Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 06.djvu/97

LEFT MADDALONI 71 MADEBO island was made a French colony. Under French rule the colony has prospered, commerce has been developed, and in 1917 the combined imports and exports amounted to over $40,000,000. Madagas- car has telegraph communication with other countries, and is a wireless tele- graph station. MADDALONI, a city in Italy in the province of Caserta, situated about fif- teen miles northeast of Naples. Located in one of the most fertile sections of Italy and near the Caroline aqueduct which supplies Caserta with water. Pop. (1920) about 20,000. MAJDDEB, in botany, the genus Rubin, and specially R. tinctorum. It is a trail- ing or climbing annual, supporting itself by its leaves and prickles. It is supplied chiefly from Holland, France, Italy, and Turkey. Indian madder, called also mad- der of Bengal, is R. cordifolia; madder of Chile, R. augustisshna or Relboum. In chemistry, the root of R. tinctorum Is extensively used in dyeing for the production of a variety of colors, namely, red, pink, purple, black, and chocolate. The colors produced from madder are very stable, the well-known Turkey-red being one of them; and the tints and shades obtainable, according to the mor- dant used, are very numerous. Alizarin, or madder red, discovered by Robiquet, may be extracted with solvents, or ob- tained by sublimation in the form of beautiful reddish needles (see Alizarin). In pharmacy, madder is a tonic, a diu- retic, and an emmenagogue. Brown mad- der, a rich red-brown pigment, prepared from the roots of R. tinctorum. MADEIRA (ma-da'e-ra), a Portu- guese island in the North Atlantic, 360 miles from the coast of Africa, 530 miles from Lisbon, 1,216 from Plymouth; length, 30 miles; breadth, 13 miles; area, 314 square miles; pop. about 175,000. The island is traversed by a central mountain ridge, the highest point of which reaches 6,000 feet; from this great spurs descend to the coast, forming lofty precipices; and in the bays formed between these volcanic cliffs are situated the villages of Madeira. Adjacent to Madeira is Porto Santo, a small island, and the Desertas, which, with Madeira itself, compose the group of the Madeiras. The staple products of Madeira are wine and sugar. The mean annual temperature is 65°, the two hottest months being August and September, and the three coldest January, February, and March. The climate is equable and the island is considered an excellent sanatorium for chest diseases. Capital and chief center of trade, Funchal (q. v.); pop. about 25,000. The Madeiras were known to the Romans, and were rediscovered and colonized by the Portuguese in 1431. MADEIRA, the great affluent of the Amazon, having its origin in the con- fluence of the Mamore and Guapore. at about lat. 12° S., the Beni joining 110 miles lower down, and then flowing N. E. to the Amazon, its drainage basin embracing about 425,000 square miles. From its mouth to its first falls the distance is 578 miles; above this point navigation is broken by a series of 19 falls, rapids, and cataracts for a distance of 230 miles. Its chief tributary is the Rio Teodoro, formerly Rio Duvida (River of Doubt), explored in 1914 by Theo- dore Roosevelt, and re-named by Brazil in his honor. MADERO, FRANCISCO, President of Mexico; born in Coahuila 1873, and, after receiving a good education, devoted himself to the development of the large FRANCISCO MADERO estates belonging to his family. In 1903 he entered actively into politics, forming the Club Democratico Benito Juarez, and leading the independent voters against Diaz. His book, "La Sucesidn Presiden- cial en 1910," which attacked the auto- cratic regime of Diaz, singled him out as Diaz's logical opponent in the election then looming, and he was nominated by the National Democratic party. He was.