MAC 



MAC 



the form of a Roman province. The other three, viz. the 

 Afiatic, Syrian, and Egyptian kingdoms, flouriflied for a 

 confiderable time under their own kings, but were at laft 

 compelled to receive the Roman yoke. 



Macedonia?; PaiyJcy, in Gardening. See Bubon. 



Macedonian Tear. See Year. 



MACEDONIANS, in Ecrkfnjical Hiflory, the fol- 

 lowers of Macedonius, bilhop of Conltantinople, who, through 

 the influence of the E'.inomians, was depofed by the council 

 of Conllantinople in 360, and fent into exile. He confi- 

 dered the Holy Ghoib as a divine energy diffufed -throughout 

 the univerfe, and not as a perfan diltin.ft from the Father 

 and the Son. The feft of Macedonians was crudicd before 

 it had arrived at its full maturity, by the council af- 

 femblcd by Theodolius in jSi, at Conftantinoplc. See 

 Semi-auians. 



MACEIRA, or MiDJ.VHi!, in G;-;gro.phy, an idand in 

 the Arabian fea, near the coatt, about JO miles long, and 

 from three to eight broad. It is barren and uninhabited, and 

 on the N.W. coaft are dangerous (lioals, extending 90 miles 

 along the fhorc, and far into the fea, io that the land cannot 

 be feen till the unflvilful pilot touches the rocks. N. lat. 26' 

 48'. E. long. 57^ 3 J'. 



Maceira, Lhik, an ifland in the Arabian fea, i6 miles 

 lontj and three broid ; 10 miles W. of Maceira. 



M.A.CER, ./E.Mii.iLK. in Biography, a Roman poet, who 

 flourifhed in the age and reign of Augullus, and is men- 

 tioned as a writer in natural hiftery. His works are referred 

 to by Ovid, particularly a poem on the events of the Trojan 

 war, after the period at which Homer concludes. A poem, 

 *' De Herbarnm Virtutibus,'' extant under the name of 

 Jilacer, is now given up as fuppufititious. 



Mac-eu, in GiOgraphy, a river of Africa, in the country 

 of Tripoli, which runs mto the Mediterranean. 



Macer, in the Materia Mcdka. The Grecian niacer is 

 brought from Barbary ; and the part in ufe is the thick yel- 

 low bark, which has a very allringeut talle, and is faid by 

 Diofcorides to be good againft fpitting of blood, the dy- 

 feiitery, and fluxes. See Sim.\rouba. 



MACE RATA, in Geography, a town of Naples, in Lavo- 

 ra, about three miles from Capua. — Aifo, a town in the mar- 

 quifate of Ancona, on the Chienta, the fee of a birtiop, fuffra- 

 gan of Fermo; containing feveral churches, 13 convents, an 

 univerfity, two academies, and about lOjOO inhabitants ; 20 

 miles S. of Ancona. N. lat. 43 i j'. E. long. 13- 31'. — 

 Alfo, a town in the duchy of Urbino ; 10 miles N.W. of 

 Urbino. N. lat. 43 "' 48'. E. long. 12 3^'. 



MACERATION, in Pharmacy, the' operation of dif- 

 folvintr a folid body bj means of w-at^r, or fome other 

 liquor. 



■ In this fenfe, the word amounts to much the fame with 

 liquefaction, or liquation. 



Maceration is alfo ufed for the infufing of a body in any 

 meniiruous fluid, or in order to a folution of its principles, 

 whether with or without lire. 



In which fenfe maceration amounts to much the fame with 

 digeftion. 



Others reftrain maceration to that particular kind of di- 

 geftion which is performed in thiek fubllances, as when 

 having mixed rofes with fat to make unguent, rofatum, 

 tlie mixture is expofed for fome days to the fun, that the 

 virtue of the rofes may be the better communicated to the 

 fat. 



MACHA Mona, a kind of African calaballi. " It is the 

 fruit of a very large tree which grows in Africa, ar.d the 

 American illands. Wh.n this fruit is ripe, the pulp has a 



fourifii tafte, with a little aftringency : it is delicious in hot 

 countries ; and they prepare a liquor of it, which they ufe 

 inftead of lemonade, to cool and refrefh themfclves, and give it 

 to lick perfons under a loofenefs. The pulp, dried, taltes as 

 well as the fpiced bread of Rheims. The fiavcs make a kind of 

 thick gruel with this pulp and water ; it is of an abiorbcnt 

 quality. The African v. omen ufe the pulp inllead of rennet, 

 for curdling their milk. 



Tlie feeds of this fruit are as big as fmall pine-apple 

 kernels, kidney-lhaped, of a chefnut-colour, and enclofing 

 an almond far more delicious than our fweet almonds. 



MACHACA, in Geography, a town of Peru, in the dio- 

 cefe of La Paz ; 80 miles S.W. of La Paz. S. lat. 17" 

 40'. W. long. 69 ' 14'. 



M.ACH^RIN.V, in Botany, Vahl. Enum. v. 2. 238. 

 See 8cuo,;;nu.s. 



MACHtERION, a word ufed by chirurgical writers, a.s 

 the name of an inllrument of the nature of the incilion 

 knife. It is alfo fomecimes ufed to exprel's an incifion ; 

 and by the arufpices of old it was applied to fome parti- 

 cular part of the liver of animals, from which they prcfaged 

 events. 



M.ACHjERUS, orM.\CIlERONTE, in Ancient Geography, 

 a city and fort beyond Jordan, in the tribe of Reuben, N. 

 and E. of the lake Afphaltites, tsvo or three leagues from 

 Jordan, and not far from its mouth in the Dead fea. This 

 calllehad been fortified by the Afmoneans. Gabinius demo- 

 lidied it, and Arillobulus fortified it anew ; and Herod the 

 Great made great additions to its llrength. At or near it 

 was a fpring of very falutary hot waters. John the Baptill 

 was put in prifon, and beheaded at Machasrus, by the order 

 of licroJ Antipas. Jofephus Ant. 



MACHALA, in Geography, ■d. lawn ol South America, 

 in the audience of Quito, and iurifdidlion of Guayaquil ; 

 annexed to the lieutenancy of Puna. It lies on the coalt of 

 Tunibez, together with that of Naranjol, the landing-place 

 of the river of the fame name, called alfo the Suya, near 

 which is a road leading to the jurifdictions of Cuenca and 

 Alaufi. The jurifdittions of Machala and Manaranjol pro- 

 duce great quantities of cacao, and that of the former is ef- 

 teemed the bell in Guayaquil. In its neighbourhood, as well 

 as in the ifland of Puna, are great numbers of mangrove- 

 trees ; in the wood of which the Indians pay their annual 

 tribute. This wood is ufed in (hips, &c. and is very durable, 

 as it is fubjeft neither to fplit nor i-ot ; j'j miles N.N.W. of 

 Loxa. S.lat. 3'i^'. W. long. 79. 



MACHAON, in Biography, an ilhiflrious hero and phy- 

 fician, who, with his brother Podahrius, accompanied the 

 Grecian army in the expedition againfl Troy, and performed 

 great fervices among the troops. Thefe two perfons were 

 deemed the fons of Efculapius ; and Machaon appears to 

 have been the e'der brother, according to the poet Quintus 

 Calaber, who introduces Podalirius as faying, on the occa- 

 fioii of his death, that " his dear brother had brought him 

 up like a fon, after their father was taken into heaven, and 

 had taught him to cure difeafes." (Lib. vii. v. 60.) Homer, 

 indacd, mentions Podalirius firll, when he names both toge- 

 ther ; but that feems to have arifen only from the conveni- 

 ence of the verfe.' IIoJK^!l'pws ^Js May-iVv. For Machaon 

 appears to have been moif highly efteemed by the great offi- 

 cers of the army. It was he who admi[ii!lered to Menelaus, 

 when wounded by Tmdarus, firil wiping tlie blood from the 

 wound, and then applying emolhent remedies, after the 

 manner of his father. It was Machaon, alio, who cured the 

 lamcnefs of Philottetes, occafioned by dropping an arrow, 

 dipped in chcgall of the Leniean Hydra, bequeathed him by- 

 Hercules, 



