Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 12.djvu/821

* MALAGASY SXTBREGION. 729 a former hypothetical continent, or archipelago, Lemuria (q.v.), which extended eastward into the Malayan islands. Its extent was supposed to be indicated by the present distribution of the lemur family, but more recent knowledge in regard to the past distribution of this family, derived from fossil remains, shows that the h_vpothesis is un- tenable. This theory indicates, however, the most prominent characteristic of the fauna of Mada gascar, which is that it is the headquarters of the lemur tribe. Nearly all the other lemurs known (except the African galago) are Malayan, and this fact, together with various other coinci- dences, leads to the conclusion that there was once some intercommunication. The isolation of Madagascar must, liowever, have occurred very long ago. even as time is reckoned in paleontol- ogv, for the differences between it and Africa are almost as great as those between it and the Orient. Very deep water separates it from Africa, and there could have been little if any interchange of terrestrial life since a very remote period. Its mammalian fauna is rich in lemurs and in- sectivores — all small animals of ancient types. The onlj- ungulate is a peculiar species of river- hog, for none of the antelopes and the like of Africa live there. There are very few and small rodents, and none of the great carnivores; the beasts of prey are altogether of the civet family, the largest of which is the ferocious fossa (q.v.), which is about twice the size of a house-cat. In every case the species is peculiar to the island, and in most cases the genus also. Birds are extremely numerous, and on the whole are Ethi- opian in character; but many genera and species are wholly restricted to this subregion. Here, too. was the home of many recently extinct birds, such as the epiornis, a relic of an ancient Noto- g»an tribe, the dodo, solitaire, and so on. (See Bird. Fossil; and Extinct Animals.) Tha reptiles present many purely local forms and curious resemblances to the faunfe of other re- gions. Of the great colubrine family of snakes, none is of the African type, nor is there a viper ; on the contraiy, several genera are the same as or similar to those of America. The boas, so char- acteristic of South America, are represented by Malagasy species, and also the tree-snakes (Den- drophidae) ; while several families mainly Orien- tal are represented here (e.g. see L. gaha). A similar mixture of types may be found among Malagasy lizards and chclonians — the latter in- eluding in the Mascarene Islands the once nu- merous and very ancient giant tortoises. ( See EXTIXCT Animals.) No other part of the world seems to have possessed, when first investigated by Europeans, so many senescent species, most of which have succumbed to civilization. The am- phibian fauna of Madagascar has only recently been studied and has been found equally remark- able with the rest, so that rjadow makes it one of the four primary subdivisions of the Southern Hemisphere of the Old World (his 'Notogsea'; consult Amphibia and Ilcptilcf:. London. 1901). There is a mixture of African and Indian forms. The island differs from Africa by the absence of Apoda (limbless batrachians). Aglossa (tongue- less frogs), and Bufonidse (toads). It differs from the Oriental Region in similar absences of certain groups, and has several exclusive forms of its own. Fresh-water fishes and the inverte- brate life are not well known, but seem to bear out the former deduction that ^ladagascar has MAXAPBOP. a fauna which has been very long isolated, and was originally derived from sources which con- tributed to both Oriental and Ethiopian re- gions. See Di.STKiBiTioN OF Animals, and the accompanying maps. MALAGXTETTA (ma'la-get'ta) PEPPER. See Guinea Pepper; Gbains of Paradise. MALAKANI, mji'la-ka'ne. See Molokani. MALAKOFF, ma'Ia-kfif. See Sebastopoi» MAXAKOFF, Duke of. The title of Marshal Pelissier (q.v.). MAL'ALAS(Lat.. from Gk. 'ludfi'r)! 6 MoXtXa, or '.Iada (lOannes ho Malela or ilalala), John the Orator, from Sj-r. malalii, eloquent, from iiiulel, to speak). .Johannes. A Byzantine chron. icier of the sixth century a.d. He was probably of Syrian origin and may have been born in Con- stantinople. Of his life nothing is known, and liis great work, a universal liistory. is mutilated at beginning and end. It was edited by Humphrey Hody (Oxford, 1691), who completed the prelimi- nary labors of Edmund Chilmead. Hody's edition «as revised by Dindorf ( Bonn. 1 83 1 ) . Bentley's fa- mous Epistola ad Joannem Millium. reprinted in both these eilitions. deals primarily with Malalas. MALAMPAYA (ma'lUm-pil'ya) BAY, or Sound. An inlet of the China Sea, on the north- west coast of the island of Palawan, Philippines. It is one of the first natural harbors in the archipelago. Its narrow entrance can be pro- tected from the rocky headlands on either side, and within is a land-locked harbor, nine miles long bv four miles wide, with depths ranging from 30 to 54 feet. MALAN, ma'laN'. C'£sar Henri Abraham ( 1787-18(14). A Protestant divine. He was bom in Geneva. Switzerland; was educated at the Academy in Geneva ; ordained to the ministry of the National Church in 1810, and appointed preacher to the cathedral and a regent of the Academy. He preached the Socinian views which prevailed in the Swiss Church at the time, till, in 1810, under the influence of American and Scottish friends, he accepted the Trinitarian doc- trine. The promulgation of his new faith ex- posed him to the censure of the authorities, and he was excluded from the cathedral pulpit in 1818. After preaching in his own house for a time, he became pastor of an independent church called La ChapeUe du Tfmoiqnage, and was for many years a conspicuous figure in the orthodox Protestant life of Central Europe. He founde<l a theological school at Geneva, and introduced Sunday-schools into Switzerland. He published a book of hymns. l,es chants de Sion ( 1820; with original music. 1841); Les Moinicrs. sont-Hs iniisiblest (IS2S); Le tcmoignagc de Diru (1833); L'erilise romaine. which was published in English in New York in 1844; and l.vs f/rains de seneve ( 1840). His Life was published by his son. Solomon Cfear Malan, in Geneva in 1809. MALANAO, mii'lanou'. A tribe of the llano, in soutliern Mindanao. See Philippine Islands. MAL'APROP, Mrs. (Fr. mal-d-propo.i. not to tlie purpose). A character in Sheridan's play The Rivals (1775). who has a ludicrous habit of using wrong words which resemble the right ones more or less ; as when she speaks of a person as 'a progeny of learning.' or of 'an aihgorg on the banks of the Nile.' This species of wit was