and begins
to fall off on the same tack.

MIST [Anglo-Saxon]. A thin vapour, between a _fog_ and _haze_, and is
generally wet.

MISTICO. Equivalent to our _hermaphrodite_, being a small Mediterranean
vessel, between a xebec and a felucca. (_See_ XEBEC.)

MISTRAL. A cold N.W. wind experienced on the Mediterranean shores of
France. [Corrupted from _maestrale_.]

MITTS. A protection for the hand, covering the thumb in one space and
the fingers in another, so that men wearing them can still handle ropes.

MIXED MATHEMATICS. Pure mathematics when applied to practical subjects,
as astronomy, optics, hydrography, gunnery, engineering, and the like.

MIZAR. The star {z} in Ursa Major; the middle one in the tail.

MIZEN. The spanker or driver is often so named.

MIZEN-MAST. The aftermost mast of a ship (_see_ SHROUDS, STAY, YARD,
&c.), observing only that the epithet of fore, main, or mizen, is added
to each term, to distinguish them from each other. (_See_ BONAVENTURE.)

MIZEN MAST-HEAD. Rear-admirals carry their flag at their mizen.

MIZEN STAYSAIL. A fore-and-aft sail of various shapes set on the mizen
stay.

MOAT. Synonymous with _ditch_ (which see).

MOBILIZATION. The organizing a body of men for active service. Also, a
term in naval tactics, applied to the movement of fleets.

MOCCASIN. A slipper made of green hide, and worn in cases of necessity;
a term derived from the North American Indians.

MODERATE BREEZE. When all the flying kites may be pleasantly carried.

MODERATE GALE. In which a ship carries double reefs in her top-sails.

MOHUR. A gold coin in the East Indies, value 30_s._ to 32_s._

MOIDORE. A Portuguese gold coin, the sterling value of which is L1,
7_s._

MOINEAU. A little flat bastion formerly raised before a curtain,
otherwise too long.

MOIST DAUGHTERS. Spenser's term for the Hyades, a group of seven stars
in the head of the Bull.

MOKES. The meshes of a fishing-net.

MOLE. A long pier of massy masonry, covering the entrance of a harbour.
Also applied to the harbours formed by them, as those of Genoa,
Marseilles, Naples, &c.

MOLLY-MAWK. A bird which follows in the wake of a ship rounding the
Cape. It is a small kind of albatross.

MOMENTUM. Is the product of a weight multiplied by its velocity; that
is, in marine dynamics, by its distance from a point determined as the
centre of momentum; or from a line called the axis of the momentum.

MONERES, OR MONOCRATA. Galleys with o