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MAGELLAN

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MAGIC LANTERN

burned to the ground. Magdeburg is at the junction of five railways, and its river-trade is large. The city was taken by the French in 1806, but was restored to Prussia in 1814. It is the center of the German sugar-trade, and has many manufactures, with a notable cathedral, which dates from the i2th century. Population 279,685.

Magellan (md-jel'lan), Ferdinand, a Portuguese navigator, was born at Oporto about 1480. After several years' service in the Portuguese navy he visited Spain, and laid before Charles V a scheme for reaching the Molucca or Spice Islands by sailing west, which was favorably acted upon by that emperor. Magellan sailed on Aug. 10, 1519, with five ships and about 250 men. Reaching the mouth of La Plata River and sailing along the coast of Patagonia, he passed through the strait that separates Tierra del Fuego from the mainland, and entered the vast ocean w^hich he named the Pacific, on account of the smooth and tranquil waters he found. He continued his voyage until he reached the Philippine Islands, which he at once proceeded to take possession of in the name of the Spanish king; but in an encounter with the natives of the island of Mactan, who resisted his authority and his efforts to convert them to Christianity, he was killed on April 27, 1521. His only remaining ship, the Victoria, was brought back to Spain by Sebastian del Cano, who reached San Lucas on Sept. 6, 1522; and thus was completed the first voyage ever made around the globe. See Life by Towle.

Magellan, the name of the strait separating South America from Tierra del Fuego and connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It is over 300 miles in length, its breadth varying from 10 to 15 miles. This strait was discovered by Magellan, and has since borne his name. The chief harbor on the strait is Punta Arenas.

Magenta (md-jen'td), an Italian town, 16 miles west of Milan by rail. Here on June 4, 1859, occurred the terrible battle between the French and Sardinians on one side and the Austrians on the other, in which the Aus-trians were defeated with a loss of 10,000 killed and wounded, besides 7;ooo prisoners. For his part in winning this victory Marshal McMahon was by Emperor Napoleon created duke of Magenta. Population about 8,000.

Maggiore (mad-jd'ra}, Lago, one of the largest lakes in Italy, the northern portion extending into the Swiss canton of Ticino. It is about 40 miles in length, and its breadth varies from one to five miles. It is 600 feet above trie sea, its greatest depth being about 2,000 feet. It has picturesque scenery; and on its banks are the Swiss towns of Locarno, Intra, Pallanza, Luino and Laveno.

Magi (md'ji), the priestly caste among the ancient Persians. They not only were "keepers of the sacred things, the learned of the people, the philosophers and servants of

God," but diviners of the future, augurs and astrologers. Zoroaster, in the course of his great religious reform, reorganized the Magi, subjected them to the most rigid discipline, and prescribed a mode of life suitable to their sacred office. For a long time their influence was almost without limit, but it afterward declined until they became mere jugglers and fortune-tellers, and gave the name magic to the tricks of conjurers and sorcerers. Mag'ic Lantern, an optical instrument mostly used by lecturers for projecting upon an opaque screen an enlarged and brilliant image of a picture or object otherwise top small to be seen simultaneously by an audience. The ordinary magic lantern consists of the five essential parts indicated in Fig. i: a source of light to illuminate the picture or object which is to be projected upon the screen; a lens which collects the light from this source and trains it upon the picture or object. This is called the condensing lens

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MAGIC LANTERN

or, more briefly, the condenser; a slide, the picture or object to be shown to the audience; a lens which will produce a good image of the illuminated slide and is called the projection lens; and a screen or wall — generally opaque and very white — upon which the projection lens casts the image to b© viewed by the audience.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, this instrument was largely employed by magicians to produce curious effects for public entertainment. Hence the name of magic lantern, now largely replaced by the name of sciopticon or stereopticon.

The best source of light is the electric arc; but, when this is not available, the next best source is the lime-light. (See DRUMMOND LIGHT.) But the lime-light requires a cylinder of coal-gas and a cylinder of oxygen; and where these are not available an acetylene flame or an oil-lamp with two or three flames makes a very fair substitute. Incandescent electric lamps of high candle-power ate now made for this special purpose.

The condensing lens is usually made qf two single plano-convex lenses with their spherical faces opposing each other. Since this lens is used only to throw light on the

Eicture, not to produce an image, it need e only a low-grade lens. Passing now to the slide, it was the invention of photography that led to the use of the lantern as a means