Motazilites. See Mohajimedan Sects, in this volume, p. 423, col. 2.
Mote {Kuptpoc, something dry), any small dry par- ticle, as of clialf, wood, etc. (Matt, vii, 3-5 ; Luke vi, 41, 42). Small faults or errors in others, discovered through the magnifying medium of prejudice, are likened by our Lord in these passages to a speck or splinter in the eye, whicli the censorious are fond of detecting, though guilty of more serious offences themselves, aptly com- pared to a beam {5okoc) (see Winckler, in .1 nimadrers. Philol. iii, 803 sq.). The proverb was a familiar one with the Hebrews (see Buxtorf, Lex. Rabb. coL 2080). See Eye.
Motett, a term applied to two different forms of Church musical composition. 1. A sacred cantata, con- sisting of several unconnected movements, as a solo, trio, chorus, fugue, etc. 2. A choral composition, gen- erally also of a sacred character, beginning with an in- troduction in the form of a song, perha|)s with figura- tive accompaniment; after which follow several fugue subjects, with their expositions, the whole ending either witli the exfxisition of the last sulyect, a repetition of the introduction, or a special final subject. A motett differs in this respect from a double or triple fugue, that the subjects never appear simultaneously, but are intro- duced one after the other. In one form of the motett, the successive phrases of an entire chorale are treated as so many fugal subjects. The subject is taken from the psalms or hymns of the Church. ■■Mnielt" seems to have been originally synonymous with anthem, and was
then probably accompanied only by the organ, winch is now no longer the case in Koman Catholic churches, all kinds of musical instruments being used in it.
Moth (-■?, ash, so called from its causing garments to fall in pieces. Job iv, 19; xiii, 28; xxvii, 18: Psa. xxxix, 11 ; Isa. 1, 9; li, 8; Hos. v, 12; Sept. and Yulg. everywhere [except in the Psalms, where they have apdxvi), aruneu'] render <T/;f, tinea ; like tlie N. T., Matt, vi, 19, 20; Luke xii, 23; with Mhicli may be compared the Heb. DO, sas, from its leaping, Isa. li, 8 ; Sept. (T/;e,Vulg. tinea, Auth. Vers, "worm;" the word (7;(c also occurs in the term (T»;rd/3/3wrdc, "moth-eaten," Jas. V, 2), the name of a well-known insect, which, in its caterpillar state, is very destructive to clothing. The tribe of moths is called by naturalists Phalimu, and is said- to contain more than 1500 species. Linnicus, under the order Lepidoptera, genus Phalwna, gives the species of moths— jTjHea tapelzelln, T.pelliondht.and T. recurvaria sa)-citella — as peculiarly destructive to \vool- len clothes, furs, etc. The egg of the moth, being de- posited on the fur or cloth, produces a very small, shin- ing insect, which immediately forms a house for itself by cuttings from the cloth. It eats away tVe nap, weakens or destroys the thread, and finally ruins the fabric. Moths fly abroad only in the evening and night, differing in this respect from the tribe of butterflies, which fly only by day. Some of the species of moths feed on the leaves of plants. Th.e "moth" par emi- nence is an insect of the order Lepidoiiteixi , which pos- sess four wings covered with minute tessellated scales, and of the tribe Noctuma, in which the antennae (or "horns") are drawn out to a fine point. The genus Tinea in this division consists of small species, with the fore-wings long and narrow, and the head covered with coarse hairs. It includes a large number of species, several of which are noted for their destructiveness to clothes, woollen stuffs, furs, specimens of natural his- torj' in museums, and corn in granaries. The most pertinacious are T. pellio- nella and T. t apetzella, which feed on cloth; and ' 1 •
these, from their abun- j
dance, and from their mi- , " , .
nuteness enabling them to ^^"'^^ ^a^IuMpIi/.c^''' " penetrate into drawers and
wardrobes, are but too well known in every household. The identity of this with the Biblical insect is apparent from the terms by which it is rendered in the Sept. (comp. Theoj)hrast. //(aV. ^/«w/. i, 16) and Yulg. (comp. Vhny, Nat. I J i^^t. xi, 41). "The following allusions to the moth occur in Scripture^to its being produced in clothes: 'For from garments cometh a moth' (Ecclus. xlii, 13) ; to its well-known fragility : ' ilortal men are crushed before the motli' (Job iv, 19), which words really mean (so the Sept.) ' Like as ("SEb, comp. 1 Sara, i, 10) the moth is crushed' (comp. Plautus, Cislell. i, L 73); but others take the phrase actively, 'As a moth consumes clothing' (so the Vulg.). The allusion to 'the house of the moth' (Job xxvii, 18) seems to refer plainly to the silky, spindle-shaped case, coverc d with detached liairs and particles of wool, made and inlialiitcd by the larva of the 'J'inai sarcitella ; or to the felled ease or tunnel fornunl by the larva of the Tinea ptllionella; or to ilie arched gallery formed by eating through wool by the larva of the Tinea tapetzrlla. I.'eferences occur to the destructiveness of the clothes-motli : * As a garment that is moth-eaten' (Job xiii, 28^ ; ' The moth shall eat them up' (Isa. 1, 9); 'The moth shall eat tl)em u|i like a garment' (li, 8); 'I will be to Ephraim as a niotli.' i. e, will secretly consume him (Hos. v, \'1)\ conip. Matt, vi, I 19, 20; Luke xii, 33; Jas. v, 2, metaphorically; and I Ecclus. xix, 3—' Motha and worms shall have him that