54 MURDOCK junction with William Russell he published " Orthophony, or Culture of the Voice " (12mo, Boston, 1845). MURDOCH., James, an American clergyman, born in Westbrook, Conn., Feb. 16, 1776, died in Columbus, Miss,, Aug. 10, 1856. He gradu- ated at Yale college in 1797, was ordained as a Congregational minister in 1801, and in Feb- ruary, 1802, was settled in Princeton, Mass. In 1815 he became professor of ancient ^languages in the university of Vermont, and in 1819 of sacred rhetoric and ecclesiastical history in the theological seminary at Andover, Mass. In 1828 he removed to New Haven, where he devoted himself to the study of ecclesiastical history, the oriental languages, and philosophy. His principal works are: a translation from the German of Mtinscher's "Elements of Dogmatic History" (New Haven, 1830) ; a translation of Mosheim's "Institutes of Ecclesiastical His- tory," with copious notes (3 vols., New Haven, 1832; revised ed., New York, 1839); an edi- tion of Milman's "History of Christianity," with a preface and notes (New York, 1841) ; "Sketches of Modern Philosophy, especially among the Germans " (Hartford, 1842) ; a "Lit- eral Translation of the whole New Testament from the Ancient Syriac Version," with a pre- face and marginal notes (New York, 1851) ; and a translation from the Latin of Mosheim's " Commentaries on the Affairs of the Chris- tians before the time of Constantine the Great " (2 vols., New York, 1852). He also published several sermons, one of which, on the atone- ment (1823), attracted great attention. He was a member of many learned societies, and in 1819 received the degree of D. D. from Har- vard university. MURE, William, a Scottish author, born at Caldwell, Ayrshire, July 9, 1799, died in Lon- don, April 1, 1860. He was educated at West- minster school and the university of Edinburgh, and completed his studies in Germany. He published "Remarks on the Chronology of the Egyptian Dynasties" (1829), "A Dissertation on the Calendar of the Zodiac of Ancient Egypt" (1832), " Journal of a Tour in Greece " (1838), and " Critical History of the Language and Literature of Ancient Greece" (5 vols., 1850-'57), which was left unfinished. He rep- resented Renfrewshire in parliament from 1846 to 1855, and in 1847-'8 was lord rector of the university of Glasgow. MURET, Theodore Cesar, a French author, born in Geneva, Jan. 24, 1808, died at Soisy, near Paris, in July, 1866. He was descended from French Protestant refugees, studied at Geneva and Rouen, took his degree of advocate at Paris in 1829, and devoted himself to journalism in the legitimist interest, and to dramatic and gen- eral literature. The best known of his vaude- villes, in which he had collaborators, are Le medecin de campagne (1838) and Le docteur Saint-Brice (1840). He published novels and many pamphlets, some of which, especially La Verite aux ouwiers, aux paysans, aux soldats MURFREESBORO (1849). had an enormous circulation. His other works comprise Histoire de Paris (1837; 2d ed., 1851); Souvenirs de Vouest (1838); Les grands Jiommes de la France (2 vols., 1838); Histoire de Varmee de Conde (2 vols., 1844); Histoire des guerres de Vouest (5 vols., 1848) ; and L* Histoire par le theatre (3 vols., 1864- 1 5). MUREX, a genus of gasteropod mollusks, found in almost all temperate and tropical seas at depths varying from 25 to 60 fathoms. About 200 living species are known, and 160 fossil, chiefly belonging to the eocene forma- tion. Some of the species are remarkable for their very long and slender beak, along which the canal is partly closed. The shells are orna- mented with three or more longitudinal ridges, from which sometimes proceed rows of long pointed spines, which are removed by the ani- mal when they interfere with its growth. The murices are particularly interesting from their having been the source of the famous Tyrian dye. It is said that heaps of broken shells of the M. trunculus, and caldron-shaped holes in the rocks, may still be seen on the Phoenician shore ; and on the coast of the Morea there is evidence that the M. firandaris was anciently used for the same purpose of collecting the purple secretion of which the dye was com- posed. The ancients bruised the smaller shells in mortars, but took out the animal from the larger ones. Several species of purpura also produce a fluid which gives a dull crimson dye. An imitation of the purple dye prepared from uric acid, treated by nitric acid and com- bined with ammonia, was discovered by Prout in 1818, and afterward named by Liebig and Wohler murexide. It is now produced from guano, and is used for the dyeing of foulard silks. The coloring fluid is secreted by a special gland situated on the mantle; in murex and purpura it is colorless when secreted, but on exposure to the sun becomes first yellowish, and finally violet, passing through the tints formed by the mixture of yellow, blue, and red. The M. tenuispina of the Moluccas is Murex (Murex tenuispina). one of the handsomest species, 5 to 6 in. long. A handsome species is abundant on the Cen- tral American coasts. MURFREESBORO, a city and the capital of Rutherford co., Tennessee, situated near the centre of the state, on an elevated and healthy plain bounded E. by the Cumberland mountains, on the Nashville and Chattanooga railroad, 32 m. S. E. of Nashville ; pop. in 1870, 3,502, of
