MAKGAKATES. 



MARK, ST., THE CfOSPEL OF. 



Th* solutions of potash and soda decompose it, when concentrated 

 and bailing, ammonia being expelled and ioap formed. Acids act upon 

 it only when somewhat oonoentrated, and more readily when hot than 

 eoM. lu formula u C,. H u NO,. It U equivalent to margarate of 

 ammonia low 1 equivalent of water ; but as margaric acid is probably 

 a mixture of palmitic and stearic acids, the existence of this body as 

 an individual compound must be regarded u more than problematical. 

 [MARGARIC- ACID.] 



MAROARATES. [MAROARIC ACID.] 



MAKOARIC ACID (C^H U O,, HO), a fatty acid, so called by 

 Chevreul. who discovered it, from " margarites " (fafyaflnit), a peon, 

 on account of iU peculiar lustre. It is prepared from soap made with 

 olive-oil and potash ; this is to be perfectly dried, and then macerated 

 for twenty-four hours in twice its weight of cold alcohol. The olratc 

 ofpotatk, which the soap also contains, is dissolved by- the alcohol, while 

 the margarate of potash remains unacted upon; this U to be well 

 washed with cold alcohol, and then dissolved in 200 parts of boiling 

 alcohol : on cooling, the margarate of potash crystallises ; and as it 

 contains a little oleate, it is tr. be crystallised a second time : it is then 

 to be decomposed, and the margaric acid precipitated by the addition 

 of hydrochloric acid. 



The properties of this acid are, that on cooling, after fusion, it 

 crystallises in pearly needles ; it is insoluble in water, and hence its 

 precipitation from its compounds and solution by the stronger acids. 

 It has an acid reaction ; and its salts, except those of the alkalies, are 

 very sparingly soluble in water. Its saline compounds are termed 



The recent researches of Heintz seem to show that this acid is 

 nothing more than a mixture of palmitic and stearic acids. [PALMITIC 

 ACID ; STEARIC ACID.] 



MARGARIN (C 10 ,H 10 ,O,,), Trimaryarin, Margarate of Glycerin. A 

 peculiar fatty matter contained in vegetable oils, and also in animal 

 fats, as mutton-suet, goose-grease, human-fat, and hog's-lard : when 

 these have been treated with ether, for the purpose of obtaining stearin 

 from them, the ethereal liquors, by spontaneous evaporation, deposit a 

 portion of the solid matter which they contain, and this is to be col- 

 lected on a linen cloth, strongly pressed, and then exposed for a long 

 time to the heat of a salt-water bath. This substance is very soluble 

 in cold ether, which distinguishes it from stearin. It consists of mar- 

 garic acid united with glycerin. 



M A 'If ; A I >X. a solid white fatty matter which crystallises in pearly 

 scales, and is obtained by distilling margaric or stearic acid with excess 

 of lime. It fuses at about 170 Fahr., is volatile, soluble in fifty times 

 its weight of hot alcohol, and five times its weight of boiling ether. 

 Exposed to the action of heat in close vessels it distils almost un- 

 changed : it burns in the air with a brilliant flame. Nitric acid acts 

 but slightly upon it ; sulphuric acid chars it, and sulphurous acid is 

 given out. The alkalies do not act upon margaron. 



This substance U composed of Hydrogen, 13-42; Carbon, 83-37; 

 Oxygen, S-21. 



MARINE ACID. [CHLORINE; HYDROCHLORIC ACID.] 



MARINE CI.I'E. [GKI.ATINK.] 



MARINE INSURANCE. [IXSI-RANCE, MAHIKK.] 



MARINER'S COMPASS. [COMPASS.] 



MARINER'S CONTRACT. [Burrs.] 



MARINES, men embodied to serve as soldiers on board of ships of 

 war in naval engagements ; and on shore, in the event of a descent 

 being made upon an enemy's coast In the British service, they also 

 ssist occasionally in performing some of the operations connected with 

 the working of the ship; they cannot however be sent aloft at the 

 command of a naval officer. 



Originally in this country, as well as in France, the national fleets 

 were composed of merchants' ships, which were armed on occasion for 

 war; and then there were no soldiers particularly destined for the 

 naval service. The first troops of this kind in France were men skilled 

 in the practice of the useful trades, who, when unemployed by the 

 government, lived on shore on half-pay ; receiving only the full pay 

 when called upon to serve at sea. This regulation did not however 

 long subsist; and, subsequently to the administration of Cardinal 

 Richelieu, companies of marine soldiers have been constantly retained 

 on full pay. 



It is not precisely known at what period distinct corps were 

 appointed in Britain to this branch of the public service. In 1684 

 mention is made of the duke of York's maritime regiment of foot ; 

 and in the reign of William III. several regiments were placed on 

 the establishment of the navy, but these were subsequently dis- 

 banded. At that time the marine soldiers seem to have been retained 

 as persons in training to become good seamen ; and, in Burchet's 

 Naval History, 1 quoted by Grow. ('Mil Antiq./ vol. i.), it is said 

 tht they were discharged from the regiment* and entered on the 

 ship's books as foremast-men is soon as they became qualified to serve 

 as such. 



In the beginning of Queen Anne's reign (1702), six regiments of 

 maritime soldiers were raised ; and among tho regulations concerning 

 their service it is stated that they were to be quartered, when on shore, 

 near the principal seaport*. Whether at sea or on shore, they were to 

 be paid at the same rate as the land force*, and the same deductions 

 were to be made for clothing. At sea they were to be allowed pro- 



visions equal in every respect to the shares of the seamen, without 

 suffering any diminution of pay on that account 



In 1749, the then existing regiment* of marine soldiers, ten in 

 number, were disbanded ; and six years afterwards, on the recom- 

 mendation of Lord Anson, there were raised 130 companies, consisting 

 in all of above 5000 men, who were put under the immediate command 

 of the lords of the admiralty, and whose head-quarters were appointed 

 to be at Plymouth, Portsmouth, and Chatham. The corps of marines, 

 as it was then called, has subsequently been considerably increased ; 

 in 1759 it numbered 18,000 men ; and during the war at the beginning 

 of this century, its strength amounted to about 20,000 men. An 

 additional division was, by an order of council in 1805, established at 

 Woolwich ; and there were two companies of marine artillery, whose 

 head-quarters were at Portsmouth. At present there are four divisions 

 of royal marine light infantry, and one division of royal marine 

 artillery, the head-quarters of the latter being at Portsmouth. The 

 total strength is 17,459 non-commissioned officers and privates, 435 

 commissioned officers, and 106 staff officers. 



The marines are now clothed and armed in the same manner as the 

 infantry of the line, and, like all the other royal regiments, their scarlet 

 uniform has blue facings. The marine artillery are dressed in blue 

 with white facings. In an engagement at sea, they annoy the enemy 

 by a fire of musketry from the tops and deck ; and they repel with 

 the bayonet any attempt to board the ship. The gallant joUict, as the 

 marines are familiarly called, have often distinguished themselves when 

 acting on shore ; and their meritorious services at the taking of Belle- 

 isle (1761), in the battle of Bunker's Hill (1775), in the defence of 

 Acre (1799). and under Lord John Hay, on the coast of Spain, have 

 earned for them a lasting reputation. 



The corps is commanded by a deputy adjutant-general, who is 

 assisted by an assistant adjutant-general, and is under the admiralty. 

 There ore also five colonels-commandant of divisions, besides five 

 colonels second commandants. No commissions in the corps are ob- 

 tained by purchase ; and the officers of marines rise in it by seniority, 

 as high only however as the rank of colonels-commandant. 



MARIOTTE, LAW OF, also known as Doyle' t lair, refers to the 

 law of elasticity in gases, and may be thus expressed : " The volume 

 of an aeriform body is inrtncly, and its elasticity directly, as the pressure 

 to which it is exposed." Hence, by doubling the pressure, we halve 

 the volume ; by trebling it, it becomes reduced to one-third ; but by 

 doubling the pressure we double the elasticity, by trebling the pressure 

 we increase it three-fold, and so on. For those gases which have not 

 been liquefied, or liquefied only under enormous pressures, the expe- 

 rimental results are nearly in strict accordance with the law, even 

 under a pressure of several atmospheres. Such, however, is not the 

 cose for gases which readily liquefy. The nearer they approach the 

 point of liquefaction the greater is the difference between the observed 

 volume and the calculated result The contraction is found to be more 

 considerable than it should be if the law were strictly true. [Ant ; 

 ELASTICITY.] 



MARITIME LAW. [ADMIRALTY COURTS ; SHIPS.] 



MARK, ST., THE GOSPEL OF. The genuineness and authen- 

 ticity of this Gospel ore attested by the unanimous voice of ecclesiastical 

 writers. Michoelis has indeed objected to its canonical authority, in 

 common with that of Luke, but on no good ground. According to 

 Papias, Irenteus, and other early writers, Mark committed to writing 

 the gospel which was preached by Peter ; and Clement of Alexandria 

 states that he did so at the request of Peter's hearers at Rome. Other 

 early writers add that in this work Mark had the approbation and 

 assistance of Peter; and many passages of the gospel have been 

 thought to bear traces of being written under Peter's direction. 

 From the tradition mentioned above, and from Latinisms and expla- 

 nations of Jewish phrases and customs contained in Mark's gospel, 

 it appears to have been written at Rome for the benefit of the Latin 

 Christians. 



The time when it was written is uncertain. Irenams says that it 

 was composed fitrA TJI rovruf (Peter and Paul) tfotor; but whether 

 he means after the death of Peter and Paul, or after thrir departure 

 from Rome, is a question much disputed. Upon the whole, the most 

 probable date appears to be about A.D. 64 or 66. There is little doubt 

 that it was written after the Gospel of St. Matthew, and probably 

 before the destruction of Jerusalem. 



According to the unanimous testimony of the early cccleniantical 

 authors, the gospel of Mark was written in Greek. The Latin MS. at 

 Venice, said to be part of 8t Mark's autograph, has long since been 

 proved to be nothing of the kind. 



The opinion that Mark's gospel is an abridgment of Matthew's has 

 been satisfactorily refuted by Michaelis; for notwithstanding the 

 coincidences between these two gospels, we find, on comparing them, 

 that there are in Mark omissions of and discrepancies with what is 

 contained in Matthew, which it is difficult to account for on the 

 supposition that he wrote with the gospel of Matthew before him. 

 The true mode of explaining these coincidences and discrepancies 

 belongs to the more general question respecting the origin of the first 

 three gospels. Those who believe that each evangelist composed his 

 narrative from independent sources of information have no difficulty 

 in proving Mark's qualifications for the task ; for besides the assistance 

 which be probably received from Peter, what we know of his life 



