Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/173

* MURDOCK. 141 MURFBEE. anil was professor of ancient languages in the I niversity of Vermont from 181.5 until ISllI, when he went to Andover Theologieal Seminary. There he taught sacred rhetoric anil (Inircli his- tory until 1S2'J, and then he removed to New Haven, where he devoted his last years to private study. He wrote versions of ilunsclier's Elciiieiils (if LUxjinatic IJislori/ ( 1830), of Mosheim's Innti- tulcs vf Ecchsiuslical History (1832), and of Mosheim's Affairs of the Christians Before the Time of Consiantine the Great (1852), a Literal 'Translation of the Whole New Testament from the Ancient Sifriac Version (18.51), and tiketches of Modern f'liilo.iophy (1842). MtTRDOCK, William (1754-1839). An Eng- lish engineer, who was the first to emjiloy coal gas as an illumiiiant. He was horn at I?ellow ilill, in Ayrshire. In 1784 he had begun to ex- periment on a liigh pressure locomotive. From these unsuccessful attempts, about 1702 he turned his attention to lighting by coal gas. (See Gas, Ii.n MiXATiNG.) The actual perfection of the invention was probably two or three years after- wards, and in 1802 gas was used in the illumina- tion of Soho, after the news of the Peace of Amiens, ilurdock made several improvements on Watt's steam-engine and invented an inde- pendent or 'ball-crank' engine and various appa- ratus by which compressed air miglit be used. MURE, Sir William (1504-1657). A Scot- tish |HJet, born probably in Ayrshire, where the Rowallan estate, which he inherited, was situ- ated. In 1043 he was a member of Parliament in Edinburgh, and he was wounded the next year at JIarston Moor. His principal effort is his clever but somewhat heavy True Crucifixe for True Catholikes, which appeared in 1(!20. His other writings are a poetical translation (I28) of Hceatomhe Christiana, a Latin poem by Boyd of Trochrig, many miscellaneous poems, and a paraphrase of the Psalms (1630). MURE, mur. William (1700-1860). An Eng- lish classical scholar, born at Caldwell, Ayrshire, Scotland. After studying at Westminster School and at Edinburgh, he spent several years at the University of Bonn. His chief work, A Critical History of the Language and Literature of An- cient Greece (5 vols., 1850-57). was left unfin- ished, but the several portions of it on the epic and lyric poets and the historians may be re- garded as separate works. His attempt in the first two volumes to prove the essential unity of the Iliad and Odj/ssey. and the identity of their authorship, won him a wide re]iutation among European scholars. In addition to nu- merous contributions to the Edinburgh Jicvieir, his publications include: lirief Remarks on the Chronology of the Egyptian Dynasties (1820); A Dissertation on the Calendar and Zodiac of An(^t»nt Egypt (1832); and his Journal of a Tonr in Greece and the Ionian Islands (1842). He sat in Parliament for Renfrewshire in 1846- 55, and was lord rector of the University of Glasgow in 1847-48. MURET, mu'ra'. or MURE'TUS, Marc An- TOINE (1526-85). A French humanist. He was born at Muret, became a proficient scholar in Greek and T.atin, and when but eigliteen lectured in the College of Auch. At the invitation of Cardinal Ippolito d'Este, he took ip his resi- dence in Rome, where he won fame by his lec- tures. He took orders in 1576 and in 1584 re- tired from his professoriate. He wrote Ora- tioncs and Epislola:, and his Variarum Lee- lionum Libri XIX is still valuable. His repu- tation rests chiefly, however, upon the classic Latinity of his style. The best edition of his loUeeted works is that of Frotscher and Koch (Leipzig, 1834-41). MUREX (Lat., purple-fish). A genus of trop- ical shells, large, heavy, and variously armed with stout spines, processes, or knobs. These are to protect and strengtlien the shells, for the ani- mals live on exposed coasts. One species (Murex ■pomum) is found along the American coast from Cape Hatteras to Texas. It is from two to three inches in length, but not so conspicuously spiny as some more tropical forms. Allied to Murex is the oyster-drill (Vrosalpinx cinerea), which bores into oyster shells by means of its lingual ribbon. (See Drill.) Murex fortispina of Xew Caledonia is furnished with a powerful tooth at the lower part of its outer lip. Us favorite food is Area pilosa. a species of bivalve allied to tlie ■Noah's ark' (see Ark Shell), which lives half buried in coral refuse. Many of the tropical species are gayly colored, and some yield, when the animal is crushed, a rich violet-purple liquid which will act as a periniinent stain, and which furnished to the ancients their 'royal-purple' dyes. Other shells yield this or a similar color. See Purple-Shell ; also Colored Plate of CiAS- TROPODS. MUREX'ID (from Lat. murex, purple-fish), PURPURATE OF AMMONIA, or RoMAN PURPLE, CsH^NA-NH, + H,0. A beautiful coloring mat- ter similar to the "Tyrian purple of the ancients, which was made from a species of Murex — hence its name. Murexid nuiy be prepared from uric acid, and as this exists in abundance in guano, that material lias been found one of the best sources from which to obtain it. One process used to produce nuirexid is to dissolve uric acid in di- lute nitric acid, and after evaporating for some time at a temperature a little short of boiling, while still hot. to add a slight excess of ammonia. Two compounds are formed by this process, allox- an and alloxantin, and their reaction on each other results in the foiniation of the beautiful minute green metallic-lustrcd crystals of murexid, which, in combination with some of the compounds of lead and mercury, yield most brilliant red and purple dyes. The use of murexid was becoming extensive until the discovery of the aniline col- ors, the greater brilliancy of which has checked its employment. The acid combined in murexid, viz. purpuric acid, C^H^NjOoH, is not known in the free state. Its ammonium salt, nuirexid, was first obtained in 1830 by Liebig and Wiihler. See Urii' Aim. MURFREE, mur'fri', Mary Noailles (1850 — ). An American authoress, born in Mur- freesboro. Tennessee, best known by the pseu- donym of Charles Egbert Craddock. Unable because of lameness to enjoy the usual play of young people, she devoted herself, almost from childhood, to reading and the study of the native types of the Tennessee mountains, where she passed lier summers. Her novels began to appear in 1884. The chief titles are: In the Tennessee Mountains (1884); The Prophet of the Great ^niokii Mountains (1885) ; In the Stranger Peo- ple's Countrii (1801); The Phantoms of the Foot-Iiridge (1895) ; The Mystery of White-Face