MAIZE 



MAKAW 



says a chronicler, "the sun sank behind the 

 western front and twilight came on. Fireflies 

 were twinkling on the darkened meadow. They 

 pitched their tents, lighted their bivouac fires, 

 stationed their guards, and lay down to rest. 

 Such was the birthday of Montreal." Maison- 

 neuve was governor of the colony for the first 

 twenty-two years of its existence, and during 

 this period all his wisdom and ability were 

 needed to keep the colony from the control of 

 the Sulpicians; but he was finally removed by 

 De Tracy in 1665 because he insisted on main- 

 taining the practical independence of Montreal 

 from Quebec. The last decade of his life he 

 spent in obscurity in France. 



MAIZE, maze, one name applied to the 

 common corn, or Indian corn. See CORN. 



MAJESTY, maj' es ti, a term used to express 

 the royal power and dignity of an emperor, 

 king or queen, as the head of a nation. The 

 name is derived from the Latin word majestas, 

 meaning greatness or grandeur. In the Middle 

 Ages the title was conferred upon the successors 

 of the emperors of Rome. The term was sub- 

 sequently used in connection with kings, and 

 distinctions were made between imperial maj- 

 esty and royal, or kingly, majesty, which was 

 a step below that of an emperor. The fullest 

 form of the expression is "His Most Gracious 

 Majesty." The reigning king of any country 

 has the title of "His Majesty," it being abbre- 

 viated to H. M. The initials H. I. M. refer to 

 "His Imperial Majesty," the title of any reign- 

 ing emperor. 



MAJOLICA , ma jahl ' i ka, an earthenware of 

 beautiful luster, believed to have been named 

 after the island of Majorca, home of the Moor- 

 ish potters, from whom the ware had long been 

 imported into Italy. The term majolica was 

 first used in the middle of the sixteenth cen- 

 tury, when it was applied to many varieties of 

 glazed pottery, and to-day a large class of 

 wares is often called maj-olica which should be 

 properly termed faience. The earliest date 

 found on an Italian-lustered piece is of the year 

 1489. The only men acquainted with the use 

 of luster were Pesaro, Gubbio and Deruta, and 

 after a vogue of eighty years- it became a lost 

 art, about 1570. The craft has been revived 

 with varying success, but the new enamels 

 cannot compare in beauty with the old models. 

 The finest specimens of majolica were made in 

 Northeastern Italy; vases, pitchers, plates, bot- 

 tles and odd-shaped flasks were the most com- 

 monly-decorated objects, but tiles were some- 

 times made of majolica for floors and walls. 



MA'JOR, the Latin word for greater, is a 

 title of a military officer. In the army of the 

 United States a major is a commissioned offi- 

 cer ranking above a captain and below a lieu- 

 tenant-colonel. He is a battalion commander 

 under the orders of a regimental commander, 

 each regiment of infantry or cavalry 'having 

 three majors. As insignia of his office the 

 major wears a gold-embroidered leaf at each 

 end of his shoulder straps. An officer who per- 

 forms for a brigade the duties ordinarily dis- 

 charged by a major in a battalion is known as 

 a brigade major, and the officer ranking next 

 above a brigadier-general bears the title major- 

 general. This is the highest permanent grade 

 in the United States army. 



In the British and Canadian service major is 

 also the title of an officer ranking between a 

 captain and lieutenant-colonel. In the com- 

 mand of a cavalry regiment, infantry battalion 

 or artillery brigade the major is second in au- 

 thority to the lieutenant-colonel. Majors also 

 command squadrons of cavalry and batteries of 

 artillery. See RANK IN. ARMY AND NAVY. 



In the United States army the pay of a 

 major is at first $3,000 per year, but it in- 

 creases $25 per month after each five-year 

 period of service until the maximum pay of 

 $4,000 is reached. In Great Britain the pay is 

 $1,421; in France, $1,063; in Germany, $1,560; 

 in Russia, $398; in Japan, $774. 



MAJOR, a musical term, for explanation of 

 which see Music; SCALE. 



MAJORCA, majawr'ka, the largest of the 

 Balearic Islands, a group in the Mediterranean 

 Sea east of Spain, of which they are a posses- 

 sion. The famous majolica pottery takes its 

 name from the supposition that the first speci- 

 mens of the ware were made on the island of 

 Majorca. The island is 107 miles southeast of 

 the mouth of the Ebro, the nearest point on 

 the Spanish coast, and is 171 miles north of 

 Algiers. It is about sixty-four miles long, forty- 

 eight miles wide, and has an area of about 

 1,386 English square miles. The northwestern 

 part is mountainous; the southern half of the 

 island is broken up by hills, valleys and fertile 

 plains. The inhabitants resemble the Spaniards 

 in appearance and are industrious agriculturists. 

 The chief products of the island are fruits, 

 wines, marble, cereals, hemp, flax and silk. 

 The capital, Palma, is the principal town. 

 Population, 1910, 264,200. 



MAKAW, or MAKKAH, the only tribe of 

 North American Indians called Cape Indians, 

 although other tribes once lived on promon- 



