MTJRATORIAN FRAGMENT. 138 MURCHISON. it reecivi'-. it.-, luinu'. It is translated in the .liile-iicnc Fathers, vol. v. MTJRAVIEFF, nioo'rA--y6f' . An ancient and distingui.shed Russian family, originally of Mos- low. which in 1488 was presented by Cziir Ivan
asilievitch 1. with large estates in the Province
of Novgorod. The best known members of the fam- ily are: Mikhail XiKiTiTCii (1757-1807). Cath- arine 11. made him the tntor of her grandchildren. .le.ander and Konstaiilin. for whom he com- jposed works in prose and poetry, which are still classics in Russian literature. He also occupied various important administrative posts. His w<nks were published in three volumes I -Moscow, ISIO). — Nikolai Xikolaikvitcii (1708-1840). He studied at Strassbtirg, and thereafter served for some time in the army and navy. In 1797 he founded a private institution for otlicer.s of the general staff. During the war of 1812-14 against Xapoleon he served as colonel. His school Ijecamc a .State institution in 181(i, and he continued to superintend it until 182:J, after which he devoted himself to agriculture. — -Vlkx- AXDF.R XiKoi.jMEvmii ( 1 7!l2-18l)4 ) . He was the eldest son of the preceding, and was prominent in the Decembrist uprising, which broke out in 182.5 at the accession of Nicholas I. In con- sideration of his father's services his life was spared and he was exiled to Siberia. Later he was permitted to return, and during the Crimean War lie entered the army ami liecame a majur-gfiieral. — XiKOLAl X'lKol.AiKViTtll ( c.l704-lS(>ti ) . The brother of the preceiling. He entered the army in 1810 and took part in the campaigns of 1812-14 against the French. After the end of the war he remained in the army, and traveled extensively in Asia. He served during the Persian War and was made a major-general. In 18.30 the Polish Rebellion broke out, and Muravieff was called in to aid in suppressing the revolt. In 1832 he was sent to EgA'pt to treat with Mcliemet .Mi for the conclusion of ])eace with Turkey. He then took charge of the Russian forces dispatched to the Bosporus to aid the Sultan against Meheniet .Mi. In 1838 he fell into disgrace and retired from the army, remaining inactive until 1848. During the Crimean War he rendered valuable service to Rus- sia in the Caucasus. The capture of Kars, in November, 1855, earned for Muravieff the title of prince and other gn-at honors. — Mikhail X'iko- LAIEVITl'Il (C.17!>(>-18(i0) . A brother <if the i>re- ceding. He entered the army and participated in the campaigns against Krance of 1812-13. He oc- cupied manv important administrativ<' positions, and opposed vehemently the emancipatiim of the serfs. During the Pol'ish Rebellion of 18113 he was sent to Vilna. and acted with such relentless rigor that in a few months the entire insurrection was suppress(.il. His acts of cruelty made his name infamous throughout Euro|)e. — Mikhail XlKOLAlKViTCH. Count (18451000). . grandson of the pre<cdiMg. II(. was born .pril lil. 1845. studied in Heidelberg, and in 1804 entered the service of the .Ministry of Foreign .irairs. He was attached to various Russian embassies in Europe, and on the death of Prince I.obanoff in I8n7 he became Mini.,ter of Foreign Affairs. He advanced Russian interests in the Far Fast and put forth the Czar's note for the Hague Peace Conference in 1808. He died .Tune 21. 1000. .Alinnl I'M a member of the Muravieff family Tnnrried a daughter of Apostol. the .laman of the Cossacks, whose name was added to his own. l)f thi^ liranch of the family the best known is .^KHoLi MlR.vit;i-i.--.i>osTOL('l7yU-182U). He par- ticijiated in the Decembrist uprising of 1825; proclaimed Grand Duke Ivonstantin as Emperor, and seized tlie town of Vasilkov. Troops were sent against him and he was captured, taken to .Saint Petersburg, and hanged .July 25, 182(3. XiK0i..i XiKOLAiEviTcn, Count ( c.1809-81 ), be- longed to another branch of this family. He en- tered the army while young, and served in the Caucasus, where he attained the rank of uiajur- general. In 1848 he was appointed Governor- General of Eastern Siberia, and gained for Russia the entire territory of the Amur, and concluded the Treaty of Aigun, May 28, 1858, by which this country was delinitely ceded by China. His services were rewarded by the title of Count, and he received the name Amurski. In the summer of 1850 he went with twelve sliijis to Vedo, and concluded a favorable treaty with .Japan. He resigned his Governorship in 18(11, and w-as made a member of the Imperial Council. MURCHISON, mflr'chl-son, Charles (1830- 79). A .Scotch physician, born in the island of Jamaica. He was eilucated at the universities of .-Vberdeen, Edinburgh, Dublin, and Paris. In 1853 he entered the East India Company's mili- tary service., but soon after reaching Iiulia was appointed professor of chemistry at the Cal- cutta -Medical College. In 1855 he published two valuable papers on The Climate diid Diseases of liiirindh. The same year he returned to Europe, and settled in London, where he was connected with a number of the leading hospitals. lie pub- lished the important Treatise on the Continued Fercrs of Great Britain (1862). MURCHISON. Sir Rodebick Impet (1792- 18711. .V J'.ritish geologist, born in Tarradale, Ross. After studying at the military college of Jtarlow. he entered the army and served as an ollicer in the Peninsular War under Wellington. Through the advice of Sir Humphry Da^-y he was induced to take ii|) the study of science, and in 1825 became a fellow of the Geological Society of London, before which he read a paper en- titled "Geological Sketch of the Northwestern Extremity of Sussex and the Adjoining Parts of Hants and Surrey." Returning from a geological tour through France, which he made in the com- pany of Sir Charles Lyell. he undertook a sys- tematic exploration and stuily of the lower fos- siliferous strata of England and Wales. This work engaged his attention for many years and resulted in a reclassification of the Paleozoic rocks, with the introduction of a new system to which, in 1835, he gave the name Silurian. He was so<m after employed by Emperor Nicholas in a geological survey of Russia, lieing associated with De Vcrneuil and Kcyscrling; during the years 1840-44 he explored a large part of South- ern Russia anil introduced a second new system— the Permian — into the geological time scale. From his knowledge of the geological structure of the Ural Mountains and the Australian sys- tems, he was led to believe that gold occurred in the hitter, and as early as 1844 predicted its discovery. Murchison was elected president of the Hritish Association for the .dvaneement of Sei(.nce in 1840. president of the Royal Geo- graphical Societv in 1844. 1845. and 1857. and in 1855, upon the death of Sir H. T. De la Beche,
