Part 175

Music hall. A place for public musical entertainments; specif. (Eng.), esp. a public hall for vaudeville performances, in which smoking and drinking are usually allowed in the auditorium.

Must (mst), n. [Hind. mast intoxicated, ruttish, fr. Skr. matta, p.p. of mad to rejoice, intoxicate.] (Zoöl.) Being in a condition of dangerous frenzy, usually connected with sexual excitement; -- said of adult male elephants which become so at irregular intervals. -- n. (a) The condition of frenzy. (b) An elephant in must.

Mus`tah"fiz` (?), n. [Turk. & Ar. mustafi who trusts to another's keeping, a soldier of a garrison.] See Army organization, above.

Mu*ta"tion (?), n. 1. (Biol.) Gradual definitely tending variation, such as may be observed in a group of organisms in the fossils of successive geological levels.

2. (Biol.) (a) As now employed (first by de Vries), a sudden variation (the offspring differing from its parents in some well-marked character or characters) as distinguished from a gradual variation in which the new characters become fully developed only in the course of many generations. The occurrence of mutations, and the hereditary transmission, under some conditions, of the characters so appearing, are well-established facts; whether the process has played an important part in the evolution of the existing species and other groups of organisms is a disputed question. (b) The result of the above process; a suddenly produced variation.

Mu*tes`sa*rif" (?), n. [Turk. & Ar. muteçarif freely disposing of anything, master.] In Turkey, an administrative authority of any of certain sanjaks. They are appointed directly by the Sultan.

Mu*tes`sa*ri*fat" (?), n. [Turk. & Ar. muteçarifah office of a mutessarif.] In Turkey, a sanjak whose head is a mutessarif.

Mu"to*scope (?), n. [L. mutare to change + -scope.] A simple form of moving-picture machine in which the series of views, exhibiting the successive phases of a scene, are printed on paper and mounted around the periphery of a wheel. The rotation of the wheel brings them rapidly into sight, one after another, and the blended effect gives a semblance of motion.

||My*ce`to*zo"a (?), n. pl. [NL.; Gr. &?;, &?;, fungus + &?; pl. of &?; an animal.] (Zoöl.) The Myxomycetes; -- so called by those who regard them as a class of animals. -- My*ce`to*zo"an (#), a.

My"kiss (?), n. [Russ. muikize, prob. fr. a native name.] (Zoöl.) A salmon (Salmo mykiss, syn. S. purpuratus) marked with black spots and a red throat, found in most of the rivers from Alaska to the Colorado River, and in Siberia; -- called also black-spotted trout, cutthroat trout, and redthroat trout.

Myr"me*co*phyte` (?), n. [Gr. my`rmhx, my`rmhkos, ant + fyto`n plant.] (Bot.) A plant that affords shelter and food to certain species of ants which live in symbiotic relations with it. Special adaptations for this purpose exist; thus, Acacia spadicigera has large hollows thorns, and species of Cecropia have stem cavities. -- Myr`me*co*phyt"ic (#), a.

||Myx`œ*de"ma (?), n. [NL. fr. Gr. &?; mucus + œdema.] (Med.) A disease producing a peculiar cretinoid appearance of the face, slow speech, and dullness of intellect, and due to failure of the functions of the thyroid gland. -- Myx`œ*dem"a*tous (#), a., Myx`œ*dem"ic (#), a.

||Myx`o*my*ce"tes (?), n. pl. [NL.; Gr. &?; mucus, slime + myceles.] (Bot.) A class of peculiar organisms, the slime molds, formerly regarded as animals (Mycetozoa), but now generally thought to be plants and often separated as a distinct phylum (Myxophyta). They are found on damp earth and decaying vegetable matter, and consist of naked masses of protoplasm, often of considerable size, which creep very slowly over the surface and ingest solid food. -- Myx`o*my*ce"tous (#), a.

||Myx*oph"y*ta (?), n. pl. [NL.; Gr. &?; mucus, slime + &?; plant.] (Bot.) A phylum of the vegetable kingdom consisting of the class Myxomycetes. By some botanists it is not separated from the Thallophyta.

Na*celle" (?), n. [F.] 1. A small boat. [Obs.]

2. The basket suspended from a balloon; hence, the framework forming the body of a dirigible balloon, and containing the machinery, passengers, etc.

3. A boatlike, inclosed body of an aëroplane.

||Na`cré" (?), a. [F. See Nacre.] (Art) Having the peculiar iridescence of nacre, or mother-of-pearl, or an iridescence resembling it; as, nacré ware.

Na*ga"na (?), n. [Prob. native name.] (Med.) The disease caused by the tsetse fly. [South Africa]

Na"nism (?), n. [Gr. &?; + -ism: cf. F. nanisme.] The condition of being abnormally small in stature; dwarfishness; -- opposed to gigantism.

Nap (?), n. Same as Napoleon, 1, below.

Na*po"le*on (?), n. 1. (Card Playing) (a) A game in which each player holds five cards, the eldest hand stating the number of tricks he will bid to take, any subsequent player having the right to overbid him or a previous bidder, the highest bidder naming the trump and winning a number of points equal to his bid if he makes so many tricks, or losing the same number of points if he fails to make them. (b) A bid to take five tricks at napoleon. It is ordinarily the highest bid; but sometimes bids are allowed of wellington, or of blucher, to take five tricks, or pay double, or treble, if unsuccessful.

2. A Napoleon gun.

3. A kind of top boot of the middle of the 19th century.

4. A shape and size of cigar. It is about seven inches long.

Na*tal" boil (?). (Med.) = Aleppo boil.

||Na`ti*o*nal"rath` (?), n. [G.] (Switzerland) See Legislature.

Na"tive steel. A sort of steel which has been found where a burning coal seam had reduced and carbonized adjacent iron ore.