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 26 MUD HEN oesophagus ; no pancreatic caeca ; ova dropping into abdominal cavity. Of about ten species, the best known is the western mud fish (A. occidentals, De Kay), from 1 to 3 ft. long ; the back of the head is bluish black, the sides often obscurely spotted with olive, white be- low, and with a black spot at the upper edge of the caudal. It is found in the great north- ern lakes, south to Carolina, and west to the Mississippi ; it is the bowfin of Lake Ohamplain, the dog fish of Lake Erie, and the marsh fish of the Canadians ; it feeds on crawfish and other crustaceans, and is sometimes eaten by the Indians. This may include several species. MUD HEN. See COOT. MUDIE, Robert, a British author, born in For- farshire, Scotland, in 1777, died in London in 1842. He was self-educated, and in 1802 was appointed professor of Gaelic and teacher of drawing in the Inverness academy. In 1820 he went to London, and was employed as a reporter on the " Morning Chronicle," but his career ended unhappily. He published a great number of popular works on natural history, astronomy, and other subjects, including "The British Naturalist" (2 vols., 1835), "Man, Social, Intellectual, Moral, Physical," " Hamp- shire," &c. MUEZZIN (Arab, mueddzin, caller, proclaim- er), an officer of a mosque who calls the faith- ful to prayer, as prescribed in the Koran, at dawn, near noon, in the afternoon, a little after sunset, and at nightfall, generally about an hour and a quarter after sunset. He stands upon the balcony of a minaret, and turning suc- cessively toward the four cardinal points chants in a loud voice: "God is great; I testify that there is no God but Allah ; I testify that Mohammed is the prophet of God. Come to prayer ; come to the temple of safety. God is great. There is no God but Allah." For the convenience of those who may desire to per- form extra devotions, the muezzin chants the same words during the night, and at these times, immediately after the words " come to the temple of safety," he adds : " Prayer is bet- ter than sleep." According to an Arabic tra- dition, the office was instituted by Mohammed himself, and the words last quoted were added to the regular formula by the first muezzin on an occasion when the prophet overslept him- self. Mohammed approved of them, and they were ever afterward retained in the nightly call. As the lofty position of the muezzin ena- bles him to overlook the roofs and balconies of the neighboring private houses, on which the women often pass their time, it has long been the custom to confer the office only on blind men ; and stories abound in the East of men feigning blindness in order to secure it. Pu- rity of morals, acquaintance with the Koran, and a strong and pleasant voice are also re- garded as indispensable qualifications. MUFTI (Arab., one who expounds the law), a doctor of the law of the Koran who performs certain religious and civil functions. There is MUGGLETON one in every large town of the Ottoman em- pire. In his religious capacity he manages the property of the church and watches over the due observance and preservation of its rites and discipline. In his civil capacity he pronounces decisions in such matters of dispute as may be submitted to him. He has no power to en- force his decision, but if it is not voluntarily conformed to by the parties, it has great weight before any other tribunal to which they may appeal. Matters of police, disputes between families, and generally questions involving pri- vate interests of no great importance, are de- cided by the mufti without the intervention of advocates or any legal expense. According to tradition, his decisions should be given in the fewest words without assigning any rea- sons; if possible, it should be simply "Yea" or "Nay." The mufti of Constantinople, or grand mufti, called also sheikh ul-Islam, "chief of Islam," is the highest religious authority of the empire. He is appointed by the sultan and can be deposed by him, but the sultan can- not sentence the grand mufti to death nor con- fiscate his property. The grand mufti ranks next to the grand vizier ; he is the chief inter- preter of the law, and his authority and influ- ence, though merely advisory, were formerly very great. Of late years the practical impor- tance of the office has greatly declined. MUGGE, Theodor, a German author, born in Berlin, Nov. 8, 1806, died there, Feb. 18, 1861. He abandoned commercial life to enlist in the army, and was about to join Bolivar in Peru when the news of the expulsion of the Span- iards reached him in London. He then stud- ied in the university of Berlin, published Bil- der am dem Leben (1829), and after losing by his political pamphlets in 1830 all chance of receiving a public office, he began to publish tales, novels, and narratives of travel. A com- plete edition of his works appeared in 33 vol- umes in 1862-'7. The most notable are : Tom- saint Louverture (1840); Die Schweiz (1847; English translation by Mrs. Percy Sinnet, Lon- don, 1848) ; and his novels delineating Scandi- navian life, Afraja (1854 ; English translation by Edward Joy Morris, Philadelphia, 1854; French, Paris, 1857), Erich Randal (1857), and Leben und Lieben in Norwegen (1858). MUGGLETON, Ludowick, an English fanatic, who in conjunction with John Reeve founded the sect of the Muggletonians, born in 1609, died March 14, 1697. He was a tailor, and in 1651 proclaimed himself and Reeve the " two last witnesses " mentioned in the Apocalypse, and armed with power to prophesy and to punish men. Muggleton professed to be the " mouth " of Reeve, as Aaron was of Moses. They began their mission by denouncing all religious sects, especially Ranters and Quakers. In 1656 appeared an exposition of their doc- trines under the title of " The Divine Looking Glass." They held that God has the body of a man, that there is no distinction of persons in the Trinity, and that God, descending to earth