MURUT 



The nawab resides in a 

 run- It -rn palace. It is the centre of 

 t In- 1 inlian ailk industry, and n ak * 

 bandanas, ivory carvings, gold 



.aid Mlver ciiiltruidery, etc. l't>i>. 



Tin- nawab bahadur of Murshi- 

 dabad is the premier noble of 

 Bengal. Horn Jan. 7, 1875, he suc- 

 ceeded in 1906, after being edu- 

 cated at Rugby and Trinity Col- 

 lege, ( Kfnnl. He took a promim -n 

 part in Indian public affairs, being 

 ;i member of the legislative council 

 nf Bengal, represented that state 

 nt tin- coronation of Edward VII, 

 and attended the durbar of 1902. 

 He was created K.C.S.I. in 1910 

 and K.C.V.O. in 1912. 



Murut. Primitive people of 

 Indonesian stock in Sarawak and 

 neo. Estimated as number- 

 ing 250,000, shortish and wavy- 

 hiiired. they are coarser, longer- 

 headed, lankier, ruddier, and less 

 Mongolised than other Bornean 

 IM-M pit's. Their customs betoken 

 Philippine contact prior to the 

 Kayan immigration. See Dusun. 



Murwillumbah. Municipality 

 in Rous co., New South Wales, 

 Australia. It is almost on the 

 border of the state, the terminus 

 of the coast rly., 80 m. by rly. from 

 Casino, and the centre of a dairying 

 district. Sugar canes are grown 

 in the vicinity. Pop. 2,700. 



Murzuk OR MOUKZOUK. Chief 

 town in Fezzan, in Italian Libya, 

 and an important oasis. The city, 

 founded in 1310, was formerly the 

 capital of the Turkish administra- 

 tion of Fezzan. It owes its im- 

 portance to its position on the chief 

 caravan route from Tripoli to the 

 W. Sudan. Pop. 3,000. 



Musaceae. Family of mono- 

 cotyledonous plants, of which the 

 banana is a well-known member. 

 See Banana ; Manila Hemp ; 

 Plantain ; Scitaminaceae. 



Musaeus . Greek poet general ly 

 known as the Grammarian. He is 

 supposed to have lived about the 6th 

 century A.D., and was the author of 

 a well-known little epic, Hero and 

 Leander. There have been many 

 imitations of this charming poem, 

 notably that of Marlowe, completed 

 and published by George Chapman, 

 the translator of Homer. 



Musa Ibn Nosair (640-716). 

 Arabian soldier and administrator. 

 Born at Mecca, he was employed 

 by the Caliph Wai id I to complete 

 the conquest of N. Africa, and by 

 709 had extended the Arabian 

 empire as far as Morocco. He sent 

 his lieutenant Tarik to Spain, who 

 in 711 secured mastery over a 

 great part of the Iberian peninsula. 

 Tarik was joined in 712 by Musa, 

 who overthrew Roderick, the 

 Gothic king of Spain, but was re- 



5397 



called by Widid ~l\, having been 

 accused of corruption by Tarik. 

 Deprived of his command and 

 sentenced to a heavy fine, he died 

 on his way to Mecca. 



Mus. B. Abrev. for bachelor 

 of nin 



Muscae Volitantes. Term ap- 

 plied to little black specks, some- 

 thing like flies, which many people 

 see floating before their eyes. They 

 an- the shadows of minute bodies 

 in the vitreous humour. They 

 sometimes give rise to alarm, but 

 do not as a rule indicate any disease 

 or disorder, although often asso- 

 ciated with indigestion, and if 

 disregarded will soon cease to be 

 observed. In one form, however, 

 they may be symptoms of serious 

 disease of the eye. 



Muecarine. Poisonous alkaloid 

 found in fly agaric (Agaricua mus- 

 carius), and the fungus Amanita 

 pantherina. It has been prepared 

 artificially by the oxidation of 

 choline with nitric acid. The name 

 is also applied to blue aniline dye. 



Muscat, MOSKAT, OR MASK AT. 

 Capital and port of Oman, S.E. 

 Arabia. It stands on the S. shore 

 of the Gulf of 

 Oman. Among its 

 exports are pearls, 

 dates, and horses, 

 and its imports in- 

 clude rice, coffee, 

 sugar, silks, and 

 cotton goods, most 

 of its trade being 

 with India. It is. 

 the residence of a 

 British political 

 agent and consul. 

 It was occupied by 

 the Portugu ese f r om 

 1508 to the middle 

 of the 17th century, 

 becoming the capi- 

 tal of an inde- 

 pendent state again 

 under a native sultan in 1741. 

 To support the Sultan of Oman, 

 British troops were in Muscat in 

 1915, and took part in defeating 

 assaults by disaffected tribesmen, 

 but these operations had nothing 

 to do with the Great War. Pop. 

 25,000. 



Muscatel OR MUSCADEL (Ital. 

 mosrado). Generic term for wine 

 derived from the parent vine of 

 the same name. A highly alcohol- 

 ised, sweet, rich wine, either white 

 or red, it is distinguished by a 

 strong musk flavour. Muscatel 

 wine is made in S.W. France, N. 

 Spain, in Italy, Sicily, Capri, Corfu, 

 Crete, Cyprus, the Canaries, the 

 Cape, Switzerland, and elsewhere. 

 Of the French, the white Rivesaltes 

 and the red Banyuls are fine wines ; 

 of the Italian, Lacrima Christ! 

 (7.1-.) is the most favoured. 



MUSCLE 



Muscatine. City of Iowa, 

 U.S.A., the co. seat of Miucatine 

 co. It stands on the MiMiMippi 

 river, 44 m. N.N E. of Burlington, 

 and ia served by the Chicago, Rock 

 Island and Pacific, and other rlys. 

 It haa canneries, engine and boiler 

 works, foundries and machine 

 shops, and manufactures bricks and 

 tiles and pearl buttons. A large 

 trade in sweet potatoes and water- 

 melons in carried on. Organized as 

 a town in 1836, Muscatine waa in- 

 corporated in 1839, and became a 

 city in 1851. Pop. 16,100. 



Muschelkalk (Ger., shell lime). 

 In geology, middle subdivision of 

 the Triassic system of rocks. Typi- 

 cal in Germany and in many parts 

 of the Continent, they are chiefly 

 limestones rich in the remains of 

 mollusca. Over 300 ft. thick in 

 places, the formation is an impor- 

 tant source of salt, marls, and gyp- 

 sum. Many saline springs of Ger- 

 many are found in the muschelkalk. 



Muscle. Tissue possessing power 

 of contraction by which, in the 

 higher animals, movement* are 

 performed. Muscles are divided 

 into two main classes: voluntary 



Muscat, S.E. Arabia. The old fort built by the 

 Portuguese during their occupation of the city 



muscles, the action of which is 

 under the control of the will ; and 

 involuntary muscles, not con- 

 trolled by the will. 



Voluntary muscles are attached 

 to the bones and are sometimes 

 called skeletal. They consist of 

 masses of fibres, each fibre being 

 about 1 in. in length and 1 /500th 

 in. in diameter. Under the micro- 

 scope the fibres are seen to be 

 marked by alternate dark and 

 light markings, and this form of 

 muscle is in consequence some- 

 times termed " transversely stria- 

 ted " muscle. * Each fibre is sur- 

 rounded by a sheath, called the 

 sarcolemma, inside which is soft 

 tissue possessing the power of con- 

 traction. When a muscle is stimu- 

 lated by a nerve and contracts, the 

 fibres become shorter and thicker. 

 In some animals and fishes certain 



