Moringa (moringga)

[NL. (A. L. de Ju ieu, 1789); from its native name in Malabar.] A genus of dicotyledonous polypetalous trees, forming the order Moringeæ, and characterized by a disk investing the tube of the calyx, ten stamens, five one-celled anthers, and an ovary of one cell with three parietal placentæ and many ovules. Three species are known, natives of northern Africa, western Asia, and the East Indies. They have white or red flowers in axillary panicles, long pods, and twice or thrice-pinnate alternate leaves. One species, perhaps two, are important, for which see ben - nut, ben - oil, horseradish-tree, and nephritic wood (under wood ). Moringaceæ (mō-ring-gā sē-ē), n. pl. [NL. (Lindley, 1846), Moringeæ (mō-rin'jē-ē), n. pl. [NL. (R. Brown, 1826), fins being reduced to a fold around the end of the tail. Moringuidæ (mō-ring-gū'i-dē), n. pl. [NL., Morin's apparatus. [After the French inventor A. J. Morin (1795-1880).] An apparatus designed to illustrate the laws of falling bodies. It consists of a light wooden cylinder covered with paper, made to rotate uniformly about a vertical axis, in front of which falls a small weight, guided by two light wires. A pencil attached to the falling weight traces out on the paper of the rotating cylinder a line which, so long as the effect of the air-resistance is negligible, is found to be a parabolic curve. The distance fallen through is thus shown to vary according to the square of the time, in accordance with the theoretical law.