136 M A H 
profefior Martyn fays, it be fancifully considered as an 
anagrammatic inverfion of Hermannia ; the two genera 
being very nearly allied, or rather, in reality, fcarcely to 
be feparated.] In botany, a genus of the clafs pentandria, 
order pentagynia, natural order of columrriferae, (tiliacees, 
JuJf.) The generic charaffers are—Calyx : perianthium 
one-leafed, five-cleft, bell-fhaped ; w'ith awl-fhaped longer 
teeth ; permanent. Corolla : petals five, heart-fhaped, 
oblong, fpreading, twice as long as the calyx. Neftaries : 
five, obcordate, pedicelled, furrounding the germ, fliorter 
than the calyx. Stamina: filaments five, capillary, placed 
on the ne&ary, united at the bafe, Shorter than the calyx ; 
antheras oblong, acuminate, eredt. Piltillum : germ fub- 
pedicelled, obovate, five-angled; ftyles five, briftle-lhaped, 
eredt, the length of the petals; ftigma fimple. Pericar- 
pium: oapfule ovate, five-celled, five-valved. Seeds: few, 
kidney-form.— F.Jfential CharaEler. Calyx five-toothed ; 
petals five; nedtaries five; obcordate, placed under the 
filaments ; capfule five-celled. 
Species, i. Mahernia verticillata, or whorl-leaved ma- 
hernia : leaves in whorls, linear. Stem fhrubby, difi’ufed ; 
with filiform branches. Leaves frequently from eight to 
ten in a whorl, fcarcely divided or pinnatifid. Manner of 
fructification the fame as in Hermannia, terminating, with 
the peduncles commonly two-flowered ; corolla yellow. 
Take away the nectaries from the petals, and add them to 
the ltamens, and you will have an Hermannia, though a 
ftrange one, with the leaves in whorls. JulTieu remarks, 
that the claws of the petals are not convoluted ; the fila¬ 
ments flat and narrow below, dilated and obcordate above, 
with the tip contracted ; one ftyle and ftigma, or perhaps 
rather five very clofely cohering. The rett as in Herman¬ 
nia. Native of the Cape of Good Hope. 
2. Mahernia pinnata, or wing-leaved mahernia : leaves 
three-parted, pinnatifid. This rifes with a fhrubby (le:n 
near three feet high, fending out many flender delicate 
branches, covered with a reddifh bark. The flowers corne 
out from the fide of the branches in fmall clufters, they 
are of a lively red, when they firft open, and hang down 
like little bells, commonly two together; appearing from 
June to Augult, and September. Native of the Cape of 
Good Hope. Introduced in 1774, by Mr. Francis Maflon. 
Linnaeus regarded it at firft as a fpecies of Hermannia, to 
■which genus it is very nearly allied. 
3. Mahernia incifa, or cut-leaved mahernia : leaves lan¬ 
ceolate, gafhed. In point of fize and mode of growth this 
beautiful fpecies comes near to the preceding, but differs 
effentially in the Angular hifpidity of its ftalks, the form 
of its leaves, and the colour of its flowers. The ftalks to 
the naked eye difcovera manifeft roughnefs; with a mag¬ 
nifying glafs it appears that they are befet on every fide 
with little protuberances, whence iflue tufts of pellucid 
hairs, and here and there a Angle hair is difcoverable with 
a fmall red vifcid globule at its extremity : the leaves, 
which are not fo manifeltly hairy as the ftalk and calyxes, 
are deeply jagge'd on the edges, and fomewhat refemble 
thofe of Pelargonium tricolor. The flowers when in bud 
are of the richeft crimfon ; as they open they incline to a 
deep orange, and finally become yellowifh. Native of the 
Cape of Good Hope. It flowered in Mr. Colvill’s nurfery 
in 1796. 
4. Mahernia glabrata,or fmooth-leaved mahernia: leaves 
lanceolate, pinnatifid and toothed; ftalks very long, bear¬ 
ing two flowers. This fpecies was firft lent to England 
about 1792. Stem twiggy, and branched; leaves dark 
green, the upper ones Ample and oppofite ; flowers yel¬ 
low, fragrant like the^Jonquil. Inhabits the Cape. 
The remaining fpecies of Mahernia, enumerated by 
Wilidenow, are, pttlcheUa, dijfujajieterophylla, and bifcrrata. 
Propagation and Culture. Thefe different plants may be 
increafed by planting cuttings of the young branches in 
the furnmer feafon fingly, in pots of light mould, watering, 
and plunging them in a hot-bed till they have ltricken 
root. When they have been well rooted, they may be re¬ 
moved into the green-houfe for protection diiling the 
IV! A H 
winter feafon ; being managed as the lefs tender plants of 
this defeription. All of them afford variety among other 
potted plants of afimilar kind in green-houfe collections. 
MAHES'RA, a town of Hindooftan, in Mewat: fifteen 
miles fouth-weft of Cottila. 
MAH'HRA, a diftridt of Arabia, included by the Ara¬ 
bians within the province of Hadramaut. This diftridi 
feems, like Tehama, to be a fandy plain, extending in 
breadth from the fliores of the ocean, backward to the 
part in which the hilly country commences. Thefe plains 
have probably been once covered by the fea. 
MAHIDE'SER, a town of Perfia, in the province of 
Irak: feventy-eight miles fouth-weft of Hamadan. 
MAHI'E, f. The name given by the inhabitants of Ota- 
lieite, to their bread-fruit when made into a kind of four 
pafte, which, in confequenee of having undergone a fer¬ 
mentation, will keep a confiderable time, and fupply them 
with food when no ripe fruit is to be had. When there¬ 
fore they fee a great (how of new fruit on the trees, they 
ftrip them all at once of their former crop, of which they 
make mahie. This fuccedaneum for ripe bread-fruit is 
thus made. They gather the fruit before it is perfectly 
ripe, and, laying it in heaps, cover it clofely with leaves* 
In. this (fate it ferments, and becomes difagreeably fweet; 
the core is then taken out entire, and the reft of the fruit 
thrown into a hole in their houfes, dug on purpofe, and 
neatly lined in the bottom and Tides with grafs. The 
whole is then covered with leaves, and heavy ftones are 
laid upon it. In this ftate it undergoes a fecond fermen¬ 
tation, and becomes four 5 after which it will fufter no 
change for many months. It is taken out of this hole as 
it is wanted for ufe; and, being made into balls, it is wrap¬ 
ped up in leaves and baked, and thus drefled it will keep 
for five or fix weeks. It is eaten both cold and hot; and 
the natives of thofe countries feldom make a meal with¬ 
out it; but to Capt. Cook and his company the tafte was as 
difagreeable as that of a pickled olive generally is the firft; 
time it is eaten. See Ar.tocar.pus, vol. ii. p. 237. 
MA'HIM, a town of Hindooftan, in the northern part 
of the ifland of Bombay, with a cultom-houfe: feventeen 
miles north of Bombay. 
MAH'LAH, Maa'la, or Maha'la, in feripture-hiftory, 
a daughter of Zelophehad, who with her filters received 
their diftribution in the land of Canaan, becaufe their fa¬ 
ther died without male iflue. Numb. xxvi. 33. xxvii. 1. 
JoJh. xvii. 3. 1 Chron. vii. 15. 
MAHL'BERG, a town of the duchy of Baden, with a 
lordlhip annexed to the houfeof Baden in the year 1629 : 
fix miles welt-fouth-weft of Lahr, and fixteen fouth-louth- 
eaft of Strafburg. Lat. 48. 19. N. Ion. 7. 55. E. 
MAHL'ENDORF, a town of Silefia, in the principality 
of Neilfe : nine miles north-weft of Neifle. 
MAHTON, or Maha'lon, [in Hebrew fignifying a 
fong.] Son of Elimelech and Naomi. Ruth. i. 2, 3, & c . 
In the country of Moab he married Ruth, a Moahitifti 
woman, but died without children ; his widow Ruth fol¬ 
lowed her mother-in-law Naomi to Bethlehem, where the 
married Boaz. Ruth. iv. 13. 
MAH'MOOD, Mah'mud, or Mahmud-Gaz'ni, the 
fir it Mahometan conqueror of Hindooftan, and founder 
of the Guznavian dynalty. See the article Hindoostan, 
vol. x. p. 6 — it. 
MAHMOODABAD', a town of Hindooftan, in the 
country of Guzerat: 100 miles north of Surat, and feven¬ 
teen fouth-louth eaft of Amedabad. Lat. 22.47. N. Ion. 
72. 52. E. 
MAHMO'RA, Mamora, or Mahamore, a feaport 
town of Fez, iituated at the mouth of the river Seboo, 
which runs into the Atlantic : fixty miles north-welt of 
Fez. Lat. 34. 25. N. ion. 6. 25. W. 
The fort of Mahrr.ora, which is to the fouth of the Se¬ 
boo, is the firft inhabited place in the province of Beni- 
haflen. It was begun by the Portuguefe in 1515, and de- 
itroyed in the fame year by the.Moors. It was rebuilt in 
1604 by the Spaniards, from whom it was taken by Miily 
Ilhmael 
