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MAURY, MATTHEW FONTAINE (1806-1873)

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Originally appearing in Volume V17, Page 917 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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MAURY, See also:
MATTHEW, GOSPEL OF ST
MATTHEW, ST (MaOOaior or MarOaIos, probably a shortened form of the Hebrew equivalent to Theodorus)
MATTHEW, TOBIAS
MATTHEW See also:
FONTAINE, PIERRE FRANCOIS LEONARD (1762-1853)
FONTAINE (1806-1873) , See also:

AMERICAN

American See also:

NAVAL

naval officer and hydrographer, was See also:

BORN, IGNAZ, EDLER VON (1742–1791)

born near Fredericksburg in See also:

SPOTTSYLVANIA

Spottsylvania See also:

COUNTY (through Norm. Fr. comae, cf. O. Fr. cunte, conk', Mod. Fr. comae, from Lat. comitatus, cf. Ital. comitato, Prov. comtat; see COUNT)

county, See also:

Virginia, on the 24th of See also:

JANUARY

January 18o6. He was educated at Harpeth See also:

academy, and in 1825 entered the See also:

NAVY

navy as See also:

MIDSHIPMAN

midshipman, circumnavigating the globe in the " See also:

VINCENNES

Vincennes," during a cruise of four years (1826–183o). In 1831 he was appointed See also:

MASTER (Lat. magister, related to tnagis, more, as the corresponding minister is to minus, less; the English form is due partly to the O. Eng. maegister, and partly to O. Fr. maistre, mod. maitre; cf. Du. meester, Ger. Meister, Ital. maestro)

master of the See also:

SLOOP

sloop " See also:

FALMOUTH

Falmouth " on the Pacific station, and subsequently served in other vessels before returning See also:

home in 18J4, when he married his See also:

cousin, See also:

Ann Herndon. In 1835–1836 he was actively engaged in producing for publication a See also:

TREATISE

treatise on See also:

NAVIGATION (from Lat. navis, ship, and agere, to move)

navigation, a remarkable achievement at so See also:

early a See also:

STAGE (Fr. 6/age; from Lat. stare, to stand)

stage in his career; he was at this See also:

time made See also:

LIEUTENANT

lieutenant, and gazetted astronomer to a See also:

South See also:

Sea exploring expedition, but resigned this position and was appointed to the survey of south-ern harbours. In 1839 he met with an See also:

accident which resulted in permanent lameness, and unfitted him for active service. In the same See also:

YEAR

year, however, he began to write a See also:

SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

series of articles on naval reform and other subjects, under the See also:

TITLE (0. Fr. title, mod. titre, from Lat. titulus)

title of Scraps from the Lucky-Bag, which attracted much See also:

ATTENTION (from Lat. ad-tendo, await, expect; the condition of being " stretched " or " tense ")

attention; and in 1841 he was placed in See also:

charge of the See also:

DEPOT (from the Fr. depot, Lat. depositum, laid down; the French accent marks are usually dispensed with in English)

Depot of Charts and See also:

INSTRUMENTS

Instruments, out of which See also:

GREW, NEHEMIAH (1641-1712)

grew the See also:

UNITED

United States Naval See also:

OBSERVATORY

Observatory and the Hydrographic See also:

OFFICE (from Lat. officium, " duty," " service," a shortened form of opifacium, from facere, " to do," and either the stem of opes, " wealth," " aid," or opus, " work ")

Office. He laboured assiduously to obtain observations as to the winds and currents by distributing to captains of vessels specially prepared See also:

LOG (a word of uncertain etymological origin,possibly onomatopoeic; the New English Dictionary rejects the derivation from Norwegian lag, a fallen tree)

log-books; and in the course of nine years he had collected a sufficient number of logs to make two See also:

HUNDRED

hundred See also:

MANUSCRIPT

manuscript volumes, each with about two thousand five hundred days' observations. One result was to show the See also:

NECESSITY (Lat. necessitas)

necessity for combined See also:

ACTION

action on the See also:

PART

part of maritime nations in regard to ocean See also:

METEOROLOGY (Gr. JerEwpa, and hb'yos, i.e. the science of things in the air)

meteorology. This led to an See also:

INTERNATIONAL, THE

international See also:

CONFERENCE

conference at See also:

BRUSSELS (Fr. Bruxelles, Flem. Brussel)

Brussels in 18J3, which produced the greatest benefit to navigation as well as indirectly to meteorology. Maury attempted to organize co-operative meteorological See also:

WORK

work on See also:

LAND

land, but the See also:

government did not at this time take any steps in this direction. His oceanographical work, however, received recognition in all parts of the civilized See also:

WORLD

world, and in 1855 it was proposed in the See also:

SENATE (Lat. senatus, from root sen-, as in senex, old; the root is the Sanskrit sana, cf. Gr. 'vos; the same element appears in senor, seigneur, seneschal)

senate to remunerate him, but in the same year the Naval Retiring See also:

BOARD (O. Eng. bord)

Board, erected under an See also:

ACT (Lat. actus, actum)

act to promote the efficiency of the navy, placed him on the retired See also:

list. This action aroused wide opposition, and in 1858 he was reinstated with the See also:

RANK (O.Fr. rant or rent, mod. rang, generally connected with the O.E. and O.H.G. bring, a ring)

rank of See also:

COMMANDER

commander as from 1855.

In 1853 Maury had published his Letters on the See also:

AMAZON

Amazon and See also:

ATLANTIC

Atlantic Slopes of South See also:

AMERICA

America, and the most widely popular of his See also:

WORKS

works, the See also:

PHYSICAL

Physical See also:

GEOGRAPHY (Gr. yil, earth, and ypiickty, to write)

Geography of the Sea, was published in See also:

LONDON

London in 1855, and in New See also:

York in 1856; it was translated into several See also:

EUROPEAN

European See also:

LANGUAGES

languages. On the outbreak of the American See also:

CIVIL

Civil See also:

War in 1861, Maury threw in his See also:

lot with the South, and became See also:

head of See also:

COAST (from Lat. costa, a rib, side)

coast, See also:

HARBOUR (from M.E. hereberge, here, an army; cf. Ger. Heer and -beorg, protection or shelter. Other early forms in English were herberwe and haiborow, as seen in various place names, such as Market Harborough.. The French auberge, an inn, derived through

harbour and See also:

RIVER

river defences. He invented an electric See also:

TORPEDO

torpedo for harbour See also:

defence, and in 1862 was ordered to See also:

England to See also:

PURCHASE

purchase torpedo material, &c. Here he took active part in organizing a See also:

PETITION (Lat. for " seeking " or " praying ")

petition for See also:

peace to the American See also:

PEOPLE

people, which was unsuccessful. Afterwards he became imperial See also:

COMMISSIONER

commissioner of See also:

EMIGRATION (from Lat. emigrare; e, ex, out of, and migrare, to depart)

emigration to the See also:

EMPEROR (Fr. empereur, from the Lat. imperator)

emperor See also:

Maximilian of See also:

Mexico, and attempted to See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form a Virginian See also:

COLONY (Lat. colonia, from colonus, a cultivator)

colony in that See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country. Incidentally he introduced there the cultivation of See also:

CINCHONA

cinchona. The See also:

SCHEME (Lat. schema, Gr. oxfjya, figure, form, from the root axe, seen in exeiv, to have, hold, to be of such shape, form, &c.)

scheme of colonization was abandoned by the emperor (1866), and Maury, who had lost nearly his all during the war, settled for a while in England, where he was presented with a testimonial raised by public subscription, and among other honours received the degree of LL.D. of See also:

Cambridge University (1868). In the same year, a See also:

general See also:

AMNESTY (from the Gr. &µvrly-ria, oblivion)

amnesty admitting of his return to America, he accepted the professorship of meteorology in the Virginia Military See also:

INSTITUTE (from Lat. instituere, to establish or set up)

Institute, and settled at See also:

Lexington, Virginia, where he died on the 1st of See also:

FEBRUARY

February 1873. Among works published by Maury, in addition to those mentioned, are the papers contributed by him to the Astronomical Observations of the United States Observatory, See also:

LETTER (through Fr. lettre from Lat. littera or litera, letter of the alphabet; the origin of the Latin word is obscure; it has probably no connexion with the root of linere, to smear, i.e. with wax, for an inscription with a stilus)

Letter concerning Lanes for Steamers See also:

CROSSING

crossing the Atlantic (1855); Physical Geography (1864) and See also:

MANUAL

Manual of Geography (1871). In 1859 he began the publication of a series of Nautical Monographs. See See also:

DIANA

Diana Fontaine Maury Corbin (his daughter), See also:

LIFE

Life of Matthew Fontaine Maury (London, 1888).

End of Article: MAURY, MATTHEW FONTAINE (1806-1873)

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