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M M, m, the 13th letter and the 10th consonant of the English alphabet, classed among the liquids. M has out one sound in English, as in man, much, time. It is always sounded in native English words, but is silent in some few words, as mnemonic, which are derived from other languages. M has been lost from some of the oldest English words. As a symbol M is used: In numerals: For 1,000; with a dash over it for 1,000,000. MAARTENS, M A A R T E N (real name, Jozua M. W. Schwartz). A Dutch novelist, born in 1858. His boyhood was spent in England, his school and uni- versity years in Germany and Holland. Later he spent much time on the Riviera and in Paris. His cosmopolitan training led him to write of Dutch life in a charming and yet objective way that did not altogether please his countrymen. He published his works in English, although he resided near Utrecht, Hol- iand. The best known of his works are "The Greater Glory" (1894); "God's Fool" (1892); "My Lady Nobody" (1895); "Eve" (1912). MAAS. See Meuse. MAASIN, seaport, province of Leyte, island of Visayas, Philippines, 76 miles distant from Tacloban on the S. W. Well laid out, with good streets and handsome buildings. The town has a growing trade, both import and export, hemp being its chief product. Pop. about 20,000. (2) Town in Iloilo, Panay, Phil- ippines, 18 miles N. W. of Iloilo. Pop. 9,700. MAASTRICHT. See Maestricht. MAB, the name of a fairy celebrated by Shakespeare, and other English poets. The name has been variously de- rived; but the most probable derivation of it is from the Cymric mab, a child. According to Voss and others, Mab was not the queen of the fairies, that dignity having been ascribed to her from a mis- taken use of the old English word queen, or quean, which meant only a woman. MABALACAT, Philippine Islands. A town of Luzon, province of Pampango; is situated on the Manila-Dagupan rail- way, 16 miles N. of Bacolor. Pop. about 10,600. MABIE, HAMILTON WRIGHT, an American editor; bom in Cold Spring, N. Y., Dec. 13, 1845. He was graduated at Williams College, practiced law for a time in New York City, and then entered journalism, becoming in 1879 associate editor of the "Christian Union" after- ward the "Outlook." He supplemented the written word by much work on the lecture platform. He was also a very acceptable lecturer on literary subjects. He wrote "Norse Stories Retold from the Eddas"; "My Study Fire"; "Under the Trees and Elsewhere"; "Short Studies in Literature"; "Essays in Literary Inter- pretation"; "Essays on Nature and Cul- ture"; "Essays on Books and Culture"; "Life of the Spirit"; "Shakespeare"; "Backgrounds of Literature" (1904) ; "American Ideals, Character and Life" (1913) ; "Japan To-day and To-morrow" (1914). He died in 1916. MAC, a prefix used extensively in Scotch names; as MacGregor, MacDon- ald. etc. It corresponds with son in sur- names of Teutonic origin, Fitz in those of Romance origin, Ap or Ab in Welsh surnames, and O in Irish. MACABER (ma-ka'bur) DANCE, or DANSE DES MORTS, a name given to a certain class of allegorical representa- tions, illustrative of the universal power of death, dating from the 14th century, and long a favorite subject of painting and poetry, in which persons of all ranks and ages were represented as dancing together with the skeleton form of Death, which led them to the grave. 48