MORAY. 791 MOBDVINS. terrancan, and is soiiu'times of large. size, four feet or more in lenjitli, goKleii yellow in front and purple toward the tail, beautifully banded and mottled. Its flesh is white and highly esteemed. It j)refers salt water, but can ac- connnodate itself to a fresh-water pond. The ancient Romans kept and fed it in vivaria. The story of Vedius Pollio feedinj; his mur;enas with olfending slaves is well known. Two species of this genus are found in American waters. The common spotted moray or 'hamlet,' the most numerous eel in the West Indies, is Lyco- dontis iiwringa, and is yellowish in color, thick- ly spotted and marbled with dark markings. A larger one (five to six feet) is the greenish- black moray or 'morena verde' (Lycodonlis fune- bris), the biggest and most ferocious of the eels of the American tropics (both coasts), and cue well known about the Florida reefs. The so-called 'conger eel' of California (Lijcodontis mordax) is a food fish of some local impor- tance. See Plate of Eels, Congers, axd ilOR.VYS. MORAY, mur'ri, Eakl of. See Mcbrat. MORAY FIRTH. An arm of the North Sea, extending southwestward into the northeastern part of Scotland (Map: Scotland, E 2). It is 10 miles wide at the entrance, and about 40 miles long. It forms a good harbor, and is navigable for large steamers as far as Inverness. The name is sometimes extended to the whole of the large, triangular indentation between Kin- naird and Duncansby Heads, having a width of 75 miles. MORAYSHIRE, mur'a-sher. A maritime county of Scotland. See Elgixsiiire. MORAZAN, mo'ra-thiin', Fraxcisco (1792- 1S42). A soldier and statesman of Honduras. He was a member of a French West Indian family, and entered politics when his country became independent of Spain, in 1S21. He be- came Secretaiy-General, and took part in the organization of the new Government. He also j)layed an important part at the head of the troops in putting down the demonstrations of the various revolutionary factions, and was in 1S.30 elected President of the Central American Confederation. In this olhce he became the fore- most representative of liberal principles, as op- [losed to the reactionary policy of the old Spanish ]>arty. whose stronghold was Gviatemala. He c|ielled the archbishop and the friars who were inciting the pro-Spanish faction to revolt, and abolished the most important Cluirch privileges. In 18.32 he suppressed an insurrection against the Federal Government in Salvador. In 1838 a formidable revolution again broke out, headed by Carrera, leader of the conservatives in Guate- mala. Moraziin, after defending the Federal Government with courage and ability, felt that the tirle was too strong to struggle against; he therefore resigned his oflice. April .'), 1S40. and went to Peru. There he organized a force, and in 1842 invaded Costa Kica. hoping to reor- ganize the Confederation. He overthrew the Government without difficulty, and was en- thusiastically elected Governor. His popularity, however, was short-lived. His advocacy of the Central American Confederation led to another insurrection. He was taken prisoner, court- martialed, and shot, September 15, 1842. Con- sult Bancroft, History of Coilral America, vol. iii. (San Francisco, 1887). MORBIHAN, mor'be'iix'. A western depart- ment of Frame, situated along the south coast of the Peninsula of Brittany (Map: France, D 4). It is hilly in the north, very sparsely wood- ed, and largely occupied by heaths and marshes. Only one-third of its area, which covers 2024 square miles, is cultivated, producing cereals, flax, hemp, and apples. Iron ore is found, but there are no industries or commerce of any im- portance. Population, in 1S!>1, 544,470; in 1901, 563,468. The capital is Vannes. MORDANTS (OF., Fr. mord'iiit, from Lat. mordfiis, pres. part, of mordere (to bite). Sub- stances used in dyeing for the purpose of fixing colors on textile "fabrics. The manner in which mordants act has been described under Dyeing. It remains to enumerate here the most im- portant mordants employed by the dyer. Among basic mordants m.ay be mentioned alum,ahuuinum sulphate, ferrous acetate, ferrous sulphate, ferric sulphate, ferric acetate, ferric nitrate, stannous chloride ('tin crystals') , stannic chloride (the so- lution is known commercially as 'cotton spirits'), stannic oxide (produced by soaking cotton in a solution of sodium stannate and then passing it through dilute sulphuric acid), potassium (or so- dium )'bichromate, chromium acetate, and clirome alum. Among the acid mordants may be men- tioned tannic acid and the so-called 'fatty acids.' The latter are applied first in the form of their sodium or potassium salts (soaps) dissolved in water : then the fabric is passed through a solu- tion of aluminum sulphate, which combines with the fatty acids to form in soluble aluminum salts on the fibre; finally when a basic dyestutf is applied, the aluminum salts react with It, their acids combining with it to yield permanent colors. See Dyeing. MORDATINT, mor'dunt, Charles, Earl of Peterliorough. See Peterborovgh. MORDATINT, Frank (1841 — ). An Ameri- can actor, bom at Burlington. Vt. After play- ing as an amateur in New York, he joined the theatrical profession in 1859. He supported Mary Anderson in 1878: then Edwin Booth, tak- ing parts like that of the King in Hamlet and Kent in King Lear. Among his more recent roles were those of Tommaso in J/r. Barnes^ of Xew York (1888), Nicholas Vanalstyne in The Henrietta (1889), and General Kendiick in The Heart f,f Maryland (1895). MORDECAI, mor'de-kl, Alfred (1804-87). An American soldier and military writer, born at Warrenton, N. C. He graduated at West Point in 1823, and remained there the two fol- lowing years as assistant professor of philosophy and of engineering. At the outbreak of the Civil War he resigned from the army. From 1863 to 1866 he was assistant engineer of the Mexico and Pacific Railroad. In 18(i7 he be- came secretary and treasurer of the canal and coal companies controlled by the Pennsylvania Railroad. .Among his publications are: A Digest of Military Laws (1833) ; Artillery for the United States Land Service (1849): and Ord- nance Manual for the Use of the Officers of the United States Army (2d ed. 1850). MORD'VINS. A mixed Finno-Turkish people numbering about 1,000.000. living in the heart
