The old duchy should not be confounded with the province of this name, since, though a part of it is included in the latter, another part belongs to the Prussian province or government of Merseburg. The area of the duchy was 2060 square miles; its population 290,000: that of this province 4400 square miles, and the population 446,000. It is fertile in corn, which is exported in considerable quantity: flax, hemp, and chicory, for making coffee, are also raised to some extent; wood, however, is scarce. The principal minerals are coals in various parts; metals in the mountains of the Hartz; salt; and porcelain earth. The silk-worm has been introduced here with some success; and, although woolien and linen constitute the chief fabrics, silk has become, in consequence, a considerable manufacture. The Elbe traverses this government from north to south. Magdeburg is the chief emporium of trade. MAGDEBURG, the capital of the above government, and formerly of all Germany, is a fortified city of great trade and strength, and very ancient. Its name signifies the maiden city; which, some imagine, took its rise from an ancient temple of Venus, which stood here. The founder of the city is said to have been Otho I., or his empress Editha, daughter of Edmund I. of England. Otho also founded a Benedictine convent, which he afterwards converted into an archbishopric, of which the archbishop was a count palatine, and had great privileges. The city is pleasantly situated amidst fruitful plains on the banks of the Elbe. It has suffered greatly by fires and sieges; but by none so much as that in 1631, when count Tilly took it by storm, plundered, and burnt it, except the cathedral and convent. Of 40,000 burghers, not above 800 escaped. The soldiers committed the most shocking barbarities. It was formerly one of the Hanse and imperial towns. Editha, on whom it was conferred as a dowry, among many other privileges, procured it the grant of a yearly fair. The city is now populous, large, and wellbuilt, particularly the broad street and cathedral square, being divided into five parts; the Old Town; the Neumarkt; the Friedrichstadt, or tower fort; the New Town; and the quarter called Sudenburg, which have their own magis trates, and are treated by the government as separate towns. The whole contained in 1816 a population of 30,250, of whom 28,000 were Protestants, the rest Catholics and Jews. The New Town lies on the Elbe, to the north-east of the Old Town, from which it is separated by fortifications. The principal squares are the cathedral square; the old market, with a statue of the emperor Otho the Great; and the prince's market, adjoining the public walks. The exchequer, the court-house, the ducal palace, the regency house, government house, and the new and old arsenals, are the most remarkable public buildings. The cathedral is of freestone, with two spires. Magdeburg has also three houses of council or assembly, a Catholic church in the citadel, twelve Protestant churches, one Catholic and three Protestant convents, five hospitals, two orphan-houses, a house of correction, and workhouse. Principal public walks are the prince's rampart, the freemasons' garden, and the banks of the Elbe. Here are courts of justice for Prussian Saxony; the offices for the civil affairs of the government of Magdeburg; a Protestant consistory; the Lutheran establishment of Notre Dame, which serves as a gymnasium; a medical board; cathedral school, and town gymnasium; two mercantile schools; and a school of midwifery. Magdeburg has also various public libraries, literary clubs, and collections of paintings. It is accounted on the whole a pleasant residence. A German theatre belongs to the town, and another to a private society. The environs are also pleasant. At a short distance from the town is the Bergen monastery, and the salt works of Schoenebeck, producing about 30,000 tons annually. Like other towns in the north of Germany, Magdeburg contains extensive breweries and distilleries. The manufactures of the place derived, in the seventeenth century, much advantage from the number of Protestant emigrants who settled here from France and the Low Countries. The largest are of woollen and linen, stockings, hats, leather, tobacco, wax, and soap. Magdeburg was entered by the French in 1806, and annexed to the kingdom of Westphalia. In 1813, on the retreat of the French from Germany, it was occupied by a strong garrison, and did not surrender till the fall of Buonaparte. It is seventy-five miles W. S.W. of Berlin, sixty-two N. N.W. of Leipsic, and 120 S. S. E. of Hamburgh. MAGDOLUM, or MAGDALUM, in ancient geography, a town of Lower Egypt, twelve miles south of Pelusium (Herodotus, Antonine); reckoned the Migdol or Magdol of Jeremiah. MAGELHAENS (John Hyacinth de), a learned Portuguese ecclesiastic, who was a member of several foreign academies, as well as F. R. S. London. He came to London, and resided here many years, till his death in 1790. He published several useful tracts on experimental philosophy. MAGELLAN (Ferdinand), a celebrated Portuguese mariner in the sixteenth century. He entered into the service of the emperor Charles V., and sailed from Seville with five vessels in 1519, when he discovered and passed through the straits to which he gave name, and sailed through the South Sea to the Ladrone Islands, where, according to some, he was poisoned in 1520; though others say that he was killed in a mutiny of his people in the island of Mutan, on account of his severity. His voyage round the world has been often printed in English. MAGELLAN, STRAITS OF, form a passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, at the southern extremity of the continent of America, upwards of 300 miles in length: that is, reckoning from Cape Virgin in the Atlantic, to Cape Desire in the Pacific Ocean. In some places they are several leagues over, in others not more than half a league. These straits were discovered, and passed through, in the year 1520, by Ferdinando Magellan, a Portuguese in the service of the crown of Spain, and hence derive their name. Though they possess many harbours affording word, water, and fish, the heavy gales of wind that prevail here, and the strength of the currents, have caused them to be almost entirely abandoned as a route between the two oceans, ships finding it both more safe and more expeditious to double Cape Horn. Westerly winds are the most prevailing, while the current usually sets from the Atlantic: at the entrance the tide rises twenty-eight feet. MAGELLANIC CLOUDS, whitish appearances like clouds, seen in the heavens towards the south pole, and having the same apparent motion as the stars. They are three in number, two of them near each other. The largest lies far from the south pole; but the other two are about 11° distant. Boyle supposes that, if these clouds were seen through a good telescope, they would appear to be multitudes of small stars, like the milky way. MAGGEROE, or Bare Island, a large island on the coast of Lapland, on which is the North Cape, thus named by Burroughs in 1556. It is separated from the main by a sound of the same name. The cape is an enormous block of granite, projecting far into the sea, and which, being exposed to all the fury of the waves, crumbles away continually. Here,' says an intelligent traveller, 'every thing is solitary, every thing is sterile, every thing is sad and despondent; the shadowy forest no longer adorns the brow of the mountain; the singing of the birds, which enlivens even the woods of Lapland, is no longer heard in this scene of desolation; the ruggedness of the dark gray rock is not covered by a single shrub; the only music is the hoarse murmuring of the waves, ever and anon renewing their assaults on the huge masses that oppose them. The northern sun, creeping at midnight along the horizon of the immeasurable ocean, at the distance of five diameters, in apparent contact with the skies, forms the grand outline of the sublime picture presented to the astonished spectator. The incessant cares and pursuits of anxious mortals are recollected as a dream, the various forms and energies of animated nature are forgotten, the earth is contemplated only in its elements, and as constituting a part of the solar system. Lat. 71° 11' N., long. 26° 0′ 45′′ E. MAGGI, or MAGIUS (Jerome), one of the most learned men of the sixteenth century, was born at Anghiari in Tuscany. He applied himVor. XIII self to the sciences, and distinguished himself so much in the art of war, that the Venetians sent him into Cyprus as judge of the admiralty. When the Turks besieged Famagusta, he invented mines and machines for throwing fire, by means of which he destroyed all the works of the besiegers, and in an instant overthrew what had cost the Turks infinite labor. But they obtained revenge; for, taking the city in 1571, they plundered his library, carried him loaded with chains to Constantinople, and treated him in the most barbarous manner. He nevertheless, after passing the whole day in the meanest drudgery, spent the night in writing. He composed, from memory alone, treatises filled with quotations, which he dedicated to the Imperial and French ambassadors. These ministers, moved by compassion for this learned man, resolved to ransom him; but, while they were treating for his delivery, Maggi made his escape to the imperial ambassador's house; when the grand vizier, enraged at his flight, seized, and caused him to be strangled in prison in 1572. works are, 1. A Treatise on the Bells of the His principal Ancients. 2. On the Destruction of the World by Fire. 3. Commentaries on Æmilius Probus's Lives of Illustrious Men. 4. Commentaries on the Institutes. 5. A Treatise on the Wooden Horse. These works are written in elegant Latin. He also wrote 6. A Treatise on Fortification, in Italian; and 7. A book on the Situation of Ancient Tuscany. MAGGIORE, LAGO, a lake of Upper Italy, separating the Austro-Italian government of Milan, from the states of Sardinia, and extending from Sesto northwards to Locarno. Its length is upwards of thirty miles, its breadth between its elevation above the level of the sea 1800 feet. seven and eight; its medium depth 160 feet, and It is traversed by the river Ticino; and its waters, which are clear as crystal, contain various kinds of fish; its banks abound in picturesque objects of every kind, and are adorned with a number of villages and towns. It contains several small islands, the most remarkable of which, the Borromean, are the admiration of all travellers. MAG'GOT, n. s. Sax.magde, mogde; Wel. A small worm or grub; any embryo: any MAG'GOTTY, adj. § mageod, magrod; Goth. madwhimsey or fancy. The metaphorical use is ka. low. To reconcile our late dissenters, Hudibras. Ray on Creation. To pretend to work out a neat scheme of thoughts with a maggotty unsettled head, is as ridiculous as to think to write straight in a jumbling coach. Norris. 2 D For bankrupts write when ruined shops are shut, As maggots crawl from out a perished nut: His hammer this, and that his trowel quits, And, wanting sense for tradesmen, serve for wits. Young. MAGGOT, or the fly-worm, is bred in flesh, from the egg of the great blue flesh-fly. Notwithstanding the distaste for this animal, its anatomy is worth attending to; and may serve as a general history of the class of worms produced from the eggs of flies. It is white and fleshy; its body is composed of a number of rings, like the bodies of caterpillars, and is capable at pleasure of assuming different figures, more or less extended in length, and consequently more or less thick. Although it has no legs, it is able to move itself very swiftly; and, in its frst attempt to move its body, is extended to its greatest length, and assumes something of the figure of a pointed cone. The pointed part of the cone is the head of the animal, and is not separated from the next ring by any deeper furrow than the rest of the rings are from one another. Sometimes two short horns are thrust out from the head; but more generally two scaly hooks are observable: these are, however, sometimes hid, and have each a case or sheath, into which the animal can retract them at pleasure. These hooks are bent into an arch, the concavity of which is towards the plane on which the creature is placed; and they are thickest at their insertion in the head, and thence diminish gradually, till they terminate in a fine sharp point. They are placed parallel, and can never come together, and therefore cannot serve in the place of teeth for grinding the food; but merely to pull and sever it in pieces, that it may be of a proper size for the mouth. The maggot has also a kind of dart, at an equal distance between these hooks, about one-third of their length. This also is brown and scaly like them; it is quite straight, and terminates in a fine point. The hooks have two scaly thorns at their points; and this dart seems intended, by reiterated strokes, to divide and break the pieces of flesh these have separated from the rest into smaller parts. Immediately below the apertures for the egress of the hooks is placed the mouth, which the creature does not show unless pressed, when something like a tongue appears. The hooks supply the place both of teeth and legs; as by fastening these hooks into the substance on which it is placed, and then drawing up its body to it, it pulls itself along. The back lowers itself by degrees as it approaches the extremity of the belly; and, near the place where the back begins to lower itself, are placed the two principal organs of respiration; which are two small roundish brown spots, easily distinguishable by the naked eye, as the rest of the body is white. Viewed through a microscope, each of these spots appears to be a brown circular eminence raised a little above the rest of the body. On each of them there are also three oblong oval cavities, of the shape of button-holes, each situated in a parallel direction to each other; and their length nearly perpendicular to that of the body of the animal. These apertures admit the air. It has six of these, three on each side of its body. The great transparency of its body shows that it has on each side a large white vessel running the whole length of the body. These vessels are most distinct towards its hinder part; and they terminate each in the brown spot above mentioned: hence they fications of these are very beautiful in this creaseem to be the two principal tracheæ. The ramiture, especially on its belly but no vessel analogous to the great artery in the caterpillar class can be discovered in these. See ENTOMO LOGY. MAGI, or MAGIANS, an ancient religious sect in Persia, and other eastern countries, who maintained that there were two principles, one the cause of all good, the other the cause of all evil: and, abominating the adoration of images, they worshipped God only by fire; which they looked upon as the brightest and most glorious symbol of Oromasdes, or the good god; as darkness is the truest symbol of Arimanius, or the evil god. This religion was reformed by Zoroaster, who maintained that there was one supreme independent being; and under him two principles or angels, one the angel of goodness and light, and the other of evil and darkness: that there is a perpetual struggle between them, which shall last to the end of the world; that then the angel of darkness and his disciples shall go into a world of their own, where they shall be punished in everlasting darkness; and the angel of light and his disciples shall go into a world of their own, where they shall be rewarded in everlasting light. The priests of the magi were the most skilful mathematicians and philosophers of the ages in which they lived, insomuch that a learned man and a magian became equivalent terms. The vulgar looked on their knowledge as supernatural; and those who pretended to a knowledge of sorcery, divination, &c., taking upon themselves the name of magimagician now bears among us. ans, originated the signification which the word This sect still subsists under the denomination of gaurs, or guebres, in Persia, where they watch the sacred fire with the greatest care, and never suffer it to be extinguished. They are divided into three classes, of which the first and most learned neither eat nor kill animals; but adhere to the old institution of abstaining from all living creatures. The magi of the second class refrain only from tame animals; nor do the last kill all indifferently, it being the firm and distinguishing settled notion of them all, rv μeteμvoxwoiv eivai, that there is a transmigration of souls. MAGIC,n.s.& adj. Lat. magia, magicus, MAGICAL, adj. from Gr. payos; Pers. MAGICALLY, adv. majus, mugh (a magiMAGICIAN, n. s. art of influencing or putting in action spirits, cian). The pretended evil or good; sorcery; enchantment: the magician was the operator in this far famed art. Doun of his hors Aurelius light anon, Chaucer. Cant. Tales. I'll humbly signify what, in his name, That magical word of war, we have effected. Shakspeare. She once being looft, The noble ruin of her magick, Antony, Claps on his sea-wing. Shakspeare. Antony and Cleopatra. What black magician conjures up this fiend, To stop devoted charitable deeds? Shakspeare. The writers of natural magick attribute much to the virtues that come from the parts of living creatures, as if they did infuse immaterial virtue into the part severed. Bacon. In the time of Valens, divers curious men, by the falling of a ring, magically prepared, judged that one Theodorus should succeed in the empire. Camden. If they savour not strong of magical receits, let the indifferent judge. Bp. Hall. Pharaoh's curiosity carries him away quite from the sense of the judgment: he would rather send for his magicians to work feats, than to humble himself under God for the removal of this plague. Id. And the brute earth would lend her nerves, and shake, 'Till all thy magick structures, reared so high, Were shattered into heaps. Milton. and diabolical kind of science, depending on the assistance of the devil and departed souls. Agrippa divides magic into three kinds; viz. natural, celestial, and ceremonial or superstitious. MAGIC, NATURAL, is, in fact, no more than the application of natural active causes to passive things or subjects; by means of which many surprising, but yet natural, effects are produced. MAGIC, CELESTIAL, borders on judiciary astrology; it attributes to spirits a kind of rule, or dominion over the planets: and to the planets a dominion over men; and on these principles builds a ridiculous kind of system. See ASTRO LOGY. MAGIC, SUPERSTITIOUS, or GEOTIC, consists in the invocation of devils or dæmons; its effects are usually evil and wicked, though very strange, and seemingly surpassing the powers of nature: they are supposed to be produced by virtue of some compact, either tacit or express, with evil spirits; but the truth is, these supposed compacts have not the power that is usually imagined; nor do they produce half those effects ordinarily ascribed to them. MAGIC LANTERN. See OPTICS. MAGIC SQUARE, a square figure, formed of a series of numbers in mathematical proportion; so disposed in parallel and equal ranks, as that the sums of each row, taken either perpendicularly, horizontally, or diagonally, are equal. Let the several numbers which compose any square number (for instance, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, &c. to 25, inclusive, the square number), be disposed, in their natural order, after each other in a square figure of twenty-five cells, each in its cell; if now you change the order of these numbers, and dispose them in the cells in such manner as that the five numbers which fill an horizontal rank of cells, being added together, shall make the same sum with the five numbers in any other rank of cells whether horizontal or vertical, and even the same number with the five in each of the two diagonal ranks: this disposition of numbers is called a magic square, in opposition to the former disposition, which is called a natural square: Thus 1 Natural Square. 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 MAGIC, Gr. MATEIA, in its ancient sense, is the science or discipline and doctrine of the magi, or wise men of Persia. See MAGI. The origin of magic and the magi is ascribed to Zoroaster. Salmasius derives the very name from Zoroaster, who, he says, was surnamed Mog, whence Magus. Others make him only the restorer and improver of the Persian philosophy, 11 12 13 14 15 alleging, that many of the Persian rites in use among the magi were borrowed from the Zabii among the Chaldeans, who agreed in many things with the magi of the Persians; whence some make the name magus common both to the Chaldeans and Persians. In a modern sense, magic is a science which teaches to perform wonderful and surprising effects. The word originally carried with it a very innocent, nay laudable meaning; being used purely to signify the study of wisdom, and the more sublime parts of knowledge; but as the ancient magi engaged also in astrology, divination, sorcery, &c., the term magic in time became odious, and was only used to signify an unlawful 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Moschopulus, a Greek author of no great antiquity, is the first that appears to have spoken of magic squares; and, from the age in which he lived, there is reason to imagine he did not look on them merely as a mathematician. However, he has left us some rules for their construction. But, as magic squares have not hitherto been found of importance in mathematics, we shall refer to the works of Bachet, Frenicle, Poignard, and De La Hire, for the various me thods of constructing these curious arrangements of numbers. The latest writer upon the subject was Dr. Franklin, who constructed what he called a magic square of squares, and a magic circle of circles, which may be seen in the works of the ingenious Mr. Ferguson. We are favored with the following original methods of filling a magic square by an ingenious correspondent :The following method of filling up a magic square of odd numbers, i. e. containing nine, twenty-five, forty-nine, eighty-one, 121, &c. cells, after numbers have been placed by A in any two cells, has never before been published. It also possesses the new properties of admitting of fractional, and of plus and minus numbers. Fig. 2. 815 5 7 14 16 Fig. 5. : 1724 6 13 20 22 vii 8 27 Fig. 8. 17 iv Fig. 1 contains nine cells: fig. 2 twenty-five In both the ratio is 1; that is to say, the progression is by one at a time from 1 to 9, or from 1 to 25. And they both show where the lowest, the intermediate, and the highest numbers must be placed. The order of progression is diagonal, e. g. imagine these two figures to be linen or cotton prints, and then place duplicates, triplicates, &c., of fig. 1, over and under it, and at each side, &c.; and do the same by No. 2. You will find that, in fig. 1, 2 is the diagonal of 1, and 3 of 2; and that, in fig. 2, 2 is the diagonal of 1, 3 of 2, 4 of 3, and 5 of 4. The diagonal course will be equal to the number of cells in a row. At the end of each course, place the next number in the cell below the last number of the course, and begin a new course, and so on till the square is filled up. Thus, in fig. 2, 6 will be under 5, 11 under 10, 16 under 15, and 21 under 20; and 6, 11, 16, and 21, will begin new courses. RULE. When A has inserted his two numbers, divide their difference by the difference between the two cells. If it be a three-rowed square, fig. 1 (which you must have at hand for inspection) will show the number of A's two cells; or, if a five-rowed square, fig. 2 will do the same. If it be a seven-rowed square, you must be prepared with that square filled up in a similar manner, and so on for a square containing any odd number of rows, for similar inspection. Having divided as above, the quotient will be the ratio. Example 1.-Fig. 3 is a three-rowed square, containing A's two numbers. The difference of numbers is 16; by inspecting fig. 1 you will find the difference of cells to be that of 3 and 7, which is 4; the quotient, or ratio, therefore, will be 4. By inspecting fig. 1 you will also see that cell 3 is the end of the course. You must therefore add 4 to 11, and place 15 in cell 4, 19 in cell 5, and 23 in cell 6, as in fig. 4. In this example the numbers are all integers, and the sum 57, or the central number multiplied by the number of cells in each row. Example 2.-In fig. 5 the difference of numbers is 1, which divide by the difference between the cells, i. e. between 3 and 6, which is 3. The quotient or ratio will be 0. Fill up, therefore, as in fig. 6. This example contains fractional numbers. The sum is 20, or 3 x 63. Example 3.-In fig. 7 the difference of numbers is nine; of cells three; and the quotient or ratio three. But, in filling up and diminishing from cell 4 to cell 3, you will be obliged to put i. minus into cell 3, iv. minus into cell 2; and vii. minus into cell 1. These minus numbers, in reckoning the number in each row, must be subtracted. In this example the sum is 15. See fig. 8. REMARKS.-1. Every example admits of being filled up two different ways, e. g. in example 1, 27 may be considered as placed either in cell 7 or in cell 1. 2. As you have your choice of two ways, try both, and choose that which is the most easy and natural. 3. The central number being known, the sum will be known by multiplying by the number of cells in a row. When, therefore, you have half filled up a three-rowed square, you may finish it by placing in the remaining cells the numbers which will complete the sum. 4. Do not let A see your process, but perform it on a separate paper. MAGICAL DRUM, an instrument of superstition used in Lapland, and made of beech, pine, or fir, split in the middle, and hollowed on the flat side, where the drum is to be made. The hollow is of an oval figure; and is covered with a skin clean dressed, and painted with figures of various kinds, such as stars, suns and moons, animals and plants, and even lakes and rivers; and, since the preaching of Christianity among them, the acts and sufferings of our Saviour and his apostles are often added among the rest. All these figures are separated by lines into three regions or clusters. There is besides these parts of the drum, an index and a hammer. The index is a bundle of brass or iron rings, the largest of which has a hole in its middle, and the smaller ones are hung to it. The hammer or drum-stick is made of the horn of a rein deer; and with this they beat the drum so as to make these rings move, they being laid on the top for that pur |