(C. F. Cl.; A. R. C.)
1The ancient Greeks called a mapPinax, The RomansTabula geographica.Mappa mundiwas the medieval Latin for a map of the world which the ancients calledTabula totius orbis descriptionem continens.2Close, “The Ideal Topographical Map,”Geog. Journal, vol. xxv. (1905).3K. Peucker,Schattenplastik und Farbenplastik(Vienna, 1898);Geograph. Zeitschrift(1902 and 1908).4Professor Henrici,Report on Planimeters(64th meeting of the British Association, Oxford, 1894); J. Tennant, “The Planimeter” (Engineering, xlv. 1903).5H. Wagner’sLehrbuch(Hanover, 1908, pp. 241-252) refers to numerous authorities who deal fully with the whole question of measurement.6Kienzl of Leoben in 1891 had invented a similar apparatus which he called a Relief Pantograph (Zeitschrift, Vienna Geog. Soc. 1891).7M. Fiorini,Erd- und Himmelsgloben, frei bearbeitet von S. Günther(Leipzig, 1895).8Jahrb. des polytechn. Instituts in Wien, vol. xv.9Compare the maps ofEurope,Asia, &c., in this work.10The great majority of the maps in this work are made by this process.11Lepsius,Urkundenbuch, Pl. XXII.12These Colchians certainly were not Egyptians. The maps referred to may have been Assyrian.13We are indebted to Strabo for nearly all we know about Greek cartographers anterior to Ptolemy, for none of their maps has been preserved.14The gnomon was known to the Chinese in the 5th centuryB.C., and reached the Greeks (Anaximander) through Babylon. Pytheas, as far as known, was the first to utilize it for the determination of a latitude.15If, with W. Dörpfeld, we assume an Attic stadium of 200 steps (500 ft.) to be equal to 164 metres, a degree of 700 stad. would be equal to 114,800 metres, its actual length according to modern measurement being 110,808 metres.16Climatabased on the length of the longest day were introduced by Hippocrates (c.400B.C.).Zonessimilar to those already drawn out for the celestial sphere were first introduced by the Pythagoreans. Parmenides of Elea (544-430B.C.) distinguishes five of these zones, viz. a torrid zone, between the tropics of summer and winter, which was uninhabitable on account of heat; two frigid zones, uninhabitable on account of cold, and two intermediate temperate zones.17Celestial globes were made much earlier than terrestrial ones. In the museum of Naples there is a celestial globe, 2 metres in diameter, supported upon the shoulders of an Atlas, which E. Heis, judging by the constellations engraved upon it (Atlas coelestis novus, Bonn, 1872) judges to date from the 4th centuryB.C.It may even be the work of Eudoxus (d. 386B.C.) the famous astronomer. Aratus of Soli in Cilicia, in his poeticalPrognostics of Stars and the World, refers to a globe in his possession. Archimedes, the famous mathematician, had a celestial globe of glass, in the centre of which was a small terrestrial globe. Hero of Alexandria (284-221B.C.), the ingenious inventor of “Hero’s Fountain,” is believed to have possessed a similar apparatus. The celestial globe of Hipparchus still existed in the Alexandrian library in the time of Ptolemy, who himself refers to globes in hisAlmagest, as also in theGeography. Leontius, who wrote a book on the manufacture of globes (first published at Basel in 1539), is identified by Fiorini with a bishop of Neapolis (Cyprus) of the time of Constantine III. (642-668).18The oldest MS. of Ptolemy’sGeographyis found in the Vatopedi monastery of Mt Athos. It dates from the 12th or 13th century and was published by Victor Langlois in 1867. For the latest edition we are indebted to the late Carl Müller (Paris, 1883-1906) to whom we are likewise indebted for an edition of theGeographi graeci minores(1855-1861).19Facsimiles of it have been published by Desjardins(1869-1871), by K. Miller (1886), who ascribes it to Castorius,A.D.366, and by others.20R. Gough,British Topography(London 1768). His “Histories” are published inRerum brit. scriptoresXL. and LVII. 1866-1869.21M. Bittner,Die topogr. Capital des ind. Seespiegels(Vienna, 1897).22E. G. Ravenstein,Martin Behaim, his Life and his Globe(London, 1908). On the original only equator, ecliptics, tropics, polar circles and one meridian 80° to the west of Lisbon are laid down.23See fig. 23, Catalan Map of the World (1375).24J. G. Kohl published facsimiles of the American section of the maps (Weimar, 1860).25Facsimiles of the maps of 1507 and 1517 were published by J. Fischer and F. M. von Wieser (Innsbruck, 1903).26See “The Survey in British Africa”: theAnnual Reportof the Colonial Survey Commission.27A. Germain,Traité des Projections(Paris, 1865).28T. Craig,A Treatise on Projections(U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Washington, 1882).29This error is much less than that which may be expected from contraction and expansion of the paper upon which the projection is drawn or printed.
1The ancient Greeks called a mapPinax, The RomansTabula geographica.Mappa mundiwas the medieval Latin for a map of the world which the ancients calledTabula totius orbis descriptionem continens.
2Close, “The Ideal Topographical Map,”Geog. Journal, vol. xxv. (1905).
3K. Peucker,Schattenplastik und Farbenplastik(Vienna, 1898);Geograph. Zeitschrift(1902 and 1908).
4Professor Henrici,Report on Planimeters(64th meeting of the British Association, Oxford, 1894); J. Tennant, “The Planimeter” (Engineering, xlv. 1903).
5H. Wagner’sLehrbuch(Hanover, 1908, pp. 241-252) refers to numerous authorities who deal fully with the whole question of measurement.
6Kienzl of Leoben in 1891 had invented a similar apparatus which he called a Relief Pantograph (Zeitschrift, Vienna Geog. Soc. 1891).
7M. Fiorini,Erd- und Himmelsgloben, frei bearbeitet von S. Günther(Leipzig, 1895).
8Jahrb. des polytechn. Instituts in Wien, vol. xv.
9Compare the maps ofEurope,Asia, &c., in this work.
10The great majority of the maps in this work are made by this process.
11Lepsius,Urkundenbuch, Pl. XXII.
12These Colchians certainly were not Egyptians. The maps referred to may have been Assyrian.
13We are indebted to Strabo for nearly all we know about Greek cartographers anterior to Ptolemy, for none of their maps has been preserved.
14The gnomon was known to the Chinese in the 5th centuryB.C., and reached the Greeks (Anaximander) through Babylon. Pytheas, as far as known, was the first to utilize it for the determination of a latitude.
15If, with W. Dörpfeld, we assume an Attic stadium of 200 steps (500 ft.) to be equal to 164 metres, a degree of 700 stad. would be equal to 114,800 metres, its actual length according to modern measurement being 110,808 metres.
16Climatabased on the length of the longest day were introduced by Hippocrates (c.400B.C.).Zonessimilar to those already drawn out for the celestial sphere were first introduced by the Pythagoreans. Parmenides of Elea (544-430B.C.) distinguishes five of these zones, viz. a torrid zone, between the tropics of summer and winter, which was uninhabitable on account of heat; two frigid zones, uninhabitable on account of cold, and two intermediate temperate zones.
17Celestial globes were made much earlier than terrestrial ones. In the museum of Naples there is a celestial globe, 2 metres in diameter, supported upon the shoulders of an Atlas, which E. Heis, judging by the constellations engraved upon it (Atlas coelestis novus, Bonn, 1872) judges to date from the 4th centuryB.C.It may even be the work of Eudoxus (d. 386B.C.) the famous astronomer. Aratus of Soli in Cilicia, in his poeticalPrognostics of Stars and the World, refers to a globe in his possession. Archimedes, the famous mathematician, had a celestial globe of glass, in the centre of which was a small terrestrial globe. Hero of Alexandria (284-221B.C.), the ingenious inventor of “Hero’s Fountain,” is believed to have possessed a similar apparatus. The celestial globe of Hipparchus still existed in the Alexandrian library in the time of Ptolemy, who himself refers to globes in hisAlmagest, as also in theGeography. Leontius, who wrote a book on the manufacture of globes (first published at Basel in 1539), is identified by Fiorini with a bishop of Neapolis (Cyprus) of the time of Constantine III. (642-668).
18The oldest MS. of Ptolemy’sGeographyis found in the Vatopedi monastery of Mt Athos. It dates from the 12th or 13th century and was published by Victor Langlois in 1867. For the latest edition we are indebted to the late Carl Müller (Paris, 1883-1906) to whom we are likewise indebted for an edition of theGeographi graeci minores(1855-1861).
19Facsimiles of it have been published by Desjardins(1869-1871), by K. Miller (1886), who ascribes it to Castorius,A.D.366, and by others.
20R. Gough,British Topography(London 1768). His “Histories” are published inRerum brit. scriptoresXL. and LVII. 1866-1869.
21M. Bittner,Die topogr. Capital des ind. Seespiegels(Vienna, 1897).
22E. G. Ravenstein,Martin Behaim, his Life and his Globe(London, 1908). On the original only equator, ecliptics, tropics, polar circles and one meridian 80° to the west of Lisbon are laid down.
23See fig. 23, Catalan Map of the World (1375).
24J. G. Kohl published facsimiles of the American section of the maps (Weimar, 1860).
25Facsimiles of the maps of 1507 and 1517 were published by J. Fischer and F. M. von Wieser (Innsbruck, 1903).
26See “The Survey in British Africa”: theAnnual Reportof the Colonial Survey Commission.
27A. Germain,Traité des Projections(Paris, 1865).
28T. Craig,A Treatise on Projections(U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Washington, 1882).
29This error is much less than that which may be expected from contraction and expansion of the paper upon which the projection is drawn or printed.
MAPLE, SIR JOHN BLUNDELL,Bart.(1845-1903), English business magnate, was born on the 1st of March 1845. His father, John Maple (d. 1900), had a small furniture shop in Tottenham Court Road, London, and his business began to develop about the time that his son entered it. The practical management soon devolved on the younger Maple, under whom it attained colossal dimensions. The firm became a limited liability company, with a capital of two millions, in 1890, with Mr Maple as chairman. He entered parliament as Conservative member for Dulwich in 1887, was knighted in 1892, and was made a baronet in 1897. He was the owner of a large stud of race-horses, and from 1885 onwards won many important races, appearing at first under the name of “Mr Childwick.” His public benefactions included a hospital and a recreation ground to the city of St Albans, near which his residence, Childwickbury, was situated, and the rebuilding, at a cost of more than £150,000, of University College Hospital, London. He died on the 24th of November 1903. His only surviving daughter married in 1896 Baron von Eckhardstein, of the German Embassy.
MAPLE,in botany. The maple (O.E.mapel-tréow, mapulder) and sycamore trees are species ofAcer, of the orderAcerineae. The genus includes about sixty species, natives of Europe, North America and Asia, especially the Himalayas, China and Japan. Maples are for the most part trees with opposite, long-stalked, palmately lobed leaves. The flowers are in fascicles, appearing before the leaves as in the Norway maple, or in racemes or panicles appearing with, or later than, the leaves as in sycamore. Some of the flowers are often imperfect, the stamens or pistil being more or less aborted. The fruit is a two-winged “samara.” The genus was represented in the Tertiary flora of Europe, when it extended into the polar regions; nineteen species have been recorded from the Miocene strata of Oeningen in Switzerland. The common maple,A. campestre, is the only species indigenous to Great Britain. This and the sycamore were described by Gerard in 1597 (Herball, p. 1299), the latter being “a stranger to England.” Many species have been introduced, especially from Japan, for ornamental purposes. The following are more especially worthy of notice.
Acer campestre, the common maple, is common in hedgerows, but less often seen as a tree, when it is seldom more than 20 ft. high, though in sheltered situations 30 ft. or more is attained. The leaves are generally less than 2 in. across, and the five main lobes are blunter than in the sycamore. The clusters of green flowers terminate the young shoots and are erect; the two wings of the fruit spread almost horizontally, and are smaller than in the sycamore. It occurs in northern Europe, the Caucasus, and northern Asia. The wood is excellent fuel, and makes the best charcoal. It is compact, of a fine grain, sometimes beautifully veined, and takes a high polish. Hence it has been celebrated from antiquity for tables, &c. The wood of the roots is frequently knotted, and valuable for small objects of cabinet work. The young shoots, being flexible and tough, are employed in France as whips.A. pseudo-platanus, the sycamore or great maple, is a handsome tree of quick growth, with a smooth bark. The leaves are large, with finely acute and serrated lobes, affording abundant shade. The flowers are borne in long pendulous racemes, and the two wings of the fruit are ascending. It lives from 140 to 200 years. It is found wild chiefly in wooded mountainous situations in central Europe. The wood when young is white, but old heartwood is yellow or brownish. Like the common maple it is hard and takes a high polish. It is much prized by wheelwrights, cabinet-makers, sculptors, &c., on the Continent; while knotted roots are used for inlaying. Sugar has been obtained from the sap of this as from other species, the most being one ounce from a quart of sap. The latter has also been made into wine in the Highlands of Scotland. It withstands the sea and mountain breezes better than most other timber trees, and is often planted near farm-houses and cottages in exposed localities for the sake of its dense foliage. Its wood is valued in turnery for cups, bowls and pattern blocks. It produces abundance of seeds, and is easily raised, but it requires good and tolerably dry soil; it will not thrive on stiff clays nor on dry sands or chalks. There are many varieties, the variegated and cut-leaved being the most noticeable. The lobed shape of its leaf and its dense foliage caused it to be confused with the true sycamore—Ficus sycamorus—of scripture.A. platanoides, the Norway maple, is met with from Norway to Italy, Greece, and central and south Russia. It was introduced into Britain in 1683. It is a lofty tree (from 40 to 70 ft.), resembling the sycamore, but with yellow flowers, appearing before the leaves, and more spreading wings to the fruit. There are several varieties. The wood is used for the same purposes as that of the sycamore. Sugar has been made from the sap in Norway and Sweden.Many varieties ofA. palmatum, generally known aspolymorphum, with variously laciniated and more or less coloured foliage, have been introduced from Japan as ornamental shrubs. The branches and corolla are purple, the fruit woolly. The foliage of the typical form is bright green with very pointed lobes. It occurs in the central mountains of Nippon and near Nagasaki. Beautiful varieties have been introduced under the varietal names,ampelopsifolium,atropurpureum,dissectum, &c. They are remarkable for the coppery purple tint that pervades the leaves and young growths of some of the varieties. Other Japanese species areA. japonicum, the varieties of which are among the most handsome of small deciduous shrubs;A. rufinerve, with the habit of the sycamore;A. distylum, bearing leaves without lobes;A. diabolicum, with large plane-like leaves; andA. carpinifolium, with foliage resembling that of the hornbeam.A. saccharinum, a North American species, the sugar, rock, or bird’s-eye maple, was introduced in 1735. It sometimes attains to 70 or even over 100 ft., more commonly 50 to 60 ft. It is remarkable for the whiteness of the bark. The wood is white, but acquires a rosy tinge after exposure to light. The grain is fine and close, and when polished has a silky lustre. The timber is used instead of oak where the latter is scarce, and is employed for axle-trees and spokes, as well as for Windsor chairs, &c. It exhibits two accidental forms in the arrangement of the fibres, an undulated one like those of the curled maple (A. rubrum), and one of spots, which gives the name bird’s-eye to the wood of this species. Like the curled maple, it is used for inlaying mahogany. It is much prized for bedsteads, writing-desks, shoe-lasts, &c. The wood forms excellent fuel and charcoal, while the ashes are rich in alkaline principles, furnishing a large proportion of the potash exported from Boston and New York. Sugar is principally extracted from this species, the sap being boiled and the syrup when reduced to a proper consistence runs into moulds to form cakes. Trees growing in low and moist situations afford the most sap but least sugar. A cold north-west wind, with frosty nights and sunny days in alternation, tends to incite the flow, which is more abundant during the day than the night. A thawing night is said to promote the flow, and it ceases during a south-west wind and at the approach of a storm; and so sensitive are the trees to aspect and climatic variations that the flow of sap on the south and east side has been noticed to be earlier than on the north and west side of the same tree. The average quantity of sap per tree is from 12 to 24 gallons in a season.A. rubrum, the red-flowering or scarlet maple, is a middle-sized tree, and was introduced in 1656. The bright scarlet or dull red flowers appear before the leaves in March and April. The wood, like that of other species, is applicable to many purposes—as for the seats of Windsor chairs, turnery, &c. The grain in very old trees is sometimes undulated, which suggested the name of curled maple, and gives beautiful effects of light and shade on polished surfaces. The most constant use of curled maple is for the stocks of fowling-pieces and rifles, as it affords toughness and strength combined with lightness and elegance. The inner bark is dusky red. On boiling, it yields a purple colour which with sulphate of iron affords a black dye. The wood is inferior to that of the preceding species in strength and as fuel. Sugar was made from the sap by the French Canadians, but the production is only half as great as that from the sugar maple. In Britain it is cultivated as an ornamental tree, as being conspicuous for its flowers in spring, and for its red fruit and foliage in autumn.A. macrophyllum, a north-western American species, is a valuable timber tree.For a good account of the North American species see C. S. Sargent’sSilva of North America, vol. ii. See also underSugar.
Acer campestre, the common maple, is common in hedgerows, but less often seen as a tree, when it is seldom more than 20 ft. high, though in sheltered situations 30 ft. or more is attained. The leaves are generally less than 2 in. across, and the five main lobes are blunter than in the sycamore. The clusters of green flowers terminate the young shoots and are erect; the two wings of the fruit spread almost horizontally, and are smaller than in the sycamore. It occurs in northern Europe, the Caucasus, and northern Asia. The wood is excellent fuel, and makes the best charcoal. It is compact, of a fine grain, sometimes beautifully veined, and takes a high polish. Hence it has been celebrated from antiquity for tables, &c. The wood of the roots is frequently knotted, and valuable for small objects of cabinet work. The young shoots, being flexible and tough, are employed in France as whips.
A. pseudo-platanus, the sycamore or great maple, is a handsome tree of quick growth, with a smooth bark. The leaves are large, with finely acute and serrated lobes, affording abundant shade. The flowers are borne in long pendulous racemes, and the two wings of the fruit are ascending. It lives from 140 to 200 years. It is found wild chiefly in wooded mountainous situations in central Europe. The wood when young is white, but old heartwood is yellow or brownish. Like the common maple it is hard and takes a high polish. It is much prized by wheelwrights, cabinet-makers, sculptors, &c., on the Continent; while knotted roots are used for inlaying. Sugar has been obtained from the sap of this as from other species, the most being one ounce from a quart of sap. The latter has also been made into wine in the Highlands of Scotland. It withstands the sea and mountain breezes better than most other timber trees, and is often planted near farm-houses and cottages in exposed localities for the sake of its dense foliage. Its wood is valued in turnery for cups, bowls and pattern blocks. It produces abundance of seeds, and is easily raised, but it requires good and tolerably dry soil; it will not thrive on stiff clays nor on dry sands or chalks. There are many varieties, the variegated and cut-leaved being the most noticeable. The lobed shape of its leaf and its dense foliage caused it to be confused with the true sycamore—Ficus sycamorus—of scripture.
A. platanoides, the Norway maple, is met with from Norway to Italy, Greece, and central and south Russia. It was introduced into Britain in 1683. It is a lofty tree (from 40 to 70 ft.), resembling the sycamore, but with yellow flowers, appearing before the leaves, and more spreading wings to the fruit. There are several varieties. The wood is used for the same purposes as that of the sycamore. Sugar has been made from the sap in Norway and Sweden.
Many varieties ofA. palmatum, generally known aspolymorphum, with variously laciniated and more or less coloured foliage, have been introduced from Japan as ornamental shrubs. The branches and corolla are purple, the fruit woolly. The foliage of the typical form is bright green with very pointed lobes. It occurs in the central mountains of Nippon and near Nagasaki. Beautiful varieties have been introduced under the varietal names,ampelopsifolium,atropurpureum,dissectum, &c. They are remarkable for the coppery purple tint that pervades the leaves and young growths of some of the varieties. Other Japanese species areA. japonicum, the varieties of which are among the most handsome of small deciduous shrubs;A. rufinerve, with the habit of the sycamore;A. distylum, bearing leaves without lobes;A. diabolicum, with large plane-like leaves; andA. carpinifolium, with foliage resembling that of the hornbeam.
A. saccharinum, a North American species, the sugar, rock, or bird’s-eye maple, was introduced in 1735. It sometimes attains to 70 or even over 100 ft., more commonly 50 to 60 ft. It is remarkable for the whiteness of the bark. The wood is white, but acquires a rosy tinge after exposure to light. The grain is fine and close, and when polished has a silky lustre. The timber is used instead of oak where the latter is scarce, and is employed for axle-trees and spokes, as well as for Windsor chairs, &c. It exhibits two accidental forms in the arrangement of the fibres, an undulated one like those of the curled maple (A. rubrum), and one of spots, which gives the name bird’s-eye to the wood of this species. Like the curled maple, it is used for inlaying mahogany. It is much prized for bedsteads, writing-desks, shoe-lasts, &c. The wood forms excellent fuel and charcoal, while the ashes are rich in alkaline principles, furnishing a large proportion of the potash exported from Boston and New York. Sugar is principally extracted from this species, the sap being boiled and the syrup when reduced to a proper consistence runs into moulds to form cakes. Trees growing in low and moist situations afford the most sap but least sugar. A cold north-west wind, with frosty nights and sunny days in alternation, tends to incite the flow, which is more abundant during the day than the night. A thawing night is said to promote the flow, and it ceases during a south-west wind and at the approach of a storm; and so sensitive are the trees to aspect and climatic variations that the flow of sap on the south and east side has been noticed to be earlier than on the north and west side of the same tree. The average quantity of sap per tree is from 12 to 24 gallons in a season.
A. rubrum, the red-flowering or scarlet maple, is a middle-sized tree, and was introduced in 1656. The bright scarlet or dull red flowers appear before the leaves in March and April. The wood, like that of other species, is applicable to many purposes—as for the seats of Windsor chairs, turnery, &c. The grain in very old trees is sometimes undulated, which suggested the name of curled maple, and gives beautiful effects of light and shade on polished surfaces. The most constant use of curled maple is for the stocks of fowling-pieces and rifles, as it affords toughness and strength combined with lightness and elegance. The inner bark is dusky red. On boiling, it yields a purple colour which with sulphate of iron affords a black dye. The wood is inferior to that of the preceding species in strength and as fuel. Sugar was made from the sap by the French Canadians, but the production is only half as great as that from the sugar maple. In Britain it is cultivated as an ornamental tree, as being conspicuous for its flowers in spring, and for its red fruit and foliage in autumn.
A. macrophyllum, a north-western American species, is a valuable timber tree.
For a good account of the North American species see C. S. Sargent’sSilva of North America, vol. ii. See also underSugar.
MAPU, ABRAHAM(1808-1867), Hebrew novelist. His works are chiefly historical romances in Hebrew. His most famous books wereThe Love of Zionand theTransgression of Samaria. Besides their intrinsic merits, these novels stand high among the works which produced the romantic movement in modern Hebrew literature. Mapu’s plots were somewhat sensational, incident being more prominent than characterization. But underlying all was a criticism of contemporary life. His novels made a deep impression and became instantly popular. Mapu’s Hebrew style is simple and classical. An English translation of theLove of Zionbears the titleAmnon, Prince and Peasant, by F. Jaffe (1887). Mapu’s stories have been often translated into other languages.
See N. Slouschz,The Renascence of Hebrew Literature(1909), ch. v.
See N. Slouschz,The Renascence of Hebrew Literature(1909), ch. v.
(I. A.)
MAQQARĪ,or Maḳḳarī [Abū-l-‘Abbās Ahmad ibn Maḥommed ul-Maqqarī] (c.1591-1632), Arabian historian, was born at Tlemcen in Algeria and studied at Fez and Marrakesh, where he remained engaged in literary work until he made the pilgrimage to Mecca in 1618. In the following year he settled in Cairo. In 1620 he visited Jerusalem and Damascus, and during the next six years made the pilgrimage five times. In 1628 he was again in Damascus, where he gave a course of lectures on Bukhārī’s collection ofTraditions, spoke much of the glories of Moslem Spain, and received the impulse to write his work on this subject later. In the same year he returned to Cairo, where he spent a year in writing his history. He was just making preparations to settle definitely in Damascus when he died in 1632.
His great work,The Breath of Perfume from the Branch of Green Andalusia and Memorials of its Vizier Lisān ud-Dīn ibn ul-Khatīīb, consists of two parts. The first is a compilation from many authors on the description and history of Moslem Spain; it was published by Wright, Krehl, Dozy and Dugat asAnalectes sur l’histoire et la littérature des Arabes d’Espagne(Leiden, 1855-1861), and in an abridged English translation by P. de Gayangos (London, 1840-1843). The whole work has been published at Būlāq (1863) and Cairo (1885).For other works of Maqqarī see C. Brockelmann’sGesch. der arabischen Litteratur(Berlin, 1902), ii. 297.
His great work,The Breath of Perfume from the Branch of Green Andalusia and Memorials of its Vizier Lisān ud-Dīn ibn ul-Khatīīb, consists of two parts. The first is a compilation from many authors on the description and history of Moslem Spain; it was published by Wright, Krehl, Dozy and Dugat asAnalectes sur l’histoire et la littérature des Arabes d’Espagne(Leiden, 1855-1861), and in an abridged English translation by P. de Gayangos (London, 1840-1843). The whole work has been published at Būlāq (1863) and Cairo (1885).
For other works of Maqqarī see C. Brockelmann’sGesch. der arabischen Litteratur(Berlin, 1902), ii. 297.
(G. W. T.)
MAQRĪZĪ,orMakrizi[Taqī ud-Dīn Aḥmad ibn ‘Alī] (1364-1442), Arabian historian, known as al-Maqrīzī because of his ancestral connexion with Maqrīz, a suburb of Baalbek, was born at Cairo and spent most of his life in Egypt, where he was trained in the Hanifite school of law, though later he became a Shāfi’ite with an inclination to Zāhirite views. In 1385 he made the pilgrimage. For some time he was secretary in a government office, and in 1399 became inspector of markets for Cairo and northern Egypt. This post he soon gave up to become preacher at the mosque of ‘Amr, president of the mosque ul-Hākim, and a lecturer on tradition. In 1408 he went to Damascus to become inspector of the Qalānisīyya and lecturer. Later he retired into private life at Cairo. In 1430 he made the pilgrimage with his family and travelled for some five years. His learning was great, his observation accurate and his judgment good, but his books are largely compilations, and he does not always acknowledge the sources to which he is indebted. Most of his works are concerned with Egypt. The most important is theMawā‘iz wal-I’tibār fī dhikr ul-Ḥitaṭ wal-Āihār(2 vols., Bulāq, 1854), translated into French by U. Bouriant asDescription topographique et historique de l’Égypte(Paris, 1895-1900; cf. A. R. Guest, “A List of Writers, Books and other Authorities mentioned by El Maqrīzī in hisKhiṭat,” inJournal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1902, pp. 103-125). Of hisHistory of the Fatimitesan extract was published by J. G. L. Kosegarten in hisChrestomathia(Leipzig, 1828), pp. 115-123; theHistory of the Ayyūbit and Mameluke Rulershas been translated into French by E. Quatremère (2 vols., Paris, 1837-1845). Maqrīzī began a large work called theMuqaffā, a cyclopaedia of Egyptian biography in alphabetic order. It was intended to be in 80 volumes, but only 16 were written. Three autograph volumes exist in MS. in Leiden, and one in Paris.
Among smaller works published are theMahommedan Coinage(ed. O. G. Tychsen, Rostock, 1797; French translation by S. de Sacy, Paris, 1797);Arab Weights and Measures(ed. Tychsen, Rostock, 1800); theArabian Tribes that migrated to Egypt(ed. F. Wüstenfeld, Göttingen, 1847); theAccount of Hadhramaut(ed. P. B. Noskowyj, Bonn, 1866); theStrife between the Banī Umayya and the Banī Hāshim(ed G. Vos, Leiden, 1888), and theMoslems in Abyssinia(ed. F. T. Rink, Leiden, 1790). For Maqrīzī’s life see the quotations from contemporary biographies in S. de Sacy’sChrestomathie arabe(2nd ed., Paris, 1826), ii. 112 seq., and for other works still in MS. C. Brockelmann,Gesch. der arabischen Litteratur(Berlin, 1902), ii. 38-41.
Among smaller works published are theMahommedan Coinage(ed. O. G. Tychsen, Rostock, 1797; French translation by S. de Sacy, Paris, 1797);Arab Weights and Measures(ed. Tychsen, Rostock, 1800); theArabian Tribes that migrated to Egypt(ed. F. Wüstenfeld, Göttingen, 1847); theAccount of Hadhramaut(ed. P. B. Noskowyj, Bonn, 1866); theStrife between the Banī Umayya and the Banī Hāshim(ed G. Vos, Leiden, 1888), and theMoslems in Abyssinia(ed. F. T. Rink, Leiden, 1790). For Maqrīzī’s life see the quotations from contemporary biographies in S. de Sacy’sChrestomathie arabe(2nd ed., Paris, 1826), ii. 112 seq., and for other works still in MS. C. Brockelmann,Gesch. der arabischen Litteratur(Berlin, 1902), ii. 38-41.
(G. W. T.)
MAR, EARLDOM OF.Mar, one of the ancient divisions or provinces of Scotland, comprised the larger portion of Aberdeenshire, extending from north of the Don southward to the Mounth. Like other such districts, it was in Celtic times under the rule of amormaer. In the 12th century his place was taken by an earl, but no definite succession of earls appears till the 13th century, nor is any connexion established between them and themormaers. From the middle of the 13th century the earls were recognized as among “the seven earls of Scotland” and held a great position. Earl Gratney (fl.c.1300) married a sister of (King) Robert Bruce, who brought him the lordship of Garioch and castle of Kildrummy, which she held against the earl of Athole, an ally of the English (1335). Their son Donald was made regent in July 1332, but was disastrously defeated and slain at Dupplin next month. His daughter and eventual heir, Margaret, brought the earldom to her husband, William, earl of Douglas, and on the accession of her daughter Isabél a troublous time followed.
While she was living as a widow at her castle of Kildrummy, it was stormed by Alexander Stewart, a bastard, who forced her to execute a charter (August 12, 1404) settling the reversion to the earldom on himself and his heirs. This act she revoked by a charter of the 19th of September 1404, which cannot now be found; but on marrying him, on the 9th of December 1404, she granted him the earldom for life, the king confirming this on the 21st of June 1405. After her death in 1408 the earl played a great part, commanding the royal forces at the battle of Harlaw, when the Lord of the Isles was defeated in 1411, and afterwards acting as warden of the Marches. In 1426 he resigned the earldom to the Crown, the king granting it by a fresh creation to him and certain heirs, with reversion to the Crown. On the earl’s death in 1435 the earldom was claimed by Robert, Lord Erskine, as heir of Gratney, earl of Mar, through a daughter; but the Crown claimed as reversionary under the creation of 1426. A long struggle followed, till in 1457 James II. obtained from a justiciary court at Aberdeen a recognition of the Crown’s right to the earldom and its lands, and shortly after bestowed them on his son John as earl of Mar and Garioch. He died unmarried in 1479, and in 1483 his elder brother Alexander duke of Albany received the earldom, but was soon forfeited. James III. created his son John earl of Mar and Garioch in 1486, and after his death unmarried in 1503, James IV. alienated to Lord Elphinstone (1507-1510) many of the Mar lands, including Kildrummy. The title was not revived till 1562, when James Stewart, earl of Murray, held it for a few months.
In 1565 John, Lord Erskine, succeeded in getting returned heir to the earldom, and shortly after (June 23, 1565) Queen Margaret restored the charter to him and his heirs “all and hail the said earldom of Mar.” As earl he took part against the queen in 1567, and in 1571 was made regent of Scotland, which post he retained till his death (1572). His son, earl John (c.1558-1634), played a great part in the history of the family. His great achievement was the recovery of the Mar estates, alienated by the Crown during the long period that his family had been out of possession, including Kildrummy, the “head” of the earldom. It was in his time that the precedence of the earldom (see below) was settled. John, the next earl (c.1585-1654) was a Royalist, as was his son John (d. 1668), much to the injury of the family fortune, which was further impaired by the attachment of the family, after the Revolution, to the Stuarts. His son Charles (1650-1689) was arrested by the government just before his death (1689), and the next earl, John (1675-1732), a prominent Jacobite (see below), was attainted, the earldom remaining under forfeiture for 108 years; by the Old Pretender he was created duke of Mar.
Alloa and other Erskine estates of the attainted earl were repurchased for the family, and descended to John Francis Erskine (1741-1825), his heir-male, who was also his heir of line through his daughter. To him, in his eighty-third year, as grandson and lineal representative of the attainted earl, the earldom was restored by act of parliament in 1824. His grandson, who succeeded him in 1828, inherited the earldom of Kellie (1619) and other Erskine dignities by decision of 1835. At his death in 1866, his earldom of Mar was the subject of rival claims, and the right to the succession was not determined till 1875. His estates passed to his cousin and heir-male, who succeeded to his earldom of Kellie and claimed “the honour and dignity of earl of Mar.” But the latter was also claimed by a Mr Goodeve, whose father had married the late earl’s eldest sister, and who assumed the title. It was not suggested that the late earl had more than one earldom of Mar, but Lord Kellie claimed it as descendible to heirs-male under a creation by Queen Mary, and Mr Goodeve as descendible to heirs of line under an earlier creation. The House of Lords decided (Feb. 25, 1875) that Lord Kellie was entitled to the earldom as having been created by Queen Mary in 1565, with a limitation which must be presumed to be to heirs-male of the body. This decision gave great dissatisfaction, but was described as “final, right or wrong, and not to be questioned” by Lord Selborne and the lord chancellor in 1877, and Lord Kellie was thenceforth recognized as holding the earldom on the Union Roll, the only one known, though Mr Goodeve continued to assume the title. The Lords’ decision could not be reversed, but in 1885, after much agitation, a means was found of evading it in practice by the “Earldom of Mar Restitution Act.” By “an equivocation on the facts of the case,” it was recited that “doubts may exist whether the said ancient honour, dignity, and title of peerage of earl of Mar ... was or was not ... by any lawful means surrendered or merged in the Crown” before 1565, and that the House of Lords had decided that Queen Mary’s known charter of 1565 applied only to lands and “did not operateor extend to restore” the peerage dignity, and enacted that “John Francis Erskine Goodeve Erskine” (which last name the claimant had added) should be “restored to” the ancient earldom. His previous assumption of the title was thus rejected as invalid, but from the passing of the act two earldoms of Mar were in existence, that of Lord Kellie being confirmed and allowed the precedence of 1565, while the restored earldom was allowed that of the dignity on the Union Roll, the only one known till then. This precedence had been assigned to it by the Decreet of Ranking (1606), and assigns to it an origin in 1404 (or, as some say, 1395). It is frequently, but absurdly, stated to have been “created before 1014,” and wrongly spoken of as the Premier Scottish Earldom (seeEarl). A barony of Garioch is also wrongly said to be annexed to it, but the title is used by the earl’s eldest son in default of any other.
Bibliography.—Minutes of Evidence, 1875 and 1885; Riddell’sPeerage and Consistorial Law; Skene,Celtic Scotland; Lord Crawford’sEarldom of Mar in Sunshine and Shade; articles by G. Burnett (Lyon), Sir H. Barkly, Cornelius Hallen, W. A. Lindsay and J. H. Round inGenealogist(N.S.), vols. 3, 4, 9; Lord Redesdale’sThe Earldom of Mar, a Letter to the Lord Clerk Register(reply to Lord Crawford) (1883); J. H. Round’s “Are there two Earls of Mar?” in Foster’sCollectanea genealogica, and “The later Earldom of Mar” in Walford’sAntiquarian Magazine, vol. ii.; also hisStudies in Peerage and Family History.
Bibliography.—Minutes of Evidence, 1875 and 1885; Riddell’sPeerage and Consistorial Law; Skene,Celtic Scotland; Lord Crawford’sEarldom of Mar in Sunshine and Shade; articles by G. Burnett (Lyon), Sir H. Barkly, Cornelius Hallen, W. A. Lindsay and J. H. Round inGenealogist(N.S.), vols. 3, 4, 9; Lord Redesdale’sThe Earldom of Mar, a Letter to the Lord Clerk Register(reply to Lord Crawford) (1883); J. H. Round’s “Are there two Earls of Mar?” in Foster’sCollectanea genealogica, and “The later Earldom of Mar” in Walford’sAntiquarian Magazine, vol. ii.; also hisStudies in Peerage and Family History.
(J. H. R.)
MAR, JOHN ERSKINE,1st or 6th Earl of(d. 1572), regent of Scotland, was a son of John, 5th Lord Erskine (d. 1552), who was guardian of King James V., and afterwards of Mary Queen of Scots. The younger John, who succeeded his father as 6th Lord Erskine in 1552, joined the religious reformers, but he was never very ardent in the cause, although he subscribed the letter asking Knox to return to Scotland in 1557. The custody of Edinburgh Castle was in his hands, and during the struggle between the regent, Mary of Lorraine, and the lords of the Congregation he appears to have acted consistently in the interests of peace. When Mary Stuart returned to Scotland in 1561 Lord Erskine was a member of her council, he favoured her marriage with Lord Darnley, and his wife, Annabella Murray, called by Knox a “verray Jesabell,” was a frequent companion of the queen. In 1565 Erskine was granted the earldom of Mar (see above). As guardian of James, afterwards King James VI., he prevented the young prince from falling into the hands of Bothwell, and when the Scottish nobles rose against Mary and Both well, Mar was one of their leaders; he took part in the government of Scotland during Mary’s imprisonment at Lochleven, and also after her subsequent abdication. In September 1571 he was chosen regent of Scotland, but he was overshadowed and perhaps slighted by the earl of Morton, and he died at Stirling on the 29th of October 1572.
MAR, JOHN ERSKINE,2nd or 7th Earl of(c.1558-1634), Scottish politician, was the only son of the preceding. Together with King James VI. he was educated by George Buchanan. After attaining his majority he was nominally the guardian of the young king, who was about seven years his junior, and who lived with him at Stirling; but he was in reality a puppet in the hands of the regent, the earl of Morton; and he lost power and position when Morton was imprisoned. He was concerned in the seizure of James VI. in 1582 (a plot known as the raid of Ruthven); but when James escaped from his new custodians the earl fled into the west of Scotland. Then leaving his hiding-place Mar seized Stirling Castle, whereupon James marched against him, and he took refuge in England. Queen Elizabeth interceded for him, but in vain, and after some futile communications between the governments of England and Scotland Mar and his friends gathered an army, entered the presence of the king at Stirling, and were soon in supreme authority (1585). Mar was restored to his lands and titles. Henceforward he stood high in the royal favour; he became governor of Edinburgh Castle and was made tutor to James’s son, Prince Henry, and for his second wife he married Mary, daughter of Esmé Stewart, duke of Lennox. In 1601 the earl was sent as envoy to London; here Elizabeth assured him that James should be her successor, and his mission was conducted with tact and prudence. Having joined the English privy council Mar was created Lord Cardross in 1610; he was a member of the Court of High Commission and was lord high treasurer of Scotland from 1615 to 1630. He died at Stirling on the 14th of December 1634. John (c.1585-1654), his only son by his first wife, succeeded to his earldom; by his second wife he had five sons, among them being James (d. 1640), earl of Buchan; Henry (d. 1628), whose son David (d. 1671) succeeded to the barony of Cardross; and Charles, the ancestor of the earls of Rosslyn.
MAR, JOHN ERSKINE,6th or 11th Earl of(1675-1732), Scottish Jacobite, was the eldest son of Charles, the 5th earl (1650-1689), from whom he inherited estates which were heavily loaded with debt. He was associated with the party favourable to the English government; he was one of the commissioners for the Union, and was made a Scottish secretary of state, becoming after the Union of 1707 a representative peer for Scotland, keeper of the signet and a privy councillor. In 1713 Mar was made an English secretary of state by the Tories, but he seems to have been equally ready to side with the Whigs, and in 1714 he assured the new king, George I., of his loyalty. However, like the other Tories, he was deprived of his office, and in August 1715 he went in disguise to Scotland and placed himself at the head of the adherents of James Edward, the Old Pretender. Meeting many Highland chieftains at Aboyne he avowed an earnest desire for the independence of Scotland, and at Braemar on the 6th of September 1715 he proclaimed James VIII. king of Scotland, England, France and Ireland. Gradually the forces under his command were augmented, but as a general he was a complete failure. Precious time was wasted at Perth, a feigned attack on Stirling was resultless, and he could give little assistance to the English Jacobites. At Sheriffmuir, where a battle was fought in November 1715, Mar’s forces largely outnumbered those of his opponent, Archibald Campbell, afterwards 3rd duke of Argyll; but no bravery could atone for the signal incompetence displayed by the earl, and the fight was virtually a decisive defeat for the Jacobites. Mar then met James Edward at Fetteresso; the cause however was lost, and the prince and the earl fled to France. Mar sought to interest foreign powers in the cause of the Stuarts; but in the course of time he became thoroughly distrusted by the Jacobites. In 1721 he accepted a pension of £3500 a year from George I., and in the following year his name was freely mentioned in connexion with the trial of Bishop Atterbury, whom it was asserted that Mar had betrayed. This charge may perhaps be summarized as not proven. At the best his conduct was highly imprudent, and in 1724 he left the Pretender’s service. His later years were spent in Paris and at Aix-la-Chapelle, where he died in May 1732.
Mar, who was known as “bobbing John,” married for his second wife, Frances (d. 1761), daughter of the 1st duke of Kingston, and was thus a brother-in-law of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. He had been attainted in 1716, and his only son, Thomas, Lord Erskine, died childless in March 1766.
Mar’s brother,James Erskine(1679-1754), was educated as a lawyer and became lord justice clerk of the Court of Session and Lord Grange in 1710. He took no part in the rising of 1715, although there is little doubt that at times he was in communication with the Jacobites; but was rather known for his piety and for his sympathy with the Presbyterians. He is more famous, however, owing to the story of his wife’s disappearance. This lady, Rachel Chicely, was a woman of disordered intellect; probably with reason she suspected her husband of infidelity, and after some years of unhappiness Grange arranged a plan for her seizure. In January 1732 she was conveyed with great secrecy from Edinburgh to the island of Hesker, thence to St Kilda, where she remained for about ten years, thence she was taken to Assynt in Sutherland, and finally to Skye. To complete the idea that she was dead her funeral was publicly celebrated, but she survived until May 1745. Meanwhile in 1734 Grange had resigned his judgeship and had become an English member of parliament; here he was a bitter opponent of Sir Robert Walpole. He died in London on the 20th of January 1754.
See theJournal of the Earl of Mar(1716); R. Patten,History of the late Rebellion(1717); and A. Lang,History of Scotland, vol. iv. (1907).
See theJournal of the Earl of Mar(1716); R. Patten,History of the late Rebellion(1717); and A. Lang,History of Scotland, vol. iv. (1907).
MARA, GERTRUD ELISABETH(1749-1833), German singer, was born at Cassel, the daughter of a poor musician named Schmeling. From him she learnt the violin, and while still a child her playing at the fair at Frankfort was so remarkable that money was collected to provide for her. She was helped by influential friends, and studied under Hillel at Leipzig for five years, proving to be endowed with a wonderful soprano voice. She began to sing in public in 1771, and was soon recognized as the greatest singer that Germany had produced. She was permanently engaged for the Prussian Court, but her marriage to a debauched violinist named Mara created difficulties, and in 1780 she was released. After singing at Vienna, Munich and elsewhere, she appeared in Paris in 1782, where her rivalry with the singer Todi developed into a regular faction. In 1784 she went to London, and continued to appear there with great success, with visits at intervals to Italy and to Paris till 1802, when for some years she retired to Russia. She visited England again in 1819, but then abandoned the stage. She went to Livonia, and died on the 20th of January 1833 at Revel.
MARABOUT(the French form of the Arab.murābit, “one who pickets his horse on a hostile frontier”; cf. Portug.marabute; Span.morabito), in Mahommedan religion a hermit or devotee. The word is derived fromribāṭ, a fortified frontier station. To such stations pious men betook them to win religious merit in war against the infidel; their leisure was spent in devotion, and the habits of the convent superseded those of the camp (see M’G. De Slane inJour. As., 1842, i. 168; Dozy,Suppl.i. 502). Thusribāṭcame to mean a religious house or hospice (zāwiya). The great sphere of the marabouts is North Africa. There it was that the community formed by Yahya b. Ibrāhīm and the doctor Abdullah developed into the conquering empire of the Murābiṭs, or, as Christian writers call them, theAlmoravides(q.v.), and there still, among the Berbers, the marabouts enjoy extraordinary influence, being esteemed as living saints and mediators. They are liberally supported by alms, direct all popular assemblies, and have a decisive voice in intertribal quarrels and all matters of consequence. On their death their sanctity is transferred to their tombs (also called marabouts), where chapels are erected and gifts and prayers offered. The marabouts took a prominent part in the resistance offered to the French by the Algerian Moslems; and they have been similarly active in politico-religious movements in Tunisia and Tripoli.
See L. Rinn,Marabouts et Khouan(Algiers, 1884); and the articleDervish.
See L. Rinn,Marabouts et Khouan(Algiers, 1884); and the articleDervish.
MARACAIBO,a large lake of western Venezuela, extending southward from the Gulf of Venezuela, into which it opens through a long neck, or strait, obstructed at its mouth by islands and bars, and having a large drainage basin bounded on the W. by the Eastern Cordillera, on the S.E. by the Cordillera de Merida, and on the E. by a low range of mountains extending N. by W. from Trujillo to the coast. The lake is roughly quadrangular in shape, and extends from the 9th to the 11th parallel of S. lat. and from the 71st to the 72nd meridian. It opens into the Gulf through 13 channels, the depth on the bar in the main channel ranging from 7 ft. at low water to 12 ft. at high water. Inside the bar the depth is about 30 ft., and the lake is navigable for vessels of large size. It receives the waters of many rivers, principally on its west and south sides, the largest of which are the Catatumbo and Zulia, Escalante, Chanudo, Ceniza, Sant’Ana, Negro, Apan and Palmar. The first three have navigable channels for river steamers. There are a number of small lakes near Lake Maracaibo’s southern and western margins, the largest of which is the Laguna de Zulia. The heavy rainfall on the eastern slopes of the Eastern Cordillera, which is said to exceed 86 in. per annum, is responsible for the great volume of water discharged into the lake. The average annual precipitation over the whole basin is said to be 70 in. In the upper half of the lake the water is sweet, but below that, where the tidal influence is stronger, it becomes brackish. The only port of consequence on the lake is Maracaibo, but there are small ports at its upper end which are in direct communication with the inland cities of Trujillo, Merida and San Cristobal. The Catatumbo River, which enters from the west near the north end of the lake, and its principal tributary, the Zulia, are navigable as far as Villamizar, in Colombia, and afford an excellent transportation route for the coffee and other products of Santander.
MARACAIBO(sometimesMaracaybo), a city and seaport of Venezuela and capital of the state of Zulia (formerly Maracaibo), on the west shore of the broad channel or neck which connects Lake Maracaibo with the Gulf of Venezuela, or Maracaibo, about 25 m. from the mouth of the channel opening into the latter. Pop. (1889), 34,284; (1905), 49,817; there is a considerable German element in the vicinity. The best residential suburb, Haticos, extends along the lake shore toward the south. The city is provided with tramways, telephone service and electric lighting, but the water supply and drainage are inferior. The most important buildings are the executive’s residence, the legislative chambers, the municipal hall, the Baralt theatre, the prison, the market, a hospital and six churches. The city also has a school of arts, a public library, and a public garden. In colonial times Maracaibo had a famous Jesuits’ college (now gone) and was one of the educational centres of Spanish America; the city now has a national college and a nautical school. The industries include shipbuilding, and the manufacture of saddlery and other leather products, bricks and tile, rum, beer, chocolate and coco-nut oil. Maracaibo is chiefly known, however, as one of the principal commercial centres and shipping ports on the northern coast of South America. The bar at the entrance to Maracaibo channel does not admit vessels drawing more than 12 ft., but there is a depth of 30 ft. inside and near the city. Steam communication is maintained on the Catatumbo and Zulia rivers to Villamizar, and on the Escalante to Santa Cruz. The principal exports from Maracaibo are coffee, hides and skins, cabinet and dye-woods, cocoa, and mangrove bark, to which may be added dividivi, sugar, copaiba, gamela and hemp straw for paper-making, and fruits. In 1906, 26% of the coffee exports was of Colombian origin.
Maracaibo was founded in 1571 by Alonso Pacheco, who gave it the name Nueva Zamora. Up to 1668 the entrepôt for the inland settlements was a station named Gibraltar at the head of the lake, but the destruction of that station by pirates in that year transferred this valuable trade to Maracaibo. The city did not figure actively in the War of Independence until 1821 (Jan. 28), when the province declared its independence and sought an alliance with Colombia. This brought to an end the armistice between Bolívar and Morillo, and thenceforward the city experienced all the changing fortunes of war until its final capture by the revolutionists in 1823.