Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XI.djvu/153

 MAQUET MARABOU 141 dense foliage ; its compound leaves have three or five leaflets, which are ovate, pointed, and toothed; the staminate flowers are in small clusters, and the pistillate ones in racemes, which later are several inches long and conspic- uous on account of the numerous fruits, like those of the maple, with incurved wings. The wood is similar to that of the red maple, and useful for fuel. The abundant sap yields sugar, and it is by some regarded as purer than that afforded by the sugar maple. This tree is in the western states generally called box-elder, and is a favorite with those engaged in tree planting upon the prairies, a purpose for which its rapid growth well adapts it ; and though not long-lived, it will furnish both fuel and su- gar while slower but more valuable kinds are growing. It is much valued as an ornamental tree, its symmetrical growth and neat habit making it suitable for the lawn. A variegated form of this has been recently introduced, in Ash-leaved Maple (Negundo aceroides). which the leaves are abundantly marked with white ; a specimen of this seen against a back- ground of evergreens produces a striking effect in landscape gardening. MAQUET, Angnste, a French novelist, born in Paris in 1813. He studied and taught at the college Charlemagne, and wrote for Alex- andre Dumas parts of many works which the latter claimed exclusively as his own. In 1846, however, Maquet's pamphlet, La maison Alex- andre Dumas et compaynie, forced Dumas to acknowledge his share in these productions; and in 1851 they dissolved 1 their literary partner- ship. Maquet has published La belle Gdbrielle (5 vols., 1853-'5) ; Le comte de Lavernie (10 vols., 1853-'5) ; La maison du baigneur (2 vols., 1856) ; Venters et Vendroit (4 vols., 1858) ; and La rose Handle (3 vols., 1859). Among the novels ostensibly by Dumas, the best known of those in the writing of which Maquet had a considerable if not the principal share are Lea trois mousquetaires, Vingt ans apres, Le mcomte de Bragelonne, Monte Gristo, and Joseph Bal- samo. He took the same share in dramatizing some of these novels, chiefly in conjunction with Dumas, but also with Jules Lacroix. MARABOU, the popular name of several large birds of the stork family, of the genus leptop- tilus (Lesson), natives of Asia and Africa, whose delicate vent feathers were formerly highly esteemed as ornaments. The L. argala (Lath.), the Asiatic marabou or adjutant, has no equal in size except the jabiru and ostrich ; the length from the point of the bill to the claws is 7i ft., and the expanse of wings is nearly 15 ft. ; it stands 5 ft. high. The bill is about 2 ft. long, straight, strong, and sharp- pointed ; the wings long and ample, the tail moderate and broad, tarsi strong, and toes long, the anterior webbed at the base. The head and neck are nearly bare of feathers, and in front of the neck hangs a pouch or dewlap several inches long and capable of considerable distention. The bill is yellowish white, and its gape is such that it can swallow whole an animal as large as a cat; front of the neck yellowish, back of neck reddish with a few hairy warty excrescences ; the back and wing coverts deep bluish ash, wings dusky, breast and belly dusky white; the feathers of the sides beneath the wings, and those of the vent and under tail coverts, are whitish, downy, about 12 in. long, and so light and delicate as to command a high price for ladies' head dress- es ; a feather a foot long and 7 in. wide weighs only 8 grains. It is common in Bengal, and by the natives each is believed to be possessed by the soul of a Brahman ; by the English it is called adjutant from its resemblance at a dis- Marabou (Leptoptilus marabou) tance to an officer with white waistcoat and breeches. Its voracity is extreme, exercised upon anything which comes in its way, from offal, fish, and reptiles, to birds and quad-