MARMORA (anc. Proconnesus), an island in the sea of the same name. Originally settled by Greeks from Miletus in the 8th century B.C., Proconnesus was annexed by its powerful neighbour Cyzicus in 362. The island has at all times been noted for its quarries of white marble which supplied the material for several famous buildings of antiquity (e.g. the palace of Mausolus at Halicarnassus).
See C. Texier, Asie mineure (Paris, 1839-1849); M. I. Gedeon, Προικόννησος (Constantinople, 1895); an exhaustive monograph by F. W. Hasluek in Journ. Hell. Stud., xxix., 1909.
MARMORA, SEA OF (anc. Propontis; Turk. Mermer Denisi), the small inland sea which (in part) separates the Turkish dominions in Europe from those in Asia, and is connected through the Bosporus with the Black Sea (q.v.) and through the Dardanelles with the Aegean. It is 170 m. long (E. to W.) and nearly 50 m. in extreme width, and has an area of 4500 sq. m. Its greatest depth is about 700 fathoms, the deepest parts (over 500 fathoms) occurring in three depressions in the northern portion—one close under the European shore to the south of Rodosto, another near the centre of the sea, and a third at the mouth of the Gulf of Ismid. There are several considerable islands, of which the largest, Marmora, lies in the west, off the peninsula of Kapu Dagh, along with Afsia, Aloni and smaller islands. In the east, off the Asiatic shore between the Bosporus and the Gulf of Ismid, are the Princes’ Islands.
MARMOSET, a name derived from Fr. marmouset (meaning “of a gross figure”), and used to designate the small tropical American monkeys classed by naturalists in the family Hapalidae (or Chrysothricidae). Marmosets are not larger than squirrels, and present great variation in colour; all have long tails, and many have the ears tufted. They differ from the other American monkeys in having one pair less of molar teeth in each jaw. The common marmoset, Hapale (or Chrysothrix) jacchus, is locally known as the oustiti, while the name piriché is applied to another species (see [Primates]).
MARMOT, the vernacular name of a large, thickly built, burrowing Alpine rodent mammal, allied to the squirrels, and typifying the genus Arctomys, of which there are numerous species ranging from the Alps through Asia north of (but including the inner ranges of) the Himalaya, and recurring in North America. All these may be included under the name marmot. In addition to their stout build and long thickly haired tails, marmots are characterized by the absence of cheek-pouches, and the rudimentary first front-toe, which is furnished with a flat nail, as well as by certain features of the skull and cheek-teeth. Europe possesses two species, the Alpine or true marmot (A. marmotta), and the more eastern bobac (A. bobac); and there are numerous kinds in Central Asia, one of which, the red marmot (A. caudata), is a much larger animal, with a longer tail. Marmots inhabit open country, either among mountains, or, more to the north, in the plains; and associate in large colonies, forming burrows, each tenanted by a single family. During the daytime the hillock at the entrance to the burrow is frequently occupied by one or more members of the family, which at the approach of strangers sit up on their hind-legs in order to get a better view. If alarmed they utter a shrill loud whistle, and rush down the burrow, but reappear after a few minutes to see if the danger is past. In the winter when the ground is deep in snow, marmots retire to the depths of their burrows, where as many as ten or fifteen may occupy the same chamber. No store of food is accumulated, and the winter sleep is probably unbroken. From two to four is the usual number of young in a litter. In America marmots are known as “wood-chucks” (q.v.), the commonest species being A. monax. The so-called prairie-dogs, which are smaller and more slender North American rodents with small cheek-pouches, form a separate genus, Cynomys; while the term pouched-marmots denotes the various species of souslik (q.v.), Spermophilus (or Citillus), which are common to both hemispheres, and distinguished by the presence of large cheek-pouches (see [Rodentia]).
(R. L.*)
| The Alpine Marmot (Arctomys marmotta). |