Mollah
or MULLAH, meaning "Sir" or "Lord" in Turkey and other Mohammedan countries, a title given to those holding certain judicial rank. There are three classes of Mollahs in Turkey. The 1st have jurisdiction over Pashaliks. The 2d and 3d class hold office only for a month. All must be versed in ecclesiastical and civil law. The British government in India has suffered heavy losses of life and treasure from revolts led by "Mad Mollahs," notably in the Sudan in 1901.
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Mollusks
a division of the animal kingdom, including oysters, clams, cockles, snails, mussels, and a multitude of other animals, all with soft, jointless bodies protected by shells. Mollusks are known in the market as shellfish; but the term shellfish is used to include lobsters, crabs, and prawns--animals with joints, belonging to another division entirely. The soft body of a mollusk is inclosed in a muscular skin called a mantle. The mantle has the power of covering itself with a limy shell. Mollusks with two shells connected by a hinge are called bivalves. The oyster, for instance, is sometimes spoken of as a "luscious bivalve." Mollusks multiply by means of eggs which they dispose variously. They are particularly interesting on account of their shells. Few homes are without shells kept as curiosities. Many shells held to the ear produce a roaring sound like an echo from the sea. See Oyster ; Clam ; Mussel ; Conch; Snail ; Sloe The tinted seashell borne away, Far from the ocean's pebbly shore, Still loves to hum the choral lay, The whispering mermaids taught of yore.
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Mollwitz
a village of Prussian Silesia. An obelisk (1878) marks the battlefield where Frederick the Great with 20,000 Prussians defeated an equal number of Austrians under Marshal Neipperg, April 10, 1741.
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Moloch
or Molech, the fire god of Phoenicia. According to tradition, his image was an iron furnace built in the form of a human being with outstretched arms designed to receive human sacrifice. The worship of Moloch was introduced into Judah, and Solomon built a temple to him on the Mount of Olives.
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Mologa
a town in the Russian province of Jaroslav, near the confluence of the Mologa and Volga, 68 miles W. N. W. of Jaroslav. The river Mologa winds 337 miles S. E. through the provinces of Tver, Novgorod, and Jaroslav, and is one of the links between the Volga and the Neva.
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Molokai
an island of the Hawaiian group, about 40 miles long by from 7 to 9 broad. All lepers of the islands are sent here and kept isolated from the healthy part of the community. Pop. about 1,800.
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Moltke (HELMUTH VON German soldier)
HELMUTH VON, German soldier; born in 1848. He was the nephew of the famous strategist of the same name associated with Bismarck in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. Taking up a military career in his youth, his natural executive ability, as well as family influence, insured his rapid progress in promotion to highest rank. In 1906 he became Chief of the General Staff of the German military forces. It is generally believed that General von Moltke, together with the Crown Prince, was the most powerful influence in hurling Germany into the war, beginning in 1914. He was, at any rate, one of the chief figures in the military clique which precipitated hostilities, under the firm belief that Germany was invincible. Because of disagreem sagreement with the Emperor, he was dismissed from active duty duty in December, 1914, more or less in disgrace, and was succeeded by General von Falkenhayn. Suffering keenly under this humiliation, his health deteriorated, and in June, 1916, he died while in the act of delivering an address.
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Moluccas
or SPICE ISLANDS, a name which was originally confined to the five small islands of Ternate, Tidore, Motir, Makian, and Batshian, but now applied to the widely scattered group lying between Celebes and Papua; area, 43,864 square miles; pop. (1917) Amboyna, 360,934; Ternate, 200,135. The S. portion being governed directly by the Dutch, and the N. indirectly through native sultans. The islands (several hundreds in number) are nearly all mountainous, mostly volcanic, and earthquakes are by no means uncommon. Cloves, nutmegs, mace, and sago are exported to Europe; and birds'-nests, trepang, etc., to China. The Moluccas have been for centuries alternately in the possession of the Spaniards, Portuguese, and Dutch. They were twice taken by the British and given up to Holland, in whose possession they still remain. The natives belong to Malay and Polynesian races, and the general language on the coast is the Malay.
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Molybdenum
Mo, a metal discovered by Scheele in 1778, belonging to the group of metals which impart special properties to steel when added to it in very small amounts. Occurs as the sulphide (molybdenite), as lead molybdenate (wulfenite) and the oxide (molybdic ochre), and although widely distributed is not abundant. It is gray in color, has a specific gravity of 8.56, is softer than steel, malleable and capable of being forged and welded. The addition of a small amount of molybdenum to steel increases its tensile strength, toughness and fineness of grain.
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Mombasa
or MOMBAS, a sea-port and the seat of administration of British East Africa, on the N. side of a small island 3 miles by 2½ miles, close to the coast, 150 miles N. of Zanzibar. Trade in (exports) ivory, gum, copal, copra, ochella weed, maize, and grain; carried on by natives of British India. Island and port mentioned as early as 1331. It was visited by Vasco da Gama in 1497, held by the Portuguese from 1529 to 1698, and by the English from 1824 to 1826. Pop. estimated at 30,000, mostly Arabs and Swahili.
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Moment of Elasticity
Is the tendency of an elastic body to produce motion.
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Moment of Inertia
The resistance opposed by a body in motion to a change of velocity.
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Momentum
in mechanics, the force possessed by matter in motion; the product of the mass by the velocity of a body. Thus a ball of four pounds' weight moving uniformly at the rate of 18 feet in a second would have double the momentum that one of three pounds' weight moving at the rate of 12 feet per second would possess, for 4×18 is 72, and 3×12=36, or half as much. The force of percussion, that is, the force with which a moving body strikes an object, is the same in amount as the momentum of the former.
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