MAG 



MAG 



The magic square of squares, invented by 

 Dr. Franklin, is an extension of the above, 

 and the magic circle of circles is founded on 

 the same principle^ The latter consists 

 of eight concentric circles, with eight 

 radii, in the circumferences of which all 

 the natural numbers, from 12 to 75, are 

 so posited, that the sum of the numbers 

 in each circumference, together with the 

 central number 12, is equal to 360 ; and 

 the numbers in each radius, including 

 always the central number, is also equal 

 to 360. 



MA'OIC Lix'TERN. An optical machine, 

 whereby little painted images are repre- 

 sented so much magnified as to be re- 

 garded as magical by those unacquainted 

 with optical science. It consists of a com- 

 mon lantern, with a lamp and reflector in 

 it ; opposite the lamp and reflector are 

 two lenses, fitted into a tube : one lens 

 throws the light upon the object, and the 

 outer one magnifies the image which is 

 received upon a transparent screen. 



MAGI'LP. A gelatinous substance used 

 by painters for conveying thin colours, 

 consisting of a mixture of linseed oil and 

 inastic varnish. 



MA'GILUS. A genus of molluscs : order 

 Tubulibranchiata. The shell is spiral at 

 first, and then extends itself in a tube 

 more or less straight. The animal is not 

 known. 



MAGISTEH, the Latin word for master: 

 used in law to denote a person who has 

 attained to a degree in science. Doctors 

 were formerly called magistri. A Magister 

 Equitum was an officer among the Ro- 

 mans, subordinate to the Dictator. 



MA'GISTEHY, Lat. magisteriiim. The 

 term used by old chemists to denote what 

 is now called a precipitate. 2. Used 

 also to denote a peculiar and secret me- 

 thod of making some chemical prepara- 

 tion, as it were by a masterly process. 



MAG'MA, from fjutanrea, to blend. 1. A 

 thick ointment. 2. The faeces of any- 

 thing when the thinner parts are poured 

 off. ni <Z. A confection. 4. A uy crude 



mixture of mineral or organic matters in 

 a thin pasty state. 



MAG'NA. CHAK'TA. The Great Charter 

 of Liberties, obtained by the English 

 Barons from King John in 1215. It has 

 been rectified by various subsequent kings. 



MAGNAN'IEU. The name given, in the 

 Southern Departments of France to the 

 proprietor or manager of a nursery in 

 which silk- worms are reared upon ;i srcat 

 scale. The term is formed from magnans, 

 a vernacular name for silk-worms. 



MAG'NATES. In Hungary, the title of the 

 noble estate in the national representation. 



MAGNE'SIA. A country in Lydia. TheoW 

 chemists gave this name to such substances 

 as they conceived to have the power of at- 

 tracting something from the air. or which 

 became heavier by exposure to the air ; but 

 in the language of modern chemistry, the 

 name is restricted to one of the primitive 

 earths, proved by Sir H. Davy to be an 

 oxide of magnesium. It is a fine white 

 powder, without taste or smell, very 

 slightly soluble in water. It changes the 

 purple infusion of red cabbage to a bright 

 green. It is readily obtained, by pre- 

 cipitation with soda or potash, from its 

 sulphate (Epsom salts), but is usually pro- 

 cured by calcining the artificial or natural 

 carbonate. It is rarely found native. 



MAGNE'SIAN LIME'STONE. A mineral 

 which crystallises in the rhombohedral 

 system. It consists of 1 prime equivalent 

 of carbonate of lime = 50, associated with 

 1 of carbonate of magnesia = 42. The 

 massive magnesian limestone is a marine 

 deposit, found in England in vast masses. 

 It is an excellent building stone, but is 

 not reckoned good as a manure, except 

 for some particular soils. It belongs tr. 

 the new red sandstone group. It u 

 usually of a yellow or yellowish brown 

 colour, and is distinctly stratified. 



MAGNE'SIUM. The metallic basis of mag- 

 nesia. This earth consists of 61'21 mag- 

 nesium and 38'79 oxygen. 



MAG'XET. The native magnet, or load- 

 stone, is a mineral consisting of protoxide 

 and peroxide of iron in equivalent pro- 

 portions. It possesses the peculiar pro- 

 perty of attracting metallic iron ; of as- 

 suming a determinate position with regard 

 to the axis of the earth, when freely sus- 

 pended ; and of communicating these 

 properties to iron by contact. A. bar or 

 steel to which these properties have been 

 communicated is a permanent artificial 

 magnet; the position which it assume*- 

 with regard to the axis of the earth, when 

 suspended freely, is the magnetic meridian , 

 and an apparatus fitted at all times to 

 show this meridian constitutes a compass, 

 the principal part of which is the magnetic 

 needle. The term magnet is said to be 

 derived from M7rs, Maj^rrr?, the 

 name of a Greek shepherd, who first ob- 



