Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 12.djvu/755

* MAGELLANIA. 673 MAGGOT. Brachiopoda of the family Tcrebratulids. See Tebebkatula. MAGENDIE, ma'zhii.v'de', Fbax^ois (1783- 1855). An eminent French physiologist and physician, born at Bordeaux. Through the in- fluence of his father, who practiced as a physi- cian in Paris, he became a pupil of Boyer, "the celebrated anatomist. At tlie age of twenty, after a competitive examination, he was appoint- ed prosector in the faculty of medicine, and soon afterwards a demonstrator. He was subsequently appointed physician to the HOtelDieu. In 1819 he was elected a member of the Academy of Sci- ences, and in 1831 succeeded Recamier in the chair of anatomy in the College of France. He was the first to prove experimentally that the veins are organs of absorption; he gave a more accurate account of the process of vomiting than had been previously given ; he pointed out that an animal cannot live solely on any one kind of food; he investigated the physiological action and therapeutic uses of hydrocyanic acid and strychnine ; he performed an important series of experiments on the cause of death when air is admitted into the larger veins : he made numerous experiments to determine the functions of various nerves and of different parts of the brain ; and, lastly, he shares with Sir Charles Bell the honor of having discovered the separate functions of the two roots of the spinal nerves. Magendie's chief physiological works are: Pre- cis eleinentnire de phi/sioloiiic (Paris, 1816), which went through several editions, and was en- larged into the Elements de phyfiiologie, which was translated into English, and was for many years the best work on physiology in this lan- guage: Lecons sur les phenomcnes physique'! de la vie (Paris. 183(5-42); Lerons sur le sang (Paris, 1830) ; Lecons sur les fotietions et les maladies du systeme nerveux (Paris, 1839) ; and Recherehes philosopliiques et cli- niques sur le liquide eephalo-rachidien ou cere- hro-spinal (Paris, 1842). He was likewise the founder and for ten years the editor of the Jour- nal de la Ph ysioloffie Experimentale. MAGENTA, m.a-jen'ta. A towTi in the Prov- ince of Milan. Italy. 15 miles west of Milan by Tail (Map: Italy, C 2). Its district yields ex- cellent wine and an abundance of mulberries. It is chiefly famous as the scene of the vic- tory by the French and Sardinians over the Austrians on June 4. 1859. The French and Italian troops were nominally commanded by Emperor Napoleon 111. and King Victor Em- manuel, but the victory was due to the tactics of General MacMahon (q.v.). who was created Buke of Magenta and marshal of France, Popu- lation, in 1901 (of commune), 7974. MAGERO, m:i'g;i-re. An island belonging to Korway, lying close to the coast of Finmarken, in the Arctic Ocean (Jlap: Xorway, LI). Its di- mensions are 20 by 15 miles; it is very irregular in outline, deeply indented by fjords, and consists of a rocky plateau falling abruptly into the sea on all sides. It terminates on the north in Xorth ■Cape (q.v.), the most nnrtherlv point of Europe, which rises almost perpendicularlv from the sea to a height of 970 feet. Population. 32.590. mostly Norwegian and Lappish. A few shrubs and grass are found along the streams; lichens and reindeer-moss abound, which support con- siderable herds of tame reindeer. MAGGIORE, ma-jr/ra. Lake. A body of fresh water, of which four-fifths is in the Italian provinces of Novara and Como, the northern fifth in tlie Swiss Canton of Tieino (Map: Italy, C Ij. It is 636 feet above the sea, 37 '4 miles long, 6 miles wide between Cerro and Feriolo, with an average width of a little over two miles and an area of 82 square miles. The greatest depth is 1221 feet. It is the longest lake in Italy, though surpassed in area by Lake Garda (q.v.). The river Tieino (q.v.) flows through the length of it from north to south, and the most important of the twentyother streams that feed it are the Mag- gia from the northwest and the Toce from the west. The north, west, and southwest shores rise into lofty mountains with snow-capped peaks, but the east bank gradually declines to the level of the plains of Lombardy on the southeast. The water in the north of the lake is green, in the south deep blue. As the Saint Gotthard and Saint Ber- nardino highways meet at Bellinzona, on the Tieino, five miles above the head of the lake, much of the Swiss and German trade with Italy formerly passed via the lake and the roads that parallel it. Steamboats every two or three hours in summer now connect the principal points on the lake ( from Locarno to Arona in si.x hours), and the railroad between Bellinzona and Sesto-Calende. skirting the east shore of the lake, is part of the system connecting Genoa (q.v.) with the north, via the Saint Gotthard Tunnel. The prin- cipal places on the lake are Locarno (q.v.), Magadino. and Brissago in Switzerland, and in Italy Cannobio, Maccagno, Luino (q.v.), Laveno, Intra, Pallanza, Baveno. Stresa. Arona (q.v.). Magadino (population, in 1888. 768; in 1900, 800) was once the most important port on upper Lake Maggiore, but the Saint Gotthard railway turned the course of trade in other directions. Brissago (population, in 1901, 572) is pictu- resque, with villas, gardens, and olive-groves. Cannobio. an ancient town (population of com- mune in 1881, 2.5.57; in 1901. 3023). has three ho- tels, markets wine, fruit, grain, cattle, and hides, and manufactures silk andf cotton goods. At Lake Eglio, north of Maccagno and 29,50 feet above the sea, are an excellent hotel and splen- did scenerv. Laveno (population of commune in 1901, 196"l) is at the mouth of the Boesio, on a -bay that was once a fortified har- bor for Austrian gunboats. The fortifications were pulled down in 1859, and a monument com- memorates the Garibaldians who fell here in that year, A pottery now occupies the site of Fort San Michele; the other chief industry is silk- spinning, .Just behind Laveno rises the Sasso del Ferro (3485 feet I, while a ■ few miles to the northeast is Mount Xudo (4052 feet). Intra (population of commune in 1901, 6902) has im- portant cotton, glass, and other factories, belong- ing mostly to Swiss proprietors. Pallanza ( pop- ulation of commune in 1901, 5237) commands a view of the famous Rorromean Islands (q.v.), and, being the warmest spot on the lake, is a fiivorite winter report for foreigners. Xear Ba- veno (population of conniiune in 1901. 2502) is a villa occupied by Queen Victoria in the spring of 1879. Breezy ami picturesqiie Stresa (popula- tion of commune in 1901. 1491) is the sununer home of many of the Italian nobility. From Stresa Mount ilottarone (q.v.) can be ascended. MAGGOT (probably from Welsh maceiad, macai, maggot, from magu. breed. Corn.. Bret.