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is low. There is but one sinall stream in the island, which is conducted, by an aqueduct of several thousand arches, and eight miles long, to Valetta; a supply of water is obtained by cisterns, in which the rain water is collected. The southern shore is rocky, and without any harbor; that of Marsa, on the east, forming the port Valetta, is one of the best in the Mediterranean, being completely land locked, and capable of containing 500 vessels. The climate is hot, but the heat is mitigated by a sea breeze, which always sets in at night. The principal production is cotton. Melons and oranges, of an excellent quality, are abundant. Corn is raised in small quantities. Figs are cultivated with great care, the process of cap. rification (see Figs) being practised. The Maltese are of African origin; with a swarthy skin, hair inclined to frizzle, and nose somewhat flattened. They are industrious, frugal, and excellent seamen; but poor, ignorant, superstitious, vindictive and dishonest. The upper class speak Italian, but the language of the common people is a patois, compounded of Arabic which is the fundamental and principal part), German, Greek, Italian, and other languages. The Arabic so far predominates, that the peasants of Malta and Barbary can understand each other. They have no alphabet, and, according to the fancy of individuals, adopt those of other tongues. The capital is Valetta, founded in 1566, by Lavalette (q. v.), grand master of the knights of Malta, with a population of 40,000. It is remarkable for the magnificence of its buildings, and the position and strength of its fortifications. The church of St. John, the patron of the orler, is a noble building, 240 feet long and 60 wide, which contained great riches, until they were seized by the French. The hotels of the knights corresponding to the eight languages into which the order was divided (see John, St., Knights of) are now occupied by the English officers. The palace of the grand master is an extensive pile, and contains a magnificent armory of ancient and modern weapons. The great hospital afforded accommodations for 2000 patients, who were attended by the knights. The vessels used in the hospital service were of solid silver. Immense granaries, cut out of the rock, were stored with corn, sufficient to maintain the garrison 20 years. They were hermetically closed, and the grain has been preserved in them, so as to be fit for ise after a hundred years. The fortificasions are the strongest in the world, Be

sides five forts, commanding the most important points, there are lines of vast strength, enclosing the various quarters, and forming works of such extent as to require 25,000 men to man them, and 100,000 to invest the place completely. Valetta is protected on three sides by the water, and on the fourth, by five lines of fortifications. The ditches are, in some places, 90 feet deep, hewn out of the rock, and the ramparts are mostly formed in the same manner. 1000 pieces of cannon are mounted on the works.-Malta was early in the hands of the Carthaginians, who were dispossessed by the Romans. (On the antiquities, inscriptions, vases, coins, &c., consult the Malta antica illustrata, by Bres, Rome, 1816, 4to.) It was occupied, in the middle ages, by the Saracens and Normans, and, in 1530, was conferred, by Charles V, on the knights of St. John, who had been expelled from Rhodes by the Turks. It was soon fortified by the knights, and underwent several memorable sieges. In 1798, general Bonaparte took possession of it, on his expedition to Egypt; and, in 1800, the French garrison was obliged, by famine, to capitulate to a British force. In 1814, the possession of it was confirmed to Great Britain by the treaty of Paris.-See Boisgelin, Ancient and Modern Malta (London, 1805, 2 vols., 4to.); and Bigelow's interesting Travels in Malta and Sicily (Boston, 1831); Vassalli's Grammatica della Lingua Maltese (Malta, 2d ed., 1827.)

MALTE-BRUN, Conrad, a learned and industrious geographer, and an active political writer, was born in 1775, in the Danish province of Jutland. His family is of considerable consequence in Denmark. His father destined him to the church; but the son had no taste for theology, and, while at the university of Copenhagen, he gave himself up to literary pursuits, published a volume of poems, and edited a theatrical journal. The far ther was of the aristocratic party, which called for a war with France: the younger was a partisan of freedom, and wrote in favor of the emancipation of the peasants and the liberty of the press. A party having arisen which demanded the establishment of a free constitution, Malte-Brun became one of the most active members of it. In 1796, he published, against feudality, and the coalition of sovereigns, a bitter satire, called the Catechism of the Aristocrats. This drew upon him a prosecution, which compelled him to take refuge in Sweden; and, while there, he put to press some poems, which had been read

to the academy of Stockholm. When count Bernstorff (q. v.) was on his deathbed, he recommended to the prince-royal to recall Malte-Brun, and employ him in a diplomatic capacity. In consequence of tais, the exile returned to Denmark, in 1797, and was favorably received by the ministers; but, having publicly attacked some of their arbitrary measures, he was again under the necessity of taking flight to Sweden, whence he soon after removed to Hamburg. It is said to have been about this period that he became either the founder, or one of the most active members, of a secret society, called the united Scandinavians, the object of which was to unite the three kingdoms of the North into one federative republic. At a somewhat later period, he was also concerned with another association of the same kind, and this object he seems to have zealously pursued for many years: he did not, indeed, desist from it till after the downfall of Napoleon. His scheme excited so much alarm, that Paul of Russia and Gustavus of Sweden demanded from the Danish government the punishment of those who were engaged in it. A prosecution was accordingly commenced against Malte-Brun, who was then at Paris, and he was sentenced to banishment. He settled at Paris in 1799, and continued to reside there till his death, in 1826, devoting himself to the labors of literature, particularly to geographical subjects. Between 1804 and 1807, he published, in conjunction with Mentelle, Political, Physical and Mathematical Geography (16 vols. 8vo.). In 1807, appeared his Picture of Poland; and, in 1808, he began a periodical work, with the title of Annals of Voyages, Geography and History, which extended to a large number of volumes. In 1814 and 1815, he produced another periodical, called the Spectator, which was completed in three volumes. His System of Universal Geography is the most complete of all the geographical systems. An English translation has been made, and it has passed through several editions in the U. States, one of which contains many corrections by J. G. Percival. Malte-Brun was also connected with the Journal of Debates, and other papers. In 1825, he published a treatise on legitimacy.

MALTHUS, T. R., reverend; the son of Daniel Malthus, esquire, of Albury, near Guildford, a gentleinan of considerable erudition, and the suggester of the work on population, ascribed to his son, which appeared anonymously in 1798, and had its foundation in Wallace on the Numbers

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of Mankind, and Lucas on Happiness. He received his education at Jesus college, Cambridge, of which college he was subsequently a fellow. The Essay on the Principles of Population, printed under his name, in 1803, obtained a rapid circulation, and was translated into French by Prevost, professor of natural philosophy at Geneva. The fifth edition appeared in 1817 (3 vols., 8vo.). Its leading principle is, that population has a tendency to increase more rapidly than the means of subsistence. It has met with much opposition, and has lost much of its early reputation. His next work was a Letter to Samuel Whitbread, Esquire, on his proposed Bill for the Amendment of the Poor-Laws (8vo., 1807). He has since published Observations on the Effect of the Corn-Laws, and of a Rise or Fall in the Price of Corn on the Agriculture and general Wealth of the Country (1814); an Inquiry into the Nature and Progress of Rent (1815); the Grounds of an Opinion on the Policy of Restricting the Importation of foreign Corn (1815); and Additions to the Essay on the Principles of Population. When the East India company established the college at Hertford, Mr. Malthus was appointed professor of history and political economy; and, on the subject of this institution, he published a Letter to Lord Grenville (1813); and Statements respecting the East India college (1817). He is also the author of Principles of Political Economy (1820); Definitions in Political Economy (1827).

MALVASIA; a district in the Morea. The chief place, called Malvasia di Romania, is situated on an island, and connected with the continent by a bridge. It is a fortress; has a bishop, and 2000 inhabitants. Since the late division of Greece, Malvasia forms a province of the department Laconia.

The well-known cape Malea belongs to Malvasia. The famous Malmsey wine is made here (also on some other Greek islands). A similar kind of wine is also made in Sicily, Sardinia, in Provence and Spain. Among the Sardin ian wines of this sort, the Malvagia di Sorso is particularly distinguished. The Spanish sort comes mostly from Catalonia and Teneriffe. There are both red and white kinds. (See Malmsey Wine.)

MAMELUKES, MAMLOUKS, or MAMALUKES (from the Arabic memalik, a slave); slaves from the Caucasian countries, who, from menial offices, were advanced to dignities of state. They did not, however, form a separate body; but, when Gengis-Khan made himself master of th

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century, and carried vast numbers of the inhabitants into slavery, Nedjm-eddin (Malek Salah), sultan of Egypt, bought 12,000 of them, including natives of Mingrelia and Circassia, but chiefly Turks from Capchak (Kipzak), had them instructed in the military exercises, and formed a regular corps of them. They soon exhibited a spirit of insubordination and rebellion. Under his successor, they interfered in the government, assassinated the sultan, Turan Shah, and, in 1254, appointed Ibegh, one of their own number, sultan of Egypt. The dominion of the Mamelukes in Egypt continued 263 years. The command was usually held by the bravest of their number. During this period, they made some important conquests, and, in 1291, they drove the Franks entirely out of the East. Selim I put an end to this kingdom, after having taken Cairo, the capital, by storm, in 1517. He placed a Turkish pacha as governor over Egypt, but appears to have been compelled, by circumstances, to leave the 24 beys, who governed the different provinces, in possession of their power. This state of things continued more than 200 years. But, from the middle of the last century, the number and wealth of the Mamelukes gave them such a superiority over the Turks in Egypt, that the pacha appointed by the Porte was obliged to conform entirely to their wishes. This superiority was owing principally to Ali Bey, who ruled with unlimited power, from 1766 to 1773, when he was assassinated. The Mameluke beys, especially Murad Bey, played an important part at the time of the French invasion. The Mamelukes, who were scattered throughout Egypt, and estimated at 10 or 12,000 men, maintained their numbers, principally by slaves brought to Cairo from the regions lying between the Black and Caspian seas. These were compelled to embrace the Mohammedan faith, and were all educated as soldiers. After a time, they obtained a share in the government, and some of them even became beys; for none but Mamelukes were capable of holding this office. They formed a fine body of cavalry, and attacked the French, when they landed in Egypt, with the greatest fury; but they were unable to withstand the European artillery, and many of them soon joined the French. The present pacha of Egypt, Mohammed Ali (q. v.), destroyed the peys, in 1811, by a stratagem.

MAMMALIA, MAMMIFEROUS ANIMALS,

their young alive, and feed them with milk from their own breasts or dugs. Man, quadrupeds, and the cetacea, are mammiferous. (See Animals.)

MAMMEE-TREE, or WEST INDIA APRI Cor (mammea Americana); a large and beautiful tree, native of tropical America, and interesting from the qualities of the fruit, which is highly esteemed. This fruit is large roundish, and contains a bright yellow, firm pulp, which is enveloped with a thick, leathery rind: within this outer rind is a second very delicate one, closely adhering to the pulp, which should be cautiously removed, otherwise it leaves a bitter taste in the mouth, not very strong at first, but gradually increasing, and continuing for two or three days. The taste is peculiar, sweet, and very agreeable, and is accompanied with an aromatic, pleasant odor. The tree belongs to the guttifera, the same family with the mangosteen, and attains the height of GO or 70 feet. The leaves are oval, obtuse, very entire, smooth, and 6 or 8 inches in length. The flowers are white, an inch and a half in diameter, and diffuse a delightful perfume.

MAMMON; the Syrian god of riches, mentioned in the teachings of Jesus as a personification of worldliness. Spenser has personified Mammon in his noblest manner (book ii, canto 7), where sir Guyon is represented amid the secret treasures of the "god of the world and worldlings."

MAMMOTH (Russian momot); a species of extinct elephant (q. v.), found in a fossil state, entirely distinct from the existing species of Asia and Africa. (See Elephant.) It has left proofs of its existence in Europe, in Northern Asia, and in America. A great quantity of fossil ivory is obtained from Siberia, and it is visible, almost every where, on the banks of rivers, which undermine the soil. Whole carcasses, covered with flesh and skin, preserved by the eternal frost of those regions, have even been found in the northern parts of Siberia. The bones have been occasionally found in all parts of Europe, and have given rise to stories of giants. They have been found in Kentucky, South Carolina, and other parts of the U. States, and Humboldt discovered them on the elevated plain of Quito. A mammoth, in complete preservation, was seen by Adams, a traveller in Siberia, who found the skeleton to be 9 feet high, and 14 long, from the tip of the nose to the Coccyx. The tusks were 9 feet long. The

scientific name of this animal is clephas primogenius (Blumenb.), or elephant fossil (Cuv.). It is not to be confounded with the mastodon, a gigantic fossil animal of North America. (See Mastodon, and Organic Remains.)

MAMMOTH CAVE; a stupendous cave in Kentucky, near Green river, 130 miles south-south-west of Lexington. It has been penetrated 9 or 10 miles, and has many windings that have not been explored. The depth is 60 or 70 feet. It contains figures, some of which are of immense size and fantastic form; but is more remarkable for its extent than the variety or beauty of its productions, having none of the beautiful stalactites found in many other caves. The earth is strongly impregnated with saltpetre, and large quantities of it are manufactured.

MAN, in natural history, according to some naturalists, although, it must be confessed, rather from motives of pride than from anatomical considerations, forms the order bimana, in the class mammalia; according to others, and more scientifically, is included in the family bimana, in the order anthropomorpha, which contains, also, the two faniilies of quadrumana, or proper monkeys, and lemurs. The family bimana, according to this classification, contains three genera, man, the orang-outang, and the gibbon. Linnæus was the first who ventured to class man (homo, homo sapiens) in a scientific system with other animals; and he did not escape the censure of some, as degrading the dignity of the human race by such an approximation; but classification is a mere statement of a fact in anatomy, and the philosopher, who observes and interprets nature, is not surely to blame. Man, then, whether considered as the head of the animal creation, and a part of it; or as a sole genus and sole species, distinct from others, and lord of all; whether defined to be a biped without feathers, or a quadruped without hoofs, a monkey with a voice, or a monkey withcut a tail,-if viewed solely in a physical light, and setting aside his divine reason, and his immortal nature,-is a being provided with two hands, designed for prehension, and having fingers protected by flat nails, and two feet, with single soles, destined for walking; with a single stomach, and with three kinds of teeth, incisive, canine and molar. His position is upright, his food both vegetable and animal, his body naked. It has been made a subject of dispute, whether there is more than one species in the human race; but it is merely a dispute of words; and

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if the term species is used in its common scientific sense, it cannot be denied that there is but one species. There are, however, certain and constant differences of stature, physiognomy, color, nature of the hair, or form of the skull, which have given rise to subdivisions of this species. Blumenbach reduces these varieties to five: 1. The first variety occupies the central parts of the old continent, namely, Western Asia, Eastern and Northern Africa, Hindoostan and Europe. Its characters are the color of the skin, more or less white or brown; the cheeks tinged with red; long hair, either brown or fair; the head almost spherical; the face oval and narrow; the features moderately marked, the nose slightly arched; the mouth small; the front teeth placed perpendicularly in the jaws; the chin full and round. The regularity of the features of such a countenance, which is that of the European, causes it to be generally considered (by them at least) as the most agreeable. The Hindoos, the Abyssinians, the Brebers, or inhabitants of mount Atlas, have features not essentially differing from those of the Europeans, except in the color of the skin, and which, among the Hindoo and Abyssinian mountaineers, is quite fair. Blumenbach calls this variety the Caucasian, from its supposed origin in the Caucasus. 2. The second variety was formerly called the Tartar, but improperly, as the Tartars do not belong to it. It has more recently been called the Eastern variety. The color in this race is yellow; the hair black, stiff, straight, and rather thin; the head almost square; the face large, flat and depressed; the features indistinctly marked; the nose small and flat; the cheeks round and prominent; the chin pointed; the eyes small. This variety comprises the Asiatics to the east of the Ganges and of mount Beloor, except the Malays. In Europe, it embraces the Finns and Laplanders; and, in America, the Esquimaux. Other writers have classed the Finns, as descendants of the ancient Scythians, in the first variety. 3. The American variety resembles that last described in several points. Its principal characters are the copper-color; stiff, thin, straight black hair; low forehead; eyes sunk; the nose somewhat projecting; cheek-bones prominent: the face large. This variety comprises all the Americans except the Esquimaux. There are several branches, however, which dif fer considerably. 4. The fourth variety of Blumenbach appears yet more arbitrary and uncertain than the last. It is called

by him the Malay, and described as of a tawny color; the hair black, soft, thick and curled; the forehead a little projecting; the nose thick, wide and flattened; the mouth large; the upper jaw projecting. This variety comprehends the islanders of the Pacific ocean. 5. The remaining variety is the Negro. Its characters are, color black; hair black and woolly; head narrow; forehead convex and arched; cheek-bones projecting; nose large, and almost confounded with the upper jaw; the upper front teeth obliquely placed; the lips thick; the chin drawn in; the legs crooked. This race is found in Western and Southern Africa, and the great islands of the Pacific, generally in the interior. There are very great differences in the tribes included in this variety: the Negro, with the complexion of jet, and wool; the Caffre, with a copper complexion, and long hair; the sooty Papous, or New Guineaman; the native of Van Diemen's Land; the Haraforas, who are found in Borneo, and the Hottentots, hardly differ more in situation than in features. (See Blumenbach, De Varietate nativa Generis Humani.) Bory de St. Vincent, in his Essais Zoologiques sur l'Homme, divides the human race into 15 species, and numerous varieties. Man, considered in his nobler character of a social, moral, religious and political being, will be more appropriately considered under other heads. (See Language, Philology, Political Institutions, Religion.)

MAN, ISLE OF (the Monada of Ptolemy); an island belonging to Great Britain, in the Irish sea, nearly equidistant from the coasts of England, Scotland and Ireland; 30 miles long, and 12, where widest, broad; 70 in circumference; square miles, 220; population, in 1821, 40,084; chief towns, Castletown (the capital), Douglas, Peel and Ramsay; lon. 4° 30′ W.; lat. 54° 15′ N. The interior is mountainous. Snowfield, or Snafield, the highest summit, is about 2000 feet above the sea. The soil, not naturally very productive, is greatly fertilized by the abundance of seaweed cast upon the shore. Agriculture, of late, has made great advances. The productions are barley, wheat, oats, turuips, potatoes, flax, cattle, sheep, poultry, &c. The island contains 17 parishes, under the jurisdiction of a bishop, styled bishop of Sodor and Man, who is sole baron of the island. The Manx language, a kind of Gaelic, prevails in the interior, but English is spoken in the towns. On the south is a small island, called the Calf of Man, which is separated by a narrow

channel.-In 1405, the island was granted to lord Stanley, and, in 1735, became vested in the duke of Athol. In 1764, it was sold to Great Britain for £70,000, with all its rights of sovereignty. MAN-OF-WAR; a ship of war; an armed ship.

MAN-OF-WAR BIRD. (See Albatross.) MANAKIN (pipra, Lin.). This is a small genus of birds peculiar to South America, having a compressed beak, thicker than broad, grooved; nasal fosse large. Their tail and feet are short. In their general form and proportions, they are not very unlike the titmouse. They are generally small, and inhabit the depths of forests, being seldom seen in cultivated fields. The largest of these birds, the P. militaris, is distinguished by a beautiful crest of red feathers upon its head. Its back is of a fine blue, and the rest of the plumage of a deep black.-Closely allied to these birds is one of the most extraordinary of the feathered tribe, the cock of the rock (rupicola). This bird is as large as a pigeon, is of a bright orange color, and is furnished with a double crest of feathers on its head, placed in the form of a fan. They live on fruits, scratch the earth like the common fowl, and form their nest of dry wood, in deep holes in the rocks. The female lays two eggs.

MANASAROWARA, a lake of Thibet, among the Himalaya mountains, is one of the most venerated of all the places of pilgrimage resorted to by the Hindoos. who visit it in great numbers, in spite of all the difficulties of the journey. The Thibetians also hold it in great reverence, and come from great distances to throw into it the ashes of their friends. It is about 15 miles long and 11 broad, and, with its borders of lofty crags, and its towering barrier of snow-capped mountains, forms a magnificent scene. Its shores are covered with monastic houses.

MANASSEH; eldest son of Josepli, born in Egypt. When brought with Ephraim to receive the blessing of his grandfather Jacob, the old man placed his right hand upon the head of the younger, and his left upon that of Manassel, thus depriving the latter of the precedence due to his priority of birth. The descendants of Manasseh formed a tribe, which, in the promised land, was settled, half beyond the Jordan, and half in the territory of Samaria, Sichem and Bethany. (See Hebrews.)

MANCANDO (abbreviated manc., Italian) is used in music to denote that the time of a piece must become slower and slow. er, and the tone by degrees vanish.