Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 12.djvu/786

MAHAN. Elementary Course of Military Engineering. He also published An Elementary Course of Ciiil Engineering in 1837, which he rewrote and re- vised in 1868; Advanced (Jitard, Outpost, and Detachment Herviee of Troops (1847); Elementary Treatise on Industrial Druuing (1853); Descriptive Geometry (1804) ; and an edition of Jloseley's Mechanical Principles of Engineering end Architecture (185(5). A biographical me- moir by Gen. H. L. Abbot will be found in volume ii. of the Biographical Memoirs of the y atidudl Arademy of l:icieiiccs (Washington, 1880).

MAHAN, JIiLO (1819-70). An American Protestant Episcopal minister, brother of D. H. 31ahan. born in Sufi'olk. Va. He was educated at Saint Taul's College, Flushing, L. I.; took orders in the Protestant Episco])al (_'hurch in 1S45, and became rector of Grace tliurch, Jersey City, in 1848, and assistant minister of Saint ilark's Church, Pliiladelphia, in 1850. In 1857 lie was elected professor of ecclesiastical history in the General Theological Seminar}- in New York. In 1864 he became rector of Saint Paul's Church, Baltimore. His published works are: The Exer- cise of Faith (1851); History of the Church During the First Three Centuries (1800; new ed., enlarged, 1872); Ifeply to Colenso (1863) ; Pal- moni: A Free Inquiry (1S04); Comedy of Can- onization (1808). His works were collected and published, with a memoir, in three volumes, by Hopkins (New York, 1872-75 ).

MAHANADI, or MAHANUDDY, mii'hJl- iiud'i (Skt., great river). A river of India, rising in the soutiiern part of the Central Provinces (Map: India, D 4). It flows in an irregular eastern direction across Orissa to the city of Cuttaek, where it divides into several arms, form- ing a large delta, through which it enters the Bay of Bengal about 100 miles southwest of the Ganges Delta. Its entire lengtli is upward of 500 miles, and it is navigable during the rainy season about 300 miles to Sambalpur. During this season the volume of water discharged by the JIahanadi is very great ; the surplus is being utilized for irrigation by an elaborate system of canals constructed by the British Government.

MAHANOY (ma'h.i-noi') CITY. A borough in Schuylkill County, Pa.. 10 miles north by east of Pottsville, on JIahanoy Creek and on the Philadelphia and Reading and the Lehigh Valley railroads (Map: Pennsylvania, E 3), It is situ- ated in the anthracite region, and has extensive coal-mining and shipping interests, besides pot- teries, foundries, and flour, lumber, and hosiery mills. The borough is well laid out and has a public-school library. Malianoy City was settled in 1859 and was chartered as a borough in 1803. Population, in 1800, 11,280: in 1900, 13,.504.

MAHANUDDY. A river of India. See M.ANAI)I.

MAHARIF, mUlia-ref. An antelope of the Sudan illippotragus linheri). allied to the roan and sable antelopes, and standing nearly five feet high at the withers. It is of a pale liver color, with penciled ears and black stripes across the shoulders. This fine antelope, whose horns are massive, was discovered by Sir Samuel Baker, MAHASEER, miilia-ser. A large barbel of India and Ceylon (Barbiis tor), which reaches a length of six feet mder favorable circum- stances. These great fish reside in the streams of the highlands, and form one of the principal attractions to the 'angler in the East. When the rainy season begins, the mahaseers ascend the hill rivers and their tributaries as far as possi- ble, and spawn, after which they drop down with the subsiding waters. When the ova hatch the fry find themselves alone in the scanty headwaters, and safe from the devouring appetites of their now absent parents. In these small streams and pools they grow almost immolested until the next season's high water enables them to go down stream. Thus the continued supply of this and of various other similar fishes is secured to the people of the plains. !Maliaseer fishing is one of the leading sports of India.

MAHATMA (Skt., possessing a great soul). A name applied in theosophy (q.v.) to a class of saints who are said to refrain from entering Nirvana (q.v.) that they may help mankind by their presence on earth. As a result of their asceticism and meditation they are supposed to possess superhuman powers, by means of which they are enabled to project their astral bodies to vast distances. The idea of mahatmas is entirely theosophical. Real Oriental philosophy knows nothing of them.

MAHAVANSA, ma'ha-viiN'sa (Pali, great lineage I . The title of a celebrated historical work, written in Pali, giving an account in epic form of the island of Lanka, or Ceylon, from the earliest times and the introduction of Bud- dhism down to the death of King Mahasena, which occurred a.d. .302. and extended later by various additions down to the time of the Eng- lish occupation. Like the Dipavansa (q.v.), the Mahavansa is derived from a more ancient source, the historical portion of the Attnknthu. which commented on the Buddhist Scriptures after giv- ing an annalistic record by way of introduction. An incomplete edition of the ilahavansa, with an English translation, was imblished by G. Tum- our (Ceylon. 1837) and reissued later in revised form by L. C. Wyesinha, Mrihdirnitso, Translated from the Pali into English, vol. i. (Colombo, 1889). Consult Geiger, Dipavansa xtnd maha- rnnsa, die heiden Chroniken der Inscl Ceylon (Erlangen. 1901),

MAHAVIRA, ma'hii've'rii (Skt, maha-vira, great hero). Name of the founder of the sect of the .Jains. (See .Tainism.) He is known also as Vardhamana 'the Exalted,' Ytra 'the Hero,' or as Jina 'the Victorious.' He is regarded as the twenty-fourth and last in the long list of deified masters recognized in Jainism, and he appears to have been an elder contemporary of Buddha, His birthplace was at Kotigama (now Vasakund), in Xortheastern India. His legendary history is given in the Kalpa-Hntra (q.v.) and the Mahavlra-Charilni. two works held in great authority by the .Tainas. According to these works, ilahavlra's first birth occurred at a period infinitely remote; it was as a nayasara, head man of a village, that he first appeared in the country of Vijaya, subject to Satrumardana. He was next born as ^Nlarichi, the grand-son of the first .Taina saint Rishabha ; he then came to the world of Brahma, was reborn as a worldy minded Brahman, and after several other births—each separated from the other by an interval passed in one of the .Jaina heavens, and each period of life extending to many hundreds of thousands of years — he quitted the state