[Mauritania], was the old name of the African country W. of the Muluya River and N. of the Atlas Mountains, from which supplies of corn and timber were obtained.
[Mauritius], or Isle of France (372), a volcanic island in the Indian Ocean, 550 m. E. of Madagascar, as large as Caithness, with mountains 3000 feet high, a tableland in the centre, and many short streams; the climate is cool in winter, hot in the rainy season, and subject to cyclones; formerly well wooded, the forests have been cut down to make room for sugar, coffee, maize, and rice plantations; sugar is the main export; the population is very mixed; African and Eastern races predominate; descendants of French settlers and Europeans number 110,000; discovered by the Portuguese in 1510, they abandoned it 90 years later; the Dutch held it for 112 years, and abandoned it in turn; occupied by the French in 1721, it was captured by Britain in 1810, and is now, with some other islands, a crown colony, under a governor and council. Port Louis (62), on the NW., is the capital, and a British naval coaling station.
[Maury, Abbé], born in Vaucluse, son of a shoemaker; came to Paris, and became celebrated as a preacher; "skilfulest vamper of old rotten leather to make it look like new," was made member of the Constituent Assembly, "fought Jesuistico-rhetorically, with toughest lungs and heart, for throne, specially for altar and tithes"; his efforts, though fruitless for throne, gained in the end the "red cardinal plush," and Count d'Artois and he embraced each other "with a kiss" (1740-1817).
[Maury, Matthew Fontaine], American hydrographer, born in Virginia; entered the United States navy in 1825, became lieutenant in 1837, studied the Gulf Stream, oceanic currents, and great circle sailing, and in 1856 published his "Physical Geography of the Sea"; took the side of the Confederates in the Civil War, and was afterwards appointed professor in the Military College at Lexington, in Virginia (1806-1873).
[Mausole`um], a building more or less elaborate, used as a tomb. See [Mausolus].
[Mausolus], a king of Caria, husband of Artemisia, who in 353 raised a monument to his memory, called the Mausoleum, and reckoned one of the Seven Wonders of the world.
[Max Müller, Friedrich], philologist, born at Dessau, son of a German poet, Wilhelm Müller; educated at Leipzig; studied at Paris, and came to England in 1846; was appointed Taylorian Professor at Oxford in 1854, and in 1868 professor of Comparative Philology there, a science to which he has made large contributions; besides editing the "Rig-Veda," he has published "Lectures on the Science of Language" and "Chips from a German Workshop," dealing therein not merely with the origin of languages, but that of the early religious and social systems of the East; b. 1823.
[Maxim, Hiram S.], American inventor, born at Tangerville, Maine, U.S.; showed early a decided mechanical talent, and is best known in connection with the invention of the gun named after him, but among his other inventions are the smokeless powder, the incandescent lamp carbons, and search-lights; b. 1840.
[Maxim Gun], an automatic machine-gun invented by Hiram S. Maxim, an American, in 1884, capable of discharging 620 rifle cartridges per minute; the first shot is fired by hand, and the recoil is utilised to reload and fire the next, and so on. A cylinder of water keeps the barrel from heating.
[Maximilian, Ferdinand Joseph], archduke of Austria, younger brother of Francis Joseph, born at Schönbrunn; became emperor of Mexico; issued an edict threatening death to any Mexican who took up arms against the empire, roused the Liberal party against him, and was at the head of 8000 men defeated at Querétaro, taken prisoner, tried by court-martial, and shot (1832-1867).