Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "Mars" to "Matteawan"
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Title: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "Mars" to "Matteawan"
Author: Various
Release date: April 16, 2013 [eBook #42552]
Most recently updated: October 23, 2024
Language: English
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Transcriber's notes:
(1) Numbers following letters (without space) like C2 were originally
printed in subscript. Letter subscripts are preceded by an
underscore, like C_n.
(2) Characters following a carat (^) were printed in superscript.
(3) Side-notes were relocated to function as titles of their respective
paragraphs.
(4) Macrons and breves above letters and dots below letters were not
inserted.
(5) [root] stands for the root symbol; [alpha], [beta], etc. for greek
letters.
(6) The following typographical errors have been corrected:
ARTICLE MARSHALLTOWN: "The city is situated in a rich agricultural
region, and is a market for grain, meat cattle, horses and swine."
'meat' amended from 'neat'.
ARTICLE MARTIN, BON LOUIS HENRI: "His knowledge of the middle ages
is inadequate, and his criticisms are not discriminating." 'middle'
amended from 'mddile'.
ARTICLE MARTIN, SIR THEODORE: "Then came translations of the Vita
Nuova of Dante, and the first part of Goethe's Faust." 'Then'
amended from 'The'.
ARTICLE MARVELL, ANDREW: "Marvell's connexion with Hull had been
strengthened by the marriages of his sisters with persons of local
importance ..." 'been' amended from 'heen'.
ARTICLE MARX, HEINRICH KARL: "This average rate of profits, added
to the actual cost price of a given commodity ..." 'of' amended
from 'or'.
ARTICLE MARX, HEINRICH KARL: "... see J. Stammhammer, Bibliographie
des Sozialismus und Kommunismus (Jena, 1893) ..." 'Sozialismus'
amended from 'Soziatismus'.
ARTICLE MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS: "On the 28th of November she was
removed to Sheffield Castle, where she remained for the next
fourteen years in charge of the earl of Shrewsbury." 'fourteen'
amended from 'fourteeen'.
ARTICLE MASULIPATAM: "During the wars of the Carnatic, the English
were temporarily expelled from the town, which was held by the
French for some years." added 'from'.
ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA
A DICTIONARY OF ARTS, SCIENCES, LITERATURE
AND GENERAL INFORMATION
ELEVENTH EDITION
VOLUME XVII, SLICE VII
Mars to Matteawan
ARTICLES IN THIS SLICE:
MARS MASAI
MARSALA MASANIELLO
MARSDEN, WILLIAM MASAYA
MARSEILLES MASCAGNI, PIETRO
MARSH, ADAM MASCARA
MARSH, GEORGE PERKINS MASCARENE ISLANDS
MARSH, HERBERT MASCARON, JULES
MARSH, NARCISSUS MASCHERONI, LORENZO
MARSH, OTHNIEL CHARLES MASCOT
MARSH MASDEU, JUAN FRANCISCO
MARSHAL MASERU
MARSHALL, ALFRED MASHAM, ABIGAIL
MARSHALL, JOHN (American jurist) MASHAM, SAMUEL CUNLIFFE LISTER
MARSHALL, JOHN (British surgeon) MASHONA
MARSHALL, STEPHEN MASK
MARSHALL (Missouri, U.S.A.) MASKELYNE, NEVIL
MARSHALL (Texas, U.S.A.) MASOLINO DA PANICALE
MARSHALL ISLANDS MASON, FRANCIS
MARSHALLTOWN MASON, GEORGE
MARSHALSEA MASON, GEORGE HEMMING
MARSHBUCK MASON, JAMES MURRAY
MARSHFIELD MASON, SIR JOHN
MARSH GAS MASON, JOHN
MARSHMAN, JOSHUA MASON, JOHN YOUNG
MARSI MASON, SIR JOSIAH
MARSIGLI, LUIGI FERDINANDO MASON, LOWELL
MARSILIUS OF PADUA MASON, WILLIAM
MARSIVAN MASON AND DIXON LINE
MARS-LA-TOUR MASON CITY
MARSTON, JOHN MASONRY
MARSTON, PHILIP BOURKE MASPERO, GASTON CAMILLE CHARLES
MARSTON MOOR, BATTLE OF MASS
MARSUPIALIA MASSA
MARSUPIAL MOLE MASSACHUSETTS
MARSUS, DOMITIUS MASSACRE
MARSYAS MASSAGE
MARTABAN MASSAGETAE
MARTELLO TOWER MASSA MARITTIMA
MARTEN, HENRY MASSAWA
MARTEN MASSÉNA, ANDRÉ
MARTENS, FRÉDÉRIC FROMMHOLD DE MASSENBACH, CHRISTIAN KARL VON
MARTENS, GEORG FRIEDRICH VON MASSENET, JULES ÉMILE FRÉDÉRIC
MARTENSEN, HANS LASSEN MASSEREENE, JOHN CLOTWORTHY
MARTHA'S VINEYARD MASSEY, SIR EDWARD
MARTÍ, JUAN JOSÉ MASSEY, GERALD
MARTIAL MASSICUS, MONS
MARTIALIS, QUINTUS GARGILIUS MASSIF
MARTIAL LAW MASSILLON, JEAN BAPTISTE
MARTIGNAC, JEAN BAPTISTE GAY MASSILLON
MARTIGUES MASSIMO
MARTIN, ST MASSINGER, PHILIP
MARTIN (several popes) MASSINISSA
MARTIN, BON LOUIS HENRI MASSON, DAVID
MARTIN, CLAUD MASSON, LOUIS CLAUDE FRÉDÉRIC
MARTIN, FRANÇOIS XAVIER MAST
MARTIN, HOMER DODGE MASTABA
MARTIN, JOHN MASTER
MARTIN, LUTHER MASTER AND SERVANT
MARTIN, SIR THEODORE MASTER OF THE HORSE
MARTIN, WILLIAM MASTER OF THE ROLLS
MARTIN, SIR WILLIAM FANSHAWE MASTIC
MARTIN OF TROPPAU MASTIGOPHORA
MARTIN (bird) MASTODON
MARTINEAU, HARRIET MAS'UDI
MARTINEAU, JAMES MASULIPATAM
MARTINET MAT
MARTÍNEZ DE LA ROSA, DE PAULA MATABELE
MARTINI, GIOVANNI BATTISTA MATACHINES
MARTINI, SIMONE MATADOR
MARTINIQUE MATAMOROS
MARTINSBURG MATANZAS
MARTINS FERRY MATARÓ
MARTINUZZI, GEORGE MATCH
MARTIUS, CARL FRIEDRICH VON MATE (companion)
MARTOS, CHRISTINO MATÉ (shrub)
MARTOS MATERA
MARTYN, HENRY MATERIALISM
MARTYN, JOHN MATER MATUTA
MARTYR MATHEMATICS
MARTYROLOGY MATHER, COTTON
MARULLUS, MICHAEL TARCHANIOTA MATHER, INCREASE
MARUM, MARTIN VAN MATHER, RICHARD
MARUTS MATHERAN
MARVELL, ANDREW MATHESON, GEORGE
MARX, HEINRICH KARL MATHEW, THEOBALD
MARY (the mother of Jesus) MATHEWS, CHARLES
MARY (Magdalene) MATHEWS, THOMAS
MARY I. MATHY, KARL
MARY II. MATILDA (queen of England)
MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS MATILDA (countess of Tuscany)
MARY (duchess of Burgundy) MATINS
MARY (queen of France) MATLOCK
MARY OF LORRAINE MATOS FRAGOSO, JUAN DE
MARY OF MODENA MATRASS
MARY OF ORANGE MATRIARCHATE
MARYBOROUGH (Ireland) MATRIMONY
MARYBOROUGH (Queensland) MATRIX
MARYBOROUGH (Victoria, Australia) MATROSS
MARYLAND MATSUKATA
MARYPORT MATSYS, QUINTIN
MARZABOTTO MATTEAWAN
MASACCIO
MARS, in astronomy, the fourth planet in the order of distance from the
sun, and the next outside the earth. To the naked eye it appears as a
bright star of a decidedly reddish or lurid tint, which contrasts
strongly with the whiteness of Venus and Jupiter. At opposition it is
brighter than a first magnitude star, sometimes outshining even Sirius.
It is by virtue of its position the most favourably situated of all the
planets for observation from the earth. The eccentricity of its orbit,
0.0933, is greater than that of any other major planet except Mercury.
The result is that at an opposition near perihelion Mars is markedly
nearer to the earth than at an opposition near aphelion, the one
distance being about 35 million miles; the other 63 million. These
numbers express only the minimum distances at or near opposition, and
not the distance at other times. The time of revolution of Mars is
686.98 days. The mean interval between oppositions is 2 years 49½ days,
but, owing to the eccentricity of the orbit, the actual excess over two
years ranges from 36 days to more than 2½ months. Its period of rotation
is 24 h. 37 m. 22.66 s. (H. G. Bakhuyzen).
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--Orbits of Mars and the Earth, showing aspects of
the planet relative to the earth and sun.]
_Motions._--The accompanying diagram will convey a notion of the varied
aspects presented by the planet, of the cycles of change through which
they go, and of the order in which the oppositions follow each other.
The outer circle represents the orbit of Mars, the inner one that of the
earth. AE is the line of the equinoxes from which longitudes are
counted. The perihelion of Mars is in longitude 335° at the point [pi].
The ascending node [Omega] is in longitude 47°. The line of nodes makes
an angle of 74° with the major axis, so that Mars is south of the
ecliptic near perihelion, but north of it near aphelion. Around the
inner circle, representing the earth's orbit, are marked the months
during which the earth passes through the different parts of the orbit.
It will be seen that the distance of Mars at the time of any opposition
depends upon the month in which opposition occurs. The least possible
distance would occur in an opposition about the end of August, a little
before Mars reached the perihelion, because the eccentricity of the
earth's orbit throws our planet a little farther from the sun and nearer
the orbit of Mars in July than it does in August. The opposition of 1909
occurred on the 24th of September, at a point marked by the year near
the equinox, and the month and years of the oppositions following, up to
1941, are also shown in the same way. Tracing them around, it will be
seen that the points of opposition travel around the orbit in about 16
years, so that oppositions near perihelion, when Mars is therefore
nearest the earth, occur at intervals of 15 or 17 years.
The axis of rotation of the planet is inclined between 23° and 24° to
the orbit, and the equator of the planet has the same inclination to the
plane of the orbit. The north pole is directed toward a point in
longitude 355°, in consequence of which the projection of the planet's
axis upon the plane of the ecliptic is nearly parallel to the line of
our equinoxes. This projection is shown by the dotted line SP-NP, which
corresponds closely to the line of the Martian solstices. It will be
seen that at a September opposition the north pole of the planet is
turned away from the sun, so that only the southern hemisphere is
presented to us, and only the south pole can be seen from the earth. The
Martian vernal equinox is near Q and the northern solstice near A. Here
at the point S.P. the northern hemisphere is turned toward the sun. It
will be seen that the aspect of the planet at opposition, especially the
hemisphere which is visible, varies with the month of opposition, the
general rule being that the northern hemisphere of the planet is
entirely seen only near aphelion oppositions, and therefore when
farthest from us, while the southern hemisphere is best seen near
perihelion oppositions. The distances of the planet from the sun at
aphelion and at perihelion are nearly in the ratio 6:5. The intensity of
the sun's radiation on the planet is as the inverse square of this
ratio. It is therefore more than 40% greater near perihelion than near
aphelion. It follows from all this that the southern hemisphere is
subjected to a more intense solar heat than the northern, and must
therefore have a warmer summer season. But the length of the seasons is
the inverse of this, the summer of the northern hemisphere being longer
and the heat of the southern hemisphere shorter in proportion.
_Surface Features._--The surface features of the planet will be better
understood by first considering what is known of its atmosphere and of
the temperature which probably prevails on its surface. One method of
detecting an atmosphere is through its absorption of the different rays
in the spectrum of the sunlight reflected from the planet. Several
observers have thought that they saw fairly distinct evidence of such
absorption when the planet was examined with the spectroscope. But the
observations were not conclusive; and with the view of setting the
question at rest if possible, W. W. Campbell at the Lick Observatory
instituted a very careful series of spectroscopic observations.[1] To
reduce the chances of error to a minimum the spectrum of Mars was
compared with that of the moon when the two bodies were near each other.
Not the slightest difference could be seen between any of the lines in
the two spectra. It being certain that the spectrum of the moon is not
affected by absorption, it followed that any absorption produced by the
atmosphere of Mars is below the limit of perception. It was considered
by Campbell that if the atmosphere of Mars were ¼ that of the earth in
density, the absorption would have been visible. Consequently the
atmosphere of Mars would be of a density less than ¼ that of the
earth.[2]
Closely related to the question of an atmosphere is that of possible
clouds above the surface of the planet, the existence of which, if real,
would necessarily imply an atmosphere of a density approaching the limit
set by Campbell's observations. The most favourable opportunity for
seeing clouds would be when they are formed above a region of the planet
upon which the sun is about to rise, or from which it has just been
setting. The cloud will then be illuminated by the sun's rays while the
surface below it is in darkness, and will appear to an observer on the
earth as a spot of light outside the terminator, or visible edge of the
illuminated part of the disk. It is noticeable that phenomena more or
less of this character, though by no means common, have been noted by
observers on several occasions. Among these have been the Mt Hamilton
and Lowell observers, and W. H. Pickering at Arequipa. Campbell has
shown that many of them may be accounted for by supposing the presence
of mountains not more than two miles in height, which may well exist on
the planet. While this hypothesis will serve to explain several of these
appearances, this can scarcely be said of a detached spot observed on
the evening of the 26th of May 1903, at the Lowell Observatory.[3] Dr
Slipher, who first saw it, was so struck by the appearance of the
projection from the terminator upon the dark side of the disk that he
called the other observers to witness it. Micrometric measures showed
that it was some 300 miles in length, and that its highest point stood
some 17 miles above the surface of the planet. That a cloud should be
formed at such a height in so rare an atmosphere seems difficult to
account for except on the principle that the rate of diminution of the
density of an atmosphere with its height is proportional to the
intensity of gravity, which is smaller on Mars than on the earth. The
colour was not white, but tawny, of the tint exhibited by a cloud of
dust. Percival Lowell therefore suggests that this and other appearances
of the same kind seen from time to time are probably dust clouds,
travelling over the desert, as they sometimes do on the earth, and
settling slowly again to the ground.
_Temperature._--Up to a recent time all that could be said of the
probable temperature of Mars was that, being more distant from the sun
than the earth, and having a rarer atmosphere, it had a general mean
temperature probably below that of the earth. Greater precision can now
be given to this theoretical conclusion by recent determination of the
law of radiation of heat by bodies at different temperatures. Regarding
it as fairly well established that at ordinary temperatures the
radiation varies directly as the fourth power of the absolute
temperature, it is possible when the "solar constant" is known to
compute the temperature of a non-coloured body at the distance of Mars
which presents every part of its surface in rapid succession to the
sun's rays in the absence of atmosphere only. This has been elaborately
done for the major planets by J. H. Poynting,[4] who computes that the
mean temperature of Mars is far below the freezing point of water. On
the other hand an investigation made by Lowell in 1907,[5] taking into
account the effect of the rare atmosphere on the heat lost by
reflection, and of several other factors in the problem hitherto
overlooked, led him to the conclusion that the mean temperature is about
48° Fahr.[6] But the temperature may rise much above the mean on those
regions of the surface exposed to a nearly vertical noon-day sun. The
diurnal changes of temperature, being diminished by an atmosphere, must
be greater on Mars than on the earth, so that the vicissitudes of
temperature are there very great, but cannot be exactly determined,
because they must depend upon the conductivity and thermal capacity of
the matter composing the surface of the planet. What we can say with
confidence is that, during the Martian winter of between eight and
twelve of our months, the regions around either pole must fall to a
temperature nearer the absolute zero than any known on this planet. In
fact the climatic conditions in all but the equatorial regions are
probably of the same nature as those which prevail on the tops of our
highest mountains, except that the cold is more intense.[7]
Having these preliminary considerations in mind, we may now study the
features presented to our view by the surface of the planet. These have
a permanence and invariability which markedly differentiate them from
the ever varying surfaces of Jupiter and Saturn, and show that what we
see is a solid surface, like that of our earth. They were observed and
delineated by the leading astronomers of the 16th century, especially
Huygens, Cassini and Hooke. These observers could only distinguish the
different regions upon the planet as bright or dark. Reasoning as they
did in the case of the moon, it was naturally supposed that the brighter
regions were land and the darker ones seas. The observers of our time
find that the darker regions have a slightly blue-green aspect, which
might suggest the idea of water, but are variegated in a way to show
that they must be composed of a solid crust, like the brighter regions.
The latter have a decidedly warm red or ochre tint, which gives the
characteristic colour to the planet as seen by the naked eye. The
regions in equatorial and middle latitudes, which are those best seen
from our planet, show a surface of which the general aspect is not
dissimilar to that which would be presented by the deserts of our earth
when seen from the moon. With each improvement in the telescope the
numerous drawings of the planet show more definiteness and certainty in
details. About 1830 a fairly good map was made by W. Beer and J. H.
Mädler, a work which has been repeated by a number of observers since
that time. The volume of literature on the subject, illustrated by
drawings and maps, has become so great that it is impossible here to
present even an abstract of it; and it would not be practicable, even
were it instructive, to enter upon any detailed description of Martian
topography. A few great and well-marked features were depicted by the
earliest observers, who saw them so plainly that they may be recognized
by their drawings at the present time. There is also a general agreement
among nearly all observers with good instruments as to the general
features of the planet, but even in the latest drawings there is a
marked divergence as to the minuter details. This is especially true of
the boundaries of the more ill-defined regions, and of the faint and
difficult markings of various kinds which are very numerous on every
part of the planet. There is not even a close agreement between the
drawings by the same observer at different oppositions; but this may be
largely due to seasonal and other changes.
The most striking feature, and one which shows the greatest resemblance
to a familiar terrestrial process, is that when either polar region
comes into view after being turned nearly a year away from the sun, it
is found to be covered with a white cap. This gradually contracts in
extent as the sun shines upon it during the remaining half of the
Martian year, sometimes nearly disappearing. That this change is due to
the precipitation of watery vapour in the form of ice, snow or frost
during the winter, and its melting or evaporation when exposed to the
sun's rays, is so obvious a conclusion that it has never been seriously
questioned. It has indeed been suggested that the deposit may be frozen
carbonic acid. While we cannot pronounce this out of the question, the
probabilities seem in favour of the deposit being due to the
precipitation of aqueous vapour in a frozen form. At a temperature of
-50° C., which is far above what we can suppose to prevail in the polar
regions during the winter, the tension of aqueous vapour is 0.034 mm. On
the other hand Faraday found the tension of carbonic acid to be still an
entire atmosphere at as low a temperature as -80° C. Numerically exact
statements are impossible owing to our want of knowledge of the actual
temperature, which must depend partly upon air currents between the
equator and the poles of Mars. It can, however, be said, in a general
way, that a proportion of aqueous vapour in the rare atmosphere of Mars,
far smaller than that which prevails on the earth, would suffice to
explain the observed formation and disappearances of the polar caps.
Since every improvement in the telescope and in the conditions of
observation must enable modern observers to see all that their
predecessors did and yet more, we shall confine our statements to the
latest results. These may be derived from the work of Professor Lowell
of Boston, who in 1894 founded an observatory at Flagstaff, Arizona,
7250 ft. above sea-level, and supplied it with a 24´´ telescope, of
which the main purpose was the study of Mars. This work has been
continued with such care and assiduity that its results must take
precedence of all others in everything that relates to our present
subject.[8]
Among the more probable conclusions to be drawn from Lowell's
observations, the following are of most interest. The darker areas are
all seamed by lines and dots darker than themselves, which are permanent
in position, so that there can be no bodies of water on the planet. On
the other hand, their colour, blue-green, is that of vegetation. This
fades out as vegetation would at certain seasons to faint blue-green,
but in some places to a tawny brown. Each hemisphere undergoes these
changes in its turn, the changes being opposite in opposite
hemispheres. The changes in the dark areas follow some time after the
melting of the polar caps. The aspect of these areas suggests old sea
bottoms, and when on the terminator appear as depressions, though this
may be only apparent and due to the dark colour. The smoothness and soft
outline of the terminator shows that there are no mountains on Mars
comparable with ours, but that the surface is surprisingly flat. White
spots are occasionally visible in the tropical and temperate regions,
which are perhaps due to the condensation of frost or snow, or to saline
exudation such as seasonally occurs in India (Lowell). Moreover in
winter the temperate zones are more or less covered by a whitish veil,
which may be either hoar frost or cloud. A spring haze seems to surround
the north polar cap during its most extensive melting; otherwise the
Martian sky is quite clear, like that of a dry desert land. When either
polar cap is melting it is bordered by a bluish area, which Lowell
attributes to the water produced by the melting. But the obliquity at
which the sun's rays strike the surface as the cap is melting away is so
great that it would seem to preclude the possibility of a temperature
high enough to melt the snow into water. Under the low barometric
pressure prevailing on the planet, snow would evaporate under the
influence of the sun's rays without changing into water. It is also
contended that what looks like such a bluish border may be formed around
a bright area by the secondary aberration of a refracting telescope.[9]
The modern studies of Mars which have aroused so much public interest
began with the work of Schiaparelli in 1877. Accepting the term "ocean,"
used by the older observers, to designate the widely extended darker
regions on the planet, and holding that they were really bodies of
water, he found that they were connected by comparatively narrow
streaks. (Schiaparelli considered them really water until after the
Lowell observations.) In accordance with the adopted system of
nomenclature, he termed these streaks _canale_, a word of which the
proper rendering into English would be _channels_. But the word was
actually translated into both English and French as canal, thus
connoting artificiality in the supposed waterways, which were attributed
to the inhabitants of the planet. The fact that they were many miles in
breadth, and that it was therefore absurd to call them canals, did not
prevent this term from being so extensively used that it is now scarcely
possible to do away with it. A second series of observations was made by
Schiaparelli at the opposition of 1879, when the planet was farther
away, but was better situated as to altitude above the horizon. He now
found a number of additional channels, which were much finer than those
he had previously drawn. The great interest attaching to their seemingly
artificial character gave an impetus to telescopic study of the planet
which has continued to the present time. New canals were added,
especially at the Lowell Observatory, until the entire number listed in
1908 amounted to more than 585. The general character of this complex
system of lines is described by Lowell as a network covering the whole
face of the planet, light and dark regions alike, and connecting at
either end with the respective polar caps there. At their junctions are
small dark pinheads of spots. The lines vary in size between themselves,
but each maintains its own width throughout. But the more difficult of
these objects are only seen occasionally and are variable in
definiteness. Of two canals equally well situated for seeing, only one
may be visible at one time and only the other at other times. If this
variability of aspect among different canals is true as they are seen
from the Lowell Observatory, we find it true to a much greater extent
when we compare descriptions by different observers. At Flagstaff, the
most favourably situated of all the points of observation, they are seen
as fine sharp lines, sometimes as well marked as if drawn with a pencil.
But other observers see them with varying degrees of breadth and
diffuseness.
One remarkable feature of these objects is their occasional
"gemination," some of the canals appearing as if doubled. This was
first noticed by Schiaparelli, and has been confirmed, so far as
observations can confirm it, by other observers. Different explanations
of this phenomenon have been suggested, but the descriptions of it are
not sufficiently definite to render any explanation worthy of entire
confidence possible. Indeed the more cautious astronomers, who have not
specially devoted themselves to the particular phenomena, reserve a
doubt as to how far the apparent phenomena of the finer canals are real,
and what the markings which give rise to their appearance might prove to
be if a better and nearer view of the planet than is now possible could
be obtained. Of the reality of the better marked ones there can be no
doubt, as they have been seen repeatedly by many observers, including
those at the Lick Observatory, and have actually been photographed at
the Lowell Observatory. The doubt is therefore confined to the vast
network of lines so fine that they never certainly have been seen
elsewhere than at Flagstaff. The difficulty of pronouncing upon their
reality arises from the fact that we have to do mainly with objects not
plainly visible (or, as Lowell contends, not plainly visible elsewhere).
The question therefore becomes one of psychological optics rather than
of astronomy. When the question is considered from this point of view it
is found that combinations of light and shaded areas very different from
continuous lines, will, under certain conditions, be interpreted by the
eye as such lines; and when such is the case, long practice by an
observer, however carefully conducted, may confirm him in this
interpretation. To give a single example of the principles involved; it
is found by experiment that if, through a long line so fine as to
approach the limit of visibility, segments not too near each other, or
so short that they would not be visible by themselves, be taken out,
their absence from the line will not be noticed, and the latter will
still seem continuous.[10] In other words we do not change the aspect of
the line by taking away from it a part which by itself would be
invisible. This act of the eye, in interpreting a discontinuous series
of very faint patches as a continuous line, is not, properly speaking,
an optical illusion, but rather a habit. The arguments for the reality
of all the phenomena associated with the canals, while cogent, have not
sufficed to bring about a general consensus of opinion among critics
beyond the limit already mentioned.
Accepting the view that the dark lines on Mars are objectively real and
continuous, and are features as definite in reality as they appear in
the telescope, Professor Lowell has put forth an explanation of
sufficient interest to be mentioned here. His first proposition is that
lines frequently thousands of miles long, each following closely a great
circle, must be the product of design rather than of natural causes. His
explanation is that they indicate the existence of irrigating canals
which carry the water produced annually by the melting of the polar
snows to every part of the planet. The actual canals are too minute to
be visible to us. What we really see as dark lines are broad strips of
vegetation, produced by artificial cultivation extending along each
border of the irrigating streams. On the other hand, in the view of his
critics, the quantity of ice or snow which the sun's rays could melt
around the poles of Mars, the rate of flow and evaporation as the water
is carried toward the equator, and several other of the conditions
involved, require investigation before the theory can be
established.[11]
The accompanying illustrations of Mars and its canals are those of
Lowell, and represent the planet as seen by the Flagstaff observers.
[Illustration: FIG. 2.]
_Satellites and Pole of Mars._--At the opposition of Mars which occurred
in August 1877 the planet was unusually near the earth. Asaph Hall, then
in charge of the 26´´ telescope at the Naval Observatory in Washington,
took advantage of this favourable circumstance to make a careful search
for a visible satellite of the planet. On the night of the 11th of
August he found a faint object near the planet. Cloudy weather
intervened, and the object was not again seen until the 16th, when it
was found to be moving with the planet, leaving no doubt as to its being
a satellite. On the night following an inner satellite much nearer the
planet was observed. This discovery, apart from its intrinsic interest,
is also noteworthy as the first of a series of discoveries of satellites
of the outer planets. The satellites of Mars are difficult to observe,
on account not merely of their faintness, but of their proximity to the
planet, the light of which is so bright as to nearly blot out that of
the satellite. Intrinsically the inner satellite is brighter than the
outer one, but for the reason just mentioned it is more difficult to
observe. The names given them by Hall were Deimos for the outer
satellite and Phobos for the inner one, derived from the mythological
horses that drew the chariot of the god Mars. A remarkable feature of
the orbit of Phobos is that it is so near the planet as to perform a
revolution in less than one-third that of the diurnal rotation of Mars.
The result is that to an inhabitant of Mars this satellite would rise in
the west and set in the east, making two apparent diurnal revolutions
every day. The period of Deimos is only six days greater than that of a
Martian day; consequently its apparent motion around the planet would be
so slow that more than two days elapse between rising and setting, and
again between setting and rising.
[Illustration: FIG. 3.]
Owing to the minuteness of these bodies it is impossible to make any
measures of their diameters. These can be inferred only from their
brightness. Assuming them to be of the same colour as Mars, Lowell
estimates them to be about ten miles for Deimos and somewhat more for
Phobos. But these estimates are uncertain, not only from the somewhat
hypothetical character of the data on which they rest, but from the
difficulty of accurately estimating the brightness of such an object in
the glare of the planet.
A long and careful series of observations was made upon these bodies by
other observers. Later, especially at the very favourable oppositions of
1892 and 1894, observations were made by Hermann Struve at Poulkova, who
subjected all the observations up to 1898 to a very careful discussion.
He showed that the inclination of the planes of the orbits to the
equator of the planet is quite small, thus making it certain that these
two planes can never wander far from each other. In the following
statement of the numerical elements of the entire system, Struve's
results are given for the satellites, while those of Lowell are adopted
for the position of the plane of the equator.
The relations of the several planes can be best conceived by considering
the points at which lines perpendicular to them, or their poles, meet
the celestial sphere. By theory, the pole of the orbital plane of each
satellite revolves round the pole of a certain fixed plane, differing
less from the plane of the equator of Mars the nearer the satellite is
to Mars. Lowell from a combination of his own observations with those
of Schiaparelli, Lohse and Cerulli, found for the pole of the axis of
rotation of Mars[12]:--
R.A. = 317.5°; Dec. = +54.5°; Epoch, 1905.
Tilt[13] of Martian Equator to Martian ecliptic, 23°. 59´. Hermann
Struve, from the observations of the satellites, found theoretically the
following positions of this pole, and of those of the fixed planes of
the satellite orbits for 1900:--
Pole of Mars: R.A. = 317.25° Dec. = 52.63°
Pole of fixed plane for Phobos = 317.24° = 52.64°
Pole of fixed plane for Deimos = 316.20° = 53.37°
Lowell's position of the pole is that now adopted by the British
Nautical Almanac.
The actual positions of the poles of the satellite--orbits revolve
around these poles of the two fixed planes in circles. Putting N for the
right-ascensions of their nodes on the plane of the terrestrial equator,
and J for their angular distance from the north terrestrial pole, N, and
J, for the corresponding poles of the fixed planes, and t for the time
in years after 1900, Struve's results are:--
Deimos.
N1 = 46°.12´ + 0.463´ t; J =36°.42´ - 0.24´ t
(N - N1) sin J = 97.6´ sin (356.8° - 6.375° t)
J - J1 = 97.6 cos (356.8° - 6.375° t)
Phobos.
N1 = 47° 14.3´ + 0.46´ t; J1 = 37° 21.9´ - 0.24´ t
(N - N1) sin J = 53.1´ sin (257°.1´ - 158.0° t)
J - J1 = 53.1´ cos (257°1´ - 158.0 t)
The other elements are:--
Deimos. Phobos.
Mean long. 1894, Oct. o.o G.M.T 186.25° 296.13°
Mean daily motion (tropical) 285.16198° 1128.84396°
Mean distance ([Delta] = 1) 32.373´´ 12.938´´
Long. of pericentre, ([pi] + N) 264° + 6.375°t 14° + 158.0°t
Eccentricity of orbit 0.0031 0.0217
Epoch for t 1900.0 1900.0
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--Flammarion, _La Planète Mars et ses conditions
d'habitilité_ (Paris, 1892), embodies so copious a _résumé_ of all the
publications and drawings relating to Mars up to 1891 that there is
little occasion for reference in detail to early publications. Among
the principal sources may be mentioned the _Monthly Notices_ and
_Memoirs_ of the Royal Astronomical Society, the publications of the
Astronomical Society of the Pacific, especially vols. vi., viii. and
ix., containing observations and discussions by the Mt Hamilton
astronomers, and the journals, _Sidereal Messenger, Astronomy_ and
_Astrophysics_ and _Astrophysical Journal_. Schiaparelli's extended
memoirs appeared under the general title _Osservazioni astronomiche e
fisiche sull' asse di rotazione e sulla topografia del pianeta Marte_,
and were published in different volumes of the _Memoirs_ of the _Reale
Accademia dei Lincei_ of Rome. The observations and drawings of Lowell
are found _in extenso_ in _Annals_ of the Lowell Observatory. Lowell's
conclusions are summarized in _Mars and its Canals_, by Percival
Lowell (1906), and _Mars as the Abode of Life_ (1909). In connexion
with his work may be mentioned _Mars and its Mystery_, by Edward S.
Morse (Boston, 1906), the work of a naturalist who made studies of the
planet at the Lowell Observatory in 1905. Brief discussions and
notices will also be found in the Lowell Observatory _Bulletins_. The
optical principles involved in the interpretations of the canals are
discussed in recent volumes of the _Monthly Notices, R.A.S_., and in
the _Astrophysical Journal_. In 1907 the veteran A. R. Wallace
disputed Lowell's views vigorously in his _Is Mars Habitable?_ and was
briefly answered by Lowell in _Nature_, who contended that Wallace's
theory was not in accord with celestial mechanics. (S. N.)
FOOTNOTES:
[1] _Astronomy and Astrophysics_, iii. 752, and _Astron. Soc. of the
Pacific, Publications_, vi. 273 and ix. 109.
[2] According to Percival Lowell these results were, however,
inconclusive because the strong atmospheric lines lie redwards beyond
the part of the spectrum then possible to observe. Subsequently, by
experimenting with sensitizing dyes, Dr Slipher of the Lowell
Observatory succeeded in 1908 in photographing the spectrum far into
the red. Comparison spectrograms of Mars and the Moon, taken by him
at equal altitudes on such plates, eight in all, show the "a" band,
the great band of water-vapour was distinctly stronger in the
spectrum of Mars, thus affording what appeared decisive evidence of
water vapour in the atmosphere of the planet.
[3] Lowell, _Mars and its Canals_, p. 101.
[4] _Phil. Trans._, vol. 202 A, p. 525.
[5] _Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts and Sciences_, vol. xlii. No. 25.
[6] Professor F. W. Very concurs with Lowell (_Phil. Mag._, 1908).
[7] According to Lowell, the climatic conditions are proportionally
warm in summer.
[8] The great space penetration of the Lowell Observatory is shown in
the case of stars. More stars have been mapped there in a given space
than at the Lick, and Mr Ritchey of the Yerkes Observatory found
stars easily visible there which were only just perceptible at
Yerkes.
[9] As against this, Lowell's answer is that the effect is not
optical; for the belt surrounds the _melting_, not the _making_ cap.
[10] For limits of this theory and Lowell's view of its
inapplicability to Mars, see _Astrophys. Jour._, Sept. 1907.
[11] Prof. Lowell's theory is supported by so much evidence of
different kinds that his own exposition should be read _in extenso_
in _Mars and its canals_ and _Mars as the abode of life_. In order,
however, that his views may be adequately presented here, he has
kindly supplied the following summary in his own words:--
"Owing to inadequate atmospheric advantages generally, much
misapprehension exists as to the definiteness with which the surface
of Mars is seen under good conditions. In steady air the canals are
perfectly distinct lines, not unlike the Fraunhofer ones of the
Spectrum, pencil lines or gossamer filaments according to size. All
the observers at Flagstaff concur in this. The photographs of them
taken there also confirm it up to the limit of their ability. Careful
experiments by the same observers on artificial lines show that if
the canals had breaks amounting to 16 m. across, such breaks would be
visible. None are; while the lines themselves are thousands of miles
long and perfectly straight (_Astrophys. Journ._, Sept. 1907).
Between expert observers representing the planet at the same epoch
the accordance is striking; differences in drawings are differences
of time and are due to seasonal and secular changes in the planet
itself. These seasonal changes have been carefully followed at
Flagstaff, and the law governing them detected. They are found to
depend upon the melting of the polar caps. After the melting is under
way the canals next the cap proceed to darken, and the darkening
thence progresses regularly down the latitudes. Twice this happens
every Martian year, first from one cap and then six Martian months
later from the other. The action reminds one of the quickening of the
Nile valley after the melting of the snows in Abyssinia; only with
planet-wide rhythm. Some of the canals are paired. The phenomenon is
peculiar to certain canals, for only about one-tenth of the whole
number, 56 out of 585, ever show double and these do so regularly.
Each double has its special width; this width between the pair being
400 m. in some cases, only 75 in others. Careful plotting has
disclosed the fact that the doubles cluster round the planet's
equator, rarely pass 40° Lat., and never occur at the poles, though
the planet's axial tilt reveals all its latitudes to us in turn. They
are thus features of those latitudes where the surface is greatest
compared with the area of the polar cap, which is suggestive. Space
precludes mention of many other equally striking peculiarities of the
canals' positioning and development. At the junctions of the canals
are small, dark round spots, which also wax and wane with the
seasons. These facts and a host of others of like significance have
led Lowell to the conclusion that the whole canal system is of
artificial origin, first because of each appearance and secondly
because of the laws governing its development. Every opposition has
added to the assurance that the canals are artificial; both by
disclosing their peculiarities better and better and by removing
generic doubts as to the planet's habitability. The warmer
temperature disclosed from Lowell's investigation on the subject, and
the spectrographic detection by Slipher of water-vapour in the
Martian air, are among the latest of these confirmations."--[ED.]
[12] _Bulletin Lowell Obsy., Monthly Notices, R.A.S._ (1905), 66, p.
51.
[13] _St Petersburg Memoirs_, series viii., Phys. Mars-classe, vol.
viii.
MARSALA, a seaport of Sicily, in the province of Trapani, 19 m. by rail
S. of Trapani. Pop. (1881), 19,732; (1901), 57,567. The low coast on
which it is situated is the westernmost point of the island. The town is
the seat of a bishop, and the cathedral contains 16 grey marble columns,
which are said to have been intended for Canterbury Cathedral in
England, the vessel conveying them having been wrecked here. The town
owes its importance mainly to the trade in Marsala wine.
Marsala occupies the site of _Lilybaeum_, the principal stronghold of
the Carthaginians in Sicily, founded by Himilco after the abandonment of
_Motya_. Neither Pyrrhus nor the Romans were able to reduce it by siege,
but it was surrendered to the latter in 241 B.C. at the end of the First
Punic War. In the later wars it was a starting point for the Roman
expeditions against Carthage; and under Roman rule it enjoyed
considerable prosperity (_C.I.L._ x. p. 742). It obtained municipal
rights from Augustus and became a colony under Pertinax or Septimus
Severus. The Saracens gave it its present name, _Marsa Ali_, port of
Ali. The harbour, which lay on the north-east, was destroyed by Charles
V. to prevent its occupation by pirates. The modern harbour lies to the
south-east. In 1860 Garibaldi landed at Marsala with 1000 men and began
his campaign in Sicily. Scanty remains of the ancient _Lilybaeum_
(fragments of the city walls, of squared stones, and some foundations of
buildings between the walls and the sea) are visible; and the so-called
grotto and spring of the Sibyl may be mentioned. To the east of the town
is a great fosse which defended it on the land side, and beyond this
again are quarries like those of Syracuse on a small scale. The modern
town takes the shape of the Roman camp within the earlier city, one of
the gates of which still existed in 1887. The main street (the Cassaro)
perpetuates the name _castrum_.
MARSDEN, WILLIAM (1754-1836), English orientalist, the son of a Dublin
merchant, was born at Verval, Co. Wicklow on the 16th of November 1754.
He was educated in Dublin, and having obtained an appointment in the
civil service of the East India Company arrived at Benkulen, Sumatra, in
1771. There he soon rose to the office of principal secretary to the
government, and acquired a knowledge of the Malay language and country.
Returning to England in 1779 with a pension, he wrote his _History of
Sumatra_, published in 1783. Marsden was appointed in 1795 second
secretary and afterwards first secretary to the admiralty. In 1807 he
retired and published in 1812 his _Grammar and Dictionary of the Malay
Language_, and in 1818 his translation of the _Travels of Marco Polo_.
He was a member of many learned societies, and treasurer and
vice-president of the Royal Society. In 1834 he presented his collection
of oriental coins to the British Museum, and his library of books and
Oriental MSS. to King's College, London. He died on the 6th of October
1836.
Marsden's other works are: _Numismata orientalia_ (London, 1823-1825);
_Catalogue of Dictionaries, Vocabularies, Grammars and Alphabets_
(1796); and several papers on Eastern topics in the _Philosophical
Transactions_ and the _Archaelogia_.
MARSEILLES, a city of southern France, chief seaport of France and of
the Mediterranean, 219 m. S. by E. of Lyons and 534 m. S.S.E. of Paris,
by the Paris-Lyon-Méditerranée railway. Pop. (1906), commune 517,498;
town 421,116. Marseilles is situated on the Golfe du Lion on the eastern
shore of a bay protected to the south by Cape Croisette but open towards
the west; to the east the horizon is bounded by an amphitheatre of
hills, those in the foreground clothed with vegetation while the more
distant eminences are bare and rugged. The city is built on undulating
ground and the south-western and most aristocratic quarter covers the
slopes of the ridge crowned by a fort and the church of Notre-Dame de la
Garde and projecting westward into the bay to form a protection for the
harbour. The newest and most pleasant portion lies on the south-eastern
slope of the ridge, between the southern end of the Rue Paradis and the
Prado avenues, which is better protected than most other quarters from
the mistral that blows down the Rhone valley, and where in summer the
temperature is always a little lower than in the centre of the town. The
old harbour of Marseilles opens on the west to the Golfe du Lion, the
famous Rue Cannebière[1] prolonged by the Rue Noailles leading E.N.E.
from its inner end. These two streets are the centre of the life of the
city. Continued in the Allées de Meilhan and the Boulevard de la
Madeleine, they form one of its main arteries. The other, at right
angles with the first, connects the Place d'Aix with the spacious and
fashionable Promenade du Prado, by way of the Cours Belsunce and the Rue
de Rome. Other fine streets--the Rue St Ferréol, the Rue Paradis and the
Rue Breteuil are to the south of the Cannebière running parallel with
the Rue de Rome. To these must be added the neighbouring avenue of
Pierre Puget named after the sculptor whose statue stands in the Borély
Park. The Prado, with its avenues of trees and fine houses, runs to
within a quarter of a mile of the Huveaune, a stream that borders the
city on the south-east, then turns off at right angles and extends to
the sea, coming to an end close to the Borély Park and the race-course.
From its extremity the Chemin de la Corniche runs northwards along the
coast, fringed by villas and bathing establishments, to the Anse des
Catalans, a distance of 4½ miles.
The old town of Marseilles is bounded W. by the Joliette basin and the
sea, E. by the Cours Belsunce, S. by the northern quay of the old port,
and N. by the Boulevard des Dames. It consists of a labyrinth of steep,
dark and narrow streets inhabited by a seafaring population. Through its
centre runs the broad Rue de la République, extending from the
Cannebière to the Place de la Joliette. The entrance to the old harbour
is defended by Fort St Jean on the north and Fort St Nicolas on the
south. Behind the latter is the Anse (Creek) de la Réserve. Beyond this
again, situated in succession along the shore, come the Château du
Pharo, given by the empress Eugénie to the town, the Anse du Pharo, the
military exercising ground, and the Anse des Catalans. To the old
harbour, which covers only 70 acres with a mean depth of 19½ ft. and is
now used by sailing vessels, the basin of La Joliette (55 acres) with an
entrance harbour was added in 1853. Communicating with the old harbour
by a channel which passes behind Fort St Jean, this dock opens on the
south into the outer harbour, opposite the palace and the Anse du Pharo.
A series of similar basins separated from the roadstead by a jetty 2½ m.
long was subsequently added along the shore to the north, viz. the
basins of Lazaret and Arenc, bordered by the harbour railway station and
the extensive warehouses of the Compagnie des Docks et Entrepôts, the
Bassin de la Gare Maritime with the warehouses of the chamber of
commerce; the Bassin National with the refitting basin, comprising six
dry docks behind it; and the Bassin de la Pinède entered from the
northern outer harbour. These new docks have a water area of 414 acres
and over 11 m. of quays, and are commodious and deep enough for the
largest vessels to manoeuvre easily.
In the roads to the south-west of the port lie the islands of Ratonneau
and Pomègue, united by a jetty forming a quarantine port. Between them
and the mainland is the islet of Château d'If, in which the scene of
part of Dumas' _Monte Cristo_ is laid.
Marseilles possesses few remains of either the Greek or Roman periods of
occupation, and is poor in medieval buildings. The old cathedral of la
Major (Sainte-Marie-Majeure), dating chiefly from the 12th century and
built on the ruins of a temple of Diana, is in bad preservation. The
chapel of St Lazare (late 15th century) in the left aisle is in the
earliest Renaissance style, and a bas-relief of white porcelain by Lucca
della Robbia is of artistic value. Beside this church and alongside the
Joliette basin is a modern building begun in 1852, opened for worship in
1893 and recognized as the finest modern cathedral in France. It is a
Byzantine basilica, in the form of a Latin cross, 460 ft. long, built in
green Florentine stone blended with white stone from the neighbourhood
of Arles. The four towers which surmount it--two at the west front, one
over the crossing, one at the east end--are roofed with cupolas. Near
the cathedral stands the bishop's palace, and the Place de la Major,
which they overlook, is embellished with the statue of Bishop Belsunce,
who displayed great devotion during the plague of 1720-1721. The
celebrated Notre-Dame de la Garde, the steeple of which, surmounted by a
gilded statue of the Virgin, 30 ft. in height, rises 150 ft. above the
summit of the hill on which it stands, commands a view of the whole port
and town, as well as of the surrounding mountains and the neighbouring
sea. The present chapel is modern and occupies the site of one built in
1214.
On the south side of the old harbour near the Fort St Nicolas stands the
church of St Victor, built in the 13th century and once attached to an
abbey founded early in the 4th century. With its lofty crenellated walls
and square towers built of large blocks of uncemented stone, it
resembles a fortress. St Victor is built above crypts dating mainly
from the 11th century but also embodying architecture of the Carolingian
period and of the early centuries of the Christian era. Tradition
relates that St Lazarus inhabited the catacombs under St Victor; and the
black image of the Virgin, still preserved there, is popularly
attributed to St Luke. The spire, which is the only relic of the ancient
church of Accoules, marks the centre of Old Marseilles. At its foot are
a "calvary" and a curious underground chapel in rock work, both modern.
Notre-Dame du Mont Carmel, also in the old town, occupies the place of
what was the citadel of the Massaliots when they were besieged by Julius
Caesar.
Of the civil buildings of the city, the prefecture, one of the finest in
France, the Palais de Justice, in front of which is the statue of the
advocate Antoine Berryer (1790-1868) and the Exchange, all date from the
latter half of the 19th century. The Exchange, built at the expense of
the Chamber of Commerce, includes the spacious hall of that institution
with its fine mural paintings and gilding. The hôtel-de-ville (17th
century) stands on the northern quay of the old harbour. All these
buildings are surpassed by the Palais Longchamp (1862-1870), situated in
the north-east of the town at the end of the Boulevard Longchamp. The
centre of the building is occupied by a monumental _château d'eau_
(reservoir). Colonnades branch off from this, uniting it on the left to
the picture gallery, with a fine collection of ancient and modern works,
and on the right to the natural history museum, remarkable for its
conchological department and collection of ammonites. In front are
ornamental grounds; behind are extensive zoological gardens, with the
astronomical observatory. The museum of antiquities is established in
the Château Borély (1766-1778) in a fine park at the end of the Prado.
It includes a Phoenician collection (containing the remains that support
the hypothesis of the Phoenician origin of Marseilles), an Egyptian
collection, numerous Greek, Latin, and Christian inscriptions in stone,
&c. A special building within the city contains the school of art with a
valuable library and a collection of medals and coins annexed to it. The
city also has a colonial museum and a laboratory of marine zoology. The
triumphal arch of Aix, originally dedicated to the victors of the
Trocadéro, was in 1830 appropriated to the conquests of the empire.
The canal de Marseille, constructed from 1837 to 1848, which has
metamorphosed the town and its arid surroundings by bringing to them the
waters of the Durance, leaves the river opposite Pertuis. It has a
length of 97 miles (including its four main branches) of which 13 are
underground, and irrigates some 7500 acres. After crossing the valley of
the Arc, between Aix and Rognac, by the magnificent aqueduct of
Roquefavour, it purifies its waters, charged with ooze, in the basins of
Réaltort. It draws about 2200 gallons of water per second from the
Durance, supplies 2450 horse-power to works in the vicinity of
Marseilles, and ensures a good water-supply and efficient sanitation to
the city.
Marseilles is the headquarters of the XV. army corps and the seat of a
bishop and a prefect. It has tribunals of first instance and of
commerce, a chamber of commerce, a board of trade arbitration, and a
branch of the Bank of France. The educational institutions include a
faculty of science, a school of medicine and pharmacy, and a faculty
(_faculté libre_) of law, these three forming part of the university of
Aix-Marseille; lycées for boys and girls, a conservatoire of music, a
school of fine art, a higher school of commerce, a school for ships'
boys, a school of navigation and industrial schools for both sexes.
_Trade and Industry._--Marseilles is the western emporium for the
Levant trade and the French gate of the Far East. It suffers, however,
from the competition of Genoa, which is linked with the Rhine basin by
the Simplon and St Gotthard railway routes, and from lack of
communication with the inland waterways of France. In January 1902 the
chamber of deputies voted £3,656,000 for the construction of a canal
from Marseilles to the Rhone at Arles. This scheme was designed to
overcome the difficulties of egress from the Rhone and to make the
city the natural outlet of the rich Rhone basin. Much of the activity
of the port is due to the demand for raw material created by the
industries of Marseilles itself. The imports include raw silk, sesame,
ground-nuts and other oil-producing fruits and seeds largely used in
the soap manufacture, cereals and flour, wool, hides and skins, olive
and other oils, raw cotton, sheep and other livestock, woven goods,
table fruit, wine, potatoes and dry vegetables, lead, cocoon silk,
coffee, coal, timber. The total value of imports was £64,189,000 in
1907, an increase of £18,000,000 in the preceding decade. The exports,
of which the total value was £52,901,000 (an increase of £21,000,000
in the decade) included cotton fabrics, silk fabrics, cereals and
flour, hides and skins, wool fabrics, worked skins, olive and other
oils, chemical products, wine, refined sugar, raw cotton, wool, coal,
building-material, machinery and pottery.
The port is the centre for numerous lines of steamers, of which the
chief are the Messageries Maritimes, which ply to the eastern
Mediterranean, the east coast of Africa, Australia, India, Indo-China,
Havre and London, and the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique, whose
vessels run to Algiers, Tunis, Malta, Corsica, Morocco and the
Antilles. In addition many important foreign lines call at the port,
among them being the P. and O., the Orient, the North German Lloyd,
and the German East Africa lines.
Marseilles has five chief railway stations, two of which serve the new
harbours, while one is alongside the old port; the city is on the main
line of the Paris-Lyon-Méditerranée railway from the Riviera and
Toulon to Paris via Arles, Avignon and Lyons, another less important
line connecting it with Aix.
Soap-making, introduced in antiquity from Savona and Genoa, is carried
on in upwards of fifty factories. These utilize the products of the
oil-distilleries and of the chemical works, the latter being also an
important adjunct to the manufacture of candles, another leading
industry. A large quantity of iron, copper and other ores is smelted
in the blast-furnaces of Saint Louis in the vicinity and in other
foundries, and the Mediterranean Engineering Company and other
companies have large workshops for the construction or repair of
marine steam-engines and every branch of iron shipbuilding. To these
industries must be added flour-milling, the manufacture of semolina
and other farinaceous foods and of biscuits, bricks and tiles, rope,
casks, capsules for bottles and other tin-goods, tanning, distilling,
brewing and sulphur- and sugar-refining. There are state tobacco and
match factories.
_History._--The Greek colony of Massalia (Lat. _Massilia_) was founded
by the mariners of Phocaea in Asia Minor, about 600 B.C. The settlement
of the Greeks in waters which the Carthaginians reserved for their own
commerce was not effected without a naval conflict; it is not improbable
that the Phoenicians were settled at Marseilles before the Greek period,
and that the name of the town is the Phoenician for "settlement."
Whether the judges (_sophetim_, "suffetes") of the Phoenician
sacrificial tablet of Marseilles were the rulers of a city existing
before the advent of the Phocaeans, or were consuls for Punic residents
in the Greek period, is disputed. In 542 B.C. the fall of the Phocaean
cities before the Persians probably sent new settlers to the Ligurian
coast and cut off the remote city of Massalia from close connexion with
the mother country. Isolated amid alien populations, the Massaliots made
their way by prudence in dealing with the inland tribes, by vigilant
administration of their oligarchical government, and by frugality united
to remarkable commercial and naval enterprise. Their colonies spread
east and west along the coast from Monaco to Cape St Martin in Spain,
carrying with them the worship of Artemis; the inland trade, in which
wine was an important element, can be traced by finds of Massalian coins
across Gaul and through the Alps as far as Tirol. In the 4th century
B.C. the Massaliot Pytheas visited the coasts of Gaul, Britain and
Germany, and Euthymenes is said to have sailed down the west coast of
Africa as far as Senegal. The great rival of Massalian trade was
Carthage, and in the Punic Wars the city took the side of Rome, and was
rewarded by Roman assistance in the subjugation of the native tribes of
Liguria. In the war between Caesar and Pompey Massilia took Pompey's
side and in A.D. 49 offered a vain resistance to Caesar's lieutenant
Trebonius. In memory of its ancient services the city, "without which,"
as Cicero says, "Rome had never triumphed over the Transalpine nations,"
was left as a _civitas libera_, but her power was broken and most of her
dependencies taken from her. From this time Massilia has little place in
Roman history; it became for a time an important school of letters and
medicine, but its commercial and intellectual importance declined. The
town appears to have been christianized before the end of the 3rd
century, and at the beginning of the 4th century was the scene of the
martyrdom of St Victor. Its reputation partly revived through the names
of Gennadius and Cassian, which give it prominence in the history of
Semi-Pelagianism and the foundation of western monachism.
After the ravages of successive invaders, Marseilles was repeopled in
the 10th century under the protection of its viscounts. The town
gradually bought up their rights, and at the beginning of the 13th
century was formed into a republic, governed by a _podestat_, who was
appointed for life, and exercised his office in conjunction with 3
notables, and a municipal council, composed of 80 citizens, 3 clerics,
and 6 principal tradesmen. During the rest of the middle ages, however,
the higher town was governed by the bishop, and had its harbour at the
creek of La Joliette which at that period ran inland to the north of the
old town. The southern suburb was governed by the abbot of St Victor,
and owned the Port des Catalans. Situated between the two, the lower
town, the republic, retained the old harbour, and was the most powerful
of the three divisions. The period of the crusades brought prosperity to
Marseilles, though throughout the middle ages it suffered from the
competition of Pisa, Genoa and Venice. In 1245 and 1256 Charles of
Anjou, count of Provence, whose predecessors had left the citizens a
large measure of independence, established his authority above that of
the republic. In 1423 Alphonso V. of Aragon sacked the town. King René,
who had made it his winter residence, however, caused trade, arts and
manufactures again to flourish. On the embodiment of Provence in the
kingdom of France in 1481, Marseilles preserved a separate
administration directed by royal officials. Under Francis I. the
disaffected constable Charles de Bourbon vainly besieged the town with
the imperial forces in 1524. During the wars of religion, Marseilles
took part against the Protestants, and long refused to acknowledge Henry
IV. The loss of the ancient liberties of the town brought new
disturbances under the Fronde, which Louis XIV. came in person to
suppress. He entered the town by a breach in the walls and afterwards
had Fort St Nicolas constructed. Marseilles repeatedly suffered from the
plague, notably from May 1720 to May 1721.
During the Revolution the people rose against the aristocracy, who up to
that time had governed the commune. In the Terror they rebelled against
the Convention, but were promptly subdued by General Carteaux. The wars
of the empire, by dealing a blow to their maritime commerce, excited the
hatred of the inhabitants against Napoleon, and they hailed the return
of the Bourbons and the defeat of Waterloo. The news of the latter
provoked a bloody reaction in the town against those suspected of
imperialism. The prosperity of the city received a considerable impulse
from the conquest of Algeria and from the opening of the Suez Canal.
See P. Castanier, _Histoire de la Provence dans l'antiquité_, vol. ii.
(Paris, 1896); E. Caman, _Marseille au XX^me siècle_ (Paris, 1905); P.
Joanne, _Marseille et ses environs_.
FOOTNOTE:
[1] From the Latin _cannabis_, Provençal _cannèbe_, "hemp," in
allusion to the rope-walks formerly occupying its site.
MARSH, ADAM (ADAM DE MARISCO) (d. c. 1258), English Franciscan, scholar
and theologian, was born about 1200 in the diocese of Bath, and educated
at Oxford under the famous Grosseteste. Before 1226 Adam received the
benefice of Wearmouth from his uncle, Richard Marsh, bishop of Durham;
but between that year and 1230 he entered the Franciscan order. About
1238 he became the lecturer of the Franciscan house at Oxford, and
within a few years was regarded by the English province of that order as
an intellectual and spiritual leader. Roger Bacon, his pupil, speaks
highly of his attainments in theology and mathematics. His fame,
however, rests upon the influence which he exercised over the statesmen
of his day. Consulted as a friend by Grosseteste, as a spiritual
director by Simon de Montfort, the countess of Leicester and the queen,
as an expert lawyer and theologian by the primate, Boniface of Savoy, he
did much to guide the policy both of the opposition and of the court
party in all matters affecting the interests of the Church. He shrank
from office, and never became provincial minister of the English
Franciscans, though constantly charged with responsible commissions.
Henry III. and Archbishop Boniface unsuccessfully endeavoured to secure
for him the see of Ely in 1256. In 1257 Adam's health was failing, and
he appears to have died in the following year. To judge from his
correspondence he took no interest in secular politics. He sympathized
with Montfort as with a friend of the Church and an unjustly treated
man; but on the eve of the baronial revolution he was on friendly terms
with the king. Faithful to the traditions of his order, he made it his
ambition to be a mediator. He rebuked both parties in the state for
their shortcomings, but he did not break with either.
See his correspondence, with J. S. Brewer's introduction, in
_Monumenta franciscana_, vol. i. (Rolls ser., 1858); the biographical
notice in A. G. Little's Grey _Friars in Oxford_ (Oxford, 1892), where
all the references are collected. On Marsh's relations with
Grosseteste, see _Roberti Grosseteste epistolae_, ed. H. R. Luard
(Rolls ed., 1861), and F. S. Stevenson, _Robert Grosseteste_ (London,
1809). (H. W. C. D.)
MARSH, GEORGE PERKINS (1801-1882), American diplomatist and philologist,
was born at Woodstock, Vermont, on the 15th of March 1801. He graduated
at Dartmouth College in 1820, was admitted to the bar in 1825, and
practised law at Burlington, Vermont, devoting himself also with ardour
to philological studies. In 1835 he was a member of the Supreme
Executive Council of Vermont, and from 1843 to 1849 a Whig
representative in Congress. In 1849 he was appointed United States
minister resident in Turkey, and in 1852-1853 discharged a mission to
Greece in connexion with the imprisonment by the authorities of that
country of an American missionary, Dr Jonas King (1792-1869). He
returned to Vermont in 1854, and in 1857 was a member of the state
railway commission. In 1861 he became the first United States minister
to the kingdom of Italy, and died in that office at Vallombrosa on the
23rd of July 1882. He was buried in a Protestant cemetery in Rome. Marsh
was an able linguist, writing and speaking with ease the Scandinavian
and half a dozen other European languages, a remarkable philologist for
his day, and a scholar of great breadth, knowing much of military
science, engraving and physics, as well as of Icelandic, which was his
specialty. He wrote many articles for Johnson's _Universal Cyclopaedia_,
and contributed many reviews and letters to the _Nation_. His chief
published works are: _A Compendious Grammar of the Old Northern or
Icelandic Language_ (1838), compiled and translated from the grammars of
Rask; _The Camel, his Organization, Habits, and Uses, with Reference to
his Introduction into the United States_ (1856); _Lectures on the
English Language_ (1860); _The Origin and History of the English
Language_ (1862; revised ed., 1885); and _Man and Nature_ (1865). The
last-named work was translated into Italian in 1872, and, largely
rewritten, was issued in 1874 under the title _The Earth as Modified by
Human Action_; a revised edition was published in 1885. He also
published a work on _Mediaeval and Modern Saints and Miracles_ (1876).
His valuable library was presented in 1883 by Frederick Billings to the
university of Vermont. His second wife, CAROLINE (CRANE) MARSH
(1816-1901), whom he married in 1839, published _Wolfe of the Knoll and
other Poems_ (1860), and the _Life and Letters of George Perkins Marsh_
(New York, 1888). This last work was left incomplete, the second volume
never having been published. She also translated from the German of
Johann C. Biernatzki (1795-1840), _The Hallig; or the Sheepfold in the
Waters_ (1856).
MARSH, HERBERT (1757-1839), English divine, was born at Faversham, Kent,
on the 10th of December 1757, and was educated at St John's College,
Cambridge, where he was elected fellow in 1782, having been second
wrangler and second Smith's prizeman. For some years he studied at
Leipzig, and between 1793 and 1801 published in four volumes a
translation of J. D. Michaelis's _Introduction to the New Testament_,
with notes of his own, in which he may be said to have introduced German
methods of research into English biblical scholarship. His _History of
the Politics of Great Britain and France_ (1799) brought him much notice
and a pension from William Pitt. In 1807 he was appointed Lady Margaret
professor of divinity at Cambridge, and lectured to large audiences on
biblical criticism, substituting English for the traditional Latin. Both
here, and afterwards as bishop of Llandaff (1816) and of Peterborough
(1819), he stoutly opposed hymn-singing, Calvinism, Roman Catholicism,
and the Evangelical movement as represented by Charles Simeon and the
Bible Society. Among his writings are _Lectures on the Criticism and
Interpretation of the Bible_ (1828), _A Comparative View of the Churches
of England and Rome_ (1814), and _Horae Pelasgicae_ (1815). He died at
Peterborough on the 1st of May 1839.
MARSH, NARCISSUS (1638-1713), archbishop of Dublin and Armagh, was born
at Hannington, Wiltshire, and educated at Oxford. He became a fellow of
Exeter College, Oxford, in 1658. In 1662 he was ordained, and presented
to the living of Swindon, which he resigned in the following year. After
acting as chaplain to Seth Ward, bishop of Exeter and Salisbury, and
Lord Chancellor Clarendon, he was elected principal of St Alban Hall,
Oxford, in 1673. In 1679 he was appointed provost of Trinity College,
Dublin, where he did much to encourage the study of the Irish language.
He helped to found the Royal Dublin Society, and contributed to it a
paper entitled "Introductory Essay to the Doctrine of Sounds" (printed
in _Philosophical Transactions_, No. 156, Oxford, 1684). In 1683 he was
consecrated bishop of Ferns and Leighlin, but after the accession of
James II. he was compelled by the turbulent soldiery to flee to England
(1689), where he became vicar of Gresford, Flint, and canon of St Asaph.
Returning to Ireland in 1691 after the battle of the Boyne, he was made
archbishop of Cashel, and three years later he became archbishop of
Dublin. About this time he founded the Marsh Library in Dublin. He
became archbishop of Armagh in 1703. Between 1699 and 1711 he was six
times a lord justice of Ireland. He died on the 2nd of November 1713.
MARSH, OTHNIEL CHARLES (1831-1899), American palaeontologist, was born
in Lockport, New York, on the 29th of October 1831. He graduated at Yale
College in 1860, and studied geology and mineralogy in the Sheffield
scientific school, New Haven, and afterwards palaeontology and anatomy
in Berlin, Heidelberg and Breslau. Returning to America in 1866 he was
appointed professor of vertebrate palaeontology at Yale College, and
there began the researches of the fossil vertebrata of the western
states, whereby he established his reputation. He was aided by a private
fortune from his uncle, George Peabody, whom he induced to establish the
Peabody Museum of Natural History (especially devoted to zoology,
geology and mineralogy) in the college. In May 1871 he discovered the
first pterodactyl remains found in America, and in subsequent years he
brought to light from Wyoming and other regions many new genera and
families, and some entirely new orders of extinct vertebrata, which he
described in monographs or periodical articles. These included remains
of the Cretaceous toothed birds _Hesperornis_ and _Ichthyornis_, the
Cretaceous flying-reptiles (_Pteranodon_), the swimming reptiles or
Mosasauria, and the Cretaceous and Jurassic land reptiles (_Dinosauria_)
among which were the _Brontosaurus_ and _Atlantosaurus_. The remarkable
mammals which he termed Brontotheria (now grouped as Titanotheriidae),
and the huge Dinocerata, one being the _Uintatherium_, were also brought
to light by him. Among his later discoveries were remains of early
ancestors of horses in America. On becoming vice-president of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1875 he gave an
address on the "Introduction and Succession of Vertebrate Life in
America," summarizing his conclusions to that date. He repeatedly
organized and often accompanied scientific exploring expeditions in the
Rocky Mountains, and their results tended in an important degree to
support the doctrines of natural selection and evolution. He published
many papers on these, and found time--besides that necessarily given to
the accumulation and care of the most extensive collection of fossils in
the world--to write _Odontornithes: A Monograph on the Extinct Toothed
Birds of North America_ (1880); _Dinocerata: A Monograph on an Extinct
Order of Gigantic Mammals_ (1884); and _The Dinosaurs of North America_
(1896). His work is full of accurately recorded facts of permanent
value. He was long in charge of the division of vertebrate palaeontology
in the United States Geological Survey, and received many scientific
honours, medals and degrees, American and foreign. He died in New Haven
on the 18th of March 1899.
See obituary by Dr Henry Woodward (with portrait) in _Geol. Mag._
(1899), p. 237.
MARSH (O. F. _mersc_, for _merisc_, a place full of "meres" or pools;
cf. Ger. _Meer_, sea, Lat. _mare_), an area of low-lying watery land.
The significance of a marsh area is not so much in the manner of its
formation as in the peculiar chemical and physical results that
accompany it, and its relation to the ecology of plant and animal life.
Chemically it is productive of such gases as arise from decomposing
vegetation and are transitory in their effects, and in the production of
hydrated iron oxide, which may be seen floating as an iridescent scum at
the edge of rusty, marshy pools. This sinks into the soil and forms a
powerful iron cement to many sandstones, binding them into a hard local
mass, while the surrounding sandstones are loose and friable. A curious
morphological inversion follows in a later geological period, the marsh
area forming the hard cap of a hill (see MESA) while the surrounding
sandstones are weathered away. Salt marshes are a feature of many
low-lying sea-coasts and areas of inland drainage.
MARSHAL (med. Lat. _marescalcus_, from O.H.Ger. _marah_, horse, and
_scalc_, servant), a title given in various countries to certain
military and civil officers, usually of high rank. The origin and
development of the meaning of the designation is closely analogous with
that of constable (q.v.). Just as the title of constable, in all its
medieval and modern uses, is traceable to the style and functions of the
Byzantine count of the stable, so that of marshal was evolved from the
title of the _marescalci_, or masters of the horse, of the early
Frankish kings. In this original sense the word survived down to the
close of the Holy Roman empire in the titular office of _Erz-Marschalk_
(arch-marshal), borne by the electors of Saxony. Elsewhere the meaning
of office and title was modified. The importance of cavalry in medieval
warfare led to the marshalship being associated with military command;
this again led to the duty of keeping order in court and camp, of
deciding questions of chivalry, and to the assumption of judicial and
executive functions. The marshal, as a military leader, was originally a
subordinate officer, the chief command under the king being held by the
constable; but in the 12th century, though still nominally second to the
constable, the marshal has come to the forefront as commander of the
royal forces and a great officer of state. In England after the Conquest
the marshalship was hereditary in the family which derived its surname
from the office, and the hereditary title of earl-marshal originated in
the marriage of William Marshal with the heiress of the earldom of
Pembroke (see EARL MARSHAL). Similarly, in Scotland, the office of
marischal (from the French _maréchal_), probably introduced under David
I., became in the 14th century hereditary in the house of Keith. In 1485
the Scottish marischal became an earl under the designation of
earl-marischal, the dignity coming to an end by the attainder of George,
10th earl-marischal, in 1716. In France, on the other hand, though under
Philip Augustus the marshal of France (_marescalcus Franciae_) appears
as commander-in-chief of the forces, care was taken not to allow the
office to become descendible; under Francis I. the number of marshals of
France was raised to two, under Henry III. to four, and under Louis XIV.
to twenty. Revived by Napoleon, the title fell into abeyance with the
downfall of the Second empire.
In England the use of the word marshal in the sense of commander of an
army appears very early; so Matthew Paris records that in 1214 King John
constituted William, earl of Salisbury, _marescalcus_ of his forces. The
modern military title of field marshal, imported from Germany by King
George II. in 1736, is derived from the high dignity of the
_marescalcus_ in a roundabout way. The _marescalcus campi_, or _maréchal
des champs_, was originally one of a number of officials to whom the
name, with certain of the functions, of the marshal was given. The
marshal, being responsible for order in court and camp, had to employ
subordinates, who developed into officials often but nominally dependent
upon him. On military expeditions it was usual for two such marshals to
precede the army, select the site of the camp and assign to the lords
and knights their places in it. In time of peace they preceded the king
on a journey and arranged for his lodging and maintenance. In France
_maréchal des logis_ is the title of superior non-commissioned officers
in the cavalry.
Similarly at the king's court the _marescalcus aulae_ or _intrinsecus_
was responsible for order, the admission or exclusion of those seeking
access, ceremonial arrangements, &c. Such "marshals" were maintained,
not only by the king, but by great lords and ecclesiastics. The more
dignified of their functions, together with the title, survive in the
various German courts, where the court marshal (_Hofmarschall_) is
equivalent to the English lord chamberlain. Just as the _marescalcus
intrinsecus_ acted as the vicar of the marshal for duties "within" the
court, so the _marescalcus forinsecus_ was deputed to perform those acts
of serjeanty due from the marshal to the Crown "without." Similarly
there appears in the statute 5 Edw. III. cap. 8, a _marescalcus banci
regii_ (_maréchal du Banc du Roy_), or marshal of the king's bench, who
presided over the Marshalsea Court, and was responsible for the safe
custody of prisoners, who were bestowed in the _mareschalcia_, or
Marshalsea prison. The office of marshal of the queen's bench survived
till 1849 (see LORD STEWARD; and MARSHALSEA). The official known as a
judge's marshal, whose office is of considerable antiquity, and whose
duties consisted of making abstracts of indictments and pleadings for
the use of the judge, still survives, but no longer exercises the above
functions. He accompanies a judge of assize on circuit and is appointed
by him at the beginning of each circuit. His travelling and other
expenses are paid by the judge, and he receives an allowance of two
guineas a day, which is paid through the Treasury. He introduces the
high sheriff of the county to the judge of assize on his arrival, and
swears in the grand jury. For the French _maréchaussée_ see FRANCE: §
_Law and Institutions_.
In the sense of executive legal officer the title marshal survives in
the United States of America in two senses. The United States marshal is
the executive officer of the Federal courts, one being appointed for
each district, or exceptionally, one for two districts. His duties are
to open and close the sessions of the district and circuit courts, serve
warrants, and execute throughout the district the orders of the court.
There are United States marshals also in Alaska, Hawaii, Porto Rico and
the Philippines. They are appointed by the President, with the advice
and consent of the Senate, for a term of four years, and, besides their
duties in connexion with the courts, are employed in the service of the
internal revenue, public lands, post office, &c. The temporary police
sworn in to maintain order in times of disturbance, known in England as
special constables, are also termed marshals in the United States. In
some of the southern and western states of the Union the title marshal
has sunk to that of the village policeman, as distinct from the county
officers known as sheriffs and those of the justices' courts called
constables.
In England the title of marshal, as applied to an executive officer,
survives only in the army, where the provost marshal is chief of the
military police in large garrisons and in field forces. Office and title
were borrowed from the French _prévot des maréchaux_, the modern
equivalent of the medieval _praepositus marescalcorum_ or _guerrarum_.
MARSHALL, ALFRED (1842- ), English economist, was born in London on
the 26th of July 1842. He was educated at the Merchant Taylors' School
and St John's College, Cambridge, being second wrangler in 1865, and in
the same year becoming fellow of his college. He became principal of
University College, Bristol, in 1877, and was lecturer and fellow of
Balliol College, Oxford in 1883-1884. He was professor of political
economy at Cambridge University from 1885 to 1908, and was a member of
the Royal Commission on Labour in 1891. He became a fellow of the
British Academy in 1902. He wrote (in conjunction with his wife)
_Economics of Industry_ (1879), whilst his _Principles of Economics_
(1st ed., 1890) is a standard English treatise.
MARSHALL, JOHN (1755-1835), American jurist, chief-justice of the U.S.
Supreme Court, was born on the 24th of September 1755 at Germantown (now
Midland), in what four years later became Fauquier county, Virginia. He
was of English descent, the son of Thomas Marshall (1732-1806) and his
wife Mary Isham Keith. Marshall served first as lieutenant and after
July 1778 as captain in the Continental Army during the War of
Independence. He resigned his commission early in 1781; was admitted to
the bar after a brief course of study, first practised in Fauquier
county; and after two years began to practise in Richmond. In 1786 we
find him counsel in a case of great importance, _Hite_ v. _Fairfax_,
involving the original title of Lord Fairfax to that large tract of
country between the headwaters of the Potomac and Rappahannock, known as
the northern neck of Virginia. Marshall represented tenants of Lord
Fairfax and won his case. From this time, as is shown by an examination
of Call's _Virginia Reports_ which cover the period, he maintained the
leadership of the bar of Virginia. He was a member of the Virginia
Assembly in 1782-1791 and again in 1795-1797; and in 1788, he took a
leading part in the Virginia Convention called to act on the proposed
constitution for the United States, with Madison ably urging the
ratification of that instrument. In 1795 Washington offered him the
attorney-generalship, and in 1796, after the retirement of James Monroe,
the position of minister to France. Marshall declined both offers
because his situation at the bar appeared to him "to be more independent
and not less honourable than any other," and his "preference for it was
decided." He spent the autumn and winter of 1797-1798 in France as one
of the three commissioners appointed by President John Adams to adjust
the differences between the young republic and the directory. The
commission failed, but the course pursued by Marshall was approved in
America, and with the resentment felt because of the way in which the
commission had been treated in France, made him, on his return,
exceedingly popular. To this popularity, as well as to the earnest
advocacy of Patrick Henry, he owed his election as a Federalist to the
National House of Representatives in the spring of 1799, though the
feeling in Richmond was overwhelmingly in favour of the opposition or
Republican party. His most notable service in Congress was his speech on
the case of Thomas Nash, alias Jonathan Robbins, in which he showed that
there is nothing in the constitution of the United States which prevents
the Federal government from carrying out an extradition treaty. He was
secretary of state under President Adams from the 6th of June 1800 to
the 4th of March 1801. In the meantime he had been appointed
chief-justice of the Supreme Court, his commission bearing date the 31st
of January. Thus while still secretary he presided as chief-justice.
At the time of Marshall's appointment it was generally considered that
the Supreme Court was the one department of the new government which had
failed in its purpose. John Jay, the first chief-justice, who had
resigned in 1795, had just declined a reappointment to the
chief-justiceship on the ground that he had left the bench perfectly
convinced that the court would never acquire proper weight and dignity,
its organization being fatally defective. The advent of the new
chief-justice was marked by a change in the conduct of business in the
court. Since its organization, following the prevailing English custom,
the judges had pronounced their opinions seriatim. But beginning with
the December term 1801, the chief-justice became practically the sole
mouthpiece of the court. For eleven years the opinions are almost
exclusively his, and there are few recorded dissents. The change was
admirably adapted to strengthen the power and dignity of the court. The
chief-justice embodied the majesty of the judicial department of the
government almost as fully as the president stood for the power of the
executive. That this change was acquiesced in by his associates without
diminishing their goodwill towards their new chief is testimony to the
persuasive force of Marshall's personality; for his associates were not
men of mediocre ability. After the advent of Mr Justice Joseph Story the
practice was abandoned. Marshall, however, still delivered the opinion
in the great majority of cases, and in practically all cases of any
importance involving the interpretation of the Constitution. During the
course of his judicial life his associates were as a rule men of
learning and ability. During most of the time the majority were the
appointees of Democratic presidents, and before their elevation to the
bench supposed to be out of sympathy with the federalistic ideas of the
chief-justice. Yet in matters pertaining to constitutional construction,
they seem to have had hardly any other function than to add the weight
of their silent concurrence to the decision of their great chief. Thus
the task of expounding the constitution during the most critical period
of its history was his, and it was given to him to preside over the
Supreme Court when it was called upon to decide four cases of vital
importance: _Marbury_ v. _Madison_, _M'Culloch_ v. _Maryland_, _Cohens_
v. _Virginia_ and _Gibbons_ v. _Ogden_. In each of these cases it is
Marshall who writes the opinion of the court; in each the continued
existence of the peculiar Federal system established by the Constitution
depended on the action of the court, and in each the court adopted a
principle which is now generally perceived to be essential to the
preservation of the United States as a federal state.
In _Marbury_ v. _Madison_, which was decided two years after his
elevation to the bench, he decided that it was the duty of the court
to disregard any act of Congress, and, therefore, a fortiori any act
of a legislature of one of the states, which the court thought
contrary to the Federal Constitution.
In _Cohens_ v. _Virginia_, in spite of the contention of Jefferson and
the then prevalent school of political thought that it was contrary to
the Constitution for a person to bring one of the states of the United
States, though only as an appellee, into a court of justice, he held
that Congress could lawfully pass an act which permitted a person who
was convicted in a state court, to appeal to the Supreme Court of the
United States, if he alleged that the state act under which he was
convicted conflicted with the Federal Constitution or with an act of
Congress.
In _M'Culloch_ v. _Maryland_, though admitting that the Federal
government is one of delegated powers and cannot exercise any power
not expressly given in the Constitution, he laid down the rule that
Congress in the exercise of a delegated power has a wide latitude in
the choice of means, not being confined in its choice of means to
those which must be used if the power is to be exercised at all.
Lastly, in _Gibbons_ v. _Ogden_, he held that when the power to
regulate interstate and foreign commerce was conferred by the
Constitution on the Federal government, the word "commerce" included
not only the exchange of commodities, but the means by which
interstate and foreign intercourse was carried on, and therefore that
Congress had the power to license vessels to carry goods and
passengers between the states, and an act of one of the states making
a regulation which interfered with such regulation of Congress was,
_pro tanto_, of no effect. It will be seen that in the first two cases
he established the Supreme Court as the final interpreter of the
Constitution.
The decision in _M'Culloch_ v. _Maryland_, by leaving Congress
unhampered in the choice of means to execute its delegated powers,
made it possible for the Federal government to accomplish the ends of
its existence. "Let the end be legitimate," said Marshall in the
course of its opinion, "let it be within the scope of the
Constitution, and all means which are appropriate, which are plainly
adapted to that end, which are not prohibited, but consist with the
letter and spirit of the Constitution, are constitutional."
If the decision in _M'Culloch_ v. _Maryland_ gave vigour to all
Federal power, the decision in _Gibbons_ v. _Ogden_, by giving the
Federal government control over the means by which interstate and
foreign commerce is carried on, preserved the material prosperity of
the country. The decision recognizes what the framers of the
Constitution recognized, namely that the United States is an economic
union, and that business which is national should be under national,
not state, control.
Though for the reasons stated, the four cases mentioned are the most
important of his decisions, the value of his work as an expounder of the
Constitution of the United States is not to be measured by these cases
alone. In all he decided forty-four cases involving constitutional
questions. Nearly every important part of the Constitution of the United
States as it existed before the amendments which were adopted after the
Civil War, is treated in one or more of them. The Constitution in its
most important aspects is the Constitution as he interpreted it. He did
not work out completely the position of the states in the Federal
system, but he did grasp and establish the position of the Federal
legislature and the Federal judiciary. To appreciate his work, however,
it is necessary to see that it was the work not of a statesman but of a
judge. Had Marshall been merely a far-seeing statesman, while most of
his important cases would have been decided as he decided them, his
life-work would have been a failure. It was not only necessary that he
should decide great constitutional questions properly, but also that the
people of the United States should be convinced of the correctness of
his interpretation of the Constitution. His opinions, therefore, had to
carry to those who studied them a conviction that the constitution as
written had been interpreted according to its evident meaning. They
fulfilled this prime requisite. Their chief characteristic is the
cumulative force of the argument. The ground for the premiss is
carefully prepared, the premiss itself is clearly stated; nearly every
possible objection is examined and answered; and then comes the
conclusion. There is little or no repetition, but there is a wealth of
illustration, a completeness of analysis, that convinces the reader, not
only that the subject has been adequately treated, but that it has been
exhausted. His style, reflecting his character, suits perfectly the
subject matter. Simple in the best sense of the word, his intellectual
processes were so clear that he never doubted the correctness of the
conclusion to which they led him. Apparently from his own point of view,
he merely indicated the question at issue, and the inexorable rules of
logic did the rest. Thus his opinions are simple, clear, dignified.
Intensely interesting, the interest is in the argument, not in its
expression. He had, in a wonderful degree, the power of phrase. He
expressed important principles of law in language which tersely yet
clearly conveyed his exact meaning. Not only is the Constitution
interpreted largely as he taught the people of the United States to
interpret it, but when they wish to express important constitutional
principles which he enunciated they use his exact words. Again, his
opinions show that he adhered closely to the words of the Constitution;
indeed no one who has attempted to expound that instrument has confined
himself more strictly to an examination of the text. In the proper,
though not in the historical, sense he was the strictest of strict
constructionalists, and as a result his opinions are practically devoid
of theories of government, sovereignty and the rights of man.
A single illustration of his avoidance of all theory and his adherence
to the words of the Constitution will suffice. In the case of the
_United States_ v. _Fisher_ the constitutional question involved was
the power of Congress to give to the United States a preference over
all other creditors in the distribution of the assets of a bankrupt.
Such an act can be upheld on the ground that all governments have
necessarily the right to give themselves priority. Not so Marshall. To
him the act must be supported, if supported at all, not on any theory
of the innate nature of the government, national or otherwise, but as
a reasonable means of carrying out one of the express powers conferred
by the Constitution on the Federal government. Thus, he upholds the
act in question because of the power expressly conferred on the
Federal government to pay the debts of the union, and as a necessary
consequence of this power the right to make remittances by bills or
otherwise and to take precautions which will render the transactions
safe.
It is important to emphasize the fact that Marshall adhered in his
opinions to the Constitution as written, not only because it is a fact
which must be recognized if we are to understand the correct value of
his work in the field of constitutional law, but also because there
exists to-day a popular impression that by implication he stretched to
the utmost the powers of the Federal government. This impression is due
primarily to the ignorance of many of those who have undertaken to
praise him. During his life he was charged by followers of the States
Rights School of political thought with upholding Federal power in cases
not warranted by the constitution. Later, however, those who admired a
strong national government, without taking the trouble to ascertain
whether the old criticism by members of the States Rights Party was
just, regarded the assumption on which it was founded as Marshall's best
claim to his country's gratitude.
As a constitutional lawyer, Marshall stands without a rival. His work on
international law and admiralty is of first rank. But though a good, he
was not a great, common law or equity lawyer. In these fields he did not
make new law nor clarify what was obscure, and his constitutional
opinions which to-day are found least satisfactory are those in which
the question to be solved necessarily involves the discussion of some
common-law conception, especially those cases in which he was required
to construe the restriction imposed by the Constitution on any state
impairing the obligation of contracts. His decision in the celebrated
case of _Dartmouth College_ v. _Woodward_, in which he held that a state
could not repeal a charter of a private corporation, because a charter
is a contract which a subsequent act of the state repealing the charter
impairs, though of great economic importance, does not touch any
fundamental question of constitutional law. The argument which he
advances lacks the clearness and finality for which most of his opinions
are celebrated. It is not certain with whom he thought the contract was
made: with the corporation created by the charter, with the trustees of
the corporation, or with those who had contributed money to its objects.
Of the wonderful persuasive force of Marshall's personality there is
abundant evidence. His influence over his associates, already referred
to, is but one example though a most impressive one. From the moment he
delivered the opinion in _Marbury_ v. _Madison_ the legal profession
knew that he was a great judge. Each year added to his reputation and
made for a better appreciation of his intellectual and moral qualities.
The bar of the Supreme Court during his chief-justiceship was the most
brilliant which the United States has ever known. Leaders, not only of
legal, but political thought were among its members; one, Webster, was a
man of genius and commanding position. To a very great degree Marshall
impressed on the members of this bar and on the profession generally his
own ideas of the correct interpretation of the Constitution and his own
love for the union. He did this, not merely by his arguments but by the
influence which was his by right of his strong, sweet nature. Statesmen
and politicians, great and small, were at this time, almost without
exception, members of the bar. To influence the political thought of the
bar was to a great extent to influence the political thought of the
people.
In 1782 he married Mary Willis Ambler, the daughter of the then
treasurer of Virginia. They had ten children, six of whom grew to full
age. For the greater part of the forty-eight years of their married life
Mrs Marshall suffered intensely from a nervous affliction. Her condition
called out the love and sympathy of her husband's deep and affectionate
nature. Judge Story tells us: "That which, in a just sense, was his
highest glory, was the purity, affectionateness, liberality and
devotedness of his domestic life." For the first thirty years of his
chief-justiceship his life was a singularly happy one. He never had to
remain in Washington for more than three months. During the rest of the
year, with the exception of a visit to Raleigh, which his duties as
circuit judge required him to make, and a visit to his old home in
Fauquier county, he lived in Richmond. His house on Shockhoe Hill is
still standing.
On Christmas Day 1831 his wife died. He never was quite the same again.
On returning from Washington in the spring of 1835 he suffered severe
contusions, from an accident to the stage coach in which he was riding.
His health, which had not been good, now rapidly declined and in June he
returned to Philadelphia for medical attendance. There he died on the
6th of July. His body, which was taken to Richmond, lies in Shockhoe
Hill Cemetery under a plain marble slab, on which is a simple
inscription written by himself. In addition to his decisions Marshall
wrote a famous biography of George Washington (5 vols., 1804-1807; 2nd
ed., 2 vols., 1832), which though prepared hastily contains much
material of value.
The principal sources of information are: an essay by James B. Thayer
(Boston and New York, 1904); _Great American Lawyers_ (Philadelphia,
1908), ii. 313-408, an essay by Wm. Draper Lewis; and Allan B.
Magruder, _John Marshall_ (Boston, 1885), in the "American Statesmen
Series." The addresses delivered on Marshall Day, the 4th of February
1901, are collected by John F. Dillon (Chicago, 1903). In the
"Appendix" to Dillon's collection will be found the "Discourse" by
Joseph Story and the "Eulogy" by Horace Binney, both delivered soon
after Marshall's death. For a study of Marshall's decisions, the
_Constitutional Decisions of John Marshall_, edited by Joseph P.
Collon, Jr. (New York and London, 1905), is of value. (W. D. L.)
MARSHALL, JOHN (1818-1891), British surgeon and physiologist, was born
at Ely, on the 11th of September 1818, his father being a lawyer of that
city. He entered University College, London, in 1838, and in 1847 he was
appointed assistant-surgeon at the hospital, becoming in 1866 surgeon
and professor of surgery. He was professor of anatomy at the Royal
Academy from 1873 till his death. In 1883 he was president of the
College of Surgeons, also Bradshaw lecturer (on "Nerve-stretching for
the relief or cure of pain"), Hunterian orator in 1885, and Morton
lecturer in 1889. In 1867 he published his well-known textbook _The
Outlines of Physiology_ in two volumes. He died on the 1st of January
1891. "Marshall's fame," wrote Sir W. MacCormac in his volume on the
_Centenary of the College of Surgeons_ (1900), "rests on the great
ability with which he taught anatomy in relation to art, on the
introduction into modern surgery of the galvano-cautery, and on the
operation for the excision of varicose veins. He was one of the first to
show that cholera might be spread by means of drinking water, and issued
a report on the outbreak of cholera in Broad Street, St James's, 1854.
He also invented the system of circular wards for hospitals, and to him
are largely owing the details of the modern medical student's
education."
MARSHALL, STEPHEN (c. 1594-1655), English Nonconformist divine, was born
at Godmanchester in Huntingdonshire, and was educated at Emmanuel
College, Cambridge (M.A. 1622, B.D. 1629). After holding the living of
Wethersfield in Essex he became vicar of Finchingfield in the same
county, and in 1636 was reported for "want of conformity." He was a
preacher of great power, and influenced the elections for the Short
Parliament of 1640. Clarendon esteemed his influence on the
parliamentary side greater than that of Laud on the royalist. In 1642 he
was appointed lecturer at St Margaret's, Westminster, and delivered a
series of addresses to the Commons in which he advocated episcopal and
liturgical reform. He had a share in writing _Smectymnuus_, was
appointed chaplain to the earl of Essex's regiment in 1642, and a member
of the Westminster Assembly in 1643. He represented the English
Parliament in Scotland in 1643, and attended the parliamentary
commissions at the Uxbridge Conference in 1645. He waited on Archbishop
Laud before his execution, and was chaplain to Charles I. at Holmby
House and at Carisbrooke. A moderate and judicious presbyterian, he
prepared with others the "Shorter Catechism" in 1647, and was one of the
"Triers," 1654. He died in November 1655 and was buried in Westminster
Abbey, but his body was exhumed and maltreated at the Restoration. His
sermons, especially that on the death of John Pym in 1643, reveal
eloquence and fervour. The only "systematic" work he published was _A
Defence of Infant Baptism_, against John Tombes (London, 1646).
MARSHALL, a city and the county-seat of Saline county, Missouri, U.S.A.,
situated a little W. of the centre of the state, near the Salt Fork of
the La Mine River. Pop. (1890), 4297; (1900), 5086 (208 being
foreign-born and 98 negroes); (1910) 4869. It is served by the Missouri
Pacific and the Chicago & Alton railways. The city is laid out regularly
on a high, undulating prairie. It is the seat of Missouri Valley College
(opened 1889; co-educational), which was established by the Cumberland
Presbyterian church, and includes a preparatory department and a
conservatory of music. The court-house (1883), a Roman Catholic convent
and a high school (1907) are the principal buildings. The Missouri
colony for the feeble-minded and epileptic (1899) is at Marshall. The
principal trade is with the surrounding farming country. The
municipality owns and operates the waterworks. Marshall was first
settled and was made the county seat in 1839; it became a town in 1866
(re-incorporated 1870) and a city in 1878.
MARSHALL, a city and the county-seat of Harrison county, Texas, U.S.A.,
about 145 m. E. by S. of Dallas. Pop. (1890), 7207; (1900) 7855 (3769
negroes); (1910) 11,452. Marshall is served by the Texas & Pacific and
the Marshall & East Texas railways, which have large shops here. Wiley
University was founded in 1873 by the Freedman's Aid Society of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, and Bishop College, was founded in 1881 by
the American Baptist Home Mission Society and incorporated in 1885.
Marshall is situated in a region growing cotton and Indian corn,
vegetables, small fruits and sugar-cane; in the surrounding country
there are valuable forests of pine, oak and gum. In the vicinity of the
city there are several lakes (including Caddo Lake) and springs
(including Hynson and Rosborough springs). The city has a cotton
compress, and among its manufactures are cotton-seed oil, lumber, ice,
foundry products and canned goods. The municipality owns and operates
the waterworks. Marshall was first settled in 1842, was incorporated in
1843, and received a city charter in 1848; in 1909 it adopted the
commission form of government.
MARSHALL ISLANDS, an island group in the western Pacific Ocean
(Micronesia) belonging to Germany. The group consists of a number of
atolls ranged in two almost parallel lines, which run from N.W. to S.E.
between 4° and 15° N. and 161° and 174° E. The north-east line, with
fifteen islands, is called Ratak, the other, numbering eighteen, Ralik.
These atolls are of coralline formation and of irregular shape. They
rise but little above high-water mark. The highest elevation occurs on
the island of Likieb, but is only 33 ft. The lagoon is scarcely more
than 150 ft. deep and is accessible through numerous breaks in the reef.
On the outward side the shore sinks rapidly to a great depth. The
surface of the atolls is covered with sand, except in a few places where
it has been turned into soil through the admixture of decayed
vegetation. The reef in scarcely any instance exceeds 600 ft. in width.
The climate is moist and hot, the mean temperature being 80.50° F.
Easterly winds prevail all the year round. There is no difference
between the seasons, which, though the islands belong to the northern
hemisphere, have the highest temperature in January and the lowest in
July. Vegetation, on the whole, is very poor. There are many coco-nut
palms, bread-fruit trees (_Artocarpus incisa_), various kinds of
bananas, yams and taro, and pandanus, of which the natives eat the
seeds. From the bark of another plant they manufacture mats. There are
few animals. Cattle do not thrive, and even poultry are scarce. Pigs,
cats, dogs and rats have been imported. There are a few pigeons and
aquatic birds, butterflies and beetles. Crustacea and fish abound on the
reefs.
The natives are Micronesians of a dark brown colour, though lighter
shades occur. Their hair is not woolly but straight and long. They
practise tattooing, and show Papuan influence by distending the
ear-lobes by the insertion of wooden disks. They are expert navigators,
and construct curious charts of thin strips of wood tied together with
fibres, some giving the position of the islands and some the direction
of the prevailing winds. Their canoes carry sails and are made of the
trunk of the bread-fruit tree. The people are divided into four classes,
of which only two are allowed to own land. The islands lie entirely
within the German sphere of interest, and the boundaries were agreed
upon between Great Britain and Germany on the 10th of April 1889. Their
area is estimated at 160 sq. m., with 15,000 inhabitants, who are
apparently increasing, though the contrary was long believed. All but
about 250 are natives. The administrator of the islands is the governor
of German New Guinea, but a number of officials reside on the islands.
There is no military force, the natives being of peaceful disposition.
The chief island and seat of government is Jaluit. The most populous
island is Majeru, with 1600 inhabitants. The natives are generally
pagans, but a Roman Catholic mission has been established, and the
American Mission Board maintains coloured teachers on many of the
islands. There is communication with Sydney by private steamer, and a
steamer sails between Jaluit and Ponape to connect with the French boats
for Singapore. The chief products for export are copra, tortoise-shell,
mother-of-pearl, sharks' fins and trepang. The natives are clever
boat-builders, and find a market for their canoes on neighbouring
islands. They have made such progress in their art that they have even
built seaworthy little schooners of 30 to 40 tons. The only other
articles they make are a few shell ornaments.
The Marshall Islands may have been visited by Alvaro de Saavedra in
1529, Captain Wallis touched at the group in 1767, and in 1788 Captains
Marshall and Gilbert explored it. The Germans made a treaty with the
chieftains of Jaluit in 1878 and annexed the group in 1885-1886.
See C. Hager, _Die Marshall-Inseln_ (Leipzig, 1886); Steinbach and
Grösser, _Wörterbuch der Marshall-Sprache_ (Hamburg, 1902).
MARSHALLTOWN, a city and the county-seat of Marshall county, Iowa,
U.S.A., near the Iowa River and about 60 m. N.E. of Des Moines. Pop.
(1890), 8914; (1900), 11,544, of whom 1590 were foreign-born; (1910
census) 13,374. Marshalltown is served by the Chicago & North-Western,
the Chicago Great Western, and the Iowa Central railways, the last of
which has machine shops here. At Marshalltown are the Iowa soldiers'
home, supported in part by the Federal Government, and St. Mary's
institute, a Roman Catholic commercial and business school. The city is
situated in a rich agricultural region, and is a market for grain, meat
cattle, horses and swine. There are miscellaneous manufactures, and in
1905 the factory product was valued at $3,090,312. The municipality owns
and operates its waterworks and its electric-lighting plant.
Marshalltown, named in honour of Chief Justice John Marshall, was laid
out in 1853, and became the county-seat in 1860. It was incorporated as
a town in 1863, and was chartered as a city in 1868.
MARSHALSEA, a prison formerly existing in Southwark, London. It was
attached to the court of that name held by the steward and marshal of
the king's house (see LORD STEWARD and MARSHAL). The date of its first
establishment is unknown, but it existed as early as the reign of Edward
III. It was consolidated in 1842 with the queen's bench and the Fleet,
and was then described as "a prison for debtors and for persons charged
with contempt of Her Majesty's courts of the Marshalsea, the court of
the queen's palace of Westminster, and the high court of admiralty, and
also for admiralty prisoners under sentence of courts martial." It was
abolished in 1849. The Marshalsea Prison is described in Charles
Dickens' _Little Dorrit_.
MARSHBUCK, a book-name proposed for such of the African bushbucks or
harnessed antelopes as have abnormally long hoofs to support them in
walking on marshy or swampy ground. (See BUSHBUCK and ANTELOPE.)
MARSHFIELD, a city of Wood county, Wisconsin, about 165 m. N.W. of
Milwaukee. Pop. (1890), 3450; (1900), 5240, of whom 1161 were
foreign-born; (1905) 6036; (1910) 5783. It is served by the Chicago &
North-Western, the Chicago, St Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha, and the
Minneapolis, St Paul & Sault Ste Marie railways. It contains the
mother-house of the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother. Lumbering is the
most important industry, and there are various manufactures. The city is
situated in a clover region, in which dairying is important, and
Guernsey and Holstein-Friesland cattle are raised. The municipality owns
and operates the waterworks and the electric-lighting plant. The site of
Marshfield was part of a tract granted by the Federal government to the
Fox River Improvement Company, organized to construct a waterway between
the Mississippi river and Green Bay, and among the original owners of
the town site were Samuel Marsh of Massachusetts (in whose honour the
place was named) and Horatio Seymour, Ezra Cornell, Erastus Corning, and
William A. Butler of New York. Marshfield was settled about 1870, and
was first chartered as a city in 1883.
MARSH GAS (methane), CH4, the first member of the series of paraffin
hydrocarbons. It occurs as a constituent of the "fire-damp" of
coal-mines, in the gases evolved from volcanoes, and in the gases which
arise in marshy districts (due to the decomposition of vegetable matter
under the surface of water). It is found associated with petroleum and
also in human intestinal gases. It is a product of the destructive
distillation of complex organic matter (wood, coal, bituminous shale,
&c.), forming in this way from 30 to 40% of ordinary illuminating gas.
It may be synthetically obtained by passing a mixture of the vapour of
carbon bisulphide with sulphuretted hydrogen over red-hot copper (M.
Berthelot, _Comptes rendus_, 1856, 43, p. 236), CS2 + 2H2S + 8Cu = 4Cu2S
+ CH4; by passing a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide over reduced
nickel at 200-250° C., or hydrogen and carbon dioxide at 230-300° C. (P.
Sabatier and J. B. Senderens, _Comptes rendus_, 1902, 134, pp. 514,
689); by the decomposition of aluminium carbide with water [H. Moissan,
_Bull. Soc. Chim._, 1894, (3) 11, p. 1012]; and by heating phosphonium
iodide with carbon bisulphide in a sealed tube to 120-140° C. (H. Jahn,
_Ber._, 1880, 13, p. 127). It is also obtained by the reduction of many
methyl compounds with nascent hydrogen; thus methyl iodide dissolved in
methyl alcohol readily yields methane when acted on by the zinc-copper
couple (J. H. Gladstone and A. Tribe, _Jour. Chem. Soc._, 1884, 45, p.
156) or by the aluminium-mercury couple. It may be obtained in an
indirect manner from methyl iodide by conversion of this compound into
zinc methyl, or into magnesium methyl iodide (formed by the action of
magnesium on methyl iodide dissolved in anhydrous ether), and
decomposing these latter substances with water (E. Frankland, 1856; V.
Grignard, 1900),
Zn(CH4)2 + H2O = 2CH4 + ZnO; 2CH3MgI + H2O = 2CH4 + MgI2 + MgO.
In the laboratory it is usually prepared by J. B. A. Dumas' method
(_Ann._, 1840, 33, p. 181), which consists in heating anhydrous sodium
acetate with soda lime, CH3CO2Na + NaOH = Na2CO3 + CH4. The product
obtained by this method is not pure, containing generally more or less
ethylene and hydrogen.
Methane is a colourless gas of specific gravity 0.559 (air = 1). It may
be condensed to a colourless liquid at -155° to -160° C. under
atmospheric pressure (S. Wroblewsky, _Comptes rendus_, 1884, 99, p.
136). It boils at -162° C. and freezes at -186° C. Its critical
temperature is -99.5° C. (J. Dewar). The gas is almost insoluble in
water, but is slightly soluble in alcohol. It decomposes into its
constituents when passed through a red-hot tube, small quantities of
other hydrocarbons (ethane, ethylene, acetylene, benzene, &c.) being
formed at the same time. It burns with a pale flame, and when mixed with
air or oxygen forms a highly explosive mixture. W. A. Bone (_Jour. Chem.
Soc._, 1902, 81, p. 535; 1903, 83, p. 1074) has shown that in the
oxidation of methane by oxygen at 450-500° C. formaldehyde (or possibly
methyl alcohol) is formed as an intermediate product, and is ultimately
oxidized to carbon dioxide. Methane is an exceedingly stable gas, being
unaffected by the action of chromic acid, nitric acid, or a mixture of
nitric and sulphuric acids. Chlorine and bromine, however, react with
methane, gradually replacing hydrogen and forming chlor- and
brom-substitution products.
MARSHMAN, JOSHUA (1768-1837), English Baptist missionary and
orientalist, was born on the 20th of April 1768, at Westbury Leigh, in
Wiltshire. He followed the occupation of a weaver until 1794, but having
meanwhile devoted himself to study he removed to Broadmead, Bristol, to
take charge of a small school. In 1799 he was sent by the Baptist
Missionary Society to join their mission at Serampur. Here, in addition
to his more special duties, he studied Bengali and Sanskrit, and
afterwards Chinese. He translated the Bible into various dialects, and,
aided by his son, established newspapers and founded Serampur College.
He received the degree of D.D. from Brown University, U.S.A., in 1810.
He died at Serampur on the 5th of December 1837. His son, John Clark
Marshman (1704-1877), was official Bengali translator; he published a
_Guide to the Civil Law_ which, before the work of Macaulay, was the
civil code of India, and wrote a _History of India_ (1842).
Marshman translated into Chinese the book of Genesis, the Gospels, and
the Epistles of Paul to the Romans and the Corinthians; in 1811 he
published _The Works of Confucius, containing the Original Text, with
a Translation_, and in 1814 his _Clavis Sinica_. He was also the
author of _Elements of Chinese Grammar, with Preliminary Dissertation
on the Characters and Colloquial Mediums of the Chinese_, and was
associated with W. Carey in the preparation of a Sanskrit grammar and
of a Bengali-English dictionary.
See J. C. Marshman, _Life and Times of Carey, Marshman and Ward_ (2
vols., 1859).
MARSI, an ancient people of Italy, whose chief centre was Marruvium, on
the eastern shore of Lake Fucinus. They are first mentioned as members
of a confederacy with the Vestini, Paeligni and Marrucini (Liv. viii.
29, cf. viii. 6, and Polyb. ii. 24, 12). They joined the Samnites in 308
B.C. (Liv. ix. 41), and on their submission became allies of Rome in 304
B.C. (Liv. ix. 45). After a short-lived revolt two years later, for
which they were punished by loss of territory (Liv. x. 3), they were
readmitted to the Roman alliance and remained faithful down to the
social war, their contingent (e.g. Liv. xliv. 46) being always regarded
as the flower of the Italian forces (e.g. Hor. _Od._ ii. 20, 18). In
this war, which, owing to the prominence of the Marsian rebels is often
known as the Marsic War, they fought bravely against odds under their
leader Q. Pompaedius Silo, and, though they were frequently defeated,
the result of the war was the enfranchisement of the allies (see ROME:
_History_, "The Republic"). The Marsi were a hardy mountain people,
famed for their simple habits and indomitable courage. It was said that
the Romans had never triumphed over them or without them (Appian). They
were also renowned for their magicians, who had strange remedies for
various diseases.
The Latin colony of Alba Fucens near the north-west corner of the lake
was founded in the adjoining Aequian territory in 303, so that from the
beginning of the 3rd century the Marsians were in touch with a
Latin-speaking community, to say nothing of the Latin colony of Carsioli
(298 B.C.) farther west. The earliest pure Latin inscriptions of the
district seem to be _C.I.L._ ix. 3827 and 3848 from the neighbourhood of
Supinum; its character generally is of the Gracchan period, though it
might be somewhat earlier.
Mommsen (_Unteritalische Dialekten_, p. 345) pointed out that in the
social war all the coins of Pompaedius Silo have the Latin legend
"Italia," while the other leaders in all but one case used Oscan.
The chief record of the dialect or patois we owe to the goddess Angitia,
whose chief temple and grove stood at the south-west corner of Lake
Fucinus, near the inlet to the _emissarius_ of Claudius (restored by
Prince Torlonia), and the modern village of Luco. She (or they, for the
name is in the plural in the Latin inscription next cited) was widely
worshipped in the central highlands (Sulmo, _C.I.L._ ix. 3074, Furfo
Vestinorum, ibid. 3515) as a goddess of healing, especially skilled to
cure serpent bites by charms and the herbs of the Marsian woods. Her
worshippers naturally practised the same arts--as their descendants do
(see A. de Nino's charming collection of _Usi e costumi abruzzesi_),
their country being in Rome counted the home of witchcraft; see Hor.
_Sal._ 1, 9, 29, _Epod._ 17, 28, &c.
The earliest local inscriptions date from about 300 to 150 B.C. and
include the interesting and difficult bronze of Lake Fucinus, which
seems to record a votive offering to Angitia, if _A(n)ctia_, as is
probable, was the local form of her name. Their language differs very
slightly from Roman Latin of that date; for apparently contracted forms
like _Fougno_ instead of _Fucino_ may really only be a matter of
spelling. In final syllables the diphthongs _ai_, _ei_, _oi_, all appear
as _e_. On the other hand, the older form of the name of the tribe (dat.
plur. _Martses_ = Lat. _Martiis_) shows its derivation and exhibits the
assibilation of _-tio-_ into _-tso-_ proper to many Oscan dialects (see
OSCA LINGUA) but strange to classical Latin.
See R. S. Conway, _The Italic Dialects_, pp. 290 seq. (from which some
portions of this article are taken by permission of the syndics of the
Camb. Univ. Press); on the Fucino-Bronze, ib. p. 294. (R. S. C.)
MARSIGLI [Latinized MARSILIUS], LUIGI FERDINANDO, Count (1658-1730),
Italian soldier and scientific writer, was born at Bologna on the 10th
of July 1658. After a course of scientific studies in his native city he
travelled through Turkey collecting data on the military organization of
that empire, as well as on its natural history. On his return he entered
the service of the emperor Leopold (1682) and fought with distinction
against the Turks, by whom he was wounded and captured in an action on
the river Raab, and sold to a pasha whom he accompanied to the siege of
Vienna. His release was purchased in 1684, and he afterwards took part
in the war of the Spanish succession. In 1703 he was appointed second in
command under Count Arco in the defence of Alt-Breisach. The fortress
surrendered to the duke of Burgundy, and both Arco and Marsigli were
court martialled; the former was condemned to death and the latter
cashiered, although acquitted of blame by public opinion. Having thus
been forced to give up soldiering, he devoted the rest of his life to
scientific investigations, in the pursuit of which he made many journeys
through Europe, spending a considerable time at Marseilles to study the
nature of the sea. In 1712 he presented his collections to his native
city, where they formed the nucleus of the Bologna Institute of Science
and Art. He died at Bologna on the 1st of November 1730. Marsigli was a
fellow of the London Royal Society and a member of the Paris Academy of
Science.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--A list of his works, over twenty in number, is given in
Niceron's _Memoirs_; his _Breve ristretto del saggio fisico intorno
alla storia del mare_ was published at Venice in 1711, and again at
Amsterdam (in French) in 1725; the _Stato militare dell' impero
ottomano_ was published at Amsterdam and the Hague in Italian and
French (1732), the _Osservazioni intorno al Bosforo Tracio_ in Rome
(1681) and the _Danubius pannonico-mysicus_, a large work in six
volumes containing much valuable historic and scientific information
on the Danubian countries, at the Hague (1725). See Fontenelle,
"Éloge" in the _Mém. de l'acad. des sciences_ (Paris, 1730); Quincy,
_Mémoires sur la vie de M. le comte Marsigli_ (Zürich, 1741), and
Fantuzzi's biography of Marsigli (Bologna, 1770).
MARSILIUS OF PADUA [MARSIGLIO MAINARDINO] (1270-1342), Italian medieval
scholar, was born at Padua, and at first studied medicine in his own
country. After practising various professions, among others that of a
soldier, he went to Paris about 1311. The reputation which he had gained
in the physical sciences soon caused him to be raised to the position of
rector of the university (for the first term of the year 1313). While
still practising medicine he entered into relations with another master
of Paris, the philosopher John of Jandun, who collaborated with him in
the composition of the famous _Defensor pacis_ (1324), one of the most
extraordinary political and religious works which appeared during the
14th century. A violent struggle had just broken out between pope John
XXII. and Louis of Bavaria, king of the Romans, and the latter, on being
excommunicated and called upon to give up the empire, only replied to
the pope's threats with fresh provocations. Marsilius of Padua and John
of Jandun, though they had both reason to be grateful for the benefits
of John XXII., chose this moment to demonstrate, by plausible arguments,
the supremacy of the Empire, its independence of the Holy See, and the
emptiness of the prerogatives "usurped" by the sovereign pontiffs--a
demonstration naturally calculated to give them a claim on the gratitude
of the German sovereign.
The _Defensor pacis_, as its name implies, is a work intended to restore
peace, as the most indispensable benefit of human society. The author of
the law is the people, i.e. the whole body, or at least the most
important part (_valentior_) of the citizens; the people should
themselves elect, or at least appoint, the head of the government, who,
lest he should be tempted to put himself above the scope of the laws,
should have at his disposal only a limited armed force. This chief is
responsible to the people for his breaches of the law, and in serious
cases they can condemn him to death. The real cause of the trouble which
prevails among men is the papacy, a "fictitious" power, the development
of which is the result of a series of usurpations. Marsilius denies, not
only to the pope, but to the bishops and clergy, any coercive
jurisdiction or any right to pronounce on their own authority
excommunications and interdicts, or in any way to impose the observation
of the divine law. He is not opposed to penalties against heretics, but
he would have them pronounced only by civil tribunals. Desiring to see
the clergy practise a holy poverty, he proposes the suppression of
tithes and the seizure by the secular power of the greater part of the
property of the church. The clergy, thus deprived of its wealth,
privileges and jurisdiction, is further to be deprived of independence,
for the civil power is to have the right of appointing to benefices,
&c. The supreme authority in the church is to be the council, but a
council summoned by the emperor. The pope, no longer possessing any more
power than other bishops (though Marsilius recognizes that the supremacy
of the Church of Rome goes back to the earliest times of Christianity),
is to content himself with a pre-eminence mainly of an honorary kind,
without claiming to interpret the Holy Scriptures, define dogmas or
distribute benefices; moreover, he is to be elected by the Christian
people, or by the delegates of the people, i.e. the princes, or by the
council, and these are also to have the power to punish, suspend or
depose him. Such is this famous work, full of obscurities, redundancies
and contradictions, in which the thread of the argument is sometimes
lost in a labyrinth of reasonings and citations, both sacred and
profane, but which nevertheless expresses, both in religion and
politics, such audacious and novel ideas that it has been possible to
trace in it, as it were, a rough sketch of the doctrines developed
during the periods of the Reformation and of the French Revolution. The
theory was purely democratic, but was all ready to be transformed, by
means of a series of fictions and implications, into an imperialist
doctrine; and in like manner it contained a visionary plan of
reformation which ended, not in the separation of the church from the
state, but in the subjection of the church to the state. To overthrow
the ecclesiastical hierarchy, to deprive the clergy of all their
privileges, to reduce the pope to the rank of a kind of president of a
Christian republic, which governs itself, or rather submits to the
government of Caesar--such is the dream formed in 1324 by two masters of
the university of Paris.
When in 1326 Louis of Bavaria saw the arrival in Nuremberg of the two
authors of the book dedicated to him, startled by the boldness of their
political and religious theories, he was at first inclined to treat them
as heretics. He soon changed his mind, however, and, admitting them to
the circle of his intimates, loaded them with favours. Having become one
of the chief inspirers of the imperial policy, Marsilius accompanied
Louis of Bavaria to Italy, where he preached or circulated written
attacks against the pope, especially at Milan, and where he came within
the sight of the realization of his wildest utopias. To see a king of
the Romans crowned emperor at Rome, not by the pope, but by those who
claimed to be the delegates of the people (Jan. 17, 1328), to see John
XXII. deposed by the head of the Empire (April 18), and a mendicant
friar, Pietro de Corbara, raised by an imperial decree to the throne of
St Peter (as Nicholas V.) after a sham of a popular election (May 12),
all this was merely the application of principles laid down in the
_Defensor pacis_. The two authors of this book played a most active part
in the Roman Revolution. Marsilius, appointed imperial vicar, abused his
power to persecute the clergy who had remained faithful to John XXII. In
recompense for his services, he seems to have been appointed archbishop
of Milan, while his collaborator, John of Jandun, obtained from Louis of
Bavaria the bishopric of Ferrara.
Marsilius of Padua also composed a treatise _De translatione imperii
romani_, which is merely a rearrangement of a work of Landolfo Colonna,
_De jurisdictione imperatoris in causa matrimoniali_, intended to prove
the exclusive jurisdiction of the emperor in matrimonial affairs, or
rather, to justify the intervention of Louis of Bavaria, who, in the
interests of his policy, had just annulled the marriage of the son of
the king of Bohemia and the countess of Tirol. But, above all, in an
unpublished work preserved at Oxford, the _Defensor minor_, Marsilius
completed and elaborated in a curious manner certain points in the
doctrine laid down in the _Defensor pacis_. In it he deals with
ecclesiastical jurisdiction, penances, indulgences, crusades and
pilgrimages, vows, excommunication, the pope and the council, marriage
and divorce. Here his democratic theory still more clearly leads up to a
proclamation of the imperial omnipotence.
Marsilius of Padua does not seem to have lived long after 1342. But the
scandal provoked by his _Defensor pacis_, condemned by the court of
Avignon in 1326, lasted much longer. Benedict XII. and Clement VI.
censured it in turn; Louis of Bavaria disowned it. Translated into
French, then into Italian (14th century) and into English (16th
century), it was known by Wycliffe and Luther, and was not without an
influence on the Reform movement.
See J. Sullivan, _American Historical Review_, vol. ii. (1896-1897),
and _English Historical Review_ for April 1905; _Histoire littéraire
de la France_ (1906), xxxiii. 528-623; Sigmund Riezler, _Die
literarischen Widersacher der Päpste zur Zeit Ludwig des Baiers_
(Leipzig, 1874).
There are numerous manuscripts of the _Defensor pacis_ extant. We will
here mention only one edition, that given by Goldast, in 1614, in vol.
i. of his _Monarchia sacri imperii_; an unpublished last chapter was
published by Karl Müller, in 1883, in the _Göttingische gelehrte
Anzeigen_, pp. 923-925.
Count Lützow in _The Life and Times of Master John Hus_ (London and
New York, 1909), pp. 5-9, gives a good abstract of the Defensor pacis
and the relations of Marsilius to other precursors of the Reformation.
(N. V.)
MARSIVAN, or MERZIFUN (anc. _Phazemon?_), a town in the Amasia sanjak of
the Sivas vilayet of Asia Minor, situated at the foot of the Tavshan
Dagh. Pop. about 20,000, two-thirds Mussulman. It is a centre of
American missionary and educational enterprise, and the seat of Anatolia
College, a theological seminary, and schools which were partly destroyed
in the anti-Armenian riots of 1893 and 1895. There is also a Jesuit
school. Marsivan is an unusually European place both in its aspect and
the commodities procurable in the bazaar.
MARS-LA-TOUR, a village of Lorraine, between Metz and the French
frontier, which formed part of the battlefield of the 16th of August
1870. The battle is often called the battle of Mars-la-Tour, though it
is more usually named after Vionville. (See METZ; and FRANCO-GERMAN
WAR.) At Mars-la-Tour occurred the destruction of the German 38th
brigade.
MARSTON, JOHN (c. 1575-1634), English dramatist and satirist, eldest son
of John Marston of Coventry, at one time lecturer of the Middle Temple,
was born in 1575, or early in 1576. Swinburne notes his affinities with
Italian literature, which may be partially explained by his parentage,
for his mother was the daughter of an Italian physician, Andrew Guarsi.
He entered Brasenose College, Oxford, in 1592, taking his B.A. degree in
1594. The elder Marston in his will expresses regret that his son, to
whom he left his law-books and the furniture of his rooms in the Temple,
had not been willing to follow his profession. John Marston married Mary
Wilkes, daughter of one of the royal chaplains, and Ben Jonson said that
"Marston wrote his father-in-law's preachings, and his father-in-law his
sermons." His first work was _The Metamorphosis of Pigmalions Image, and
certaine Satyres_ (1598). "Pigmalion" is an erotic poem in the metre of
_Venus and Adonis_, and Joseph Hall attached a rather clumsy epigram to
every copy that was exposed for sale in Cambridge. In the same year
Marston published, under the pseudonym of W. Kinsayder, already employed
in the earlier volume, his _Scourge of Villanie_, eleven satires, in the
sixth of which he asserted that Pigmalion was intended to parody the
amorous poetry of the time. Both this volume and its predecessor were
burnt by order of the archbishop of Canterbury. The satires, in which
Marston avowedly took Persius as his model, are coarse and vigorous. In
addition to a general attack on the vices of his age he avenges himself
on Joseph Hall who had assailed him in _Virgidemiae_. He had a great
reputation among his contemporaries. John Weever couples his name with
Ben Jonson's in an epigram; Francis Meres in _Palladis tamia_ (1598)
mentions him among the satirists; a long passage is devoted to "Monsieur
Kinsayder" in the _Return from Parnassus_ (1606), and Dr Brinsley
Nicholson has suggested that _Furor poeticus_ in that piece may be a
satirical portrait of him. But his invective by its general tone, goes
far to justify Mr W. J. Courthope's[1] judgment that "it is likely
enough that in seeming to satirize the world without him, he is usually
holding up the mirror to his own prurient mind."
On the 28th of September 1599 Henslowe notices in his diary that he lent
"unto Mr Maxton, the new poete, the sum of forty shillings," as an
advance on a play which is not named. Another hand has amended "Maxton"
to "Mastone." The earliest plays to which Marston's name is attached are
_The History of Antonio and Mellida. The First Part_; and _Antonio's
Revenge. The Second Part_ (both entered at Stationers' Hall in 1601 and
printed 1602). The second part is preceded by a prologue which, in its
gloomy forecast of the play, moved the admiration of Charles Lamb, who
also compares the situation of Andrugio and Lucia to Lear and Kent, but
the scene which he quotes gives a misleading idea of the play and of the
general tenor of Marston's work.
The melodrama and the exaggerated expression of these two plays offered
an opportunity to Ben Jonson, who had already twice ridiculed Marston,
and now pilloried him as Crispinus in _The Poetaster_ (1601). The
quarrel was patched up, for Marston dedicated his _Malcontent_ (1604) to
Jonson, and in the next year he prefixed commendatory verses to
_Sejanus_. Far greater restraint is shown in _The Malcontent_ than in
the earlier plays. It was printed twice in 1604, the second time with
additions by John Webster. _The Dutch Courtezan_ (1605) and
_Parasitaster, or the Fawne_ (1606) followed. In 1605 _Eastward Hoe_,[2]
a gay comedy of London life, which gave offence to the king's Scottish
friends, caused the playwrights concerned in its production--Marston,
Chapman and Jonson--to be imprisoned at the instance of Sir James
Murray. _The Wonder of Women, or the Tragedie of Sophonisba_ (1606),
seems to have been put forward by Marston as a model of what could be
accomplished in tragedy. In the preface he mocks at those authors who
make a parade of their authorities and their learning, and the next
play, _What you Will_ (printed 1607; but probably written much earlier),
contains a further attack on Jonson. The tragedy of _The Insatiate
Countesse_ was printed in 1613, and again, this time anonymously, in
1616. It was not included in the collected edition of Marston's plays in
1633, and in the Duke of Devonshire's library there is a copy bearing
the name of William Barksteed, the author of the poems, _Myrrha, the
Mother of Adonis_ (1607), and _Hiren and the Fair Greek_ (1611). The
piece contains many passages superior to anything to be found in
Marston's well-authenticated plays, and Mr A. H. Bullen suggests that it
may be Barksteed's version of an earlier one drafted by Marston. The
character and history of Isabella are taken chiefly from "The Disordered
Lyfe of the Countess of Celant" in William Paynter's _Palace of
Pleasure_, derived eventually from Bandello. There is no certain
evidence of Marston's authorship in _Histriomastix_ (printed 1610, but
probably produced before 1599), or in _Jacke Drums Entertainement, or
the Comedie of Pasquil and Katherine_ (1616), though he probably had a
hand in both. Mr R. Boyle (_Englische Studien_, vol. xxx., 1901), in a
critical study of Shakespeare's _Troilus and Cressida_, assigns to
Marston's hand the whole of the action dealing with Hector, with the
prologue and epilogue, and attributes to him the bombast and coarseness
in the last scenes of the play. It will be seen that his undoubted
dramatic work was completed in 1607. It is uncertain at what time he
exchanged professions, but in 1616 he was presented to the living of
Christchurch, Hampshire. He formally resigned his charge in 1631, and
when his works were collected in 1633 the publisher, William Sheares,
stated that the author "in his autumn and declining age" was living "far
distant from this place." Nevertheless he died in London, in the parish
of Aldermanbury, on the 25th of June 1634. He was buried in the Temple
Church.
Marston's works were first published in 1633, once anonymously as
_Tragedies and Comedies_, and then in the same year as _Workes of Mr
John Marston_. _The Works of John Marston_ (3 vols.) were reprinted by
Mr J. O. Halliwell (Phillipps) in 1856, and again by Mr. A. H. Bullen
(3 vols.) in 1887. His _Poems_ (2 vols.) were edited by Dr A. B.
Grosart in 1879. The British Museum Catalogue tentatively assigns to
Marston _The Whipper of the Satyre his pennance in a white sheete; or,
the Beadle's Confutation_ (1601), a pamphlet in answer to _The
Whipping of the Satyre_. For an account of the quarrel of Dekker and
Marston with Ben Jonson see Dr R. A. Small, _The Stage Quarrel
between Ben Jonson and the so-called Poetasters_; in E. Koelbing,
_Forschungen zur englischen Sprache und Litteratur_, pt. i. (1899).
See also three articles _John Marston als Dramatiker_, by Ph.
Aronstein in _Englische Studien_ (vols. xx. and xxi., 1895), and
"Quellenstudien zu den Dramen Ben Jonsons, John Marstons ..." by Emil
Koeppel (_Münchener Beiträge zur roman. und engl. Philologie_, pt. xi.
1895).
FOOTNOTES:
[1] _Hist. of Eng. Poetry_, iii. 70.
[2] Revived at Drury Lane (1751) as _The Prentices_, in 1775 as _Old
City Manners_, and said to have suggested Hogarth's "Industrious and
Idle Prentices."
MARSTON, PHILIP BOURKE (1850-1887), English poet, was born in London on
the 13th of August 1850. His father, JOHN WESTLAND MARSTON (1819-1890),
of Lincolnshire origin, the friend of Dickens, Macready and Charles
Kean, was the author of a series of metrical dramas which held the stage
in succession to the ambitious efforts of John Tobin, Talfourd, Bulwer
and Sheridan Knowles. His chief plays were _The Patrician's Daughter_
(1841), _Strathmore_ (1849), _A Hard Struggle_ (1858) and _Donna Diana_
(1863). He was looked up to as the upholder of the outworn tradition of
the acted poetic drama, but his plays showed little vitality, and
Marston's reviews for the _Athenaeum_, including one of Swinburne's
_Atalanta in Calydon_, and his dramatic criticisms embodied in _Our
Recent Actors_ (1888) will probably claim a more enduring reputation.
His _Dramatic and Poetical Works_ were collected in 1876. The son,
Philip Bourke, was born in a literary atmosphere. His sponsors were
Philip James Bailey and Dinah Mulock (Mrs Craik). At his father's house
near Chalk Farm he met authors and actors of his father's generation,
and subsequently the Rossettis, Swinburne, Arthur O'Shaughnessy and
Irving. From his earliest years his literary precocity was overshadowed
by misfortunes. In his fourth year, in part owing to an accident, his
sight began to decay, and he gradually became almost totally blind. His
mother died in 1870. His _fiancée_, Mary Nesbit, died in 1871; his
closest friend, Oliver Madox Brown, in 1874; his sister Cicely, his
amanuensis, in 1878; in 1879 his remaining sister, Eleanor, who was
followed to the grave after a brief interval by her husband, the poet
O'Shaughnessy, and her two children. In 1882 the death of his chief
poetic ally and inspirer, Rossetti, was followed closely by the tragedy
of another kindred spirit, the sympathetic pessimist, James Thomson ("B.
V."), who was carried dying from his blind friend's rooms, where he had
sought refuge from his latest miseries early in June of the same year.
It is said that Marston came to dread making new friendships, for fear
of evil coming to the recipients of his affection. In the face of such
calamities it is not surprising that Marston's verse became more and
more sorrowful and melancholy. The idylls of flower-life, such as the
early and very beautiful "The Rose and the Wind" were succeeded by
dreams of sleep and the repose of death. These qualities and gradations
of feeling, reflecting the poet's successive ideals of action and
quiescence, are traceable through his three published collections,
_Songtide_ (1871), _All in All_ (1875) and _Wind Voices_ (1883). The
first and third, containing his best work, went out of print, but
Marston's verse was collected in 1892 by Mrs Louise Chandler Moulton, a
loyal and devoted friend, and herself a poet. Marston read little else
but poetry; and of poetic values, especially of the intenser order, his
judgment could not be surpassed in sensitiveness. He was saturated with
Rossetti and Swinburne, and his imitative power was remarkable. In his
later years he endeavoured to make money by writing short stories in
_Home Chimes_ and other American magazines, through the agency of Mrs
Chandler Moulton. His popularity in America far exceeded that in his own
country. His health showed signs of collapse from 1883; in January 1887
he lost his voice, and suffered intensely from the failure to make
himself understood. He died on the 13th of February 1887.
He was commemorated in Dr Gordon Hake's "Blind Boy," and in a fine
sonnet by Swinburne, beginning "The days of a man are threescore years
and ten." There is an intimate sketch of the blind poet by a friend,
Mr Coulson Kernahan, in _Sorrow and Song_ (1894), p. 127. (T. Se.)
MARSTON MOOR, BATTLE OF, was fought on the 2nd of July 1644 on a moor
(now enclosed) seven miles west of York, between the Royalist army under
Prince Rupert and the Parliamentary and Scottish armies under the earl
of Manchester, Lord Fairfax and Lord Leven. For the operations that
preceded the battle see GREAT REBELLION. Rupert had relieved York and
joined forces with the marquess of Newcastle's army that had defended
that city, and the Parliamentarians and Scots who had besieged it had
drawn off south-westward followed by the Royalists. On the morning of
the 2nd of July, however, Rupert's attack on their rearguard forced them
to halt and deploy on rising ground on the south edge of the moor, their
position being defined on the right and left by Long Marston and
Tockwith and divided from the Royalist army on the moor by a lane
connecting these two villages. The respective forces were--Royalists
about 18,000, Parliamentarians and Scots about 27,000. The armies stood
front to front. On the Royalist right was half the cavalry under Rupert;
the infantry was in the centre in two lines and the left wing of cavalry
was under General (Lord) Goring. The lane along the front was held by
skirmishers. On the other side the cavalry of the Eastern Association
under Lieut.-General Cromwell and that of the Scots under Major-General
Leslie (Lord Newark) formed the left, the infantry of the Eastern
Association under Major-General Crawford, of the Scots under Lord Leven,
and of the Yorkshire Parliamentarians under Lord Fairfax was in the
centre and the Yorkshire cavalry under Sir Thomas Fairfax was on the
right wing.
During the afternoon there was a desultory cannonade, but neither side
advanced. At last, concluding from movements in the enemy's lines that
there would be no fighting that day, Rupert and Newcastle strolled away
to their coaches and their soldiers dismounted and lay down to rest. But
seeing this Cromwell instantly advanced his wing to the attack (5 p.m.).
His dragoons drove away the skirmishers along the lane, and the line
cavalry crossed into the moor. The general forward movement spread along
the Parliamentary line from left to right, the Eastern Association
infantry being the first to cross the road. In Rupert's momentary
absence, the surprised Royalist cavalry could make no head against
Cromwell's charge, although the latter was only made piecemeal as each
unit crossed the lane and formed to the front. Rupert soon galloped up
with his fresh second line and drove back Cromwell's men, Cromwell
himself being wounded, but Leslie and the Scots Cavalry, taking ground
to their left, swung in upon Rupert's flank, and after a hard struggle
the hitherto unconquered cavalry of the prince was broken and routed.
Then, being unlike other cavalry of the time, a thoroughly disciplined
force, the Eastern Association cavalry rallied, leaving the pursuit to
the Scots light horse. On the Parliamentary right, Goring had swept away
the Yorkshire horse, and although most of his troopers had followed in
disorderly pursuit, Sir Charles Lucas with some squadrons was attacking
the exposed right of Leven's infantry. At the same time the
Parliamentary infantry had mostly crossed the lane and was fighting at
close quarters and suffering severely, Newcastle's north-country
"White-Coat" brigade driving back and finally penetrating their centre.
Lord Leven gave up the battle as lost and rode away to Tadcaster. But
the Scots on the right of the foot held firm against Lucas's attacks,
and Cromwell and Leslie with their cavalry passed along the rear of the
Royal army, guided by Sir Thomas Fairfax (who though wounded in the rout
of his Yorkshire horse had made his way to the other flank). Then, on
the ground where Goring had routed Fairfax, Cromwell and Leslie won an
easy victory over Goring's scattered and disordered horsemen. The
Eastern Association infantry had followed the horse and was now in rear
of the Royalists. The original Parliamentary centre of foot, a remnant,
but one containing only the bravest and steadiest men, held fast, and
soon the Royalist infantry was broken up into isolated regiments and
surrounded by the victorious horse and foot of the enemy. The
White-Coats retreated into an enclosure and there defended themselves to
the last man. The rest were cut down on the field or scattered in the
pursuit and at nightfall the Royalist army had ceased to exist. Some of
Rupert's foot regiments made their way to York, but the dispirited
garrison only held out for a fortnight. Rupert rallied some six thousand
of the men and escaped over the hills into Lancashire, thence rejoining
King Charles in the south. But the Northern army, the main hope of the
Royalist cause, was destroyed.
MARSUPIALIA (from Lat. _marsupium_, a "pouch," or "bag"), the group of
mammals in which the young are usually carried for some time after birth
in a pouch on the under-surface of the body of the female. The group,
which has also the alternative title of Didelphia, is by some
authorities regarded as a sub-class of the mammalia of equal rank with
the Monotremata, while by others it is brigaded with the placentals, so
that the two together form a sub-class of equal grade with the one
represented by the monotremes. There is much to be urged in favour of
either view; and in adopting the former alternative, it must be borne in
mind that the difference between monotremes and marsupials is vastly
greater than that which separates the latter from placentals. In
elevating the marsupials to the rank of a sub-class the name Metatheria
has been suggested as the title for the higher grade, with Marsupialia
as the designation for the single order by which they are now
represented. It is, however, less liable to cause confusion, and in many
other ways more convenient to employ the better known term Marsupialia
in both senses.
Marsupials may be defined as viviparous (that is non-egg-laying)
mammals, in which the young are born in an imperfect condition, and
almost immediately attached to the teats of the mammary glands; the
latter being generally enclosed in a pouch, and the front edge of the
pelvis being always furnished with epipubic or "marsupial" bones. As a
rule there is no allantoic placenta forming the means of communication
between the blood of the parent and the foetus, and when such a
structure does occur its development is incomplete. In all cases a more
or less full series of teeth is developed, these being differentiated
into incisors, canines, premolars and molars, when all are present; but
only a single pair of teeth in each jaw has deciduous predecessors.
The pouch from which the marsupials take their name is supported by the
two epipubic bones, but does not correspond to the temporary
breeding-pouch of the monotremes. It may open either forward or
backwards; and although present in the great majority of the species,
and enclosing the teats, it may, as in many of the opossums, be
completely absent, when the teats extend in two rows along the whole
length of the under-surface of the body. Whether a pouch is present or
not, the young are born in an exceedingly imperfect state of
development, after a very short period of gestation, and are immediately
transferred by the female parent to the teats, where they remain firmly
attached for a considerable time; the milk being injected into their
mouths at intervals by means of a special muscle which compresses the
glands. In the case of the great grey kangaroo, for instance, the period
of gestation is less than forty days, and the newly-born embryo, which
is blind, naked, and unable to use its bud-like limbs, is little more
than an inch in length.
As additional features of the sub-class may be mentioned the absence
of a corpus callosum connecting the right and left hemispheres of the
brain,[1] and of a fossa in the septum between the two auricles of the
heart. In the skull there are always vacuities, or unossified spaces
in the bones of the palate, while the "angle," or lower hind extremity
of each half of the lower jaw is strongly bent inwards so as to form a
kind of shelf, and the alisphenoid bone takes a share in the formation
of the tympanum, or auditory bladder, or bulla. Didelphia, the
alternative name of the group was given in allusion to the
circumstance that the uterus has two separate openings; while other
features are the inclusion of the openings of the alimentary canal and
the urino-genital sinus in a common sphincter muscle, and the position
of the scrotum in advance of the penis. The bandicoots alone possess a
placenta. Lastly the number of trunk-vertebrae is always nineteen,
while there are generally thirteen pairs of ribs.
As regards the teeth, in all cases except the wombats the number of
upper incisors differs from that of the corresponding lower teeth. As
already stated, there is no vertical displacement and succession of
the functional teeth except in the case of a single tooth on each side
of each jaw, which is the third of the premolar series, and is
preceded by a tooth having more or less of the characters of a molar
(see fig. 1). In some cases (as in rat-kangaroos) this tooth retains
its place and function until the animal has nearly, if not quite,
attained its full stature, and is not shed and replaced by its
successor until after all the other teeth, including the molars, are
in place and use. In others, as the thylacine, it is rudimentary,
being shed or absorbed before any of the other teeth have cut the gum,
and therefore functionless. It may be added that there are some
marsupials, such as the wombat, koala, marsupial ant-eater and the
dasyures, in which no such deciduous tooth, even in a rudimentary
state, has been discovered. In addition to this replacement of a
single pair of functional teeth in each jaw, it has been discovered
that marsupials possess rudimentary tooth-germs which never cut the
gum. According to one theory, these rudimentary teeth, together with
the one pair of functional teeth in each jaw that has vertical
successors, represent the milk-teeth of placental mammals. On the
other hand, there are those who believe that the functional dentition
(other than the replacing premolar and the molars) correspond to the
milk-dentition of placentals, and that the rudimentary tooth-germs
represent a "prelacteal" dentition. The question, however, is of
academic rather than of practical interest, and whichever way it is
answered does not affect our general conception of the nature and
relationships of the group.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--Teeth of Upper Jaw of Opossum (_Didelphys
marsupialis_), all of which are unchanged, except the third premolar,
the place of which is occupied in the young animal by a molariform
tooth, represented in the figure below the line of the other teeth.]
Unfortunately the homology of the functional series does not by any
means end the uncertainty connected with the marsupial dentition; as
there is also a difference of opinion with regard to the serial
homology of some of the cheek-teeth. For instance, according to the
older view, the dental formula in the thylacine or Tasmanian wolf is
i. 4/3, c, 1/1 p. 3/3, m. 4/4 = 46. On the other hand, in the opinion
of the present writer, this formula, so far as the cheek-teeth are
concerned, should be altered to p. 4/4, m. 3/3, thus bringing it in
accord, so far as these teeth are concerned, with the placental
formula, and making the single pair of replacing teeth the third
premolars. It may be added that the formula given above shows that the
marsupial dentition may comprise more teeth than the 44 which form the
normal full placental complement.
As regards geographical distribution, existing marsupials, with the
exception of two families, _Didelphyidae_ and _Epanorthidae_, are mainly
limited to the Australian region, forming the chief mammalian fauna of
Australia, New Guinea, and some of the adjacent islands. The
_Didelphyidae_ are almost exclusively Central and South American, only
one or two species ranging into North America. Fossil remains of members
of this family have also been found in Europe in strata of the Oligocene
period.
_History._--The origin and evolution of the Australian marsupials have
been discussed by Mr B. A. Bensley. In broad contrast to the views of Dr
A. R. Wallace, this author is of opinion that marsupials did not effect
an entrance into Australia till about the middle of the Tertiary period,
their ancestors being probably opossums of the American type. They were
then arboreal; but they speedily entered upon a rapid, although
short-lived, course of evolution, during which leaping terrestrial forms
like the kangaroos were developed. The short period of this evolution is
at least one factor in the primitive grade of even the most specialized
members of the group. In the advance of their molar teeth from a
tritubercular to a grinding type, the author traces a curious
parallelism between marsupials and placentals. Taking opossums to have
been the ancestors of the group, the author considers that the present
writer may be right in his view that marsupials entered Australia from
Asia by way of New Guinea. On the other hand there is nothing absolutely
decisive against their origin being southern.
Again, taking as a text Mr L. Dollo's view that marsupials were
originally arboreal, that, on account of their foot-structure, they
could not have been the ancestors of placentals, and that they
themselves are degenerate placentals, Mr Bensley contrasts this with
Huxley's scheme of mammalian evolution. According to the latter, the
early monotremes which became specialized into modern monotremes, gave
rise to the ancestors of the modern marsupials; while the modern
placentals are likewise an offshoot from the ancestral marsupial stock.
This phylogeny, the author thinks, is the most probable of all. It is
urged that the imperfect placenta of the bandicoots instead of being
vestigial, may be an instance of parallelism, and that in marsupials
generally the allantois failed to form a placental connexion. Owing to
the antiquity of both placentals and marsupials, the arboreal character
of the feet of the modern forms of the latter is of little importance.
Further, it is considered that too much weight has been assigned to the
characters distinguishing monotremes from other mammals, foetal
marsupials showing a monotreme type of coracoid, while it is probable
that in the long run it will be found impossible to maintain the
essential dissimilarity between the milk-glands of monotremes and other
mammals.
Another view is to regard both marsupials and placentals as derivates
from implacental ancestors more or less nearly related to the creodont
carnivora, or possibly as independently descended from anomodont
reptiles (see CREODONTA). Finally, there is the hypothesis that
marsupials are the descendants of placentals, in which case, as was
suggested by its discoverer, the placenta of the bandicoots would be a
true vestigial structure.
_Classification._
Existing marsupials may be divided into three main divisions or
sub-orders, of which the first, or Polyprotodontia, is common to America
and Australasia; the second, or Paucituberculata, is exclusively South
American; while the third, or Diprotodonts, is as solely Australasian
inclusive of a few in the eastern Austro-Malayan islands.
1. _Polyprotodonts._--The Polyprotodonts are characterized by their
numerous, small, sub-equal incisors, of which there are either five or
four pairs in the upper and always three in the lower jaw, (fig. 2)
and the generally strong and large canines, as well as by the presence
of from four to five sharp cusps or tubercles on the crown of the
molars. The pouch is often absent, and may open backwards. For the
most part the species are carnivorous or insectivorous.
[Illustration: From Flower, _Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc._
FIG. 2.--Front View of Skull of the Tasmanian Devil (_Sarcophilus
ursinus_) to exhibit polyprotodont type of dentition.]
The first family is that of the true or American
opossums--_Didelphyidae_, in which there are five pairs of upper
incisors, while the feet are of the presumed primitive arboreal type,
the hind foot having the four outer toes sub-equal and separate, with
the first opposable to them all. With the exception of the
water-opossum, forming the genus _Chironectes_, all the living members
of the family may be included in the genus _Didelphys_. The latter
may, however, be split up into several sub-generic groups, such as
_Metachirus_, _Philander_, _Marmosa_ (_Micoureus_ or _Grymaeomys_),
_Peramys_, _Dromiciops_, &c. The small South American forms included
in _Marmosa_, which lack the pouch, and have numerous teats, and molar
teeth of a primitive type, are doubtless the most generalized
representatives of the group (see OPOSSUM; and WATER-OPOSSUM).
Nearly allied is the Australian family _Dasyuridae_, characterized by
the presence of only four pairs of upper incisors, the generally small
and rudimentary condition of the first hind toe, which can but seldom
be opposed to the rest, and the absence of prehensile power in the
tail; the pouch being either present or absent, and the fore feet
always five-toed. The stomach is simple, and there is no caecum to the
intestine, although this is present in the opossums.
The largest representative of the family is the Tasmanian wolf, or
thylacine, alone representing the genus _Thylacinus_, in which the
dentition numbers i. 4/3, c. 1/1, p. 4/4, m. 3/3 = 46; with the
incisors small and vertical, the outer one in the upper jaw being
larger than the others. Summits of the lower incisors, before they are
worn, with a deep transverse groove, dividing it into an anterior and
a posterior cusp. Canines long, strong and conical. Premolars with
compressed crowns, increasing in size from before backwards. Molars in
general characters resembling those of _Sarcophilus_, but of more
simple form, the cusps being less distinct and not so sharply pointed.
Deciduous molar very small, and shed before the animal leaves the
mother's pouch. General form dog-like, with the head elongated, the
muzzle pointed, and the ears moderate, erect and triangular. Fur short
and closely applied to the skin. Tail of moderate length, thick at the
base and tapering towards the apex, clothed with short hair. First
hind toe (including the metacarpal bone) absent. Vertebrae: C. 7, D.
13, L. 6, S. 2, Ca. 23. Marsupial bones unossified. The gradual
passage of the thick root of the tail into the body is a character
common to the Tasmanian wolf and the aard-vark, and may be directly
inherited from reptilian ancestors (see THYLACINE).
[Illustration: FIG. 3.--The Tasmanian Wolf, or Thylacine (_Thylacinus
cynocephalus_).]
The next genus is represented solely by the Tasmanian devil,
_Sarcophilus_ (or _Diabolus_) _ursinus_, a medium-sized animal with a
dental formula similar to that of the dasyures, but with teeth (fig.
2) approximating to those of the thylacine, though markedly different
in details. The first hind toe is absent.
In the "native cats," or dasyures, constituting the genus _Dasyurus_,
the dental formula is i. 4/3, c. 1/1, p. 3/3, m. 3/3: total 42. The
upper incisors are nearly equal and vertical, with the first slightly
longer, narrower, and separated from the rest. Lower incisors sloping
forward and upward. Canines large and sharply pointed. First two
premolars with compressed and sharp-pointed crowns, and slightly
developed anterior and posterior accessory basal cusps. Molars with
numerous sharp-pointed cusps. In the upper jaw the first two with
crowns having a triangular free surface; the last small, simple,
narrow and placed transversely. In the lower jaw the molars more
compressed, with longer cusps; the last not notably smaller than the
others. Ears of moderate size, prominent and obtusely pointed. First
hind toe rudimentary, clawless or absent; its metatarsal bone always
present. Tail generally long and well clothed with hair. Vertebrae: C.
7, D. 13, L. 6, S. 2, Ca. 18-20 (see DASYURE).
The genus _Phascologale_ comprises a number of small marsupials, none
exceeding a rat in size, differing from the dasyures in possessing an
additional premolar--the dentition being i. 4/3, c. 1/1, p. 4/4, m.
3/3: total 46--and in having the teeth generally developed upon an
insectivorous rather than a carnivorous pattern, the upper middle
incisors being larger and inclined forward, the canines relatively
smaller, and the molars with broad crowns, armed with prickly
tubercles. The muzzle is pointed. Ears moderately rounded, and nearly
naked. Fore feet with five sub-equal toes, with compressed, slightly
curved pointed claws. Hind feet with the four outer toes sub-equal,
with claws similar to those in the fore feet; the first toe almost
always distinct and partially opposable, though small and nailless,
sometimes absent.
In some respects intermediate between the preceding and the next genus
is _Dasyuroides byrnei_, of Central Australia, an animal of the size
of a rat, with one lower premolar less than in _Phascologale_, without
the first hind toe, and with a somewhat thickened tail. The pouch is
incomplete, with two lateral folds, and the number of teats six.
_Sminthopsis_ includes several very small species, with the same
dental formula as _Phascologale_, but distinguished from that genus by
the narrowness of the hind foot, in which the first toe is present,
and the granulated or hairy (in place of broad, smooth and naked)
soles. A pouch is present, and there are eight or ten teats. Nearly
allied is the jumping _Antechinomys laniger_, of East Central
Australia, an elegant mouse-like creature, with large oval ears,
elongated limbs, a long and tufted tail and no first hind toe. In
connexion with the large size of the ears is the excessive inflation
of the auditory bulla of the skull.
From all other members of the family the marsupial, or banded,
ant-eater (_Myrmecobius fasciatus_) differs by the presence of more
than seven pairs of cheek-teeth in each jaw, as well as by the
exceedingly long and protrusile tongue. Hence it is made the type of a
distinct sub-family, the _Myrmecobiinae_, as distinct from the
_Dasyurinae_, which includes all the other members of the family. From
the number of its cheek-teeth, the banded ant-eater has been regarded
as related to some of the primitive Jurassic mammals; but this view is
disputed by Mr Bensley, who regards this multiplicity of teeth as a
degenerate feature. On the other hand, it is noteworthy that this
marsupial retains in its lower jaw the so-called mylo-hyoid groove,
which is found in the aforesaid Jurassic mammals. _Myrmecobius_ has a
total of 52 or 54 teeth, which may be classed as i. 4/3, c. 1/1, p. +
m. (8 or 9)/(8 or 9). The teeth are all small and (except the four
posterior inferior molars) separated from each other by an interval.
Head elongated, but broad behind; muzzle long and pointed; ears of
moderate size, ovate and rather pointed. Fore-feet with five toes, all
having strong pointed, compressed claws, the second, third and fourth
nearly equal, the fifth somewhat and the first considerably shorter.
Hind-feet with no trace of first toe externally, but the metatarsal
bone is present. Tail long, clothed with long hairs. Fur rather harsh
and bristly. Female without pouch, the young when attached to the
nipples being concealed by the long hair of the abdomen. Vertebrae: C.
7, D. 13, L. 6, S. 3, Ca. 23. The single species, which is a native of
western and southern Australia, is about the size of an English
squirrel, to which its long bushy tail gives it some resemblance; but
it lives entirely on the ground, especially in sterile sandy
districts, feeding on ants. Its prevailing colour is chestnut-red, but
the hinder part of the back is marked with broad, white, transverse
bands on a dark ground.
[Illustration: From Gould.
FIG. 4.--The Marsupial or Banded Ant-eater (_Myrmecobius fasciatus_).]
With the bandicoots, or _Peramelidae_, we come to a family of
polyprotodonts which resemble the diprotodonts in the peculiarly
specialized structure of their hind limbs; an adaptation which we must
apparently regard as having been independently acquired in the two
groups. The dentition is i. 5/3, c. 1/1, p. 4/4, m. 3/3; total, 48;
the upper incisors being small, with short, broad crowns; the lower
incisors moderate, narrow, proclivous; canines well developed.
Premolars compressed, pointed; and the molars with quadrate
tuberculated crowns. Deciduous premolar preceded by a minute
molariform tooth, which remains in place until the animal is nearly
full grown. Fore feet with two or three of the middle toes of nearly
equal size, and provided with strong, sharp, slightly curved claws,
the other toes rudimentary. Hind feet long and narrow; the first toe
rudimentary or absent; the second and third very slender and united in
a common integument; the fourth very large, with a stout elongated
conical claw; the fifth smaller than the fourth (see fig. 6). The
terminal phalanges of the large toes of both feet cleft at their
extremities. Head elongated, with the muzzle long, narrow and pointed.
Stomach simple. Caecum of moderate size. Pouch complete, generally
opening backwards. Alone among marsupials bandicoots have no
clavicles. More remarkable still is the development of a small
allantoic placenta.
[Illustration: From Gould.
FIG. 5.--Gunn's Bandicoot (_Perameles gunni_).]
In the true bandicoots of the genus _Perameles_ (fig. 5) the fore-feet
have the three middle toes well developed, the third slightly larger
than the second, the fourth somewhat shorter, provided with long,
strong, slightly curved, pointed claws. First and fifth toes very
short and without claws. Hind feet with one or two phalanges, in the
first toe forming a distinct tubercle visible externally; the second
and third toes very slender, of equal length, joined as far as the
terminal phalange, but with distinct claws; the fifth intermediate in
length between these and the largely developed fourth toe. Ears of
moderate or small size, ovate, pointed. Tail rather short, clothed
with short depressed hairs. Fur short and harsh. Pouch opening
backwards. Vertebrae: C. 7, D. 13, L. 6, S. 1, Ca. 17. (see
BANDICOOT.)
[Illustration: FIG. 6.--Skeleton of Hind Foot of _Choeropus
castanotis_.
c, calcanium; a, astralagus; cb, cuboid; n. navicular; c³,
ectocuneiform; II. and III. the conjoined second and third digits; IV.
the large and only functional digit; V. the rudimentary fifth digit.]
The rabbit-bandicoot, _Peragale_ (or _Thylacomys_) represents a genus
in which the cheek-teeth are curved, with longer crowns and shorter
roots than in the last. Hind extremities proportionally longer with
inner toe represented only by a small metatarsal bone. Muzzle much
elongated and narrow. Fur soft and silky. Ears very large, long and
pointed. Tail long, its apical half-clothed on the dorsal surface with
long hairs. Pouch opening forwards. Vertebrae: C. 7, D. 13, L. 6, S.
2, Ca. 23.
The one species, from Western Australia, is the largest member of the
family, being about the size of a rabbit, to which it bears sufficient
superficial resemblance to have acquired the name of "native rabbit"
from the colonists. It burrows in the ground, but in other respects
resembles bandicoots in habits.
In the pig-footed bandicoot (_Choeropus castanotis_) the dentition
generally resembles that of _Perameles_, but the canines are less
developed, and in the upper jaw two-rooted. Limbs very slender;
posterior nearly twice the length of the anterior. Fore feet with the
functional toes reduced to two, the second and third, of equal length,
with closely united metacarpals and short, sharp, slightly curved,
compressed claws. First toe represented by a minute rudiment of a
metacarpal bone; the fourth by a metacarpal and two small phalanges
without a claw, and not reaching the middle of the metacarpal of the
third; fifth entirely absent. Hind foot long and narrow, mainly
composed of the strongly developed fourth toe, terminating in a
conical pointed nail, with a strong pad behind it; the first toe
represented by a rudimentary metatarsal; the remaining toes completely
developed, with claws, but exceedingly slender; the united second and
third reaching a little way beyond the metatarso-phalangeal
articulation of the fourth; the fifth somewhat shorter. Tail not quite
so long as the body, and covered with short hairs. Ears large and
pointed, and folded down when the animal is at rest. Fur soft and
loose. Pouch opening backwards. Vertebrae: C. 7, D. 13, L. 6, S. 1,
Ca. 20.
The only species of this genus is about the size of a small rat, found
in the interior of Australia. Its general habits and food appear to
resemble those of other bandicoots. A separate family, _Notoryctidae_,
is represented by the marsupial mole (_Notoryctes typhlops_), of the
deserts of south Central Australia, a silky, golden-haired, burrowing
creature, with a curious leathery muzzle, and a short, naked stumpy
tail. The limbs are five-toed, with the third and fourth toes of the
front pair armed with enormous digging claws; there are no external
ear-conchs; and the dentition includes four pairs of upper, and three
of lower, incisors, and distinctly tritubercular cheek-teeth. The
small pouch, supported by the usual epipubic bones, opens backwards.
In correlation with its burrowing habits, some of the vertebrae of the
neck and of the loins are respectively welded together. The eyes have
degenerated to a greater extent than those of any other burrowing
mammal, the retina being reduced to a mass of simple cells, and the
cornea and sclerotic ("white") to a pear-shaped fibrous capsule
enclosing a ball of pigment. The reason for this extreme degeneration
is probably to be found in the sandy nature of the soil in which the
creature burrows, a substance which would evidently irritate and
inflame any functional remnant of an eye. The portion of the lachrymal
duct communicating with the cavity of the nose has, on the other hand,
been abnormally developed, apparently for the purpose of cleansing
that chamber from particles of sand which may obtain an entrance while
the animal is burrowing. (See MARSUPIAL MOLE.)
[Illustration: From Gould.
FIG. 7.--The Pig-footed Bandicoot (_Choeropus castanotis_).]
[Illustration: After Thomas.
FIG. 8.--Skull of _Caenolestes obscurus_.]
2. _Paucituberculates._--The second sub-order of marsupials, the
Paucituberculata, is exclusively South American, and typically
represented by the family _Epanorthidae_, the majority of the members
of which are extinct, their remains being found in the probably
Miocene Santa Cruz beds of Patagonia, although one existing genus
(_Caenolestes_) survives in Ecuador and Colombia. One of the two
living species was, indeed, described so long ago as the year 1863,
under the preoccupied name of _Hyracodon_, but attracted little or no
attention, as its affinities were not fully recognized. Externally
_Caenolestes_ has a shrew-like appearance. The elongated skull (fig.
8) has four pairs of upper incisors and long upper canines, while in
the lower jaw there is a single pair of procumbent incisors, followed
by several small teeth representing the canine and earlier premolars.
The three pairs of molars in each jaw are, like the last premolar,
quadritubercular oblong teeth. The five-toed feet are of normal
structure, and the rat-like tail is prehensile towards the tip. The
female has a small pouch. The extinct members of the family are
represented by the genera _Epanorthus_, _Acdestis_, _Garzonia_, &c. In
a second family--_Abderitidae_--also from the Patagonian Miocene, the
penultimate premolar is developed into an enormous tooth, with a tall,
secant and grooved crown, somewhat after the fashion of the enlarged
premolar of _Plagiaulax_. From the structure of the skull, it is
thought probable that _Abderites_ had an elongated snout, like that of
many Insectivora. As a sub-order, the Paucituberculata are
characterized by the presence of four pairs of upper and three of
lower incisor teeth; the enlargement and forward inclination of the
first pair of lower incisors, and the presence of four or five sharp
cusps on the cheek-teeth, coupled with the absence of "syndactylism"
in the hind limbs.
[Illustration: From Flower, _Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc._
FIG. 9.--Front view of Skull of the Koala (Phascolarctus cinereus) to
exhibit Diprotodont type of dentition.]
3. _Diprotodonts._--The third and last sub-order of marsupials is the
Diprotodontia, which is exclusively Australasian and includes the
wombats, koala, cuscuses, kangaroos and their relatives. There are
never more than three pairs of upper and one of lower incisors, of
which the middle upper and the single lower pair are large and
chisel-like (fig. 9); the canines are small or absent; the cheek-teeth
have bluntly tuberculate or transversely-ridged crowns in most cases;
and the hind-feet are syndactylous. With one exception, the intestine
has a caecum, and the pouch is large and opens forwards. It should be
added that Professor Elliot Smith has pointed out a certain
peculiarity in its commissures whereby the brain of the diprotodonts
differs markedly from that of the polyprotodonts and approximates to
the placental type. Dr Einar Lönnberg has also recorded certain
adaptive peculiarities in the stomach. Most of the species,
particularly the specialized types, are more or less completely
herbivorous.
The first family, _Phascolomyidae_, is typified by the wombats; but
according to the view adopted by Mr H. Winge, and endorsed by
Professor Max Weber, is also taken to include the koala. In this wider
sense the family may be characterized as follows. The tympanic process
of the alisphenoid bone of the skull is short, not covering the cavity
of the tympanum, nor reaching the paroccipital process. The tail is
rudimentary, the first hind-toe opposable, the first pair of upper
incisors very large, but the second and third either absent or small
and placed partially behind the larger pair; and only five pairs of
cheek-teeth in each jaw. The stomach has a cardiac gland, and the
number of teats is two.
In the wombats (_Phascolomys_) the dentition is i. 1/1, c. 0/0, p. +
m. 5/5, total 24; all the teeth growing from persistent pulps, and the
incisors large and chisel-like, with enamel only on the front surface.
The cheek-teeth strongly curved, forming from the base to the summit
about a quarter of a circle, the concavity being directed outwards in
the upper and inwards in the lower teeth. The first of the series
(which appears to have no predecessor) single-lobed; the other four
composed of two lobes, each subtriangular in section. Limbs equal,
stout and short. Fore-feet with five distinct toes, each furnished
with a long, strong and slightly curved nail, the first and fifth
considerably shorter than the other three. Hind-feet with a very short
nailless first toe, the second, third and fourth toes partially united
by integument, of nearly equal length, the fifth distinct and rather
shorter; all four with long and curved nails. In the skeleton the
second and third toes are distinctly more slender than the fourth,
showing a tendency towards the character so marked in the following
families. Tail rudimentary. Caecum very short and wide, with a
vermiform appendage (see WOMBAT).
In addition to remains referable to the existing genus, the
Pleistocene deposits of Australia have yielded evidence of an extinct
giant wombat constituting the genus _Phascolonus_ (_Sceparnodon_).
The koala, or "native bear" (_Phascolarctus cinereus_), which differs
widely from the wombats in its arboreal habits, is less specialized as
regards its dentition, of which the formula is i. 3/1, c. 1/0, p. + m.
5/5, total 30. Upper incisors crowded together, cylindroidal, the
first much larger than the others, with a bevelled cutting edge (fig.
9). Canine very small; a considerable interval between it and the
first premolar, which is as long from before backwards but not so
broad as the molars, and has a cutting edge, with a smaller parallel
inner ridge. The molar-like teeth slightly diminishing in size from
the first to the fourth, with square crowns, each bearing four
pyramidal cusps. The lower incisors are partially inclined forwards,
compressed and tapering, bevelled at the ends. Cheek-teeth in
continuous series, as in the upper jaw. Fore-feet with the two inner
toes slightly separated from and opposable to the remaining three, all
with strong curved and much compressed claws. Hind-foot (fig. 10) with
the first toe placed far back, large and broad, the second and third
(united) toes considerably smaller than the other two; the fourth the
largest. No external tail. Fur dense and woolly. Ears of moderate
size, thickly clothed with long hair. Caecum very long and dilated,
with numerous folds. Vertebrae: C. 7, D. 11, L. 8, S. 2, Ca. 8. Ribs
eleven pairs (see KOALA).
[Illustration: FIG. 10.--Skeleton of Right Hind-Foot of Koala
(_Phascolarctus cinereus_), showing stout opposable hallux, followed
by two slender toes, which in the living animal are enclosed as far as
the nails in a common integument.]
Here may be noticed three genera of large extinct marsupials from the
Pleistocene of Australia whose affinities appear to ally them to the
wombat-group on the one hand and to the phalangers on the other. The
longest known is _Diprotodon_, an animal of the size of a rhinoceros,
with a dental formula of i. 3/1, c. 0/0, p. 1/1, m. 4/4, total 28. The
first upper incisor very large and chisel-like, molars with prominent
transverse ridges, as in _Macropus_, but without the longitudinal
connecting ridge. Complete skeletons disinterred by Dr E. C. Stirling
indicate that in the structure of the feet this creature presents
resemblances both to the wombats and the phalangers, but is nearer to
the former than to the latter. On the other hand, the considerably
smaller _Nototherium_, characterized by its sharp and broad skull and
smaller incisors, seems to have been much more wombat-like, and may
perhaps have possessed similar burrowing habits.
[Illustration: From Flower, Quart. _Journ. Geol. Soc._
FIG. 11.--Front view of Skull of _Thylacoleo carnifex_, restored.]
The last of the three is _Thylacoleo carnifex_, so named on account of
its supposed carnivorous habits. In the adult the dentition (fig. 11)
is i. 3/1, c. 1/0, p. + m. 4/3, total 24. The first upper incisor is
much larger than the others; canine and first two premolars
rudimentary. In the lower jaw there are also one or two small and
early deciduous premolars; third premolars of both jaws formed on the
same type as that of the rat-kangaroos, but relatively much larger;
molars rudimentary, tubercular. The functional teeth are reduced to
one pair of large cutting incisors situated close to the middle line,
and one great, cutting, compressed premolar, on each side above and
below. As already mentioned, _Thylacoleo_ was originally regarded as a
carnivorous creature, but this view was subsequently disputed, and its
diet supposed to consist of soft roots, bulbs and fruits, with an
occasional small bird or mammal. Recently, however, the pendulum of
opinion has swung back towards the original view: and Dr R. Broom
believes _Thylacoleo_ to have been "a purely carnivorous animal, and
one which would be quite able to, and probably did, kill animals as
large or larger than itself." The affinities of the creature are
clearly with the phalangers.
By means of the little musk-kangaroo, the cuscuses and phalangers
constituting the family _Phalangeridae_, are so closely connected with
the kangaroos, or _Macropodidae_, that in the opinion of some
naturalists they ought all to be included in a single family, with
three sub-families. Theoretically, no doubt, this is correct, but the
typical members of the two groups are so different from one another
that, as a matter of convenience, the retention of the two families
seems advisable. From the _Phascolomyidae_, the two families, which
may be collectively designated Phalangeroidea, differ by the
circumstance that in the skull the tympanic process of the alisphenoid
covers the tympanic cavity and reaches the paroccipital process. The
tail is long and in some cases prehensile; the first hind-toe may be
either large, small or absent; the dentition usually includes three
pairs of upper and one of lower incisors, and six or seven pairs of
cheek-teeth in each jaw; the stomach is either simple or sacculated,
without a cardiac gland; and there are four teats.
With the exception of the aberrant long-snouted phalanger, the members
of the family _Phalangeridae_ have the normal number of functional
incisors, in addition to which there may be one or two rudimentary
pairs in the lower jaw. The first in the upper jaw is strong, curved
and cutting, the other two generally somewhat smaller; the single
lower functional incisor large, more or less inclined forwards;
canines 1/(1 or 0) upper small or moderate, conical and sharp-pointed;
lower absent or rudimentary; premolars variable; molars 3/3, or 2/2,
with four obtuse tubercles, sometimes forming crescents. Limbs
subequal. Fore-feet with five distinct subequal toes with claws.
Hind-feet short and broad, with five well-developed toes; the first
large, nailless and opposable; the second and third slender and united
by a common integument as far as the claws. Caecum present (except in
_Tarsipes_), and usually large. The lower jaw has no pocket on the
outer side. All are animals of small or moderate size and arboreal
habits, feeding on a vegetable or mixed diet, and inhabiting
Australia, Papua and the Moluccan Islands.
[Illustration: From Gould.
FIG. 12.--The Long-snouted Phalanger (_Tarsipes rostratus_).]
As the first example of the group may be taken the elegant little
long-snouted phalanger (_Tarsipes rostratus_, fig. 12), a west
Australian creature of the size of a mouse, which may be regarded as
representing by itself a sub-family (_Tarsipediinae_), characterized
by the rudimentary teeth, the long and extensile tongue, and absence
of a caecum. The head is elongated, with a slender muzzle and the
mouth-opening small. The two lower incisors are long, very slender,
sharp-pointed and horizontally placed. All the other teeth are simple,
conical, minute and placed at considerable and irregular intervals
apart in the jaws, the number appearing to vary in different
individuals and even on different sides of the jaw of the same
individuals. The formula in one specimen was i.(2 - 2)/(1 - 1), c.(1 -
1)/(0 - 0), p. + m.(3 - 4)/(2 - 3); total 20. The lower jaw is
slender, nearly straight, and without a coronoid process or inflected
angle. Fore-feet with five well-developed toes, carrying small, flat,
scale-like nails, not reaching the extremity of the digits. Hind-feet
rather long and slender, with a well-developed opposable and nailless
first toe; second and third digits united, with sharp, compressed
curved claws; the fourth and fifth free, with small flat nails. Ears
of moderate size and rounded. Tail longer than the body and head,
scantily clothed with short hairs, prehensile. Vertebrae: C. 7, D. 13,
L. 5, S. 3. Ca. 24.
As indicated in the accompanying illustration, the long-snouted
phalanger is arboreal in habits, extracting honey and probably small
insects from long-tubed flowers by means of its extensile tongue.
The remaining members of the family may be included in the sub family
_Phalangerinae_, characterized by the normal nature of the dentition
(which shows rudimentary lower canines) and tongue. Cuscuses and
phalangers form a numerous group, all the members of which are
arboreal, and some of which are provided with lateral expansions of
skin enabling them to glide from tree to tree like flying-squirrels.
The typical members of the group are the cuscuses (_Phalanger_),
ranging from the Moluccas and Celebes to New Guinea, in which the
males are often different in colour from the females. The true
phalangers, or opossums of the colonists, constitute the genus
_Trichosurus_, while the ring-tailed species are known as
_Pseudochirus_; the latter ranging to New Guinea. _Dactylopsila_ is
easily recognized by its attenuated fourth finger and parti-coloured
fur; the flying species are classed as _Petauroides_, _Petaurus_,
_Gymnobelideus_ and _Acrobates_, the last no larger than a mouse;
while Dromicia, _Distaechurus_ and _Acrobates_ are allied types
without parachutes (see PHALANGER).
An equally brief notice must suffice of the kangaroo tribe or
_Macropodidae_, since these receive a special notice elsewhere. The
dentition is i.(3/1) c.(0 or 1)/0 p.(3/3) m.(3/3); the incisors being
sharp and cutting, and those of the lower jaw frequently having a
scissor-like action against one another. The broad molars are either
bluntly tuberculated or transversely ridged; the outer side of the
hind part of the lower jaw has a deep pocket; and the hind-limbs are
generally very long, with the structure of the foot similar to that of
the bandicoots. The family is connected with the _Phalangeridae_ by
means of the musk-kangaroo (_Hypsiprymnodon moschatus_); forming the
sub-family _Hypsiprymnodontinae_. Then come the rat-kangaroos, or
kangaroo-rats, constituting the sub-family _Potoroinae_; while the
tree-kangaroos (_Dendrolagus_), rock-wallabies (_Petrogale_), and
wallabies and kangaroos (_Macropus_) form the _Macropodinae_ (see
KANGAROO).
_Extinct Marsupials_
Reference has been made to the Australasian Pleistocene genera
_Phascolonus_, _Diprotodon_, _Nototherium_ and _Thylacoleo_, whose
affinities are with the wombats and phalangers. The same deposits have
also yielded remains of extinct types of kangaroo, some of gigantic
size, constituting the genera _Sthenurus_, _Procoptodon_ and
_Palorchestes_. Numerous types more or less nearly allied to the
phalangers, such as _Burramys_ and _Triclis_ have also been described,
as well as a flying form, _Polaeopetaurus_. It is also interesting to
note that fossil remains indicate the former occurrence of thylacines
and Tasmanian devils on the Australian mainland. Of more interest is
the imperfectly known _Wynyardia_, from older Tertiary beds in
Tasmania, which apparently presents points of affinity both to
phalangers and dasyures. From the Oligocene deposits of France and
southern England have been obtained numerous remains of opossums
referable to the American family _Didelphyidae_. These ancient
opossums have been separated generically from _Didelphys_ (in its
widest sense) on account of certain differences in the relative sizes
of the lower premolars, but as nearly the whole of the species have
been formed on lower jaws, of which some hundreds have been found, it
is impossible to judge how far these differences are correlated with
other dental or osteological characters. In the opinion of Dr H.
Filhol, the fossils themselves represent two genera, _Peratherium_,
containing the greater part of the species, about twenty in number,
and _Amphiperatherium_, with three species only. All are comparatively
small animals, few of them exceeding the size of a rat.
Besides these interesting European fossils, a certain number of
didelphian bones have been found in the caves of Brazil, but these are
either closely allied to or identical with the species now living in
the same region.
The occurrence in the Santa Cruz beds of Patagonia of fossil
marsupials allied to the living _Caenolestes_ has been mentioned
above. The alleged occurrence in the same beds of marsupials allied to
the thylacine is based on remains now more generally regarded as
referable to the creodont carnivores (see CREODONTA).
_Mesozoic Mammals._--Under the heading of MULTITUBERCULATA will be
found a brief account of certain extinct mammals from the Mesozoic
formations of Europe and North America which have been regarded as
more or less nearly related to the monotremes. The same deposits have
yielded remains of small mammals whose dentition approximates more
nearly to that of either polyprotodont marsupials or insectivores; and
these may be conveniently noticed here without prejudice to their true
affinities. Before proceeding further it may be mentioned that the
remains of many of these mammals are very scarce, even in formations
apparently in every way suitable to the preservation of such fossils,
and it hence seems probable that these creatures are stragglers from
a country where primitive small mammals were abundant. Not improbably
this country was either "Gondwana-land," connecting Mesozoic India
with Africa, or perhaps Africa itself. At any rate, there seems little
doubt that it was the region where creodonts and other primitive
mammals were first differentiated from their reptilian ancestors.
[Illustration: From Owen.
FIG. 13.--Lower Jaw of _Triconodon mordax_ (nat. size).]
[Illustration: From Owen.
FIG. 14.--Lower Jaw and Teeth of _Phascolotherium bucklandi_ (nat.
size in outline).]
[Illustration: From Owen.
FIG. 15.--Spalacotherium tricuspidens (twice nat. size), Purbeck
beds.]
Of the Old World forms, the family _Triconodontidae_ is typified by
the genus _Triconodon_, from the English Purbeck, in which the
cheek-teeth carry three cutting cusps arranged longitudinally. There
seems to have been a replacement of some of these teeth; and it has
been suggested that this was of the marsupial type. To the same family
are referred _Phascolotherium_ (fig. 14), of the Lower Jurassic
Stonesfield slate of England, and _Spalacotherium_ (fig. 15), of the
Dorsetshire Purbeck; the latter having the three cusps of the
cheek-teeth rotated so as to assume a tritubercular type. Other genera
are _Menacodon_ and _Priacodon_, the former American, and the latter
common to Europe and North America. By one authority _Amphilestes_
(fig. 16), of the Stonesfield Slate, is included in the same group,
while by a second it is regarded as representing a family by itself.
_Amphitherium_, of the Stonesfield Slate, typifies the family
_Amphitheriidae_, which includes the American _Dryolestes_, and in
which some would class the European Purbeck genus _Amblotherium_,
although Professor H. F. Osborn has made the last the type of a
distinct family. Yet another family, according to the palaeontologist
last named, is typified by the genus _Stylacodon_, of the English
Purbeck. To mention the other forms which have received names will be
unnecessary on this occasion.
[Illustration: From Owen.
FIG. 16.--Low
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