Chapter V: Part 5

_Cancer of the Breast_ may be met with in men as well as in women; in
men, however, it is very rare. It is commonest in women between the
ages of forty and fifty. It is sometimes met with in women of twenty;
and the younger the individual the more malignant is the disease.
Married life seems to have no effect as regards the incidence of the
disease, but it often happens that a breast which gave trouble during
the period of suckling becomes later the subject of cancer; in other
cases there is a clear history of the attack having followed an
injury. It is, thus, as if inflammatory changes in the breast were the
direct cause of a later cancerous invasion. Though it is impossible to
affirm that heredity has a great influence in the incidence of cancer,
it is, nevertheless, remarkable that the members of certain families
are unusually prone to the disease.

The chief feature of a cancerous tumour of the breast is its great
hardness. The technical name for the growth is _scirrhus_ (Gr. [Greek:
skiros], or [Greek: skirros], any hard coat or covering, _stucco_),
from its stony hardness. The tumour consists of a dense framework of
fibrous tissue, with groups of cancer-cells in the spaces. The
malignancy of the disease depends upon the cells, not upon the fibrous
tissue. In young subjects the cells predominate, but in old ones the
contraction of the fibrous tissue throughout the breast compresses and
destroys the cells, and this sometimes to such an extent that there is
at last nothing left at the site but contracted fibrous tissue, all
trace of malignancy having disappeared. This variety of the disease is
found in old people, and is called _atrophic cancer_.

The cells of a cancerous breast are apt to be carried by the
lymphatics to the lymphatic glands in the arm-pit, and by the
bloodstream to the spinal column and to other parts of the skeleton,
and sometimes to the liver, which thus becomes large and hard, or to
the other breast.

As the fibrous tissue around the tumour becomes invaded by the new
growth it undergoes contraction (much as a string becomes shorter when
it is wetted), and as this shortening of the fibrous bands increases
the nipple may be retracted, and the breast may be closely bound down
to the chest-wall; and, further, the skin overlying the tumour may be
drawn in towards the tumour so as to form a conspicuous dimple. Later,
the nutrition of this patch of skin may be so interfered with that it
mortifies or breaks down, and thus a cancerous ulcer is produced. This
ulcer slowly spreads, and its floor is covered with a discharge in
which septic micro-organisms undergo cultivation; in this way the
ulcer becomes highly offensive. By the use of antiseptic lotions and a
frequent change of dressings, however, all unpleasant smell can be
checked or prevented. As the ulcer extends it is apt to implicate
large blood-vessels, so that serious, and sometimes alarming,
haemorrhages take place. And if the breast had previously been in
pain, the bleeding is likely to give great relief. But repeated
haemorrhages bring on increasing exhaustion, and thus materially
hasten the end.

There is at present only one trustworthy treatment for cancer, and
that is its free removal by operation. The entire breast and the
nipple must be sacrificed. At the present day the operation itself is
not a "dreadful" one. To be successful it must be very thorough, and
it must be done _early_. The patient, being under an anaesthetic,
feels nothing, and the subsequent dressings of the wound are attended
with scarcely any pain. There need be but a couple of days of
confinement to bed, and when the wound has soundly healed the patient
may be encouraged to use her arm. Should there be recurrence of
cancerous nodules in or about the wound, their removal should be
promptly and widely effected. The writer has records of one case in
which between the first operation and the last report there was a
space of over twenty-nine years, and another of fifteen years. Each of
these patients had one extensive operation, and four or five smaller
operations for dealing with recurrences. Each of them, however, might
be considered unlikely subjects for further return.

For a _superficial cancer_ the X-rays may be of service, but many
applications of the rays are likely to be needed, and the case may
possibly refuse to yield to their influence, and, after loss of
valuable time, the disease may have eventually to be removed by the
knife. The great advantage which the treatment by the knife offers
over every other method is that the growth can be cleanly, efficiently
and promptly removed, and, with it, all the affected lymph-spaces, and
the lymphatic glands which are secondarily implicated.

As regards the value of radium in the treatment of cancer of the
breast, the high expectations which were somewhat widely associated
with this newly-found element early in 1909 must be said to have been
unjustified by any precise results. Injections of radium salts have
been made into the substance of a cancer, and tubes of aluminium
containing the salt have been introduced into the growth, but no deep
cancer has thereby been cured. Radium has also been exposed again and
again on the surface of the affected breast, but similarly with no
great result. Unfortunately, whilst one is experimenting in the
treatment of an operable cancer, the epithelial cells of the growth
may be making their way towards distant parts, where no rays or
emanations could possibly reach them. Whatever may be the future of
radium as a therapeutic agent in the treatment of cancer of the
breast, it is certain that, on the facts as known at the beginning of
1910, the only safe course is to remove the breast by direct
operation, together with the associated lymph-spaces and lymphatic
glands. And if this is done promptly and thoroughly cancer of the
breast will come more and more into the class of curable diseases.
(E. O.*)

MAMMEE APPLE, SOUTH AMERICAN OR ST DOMINGO APRICOT, the fruit of _Mammea americana_ (natural order Clusiaceae), a large tree with opposite leathery gland-dotted leaves, white, sweet-scented, short-stalked, solitary or clustered axillary flowers and yellow fruit 3 to 6 in. in diameter. The bitter rind encloses a sweet aromatic flesh, which is eaten raw or steeped in wine or with sugar, and is also used for preserves. There are one to four large rough seeds, which are bitter and resinous, and used as anthelmintics. An aromatic liqueur distilled from the flowers is known as _eau de créole_ in the West Indies, and the acrid resinous gum is used to destroy the chigoes which attack the naked feet of the negroes. The wood is durable and well adapted for building purposes; it is beautifully grained and used for fancy work.

MAMMON, a word of Aramaic origin meaning "riches." The etymology is doubtful; connexions with a word meaning "entrusted," or with the Hebrew _matmon_, treasure, have been suggested. "Mammon," Gr. [Greek: mamônâs] (see Professor Eb. Nestle in _Ency. Bib._ s.v.), occurs in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. vi. 24) and the parable of the Unjust Steward (Luke xvi. 9-13). The Authorized Version keeps the Syriac word. Wycliffe uses "richessis." The _New English Dictionary_ quotes _Piers Plowman_ as containing the earliest personification of the name. Nicholaus de Lyra (commenting on the passage in Luke) says that _Mammon est nomen daemonis_. There is no trace, however, of any Syriac god of such a name, and the common identification of the name with a god of covetousness or avarice is chiefly due to Milton (_Paradise Lost_, i. 678).

MAMMOTH (O. Russ. _mammot_, mod. _mamant_; the Tatar word _mama_, earth, from which it is supposed to be derived, is not known to exist), a name given to an extinct elephant, _Elephas primigenius_ of Blumenbach. Probably no extinct animal has left such abundant evidence of its former existence; immense numbers of bones, teeth, and more or less entire carcases, or "mummies," as they may be called, having been discovered, with the flesh, skin and hair _in situ_, in the frozen soil of the tundra of northern Siberia.

The general characteristics of the order PROBOSCIDEA, to which the mammoth belongs, are given under that heading. The mammoth pertains to the most highly specialized section of the group of elephants, which also contains the modern Asiatic species. Of the whole group it is in many respects, as in the size and form of the tusks and the characters of the molar teeth, the farthest removed from the mastodon type, while its nearest surviving relative, the Asiatic elephant (_E. maximus_), has retained the slightly more generalized characters of the mammoth's contemporaries of more southern climes, _E. columbi_ of America and _E. armeniacus_ of the Old World. The tusks, or upper incisor teeth, which were probably smaller in the female, in the adult males attained the length of from 9 to 10 ft. measured along the outer curve. Upon leaving the head they were directed at first downwards, and outwards, then upwards and finally inwards at the tips, and generally with a tendency to a spiral form not seen in other elephants.

It is chiefly by the characters of the molar teeth that the various
extinct modifications of the elephant type are distinguished. Those of
the mammoth (fig. 2) differ from the corresponding organs of allied
species in great breadth of the crown as compared with the length, the
narrowness and crowding or close approximation of the ridges, the
thinness of the enamel, and its straightness, parallelism and absence
of "crimping," as seen on the worn surface or in a horizontal section
of the tooth. The molars, as in other elephants, are six in number on
each side above and below, succeeding each other from before
backwards. Of these Dr Falconer gave the prevailing "ridge-formula"
(or number of complete ridges in each tooth) as 4, 8, 12, 12, 16, 24,
as in _E. maximus_. Dr Leith-Adams, working from more abundant
materials, has shown that the number of ridges of each tooth,
especially those at the posterior end of the series, is subject to
individual variation, ranging in each tooth of the series within the
following limits: 3 to 4, 6 to 9, 9 to 12, 9 to 15, 14 to 16, 18 to
27--excluding the small plates, called "talons," at each end. Besides
these variations in the number of ridges or plates of which each tooth
is composed, the thickness of the enamel varies so much as to have
given rise to a distinction between a "thick-plated" and a
"thin-plated" variety--the latter being most prevalent among specimens
from the Arctic regions. From the specimens with thick enamel plates
the transition to the other species mentioned above, including _E.
maximus_, is almost imperceptible.

The bones of the skeleton generally more resemble those of the Indian
elephant than of any other species, but the skull differs in the
narrower summit, narrower temporal fossae, and more prolonged incisive
sheaths, supporting the roots of the enormous tusks. Among the
external characters by which the mammoth was distinguished from either
of the existing species of elephant was the dense clothing, not only
of long, coarse outer hair, but also of close under woolly hair of a
reddish-brown colour, evidently in adaptation to the cold climate it
inhabited. This character is represented in rude but graphic drawings
of prehistoric age found in caverns in the south of France. It should
be added that young Asiatic elephants often show considerable traces
of the woolly coat of the mammoth. The average height does not appear
to have exceeded that of either of the existing species of elephant.

The geographical range of the mammoth was very extensive. There is scarcely a county in England in which its remains have not been found in alluvial gravel or in caverns, and numbers of its teeth are dredged in the North Sea. In Scotland and Ireland its remains are less abundant, and in Scandinavia and Finland they appear to be unknown; but they have been found in vast numbers at various localities throughout the greater part of central Europe (as far south as Santander and Rome), northern Asia, and the northern part of the American continent.

Fig. 1.--Skeleton of Mammoth (_Elephas primigenius_), with portions of the skin.]

The mammoth belongs to the post-Tertiary or Pleistocene epoch and was contemporaneous with man. There is evidence to show that it existed in Britain before, during and after the glacial period. It is in northern Siberia that its remains have been found in the greatest abundance and in exceptional preservation. For a long period there has been from that region an export of mammoth-ivory, fit for commercial purposes, to China and to Europe. In the middle of the 10th century trade was carried on at Khiva in fossil ivory. Middendorff estimated the number of tusks which have yearly come into the market during the last two centuries at at least a hundred pairs, but Nordenskiöld considers this estimate too low. Tusks are found along the whole shore-line between the mouth of the Obi and Bering Strait, and the farther north the more numerous they become, the islands of New Siberia being one of the favourite collecting localities. The remains are found not only round the mouths of the great rivers, but embedded in the frozen soil in such circumstances as to indicate that the animals lived not far from the localities in which they are found; and they are exposed either by the melting of the ice in warm summers or the washing away of the sea-cliffs or river-banks. In this way the bodies of more or less nearly perfect animals, often standing in the erect position, with the soft parts and hairy covering entire, have been brought to light.

FIG. 2.--Grinding surface of Upper Molar Tooth of the Mammoth (_Elephas primigenius_). c, cement; d, dentine; e, enamel.]

For geographical distribution and anatomical characters see Falconer's
_Paleontological Memoirs_, vol. ii (1868); B. Dawkins, "_Elephas
Primigenius_, its Range in Space and Time," _Quart. Journ. Geol.
Soc._, xxxv. 138 (1879); and A. Leith Adams, "Monograph of British
Fossil Elephants," part ii., _Palaeontographical Society_ (1879).
(W. H. F.; R. L.*)

MAMMOTH CAVE, a cave in Edmondson county, Kentucky, U.S.A., 37° 14´ N. lat. and 86° 12´ W. long., by rail 85 m. S.S.W. of Louisville. Steamboats run from the mouth of the Green river, near Evansville, Indiana, to the Mammoth Cave landing. The cave is usually said to have been discovered, in 1809, by a hunter named Hutchins; but the county records, as early as 1797, fixed its entrance as the landmark for a piece of real estate. Its mouth is in a forest ravine, 194 ft. above Green river and 600 ft. above the sea. This aperture is not the original mouth, the latter being a chasm a quarter of a mile north of it, and leading into what is known as Dixon's cave. The two portions are not now connected, though persons in one can make themselves heard by those in the other.

The cavernous limestone of Kentucky covers an area of 8000 sq. m., is massive and homogeneous, and belongs to the Subcarboniferous period. It shows few traces of dynamic disturbance, but has been carved, mainly by erosion since the Miocene epoch, into many caverns, of which the Mammoth Cave is the largest.

The natural arch that admits one to Mammoth Cave has a span of 70 ft., and from a ledge above it a cascade leaps 59 ft. to the rocks below, where it disappears. A flight of stone steps leads the way down to a narrow passage, through which the air rushes with violence, outward in summer and inward in winter. The temperature of the cave is uniformly 54° F. throughout the year, and the atmosphere is both chemically and optically of singular purity. While the lower levels are moist from the large pools and rivers that have secret connexion with Green river, the upper galleries are extremely dry. These conditions led at one time to the erection of thirteen cottages at a point about 1 m. underground, for the use of invalids, especially consumptives. The experiment failed, and only two cottages now remain as curiosities.

The Main Cave, from 40 to 300 ft. wide and from 35 to 125 ft. high, has several vast rooms, e.g. the Rotunda, where are the ruins of the old saltpetre works; the Star Chamber, where the protrusion of white crystals through a coating of the black oxide of manganese creates an optical illusion of great beauty; the Chief City, where an area of 2 acres is covered by a vault 125 ft. high, and the floor is strewn with rocky fragments, among which are found numerous half-burnt torches made of canes, and other signs of prehistoric occupancy. Two skeletons were exhumed near the Rotunda; but few other bones of any description have been found. The so-called Mammoth Cave "mummies" (i.e. bodies kept by being inhumed in nitrous earth), with accompanying utensils, ornaments, braided sandals and other relics, were found in Short and Salt Caves near by, and removed to Mammoth Cave for exhibition. The Main Cave, which abruptly ends 4 m. from the entrance, is joined by winding passages, with spacious galleries on different levels; and, although the diameter of the area of the whole cavern is less than 10 m., the combined length of all accessible avenues is supposed to be about 150 m.

The chief points of interest are arranged along two lines of exploration, besides which there are certain side excursions. The "short route" requires about four hours, and the "long route" nine. Audubon's Avenue, the one nearest the entrance, is occupied in winter by myriads of bats, that hang from the walls in clusters like swarms of bees. The Gothic Avenue contains numerous large stalactites and stalagmites, and an interesting place called the Chapel, and ends in a double dome and cascade. Among the most surprising features of cave scenery are the vertical shafts that pierce through all levels, from the uppermost galleries, or even from the sink-holes, down to the lowest floor. These are styled pits or domes, according to the position occupied by the observer. A crevice behind a block of stone, 40 ft. long by 20 ft. wide, called the Giant's Coffin, admits the explorer to a place where six pits, varying in depth from 65 ft. to 200 ft., exist in an area of 600 yds. This includes Gorin's Dome, which is viewed from a point midway in its side, and also from its top, and was formerly regarded as the finest room in the cavern. Others admire more the Mammoth Dome, at the termination of Spark's Avenue, where a cataract falls from a height of 150 ft. amid walls wonderfully draped with stalactitic tapestry. The Egyptian Temple, which is a continuation of the Mammoth Dome, contains six massive columns, two of them quite perfect and 80 ft. high and 25 ft. in diameter. The combined length of these contiguous chambers is 400 ft. By a crevice above they are connected with an arm of Audubon's Avenue. Lucy's Dome, one of the group of Jessup Domes, is supposed to be the loftiest of all these vertical shafts. A pit called the "Maelstrom," in Croghan's Hall, is the spot most remote from the mouth of the cave. There are some fine stalactites near this pit, and others in the Fairy Grotto and in Pensico Avenue; but, considering the magnitude of Mammoth Cave, its poverty of stalactitic ornamentation is remarkable. The wealth of crystals is, however, surprising, and these are of endless variety and fantastic beauty.

Cleveland's Cabinet and Marion's Avenue, each a mile long, are adorned by myriads of gypsum rosettes and curiously twisted crystals, called "oulopholites." These cave flowers are unfolded by pressure, as if a sheaf were forced through a tight binding, or the crystal fibres curl outward from the centre of the group. Thus spotless arches of 50 ft. span are embellished by floral clusters and garlands, hiding nearly every foot of the grey limestone. The botryoidal formations hanging by thousands in Mary's Vineyard resemble mimic clusters of grapes, as the oulopholites resemble roses. Again, there are chambers with drifts of snowy crystals of the sulphate of magnesia, the ceilings so thickly covered with their efflorescence that a loud concussion will cause them to fall like flakes of snow.

Many small rooms and tortuous paths, where nothing of special interest can be found, are avoided as much as possible on the regular routes; but certain disagreeable experiences are inevitable. There is peril also in the vicinity of the deep pits. The one known as the Bottomless Pit was for many years a barrier to all further exploration, but it is now crossed by a wooden bridge. Long before the shaft had been cut as deep as now the water flowed away by a channel gradually contracting to a serpentine way, so extremely narrow as to be called the Fat Man's Misery. The walls, only 18 in. apart, change direction eight times in 105 yds., while the distance from the sandy path to the ledge overhead is but 5 ft. The rocky sides are finely marked with waves and ripples, as if running water had suddenly been petrified. This winding way conducts one to River Hall, beyond which lie the crystalline gardens that have been described. It used to be said that, if this narrow passage were blocked up, escape would be impossible; but an intricate web of fissures, called the Corkscrew, has been discovered, by means of which a good climber, ascending only a few hundred feet, lands 1000 yds. from the mouth of the cave, and cuts off one or two miles.

The waters, entering through numerous domes and pits, and falling, during the rainy season, in cascades of great volume, are finally collected in River Hall, where they form several extensive lakes, or rivers, whose connexion with Green River is known to be in deep springs appearing under arches on its margin. Whenever there is a freshet in Green River the streams in the cave are joined in a continuous body of water, the rise sometimes being 60 ft. above the low-water mark. The subsidence within is less rapid than the rise; and the streams are impassable for about seven months in each year. They are navigable from May to October, and furnish interesting features of cave scenery. The first approach is called the Dead Sea, embraced by cliffs 60 ft. high and 100 ft. long, above which a path has been made, whence a stairway leads down to the banks of the river Styx, a body of water 40 ft. long, crossed by a natural bridge. Lake Lethe comes next--a broad basin enclosed by walls 90 ft. high, below which a narrow path leads to a pontoon at the neck of the lake. A beach of the finest yellow sand extends for 500 yds. to Echo River, the largest of all being from 20 to 200 ft. wide, 10 to 40 ft. deep and about three-quarters of a mile long. It is crossed by boats. The arched passage-way is very symmetrical, varying in height from 19 to 35 ft., and famous for its musical reverberations--not a distinct echo, but an harmonious prolongation of sound for from 10 to 30 seconds after the original tone is produced. The long vault has a certain keynote of its own, which, when firmly struck, excites harmonics, including tones of incredible depth and sweetness.

There are several other streams here besides those in River Hall. On one of them F. J. Stevenson of London is said to have floated for seven hours without finding its end. A glance at the accompanying map will show that there is a labyrinth of avenues and chasms seldom visited and never fully explored. New discoveries are frequently made. An exploring party in 1904 found a curious complex of upper and lower galleries accessible from the most eastern portion of the cave; beyond which another party, in 1905, discovered several large domes previously unknown. H. C. Hovey, in 1907, was led by expert guides into still wilder recesses, where a series of five domes were found, that opened into each other by tall gateways; each dome being 60 ft. in diameter and 175 ft. high. This magnificent group has since been named "Hovey's Cathedral Domes." No instrumental survey of the Mammoth Cave has ever been allowed by the management. The best map possible is therefore only the result of estimates and partial measurements. The depths of the most noted pits have easily been ascertained by line and plummet and the height of several large domes has been found by the use of small balloons. While making a survey exclusively for the cave-owners in 1908, Max Kaemper of Berlin, Germany, forced an opening from the main cave into a remarkable region to which the general name of "Violet City" was given, in honour of Mrs Violet Blair Janin, who owned a third of the Mammoth Cave estate. Special features are Kaemper Hall, Blair Castle, the Marble Temple and Walhalla. There are eleven enormous pits, many large fine stalactites and stalagmites and surprisingly beautiful mural decorations. Dr Hovey made and published (1909) a new handbook embodying all known discoveries of importance, with four sketch-maps of the routes of usual exhibition.

The fauna of Mammoth Cave has been classified by F. W. Putnam, A. S. Packard and E. D. Cope, who have catalogued twenty-eight species truly subterraneous, besides those that may be regarded as stragglers from the surface. They are distributed thus: _Vertebrata_, 8 species; _Insecta_, 17; _Arachnida_, 12; _Myriapoda_, 2; _Crustacea_, 5; _Vermes_, 3; _Mollusca_, 1. Ehrenberg adds a list of 8 Polygastric _Infusoria_, 1 fossil infusorian, 5 _Phytolitharia_ and several microscopic fungi. A bed of _Agaricus_ was found by the writer near the river Styx; and upon this hint an attempt has been made to propagate edible fungi in this locality. All the known forms of plant-life are either fungi or allied to them, and many are only microscopic. The most interesting inhabitants of Mammoth Cave are the blind, wingless grasshoppers, with extremely long antennae; blind, colourless crayfish (_Cambarus pellucidus_, Telk.); and the blind fish, _Amblyopsis spelaeus_, colourless and viviparous, from 1 in. to 6 in. long. The _Cambarus_ and _Amblyopsis_ have wide distribution, being found in many other caves, and also in deep wells, in Kentucky and Indiana. Fish not blind are occasionally caught, which are apparently identical with species existing in streams outside. The true subterranean fauna may be regarded as chiefly of Pleistocene origin; yet certain forms are possibly remnants of Tertiary life.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--_Plan and Description of the Great and Wonderful Cave
in Kentucky_, by Dr Nahum Ward (1816); _Notes on the Mammoth Cave,
with a Map_, by Edmund F. Lee, C. E. (1835); _Rambles in the Mammoth
Cave in 1844_, by Alexander Bullitt, with map by Stephen Bishop;
guide-books by Wright (1858), Binkerd (1869), Forwood (1875), Proctor
(1878), Hovey (1882), &c., and Hovey and Call (1897); Hovey's
_Celebrated American Caverns_ (1882, &c.); and _The Mammoth Cave and
its Inhabitants_, by Packard and F. W. Putnam (1879). (H. C. H.)

MAMORÉ, a large river of Bolivia which unites with the Beni in 10° 20´ S. to form the Madeira, one of the largest tributaries of the Amazon. It rises on the northern slope of the Sierra de Cochabamba east of the city of Cochabamba, and is known as the Chimoré down to its junction with the Chapare, or Chapari. Its larger tributaries are the Chapare, Sécure, Apere and Yacuma from the west, and the Ichila, Guapay or Grande, Ivari and Guaporé from the east. Taking into account its length only, the Guapay should be considered the upper part of the Mamoré; but it is shallow and obstructed, and carries a much smaller volume of water. The Guaporé, or Itenez, also rivals the Mamoré in length and volume, having its source in the Serra dos Parecis, Matto Grosso, Brazil, a few miles from streams flowing northward to the Tapajos and Amazon, and southward to the Paraguay and Paraná. The Mamoré is interrupted by rapids a few miles above its junction with the Beni, but a railway 180 m. long has been undertaken from below the rapids of the Madeira. Above the rapids the river is navigable to Chimoré, at the foot of the _sierra_, and most of its tributaries are navigable for long distances. Franz Keller (in _The Amazon and Madeira Rivers_; New York, 1874) gives the outflow of the Mamoré at mean water level, and not including the Guaporé, as 2530 cub. in. per second, and the area of its drainage basin, also not including the Guaporé, as 9382 sq. m.

See Edward D. Mathews, _Up the Amazon and Madeira Rivers_ (London,
1879).

MAMUN (c. 786-833), originally ABDALLAH, surnamed AL-MA'MUN ("in whom men trust"), the seventh of the Abbasid caliphs of Bagdad, was born about A.D. 786, and was the second son of Harun al-Rashid. By Harun's will he was successor-designate to his brother Amin, during whose reign he was to be governor of the eastern part of the empire. On Harun's death (809) Amin succeeded and Mamun acquiesced. Irritated, however, by the treatment he received from Amin, and supported by a portion of the army, Mamun speedily rebelled. A five years' struggle between the two brothers ended in the death of Amin and the proclamation of Mamun as caliph at Bagdad (Sept. 813). Various factions and revolts, which disturbed the first years of his reign, were readily quelled by his prudent and energetic measures. But a much more serious rebellion, stirred up by his countenancing the heretical sect of Ali and adopting their colours, soon after threatened his throne. His crown was actually on the head of his uncle Ibrahim b. Mahdi (surnamed Mobarek) for a short time (Barbier de Meynard, in _Journal Asiatique_, March-April 1869). This inaugurated a period of tranquillity, which Mamun employed in fostering literature and science. He had already, while governor of Khorasan, founded a college there, and attracted to it the most eminent men of the day, and Bagdad became the seat of academical instruction. At his own expense he caused to be translated into Arabic many valuable books from the Greek, Persian, Chaldean and Coptic languages; and he was himself an ardent student of mathematics and astronomy. The first Arabic translation of Euclid was dedicated to him in 813. Mamun founded observatories at Bagdad and Kassiun (near Damascus), and succeeded in determining the inclination of the ecliptic. He also caused a degree of the meridian to be measured on the plain of Shinar; and he constructed astronomical tables, which are said to be wonderfully accurate.

In 827 he was converted to the heterodox faith of the Mo'tazilites, who asserted the free-will of man and denied the eternity of the Koran. The later years (829-830) of his reign were distracted by hostilities with the Greek emperor Theophilus, while a series of revolts in different parts of the Arabian empire betokened the decline of the military glory of the caliphs. Spain and part of Africa had already asserted their independence, and Egypt and Syria were now inclined to follow. In 833, after quelling Egypt, at least nominally, Mamun marched into Cilicia to prosecute the war with the Greeks, but died near Tarsus, leaving his crown to a younger brother, Motasim. The death of Mamun ended an important epoch in the history of science and letters and the period of Arabian prosperity which his father's reign had begun.

See further under CALIPHATE, sect. C., §§ 5, 6, 7.

MAMUND, a Pathan tribe and valley on the Peshawar border of the North-West Frontier Province of India. The Mamunds live partly in Bajour and partly in Afghan territory, due north of the Mohmands, a much larger tribe, with whom they must not be confounded. They are one of the clans of the Tarkanis (q.v.), and number 6000 fighting men; they gave much trouble during the Chitral Campaign in 1895, and again during the Mohmand Expedition in 1897 they inflicted severe losses upon General Jeffrey's brigade. (See MOHMAND.)

MAN, the word common to Teutonic languages for a single person of the human race, of either sex, the Lat. _homo_, and Gr. [Greek: anthrôpos]; also for the human race collectively, and for a full-grown adult male human being. Teutonic languages, other than English, have usually adopted a derivative in the first sense, e.g. German _Mensch_. Philologists are not in agreement as to whether the Sanskrit _manu_ is the direct source, or whether both are to be traced to a common root. Doubt also is thrown on the theory that the word is to be referred to the Indo-Germanic root, _men_, meaning "to think," seen in "mind," man being essentially the thinking or intelligent animal. (See ANTHROPOLOGY.)

MAN, ISLE OF (anc. _Mona_), a dominion of the crown of England, in the Irish Sea. (For map, see ENGLAND, section I.) It is about 33 m. long by about 12 broad in the broadest part. Its general form resembles that of an heraldic lozenge, though its outline is very irregular, being indented with numerous bays and narrow creeks. Its chief physical characteristic is the close juxtaposition of mountain, glen and sea, which has produced a variety and beauty of scenery unsurpassed in any area of equal size elsewhere.

The greater part of its surface is hilly. The hills, which reach their culminating point in Snaefell (2034 ft.), have a definite tendency to trend in the direction of the longer axis, but throw out many radiating spurs, which frequently extend to the coast-line. They are, for the most part, smooth and rounded in outline, the rocks being such as do not favour the formation of crags, though, owing to the rapidity of their descent, streams have frequently rent steep-walled craggy gulleys in their sides. The strength of the prevalent westerly winds has caused them to be treeless, except in some of the lower slopes, but they are clad with verdure to their summits. Rising almost directly from the sea, they appear higher than they really are, and therefore present a much more imposing appearance than many hills of greater altitude. On the south-west, where they descend precipitously into the sea, they unite with the cliffs to the north and south of them to produce the most striking part of the coast scenery for which the isle is remarkable. But, indeed, the whole coast from Peel round by the Calf, past Castletown and Douglas to Maughold Head, near Ramsey, is distinguished by rugged grandeur. From Ramsey round by the Point of Ayre to within a few miles of Peel extend low sandy cliffs, bordered by flat sandy shores, which surround the northern plain. This plain is relieved only by a low range of hills, the highest of which attains an elevation of 270 ft. The drainage of the island radiates from the neighbourhood of Snaefell, from which mountain and its spurs streams have on all sides found their way to the sea. The most important of these are the Sulby, falling into the sea at Ramsey; the _Awin-glass_ (bright river) and the _Awin-dhoo_ (dark river), which unite their waters near Douglas; the _Neb_, at the mouth of which Peel is situated; and the _Awin-argid_ (silver river, now called the Silverburn), which joins the sea at Castletown. There are no lakes. The narrow, winding glens thus formed, which are studded with clumps of fir, sycamore and mountain ash, interspersed with patches of gorse, heather and fern, afford a striking and beautiful contrast to the bare mountain tops. Traces of an older system of drainage than that which now exists are noticeable in many places, the most remarkable being the central depression between Douglas and Peel. The chief bays are, on the east coast, Ramsey, with an excellent anchorage, Laxey, Douglas, Derbyhaven, Castletown and Port St Mary; and, on the west coast, Port Erin and Peel.

_Geology._--The predominant feature in the stratigraphy of the Isle of
Man is, in the words of G. W. Lamplough,[1] "the central ridge of
slate and greywacke, which seems to have constituted an insulated
tract at as early a date as the beginning of the Carboniferous period.
This prototype of the present island appears afterwards to have been
enfolded and obliterated by the sediments of later times; but with the
progress of denudation the old ridge has once more emerged from
beneath this mantle." This mass of ancient rocks, the Manx Slate
Series, has been divided locally into the Barrule slates, the Agneesh
and other grit beds; and the Lonan and Niarbyl Flags. The whole series
strikes N.E.-S.W., while structurally the strata form part of a
synclinorium, the higher beds being on the N.W. and S.E. sides of the
islands, the lower beds in the interior; although the subordinate dips
appear to indicate an anticlinal structure. These rocks have been
greatly crumpled; and in places, notably in Sully Glen, thrusting has
developed a well-marked crush-breccia. So much has this folding and
compression toughened the soft argillaceous rocks that the Barrule
Slate, for example, is almost everywhere found occupying the highest
points while the hard but more joined grits and flags occupy the lower
ground on the mountain flanks. The Manx Series is penetrated and
altered by large masses of granite at Dhoon, Foxdale and one or two
other spots; and dykes, more or less directly associated with these
masses, are numerous. No satisfactory fossils have yet been obtained
from these rocks, but they are regarded, provisionally, as of Upper
Cambrian age. Carboniferous rocks, including a basal conglomerate,
white limestone with abundant fossils, and the black "Posidonomya
Beds" (some of which are polished as a black marble) occur about
Castletown, Poolvash Bay and Langness; and the basement beds appear
again on the west coast at Peel. The cliffs and foreshore at Scarlet
Point exhibit contemporaneous Carboniferous tuffs, agglomerates and
basalts, as well as later dolerite dykes, in a most striking manner.
Here too may be seen some curious effects of thrusting in the
limestones. At the northern end of the island the Manx Slates end
abruptly in an ancient sea-cliff which crosses between Ramsey and
Ballaugh. The low-lying country beyond is formed of a thick mass of
glacial sands, gravels and boulder clay. In the Bride Hills are to be
seen glacial mounds rising 150 ft. above the level of the plain. The
depressions known as the Curragh, now drained but still peaty in
places, probably represent the sites of late glacial lakes. Glacial
deposits are found also in all parts of the island. Beneath the thick
drift of the plain, Carboniferous, Permian and Trassic rocks have been
proved to lie at some depth below the present sea-level. On the coast
near the Point of Ayr is a raised beach. Silver-bearing lead ore, zinc
and copper are the principal minerals found in the Isle of Man; the
most important mining centres being at Foxdale and Laxey.

_Climate._--The island is liable to heavy gales from the south-west.
Of this the trend of the branches of the trees to the north-east is a
striking testimony. But it is equally subject to the influence of the
warm drift from the Atlantic, so that its winters are mild, and,
influenced by the less changeable temperature of the sea, its summers
cool. The mean annual temperature is 49°.0 F., the temperature of the
coldest month (January) being 41°.5, and the warmest (August) 58°.5,
giving an extreme annual range of temperature of 17°.1 only, while the
average temperature in spring is 46°.0, in summer 57°.2, in autumn
50°.9 and in winter 42°.0. Further evidence of the mildness of the
climate is afforded by the fact that fuchsias, hydrangeas, myrtles and
escallonias grow luxuriantly in the open air. Its rainfall, placed as
it is between mountain districts in England, Ireland, Scotland and
Wales, is naturally rather wet than dry. Statistics, however, reveal
remarkable divergencies in the amounts of rain in the different parts
of the island, varying from 61 in. at Snaefell to 25 in. at the Calf
of Man. In the more populous districts it varies from 46 in. at
Ramsey, and 45 in. at Douglas, to 38 in. at Peel and 34 in. at
Castletown. Of sunshine the Isle of Man has a larger share than any
portion of the United Kingdom except the south and south-east coasts
and the Channel Islands. Briefly, then, the climate of the island may
be pronounced to be equable and sunny, and, though humid, decidedly
invigorating; its rainfall, though it varies greatly, is excessive in
the populous districts; and its winds are strong and frequent, and
usually mild and damp.

_Fauna._--Like Ireland, the Isle of Man is exempt from snakes and
toads, a circumstance traditionally attributed to the agency of St
Patrick, the patron saint of both islands. Frogs, however, have been
introduced from Ireland, and both the sand lizard and the common
lizard are found. Badgers, moles, squirrels and voles are absent and
foxes are extinct. Fossil bones of the Irish elk are frequently found,
and a complete skeleton of this animal is to be seen at Castle Rushen.
The red deer, which is referred to in the ancient laws and pictured on
the runic crosses, became extinct by the beginning of the 18th
century. Hares are less plentiful than formerly, and rabbits are not
very numerous. Snipe are fairly common, and there are a few partridges
and grouse. The latter, which had become extinct, were reintroduced in
1880. Woodcock, wild geese, wild ducks, plover, widgeon, teal, heron,
bittern, kingfishers and the Manx shearwater (_Puffinus anglorum_)
visit the island, but do not breed there. The puffin (_Fratercula
artica_) is still numerous on the Calf islet in the summer time. The
peregrine falcon, which breeds on the rocky coast, and the chough have
become very scarce. The legal protection of sea-birds (local act of
1867) has led to an enormous increase in the number of gulls. A
variety of the domestic cat, remarkable for the absence or stunted
condition of the tail, is peculiar to the island.

_Flora._--Like the fauna, the flora is chiefly remarkable for its
meagreness. It contains at most 450 species as compared with 690 in
Jersey. Alpine forms are absent. But what it lacks in variety it makes
up in beauty and quantity. For the profusion of the gorse-bloom and
the abundance of spring flowers, especially of primroses, and of
ferns, the Isle of Man is probably unrivalled.

_People._--The Manx people of the present day are mainly of Scandio-Celtic origin, with some slight traces of earlier races. They have large and broad heads, usually broader than those of their brother Celts (_Goidels_) in Ireland and Scotland, with very broad, but not specially prominent cheek-bones. Their faces are usually either scutiform, like those of the Northmen, or oval, which is the usual Celtic type, and their noses are almost always of good length, and straighter than is general among Celtic races. Light eyes and fair complexion, with rather dark hair, are the more usual combinations. They are usually rather tall and heavily built, their average height (males) being 5 ft. 7½ in., and average weight (naked) 155 lb. The tendency of the population to increase is balanced by emigration. It reached its maximum in 1891. Since then it has slightly declined. A noticeable feature is its greater proportionate growth in the towns, especially in Douglas, than in the country. The country population reached its maximum in 1851. Since then it has been shrinking rapidly, especially in the northern district.

+---------------------+----------+----------+----------+----------+
| Sheadings, Parishes | | | | |
| and Towns. | 1726. | 1821. | 1871. | 1901. |
+---------------------+----------+----------+----------+----------+
| Rushen. | | | | |
| Malew (P.) | 890 | 2,649 | 2,466 | 2,113 |
| Castletown (T.) | 785 | 2,036 | 2,318 | 1,963 |
| Arbory (P.) | 661 | 1,455 | 1,350 | 802 |
| Rushen (P.) | 813 | 2,568 | 3,665 | 3,277 |
| Middle. | | | | |
| Santon (P.) | 376 | 800 | 628 | 468 |
| Braddan (P.) | 780 | 1,754 | 2,215 | 2,177 |
| Douglas (T.) | 810 | 6,054 | 13,846 | 19,149 |
| Onchan (P.) | 370 | 1,457 | 1,620 | 3,942 |
| Glenfalca. | | | | |
| Marown (P.) | 499 | 1,201 | 1,121 | 973 |
| German (P.) | 510 | 1,849 | 1,762 | 1,230 |
| Peel (T.) | 475 | 1,909 | 3,496 | 3,306 |
| Patrick (P.) | 745 | 2,031 | 2,888 | 1,925 |
| Garff. | | | | |
| Lonan (P.) | 547 | 1,846 | 3,741 | 2,513 |
| Maughold (P.) | 529 | 1,514 | 1,433 | 887 |
| Ramsey (T.) | 460 | 1,523 | 3,861 | 4,672 |
| Ayre. | | | | |
| Lezayre (P.) | 1,309 | 2,209 | 1,620 | 1,389 |
| Bride (P.) | 612 | 1,001 | 880 | 539 |
| Andreas (P.) | 967 | 2,229 | 1,757 | 1,144 |
| Michael. | | | | |
| Jurby (P.) | 483 | 1,108 | 788 | 504 |
| Ballaugh (P.) | 806 | 1,467 | 1,077 | 712 |
| Michael (P.) | 643 | 1,427 | 1,231 | 928 |
+---------------------+----------+----------+----------+----------+
| Total | 14,070 | 40,087 | 53,763 | 54,613 |
+---------------------+----------+----------+----------+----------+

_Chief Political Divisions and Towns._--The island is divided into six
sheadings (so named from the Scandinavian _skeða-Þing_, or
ship-district), called Glenfaba, Middle, Rushen, Garff, Ayre and
Michael, each of which has its officer, the coroner, whose functions
are similar to those of a sheriff; and there are seventeen parishes.
For the towns see CASTLETOWN, DOUGLAS, PEEL and RAMSEY. The principal
villages are Ballasalla, Ballaugh, Foxdale, Laxey, Michael, Onchan,
Port Erin and Port St Mary.

_Communications._--There is communication by steamer with Liverpool,
Glasgow, Greenock, Belfast, Silloth, Whitehaven, Belfast and Dublin
throughout the year and, during the summer season, there are also
steamers plying to Androssan, Heysham, Fleetwood and Blackpool. A
daily mail was established in 1879. The internal communications are
excellent. The roads are under the management of a board appointed by
the Tynwald Court, a surveyor-general, and parochial surveyors. They
are maintained by a system of licences on public-houses, carriages,
carts and dogs, and a rate on real property. There are railways
between Douglas, Ramsey, Peel, Castletown, Port Erin and Port St Mary,
the line between Douglas and Ramsey being via St John's and Michael.
Electric tramways run from Douglas to Ramsey via Laxey, from Douglas
to Port Soderick, and from Laxey to the summit of Snaefell.

_Industries. (a) Agriculture._--The position of the Manx farmers,
though they generally pay higher rents than their compeers in those
countries do, is, except in the remote parts of the island, more
favourable than that of the English or Scottish farmers. The best land
is in the north and south. The farms are principally held on lease and
small holdings have almost entirely disappeared. The cultivated area
is about 93,000 acres, or 65% of the whole. The commons and
uncultivated lands on the mountains are also utilized for pasturage.
Oats occupy about three-fourths of the area under corn crops, barley
about one-sixth. The amount of wheat and other corn crops is very
trifling. Neither Manx wheat nor barley is as good on an average as
English; but oats is, on the whole, fully equal to what is grown on
the mainland. Turnips, which are an excellent crop, are largely
exported, and the dry and sandy soil of the north of the island is
very favourable for the growth of potatoes. The white and red clover
and the common grasses grow luxuriantly, and the pasturage is,
generally speaking, good. Some of the low-lying land, especially in
the north, is much in need of systematic drainage. The livestock,
largely in consequence of the premiums given by the insular government
and the local agricultural society to bulls, heavy and light stallions
and cart mares, now approximates very closely in quality to the stock
in the north of England. Dairying, owing to the large number of summer
visitors, is the most profitable department of agricultural industry.
Apples, pears and wall fruit do not succeed very well, but the soil is
favourable for the cultivation of strawberries, raspberries,
gooseberries, currants and vegetables. Both agricultural and
market-garden produce are quite insufficient to supply the demand in
the summer.

_(b) Fishing._--The important place which the fishing industry
anciently held in the social organization of the Isle of Man is
quaintly reflected in the wording of the oath formerly taken by the
deemsters, who promised to execute the laws between the sovereign and
his subjects, and "betwixt party and party, as indifferently as the
herring backbone doth lie in the midst of the fish." The statutes and
records abound in evidence of the great extent to which both the
people and their rulers were dependent on the produce of the sea. The
most numerous fish are herrings, cod, mackerel, ling, haddock, plaice,
sole, fluke, turbot and brett. The industry is, however, in a decaying
condition, especially the herring fishery, which, for reasons which
have not been satisfactorily ascertained, fails periodically. The
amount of fish caught, except herrings, is not sufficient to supply
the local demand in the summer, though some of the fish named are
exported during the rest of the year. About 250 vessels, aggregating
4260 tons, with crews numbering 4250, are employed in this industry. A
fish hatchery has been established at Port Erin by the insular
government.

(c) _Mining._--There is no doubt that, in proportion to its area, the
metalliferous wealth of the Isle of Man has been very considerable.
Two of its mines, Laxey and Foxdale, have stood for a long series of
years in the first rank in the British Islands for productiveness of
zinc and silver lead respectively. These metals have constituted its
principal riches, but copper pyrites and hematite iron have also been
raised in marketable quantities, while only very small amounts of the
ores of nickel and antimony have been found. The mines are rented from
the Crown as lord of the manor. The value of the ore produced is about
£40,000 annually. Other economic products are clay, granite,
limestone, sandstone, slate (of an inferior quality) and salt, which
has been discovered near the Point of Ayre.

(d) _Textiles, &c._--Since labour has become scarcer and dearer
textile industries have been declining, being unable to compete with
larger and more completely organized manufactories elsewhere. The
principal manufactured articles are woollen cloths and blankets, hemp
ropes and cotton, and herring nets. A few fishing vessels are built,
and brewing is a prosperous industry. But, apart from agriculture, the
most important industry (for so it may be called) is that of the
provision for summer visitors, nearly half a million of whom come to
the island annually.

_Commerce._--The chief exports are lead, zinc, turnips, ropes, cotton
nets and salt. The imports consist chiefly of timber, provisions,
livestock, poultry, flour, fruit, vegetables and eggs. In 1906 the
tonnage of vessels (other than fishing or wind-bound vessels) cleared
for traffic was 720,790. The number of vessels (other than fishing
vessels) registered as belonging to the island in 1906 was 79.