MURIATE OF BARYTES MURPHY. 



93 



he taught jurisprudence for some time, when a second 

 charge, of a similar nature, was brought against him, 

 and, in 1554, he was condemned to be burned in effigy. 

 He escaped to Padua, where, as well as at Venice, 

 he continued to give public lectures till 1560, when 

 he accepted an invitation given him by cardinal 

 Ippolito d'Este to Rome. In 1563, he began to teach 

 Greek and Latin, with philosophy and civil law, at 

 Rome. In 1576, he took the vows, became a mem- 

 ber of the college of Jesuit?, and died in 1585. His 

 works, consisting of orations, letters, poems, sacred 

 hymns, &c. ; Paries Lectiones ; four Disputations on 

 the Pandects ; On the Origin of Laws ; Carmina 

 Juvenilia, &c., all written with much purity and ele- 

 gance, were collected in 1727 (Verona, 5 vols. 8vo). 

 Another edition appeared at Leyden, in 1789 (4 vols.) 



MURIATE OF BARYTES. See Barytes. 



MURIATES, in chemistry; a genus of salts, 

 formed from the muriatic acid with certain bases. 



MURIATIC ACID. The name of this acid is 

 derived from mnria, the Latin name of sea salt, from 

 which it is commonly extracted. It is also called, in 

 commerce, the marine acid, and the spirit of salt. It 

 is denominated the hydro-chloric acid by the French, 

 in allusion to its composition. It is said to have been 

 known as early as the time of Basil Valentine, though, 

 as a gas, it was unknown till 1772, when it was ob- 

 tained by Priestley, by heating the liquid acid, and 

 receiving it in glass vessels filled with mercury. It 

 is now procured in the gaseous form, from the decom- 

 position of common salt by sulphuric acid, and may 

 be collected without the use of a mercurial cistern, 

 simply by delivering it from the gas-bottle through a 

 narrow tube, at the bottom of a vial or jar : the gas, 

 being of a specific gravity of 1-259, displaces the air, 

 and completely occupies the vessel. If an inflamed 

 taper be immersed in it, it is immediately extin- 

 guished. It is destructive of animal life ; but the 

 irritation produced by it on the epiglottis scarcely 

 permits its descent into the lungs. It is merely 

 changed in bulk by alterations of temperature, but 

 experiences no change of state. It is composed of 

 hydrogen and chlorine, in the ratio, by weight, of 

 thirty-six of the latter to one of the former. It is 

 absorbed with great rapidity by water. A bottle full 

 of the gas, if opened in water, is almost instantane- 

 ously filled. Water absorbs about 500 volumes of 

 this gas ; and the solution, when cold, has the density 

 of 1-1958, and consists of 40-39 real acid, and 59-61 

 water. The common process for obtaining liquid 

 muriatic acid is the following : common salt, sulphu- 

 ric acid and water, equal weights ; the acid being 

 mingled with one third of 'water, and, when cold, 

 poured on the salt ; the gas evolved is conducted 

 through reservoirs of water, and subjected to pressure 

 in contact with it. The specific gravity of the acid 

 thus obtained is 1-17. It is always slightly tinged 

 with yellow, from the presence of muriate of iron, 

 derived from the vessels employed in the process. At 

 the specific gravity of 1 -203, it boils at 107. It com- 

 bines, like the other powerful acids, with the alkalies, 

 earths, and metallic oxides, forming a very peculiar 

 class of salts. Muriatic acid is a valuable article of 

 the materia medica. It is particularly used in cases 

 of dyspepsia that are attended with morbid secretions, 

 also in hepatic derangements and cutaneous diseases. 

 It is also of considerable value as a disinfecting agent. 



MURILLO, BARTOLOMEO ESTEBAN, the greatest 

 of all the Spanish painters, was born at Seville, Jan. 

 1, 1618. He received his first instructions in the 

 art from his relation, Juan del Castillo ; but the lat- 

 ter having gone to settle at Cadiz, Murillo was obliged 

 for subsistence to paint banners and small pictures 

 for exportation to America. In that business, he ob- 

 tained full employment, and began to distinguish 



himself as nnablecolourist. He wassiill very young, 

 when he happened to see some works of Pedro de 

 Moya, who was passing through Seville, on his way 

 to Cadiz, which, being painted in the style of Vandyke, 

 inspired him with the desire of imitating that great 

 artist, under whom De Moya had studied shortly be- 

 fore, his decease. The time he was able to avail himself 

 of Moya's instruction was very short, and he resolved 

 afterwards to repair to Italy for improvement. But 

 his means were totally inadequate to meet the expenses 

 of such a journey. Collecting, however, all his re- 

 sources, he bought a quantity of canvass, divided it 

 into a number of squares, upon which he painted sub- 

 jects of devotion and flowers, and, with the produce 

 of the sale of these, set out upon his journey, unknown 

 to his relations and friends. On his arrival at Madrid, 

 he waited upon Velasquez, his countryman, and com- 

 municated his plans to him. Struck with the zeal and 

 talents of the young artist, Velasquez treated him with 

 the greatest kindness, and diverted him from his pro- 

 ject of the journey to Rome, by procuring him full 

 employment at the Escurial, and in the different 

 palaces of Madrid. Murillo returned to Seville in 

 1645, after an absence of three years. The follow- 

 ing year, he finished painting the little cloister of St 

 Francis ; and the manner in which he executed it 

 produced the greatest astonishment among his coun- 

 trymen. His picture of the death of Santa Clara, 

 and that of St James distributing Alms, crowned his 

 reputation. In the first he showed himself a colour- 

 ist equal to Vandyke, and, in the second, a rival of 

 Velasquez. They obtained him a multitude of com- 

 missions, which procured him an independent fortune. 

 His success, however, never led him to be careless. 

 He gradually perfected his manner, by giving more 

 boldness to his pencil, without abandoning that 

 sweetness of colouring which distinguished him from 

 all his rivals, increasing its strength, and giving 

 greater freedom to his touch. He enriched the 

 churches and convents of Seville, and other cities, with 

 numerous works. Having been invited to Cadiz, to 

 paint the grand altar of the Capuchins, he there exe- 

 cuted his celebrated picture of the Marriage of St 

 Catharine. As he was about to finish it, he wounded 

 himself so dreadfully on the scaffolding, that he con- 

 tinued to feel the effects of the injury until his death, 

 at Seville, in April, 1682. To the greatest merit as 

 an historical painter, Murillo joined equal excellence 

 in flowers and landscape. His works afford proofs 

 of the perfection to which the Spanish school had at- 

 tained, and the rtal character of its artists ; for, as 

 Murillo never quitted his native country, he could not 

 be influenced by any foreign style ; and his original- 

 ity of talent places him in the first rank among the 

 painters of every school. He has neither the charm- 

 ing dignity of Raffaelle, the grandeur of Caracci, 

 nor the grace of Correggio ; but, as a faithful imita- 

 tor of nature, if he is sometimes vulgar and incorrect, 

 he is always true and natural ; and the sweetness, 

 brilliancy, freshness, and harmony of his colouring, 

 make us forget all his defects. 



MURPHY, ARTHUR, a dramatic writer, born in 

 Ireland, 1727, was sent, at the age of ten, to the 

 college of St Omer, where he remained six years, 

 and, on his return, was employed in the counting- 

 house of his uncle, who intended to make him super- 

 intendent of an estate in Jamaica; but his inclination 

 being averse to this destination, he repaired to his 

 mother, then resident in London. At first, he 

 accepted a situation in a banking-house, but was soon 

 altogether engrossed by literature. In October, 1752, 

 he published the first number of the Gray's Inn 

 Journal, a literary periodical, and first essayed his 

 dramatic powers in the farce of the Apprentice, 

 which was followed by the Upholsterer. He soon 



