Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/100

MOUSE. one of the smallest of American quadrupeds, being only four inches long, and lialf ul that is tail. More detailed information will be found under the names of the.se and other mice, as Meadow-Mol'SE, JuMPiXG Mor.sE, etc. See also accomi)anyin{.' Plate of Mice and .Iekboas. Consult authorities cited under Mammalia. MOUSE-BIRD. Any bird of the African ge- nus Colius and family Coliidie; a coly. These birds have soft ftray and white plumage, conical brightly colored bills, and long and narrow central tail feathers, and take tli(^ir nauu> not finly from their ashy- plumage. )>ut from their mouse-like activity in scrambling about the branches of trees, where they hang head down- ward (even sleeping that way), and swing and twist like acrobats. They are enabled to do tliis by the striking peculiarity of structure in the feet, which have all foir" toes turned forward. They are fruit-eaters, go aboiit in small bands, l>ut lly poorly, and build their nests in dense shrubs. See Plate of Kingfishers, Motmots, ETC. MOUSE-DEER. Sec Cuevhotain. MOUSE-EAR CHICKWEED (Cerastium). A genus of numerous s|)ecies of plants of the nat- ural order C'aryoi)liyllacea'. natives of temperate and cold countries throughout the world. Some of them are among connnon weeds; others, hav- ing larger (lowers, are occasionally planted in flower borders and on rock-work. The form and hairiness of the leaves of some species have given rise to till' popular name. MOUSE-FISH. One of the tropical frogfishes (I'toophri/ne liistrio), common in the (!ulf of Mexico, the colors of which are highly variable. It is related to the anglers (q.v.). and its 'bait' is its first dorsal spine, which is l)ifureate. The fact that it is frequently found in the fields of sargasso-weed of the Atlantic gives it a second name, 'sargassnin-lish.' MOUSE-LEMUR. A very small woolly lemur ■ if -Madagascar, nocturnal and moiiselike in its appearance and habits. It is a member of the genus Chi rogale (q.v.). See Lemi u: Chihooale; Plate of 1.i:mi US. MOUSE TOWER. . tower built on a rock in the middle of the Rhine near Hingen. Accord- ing to popular tradition, it was hastily erected by Archbishop Hatto I. of Mainz (q.v.) as a refuge from the swarms of mice sent to devour him in punishment for his cruelty to the poor, whom he biriied in a granary during a famine. The fierman name Miiuseturm is probably a popular corruption of Mautturm. toll-tower, for wbicli the structure appears to have been originally in- tended, and the legeno<l may be taken in at any p;irt of the body-surface, and therefore the opening has no fixed position and no regular size or form. The mouth of corals, jellyfish, sea-anemones, and other c«?Ienterates is simply an opening, almost al- ways central in position, on the lower surface in free-swimming forms, on the upper surface in fixed forms. It is usually circular, but may be fiattcned. and in one group of jelly-fish it is divided up into four or more, sometimes in- numerable, small openings, by the growing to- gether of the lobes on its margin. In the flat- worms the nuiuth is usuiilly circular and is often in the centre of a sucker, but its position is variable, though it is always on the ventral side. It may be near the anterior end of the animal, but it is more often at the centre and is .sometimes posterior. .Among the various classes of worms the mouth is always anterior, and often terminal, though more often on the lower side of one of the first segments, or, in unscgmcnted forms, in a similar position. In blood-suekers it lies in the centre of ;i ])owerful sucker, and is provided with three ehitinous jaws; in vegi't able-eating and some carnivorous forms (nemi-rtincs) it is a simple opening with- out jaws, while in such active carnivorous worms, as Nereis, it is provided with ])owerful jaws. These jaws, however, arc clearly modified seg- mental appendages, and are practically feet which have become modified to assist in seizing food or forcing it into the mouth. In the crus- taceans, insects, sjiiders. and the like (arthro- pods) the moilh is more or less terminal, and is provided with lateral jaws: sometimes as many as eight i)airs of appendages are mcxlified . to serve for this purpose. The structure and arrangement of the mouth parts in insects are very complicated, and are of great importance in classification, lioughly they nuiy be grouped as hilhifi. when there are freidy movable lateral jaws which seize and cut or tear the food; pirrrinfl, when the various parts are more or less united to form a sharp, piercing instrunent. which penetrates animal or jdanl membranes in search of the fluid food, which is then sucked; surlcinq. when (he parts are united to form a suctorial tube, with no adaptation for piercing. .mong echinoderms the nmuth shows consider- able variety of form. Tn mollusks the mouth is gencrallv anterior and often ventral, but it is fre(|uenlly lerminal. In the devil fish, squids, and the like, it is in the centre of the foot. In