443 



MAG 



MAC'ULA (Lat.),aspot; hence maculated, 

 spotted; marked with small spots. Ma- 

 cula. 1. In nosology, a detached efflores- 

 cence of the skin, or discoloured patches. 



2. In astronomy, spots in the luminous 



faces of the sun and moon. 



MAD APPLE. The fruit of the Solatium 

 nelongena, of an oblong egg-shape. It is 

 boiled in soups and sauces in countries 

 where it grows, and is accounted very 

 nutritive. 



MAD'DER. The root of the Rubin tincto- 

 rwi, extensively used in dyeing red. The 

 colour which it imparts is less bright than 

 that from cochineal, but it has the advan- 

 tage of being cheaper and more durable. 

 The plant is a native of the south of Eu- 

 rope, Asia Minor, and India, but it is now 

 extensively cultivated in Holland, Alsace, 

 Provence, &c. 



MADON'NA, Ital. for my lady. An Italian 

 term applied to the Virgin Mary. Pictures 

 representing the Virgin are called Ma- 

 donnas. 



MAD'REPORES, from FT. madrt, spotted, 

 and pore, a small cavity. Stony polypi with 

 concentric laminae resembling stars. In a 

 Jiving state, the stony matter is covered 

 -with a skin of living gelatinous matter, 

 fringed with little bunches of tentacula; 

 these are the polypi. Madrepores are 

 sometimes united and sometimes de- 

 tached ; where the lamina? take a serpen- 

 tine direction, they are called meandrina 

 or brain-stones. 



MADREP'ORITE. A variety of limestone, 

 so called because it is composed of nume- 

 rous small prismatic concretions, resem- 

 bling the stars of madrepores. It con- 

 tains 13 silex, 10 alumina, and oxide of 

 iron, 16. 



MA'DRIER. 1. A flat beam of wood 

 placed at the bottom of a moat, to sup- 

 port a wall. 2. A thick plank used for 



the platform of batteries, and to support 

 the earth in the galleries and chambers 



of mines, &c. 3. A plank of wood, co- 



Tered with some incombustible material, 

 as a defence against fire. 



MAD'RIGAL. A sort of short amorous 

 poem, containing a certain number of free 

 unequal verses, not confined to the scru- 

 pulous exactness of a sonnet, or the sub- 

 tilty of the epigram, but containing some 

 delicate and simple thought, suitably ex- 

 pressed. The term is common to the 

 French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian 

 Languages, but its origin is not ascer- 

 tained 



MJENU'RA. The name given by Shaw to 

 a genus of passerine birds, placed by Cu- 

 vier among the Dentirostres. The M. 

 lyrn, distinguished by the great tall of the 

 male, inhabits the rocky districts of New 

 Holland. It is iomewhat less than a 

 pheasant. 



MAE'STO, ) An Italian word signifying 



MAESTO'SO. j majestic, and used in music 

 as a direction to play the part with fone 

 and grandeur. 



MAES'TRICHT BEDS. In geology, the 

 name given to the uppermost member of 

 the cretaceous group, from Maestricht, a 

 town of the Netherlands. These beds are 

 marine and calcareous, with masses of 

 chert and calcedony, with ammonites 

 and other allied shells. 



MAG'AZIN*, from Arab, grazana, to store. 

 A store of :*rms, ammunition, provisions, 

 &c., also the building or place so appro- 

 priated. 2. A periodical publication, 



containing miscellaneous papers or com- 

 positions, the first of which in England 

 was the Gentleman's Magazine, com- 

 menced in 1731, under the name of Sylva- 

 nus Urban, by Edward Cave. It still 

 exists. 



MAGET/LANIC CLOUDS. In astronomy, 

 three permanent whitish appearances, 

 like clouds, seen among the southern con- 

 stellations, and having the same apparent 

 motion as the stars, first described by 

 Maselhaens, the circumnavigator. 



MAGGIO'RE. An Italian epithet used in 

 music, and signifying greater. 



MA'GI, ( \Visemenorphilosophersof 



MA'GIANS. ) the East, whose skill was 

 magic. The magi of Persia and neigh- 

 bouring countries maintained the exist- 

 ence of a good and evil principle, abomi- 

 nated the adoration of images, worshipped 

 God only by fire, which they looked upon 

 as the sole appropriate symbol of deity. 

 This was the religion which Zoroaster 

 reformed. The magicians were the de- 

 positories of all the learning of their age, 

 and were hence able to produce effects" so 

 astonishing to the ignorant as to be 

 thought supernatural. Hence magic 

 came, in process of time, to signify skill 

 acquired by intercourse with demons, 

 and astrology (in its later sense), enchant- 

 ments, and witchcraft, sprung up as 

 branches of this fanciful science. Now, 

 magic and jugglery mean the same thing, 

 and instead of being the most accom- 

 plished intellects of the age, magi are the 

 most contemptible and opprobrious mem- 

 bers of the quack tribe. The sect of magi 

 still exists in Persia under the name of 

 gaurs. 



MA'GIC. Originally signified a knowledge 

 of the more sublime parts of philosophy, 

 but latterly a diabolical kind of science, 

 acquired by the assistance of the devil 

 and departed souls. See MAGI. 



MA'GIC SQUARE. A square divided into 

 cells, in which the natural numbers, from 

 1 to the proposed square, are so posited 

 that the sum of each row, whether taken 

 horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, is 

 equal to a given number. Thus the lam 

 in the following square is 175. 



