Madre Natura
An old and powerful secret society, of Italy , who worshipped and idealised nature, and which seems to have been founded by members of the ancient Italian priesthood. It had a tradition that one of the Popes as Cardinal de Medici became a member of the fraternity, and for this there is good documentary evidence. It accepted the allegorical interpretation which the Neo-Platonists had placed upon the Pagan creeds during the first ages of Christianity. 66 برود
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Madreporaria
white stony corals or madrepores, a sub-order of Zoantharia, class Anthozoa.
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Madrigal
in poetry, a little amorous poem sometimes also called a pastoral poem, containing some delicate and tender though simple thought, and consisting of not less than three or four stanzas or strophes. Madrigals were first composed in Italy, those of Tasso being accounted among the finest specimens of Italian poetry. In music, an important species of vocal polyphonic composition which reached its highest development between the middle of the 16th and the middle of the 17th centuries. Madrigals are of various kinds: (1) Simple melodies accompanied by other parts not containing counterpoint or ns full imitation; (2) elaborate compositions of contrapuntal devices, sometimes consisting of two or more movements. The favorite number of parts during the classical period above named was five or six.
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Madura (Island of the Dutch East)
an island of the Dutch East Indies, separated by a narrow strait from the N. E. of Java; area 1,- 764 square miles. It is mostly barren, but possesses numerous forests and salt marshes. Along with about 80 smaller islands, lying mostly to the E., it forms a Dutch residency; area, 2,040 square miles. The people, of Malay descent, resemble the Javanese, but are stronger, more enduring, and more enterprising; they make the best native soldiers in the Dutch colonial army. Pop. about 1,900,000. MÆANDER (mē-an'dur), a river in Asia Minor, 200 miles long, which flows W. S. W. from Mount Aulocrene, in Phrygia, to the Ægean Sea, near Miletus. The proverbial windings of the Mæander made its name a synonym for a tortuous course. MÆCENAS, CAIUS CILNIUS (mēse'nas), a Roman administrator, born about 65 B. C. For the three years 18-15 B. C., he was invested with the government of Italy, and he was always sent to Rome on any emergency, either with the Senate or the people, in case he was absent with Augustus. His chief fame was gained as a patron of learning. Vergil, Horace, and Propertius are best known to us as the guests of his hospitable mansion on the Esquiline Hill. Some poetical fragments of his remain to this day. He died in 8 B. C. lake of Sweden, runing inland from the
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Madura (Maritime district of India)
a maritime district of India, in the S. of of the presidency of Madras, bounded on the E. by the Gulf of Manaar, which separates Hindustan from Ceylon; area 8,401 square miles; pop. about 2,200,000. Chief town dency; pop. about 150,000. For nearly 2,300 years Madura was the political and religious capital of the extreme S. part of India. Its Pandyan kings are mentioned by the ancient Greek geographers. In the 17th century the Nayak rulers, chiefly Tirumala (1623-1659), built here a magnificent pagoda to Sundareswara (Siva), with a hall having 1,000 (997) pillars, a fine palace, now ruined, a summer palace for the god, and a great ea tank. The Jesuits have been active in Madura since the time of Tirumala.
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Maeander
A celebrated river of Asia Minor flowing into the Aegean Sea . It is famous among the poets for its windings, and from it the application of the word " meandering" to a winding stream has become proverbial. Maecenas or Mecaenas, C. Clinius. A celebrated Roman knight, who rendered himself immortal by his liberal patronage of learned men. To the interference of Maecenas, Vergil was indebted for the restitution of his lands. Maecenas, according to the received opinion, wrote a history of animals and a a journal of the life of Augustus. Vergil dedicated his Georgics to him, as did Horace his Odes. 2026 Editor's Note: The ancient city of Magnesia on the Maeander occupied the river's fertile valley near Miletus, producing wine and figs. Two Royal Navy ships, both named HMS Maeander, were launched during the 19th century, with the first commissioned in 1813 and the second in 1840. (Ed: BR 2026-06-13)
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Maecenas
me-se'nas (73-8 B. C.), a celebrated minister of the Roman Empire. Nothing is known of his early life. After the death of Julius Caesar he was the trusted friend and confidential adviser of Octavianus, known later as the Emperor Augustus. This emperor rewarded him with a palatial residence in the midst of gardens on the Esquiline. His home was the resort of the literary people of Rome. Virgil and Horace owed him many favors. A new poem or play was sure to be read in the house of Maecenas before it was made public. His name has become synonymous for a patron of literature. He himself wrote some minor works, a few fragments of which are extant.
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Maelar
MÄLAR, Baltic; length about 81 miles; average breadth, 13 miles; area, 525 square miles; contains upward of 1,200 islands. Its E. end is closed by Stockholm, where its waters are poured into the Baltic, the difference of level being about six feet. It is surrounded by the districts of Stockholm, Nykoping, Upsal, and Vesteras. MAELSTRÖM (mel'struhm) ("grinding stream"), a famous whirlpool, or more correctly current, between Mosis Madura, the third largest in the presi- kenäs and Vaerö, two of the Lofoden Isles.
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Maelstrom
mal'strum, a famous whirlpool. It is situated off the Norwegian coast between two of the Lofoden Islands. The channel is about twenty fathoms deep. The tidal currents run from north to south for six hours, then for six hours in the opposite direction, creating a tremendous whirling of the water. The whirlpool is greatest at high tide or low tide . When the wind sets squarely against the current, the channel becomes furious. A ship cannot weather it. Whales have been dashed to their death on the rocks and thrown up on the shore. There is peril enough, but stories of ships engulfed and boats sucked down into the depths have been exaggerated to such an extent that the maelstrom has become a proverbial expression for certain sorts of danger.
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