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MACHINE.

mediately observed in those simple machines called the MECHANICAL POWERS.

The whole work done by a machine is distinguished into useful work and wasteful work, according as it is done in overcoming useful and wasteful resistance. For example, in a pumping engine, the work done in raising the water is useful, and that done in overcoming friction wasteful. The ratio of the useful work to the whole work is called the efficiency of the machine, and is always a fraction less than unity.

MACHINE, ELECTRICAL. See ELECTRICITY. MACHINE-HEAD, a contrivance for assisting the tuning of the contrabasso (double bass), guitar, &c. The ordinary violin-pegs are discarded in favour of a metal frame containing as many rack-and-pinion arrangements as there are strings to be tuned. The greater leverage and security give the requisite ease and stability to the tuning. MACHINES, CALCULATING. See CALCULATING MACHINES.

MACHINES, SIMPLE, another name for MECHANICAL POWERS.

MACINTOSH CLOTH (so called from the inventor) is a singular but very useful manufacture, consisting of two layers of fine cotton, cemented with a solution of caoutchouc in coal naphtha, or liquid india-rubber, and so completely conjoined as to appear one material. The cotton pieces, thus coated with the liquid, are passed between two smooth wooden rollers, and so thoroughly pressed as to be made to unite permanently and durably. Cloth thus prepared, when perfectly dried, may be cut and made into garments which will bear the roughest wear, and be impervious to the most soaking rains. For travelling overcoats they are of great service.

MACKINTOSH, SIR JAMES, historian, statesman, critic, and philosopher, was born at Aldourie, on the banks of Loch Ness, 24th October, 1765. He received his education at the universities of Aberdeen and Edinburgh, came to London, and was called to the bar in 1795. In 1804 he went to India as recorder of Bombay. He returned to England in 1812; in 1818 he was appointed to the professorship of law and general politics in the college instituted for the education of the civil servants of the East India Company at Haileybury. In 1830, when the Whigs came into office, Sir James was appointed a commissioner for the affairs of India. He died 30th May, 1832.

Sir James' principal works are his "Vindicia Gallicæ;" his "History of England" (which he left unfinished at his death); his "Dissertation on the Progress of Ethical Philosophy," prefixed to the Encyclopædia Britannica in 1830 and in subsequent editions; and his "Life of Sir Thomas More." As a philosopher Mackintosh does not show much originality. He adopts the doctrines of the Scottish school, with certain additions as to ethical theory from Hartley. His chief difference from the latter is his claim of the will as a necessary condition preceding moral sentiments, so that the conscience of each man results from his individual training in society. He admits that the tendency to happiness is the mainspring of the excellence of virtue; but he declines to take resultant happiness as a criterion of virtue, as do the utilitarians.

MACKEN ZIE, the name of a large river in British North America, rising in the Great Slave Lake, and running in a north-westerly direction, enters the Atlantic by several mouths, about 68° 50 N. lat. Forts Simpson, Norman, and Good Hope are on its banks. The Mackenzie is estimated to be 870 miles long, though from the source of the Slave River, the principal feeder of the Slave Lake, to the ocean is over 1770 miles. An extensive deposit of lignite accompanies its course and its estuary westward. It takes its name from its discoverer, Alexander Mackenzie, by whom it was first navigated in 1789. Its navigation is closed by ice from October to June.

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MACLEOD.

MACKEREL (Scomber) is a genus of fishes belonging to the order Acanthopterygii, and forming the type of the family Scombrida. In the genus Scomber the body is covered with small smooth scales; the dorsal fins are widely separated; the hinder part of the second dorsal, as well as of the anal fin, is divided into numerous small spurious fins or finlets, which extend along the hinder part of the body, above and beneath, almost to the tail; the sides of the tail are keeled, and the body is elongated and tapering at both extremities. There are a row of small conical teeth in each jaw.

The Common Mackerel (Scomber scomber) is one of the best known and most useful of the fishes caught off English coasts. The mackerel is found on all the European coasts, and is probably identical with the common North American species. It swims through the ocean in vast shoals, coming into shallow water to spawn. The spawning time in the South of England is about June. The mackerel is usually about 14 or 15 inches in length and 2 lbs. in weight, but a length of 20 inches is sometimes attained. The mackerel, as is well known, is beautifully marked; the back is fine green varied with blue, and marked with about thirty broad, undulating, descending bands of a blackish colour; the sides and belly are silvery, varied with golden tints. The mackerel is extremely voracious and feeds on the fry of other fishes. As an article of food it is much esteemed. The flesh, however, soon becomes unfit for food, if not eaten quite fresh; and accordingly we find that mackerel were first allowed to be cried through the streets of London on Sundays in 1698. Mackerel are caught in various ways, either by the driftnet or by the seine. [See FISHERIES.] They may siso be taken with the hook.

The Spanish Mackerel (Scomber colias) occurs in the Mediterranean and occasionally on the Cornish coast. It is about the same size as the common species, but differs in the longer snout, larger eye and gape, and longer head. The back is marked more obscurely and with fewer stripes, and the sides and belly are thickly covered with small dusky spots. This species also differs from the common mackerel in the possession of an air-bladder. It is inferior for the table. Several other species of mackerel are found in temperate and tropical seas.

In the Plate prefixed to this volume the Comma Mackerel (Scomber scomber, fig. 1) is figured together with some nearly allied fishes. The Sucking-fish or Remora (Echeneis remora, fig. 2) is a remarkable form belonging to the Scombrida, which also contains the turny, bonito, and pilot-fish. The John Dory (Zeus faber, fiz, 3) belongs to the family Cyttide, which for some forms a subfamily of Scombrida. The fish figured in fig. 4 belongs to the genus Brama, one of the Coryphaenidae, which is also sometimes ranked as a subfamily of Scombrida.

MACLEOD, NORMAN, D.D., one of the chief ecclesiastics of the Church of Scotland in modern times, was born at Campbeltown, 3rd June, 1812. His early youth was passed partly in that Highland parish which he afterwards made famous by his lively sketches of his grandfather's manse, partly at the universities of Glasgow and Edinbur and afterwards of Germany. In 1838 he was ordained minister of Loudon, in Ayrshire, whence he was translated to Dalkeith. There he resided till 1851, when he was presented to the Barony parish in Glasgow, of which the con gregation originally worshipped in the crypt of the cathedral, as described in "Rob Roy," and in later times in the large but ungainly church in its neighbourhood. Here the remainder of his life was passed, engaged in the la crious duties of pastoral ministrations and literary work in 1860 he became editor of Good Words, which under his management obtained an unprecedentedly large circulation. He also edited "The Home Preacher, or Church in the House," a collection of religious services for family use,

MACLES.

which has also had a very wide circulation. In 1858 he was appointed one of her Majesty's chaplains, and was beid in the highest personal esteem both by the queen and Le other members of the royal family. In 1867 he todertook an arduous journey to India to examine into the state of the Scottish missions in that country. It was this journey which gave the first shock to his great natural strength, but he still maintained with undaunted spirit his incessant labours. In the General Assembly, in 72, held only a very short time before his death, he overed what seemed to those who heard it the finest of a Lis speeches. It was on the occasion-forced upon iim by his failing health-of giving up the charge of thase Indian missions in which he had taken so deep an zirtest. The effort was too much for him, and he died 16th June, 1872.

For thirty years prior to his death no other man in Notland had, in all spiritual ministrations, so nearly filled the place of Chalmers; no other man occupied so high and mportant a position in guiding the ecclesiastical movements As country since the death of Robertson-it might almost be said since the death of Carstairs. Everywhere, *ther in private or public life, he produced the same rad, vast, heart-stirring impression, as of one who not y had within him an inexhaustible fund of pathos, of vit, of tears, and of laughter, but who feared not, nay, bed to pour it forth for the enjoyment and instrucse of his fellow-men. But with his effusive tenderness were combined a force and a shrewdness characteristic of Ls sept and nation. ("Memoir of Norman Macleod, D.D., ter of Barony Church, Glasgow;" by his brother, the Rev. Donald Macleod, B.A.: London, 1876.)

MA CLES (Gr. maché, a contest), in mineralogy, are crystals which have undergone hemitropism, the two Eaves bearing a reversed position to each other. Interestexamples of this combination are found in the arrowfrms of gypsum, and in the Carlsbad type of twin* of orthoclase. Macle is also an alternative name for CRASTOLITE; in this case the name is derived from Lat. ara, a spot.

MACLISE, DANIEL (1811-70), an artist of great station in his own time, was of Irish birth. His strong it was design, especially of decorative historical subjects; =ther feeling and in colour, and in poetical insight, he asually strangely imperfect. Yet his "Hamlet" Vittal Gallery), his "Meeting of Wellington and "r" and "Death of Nelson" (frescos of the Houses iment) are noble works. As might be expected, fase's works are eminently suitable as subjects for ring. The three named are among the most popular ful of the better engravings of our time. MCLURE, SIR ROBERT JOHN LE MESCRIER, the discoverer of the North-west Passage, was Wexford, Ireland, 28th January, 1807. He served the Arctic expedition of 1836, on the Canadian lakes, #1 on the American and West Indian coasts till 1846, Tally rose to the rank of first-lieutenant (1838), joined

Ross in the search for Sir John Franklin (1848), mes is return was made commander. In 1850 he was *ated to the Investigator, and again despatched in Franklin. The expedition, entering Behring at reached 117° 10′ W. lon., and 73° 10' N. lat., 30 from Melville Strait (16th September, 1851), but Tabere fixed in the ice. A sledge party sighted the -west Passage on the 22nd October. After a vain *t to press forward, the Investigator sailed round th end of Banks' Land for 30 miles, and was again by ice. In an inlet which they called Mercy Bay, party were imprisoned till April, 1854, when they were

by Captain Kellett, who conveyed them to England. He was made post-captain, and received a knighthood, ve the officers and crew were rewarded by a grant of

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£10,000. Subsequently M'Clure served in the East Indies and China, and died at Portsmouth, 18th October, 1873. MACON (the Matisco of Julius Cæsar), the capital of the French department of Saône-et-Loire, is situated on the right bank of the Saône, 40 miles north from Lyons, on the Paris-Lyons Railway, and had 17,444 inhabitants in 1881. The town stands on the slope and at the foot of a hill above the Saône, along the bank of which is a noble quay, from which the distant Alps may be seen. The chief public buildings are the cathedral, old episcopal palace, hôtel de ville; national college, and normal school; the town-hall, which contains a theatre and public library; the general hospital, on the parade; the Church of St. Vincent; and the prison. Among the Roman antiquities are a triumphal arch and the ruins of a temple of Janus. The inhabitants carry on a considerable trade in the wines of the district, corn, cattle, &c. There are manufactures of blankets, leather, earthenware, watches, and jewelry. It was the birthplace of Lamartine.

MACPHER ́SON, JAMES, celebrated for having given to the world the "Ossianic" poems, was born at Ruthven, Inverness, in 1738. He studied at King's College, Aberdeen, and afterwards became parish schoolmaster at Ruthven. In 1758 he published an indifferent poem, entitled the "Highlanders," followed by two others, "Death" and the "Hunter," neither of which possessed any real poetic merit. In 1759 he became tutor to Mr. Graham, the younger, of Balgowan, afterwards Lord Lynedoch, and in the summer of that year, while visiting Moffat with his pupil, he met John Home, the author of "Douglas," to whom he exhibited some "translations" from ancient poems in the Gaelic language. These made a great impression upon Home, who submitted them to the judgment of the literary circles of Edinburgh, and in 1760 they were published under the title of "Fragments of Ancient Poetry collected in the Highlands of Scotland, translated into English," an anonymous preface being contributed by Dr. Blair. These were so much relished in Edinburgh that the Faculty of Advocates raised a subscription to enable Macpherson to make a tour in the Highlands for the purpose of collecting some more of these Celtic remains. During this tour he found, according to his own account, an abundance of Ossianic poetry, not only on the lips and in the memories of the people, but also preserved in ancient MSS.; and in 1762 he published "Fingal," an epic poem in six books, and in 1763 "Temora," an epic poem in eight books, professing to be translations from the Gaelic of Ossian-a Celtic Homer of the fourth century. A storm of controversy soon arose concerning the genuineness of these poems, Dr. Johnson being one of the foremost of those who declared the poems to be forgeries and the composition of Macpherson himself. It is probable that he found in oral tradition the basis of the poems he produced, but in the form in which he presented them they were unquestionably spurious, since the interpolated matter manifestly outweighed and falsified the genuine fragments.

These publications, however, served greatly to advance his own fortune, for in 1764 he was appointed surveyorgeneral of the Floridas with a salary for life, and in 1779 he became agent to the Nabob of Arcot. He represented Camelford in the House of Commons from 1780 to 1790, and then retired to an estate which he had purchased in his native country. He died on his estate 17th February, 1796, and his body was, in accordance with his own directions, and at the expense of his estate, interred in Westminster Abbey.

MACQUARIE, a river of New South Wales, called by the natives Wambool, is formed by the junction of the Fish and Campbell rivers, in the counties of Bathurst and Westmoreland, and flows N.W. to 30° 45′ S. lat., 145° 20′ E. lon., where it loses itself in the Macquarie marshes, from whence issue tributaries of the river Darling. In some

MACRAUCHENIA.

places it is deep, broad, and navigable, in others rapid and obstructed by falls; its total course is about 230 miles. MACRAUCHE'NIA is a genus of fossil ungulate animals referable to the order Perissodactyla, and nearly allied to the existing horse and rhinoceros. This genus is founded on remains discovered in Pliocene or Pleistocene deposits in South America. Macrauchenia was probably as large as a rhinoceros. The feet have three toes. The general form of the skull resembles that of the horse. The dentition is expressed by the formula:

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The incisors, as in the Equidæ, have a deep pit in the crown, and the molars resemble in character partly those of the rhinoceros, and partly those of the horse. The vertebræ of the long neck are very similar to those of the Camelidæ, and especially of the llamas; as in these, they have no canal for the vertebral artery in their transverse processes.

MACREADY, WILLIAM CHARLES, actor and manager, was born in London on 3rd March, 1793. He was intended by his father, a provincial manager, for one of the learned professions, and was educated at Rugby. As in the case of Fanny Kemble, filial duty led Macready to go upon the stage in the hope of diminishing a father's pecuniary embarrassments. His first appearance was as Romeo at the Birmingham theatre in the June of 1810. Successful at the outset, after a provincial career of six years, he appeared for the first time before a metropolitan audience at Covent Garden, on the 16th of September, 1816, as Orestes in the "Distressed Mother." After eleven more years of labour he had come to be considered the first English tragedian of his age, uniting the fire of the elder Kean to the dignity and good taste of John Kemble, with a refined scholarship especially his own. In October, 1837, he became lessee of Covent Garden, and added to his own noble personations a splendour and accuracy in the mise-en-scène till then unknown on the British stage. It was to aid Macready's efforts for the elevation of theatrical entertainments that his friend, Lord Lytton, wrote for him at this period "Richelieu" and the "Lady of Lyons;" and as the great French cardinal of the former drama, he achieved one of his most striking histrionic triumphs. His enterprise was not financially successful. At the close of the second season he retired from it, and a testimonial was presented to him in recognition of his efforts. In a similar spirit, and with a similar result, he undertook in 1842 the management of Drury Lane for two seasons. On 26th February, 1851, he took leave of the stage; and the farewell banquet afterwards given to him exhibited the high regard felt for the actor, the manager, and the man. In 1849 he published an edition of the poetical works of Pope, originally prepared and privately printed for the use of his own children, to whom it is inscribed. After his retirement from public life Macready took up his residence first at Sherborne, in Dorsetshire, and subsequently at Cheltenham, where he died, 27th April, 1873. ("Macready's Reminiscences, and Selections from his Diaries and Letters," London, 1875.) MACRI'NUS (M. Opilius Severus Macrinus), Roman Emperor from 217 to 218, succeeded Caracalla, whom he murdered. He was in his turn murdered by the rebel Elagabalus, after a reign of but fourteen months.

MACROBIOTUS. See WATER-BEAR, MACROB ́IUS (Ambrosius Aurelius Theodosius Macrobius), author of critical and literary works in Latin, under Honorius and Theodosius, was probably by origin a Greek, as his name (doubtless Makrobios) would imply. His best work is a series of dialogues on the Platonic model, called "Saturnalia." It is in this work that the touching episode of Laberius and Cæsar is recounted, referred to in the

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article LATIN LITERATURE. The best editions are thos of Gronovius (Louvain, 1670) and Zeunius (Leipzig, 1774% MACROU'RA or MACRU'RA, the scientific name for that section of decapod crustaceans which have the abdomen, usually called the tail, long, in contradistinction to that section (Brachyura) which have the tail short. Lobsters, crayfishes, shrimps, and prawns belong to this section.

MAC'TRA is a genus of molluscs belonging to the siphoniate division of the class LAMELLIBRANCHIATA, forming the type of the family Mactridæ, or kneadingtrough shells. The Mactride are found in all seas, thoug they occur in greatest abundance in those of the tropics, to a depth of above 30 fathoms. The species of the genus Mactra inhabit sandy coasts, burrowing just beneath the surface, and even leaping like the cockles. They form the food of starfishes and whelks, and in the Isle of Arra are collected to feed pigs. The animal has its maste partially open, the siphons united and their orifices fringe, and the foot large, tongue-shaped, and heeled. The st is somewhat triangular and the valves are equal. Of the genus Mactra 125 species have been described, world-wid in their distribution. The fossil species are few, dating from the Lias.

M'CUL'LOCH, JOHN RAMSAY, an eminent po cal economist and statistician, was born 1st March, 1779, 4 Whithorn, in Wigtownshire. In 1817 he became a costr butor to the Scotsman, and during 1818 and 1819 acted as editor. From the knowledge of political economy displayed in his writings in this newspaper, and his contributions to the Edinburgh Review, he was twice selected to deve the Ricardo lectures in London, and in 1828 be was pointed professor of political economy in the University London. In 1838 he received the appointment of troller of the stationery office, a position which he retard until his death, 11th November, 1864. Although he was not an original thinker on political economy, he render good service in the work of diffusing just ideas concer many of the questions which agitated the public He was a voluminous writer, his most important w being the "Dictionary of Commerce" (1834); the "St tical Account of the British Empire" (1837); and "Literature of Political Economy" (1845), a very us contribution to the bibliography and biography of favourite science. His editions of Smith and Ricard also of high value.

MAD PARLIAMENT, THE, a nickname giver the king's party to the Parliament which met at Os under Henry III., in 1258, and passed the antig "Provisions of Oxford," inaugurating a committee form, and insisting upon a return to the strict observa of MAGNA CARTA. On appeal of both parties to St. L of France (Louis IX.) this committee was, however. banded.

MADAGASCAR (called by the natives Madon a large island in the Indian Sea, about 240 miles fr coast of Mozambique, on the eastern shores of Afri tends from 12° to 25° 35′ S. lat., and between 45 51' E. lon. Its length is 1030 miles; its greatest ho 350 miles. The area is estimated at about 25 square miles, and the population at 2,500,000. Malagasy are unquestionably a Malay people, fo Malay customs, some of them possessing Malay st hair and features, and all of them speaking a Malay to They are divided into numerous tribes, the chief of are the Hovas, the ruling class; the Betsimisarakas, Li Sakalavas. It is generally believed that there has be infusion of African blood, more especially among the alava on the north-west coast. Among the inhabitant is almost every shade of colour, from a very light darker than may be seen in Southern Europe, dow. very dark tint. Long, black, and straight hair is c

MADAGASCAR.

with the lighter coloured tribes, while the darker ones have, as a rule, shorter and more frizzly hair, "although it is rely, if ever, of the true negro woolly or tufted kind of bad cover." In the contours of the face and head there is the same variety, for we meet European types side by sace with the high cheek-bones of the Malays, and occasonally even true negro features. The curious tribe of the Kalio or Béhòsy, who live in the woods of the Bémaras, a week's journey to the west of the capital, are said to resemble the Sakalava, jump from tree to tree like monkeys pursued, are exceedingly timid, and even to have del of fright when captured.

The principal physical feature of Madagascar is the great elevated plateau, which averages between 4000 and 5000 bet above the sea-level. It commences in the northern part of the island, and extends throughout nearly the whole th, but sinks into extensive plains on the south and west. Along the east coast a long chain of lagoons stretches several hundred miles. They are formed by the sandlars thrown up by the turf driven by the trade winds, ☛ a block the outlets of the rivers. They might easily be made available for transit in that region. The waters, bowever, abound in crocodiles, and from the ground around tes the deadly miasmata which give rise to the Magasy fever. From the undulating tract inside the ne border, the country ascends by successive terraces, frunts of which form three mountain walls, each suptag a terrace behind it. These are more continuous, **ter marked throughout, and more difficult of ascent on the east than on the west side. On surmounting the third trace on the east side, the central plateau is reached at tade of 4500 feet. This is named Imerina; it is miles long and 90 broad, and has a central tract of 1.70 square miles, richly cultivated, where is the seat of capital. On the north the plain is bounded by mounA on the south it opens out into the plain of Betsileo ce, where it is 35 to 40 miles wide between the briering ranges of hills. Here, in 22° S. lat., a lofty crosses from east to west, connecting the two boundges. Beyond this is another plain, with fine borderidges east and west, and south of this, as also northis of the central plain, the country falls away south urth in successive terraces, the lowest being about fet in elevation and 48 miles wide. From the central there is a rise of 1500 feet to the base of the mountains, greatest altitude is from 8000 to 8950 feet. The #est group is that of Ankarat, about 20 miles south-west capital, Antanarivo; and these are all volcanic, Rover an area of 600 square miles. Another volcanic is seen at their east base, but no craters. The coasta the cast is comparatively smooth, having only one terable bay, Antongill, towards the north. The west s much more irregular and broken, and has many - the harbours, and islands. Owing to the nature of the sa try the rivers have very rapid courses, broken by falls; is most of them enter the sea directly without the mention of bays or gulfs, there are generally bars at b mouths, and hence they are of little use for naviga

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iera of Madagascar is distinguished by the beauty * trees and the strangeness of the plants. Except in were desolate volcanic region the ground is one mass *oare; bushes and reeds spring out of the tufts of 2. cocoa-nut palms rise to a great height, and the -tains, bathed in blue vapour, combine to make a beanpicture. Lemon trees, peculiar to the island, offer a the shadow from the heat; the Indian acacia showers - fusion of its yellow blossoms; the beautiful lochnera, to the periwinkle, throws out its loug stems, termitz in a mass of rose-coloured flowers; and the Palma displays its large leaves-sometimes green and sometes purple. Near the rivers the eye is enchanted by the

MADAGASCAR.

splendid foliage of the ravenala, which sometimes grows to a height of 30 feet, while at the top of the strong stem a gigantic fan spreads out of from fifteen to twenty-five enormous bright leaves. In the larger forests the superb trees, unknown out of Madagascar, towering above all the vegetation around, are the chrysopias. The top is spread out like a parasol, and the branches terminate in bunches of flowers, formed of five petals of dazzling purple, contrasting strikingly with the foliage. Many parts of the island are admirably adapted for the cultivation of sugar and all kinds of tropical fruits, but rice and coffee are the only two articles yet grown to any extent. Among the minerals are iron, tin, silver, copper, plumbago, and potter's clay.

The only indigenous animals of Madagascar are various species of the lemur tribe; the aye-aye, which lives on the larvæ hidden in the trunks of trees, and which is supposed to be a link between the squirrel and the monkey; a species of hedgehog, the wild cat, and ichneumon. Cattle and sheep have been introduced with great success, and goats and wild pigs are also common. The birds of the island are numerous, and of brilliant and varied plumage. Lizards and crocodiles are the chief reptiles. All the serpents are inoffensive. The Epyornis maximus must have existed in the island at a comparatively recent date, as many of its eggs-which are six times larger than those of the ostrich have been discovered.

The climate of Madagascar is unfavourable to Europeans, but is not so hot as might be expected from its geographical position. The elevated range in the interior, and the wind constantly blowing from the sea, render the heat supportable. Missionary enterprise was formerly often checked by violent means, but Christianity has now almost entirely displaced idolatry, and Christian churches abound.

Madagascar was formerly divided into twenty-eight states, governed by chiefs; but in the present century most of them were subjected to the sway of the Hovas by King Radáma, who died in 1828. This extraordinary man, who in energy of character resembled Peter the Great, introduced into his country the arts and civilization of Europe. He received and protected the missionaries, and promoted the establishment of schools, the number of which at the time of his death had increased to more than 100, in which nearly 5000 children were instructed. Several young people were sent to the Mauritius, and even to England, to receive instruction. European mechanics were also well received and employed by Radáma. He was succeeded by his queen, who governed on entirely opposite principles-interdicting all trade with foreigners, and persecuting her Christian subjects in a most fearful manner. At the coronation of Ranavatona II., however, in 1868, all the symbols of idolatry were excluded and the Bible was placed conspicuously at her right hand. In the following year she was baptized, and all the idols of the nation were by her command committed to the flames. This was followed by the destruction of nearly all the village and private idols.

The capital of the island, Antanarivo, is situated nearly in the centre. The chief port is Tamatave, on the east coast, and much of the trade is carried on through Mauritius.

The government is an absolute monarchy, modified and tempered by customs and usages having the force of law; and during the last quarter of a century the power of the sovereign has been gradually limited and controlled. The sovereign is advised by the prime minister, who is the real source of all political power; he is assisted by a number of ministers, who act as heads of departments-education, justice, the interior, foreign affairs, &c. These swear fidelity to the prime minister as well as to the sovereign. The succession to the crown is hereditary in the royal house, but not necessarily in direct succession; the reigning sovereign may designate his successor. At various periods, 1820, 1861, 1865, and 1868, treaties were concluded with

MADAGASCAR.

Great Britain, the United States, and France. Under one of these, said to have been made in 1841 with a Sakalava chief, France claims a protective right over the north of the island from 16° S. lat., which she endeavoured to assert by force in 1883, until which time the French practically acknowledged the Hovas as dominant over the whole island. The dispute still remains unsettled, and the story of the French interference, as calmly and impartially narrated in Mr. Shaw's interesting book, "Madagascar and France" (London, 1885), is not a pleasant one. Aggression without colonization is a fair description of French policy, while the dignity and forbearance of the Malagasy in time of exasperation and peril are such as to command warmest admiration, and might well be emulated by some western nations further advanced in the path of civilization. The reign of the present queen has altogether been one to reflect credit upon any sovereign, while in private life she has shown herself to be generous, humane, sympathetic, and religious without cant. Ever since the accession of her predecessor, great strides have been made in social, political, and religious progress, in the arts of civilization, and in education; and among the most powerful agents for good have been the London Missionary Society, the

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Friends' Foreign Missionary Association, the Norwegian Missionary Society, and the French Jesuit Mission.

("The Great African Island: Chapters on Madagascar," by the Rev. James Sibree, jun., F.R.G.S., London, 1880; "Madagascar: Its History and People," by the Rev. Henry W. Little, London, 1885; "Madagascar and France, with some account of the Island, its People, its Resources, and Development," by George A. Shaw, F.Z.S., London, 1885.) MAD DER is the name given to a red dye-stuff, as well as to the plant (Rubia tinctorum) which produces it. There is an allied species, Rubia peregrina, which is native in England and Ireland, and there are several native species of the allied genus Galium, popularly known as "cleavers," "lady's bed-straw," &c. All these plants belong to that section of the order RUBIACEE the species of which have the leaves in whorls. The colouring matter is contained in the root, which is perennial, and composed of many long succulent fibres, about a quarter of an inch in thickness. The plants are propagated by the numerous shoots.

Madder is indigenous in the south-east of Europe and temperate Western Asia. Pliny mentions that it was cultivated in his time in Italy. It was grown for the sake of the dye in France in the middle ages, according to

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De Candolle, but the culture fell into disuse, until its revival in the eighteenth century. It is again decreasing, on account of the discovery of a mode of artificially preparing the colouring matter, which is called alizarin. Gerard in his "Herball," in 1597, mentions the medicinal virtues which madder was supposed to possess, though at the present day it is no longer considered effective. Physiologists make use of the fact that the bones of young animals fed on madder become tinted with a red colour, in order to investigate the growth of bone. This property is probably due to the chemical affinity of phosphate of lime for the colouring matter. The stem and leaves are clothed

with stiff hairs, which render them serviceable in polishing metal work.

MADEIRA, an island situated in the Atlantic Ocean, between 32° 30' and 32° 53' N. lat., and 16° 40' and 17° 20' W. lon., and nearly 400 miles from the north-western coast of Africa. It is 31 miles long and 12 broad. The area is 370 square miles, and the population 125,000. The island may be almost said to be one vast mass of basaltic lava, trachyte, ashes, tufa, scoriæ, and pumice, with bombs and lapilli. It rises with a rather steep ascent from the south and from the north towards the interior, where Pico Ruivo, the highest summit, attains to 6100 feet above the

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