MARK MARMONTEL. 



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plainly intended for Cliristian converts from pagan- 

 ism. It is not certain, however, whether it was first 

 read at Rome or Alexandria, where he had estab- 

 lished churches, or at Antioch. He is distinguished 

 from the other evangelists by his brevity, passing 

 over much that relates to the character of Christ as 

 Messiah, which could be important only to Jewish 

 converts. The genuineness of his gospel has never 

 been questioned on any good grounds. 



MARK, or MARC, denotes a weight used in 

 several parts of Europe, and for several commodi- 

 ties, especially gold and silver. When gold and 

 silver are sold by the mark, it is divided into 24 

 carats. Mark is also, in England, a money of ac- 

 count, and in some other countries a coin. The 

 English mark is two thirds of a pound sterling, or 

 13*. 4rf., and the Scotch mark is of equal value in 

 Scotch money of account. For the mark-banco of 

 Hamburg, see Coins. 



MARK, LIBRARY OF ST. See Venice. 



MARK, ORDER OF ST ; a Venetian order, the origin 

 of which is not known. The doge, as well as the sen- 

 ate, elected knights of St Mark, who enjoyed a pension. 

 Foreigners, also, particularly scnblars, were elected. 



MARK, PLACE OF ST. See Venice. 



MARKLAND, JEREMIAH, an eminent critic, was 

 born in 1693, and received his education at Cam- 

 bridge. In 1717, he obtained a fellowship in that 

 university, which he held until his death in 1776. 

 H is time was devoted to his favourite studies, unin- 

 terrupted by any avocations but those of a college 

 and travelling tutor. His principal works are, an 

 edition of the Sylvan of Statius ; Notes on Maximus 

 Tyrius ; Remarks on the Epistles of Cicero to Bru- 

 tus, and of Brutus to Cicero ; with a Dissertation 

 upon four Orations ascribed to Cicero; an edition of 

 the Supplices Mulieres of Euripides ; to which was 

 annexed a tract De Greecorum quintd Declinatione, 

 and other philological works. 



MARLBOROUGH, DUKE OF. See Churchill. 



MARL. Compact limestone (q. v.), by increase 

 of argillaceous matter, passes into marl. Marl is 

 essentially composed of carbonate of lime and clay, 

 in various proportions. But some marls are more or 

 less indurated, while others are friable and earthy. 

 In some, the argillaceous ingredient is comparatively 

 small, while in others it abounds, and furnishes the 

 predominant characters. The calcareous and argil- 

 laceous marls unite by imperceptible degrees, and 

 the latter sometimes pass into clay. Marl frequently 

 contains sand and some other foreign ingredients. 

 Some divide marls into calcareous and argillaceous, 

 others into indurated and earthy. The hardness of 

 indurated marl is inconsiderable. In most cases, it 

 may be scratched by the finger nail, and may always 

 be easily cut by a knife. It has a dull aspect, like 

 chalk or clay, often with a few glimmering spots aris- 

 ing from sand or mica. Its fracture, usually earthy, 

 may also be splintery or conchoidal. It is opaque ; 

 its colour commonly gray, often shaded with yellow, 

 blue, brown, black, &c. It also presents shades of 

 green, and is sometimes reddish or yellowish- 

 brosvn. Specific gravity usually between 2'3 and 

 2'7. It occurs in masses either compact, or possess- 

 ing a slaty structure. All solid marls crumble by 

 exposure to the atmosphere, usually in the course of 

 a year, but sometimes a longer period is requisite. 

 The same changes generally take place in a very 

 short time, when the marl is immersed in water, 

 with which it forms a short paste. It crumbles 

 more easily, and forms a more tenacious paste in 

 proportion as it becomes more argillaceous. It is 

 always more or less easily fusible. All marls effer- 

 vesce with acids, sometimes very briskly, and some- 

 times feebly, according to their solidity and the pro- 



portion of carbonate of lime, which may vary from 

 25 to 80 per cent. ; indeed, in the argillaceous marls, 

 it is often much less. Earthy marl differs from the 

 preceding by being more or less friable, or even 

 loose ; but they gradually pass into each other. 

 Like the indurated marl, it may be either calcareous 

 or argillaceous. It sometimes greatly resembles clay, 

 but may be distinguished by its effervescence in acids. 

 Marl, like clay, belongs both to secondary and alluvial 

 earths, where it occurs in masses or in beds. Hence 

 it is found associated with compact limestone, chalk, 

 gypsum, or with sand or clay. It contains various 

 organic remains, as shells, fish, bones of birds and of 

 quadrupeds, and sometimes vegetables. The organic 

 remains are numerous and extremely interesting in 

 the marly strata examined by Cuvier and Brogniart 

 in the vicinity of Paris. Marl is found more or less 

 in most countries. Its most general use is as a 

 manure. The fertility of any soil depends in a great 

 degree on the suitable proportion of the earths which 

 it contains ; and whether a calcareous or an argilla- 

 ceous marl will be more suitable to a given soil, may 

 be determined with much probability by its tenacity 

 or looseness, moisture or dryness. To employ marls 

 judiciously, therefore, the farmer should be in some 

 degree acquainted with the chemical properties or 

 constituent parts of the marl itself, and with the 

 ingredients of the soil. He may, in general, deter 

 mine the existence of marl by its falling into powder, 

 when dried, after exposure to moist air. To ascer 

 tain the proportion of its ingredients, the calcareous 

 part may be extracted from a given weight of the 

 marl, by solution in acids, and the residue, being 

 dried and weighed, will give the quantity of clay 

 with sufficient accuracy. See Manures. 



MARLOWE, CHRISTOPHER ; an eminent English 

 poet and dramatist of the Elizabethan age, was edu- 

 cated at Cambridge, whence he proceeded M. A. in 

 1587. He afterwards settled in London, and became 

 an actor, as well as a writer for the stage. Besides 

 six tragedies of his own composition, and one written 

 in conjunction with Thomas Nashe, he left a transla- 

 tion of the Rape of Helen, by Coluthus ; some of 

 Ovid's Elegies; the first book of Lucan's Pharsalia : 

 and the Hero and Leander of Musseus, completed by 

 George Chapman. The exact time of his death is 

 not known ; but, according to Anthony Wood, it 

 took place previously to 1593, and was owing to a 

 wound received from the hand of a servant man, 

 whom he had attacked on suspicion of being rivalled 

 by him in the favours of a mistress. 



MARLY, MARLY-LE-ROI, or MARLY-LA- 

 MACHINE; a village of France, If league from 

 Versailles, on the edge of the forest of the same 

 name. It still contains some fine country seats ; but 

 the royal castle built by Louis XIV., and the beauti- 

 ful gardens attached to it, no longer exist, having 

 been destroyed during the revolution. It is now re- 

 markable only for its water-works for supplying 

 Versailles with water. The celebrated machine, 

 which conducted the water over the Seine, having 

 fallen to decay, its place is supplied by a forcing 

 pump, which raises the water 500 feet, and an aque- 

 duct of thirty-six arches. 



MARMONTEL, JOHN FRANCIS ; a distinguished 

 French writer, was born in 1723, at Bort, a small 

 town in the Limousin. He was the eldest son of a 

 large family, the offspring of parents in an humble 

 situation of life ; but his mother, a woman of sense 

 and attainments much superior to her rank, favoured 

 his ardour for mental cultivation ; and by her in- 

 fluence he was sent to the Jesuits' college of Mauriac. 

 At the age of fifteen, his father placed him with a 

 merchant at Clermont ; but having expressed his 

 dislike of this occupation, he was enabled to obtain 

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