MORTUARY

In Law, a fee paid to the incumbent of by custom peculiar to some places, on the death of iner. It appears to have been a very ancient usage to present the priest, on the solemnization of a funeral, with sonal chattel of the deceased, or a sum of money lis,In lieusedaliumof it:;under In Saxon,tin; various soul-shot,titles.Sec. ofpecunlaIt had becomesepiilchra*-a legal custom as early as the reign of Henry III., when the reservation of a in.irluary appears to have been e ential to tile validity of a testament of chattels. The amount was fixed by 21 II. 8, c. (i, according to an ad valorem taxation of the goods of the deceased. Mortuaries (where due by custom) are recoverable in the ecclesiastical courts; and it should appear, since the statute, at common law, although such actions have not hitherto been brought. MOKl S I.at. the mulberry tree; Celtic, mor, black), is a small genus of plants, containing some specie3 valuable for their foliage, and others for their fruit. The latter is our mullieiry tree, Moras nigra, whose well-known black, juicy berries are n favourite autumn production; the former are JU. alba, philip pens is, and others, which constitute the best of all food for silk-worms. The latter are found occasionally in plantations; but they are too tender to bear our climate well, and cannot be usefully cultivated even in the midland country of England. MOSAIC, oi Ml [s. 793]