Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume X.djvu/848

842 MAGDALENA MAGDEBURG on a fine bay of the same name; and children are subject to a number of acute diseases. Gold abounds in the province; and rice, cot- ton, coffee, sugar, tobacco, cacao, and the vari- ous tropical fruits are largely produced. MAGDALENA, a river of Colombia, rising in the Andes a short distance E. of the source of the Oauca, in lat. 2 N., and flowing almost parallel with the latter to about 9 20', where they unite at the town of Nechi. From this point the Magdalena holds a course due N., and falls into the Caribbean sea at Sabanilla, its whole length being about 850 m. In lat. 9 57' 1ST. a branch separates from the main stream and falls into the sea in lat. 10, 100 m. S. W. of Sabanilla, thus forming a delta or island of 3,000 sq. m. The bed of the Magdalena lies some 1,750 ft. lower than that of the Cauca, and consequently its stream is less impetuous. Navigation by steamers is uninterrupted to Honda (where the cataracts commence), which is reached from the sea in about 35 days, while the down trip is usually accomplished in seven days. Beyond Honda, as far as Neiva, balsas and champones alone are used, and the princi- pal carrying trade on the whole river was until recently done by these craft. Caymans abound, rendering the navigation dangerous; and myriads of mosquitoes and other noxious insects render it at all times disagreeable. The chief towns on the Magdalena are Neiva, Honda, Tenerife, Barranquilla, and Sabanilla ; and besides the Cauca, it receives the waters of the Sogamoso, Sesar, and Bogota. MAGDALENE, Mary. See MARY MAGDALENE. MAGDEBURG, a fortified city of Prussia, capi- tal of the province of Saxony, on the left bank of the Elbe, 76 m. S. W. of Berlin; pop. in 1871, including Sudenburg, 84,401 ; with Neu- stadt-Magdeburg (20,404) and Buckau (9,696), 114,501, besides the garrison, 7,254 men. The Altstadt, or the principal part of the forti- fication, extends along the river, and comprises 11 bastions. South of the Altstadt is the Sternschanze or star bastion, outside the Su- denburg gate, which is considered one of the strongest points. The two are connected by Fort Scharnhorst ; and on an island of the Elbe, opposite the Altstadt, and united to it by a bridge, is the citadel, which serves also as a state prison, and in which Lafayette was confined. Another bridge leads to the Frie- drichsstadt or Thurmschanze (tower bastion), on the opposite or right bank of the river. So extensive are the works that an army of 100,000 men would be required to invest them completely. The houses of the city are for the most part large and handsome, but near the citadel are crowded, and many of the streets are narrow. The most remarkable of the 10 Protestant churches of Magdeburg is the cathedral, built in the 13th and the first half of the 14th century, one of the finest Gothic monuments in N. Germany, surmounted by two towers about 350 ft. high, finished in 1520, with a nave 120 ft. high, a pulpit of ala- baster, now sadly mutilated, 45 smaller altars, with a great variety and beauty in the Roman- esque capitals and tympana, and containing the bronze statue of Archbishop Ernest, the tomb of the emperor Otho the Great, and rel- ics of Gen. Tilly. In St. Sebastian's church is the grave of Otto von Guericke, the inventor of the air pump. The equestrian monument of the emperor Otho before the town hall is the oldest in the town. The town hall was built in 1691 and enlarged in 1866. Magde- burg is connected by steamers with Hamburg, and by five railways with the principal towns of Europe. A canal commencing 20 m. below the town unites the Elbe with the Havel. Magdeburg Cathedral. The manufactures consist principally of wool- len, linen, and cotton cloth, silk and cotton ribbons, leather,, gloves, soap, and candles. There are also important cotton and worsted mills, beet-sugar and chiccory factories, brew- eries, distilleries, oil and vinegar works ; and of late the number of machine shops and iron works has largely increased. Magdeburg is of very ancient origin, and had the privileges of a town in the time of Charlemagne. A Bene- dictine convent was established there in 937 by Otho the Great, and an archbishopric in 967, which was raised by Pope John XIII. to the primacy of Germany. Luther spent one of his early years at the Franciscan school of Magdeburg, supporting himself by singing in