and Unio margaritiferus belong to the order Eulamellibranchia of Lamellibranch Molluscs, in which the anterior and posterior adductor muscles are equally developed. An account of the anatomy of Anodon is given in the article Lamellibranchia. Unio differs in no important point from Anodonta in internal structure. The family Unionidae, to which these genera belong, is of world-wide distribution, and its species occur only in ponds and rivers. A vast number of species arranged in several genera and sub-genera have been distinguished, but in the British Islands the three species above named are the only claimants to the title of “fresh-water mussel.”
Anodonta cygnea, the Pond Mussel or Swan Mussel, appears to be entirely without economic importance. Unio pictorum, the common river mussel (Thames), appears to owe its name to the fact that the shells were used at one time for holding water-colour paints as now shells of this species and of the sea mussel are used for holding gold and silver paint sold by artists’ colourmen, but it has no other economic value. Unio margaritiferus, the pearl mussel, was at one time of considerable importance as a source of pearls, and the pearl mussel fishery is to this day carried on under peculiar state regulations in Sweden and Saxony, and other parts of the continent. In Scotland and Ireland the pearl mussel fishery was also of importance, but has altogether dwindled into insignificance since the opening up of commercial intercourse with the East and with the islands of the Pacific Ocean, whence finer and more abundant pearls than those of Unio margaritiferus are derived.
In the last forty years of the 18th century pearls were exported from the Scotch fisheries to Paris to the value of £100,000; round pearls, the size of a pea, perfect in every respect, were worth £3 or £4. The pearl mussel was formerly used as bait in the Aberdeen cod fishery.
Literature.—For an account of the anatomy of Mytilus edulis the reader is referred to the treatise by Sabatier on that subject (Paris, 1875). The essay by Charles Harding on Molluscs used for Food or Bait, published by the committee of the London International Fisheries Exhibition (1883), may be consulted as to the economic questions connected with the sea mussel. The development of this species is described by Wilson in Fifth Ann. Rep. Scot. Fish. Board (1887). (E. R. L.; J. T. C.)
MUSSELBURGH, a municipal and police burgh of Midlothian,
Scotland, 512 m. E. of Edinburgh by the North British railway.
Pop. (1901), 11,711. The burgh, which stretches for a mile
along the south shore of the Firth of Forth, is intersected by the
Esk and embraces the village of Fisherrow on the left bank of
the river. Its original name is said to have been Eskmouth, its
present one being derived from a bed of mussels at the mouth of
the river. While preserving most of the ancient features of its
High Street, the town has tended to become a suburb of the
capital, its fine beach and golf course hastening this development.
The public buildings include the town-hall (dating from 1762 and
altered in 1876), the tolbooth (1590), and the grammar school.
Loretto School, one of the foremost public schools in Scotland,
occupies the site of the chapel of Our Lady of Loretto, which
was founded in 1534 by Thomas Duthie, a hermit from Mt
Sinai. This was the favourite shrine of Mary of Guise, who
betook herself hither at momentous crises in her history. The
1st earl of Hertford destroyed it in 1544, and after it was rebuilt
the Reformers demolished it again, some of its stones being
used in erecting the tolbooth. In the west end of the town is
Pinkie House, formerly a seat of the abbot of Dunfermline,
but transformed in 1613 by Lord Seton. It is a fine example
of a Jacobean mansion, with a beautiful fountain in the
middle of the court-yard. The painted gallery, with an elaborate
ceiling, 100 ft. long, was utilized as a hospital after the
battle of Pinkie in 1547. Prince Charles Edward slept in it
the night following the fight at Prestonpans (1745). Near
the tolbooth stands the market cross, a stone column with
a unicorn on the top supporting the burgh arms. At the
west end of High Street is a statue of David Macbeth
Moir (“Delta,” 1798–1851), Musselburgh’s most famous son.
The antiquity of the town is placed beyond doubt by the
Roman bridge across the Esk and the Roman remains found
in its vicinity. The chief bridge, which carries the high road
from Edinburgh to Berwick, was built by John Rennie in
1807. The principal industries include paper-making, brewing,
the making of nets and twine, bricks, tiles and pottery,
tanning and oil-refining, besides saltworks and seed-crushing
works. The fishery is confined to Fisherrow, where there is
a good harbour. The Links are the scene every year of the
Edinburgh race meetings and of those of the Royal Caledonian
Hunt which are held every third year. Archery contests also
take place at intervals under the auspices of the Royal Company
of Archers. Most of the charitable institutions—for instance,
the convalescent home, fever hospital, home for girls and Red
House home—are situated at Inveresk, about 112 m. up the Esk.
About 1 m. south-east is the site of the battle of Pinkie,
and 212 m. south-east, on the verge of Haddingtonshire, is
Carberry Hill, where Mary surrendered to the, lords of the.
Congregation in 1567, the spot being still known as. Queen
Mary’s Mount. Musselburgh joins with Leith and Portobello
(the Leith Burghs) in returning one member to parliament.
MUSSET, LOUIS CHARLES ALFRED DE (1810–1857), French
poet, play-writer and novelist, was born on the 11th of December 1810 in a house in the middle of old Paris, near the Hôtel Cluny. His father, Victor de Musset, who traced his descent back as far as 1140, held several ministerial posts of importance. He brought out an edition of J. J. Rousseau’s works in 1821, and followed
it. soon after with a volume on the Genevan’s life and writing.
In Alfred de Musset’s childhood there were various things
which fostered his imaginative power. He and his brother
Paul (born 1804, died 1880), who afterwards wrote a biography of Alfred, delighted in reading old romances together, and in
assuming the characters of the heroes in those romances.. But
it was not until about 1826 that Musset gave any definite sign of
the mental force which afterwards distinguished him. In the
summer of 1827 he won the second prize (at the Collège Henri
IV.) by an essay on “The Origin of our Feelings.” In 1828,
when Eugene Scribe, Joseph Duveyrier, who under the name of
Mélesville, was a prolific playwriter and sometimes collaborator
with Scribe, and others of note were in the habit of coming
to Mme de Musset’s house at Auteuil, where drawing-room
plays and charades were constantly given, Musset, excited
by this companionship, Wrote his first poem. This, to judge
from the extracts preserved, was neither better nor worse than
much other work of clever boys who may or may not afterwards
turn out to be possessed of genius. He took up the study of
law, threw it over for that of medicine, which he could not
endure, and ended by adopting no set profession. Shortly
after his first attempt in verse he was taken by Paul Foucher.
to Victor Hugo’s house, where he met such men as Alfred de
Vigny, Prosper Mérimée, Charles Nodier and Sainte-Beuve. It
was under Hugo’s influence, no doubt, that he composed a
play. The scene was laid in Spain, and some lines, showing
a marked advance upon his first effort, are preserved. In
1828, when the war between the classical and the romantic
school of literature was growing daily more serious and exciting,
Musset had published some verses in a country newspaper,
and boldly recited some of his work to Sainte-Beuve, who
wrote of it to a friend, “There is amongst us a boy full of genius.”
At eighteen years old Musset produced a translation, with
additions of his own, of De Quincey’s “Opium-Eater.” This
was published by Marne, attracted no attention, and has been
long out of print. His first original volume was published in
1829 under the name of Contes d’Éspagne et d’Italie, had an
immediate and striking success, provoked bitter opposition,
and produced many unworthy imitations. This volume contained,
along with far better and more important things, a
fantastic parody in verse on certain productions of the romantic
school, which made a deal of noise at the time. This was the
famous “Ballade à la lune” with its recurring comparison of
the moon shining above a steeple to the dot over an i. It
was, to Musset’s delight, taken quite seriously by many worthy;
folk.
In December 1830 Musset was just twenty years old, and was already conscious of that curious double existence within him so frequently symbolized in his plays—in Octave and Célio for instance (in Les Caprices de Marianne), who also stand for the two camps, the men of matter and the men of feeling which he has elsewhere described as characteristic of his
