under the pestle, they have a very acrid and bitter
taste, and a strong, not disagreeable, smell. Myrrh flows from the
incisions of a tree not well known, which grows in Arabia and Abyssinia,
supposed to be a species of _amyris_ or _mimosa_. It consists of resin
and gum in proportions stated by Pelletier at 31 of the former and 66 of
the latter; but by Braconnot, at 23 and 77. It is used only in medicine.