Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 06.djvu/417

LEFT MURRAY 355 MUSCATEL row and Woolwich. Entered the Royal Artillery 1872; served during the Ashanti campaign in 1895; in Natal 1899-1900; Quartermaster-General, India, 1903-1904; Commander of the 9th Division in India in 1907-1911, and of the Imperial troops in South Africa. In 1915 General Mur- ray succeeded Sir John French as Chief of the British Imperial General Staff. Was made a K. C. B. in 1900. MURRAY, LINDLEY, an American grammarian; born in Swatara, Lancaster CO., Pa., April 22, 1745. He received his primary education in Philadelphia in the academy of the Society of Friends. He studied the law, and practiced as a barrister; but in course of time he left the bar for the counting house, and hav- ing realized a competency, he went, in 1784, to England, and settled at Hold- gate, near York. His "English Gram- mar" appeared in 1795. He soon after published the "English Exercises and Key." These were followed by many other school-books, and several moral treatises. He died in Holdgate, England, Feb. 16, 1826. MURRAY BAY, capital of Charlevoix CO., Quebec, Canada, on St. Lawrence river, 80 miles N. E. of Quebec, also called Malbaie. Is resort for visitors, being noted for its bathing and boating facilities. Industries include flour and timber mills, and is connected by steamer with Quebec. Pop. about 2,000. MURRUMBIDGEE, a large river of Australia, in New South Wales, rising in the great Dividing Range, and enter- ing the Murray after a W. course of about 1,300 miles; chief tributary, the Lachlan. MURSHIDABAD, a town of India, on the Bhagirathi river, a branch of the Ganges; 115 miles N. of Calcutta. The chief buildings of note are the palace of Nawab (1837), the miambara, and a Mohammedan mosque. Two miles S. of the city is Motijhil or Pearl Lake; on its bank stood the palace of Suraj-ud- Dowlah, in which Clive enthroned Mir Jafar, and the English residents — among them Warren Hastings the first — dwelt. On the opposite side of the river is the old cemetery of the Nawabs, containing a mausoleum, mosque, etc. It is a busy center of trade. During the 18th century it was the capital of Bengal and a very populous city; but about the time (1790) the British made Calcutta their head- quarters Murshidabad began to decline. Pop. about 30,000. MTJSACEM, an order of endogens, alliance Amomales. It consists of stem- less, or nearly stemless, plants, with the leaves so sheathing at the base as to constitute a spurious stem; veins of the leaves parallel, and running regularly from the midrib to the margin, often splitting into fringe-like divisions. MUSA IBN NOSAIR, the Arab con- queror of northern Africa (699-709) and of Spain (712) ; born in Mecca, about 660. He fell under the displeasure of the Caliph of Damascus, and died in poverty in Hedjaz, in 717. MUSCA, in astronomy, the bee; one of Lacaille's revised S. constellations, called by Bayer, Apis. It is situated between Cruz and the South Pole. No star in it is above the fourth magnitude. In en- tomology, the typical genus of the family Musidse. M. domestica is the common house-fly; M. canaria, the flesh-fly; M. vomitoi-ia and erythrocephala, blue-bottle or blow-flies ; M. caesar and M. cornidna, green-bottle flies, etc. MUSCiE VOLITANTES (mus'se vol-i- tan'-tez) (literally floating flies), in physiology, the name given to ocular spectra which appear like motes or small bodies floating before the eyes. One class of these specks is a common precursor of Amaurosis, but another class is quite harmless. MUSCARDINE, a disease very fatal to silk-worms. It arises from the attacks of a fungus (Botrytis bassiana)^ which commences in the intestines of the cater- pillars and gradually spreads till it destroys them. MUSCAT, or MASKAT, capital of the independent state of Oman or Muscat, which occupies the E. continuation of Arabia. It is surrounded by a wall, and defended by forts planted on the rocky heights above. Its total trade reaches the value of $6,000,000 annually, the chief exports being pearls and fish, in which its coastal waters are extraordi- narily rich, and salt, dates, drugs, dye- stuffs, horses, and the imports chiefly coffee, rice, sugar, piece-goods, oil, etc. Though a very ancient place, Muscat re- mained small and of little importance till the Portuguese took posession of it in 1508. It was subsequently governed by native rulers (imams), who in the 17th century succeeded the Portuguese also as masters of Zanzibar and some places on the E. coast of Africa. The city has been for many years under British influence. Pop. est. about 45,000. MUSCATEL, the name given to many sweet, strong French and Italian wines, whether white or red. Among the finest are the white Rivesaltes and red Bagnol