Part 4
The first of the American species brought to Europe (in 1688 by John Banister) was _M. glauca_, a beautiful evergreen species about 15 ft. high with obtuse leathery leaves, blue-green above, silvery underneath, and globular flowers varying from creamy white to pale yellow with age. It is found in low situations near the sea from Massachusetts to Louisiana--more especially in New Jersey and the Carolinas. _M. acuminata_, the so-called "cucumber tree," from the resemblance of the young fruits to small cucumbers, ranges from Pennsylvania to Carolina. The wood is yellow, and used for bowls; the flowers, 3 to 4 in. across, are glaucous green tinted with yellow. It was introduced into England from Virginia about 1736. _M. tripetala_ (or _M. umbrella_), is known as the "umbrella tree" from the arrangement of the leaves at the ends of the branches resembling somewhat that of the ribs of an umbrella. The flowers, 5 to 8 in. across, are white and have a strong but not disagreeable scent. It was brought to England in 1752. _M. Fraseri_ (or _M. auriculata_), discovered by John Bartram in 1773, is a native of the western parts of the Carolinas and Georgia, extending southward to western Florida and southern Alabama. It grows 30 to 50 ft. high, has leaves a foot or more long, heart-shaped and bluntly auricled at the base, and fragrant pale yellowish-white flowers, 3 to 4 in. across. The most beautiful species of North America is _M. grandiflora_, the "laurel magnolia," a native of the south-eastern States, and introduced into England in 1734. It grows a straight trunk, 2 ft. in diameter and upwards of 70 ft. high, bearing a profusion of large, powerfully lemon-scented creamy-white flowers. It is an evergreen tree, easily recognized by its glossy green oval oblong leaves with a rusty-brown under surface. In England it is customary to train it against a wall in the colder parts, but it does well as a bush tree; and the original species is surpassed by the Exmouth varieties, which originated as seedlings at Exeter from the tree first raised in England by Sir John Colliton, and which flower much more freely than the parent plant. Other fine magnolias now to be met with in gardens are _M. cordata_, a North American deciduous tree 40 to 50 ft. high, with heart-shaped leaves, woolly beneath, and yellow flowers lined with purple; _M. hypoleuca_, a fine Japanese tree 60 ft. high or more, with leaves a foot or more long, 6 to 7 in. broad, the under surface covered with hairs; _M. macrophylla_, a handsome deciduous North American tree, with smooth whitish bark, and very large beautiful green leaves, 1 to 3 ft. long, 8 to 10 in. broad, oblong-obovate and heart-shaped at the base; the open sweet-scented bell-shaped flowers 8 to 10 in. across, are white with a purple blotch at the base of the petals; _M. stellata_ or _Halleana_, a charming deciduous Japanese shrub remarkable for producing its pure white starry flowers as early as February and March on the leafless stems; and _M. Watsoni_, another fine deciduous Japanese bush or small tree with very fragrant pure white flowers 5 to 6 in. across.
[Illustration: _Magnolia grandiflora_, shoot with flower; rather less than ½ nat. size.
1. Flower after removal of the sepals and petals, showing the indefinite stamens, s, and carpels, c.
2. Fruit--the ripe carpels are splitting, exposing the seeds, some of which are suspended by the long funicle.
3. Floral diagram, b, bract.]
The tulip tree, _Liriodendron tulipifera_, a native of North America, frequently cultivated in England, is also a member of the same family. It reaches a height of over 100 ft. in a native condition, and as much as 60 to 80 ft. in England. It resembles the plane tree somewhat in appearance, but is readily recognized by lobed leaves having the apical lobe truncated, and by its soft green and yellow tulip-like flowers--which however are rarely borne on trees under twenty years of age.
For a description of the principal species of magnolia under cultivation see J. Weathers, _Practical Guide to Garden Plants_, pp. 174 seq., and for a detailed account of the American species see C. S. Sargent, _Silva of North America_, vol. i.
MAGNUS, HEINRICH GUSTAV (1802-1870), German chemist and physicist, was born at Berlin on the 2nd of May 1802. His father was a wealthy merchant; and of his five brothers one, Eduard (1799-1872), became a celebrated painter. After studying at Berlin, he went to Stockholm to work under Berzelius, and later to Paris, where he studied for a while under Gay-Lussac and Thénard. In 1831 he returned to Berlin as lecturer on technology and physics at the university. As a teacher his success was rapid and extraordinary. His lucid style and the perfection of his experimental demonstrations drew to his lectures a crowd of enthusiastic scholars, on whom he impressed the importance of applied science by conducting them round the factories and workshops of the city; and he further found time to hold weekly "colloquies" on physical questions at his house with a small circle of young students. From 1827 to 1833 he was occupied mainly with chemical researches, which resulted in the discovery of the first of the platino-ammonium compounds ("Magnus's green salt" is PtCl2, 2NH3), of sulphovinic, ethionic and isethionic acids and their salts, and, in conjunction with C. F. Ammermüller, of periodic acid. Among other subjects at which he subsequently worked were the absorption of gases in blood (1837-1845), the expansion of gases by heat (1841-1844), the vapour pressures of water and various solutions (1844-1854), thermo-electricity (1851), electrolysis (1856), induction of currents (1858-1861), conduction of heat in gases (1860), and polarization of heat (1866-1868). From 1861 onwards he devoted much attention to the question of diathermancy in gases and vapours, especially to the behaviour in this respect of dry and moist air, and to the thermal effects produced by the condensation of moisture on solid surfaces.
In 1834 Magnus was elected extraordinary, and in 1845 ordinary professor at Berlin. He was three times elected dean of the faculty, in 1847, 1858 and 1863; and in 1861, rector magnificus. His great reputation led to his being entrusted by the government with several missions; in 1865 he represented Prussia in the conference called at Frankfort to introduce a uniform metric system of weights and measures into Germany. For forty-five years his labour was incessant; his first memoir was published in 1825 when he was yet a student; his last appeared shortly after his death on the 4th of April 1870. He married in 1840 Bertha Humblot, of a French Huguenot family settled in Berlin, by whom he left a son and two daughters.
See _Allgemeine deutsche Biog._ The Royal Society's _Catalogue_ enumerates 84 papers by Magnus, most of which originally appeared in _Poggendorff's Annalen_.
MAGNY, CLAUDE DRIGON, MARQUIS DE (1797-1879), French heraldic writer, was born in Paris. After being employed for some time in the postal service, he devoted himself to the study of heraldry and genealogy, his work in this direction being rewarded by Pope Gregory XVI. with a marquisate. He founded a French college of heraldry, and wrote several works on heraldry and genealogy, of which the most important were _Archives nobiliaires universelles_ (1843) and _Livre d'or de la noblesse de France_ (1844-1852). His two sons, Edouard Drigon and Achille Ludovice Drigon, respectively comte and vicomte de Magny, also wrote several works on heraldry.
MAGO, the name of several Carthaginians, (1) The reputed founder of the military power of Carthage, fl. 550-500 B.C. (Justin xviii. 7, xix. i). (2) The youngest of the three sons of Hamilcar Barca. He accompanied Hannibal into Italy, and held important commands in the great victories of the first three years. After the battle of Cannae (216 B.C.) he sailed to Carthage to report the successes gained. He was about to return to Italy with strong reinforcements for Hannibal, when the government ordered him to go to the aid of his other brother, Hasdrubal, who was hard pressed in Spain. He carried on the war there with varying success in concert with the two Hasdrubals until, in 209, his brother marched into Italy to help Hannibal. Mago remained in Spain with Hasdrubal, the son of Gisco. In 207 he was defeated by M. Junius Silanus, and in 206 the combined forces of Mago and Hasdrubal were scattered by Scipio Africanus in the decisive battle of Silpia. Mago maintained himself for some time in Gades, but afterwards received orders to carry the war into Liguria. He wintered in the Balearic Isles, where the harbour Portus Magonis (Port Mahon) still bears his name. Early in 204 he landed in Liguria, where he maintained a desultory warfare till in 203 he was defeated in Cisalpine Gaul by the Roman forces. Shortly afterwards he was ordered to return to Carthage, but on the voyage home he died of wounds received in battle.
See Polybius iii.; Livy xxi.-xxiii.; xxviii., chs. 23-37; xxix., xxx.; Appian, _Hispanica_, 25-37; T. Friedrich, _Biographie des Barkiden Mago_; H. Lehmann, _Der Angriff der drei Barkiden auf Italien_ (Leipzig, 1905); and further J. P. Mahaffy, in _Hermathena_, vii. 29-36 (1890).
(3) The name of Mago is also attached to a great work on agriculture which was brought to Rome and translated by order of the senate after the destruction of Carthage. The book was regarded as a standard authority, and is often referred to by later writers.
See Pliny, _Nat. Hist_, xviii. 5; Columella, i. 1; Cicero, _De oratore_, i. 58.
MAGPIE, or simply PIE (Fr. _pie_), the prefix being the abbreviated form of a human name (Margaret[1]), a bird once common throughout Great Britain, though now nearly everywhere scarce. Its pilfering habits have led to this result, yet the injuries it causes are exaggerated by common report; and in many countries of Europe it is still the tolerated or even the cherished neighbour of every farmer, as it formerly was in England if not in Scotland also. It did not exist in Ireland in 1617, when Fynes Morison wrote his _Itinerary_, but it had appeared there within a hundred years later, when Swift mentions its occurrences in his _Journal to Stella_, 9th July 1711. It is now common enough in that country, and there is a widespread but unfounded belief that it was introduced by the English out of spite. It is a species that when not molested is extending its range, as J. Wolley ascertained in Lapland, where within the last century it has been gradually pushing its way along the coast and into the interior from one fishing-station or settler's house to the next, as the country has been peopled.
Since the persecution to which the pie has been subjected in Great Britain, its habits have altered greatly. It is no longer the merry, saucy hanger-on of the homestead, but is become the suspicious thief, shunning the gaze of man, and knowing that danger may lurk in every bush. Hence opportunities of observing it fall to the lot of few, and most persons know it only as a curtailed captive in a wicker cage, where its vivacity and natural beauty are lessened or wholly lost. At large few European birds possess greater beauty, the pure white of its scapulars and inner web of the flight-feathers contrasting vividly with the deep glossy black on the rest of its body and wings, while its long tail is lustrous with green, bronze, and purple reflections. The pie's nest is a wonderfully ingenious structure, placed either in high trees or low bushes, and so massively built that it will stand for years. Its foundation consists of stout sticks, turf and clay, wrought into a deep, hollow cup, plastered with earth, and lined with fibres; but around this is erected a firmly interwoven, basket-like outwork of thorny sticks, forming a dome over the nest, and leaving but a single hole in the side for entrance and exit, so that the whole structure is rendered almost impregnable. Herein are laid from six to nine eggs, of a pale bluish-green freckled with brown and blotched with ash-colour. Superstition as to the appearance of the pie still survives even among many educated persons, and there are several versions of a rhyming adage as to the various turns of luck which its presenting itself, either alone or in company with others, is supposed to betoken, though all agree that the sight of a single pie presages sorrow.
The pie belongs to the same family of birds as the crow, and is the _Corvus pica_ of Linnaeus, the _Pica caudata_, _P. melanoleuca_, or _P. rustica_ of modern ornithologists, who have recognized it as forming a distinct genus, but the number of species thereto belonging has been a fruitful source of discussion. Examples from the south of Spain differ slightly from those inhabiting the rest of Europe, and in some points more resemble the _P. mauritanica_ of north-western Africa; but that species has a patch of bare skin of a fine blue colour behind the eye, and much shorter wings. No fewer than five species have been discriminated from various parts of Asia, extending to Japan; but only one of them, the _P. leucoptera_ of Turkestan and Tibet, has of late been admitted as valid. In the west of North America, and in some of its islands, a pie is found which extends to the upper valleys of the Missouri and the Yellowstone, and has long been thought entitled to specific distinction as _P. hudsonia_; but its claim thereto is now disallowed by some of the best ornithologists of the United States, and it can hardly be deemed even a geographical variety of the Old-World form. In California, however, there is a permanent race if not a good species, _P. nuttalli_, easily distinguishable by its yellow bill and the bare yellow skin round its eyes; on two occasions in the year 1867 a bird apparently similar was observed in Great Britain (_Zoologist_, ser. 2, pp. 706, 1016). (A. N.)
FOOTNOTE:
[1] "Magot" and "Madge," with the same origin, are names, frequently given in England to the pie; while in France it is commonly known as _Margot_, if not termed, as it is in some districts, _Jaquette_.
MAGWE, a district in the Minbu division of Upper Burma. Area, 2913 sq. m.; pop. (1901), 246,708, showing an increase of 12.38% in the decade. Magwe may be divided into two portions: the low, flat country in the Taungdwingyi subdivision, and the undulating high ground extending over the rest of the district. In Taungdwingyi the soil is rich, loamy, and extremely fertile. The plain is about 45 m. from north to south. At its southern extremity it is about 30 m. wide, and lessens in width to the north till it ends in a point at Natmauk. On the east are the Pegu Yomas, which at some points reach a height of 1500 ft. A number of streams run westwards to the Irrawaddy, of which the Yin and the Pin, which form the northern boundary, are the chief. The only perennial stream is the Yanpè. Rice is the staple product, and considerable quantities are exported. Sesamum of very high quality, maize, and millet are also cultivated, as well as cotton in patches here and there over the whole district.
In this district are included the well-known Yenangyaung petroleum wells. The state wells have been leased to the Burma Oil Company. The amount of oil-bearing lands is estimated at 80 sq. m. and the portion not leased to the company has been demarcated into blocks of 1 sq. m. and offered on lease. The remaining land belongs to hereditary Burmese owners called _twinsa_, who dig wells and extract their oil by the rope and pulley system as they have always done. Lacquered wood trays, bowls and platters, and cart-wheels, are the only manufactures of any note in the district.
The annual rainfall averages about 27 inches. The maximum temperature rises to a little over 100° in the hot season, and falls to an average minimum of 53° and 54° in the cold season.
The town of Magwe is the headquarters of the district; pop. (1901), 6232. It is diagonally opposite Minbu, the headquarters of the division, on the right bank of the Irrawaddy.
MAGYARS, the name of the dominant race in Hungary, or Hungarians proper. Though they have become physically assimilated to the western peoples, they belong in origin and language to the Finno-Ugrian (q.v.) division of the Ural-Altaic race. They form barely half of the population of Hungary, but are by far the largest and most compact of all its racial groups. Magyar is the official language of Hungary, the official name of which (_Magyarorzág_, or "country of the Magyars") enshrines the Magyar claim to predominance. While all Magyars are properly Hungarians, all Hungarians are not necessarily Magyars. "Hungarian" may be used as a generic term covering all the various races of Hungary, while "Magyar" is strictly specific to a single group. The Magyars themselves, indeed, sometimes apply the name _Magyarorzág_ to Hungary "proper," excluding Croatia-Slavonia, the whole kingdom being called _Magyarbirodalom_, the Magyar monarchy or realm. See HUNGARY.
MAHABALESHWAR, or MALCOLMPETH, a hill station in Satara district, and the principal sanatorium in the Bombay presidency, India. Pop. (1901), 5299. It is reached by carriage from Wathar railway station (39 m.) or by motor car from Poona (119 m.). Mahabaleshwar occupies the summit of a ridge of the Western Ghats, with a general elevation of 4500 ft. above sea-level. It was established in 1828 by Sir John Malcolm, governor of Bombay, who obtained the site from the raja of Satara in exchange for another patch of territory. The superior elevation of Mahabaleshwar renders it much cooler than Matheran (2460 ft.), a sanatorium about 50 m. E. of Bombay, but its heavy rainfall (292 in. annual average) makes it almost uninhabitable during the rainy season. The mean annual temperature is 67° F. In the hottest season (March-April) an extreme of a little over 90° is reached during the day. Mahabaleshwar forms the retreat usually during spring, and occasionally in autumn, of the governor of Bombay, and the chief officers of his establishment, and has the usual public buildings of a first-class sanatorium.
MAHAFFY, JOHN PENTLAND (1839- ), Irish classical scholar, was born in Switzerland on the 12th of July 1839. He received his early education in Switzerland and Germany, and later at Trinity College, Dublin, where he held the professorship of ancient history. Mahaffy, a man of great versatility, published numerous works, some of which, especially those dealing with what may be called the Silver age of Greece, became standard authorities. The following deserve mention: _History of Classical Greek Literature_ (4th ed., 1903 seq.); _Social Life in Greece from Homer to Menander_ (4th ed., 1903); _The Silver Age of the Greek World_ (1906); _The Empire of the Ptolemies_ (1896); _Greek Life and Thought from Alexander to the Roman Conquest_ (2nd ed., 1896); _The Greek World under Roman Sway from Polybius to Plutarch_ (1890). His translation of Kuno Fischer's _Commentary on Kant_ (1866) and his own exhaustive analysis, with elucidations, of Kant's critical philosophy are of great value. He also edited the Petrie papyri in the _Cunningham Memoirs_ (3 vols. 1891-1905).
MAHALLAT, a province of central Persia, situated between Kashan and Irak. Pop. about 20,000; yearly revenue about £2500. Until 1890 it was one of the five "central provinces" (the other four being Irak, Ferahan, Kezzaz, and Savah), which were under a governor appointed by the shah; since then it has formed part of the Isfahan government. It is traversed by the Anarbar or Kum River, and comprises the city of Mahallat, divided into upper and lower, or Rivkan and Zanjirvan, and twenty-two flourishing villages. It was known in former times as Anar, the Anarus of Peutinger's tables. The city, capital of the province, is situated at an elevation of 5850 ft. in 33° 51´ N., 50° 30´ E.; pop. about 9000.
MAHAN, ALFRED THAYER (1840- ), American naval officer and historian, was born on the 27th of September 1840 at West Point, New York. His father, Dennis Hart Mahan (1802-1871) was a professor in the military academy, and the author of textbooks on civil and military engineering. The son graduated at the naval academy in 1859, became lieutenant in 1861, served on the "Congress," and on the "Pocahontas," "Seminole," and "James Adger" during the Civil War, and was instructor at the naval academy for a year. In 1865 he was made lieut.-commander, commander in 1872, captain in 1885. Meanwhile he saw service in the Gulf of Mexico, the South Atlantic, the Pacific, and Asia, and did shore duty at Boston, New York and Annapolis. In 1886-89 he was president of the naval war college at Newport, Rhode Island. Between 1889 and 1892 he was engaged in special service for the bureau of navigation, and in 1893 was made commander of the "Chicago," of the European squadron. In 1896 he retired from active service, but was a member of the naval board of strategy during the war between the United States and Spain. He was a member of the peace congress at the Hague in 1899. This long and varied service gave him extensive opportunities for observation, which he supplemented by constant study of naval authorities and reflection on the interpretation of the problems of maritime history. His first book was a modest and compact story of the affairs in _The Gulf and Inland Waters_ (1883), in a series of volumes by various writers, entitled _The Navy in the Civil War_; in 1890 he suddenly acquired fame by the appearance of his masterly work entitled _The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660-1783_. Having been impressed by the failure of historians to allow for the influence of sea power in struggles between nations, he was led to make prolonged investigations of this general theme (see SEA POWER). The reception accorded the volume was instant and hearty; in England, in particular, it was deemed almost an epoch-making work, and was studied by naval specialists, cabinet ministers and journalists, as well as by a large part of the general public. It was followed by _The Influence of Sea Power upon the French Revolution and Empire_ (2 vols. 1892); _The Life of Nelson, the Embodiment of the Sea Power of Great Britain_ (1897); and _Sea Power in its Relations to the War of 1812_ (1905). The author's general aim in these works--some of which have been translated into French, German and Japanese--was to make the consideration of maritime matters paramount to that of military, political or economic movements, without, however, as he himself says "divorcing them from their surroundings of cause and effect in general history, but seeking to show how they modified the latter, and were modified by them." He selected the year 1660 as the beginning of his narrative, as being the date when the "sailing-ship era, with its distinctive features, had fairly begun." The series as a whole has been accepted as finally authoritative, supplanting its predecessors of similar aim, and almost--in the words of Theodore Roosevelt--founding a new school of naval historical writing.
Other works by Mahan are a _Life of Admiral Farragut_ (1892); _The Interest of America in Sea Power_ (1897); _Lessons of the War with Spain_ (1899); _The Story of the War with South Africa_ and _The Problem of Asia_ (1900); _Types of Naval Officers drawn from the History of the British Navy_ (1901); _Retrospect and Prospect_, studies of international relations (1902).