Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 9.djvu/621

 UALU 5'

30 Sept., 16M. llie year of his birth was that of the

Eublicstion of Harvey's book on the circulation of the lood. a work which Malpighi was destined to com- {>iete tiy his obeervations on the capillaries. Brought up on tlie paternal farm, he became at the Sfe of about seventeen a student at the University of Boliwna. He devoted himself t« philosophy, but during the last jfear of his undereraduate course his father, mother, and paternal grandmother died. As he was the eldest of the children, and the next three were girls, he bad to leave the university to settle the financial affairs of the family. It was more than two years before he eould resume his studiee, and then he had to take up a profession that would enable him to help the family. In the medical school Malpighi attracted the attention of Professor Massari, who was not only a teacher but an investigator, and in 1653 obtained the d^ree of doctor in medicine and philosophy. The foUowinc

!'eftr he married Francesca Massari, younger and avourite sister of

his distinguished professor, who died the year after. Mal- pighi's independence of thought, and hia refusal to follow Ga- len blindly, aroused opposition. Still, he was offered in 1656 the chair of medical practice at the uni- versity, and , towards tiie end of the same year, a special chair of theoretical medi- cine was created for him at the recently established Univer- sity of Pisa. After three years' woric at Pisa he returned to Bologna, and two years later was

Sicily. Here he remained four years, and, return to Bologna, was greeted as one of '

citisens.

on human tissues with such good effect that one of the layers of the skin is still called the rete Malpighi; cer- tam bodiM in the spleen and in the kidneys are called by his name, and important discoveries in the liver are due to him. The (irst good comparative study of the liver, from the snail through the fishes, reptiles, and mammals up to man, is due to Malpighi, and he was the first to give an adequate description of the forma- tion of the chick in the egg. Chie day he studied the jagged bark of a green branch, and found little vessels m the wood. His study of the capillary circulation in man gave him an interest in this, and the result was his book on the anatomy of plants, nhich was pub- lished by the Royal Society of England ("Anatome planlarum idea", London, 1675). The Royal Society suggested his study of silk-wonns. This liook is still consulted, though Malpighi had few aids tor such mi- nute anatom vat that time. When he was about six^- four and at the height of his fame. Pope Innocent XH, who had been his personal friend, invited him to Rome as papal physician and professor of medicine in the Papal Medical School. He was held in high honour during his last years, and died there of apoplexy in the sixly-aeventh year of his age.

Soliiif Biografielu inionto MarctUo Malpighi, RaccoUe did D- Frmlt Fimrfa (Milan, 1860): JounnAur in Bioomphit: Uidiaile (Pari*. 1824); Walsh. Malrnalii in Tht Mmmger (New Vofii,Au«., 1905); lli<du.Bumlohiu BopkiAi BiJiriin

HftltK. — ^The group of Maltese islands, mduding Ualta (91i sq. m.), Gok) (24} sq. m.), Comine (1 aa. m.) andafewinconuderable tslets, lies 68 miles soutli

of Sicily and about 180 miles S.E. by E. of Cape Bon in Tunisia. Malta is the headquarters of the British Mediterranean fleet, and the prmcipal coaling station in the Mediterranean. Owing to the prosperity con- sequent upon its important position, tfae isWd isable to BupiHsrt a population out of all proportion to ita siie. The estimated civil population of the islaiids was 205,059 on 1 April, 1906. If about 18,000 be added forthegarrison and the Royal Navy, we reacha total of over 223,000. Without reckoning the fluo- tua ting population of the harbours, the density of the population in Malta itself works out at over 2000 persons per sq, mile. Of the civil popula- tion over 99% are Cathohcs. In 1901 there were in the civil population 696 lunaUce,41Sbliud,80 lepers, 211 lawyers, and 190 doctors. In the same year the secular clergy con- siiited of 698 priests and 251 clerics; the n'pilar clergy of 249 pnesla, 151 clerics and novices, and 140 lay brothers. There were 470 reiigioua women inc luding nov- ices and lay-sisters. In Malta and Goio there arc 27 reiigioua

i of I

_[ 36 convents and ii. ~Vii.irr* Ualta stitutes of religious

' ' women. There are

about 190 schoob, in which some 20,000 persons are being educated. Besides the univeraity (about 120 students), the Lyceum (400), and 79 government ele- mentary schools, there are 53 other government schools, 2 seminaries (312), 22 schools under icli^ous direction, the rest under the direction of private mdi- viduals. The overflow of the papulation is mainly to other Mediterranean ports. In 1901, 33,948 MaUesa returned as residing in countries bordering on the Mediterranean. Of these, 15,208 were in Tunis and 6984 in Egypt.

The government consists o( an Executive Council of eleven members besides the governor, who is usu- ally a distinguished general, and of a Legidativ« Council consisting of ten ofncial and eight elected memliers. All the judges and most of the other gov- ernment olRcials are Maltese. Italian and En^h are the languages of the educated in Malta. Both are taught in every school but only a small percentage of the population s|)eak cither fluently. The revenue [or the year 1903-04 was £464 590, of which £274,251 came from the customs. Under this latter head the duty on imported grain amounted to £97,210. Id 1879 proposals were made to reduce the grain duty, which weighs heavily on the poorer classes. Strangely enough, both the people and their representative* stoutly opposed the reduction. There Is ug diieot ta-Kation m Malta and strictly speaking no public debt. The higher education at the university is paid for by public tax. In 1902-3 the total expenditure under this head was £3950, of which £3674 was paid out of the treasury. In 1904, 38,748 acres, i.e. 601 sq. miles.