Glossary M

Mandamus, Writ of Mandamus

Mandamus, which means "we command" in Latin, is the name of one of the prerogative writs in the common law, and is issued by a superior (appellate court) to compel a lower court or a government officer to perform mandatory duties correctly. Mandamus is a judicial remedy which is in the form of an order from a superior court to any government, subordinate court, corporation or public authority to do or refrain from doing a specific act which that body is obliged under law to do or refrain from doing as a statutory duty. It cannot be issued to compel an authority to do something against statutory provision. Mandamus is supplemented by legal rights. It must be a judicially enforceable and legally protected right before one suffering a grievance can ask for a mandamus. A person can be said to be aggrieved only when he is denied a legal right by someone who has a legal duty to do something and abstains from doing it. ^{Wiki n.p}

Measures

• b.m. (BM) or b.f. (BF)

  board measure, as in "5,000 feet, b.m." or "5 MFBM" or "5,000 board feet" or 5 MBF or 5,000 bd. ft. or 5 MMBF (5 million board feet), is a unit of volume for timber (logs) or lumber (sawed timber) equal to 1 foot by 1 foot by 1 inch (= 1" x 12" x 12" = 144 cu. in.).

• Rod, Chain

  A rod is 16.5 feet.   A chain is 4 rods or 66 feet.   80 chains = 1 mile.   An old measure used in surveying.   Chains were replaced by steel tape measures and electronic instruments.

Money

Money is used as a store of value and a medium of exchange.   Money was always scarce in the American colonies because the British Parliament decreed that colonial agricultural products be paid in British manufactured goods.   In 1737, John Higley minted the first colonial copper coins in his furnace on Hopmeadow Brook in Simsbury, Conn. ^{Schles. 85}   In 1740, the Mass. Colony started a land bank and issued notes backed by land mortgages.   The English Parliament dissolved the bank in 1741.   Subsequently, the colonists resorted to using various grains, tobacco, skins, musket balls, and many other items as a "medium of exchange".   England banned this colonial money in 1684.   In spite of this Act, on June 7, 1652, the Massachusetts General Court established a mint and coined the Pine Tree shilling. ^{Schles. 51} because of the urgent need for money to pay soldiers and other creditors.   It also coined the Oak-Tree and Willow-Tree shilling.   "Bills of credit" (paper currency) reappeared in Massachusetts in Dec., 1690, because of the colonist's continued urgent need for money. ^{Schles. 68}   Eventually, bills of credit were issued by all colonial governments and backed by anticipated tax revenues. ^{Schles. 87}   In 1751, Parliament passed the Currency Act, which banned the New England colonies from issuing paper money. ^{Schles. 91}   In October, 1755, The Virginia legislature changes changes the medium of salary for clergymen from tobacco to local currency.   The clergy object to the English Crown and the Privy Council upholds their objection in 1759.   In 1764, England used a second Currency Act, to ban colonial currency in all the colonies, which created a financial crisis.   British monetary policy was one of several colonial grievances that precipitated the Revolutionary War. ^{Schles. 99}

Mordant

A substance that has the property of fixing colors so they won't fade when subjected to sunlight or washing.   A fabric that will not readily accept a dye is impregnated with a mordant that reacts chemically with the dye to form an insoluble precipitate ("lake"). Mordants include tannic acid, alum, urine, chrome alum, sodium chloride, and certain salts of aluminium, chromium, copper, iron, iodine, potassium, sodium, and tin.

Mucus

A protective secretion of the mucus membranes.   It lubricates the intestines to permit easy passage of feces.   In body openings, such as the nose, esophagus, and lungs, it retards the entering of bacteria and other harmful substances.

Mule

A mule is a cross between a horse (Equus caballus) and a donkey (Equus asinus, a domesticated ass).   The crossing gives superior working qualities compared to either a donkey or a horse.   Mules are not as strong as oxen (adult castrated male bovines), but they are faster and smarter.   Usually, the word "mule" refers to the offspring of a male donkey (jack) and a female horse (mare) , while the word "hinny" is used to refer to the offspring of a female donkey (jennet) and a male horse (stallion).   The offspring (a foal) of either combination can be male or female.   A mule has the body of a horse and the extremities of a donkey.   The mule's ears are longer and its mane is shorter than those of a horse.   A hinny has the body of a donkey and the extremities of a horse.   Its ears are shorter than a mule's, and its mane is thicker.   Mules are stronger, live longer, and have longer working lives than horses or donkeys, so they were popular as beasts of burden.   They also have more stamina, fewer illnesses, less lameness, and are more sure-footed than horses.   Mules, like oxen, will graze on prairie grass and sage, whereas horses will not, so horses could not be used on the great treks across the western plains.   However, horses are faster and more tractable to the driver's orders - not "stubborn as a mule" - although this stubborness is more likely to be the result of improper training.   A horse can be worked until it drops dead, but a mule cannot; it knows when it is being abused and will resist mismanagement.   Hinnies are smaller and therefore not as strong as mules.   Unlike horses, mules are afraid of water and were not inclined to take an unscheduled drinks while pulling barges along a canal towpath.   Mules are at least as intelligent as horses, so they can be trained to do anything a horse can do.   Male mules are always infertile; females rarely have offspring.   The males are usually castrated to make them more docile.