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MANDINGO MAFETHO 101 practised as a physician for some time. In 1322 he proceeded to the East, visited the holy places in Palestine, being favored by the sul- tan of Egypt, and travelled in Armenia, Per- sia, India, Tartary, and northern China (Ca- thay). He returned to England about 1355, and wrote a narrative of his travels and adven- tures, first in Latin, and afterward in French and in English, which he dedicated to Edward III. This work is a singular mixture of fact and fable, a monument at once of the author's candor and credulity. The earliest edition of it is that of Wynkin de Worde (Westminster, 1499), and the best of the old English editions is that of 1725. A new edition was published by J. O. Halliwell (London, 1839). MANDINGO, a country in W. Africa, bounded K by Kaarta, E. by Bambarra, S. by the Kong mountains, and W. by Senegambia, lying be- tween lat. 8 and 15 K, and Ion. 8 and 12 W. Much of this region is a high table land, and contains the sources of the Senegal and the Niger. Iron is abundant in the mountains, and gold dust is found in the rivers. The country is divided into a number of small states, each of which is nearly independent of the others. The most considerable of these states are Bambook and Kankan. The Man- dingos are remarkable for their industry and energy. They are mostly Mohammedans. The principal trade of that part of W. Africa which lies between the equator and the great desert is in their hands. They are shrewd -merchants, industrious agriculturists, and breeders of cat- tle, sheep, and goats. They are black in color, tall and well shaped, with regular features and woolly hair. They have been called the Hin- doos of Africa. They are amiable and hospita- ble, imaginative, credulous, truthful, and fond of music, dancing, and poetry. They are adven- turous travellers, extending their commercial journeys over the greater part of Africa. They trade chiefly in gold dust, ivory, and slaves. Polygamy is practised, and each .wife has a separate hut. Their language is the richest of the negro tongues, is widely spread, and is written in Arabic characters. The Mandingos are the most numerous race of "W. Africa, and have spread themselves to a great distance from their original seat, being found all over the valleys of the Gambia, Senegal, and Niger. MA1VDR AGORA. See MANDBAKE. MANDRAKE (mandragora officinarum), a stemless plant, with lanceolate leaves, conceal- ing beneath them several pale violet-colored flowers, and having a large, forked, fleshy, per- ennial root. It grows spontaneously in the south of Europe. The plant belongs to the natural order solanacem, which comprises many poisonous species. Its large root is often divi- ded into two or three forks, causing it to be likened to the shape of the human body, a cir- cumstance which in old time gave it the repu- tation of being endowed with animal feelings ; and there are fabulous stories of its uttering shrieks when torn from the earth. The works of the early herbalists have curious accounts of the supposed virtues of this plant, of which they distinguished male and female varieties. According to Josephus, the collecting of man- Mandragora officinarum. drake was no easy matter ; after the earth had been well dug from around the root a dog was tied to it, and when the animal tried to follow its master, its struggles pulled up the root ; the dog died immediately, a fate which would have befallen the man had he pulled it. Sibthorp (Flora Grceca, London, 1806-'40) says that the young Greeks wear small pieces of the root about them to serve as love charms ; and among the ancients it was held in high repute for philters. The qualities of the mandrake are aero-narcotic, purgative, and aphrodisiac. Ac- cording to Lindley, Dr. T. H. Silvester has shown that the root was formerly used in the same way as chloroform and other anaesthetic agents now are. The mandrake of the Old Testament (Gen. xxx. and Canticles vii.) was thought, according to some commentators, to have the power of removing barrenness. The American mandrake, also called May apple, is podophyllum peltatum, a plant belonging to a very different family, and now largely em- ployed in medicine. (See PODOPHYLLUM.) MANDRILL. See BABOON. MANES. See MANICELEANS. I MANES, in Eoman mythology, the souls of the departed, who were generally recognized as gods and propitiated by sacrifices at certain seasons called ferics denicales, and more partic- ularly at an annual festival kept on Feb. 19 un- der the name of feralia or parentalia, when each person made offerings to the souls of his deceased parents and benefactors. The manes were believed to have power only by night. MANETHO, an Egyptian historian, who flour- ished in the reign of Ptolemy Soter, at the beginning of the 3d century B. C. He was a priest of Sebennytus in Lower Egypt, and wrote in Greek a work on the religion and an-