mule Offspring of a male ass and a female horse. The less common cross of a female ass and a male horse is called a hinny. Most mules are ster¬ ile. The mule resembles the horse in height and in shape of neck and croup (rump); it resembles the ass in its long ears, small hooves, and short mane. The coat is usually brown or bay. Mules are 12-17.5 hands (50-70 in., 120-180 cm) high and weigh 600-1,500 lbs (275-700 kg).
They have been used as pack animals for at least 3,000 years because of their ability to withstand hardships.
mule deer Large-eared deer (Odocoileus hemionus) of western
Mule deer buck (Odocoileus hemio¬ nus).
HARRY ENGELS FROM THE NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY COLLECTION/PHOTO RESEARCHERS
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North America that lives alone or in small groups at high altitudes in summer and lower altitudes in winter. Mule deer stand 3-3.5 ft (90-105 cm) and are yellowish brown in summer, grayish brown in winter. The tail is white with a black tip, except on the black-tailed deer (O. h. colum- bianus ), a Pacific Northwest subspecies. The male’s antlers fork twice above a short tine near the base; a mature male normally has five tines on each antler. It is related to the white-tailed deer.
mullah Vm9-ta\ Muslim title applied to a scholar or religious leader, especially in the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. It means “lord” and has also been used in North Africa as an honorific attached to the name of a king, sultan, or member of the nobility. The title is now given to a variety of religious leaders, including teachers in religious schools, scholars of canon law, leaders of prayer in the mosques (imams), and recit¬ ers of the Qur’an (qurra’). The word can also refer to the entire class that upholds the traditional interpretation of Islam.
Muller Vmo-brX, Hermann Joseph (b. Dec. 21, 1890, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d. April 5, 1967, Indianapolis, Ind.) U.S. geneticist. He attended Columbia University. The possibility of consciously guiding human evolution provided the initial motivation for his research, leading him to work in the Soviet Union’s Institute of Genetics. He later assisted the Republican forces in the Spanish Civil War before returning to the U.S. in 1940; he thereafter taught principally at Indiana University (1945- 67). In 1926 he first induced genetic mutations through the use of X rays, and he demonstrated that mutations are the result of breakages in chro¬ mosomes and of changes in individual genes. His receipt of the Nobel Prize in 1946 increased his opportunities to publicize the dangers posed by accumulating spontaneous mutations in the human gene pool as a result of industrial processes and radiation, and he devoted much energy to increasing public awareness of the genetic dangers of radiation.
Muller VmiE-brV Johannes Peter (b. July 14, 1801, Koblenz, France—d. April 28, 1858, Berlin, Ger.) German physiologist, compara¬ tive anatomist, and natural philosopher. He studied at the Universities of Bonn and Berlin and later taught at both. His discovery that each sense organ responds to stimuli differently implied that external events are per¬ ceived only by the changes they produce in sensory systems. His investi¬ gations in physiology, evolution, and comparative anatomy contributed to knowledge of reflexes, the secretion and coagulation processes, the com¬ position of blood and lymph, vision, and hearing. His studies of tumour cell structure began to establish pathological histology as a branch of science.
mullet Any of fewer than 100 species (family Mugilidae) of abundant, commercially valuable schooling fishes found in brackish or fresh waters throughout tropical and temperate regions. Mullets frequent shallow, inshore areas, searching the sand or mud for microscopic plants and small animals. They are silvery and 1-3 ft (30-90 cm) long, with large scales, a short snout, a cigar-shaped body, a forked tail, and two distinct dorsal fins, the first containing four stiff spines. The common, or striped, mullet (Mugil cephalus ), cultivated in some areas, is a well-known species found worldwide.
Mulligan, Gerry orig. Gerald Joseph Mulligan (b. April 6, 1927, Queens Village, Long Island, N.Y., U.S.—d. Jan. 20, 1996, Darien, Conn.) U.S. jazz saxophonist, pianist, composer, arranger, and bandleader. He worked as staff arranger for Gene Krupa’s band in 1946, later writing arrangements and playing for the Miles Davis nonet’s Birth of the Cool recordings (1949). Mulligan became one of the best-known exponents of cool jazz (see bebop). In 1952 he formed a pianoless quartet featuring trumpeter Chet Baker.
Mullis, Kary B(anks) (b. Dec. 28, 1944, Lenoir, N.C., U.S.) U.S. bio¬ chemist. He received his doctorate from the University of California at Berkeley. In 1983 he invented the polymerase chain reaction, with which scientists can determine the order of nucleotides in a gene, use genetic fingerprinting to identify individuals by their DNA patterns, study evo¬ lution, and make medical diagnoses. He did his prize winning research at Cetus Corp. and later became a freelance consultant. He shared a 1993 Nobel Prize with Michael Smith (b. 1932). He is known for his free¬ wheeling personal style and his iconoclastic opinions and writings, includ¬ ing Dancing Naked in the Mind Field (1998).
Mulroney \m3l-'ru-ne\, (Martin) Brian (b. March 20, 1939, Baie- Comeau, Que., Can.) Prime minister of Canada (1984-93). The son of an electrician in a paper-and-pulp town, he grew up bilingual in English and French. He began practicing law in Montreal in 1965. In 1974 he served
on a commission to investigate crime in Quebec’s construction industry.
From 1977 to 1983 he was president of the Iron Ore Company. Elected leader of the Progressive Conservative Party in 1983, he became prime min¬ ister when the party defeated the Lib¬ erals in the general election in 1984.
Creating a coalition of Quebec nationalists and western conserva¬ tives, he advocated unification while recognizing Quebec as a “distinct society.” He sought U.S. cooperation on acid rain and trade policies and helped negotiate NAFTA. He retired from politics in 1993.
Multan \mul-'tan\ City (pop.,
1998: 1,182,000), central Pakistan, near the Chenab River. An ancient city, it was taken by Alexander the Great in 326 bc. It fell to the Muslims c. ad 712. For three centuries it remained the outpost of Islam in what was then India. It was subject to the Delhi sultanate and the Mughal Empire and was captured by the Afghans (1779) and the Sikhs (1818) before being subjugated by the British (1849-1947). It is a commercial and industrial centre, with textile mills, glass factories, and cottage industries, includ¬ ing pottery and camelskin work. It is the site of many Muslim shrines and an ancient Hindu temple.
multimedia Computer-delivered electronic system that allows the user to control, combine, and manipulate different types of media, such as text, sound, video, computer graphics, and animation. The most common mul¬ timedia machine consists of a personal computer with a sound card, modem, digital speaker unit, and CD-ROM. Interactive multimedia systems under commercial development include cable television services with computer interfaces that enable viewers to interact with TV programs; high-speed interactive audiovisual communications systems, including video game consoles, that rely on digital data from fibre-optic lines or digitized wire¬ less transmission; and virtual reality systems that create small-scale arti¬ ficial sensory environments.