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MARAGHA 115 MARBLE MARAGHA (ma'ra-ga), a town of western Persia, 55 miles S. of Tabriz and 20 miles E. of Lake Urmia. It is celebrated as the capital of Hulagu Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, and as the site of the observatory which Hu- lagu built for the astronomer Nasr ed- Din. Pop, about 16,000. MAR A JO (ma'ra-zh5') or JOANNES, an island between the estuaries of the Amazon and Para; area, nearly 18,000 square miles. It is for the most part low and covered with grass and bush, but in the E. and S. with dense forest. The soil is fertile, and large herds of cattle are reared in the N. E. MARANHAM, or MARANHAO (ma- ran-yan^r'), a maritime state of Brazil, bounded on the N. by the Atlantic Ocean ; area, 150,795 square miles; pop. (1920) about 520,000. The chief city is Maran- ham, or San Luiz de Maranham, on an island between the mouths of the Mearim and the Itapicuru. It is a well-built town, clean, gay, and hospitable and has a cathedral and bishop's palace, a hos- pital, a technical school, some sugar and spinning and weaving factories, and docks that admit ships drawing 14 feet. Pop. about 45,000. MARASCHINO (ma-ras-ke'no) , a fine liquor distilled from a small black wild variety of cherry. The best-known kinds are the maraschino de Zara, from Zara in Dalmatia, and that from Corsica. An inferior kind is made in Germany. MARAT, JEAN PAUL (ma-ra), a French revolutionist; bom in Baudry, Neufchatel, Switzerland, May 24, 1744. After studying medicine in Paris he wrote a work in 1775 which had for its title, "Man, or the Principles and Laws of the Influence of the Soul and the Body on Each Other." When the Revolu- tion began, he supported it, denouncing aristocrats and preaching m.assacre. He joined Danton's Club of the Cordeliers, and published a daily paper, called "The People's Friend." He was chosen deputy to the National Convention, where his violence and extravagance led to his ar- rest, but he was acquitted. He was also president of the Jacobin Club. He de- nounced the generals of the French army as traitors to their country, and put the members of the Convention under arrest. The fall of the Girondists was a triumph for him and his friends, but it led quick- ly to his own end. He was killed by Charlotte Corday in Paris July 13, 1793. MARATHON (mar'a-thon) , a village on the E. coast of ancient Attica. 22 miles from Athens, long supposed to be the modem Marathona. It stood in a plain 6 miles long and from 3 to IVz miles broad, with a background of moun- tains in the W., and a marsh both on the N. and S.; it reached the sea — "The mountains look on Marathon, and Mar- athon looks on the sea." Investigations by Prussian officers identify the historic village with that of Brana, nearly 2^ miles to the S., and locate the battle in the plain between the mountain Stavro- koraki and the sea. nearly 3 miles N. E. of Brana. The name of Marathon is gloriously memorable as the scene of the great defeat of the Persian hordes of Darius by the Greeks under Miltiades (490 B. c.) — one of the decisive battles of the world. MARATHON RACES, speed and en- durance races, which take the name from the traditional feat of Phidippides, who carried the news of the Greek victory at Marathon to Athens. They have become a part of nearly all important athletic meets, and especially of the international Olympic Games. The distance covered is about 25 miles. MARBLE, a popular name for any limestone which is sufficiently hard to JEAN PAUL MARAT take a fine polish. Any calcareous or even any other rock which takes a good polish and is suitable for decorative or architectural purposes. Arranged by col-