Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 12.djvu/752

MAGAZINE. 670 MAGDALEN COLLEGE. leading to them, the ammunition being passed out of the ma;,'azines through holes in the doors, which are kept closed. As a further precaution men working in the magazines wear a special magazine dress, shoes without nails, and a long smock shirt or jumper of light serge; and no iron or steel fittings or tools are allowed inside the magazine doors. MAGAZINE GUN. See Small Abms. MAGAZINES. Periodicals cither devoted to general literature, art, or science, or to some particular branch of human knowledge. The name 'magazine' was first applied to them as being 'storehouses' of varied information. For full account of their history, classes, and scope, see Periodical. MAG'DALA, mag'da-la. The most strongly fortitied town of Abyssinia, situated near the centre of the country, about 120 miles southeast of Gondar (Map: Africa, H 3). It lies on the summit of an isolated basalt block, a mile square in extent, and with perpendicular sides in some places 2000 feet high. Magdala was stormed by the British forces under Sir Robert Xapier on April 13, 18C8 (see Abyssinia), and was de- stroyed. It was, however, soon restored to its former position, and is at present of considerable strategic value. MAGDALA (Lat., from Gk. 5Ia75a(i.1 A place name found in ilatt. xv. 39 (Authorized Ver- sion) for which the Revised Version substitiites Magadan as the better supported reading. The parallel passage in ilark viii. 10 reads Dal- manutha. It is generally supposed that Magdala was somewhere near the wretched modern village Mejdel in the southeast corner of the Plain of Gennesaret. This identification is somewhat doubtful. Notices in the Talmud imply a JMag- dala south of Tiberias. The name ilagdala, evi- dently from the Hebrew Mif/dal (tower), was probably not rare. There may have been several to^vns or places so named near the Sea of Galilee, one of which was the home of Marv Magdalene (i,e. of Magdala). MAG'DALEN. A favorite subject of the Italian painters. Among famous pictures are those by Correggio (Dresden), by Titian (Flor- ence and Saint Petersburg), by Tintoretto (Ven- ice) , Paul Veronese (Turin) , and Rubens (Lille). MAG'DALETIA. The principal river of Colombia (Map: Colombia, CI). It rises in the southwestern part of Colombia near the junc- tion of the Central and Eastern Cordilleras of the Andes, and flows northward through the long and narrow valley formed by those two ranges until it enters the Caribbean Sea by two arms separating at the city of Barranquilla. Its total length is over 1000 miles. In its upper course it is an impetuous mountain torrent flowing through narrow, rocky defiles, forming numerous falls and rapids, and even in its lower course it has a very swift current. It is navi- gable for ocean steamers to the head of the delta at Barranquilla, and for steamers of 300 tons to Honda, fiOO miles from its mouth. At Honda there is a series of rapids 20 miles in extent, above which the river again becomes navigable, though with difficulty, for 200 miles farther to- Neiva. Connection is made between the upper and lower courses by a short railroad passing around the rapids of Honda. Owing to the narrowness of it.-> valky, llie trilnitaries of the Magdalena are all very short, with the excep- tion of the Cauca (q.v. ), whose length equals that of the main river from the poiut of junc- tion. Until railroads are built the Magdalena will oiler practically the only commercial route to the interior of Colombia, and it is now navi- gated by forty regular steamers. The river was discovered in 1502 by Rodrigo de Bastidas. MAGDALENA. The northernmost depart- ment of Colombia, South America. It is bounded by the Caribbean Sea on the north, Venezuela on the east, the Colombian Department of Santander on the south, and is separated from Bolivar on the west by the ^Magdalena River. Its area, in- cluding the peninsula of Goajira, is about 27,000 square miles. The portion along the coast is occupied by the isolated range of Sierra Nevada de Santa JIarta, exceeding in altitude 17,000 feet. The peninsula of Goajira is also more or less mountainous and along the eastern frontier is the Sierra de Perija. In the west and south the surface is mostly flat and occasionally swampy and overgrown in parts with dense forests. This part of the country is well watered and affords good grazing land. Coffee, sugar, and cereals are the chief products, and grazing is carried on to some extent ; hides and a fine breed of horses are exported. The mineral deposits are believed to be important, but almost entirely neglected. The population was estimated in 1806 at 100,000, in- cluding about 40,000 uncivilized Indians, many of whom are still irreconcilably hostile to the whites. The capital is Santa Marta (q.v.). MAGDALENA BAY. A port of Mexico, situated on the Pacific coast of Lower California. It is one of the best harbors on the Pacific coast, affording deep water in a lagoon or inlet 40 miles long inside a sand-bar or beach. It is the seat of a United States consular agent. MAGDALEN (m.^d'Un) COLLEGE. One of the most beautiful and famous of Oxford col- leges. It was founded as Saint Magdalen Hall in 1448, and as the College of Saint Mary Mag- dalen in 1458, by William Patten, better known as William of Wayntlete. There were, in 1902, a president, thirty fellows, several senior demies or half fellows (not exceeding eight), thirty junior demies, a number of exhibitioners, twelve tutors, four lecturers, four chaplains, a choir, college officers, and from 175 to 200 under- graduates. There is, in connection with the college, !Magdalen College School, founded in 1480 as a grammar school preparing for the col- lege and the university, after the manner of Winchester and Eton. Waynflete established also, with his new foundation, four professorships of moral and metaphysical philosophy, chemis- try, physiology, and pure mathematics. The buildings, begun in 1475, are among the most beautiful in England. The grounds are extensive, comprising over 100 acres, including a deer park, and are most attractive, ^Magdalen has, from its foundation, been one of the richest of English colleges. It is rich in historical associations, and is especially to be remembered for the attempt of James II. to force a Roman Catholic president on the college, one of the causes of his downfall. The college is still one of the strongest in Oxford. It presents to forty benefices. Among the more dis- tinguished of its members mav be mentioned the