64 



MOROCCO MORPHIA. 



tians, who arc merchants, artisans, and slaves. The 

 grand physical characteristic of the country is the 

 great chain of the Atlas, the summits of which are 

 covered with perpetual snow. The country between 

 this chain ;md the ocean is watered by numerous 

 streams from the mountains ; is exuberantly fertile, 

 producing grain, almonds, dates, and various other 

 fruits. Silk and wool are plentiful. The leather 

 called morocco (q v.) is manufactured from the skins 

 of the goats of Tafilet. Morocco has mines of iron, 

 tin, copper in abundance, antimony (more carefully 

 worked than the others), and mineral salt in great 

 plenty. (See Barbary States.) The early history 

 is given in the article Moors. In 1557, Mehemed, a 

 sherif, or one who claimed to be descended from the 

 prophet, obtained possession of the throne of the 

 empire, which is still occupied by his descendants. 

 Frequent and bloody civil wars have been carried on 

 by the royal princes, who have been, for the most 

 part, distinguished only for their cruel despotism. 

 The most ferocious of these tyrants was Muley Is- 

 mael, who died, after a long reign, in 1727 . He 

 was succeeded by his son Muley Abdallah, who 

 ascended the throne after a long struggle with his 

 brothers. That prince was followed in the govern- 

 ment by his son Muley Sidi Mohammed (1757), who 

 carried on war against France, Spain, and Portugal, 

 but concluded treaties of peace with the other 

 powers. On his death, in 1790, a war broke out 

 between his sous, on the subject of the succession. 

 Muley Soliman finally obtained possession of the 

 throne, and, on the invasion of Egypt by the French, 

 sent a contingent to the Turkish army. A treaty 

 with the United States, which had been concluded 

 with Sidi Mohammed, in 1786, was ratified by 

 Muley Soliman in 1795. By this treaty, it was stipu- 

 lated that prisoners made in war should not become 

 slaves. On the death of Muley Soliman, in 1822, 

 his nephew, Muley Abderrahman, the present sultan, 

 succeeded him. He has been principally employed, 

 since his accession, in endeavouring to restore do- 

 mestic tranquillity, and reduce the rebellious tribes of 

 the interior. He is bigoted, indolent, and luxurious, 

 but, as he is not remarkable for any extreme tyranny 

 or cruelty, he is considered a good monarch. The 

 last accounts from Morocco (1831) describe the 

 country as torn by internal dissensions, the Breber 

 tribes of the mountains having gained some impor- 

 tant advantages over the imperial forces. But 

 this unquiet state is the usual condition of the empire. 

 Besides the works referred to in the article Barbary, 

 the reader may consult Jackson's Morocco, and 

 Brooke's Travels in Spain and Morocco (London, 

 1831). 



MOROCCO (called, by the natives, MarascK) ; 

 city, and capital of the kingdom of Morocco ; Ion. 

 7 15' W. ; lat. 31 37' N. ; population, according 

 to Chenirr, about 30,000 ; some reduce it to 20,000; 

 others state it at 40,000 or 50,000 ; Jackson raises it 

 to 270,000. It is said to contain 2000 Jewish fami- 

 lies. It is situated about 120 miles from the sea, in 

 a pleasant plain, planted with palm trees. It was 

 founded in 1052 A. D.,and, in the following century, 

 under the reign of Ali Ben Yusuf, it was in its high- 

 est prosperity, and has been represented as containing 

 a population of 1,000,000. This is probably very 

 much exaggerated ; but the circuit of its walls ap- 

 pears still calculated for at least 300,000. It is now 

 very much depopulated, covered with ruins of houses 

 and gardens ; the streets are filled with the rubbish 

 of decayed buildings ; and the habitations, being old, 

 swarm with vermin. The temples, sanctuaries, and 

 mosques are still numerous, and some of the latter 

 lofty and splendid. The emperor's palace is of hewn 

 ilone, ornamented with marble. The air is clear and 



healthy, and the city is well supplied with excellent 

 water from the rivrr Tensift, which flows at a short 

 distance. 



MOROCCO, or MAROQUIN ; a fine kind of 

 leather, prepared from the skin of the goat, original- 

 ly brought from the Levant and the Barbary States, 

 but now manufactured in most other countries. It 

 derives its name from the empire of Morocco, wht'.re 

 it was probably invented, or first became known to 

 Europeans. The colours most commonly communi- 

 cated to it are red (by cochineal) and yellow (by the 

 Avignon or yellow berries). 



MOROSIN1. FRANCESCO, born 1618, was a gallant 

 soldier, who, about the middle of the seventeenth 

 century, in his capacity of governor of Candia, de- 

 fended that island, with 30,000 men, against a Turk- 

 ish force of four times that amount. Compelled at 

 length to surrender, he obtained terms which were 

 better observed by the Ottoman conquerors than was 

 their wont ; and although, on his return to Venice, 

 he suffered a temporary disgrace, yet he soon recover- 

 ed his credit with the government, and was appointed 

 to the, office of procurator of St Mark's. Sailing, 

 afterwards, against his former antagonists, the Turks, 

 he attacked their fleet, not far from the Dardanelles, 

 and totally defeated it, with great loss both of ships 

 and men. Returning in triumph to Venice, he conti- 

 nued to enjoy great popularity. In 1688, he was 

 elected doge, and survived his elevation about six 

 years, dying at Napoli di Romania, in 1694. 



MOROXYLIC ACID; the name applied, by 

 Klaproth, to an acid not yet fully examined, and 

 which was found in combination with lime, forming a 

 blackish-brown coating, on the trunk of a white mul- 

 berry tree, at Palermo. Its taste and other quali- 

 ties approached nearest to those possessed by the 

 succinic acid 



MORPHEUS (from pa^ q>t>, form, because he as- 

 sumes a variety of forms), in the Greek and Roman 

 mythology ; a servant of Somnus, or Sleep. He 

 lived in a dark, silent cave, impenetrable by the rays 

 of the sun, in Cimmeria. He is often confounded 

 with the god of sleep, but is more strictly the god of 

 dreams, and was often sent out to make known to 

 mortals the will of the gods. He appeared only in 

 a human form, his brother Phobetor (the Terrifier) 

 being employed to assume the shape of beasts, and 

 Phantasos that of inanimate objects. Morpheus is 

 represented as a handsome youth, crowned with pop- 

 pies, and holding in his hand a horn of plenty, from 

 which he scatters various figures. 



MORPHIA ; a new vegetable alkali, extracted 

 from opium, of which it constitutes the narcotic prin- 

 ciple. It is obtained pure by the following process : 

 A concentrated infusion of opium is boiled with a 

 small quantity of common magnesia for a quarter of 

 an hour : a considerable quantity of a grayish deposit 

 falls : this is washed on a filter with cold water, and, 

 when dry, digested in weak alcohol for some time, at 

 a temperature beneath ebullition. In this way, very 

 little morphia, but a great quantity of colouring mat- 

 ter is separated. The matter is then drained on a 

 filter, washed with a little cold alcohol, and after- 

 wards boiled with a large quantity of highly rectified 

 alcohol. This liquid, being filtered while hot, on 

 cooling, deposits the morphia in crystals, and very 

 little coloured. The solution in alcohol and crystal- 

 lization being repeated two or three times, colourless 

 morphia is obtained. It crystallizes in double four- 

 sided pyramids, whose bases are squares or rectangles; 

 sometimes also in prisms with trapezoidal bases. It 

 dissolves in eighty-two times its weight of boiling 

 water, and the solution, on cooling, deposits regular 

 and colourless crystals. It is soluble in thirty-six 

 times its weight of boiling alcohol, and in forty-two 



