Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/44

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36 MftLLER became reader to the empress of Austria. Her biography, by Mailath, was published at Vi- enna in 1832. MILLER, Wilhelm, a German poet, born in Dessau, Oct. 7, 1794, died there, Oct. 1, 1827. He studied at the university of Berlin, and after serving in the war of liberation (18 13-' 14) he returned to Berlin, and applied himself especially to the ancient German language and literature. From 1817 to 1819 he travelled in southern Germany and Italy, and on returning was appointed classical instructor in the new normal school of Dessau. His works include Blumenlese am den Minnesdngern (1816) ; a translation of Marlowe's "Faustus" (1818); and Lieder der Griechen (1821-'4). His trans- lation of patriotic Greek songs for Fauriel's collection (2 vols., 1825), and his Lyrische Spaziergange (1827), are his best productions. His VermiscJite Schriften were published by S. Schwab with a biography (5 vols., Leipsic, 1830). His Gedichte (2 vols., 1837) had seve- ral editions, and his AusgewdJilte Gedichte ap- peared in 1864. He was the father of Max Muller. (See MULLER, FEIEDEICH MAX.) MULLER, William John, an English painter, born in Bristol in 1812, died there, Sept. 8, 1845. He studied with J. B. Pyne, the land- scape painter, and in 1833-'4 made a tour through Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. In 1838-'9 he made a tour through Greece and Egypt, among the results of which were two landscapes, " Athens from the Road to Mara- thon," and "Memnon, or Ruins at Gornou in Egypt at Sunset." In 1843 he accompanied Sir Charles Fellows on his expedition in quest of the Xanthian marbles. Five pictures of Asi- atic scenery in the exhibition of 1845 were, like previous contributions, treated with neglect, and soon after he was seized with illness, the result of mortification, from which he never re- covered.. His pictures subsequently command- ed high prices, and a collection of 300 sketches was sold soon after his death for 4,360. MULLER VON RONIGSWDTTER, Wolfeang, a Ger- man poet, born at Konigswinter, near Bonn, March 5, 1816. He studied medicine at Bonn, graduated at Berlin in 1840, and was a physi- cian in Dusseldorf from 1842 to 1853, when he removed to Cologne, where he became a pop- ular poet, novelist, and chronicler of the Rhine region. Among his works are : Junge Lieder (1841); Balladenundfiomanzen(I84:%); EJiein- fahrt (1846); Gedichte (2d ed., 1857); Lorelei (2d ed., 1857) ; Eine Maikonigin (1852) ; Prinz Minnewin (1854); Der Eattenf anger von St. Goar (1857) ; Mann von Werth (1858) ; Er- zahlungen eines rheinischen Chronisten (1860) ; Vier Bur gen (1862); Zum stillen Vergnugen (1865); Der Pilger in Italien (1868); and Durch Kampf zum Sieg (1871). MULLET, a name given to two families of acanthopterygian fishes, the mugilidce and the mullidce, though the latter, to avoid confusion, are better styled surmullets. In the mugilidm the body is more or less cylindrical ; head and MULLET body covered with large, easily detached scales, in reality ctenoid, but so slightly denticulated as to appear cycloid; gill covers thin and smooth; head flattened, and the eyes large and far apart; the mouth small, and the teeth, when present, exceedingly fine; a kind of crest in the lower jaw received into a groove in the upper ; dorsals two, small and distinct, the first with usually four spinous rays, the second with flexible rays; ventrals behind pectorals; the pharyngeals are very large, the stomach rather fleshy, and the intestine with a few pyloric cffica; the swimming bladder is large. More than 50 species of the principal genus mugil (Linn.) have been described, from Europe, America, Africa, and the East Indies, inhabit- ing salt water, in preference about the mouths of rivers which they can ascend or descend with the tide. The gray mullet of western Europe (M. capita, Cuv.) attains a length of from 1 to 2 ft. ; the color above is dusky gray tinged with blue, the sides and belly silvery with longitudinal parallel dusky lines ; a dark spot at the base of the pectoral fin. They are highly esteemed as food, and are caught in nets, from 'which they attempt to escape by jumping over the edge. This species is com- mon on the English coasts, never far from land, and ventures many miles inland with the tide ; it is one of the species which thrive in fresh water; the food consists of soft or decaying animal or vegetable substances ; the spawning time is in midsummer. The gray mullet of the Mediterranean (M. cepJialus, Cuv.) may be known by the two adipose veils which half cover the eyes, by the long ridged scale at the base of the pectoral fins, and by the entire concealment of the maxillary bone when the mouth is shut; it attains a weight of 10 or 12 Ibs., and is taken in nets in great quantities at the mouths of rivers ; the flesh is tender, deli- cate, and fine-flavored, and has been esteemed from ancient times; it is eaten fresh, salted, and smoked. Of the American species may be mentioned the striped mullet (M. linea- tus, Mitch.), 6 or 8 in. long, purplish brown above, lighter on the sides, with 10 or 12 dark brown longitudinal stripes, pupils black and Striped Mullet (Mugil lineatus). irides yellowish white, and abdomen pearl gray; this is an excellent fish, ranges from New York southward, and appears in the markets in early autumn ; the white mullet (M. albula, Linn.), of a general whitish color, about 9 in. long, plump and firm, appearing in