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MAIZE 88 MAJUBA HILL pointed secretary of state by Mary of Guise. In the following year he joined the Lords of the Congregation, who had taken possession of Edinburgh. In 1560 he was speaker of the Parliament which abolished the authority of the Pope in Scotland, On Queen Mary's arrival in Scotland he was chosen one of her prin- cipal ministers, and was continually em- ployed as her envoy to the English court. After the assassination of Moray he be- came the life and soul of the queen's party and kept up an active correspond- ence with Mary, who was then in prison. In 1571 he joined Kirkcaldy in Edin- burgh Castle; was proclaimed a traitor by the Parliament, and attainted with his two brothers. On the surrender of Edin- burgh Castle Kirkcaldy and his brother were hanged, but Maitland died in prison in Leith, presumably by his own hand, June 9, 1573. MAIZE (a word of Haitian origin), the Zea mays, a cereal grass of the tribe PTialarese. The leaves are broad, and hang down from the tops of sheaths. The flowers are monoecious. The males are in loose, terminal, compound racemes ; the females in many rows on a spike, enveloped in bracts. Each grain is sur- mounted by a thread-like style, giving the spike a silky aspect. The seeds, when ripe, are compactly arranged in rows on a rachis. They are flattened at the apex, and may be pale-yellow, white, varie- gated, blood-red, or purple. The seeds are very firm, the outer part being horny and the central mass more or less brittle and soft. MAIZE. See CORN, Indian. MAIZE OIL (Corn oil), a pale yellow oil, specific gravity 0.926, pressed from the germ of maize. The germs are ob- tained as a by-product in the manufac- ture of starch and are separated from the starch granules by sifting or blowing. The germs contain approximately 50 per cent, of oil, and yield, by pressing, about 40 per cent. Before being placed on the market the oil is neutralized and partially decolorized, and is then used for cooking, as a salad oil, and in the manufacture of oleomargarine. Lower grades of oil are used in the manufacture of soap. MAJESTY, a title of honor now usu- ally bestowed on sovereigns. MAJOLICA (ma-yol'i-ka) (from the Italian name of the island of Majorca {q. v.), where this ware seems to have been first made), a decorated kind of enameled pottery made in Italy from the 15th to the 18th century. It attained its greatest development in the duchy of Urbino, which included the four gre^ manufactories of Pesaro, Gubbio, Urbino, and Castel Durante. Majolica is an earthenware usually of a coarse paste, covered with a stanniferous glaze or enamel. MAJOB, in the army, a field officer next in rank above a captain and below a lieutenant-colonel. His duties are to superintend the exercises of the regiment or battalion, to carry out the orders of his superior officers, and to command in the absence of the lieutenant-colonel, and colonel. MAJOR, in music, greater. A major third consists of four semitones, a minor third of three. A major tone is the whole tone having the ratio 8,9; a minor tone, that having the ratio 9.10. Intervals have had the term major applied to them in a conflicting manner. MAJORCA (ma-jor'ka), or MALLOB- CA (mal-yor'-), the largest of the Balearic Isles (g. v.), lying about 100 miles from the Spanish coast, and 150 N. of Algiers; length, 60 miles; breadth, 40 miles; area, 1,352 square miles; pop. about 280,000. The climate is health- ful, the sea breeze preserving a nearly equable temperature over the whole island. In the N. there are mountains reaching 3,500 to 5,000 feet in height. The hillsides are terraced; olive groves abound everywhere, and almond, orange, fig, and other fruit trees are common. 'The vine is grown and good wine made. The soil is extraordinarily fertile. There are manufactories of cloth, cotton goods, ropes, silk, soap, shoes, etc.; there are railways connecting the capital, PalmA (q. V.) ; pop. (1920) about 65,000, with Manacor (20,000), the second town of the island (where as well as at Arta there are magnificent caves), and La Puebla (5,000). Large quantities of the lustered ware called Majolica (q. v.) were ex- ported to Italy and elsewhere in the 15th century; this ware is still made to a small extent. MAJOR-GENERAL, that title in the United States army which ranks below a general and a lieutenant-general, and above a brigadier-general. For some years prior to the World War it was the highest rank held by any officer in the service. A major-general commands a division, or, in time of peace, a terri- torial department. MAJOR GRiECIA. See MAGNA GRffiCIA. MAJtTBA (ma-jo'ba) HILL, an emi- nence in the extreme N. of Natal, the scene of the defeat of 648 British troops, with the loss of their leader, Sir George