mus a

[Altered from the Egyptian mauz, in honor of Antonius Musa, a freedman of the Emperor August us, whose physician he became.] 1. Bot . The typical genus of the order Musacee (q. v.). It consists of five palm-like plants. Of the six stamens one is abortive. The fruit is a large elongated berry with the seeds imbedded in pulp. Natives of tropical Africa, Asia, . Musa sapien tum is the banana (q.v.), M. paradisiac a the plantain (q.v.). The fibers of M. textilis are made into the finest Indian muslins. (MANILLA-HEMP.] The rind of the unripe fruit of most species yields a black dye often used in the East to color leather. 2. Chem .: The ripe fruit of the Musa paradisiac a . According to Cor in winder, it contains 74 per cent. water, 19 per cent. cane and inverted sugar, 4.8 per cent. albumen, together with a small proportion of fat, organic acids, pectose, traces of starch, and nearly 1 per cent. of mineral matter.