tant
discoveries in connection with the animal system, and was an unscrupulous
vivisectionist (1783-1855).

MAGENTA (6), Italian town, 15 m. W. of Milan, where Macmahon
defeated a superior Austrian force in 1859.

MAGGIORE, LAGO (i. e. the Greater Lake), a large lake in the N. of
Italy, partly in Switzerland, 37 m. in length, and 8 m. in greatest
breadth, the river Ticino flowing through it. THE BORROMEAN
ISLANDS (q. v.) occupy a western arm of the lake.

MAGI, a priestly caste in the East, constituting the "learned"
class, as the Druids in the West: the custodiers of religion and the
rites connected therewith, and who gave themselves up to the study of
sciences of a recondite character, but with a human interest, such as
astrology and magic, and who were held in great reverence by, and
exercised a great influence over, the people.

MAGI, THE THREE, the "wise men from the East" mentioned in Matt.
ii.--Melchior, an old man, who brought gold, the emblem of royalty;
Gaspar, a youth, who brought frankincense, the emblem of divinity;
Balthazar, a Moor, who brought myrrh, the emblem of humanity--and who
were eventually regarded as the patron saints of travellers.

MAGIC, the pretended art to which extraordinary and marvellous
effects are ascribed, of evoking and subjecting to the human will
supernatural powers, and of producing by means of them apparitions,
incantations, cures, &c., and the practice of which we find prevailing in
all superstitious ages of the world and among superstitious people. See
SUPERSTITION.

MAGINN, WILLIAM, a witty, generous-hearted Irishman, born in Cork; a
man of versatile ability, who contributed largely to _Blackwood_, and
became editor of _Fraser's Magazine_, in the conduct of which latter he
gathered round him as contributors a number of the most eminent literary
men; the stories and verses he wrote gave signs of something like genius
(1793-1842).

MAGLIABECCHI, an inordinate bookworm, born in Florence; became
librarian of the Grand-Duke; his book-knowledge was as unbounded as his
avidity for knowledge; his memory was extraordinary; he carried in his
head the page of a passage in a book as well as the passage itself in the
_ipsissima verba_, (1633-1714).

MAGNA CHARTA, "the great charter," extorted from King John by the
barons of England at Runnymede on June 5, 1215, that guaranteed certain
rights and privileges to the subjects of the realm, which were pronounced
invio