MURRAY 



4010 



MUSCATINE 



College there, and later studied natural science 

 at the nburgh. in Scotland. 



His first i : once in the field in 



which he became a 1 in 1868, when he 



ic regions on a whaler for the 

 purpose of studying their plant and animal life. 

 From 1872 to Iv < one of the natural- 



ists on the famous 'Challenger" expedition, 

 which explored the us and gave the 



world a new knowledge of its gnat water 

 masses. On the return of the expedition he was 

 appointed an editor to assist in the preparation 

 reports, and in 1882 was promoted to the 

 :i of editor-in-chief. These reports, com- 

 : fifty large volumes, were not completed 

 IS'.HJ. Two ytars later Queen Victoria 

 d him. Sir John took part in a number 

 of other important exploring expeditions and 

 wrote numerous reports on the oceans. He 

 was also the author of The Ocean: A General 

 Account of the Science oj the Sea, -a highly en- 

 tertaining account in language which is clear 

 but not technical. 



MURRAY, WALTER CHARLES (1866- ), a 

 Canadian educator, since 1908 president of the 

 University of Saskatchewan. He was born at 

 Studholm, N. B., and was educated at the uni- 

 "3 of New Brunswick, Edinburgh and 

 Berlin. After completing his studies at Berlin 

 in 1891, he returned to 'the University of New 

 Brunswick as professor of philosophy and eco- 

 nomics. A year later he was called to Dal- 

 housie University, where he was until 1908 pro- 

 fessor of philosophy and lecturer on education. 

 Thereafter his abilities have found an outlet 

 in the position of president of the University of 

 Saskatchewan, which has become, in a large 

 degree through his efforts, one of the great 

 Canadian universities. Murray is the author of 

 Studies in Mind Growth and Local Govern- 

 ment in the Maritime Provinces. 



MURRAY RIVER, the largest river in Aus- 

 tralia, rises in the Australian Alps, near the 

 eastern boundary of Victoria. It is about 1 .">()() 

 miles long, and drains nearly the entire south- 

 eastern quarter of the continent. In its upper 

 course it is a rushing mountain stream, but it 

 slows down and widens as it reaches the great 

 Australian Plain. For about two-thirds of its 

 course it flows in a northwesterly direction, 

 forming the boundary between Victoria and 

 New South Wales. It then flows into South 

 Australia, passes through the shallow Lake 

 Alexandrina and empties into the Indian Ocean 

 through Encounter Bay. During the rainy sea- 

 son the Murray is navigable over most of its 



course as far as Albury, New South Wales. 

 Although there are many inland ports along its 

 banks which do a large trade, the mouth is im- 

 peded by sand bars and so is inaccessible for 

 large steamers. Its chief tributaries are the 

 Murrumbidgee and the Darling rivers. 



MURRUMBIDGEE, murumbid'jcc, an Aus- 

 tralian river that Hows across the southern part 

 of New South Wales. It rises in the Australian 

 Alps and twists and winds northward and west- 

 ward for 1,350 miles until it reaches the Murray 

 River (which see). During the wet season it 

 is navigable for. light steamers for 500 miles, 

 but during the dry season it is of little value 

 except to a few ranches along its course. 



MUSCAT, or MUSKAT, mus kaht' , the capi- 

 tal of the independent state of Oman, Arabia, 

 and a seaport of considerable strategic and 

 commercial importance. It is situated on the 

 Gulf of Oman, in the southeastern part of the 

 country. Muscat is under British political in- 

 fluence and has been used as a coaling station 

 by France since 1898. Its situation at the foot 

 of high cliffs makes it one of the hottest places 

 in the world ; the excessive heat forces many of 

 its merchants to reside in Mattra, about three 

 miles distant, where there are cooling sea 

 breezes. The inhabitants of Muscat carry on a 

 prosperous trade in dates, mother-of-pearl, dry 

 fish and salt. Muscat and the neighboring town 

 of Mattra have a combined population of 

 about 24,000. 



MUSCATINE, mus ka teen', IOWA, the 

 county seat of Muscatine County, situated on 

 the eastern state boundary, on high bluffs along 

 a great bend of the Mississippi River. It is 

 twenty-five miles west and south of Davenport, 

 with which it is connected by an electric inter- 

 urban line, and is on the Chicago, Milwaukee 

 & Saint Paul, the Chicago, Rock Island & Pa- 

 cific and the Muscatine North & South rail- 

 roads. A large bridge crosses the river at this 

 point. The area of the city is nearly seven 

 square miles. In 1910 the population was 16,- 

 178; in 1916 it was 17,500 (Federal estimate). 



Its industrial establishments include foundries 

 and machine shops, sheet iron, boiler and en- 

 gine works, pickle and canning factories, and 

 manufactories of pearl buttons (an extensive 

 industry using fresh-water clam shells exclu- 

 sively), lumber products, pottery, boxes and 

 packing cases, carriages and tile. The city has 

 a public park, Musser Public Library, hospitals 

 and a soldiers' monument. The place was set- 

 tled in 1833 and was incorporated in 1839. It 

 is governed under a charter adopted in 1851. 



