MAURY, Matthew Fontaine, American naval officer and hydrographer: b. in Spottsyl vania County, Va., 14 Jan. 1806; d. Lexington. Va., 1 Feb. 1873. He studied at the Harpeth Academy in Tennessee, and entered the United States navy in 1825. During a voyage around the world in the Vincennes he began a treatise on navigation, long used as a textbook in the navy. He was made lieutenant in 1836. Ir 1839, when he was lamed by an accident, le quitted active sea-service for scientific work a' the Naval Observatory. His powers of applica tion were combined with rare gifts of imagina tion, and an elevated style. His 'Physical Geography of the Sea and Its Meteorology' (1855) has been considered a book of fascinat ing interest. In 1844 he published his views on the Gulf Stream, ocean currents and great circle sailing. His 'Wind and Current Charts' have been of immense benefit to navigation. In
1853 he reached the rank of commander, and in that year projected the maritime conference at Brussels, and also published