House of Murray,” in The Critic (Jan. 1860); and a paper by the same writer in Harper’s New Monthly Magazine (Sept. 1885). See the Letters and Journals of Byron (ed. Prothero, 1898–1901).
MURRAY, JOHN (1778–1820), Scottish chemist, was born at Edinburgh in 1778 and died there on the 22nd of July 1820. He graduated M.D. at St Andrews in 1814, and attained some reputation as a lecturer on chemistry and materia medica. He was an opponent of Sir Humphry Davy’s theory of chlorine, supporting the view that the substance contained oxygen, and it was in the course of experiments made to disprove his arguments that Dr John Davy discovered phosgene or carbonyl chloride. He was a diligent writer of textbooks, including Elements of Chemistry (1801); Elements of Materia Medica and Pharmacy (1804), A System of Chemistry (1806), and (anonymously) A Comparative View of the Huttonian and Neptunian Systems of Geology. He is sometimes confused with another John Murray (1786–1851), a popular lecturer at mechanics institutes. The two men carried on a dispute about the invention of a miners' safety lamp in the Phil. Mag. for 1817.
MURRAY, SIR JOHN (1841– ), British geographer and naturalist, was born at Coburg, Ontario, Canada, on the 3rd of March 1841, and after some years' local schooling studied in Scotland and on the Continent. He was then engaged for some years in natural history work at Bridge of Allan. In 1868 he visited Spitsbergen on a Whaler, and in 1872, when the voyage of the “Challenger” was projected, he was appointed one of the naturalists to the expedition. At the conclusion of the voyage he was made principal assistant in drawing up the scientific results, and in 1882 he became editor of the Reports, which were completed in 1896. He compiled a summary of the results, and was part-author of the Narrative of the Cruise and of the Report on Deep-sea Deposits. He also published numerous important papers on oceanography and marine biology. In 1898 he was made K.C.B., and the received many distinctions from the chief scientific societies of the world. Apart from his work in Connexion with the “Challenger” Reports, he went in 1880 and 1882 on expeditions to explore the Faeroe Channel, and between 1882 and 1894 was the prime mover in various biological investigations in Scottish waters. In 1897, with the generous financial assistance of Mr Laurence Pullar and a staff of specialists, he began a bathymetrical survey of the fresh-water lochs of Scotland, the results of which, with a fine series of illustrations and maps, were published in 1910 in six volumes. He took a leading part in the expedition which started in April 1910 for the physiological and biological investigation of the North Atlantic Ocean on the Norwegian vessel “Michael Sars.”
MURRAY, LINDLEY (1745–1826), Anglo-American grammarian, was born at Swatara, Pennsylvania, on the 22nd of April 1745. His father, a Quaker, was a leading New York merchant. At the age of fourteen he was placed in his father’s office, but he ran away to a school in Burlington, New Jersey. He was brought back to New York, but his arguments against a commercial career prevailed, and he was allowed to study law. On being called to the bar he practised successfully in New York. In 1783 he was able to retire, and in 1784 he left America for England. Settling at Holgate, near York, he devoted the rest of his life to literary pursuits. His first book was Power of Religion on the Mind (1787). In 1795 he issued his Grammar of the English Language. This was followed, among other analogous works, by English Exercises, and the English Reader. These books passed through several editions, and the Grammar was the standard textbook for fifty years throughout England and America. Lindley Murray died on the 16th of January 1826.
See the Memoir of the Life and Writings of Lindley Murray (partly autobiographical), by Elizabeth Frank (1826); Life of Murray, by W. H. Egle (New York, 1885).
MURRAY (or Moray), SIR ROBERT (c. 1600–1673), one of the founders of the Royal Society, was the son of Sir Robert Murray of Craigie, Ayrshire, and was born about the beginning of the 17th century. In early life he served in the French army, and, winning the favour of Richelieu, rose to the rank of colonel. On the outbreak of the Civil War he returned to Scotland and collected recruits for the royal cause. The triumph of Cromwell compelled him for a time to return to France, but he took part in the Scottish insurrection in favour of Charles II. in 1650, and was named lord justice clerk and a privy councillor. These appointments, which on account of the overthrow of the royal cause proved to be at the time only nominal, were confirmed at the Restoration in 1660. Soon after this Sir Robert Murray began to take a prominent part in the deliberations of a club instituted in London for the discussion of natural science, or, as it was then called, the “new philosophy.” When it was proposed to obtain a charter for the society he undertook to interest the king in the matter, the result being that on the 15th of July 1662 the club was incorporated by charter under the designation of the Royal Society. Murray was its first president. He died in June 1673.
MURRAY, the largest river in Australia. It rises in the Australian Alps in 36° 40′ S. and 147° E., and flowing north-west skirts the borders of New South Wales and Victoria until it passes into South Australia, shortly after which it bends southward into Lake Alexandrina, a shallow lagoon, whence it makes its way to the sea at Encounter Bay by a narrow opening at 35° 35′ S. and 138° 55′ E. Near its source the Murray Gates, precipitous rocks, tower above it to the height of 3000 ft.; and the earlier part of its course is tortuous and uneven. Farther on it loses so much by evaporation in some parts as to become a series of pools. Its length till it debouches into Lake Alexandrina is 1120 m., its average breadth in summer is 240 ft., its average depth about 16 ft.; and it drains an area of about 270,000 sq. m. For small steamers it is navigable as far as Albury. Periodically it, overflows, causing wide inundations. The principal tributaries of the Murray are those from New South Wales, including the Edward River, the united streams of the Murrumbidgee and Lachlan, and the Darling or Callewatta. In 1829 Captain Sturt traced the Murrumbidgee River till it debouched into the Murray, which he followed down to Lake Alexandrina, but he was compelled, after great hardships, to return without discovering its mouth. In 1831 Captain Barker, while attempting to discover this, was murdered by the natives.
MURRAY COD (Oligorus macquariensis), one of the largest of the numerous fresh-water Perciform fishes of Australia, and the most celebrated for its excellent flavour. It belongs to the family Serranidae. Its taxonomic affinities lie in the direction of the perch and not of the cod family. The shape of the body is that of a perch, and the dorsal fin consists of a spinous
and rayed portion, the number of spines being eleven.
Murray Cod.
The length of the spines varies with age, old individuals having shorter spines—that is, a lower dorsal fin. The form of the head and the dentition also resemble those of a perch, but none of the bones of the head has a serrated margin. The scales are small. The colour varies in different localities; it is generally brownish, with a greenish tinge and numerous small dark green spots. As implied by the name, this fish has its headquarters in the Murray River and its tributaries, but it occurs also in the northern parts of New South Wales. It is the most important food fish of these rivers, and is said to attain a length of more than 3 ft. and a weight of 120 ℔.
MURREE, a town and sanatorium of British India, in the Rawalpindi district of the Punjab, 7517 ft. above the sea., about five hours' journey by cart-road from Rawalpindi town, and the starting-point for Kashmir. The houses are built on the
