Marsupialia
or MAR SUPIATA (-ā'tä), in zoölogy, pouched animals or mammals having a marsupium or pouch. Under the designation desi Marsupiata they were considered by Cuvier to be a subdivision of his order Carnassiers Co (Carnivora), though their teeth were of various types, and many were vegetable feeders. Some have an analogy to the Insectivora, others to Carnivora , others to the Rodentia, from all of which they differ in possessing a marsupium or pouch. They are now generally termed Marsupialia, and elevated into a subclass, called by Professor Huxley and others, Didelphia. The young are born of a small size and imperfect in condition, but are transferred to the marsupium, where they become attached to a long nipple which supplies them with milk. There is evidently in this arrangement a first faint approach to the oviparous one which characterizes birds. The majority of the species inhabit Australia and its adjacent islands, though the Didelphidæ (opossums) are American.
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Martel
CHARLES. See CHARLES MARTEL.
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Martha's Vineyard
an island on the S. coast of Massachusetts, 21 miles long, 6 miles in average width. It is noted as a summer health resort. MARTIAL (mär'shal) (MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIALIS), Latin a epigrammatist; born in Bilbilis, Spain, in 43 A. D. His poems, which consist of about 1,500 pieces, are interesting for their allusions to the persons and manners of the times, but abound with indelicacies. Martial went to Rome when about 20 years of age, and obtained the favor of Domitian. He died in Spain about 104.
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Martial Law
government by arbitrary military power, superseding municipal, or State law, when the State is imperilled from without or within and the regular administration is unequal to the task of securing general safety. Martial law is declared to enforce extraordinary measures. It is not a law, as commonly understood, but an abrogation of law, having no legislative sanction. The U. S. Supreme Court has held that a State legislature may proclaim its existence, should the safety of the public demand it. The Constitution tacitly permits its proclamation in the clause providing that privileges of the writ of habeas corpus should not be suspended, except when necessary in the case of rebellion and invasion.
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Martian Language
A language purporting to be that of the inhabitants of the planet Mars, written and spoken by the medium known as Hélène Smith. Hélène, the medium studied by a celebrated investigator, M. Flournoy, professor of psychology at Geneva, had in 1892 joined a spiritualistic circle, where she developed marvellous mediumistic powers. In 1896, after Professor Flournoy had begun his investigations, she was spirited during a trance to the planet Mars, and thereafter described to the circle the manners and customs and appearance of the Martians. She learned their language, which she wrote and spoke with ease and consistency. Unlike most of the "unknown tongues" automatically produced the Martian language was intelligible, its words were used consistently, and on the whole it had every appearance of a genuine language. That it was in any way connected with Mars is out of the question. The descriptions of that planet and its inhabitants are quite impossible. And the language itself bears a remarkable resemblance to French, the native tongue of the medium. The grammar and construction of both languages are the same, and even the vowel-sounds are identical, so that the source of the Martian language is not far to seek.
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Martigny
three villages in Switzerland united under this name. Located in the Rhône valley S. of the E. end of Lake Geneva. Situated on the Simplon road into Italy. Pop. about 6,000.
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Martin Chuzzlewit
a novel by Charles Dickens, produced in twenty monthly installments, 1843-1844, and published in book form in 1844. The central ideas of the story are hypocrisy and selfishness, and these characteristics are exemplified in Mr. Pecksniff and Jonas Chuzzlewit. Dickens himself said of the book that it was intended "to show how selfishness propagates itself, and to what a grim giant it may grow from small beginnings." The scene of the story is laid partly in America, exhibiting that side of American character which appealed to the author as ludicrous. Land "booming" and mushroom cities come in for a share of attention. Martin Chuzzlewit is ranked by some critics as Dickens' best novel. It is certain that some of its characters, such as Pecksniff, Mark Tapley, Sarah Gamp, and Betsy Prig are among his most vivid delineations. To the average reader, however, the story is not equal to David Copperfield , nor to Bleak House ; and, in the opinion of many, falls below Our Mutual Friend and Nicholas Nickleby .
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Martin's Ferry
a city in Belmont co., O.; on the Ohio river, on the Baltimore and Ohio, the Wheeling and Lake Erie, and the Pennsylvania railroads; almost opposite Wheeling, W. Va. It is located in an iron, bituminous coal, and limestone region; has waterworks, street railroads, iron and nail works, extensive tin mills, machine shops, large manufactories of glass, planing mills, stove works, etc. Pop. (1910) 9,133; (1920) 11,634.
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Martineau
JAMES, an English clergyman and writer, brother of Harriet Martineau; born in Norwich, England, April 21, 1805. He was educated at the Norwich Grammar School , Dr. Lant Carpenter's school at Bristol, and Manchester New College, York . He became in 1841 Professor of Mental and Moral Philosophy in Manchester New College . In 1857 he removed to London, and was minister of Little Portland Street Chapel from 1859 to 1872. In 1868 he was appointed principal of Manchester New College (which from 1853 had been in London). He was author of "The Rationale of Religious Inquiry" (1837 ); "Miscellanies" (1852); "Studies of Christianity" (1858); "Essays Philosophical and Theological" (1868); "Modern Materialism " (1876); "A Study of Spinoza" ( 1882); "A Study of Religion" (2 vols. 1887), and many other works on kindred topics. He died in London, Jan. 11, 1900.
HARRIET mar'tino), an English reformer, sister of James Martineau; born in Norwich, England, June 12, 1802. She visited the United States in 1834, aiding the abolitionists, and traveled in Palestine and the East in 1846. She wrote a series of stories based on political economy ( 1832). Among her more important works are: "Society in America " (1836); "Deerbrook" (1839), a novel; "History of England during the Thirty Years' Peace" (1848); ; "British Rule in India " (1857); "Biographical Sketches" (1869 ); etc. She died in Ambleside, Westmoreland, England, June 27, 1876.
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