lable, and that established the supremacy of the law over the will
of the monarch.

MAGNA GRAECA, the ancient name of the southern part of Italy, so
called in early times as it was extensively colonised by Greeks.

MAGNET, the name given to loadstone as first discovered in Magnesia,
a town in Asia Minor; also to a piece of iron, nickel, or cobalt having
similar properties, notably the power of setting itself in a definite
direction; also a coil of wire carrying an electric current, because such
a coil really possesses the properties characteristic of an iron magnet.

MAGNETIC INDUCTION, power in a magnet of imparting its qualities to
certain other substances.

MAGNETISM, the branch of science devoted to the study of the
properties of magnets, and of electric currents in their magnetic
relations; sometimes also used to denote the subtle influence supposed to
lie at the root of all magnetic phenomena, of the true nature of which
nothing is known. See ANIMAL MAGNETISM.

MAGNIFICAT, THE, a musical composition embracing the song of the
Virgin Mary in Luke I. 46-55, so called from the first word of the song
in the Vulgate; it belongs to, and forms part of, the evening service.

MAGNUSSEN, FINN, a Scandinavian scholar and archaeologist, born in
Iceland; became professor of Literature at Copenhagen in 1815;
distinguished for his translation and exposition of the "Elder Edda"
(1781-1847).

MAGYARS, a people of Mongolian origin from the highlands of Central
Asia that migrated westward and settled in Hungary and Transylvania,
where they now form the dominant race.

MAHABHARATA, one of the two great epic poems of ancient India, a
work of slow growth, extending through ages, and of an essentially
encyclopaedic character; one of the main sources of our knowledge of the
ancient Indian religions and their mythologies; it is said to consist of
upwards of 100,000 verses.

MAHADEVA, the great god of the Hindus; an appellation of SIVA
(q. v.), as Mahadevi is of Durga, his wife.

MAHANADE, a great Indian river which, after flowing eastward for
over 500 m., the last 300 of which are navigable, falls into the Bay of
Bengal near Cape Palmyras; its volume in flood is enormous, and renders
it invaluable for irrigation.

MAHATMA, one who, according to the Theosophists, has passed through
the complete cycle of incarnation, has thereby attained perfection of
being, and acquired the rank of high priesthood and mira