the births and weddings in countries and towns where registers of them have been kept, it appears, that in the former, marriages one with another seldom produce less than four children each; generally between four and five, and sometimes above five; but in towns seldom above four, generally between three and four, and sometimes under three.

of males. In several towns of Germany, &c. it appears, that of seven thousand two hundred and seventy married persons who had died, the proportion of married men who died, to the married women, was three to two; and in Breslaw for eight years, as five to three. In all Pomerania, during nine years, from 1748 to 1756, this proportion was nearly fifteen to eleven. Among the ministers and professors in Scotland, twenty married men die to twelve married women, at a medium of twenty-seven years, or in the proportion of five to three; so that there is the chance of three to two, and in some circumstances even a greater chance, that the woman shall be the survivor of a marriage, and not the man; and this difference cannot be accounted for merely by the difference of age between husbands and their wives, without admitting the greater mortality of males. In the district of Vaud in Switzerland, it appears, that half the females do not die till the age of fortysix and upwards, though half the males die under thirty-six.

It is necessary to be observed here, that though the proportion of annual births to weddings has been considered as giving the true number of children derived from each marriage, taking all marriages one with another: yet this is only true, when, for many years, the births and burials have kept nearly equal. Where there is an excess of the births, occasioning an increase, the proportion of annual births to weddings must be less than the proportion of children derived from each marriage; and the contrary must take place where there is a decrease: and by Mr. King's computation, about one in a hundred and four persons marry; the number of people in England being estimated at five millions and a half, whereof about forty-one It is likewise an indisputable fact, that in the thousand annually marry. In the district of Vaud beginning of life, the rate of mortality among in Switzerland, the married are very nearly a third males is much greater than among females. From part of the inhabitants. Major Graunt and Mr. a table formed by Dr. Price, froin a register kept King disagree in the proportions between males for twenty years at Gainsborough, it appears, that and females, the latter making ten males to thir- of those who lived to eighty, the major part, in the teen females in London; in other cities and towns, proportion of forty-nine to thirty-two, are females. and in the villages and hamlets, one hundred males M. Deparcieux at Paris, and M. Wargentin in to ninety-nine females; but Major Graunt, both Sweden, have further observed, that not only wofrom the London and country bills, computes that men live longer than men, but that married women there are in England fourteen males to thirteen live longer than single women. From some regisfemales; whence he justly infers, that the Chris-ters examined by M. Muret in Switzerland, it aptian religion, prohibiting polygamy, is more agree- pears, that of equal numbers of single and married able to the law of nature than Mahometanism, and women, between fifteen and twenty-five, more of others that allow it. This proportion of males to the former died than of the latter, in the proportion females Mr. Derham thinks pretty just, being agree-of two to one. With respect to the difference beable to what he had observed himself. In the hundred years, for instance, of his own parish register of Upminster, though the burials of males and females were nearly equal, being six hundred and thirty-three males, and six hundred and twen-only in consequence of adventitious causes, or of ty-three females in all that time; yet there were baptized seven hundred and nine males, and but six hundred and seventy-five females, which is thirteen females to 13.7 inales. From a register kept at Northampton for twenty-eight years, from 1741 to 1770, it appears that the proportion of males to females, that were born in that period, is two thousand three hundred and sixty-one to two thousand two hundred and eighty-eight, or nearly 13.4 to thirteen.

However, though more males are born than females, Dr. Price has sufficiently shown, that there is a considerable difference between the probabilities of life among males and females in favor of the latter; so that males are more short-lived than females; and as the greater mortality of males takes place among children, as well as among males at all ages, the fact cannot be accounted for merely by their being more subject to untimely deaths by various accidents, and by their being addicted to the excesses and irregularities which shorten life. M. Kerseboom informs us, that during the course of one hundred and twenty-five years in Holland, females have in all accidents of age, lived about three or four years longer than the same number

tween the mortality of males and females, it is found to be much less in country parishes and villages than in towns; and hence it is inferred, that human life in males is more brittle than in females,

some particular debility that takes place in polished and luxurious societies, and especially in great towns. From the inequality above stated, between the males and females that are born, it is reasonable to infer, that one man ought to have but one wife; and yet that every woman, without polygamy, may have a husband: this surplus of males above females being spent in the supplies of war, the seas, &c. from which the women are exempt.

MARS. A primary planet, whose orbit is next to that of the earth. Its diameter, according to Bowditch, is four thousand one hundred and eighty-nine miles; its distance from the sun is a hundred and forty-four million miles; its periodic revolution is performed in six hundred and eightyseven days; it revolves round its axis in twentyfour hours and forty minutes; it appears of a dusky reddish hue, and is supposed to be encompassed with a very great atmosphere. Mars (thought to have been the splendid mansion of the god of war) was a favorite planet among the old Roman warriors; and obtained formerly, a strange kind and degree of respect among soldiers even of some Christian nations. In Dr. Willich's Lec

tures it is stated, that in the dark ages of supersti- | MASQUE, or MASK. A cover for the face, tion, when planets were thought to govern the contrived with apertures for the eyes and mouth; human destinies, the German soldiers believed, originally worn chiefly by women of condition, that if the figure of Mars, cast and engraved in the either to preserve their complexion from the sign of the Scorpion, were worn about the neck weather, or out of modesty to prevent their being as an amulet, it would render them invulnerable, known. and insure success to their military enterprises; hence, amulets were then found upon every sol-ventor of the masque, which she continued to dier, either killed in battle or taken prisoner.

MARTEN. An animal of the weasel kind, whose fur is used in making hats and muffs.

MARTIN. A bird of passage, which visits England and the United States in May, and departs in October, and well known for the ingenious and interesting nests which they build in the corners

of houses.

MARSHAL. In England, the chief officer of arms, as the Earl Marshal, a great officer of the crown, who takes cognizance of all matters of the law of arms; the name also of other officers, as the Knight Marshal or Marshal of the King's House, Marshal of the King's Bench, who has the custody of the King's Bench prison, and Marshal of the Exchequer, to whom the king's debtors are committed. In this country, the term is applied to the executive officer, attendant upon the United States Courts.

MARSHALLING. In Heraldry, the disposing of the several coats of arms belonging to distinct families in one and the same escutcheon, together with their ornaments; one branch of the science of heraldry.

Poppaa, wife of Nero, is said to be the first in

guard her complexion from the sun and weather, as being the most delicate woman, with regard to her person, that has been known. Theatrical masques were in common use, both among the Greeks and Romans; Suidas and Athenæus ascribe the invention of them to the poet Choerilus, a contemporary of Thespis; Horace attributes them to Eschylus; but Aristotle informs us, that the real inventor, and, consequently, the time of their first introduction and use, were unknown. Brantome observes, that the common use of modern masques was not introduced till towards the end of the sixteenth century.

Masque is also used to signify any thing used to cover the face, and prevent a person's being known.

The penitents of Lyons and Avignon hid their faces with large white veils, which serve them for masques.

MASQUERADE, or MASCARADE. An assembly of persons masqued or disguised, meeting to dance or divert themselves. This was much in use in England, and has been long a very common practice abroad, especially in carnival times.

MASS. In Ecclesiastical Affairs. The ritual or service of the Romish church; when the prayers are simply rehearsed, without singing, it is called Low Mass: but when the prayers are sung by choristers, and the service is performed by a dea con and subdeacon, it is called High or Grand Mass.

MARTIAL LAW. In England, the law that has to do only with soldiers and seamen where the king's army is on foot. This law differs from the common law, in as much as it depends upon the pleasure of the king. In cases of riots and rebellions, Martial Law is sometimes proclaimed MAST. A long round piece of timber, elevated when the civil power is not strong enough to pre-perpendicularly upon the keel of a ship, upon serve the peace. which are attached the yards, the sails, and the rigging, in order to their receiving the wind necessary for navigation.

MASONRY. In general, a branch of architecture, consisting in the art of hewing or squaring stones, and cutting them level or perpendicular, for the uses of building; but in a more limited sense, masonry is the art of assembling and joining stones together with mortar.

MASONS, FREE, or ACCEPTED MASONS. A fraternity of great antiquity, so called because the first founders of that society were persons of that profession. They are bound by an oath of secrecy not to reveal any thing that passes within the society, and the members throughout the whole world are known to each other, by certain secret signs.

MASTER. In England, the name of several officers who preside in their several departments, as Master of the Assay, Master of the Ceremonies, Master of the King's Household, &c.

MASTERS IN CHANCERY. In England, twelve assistants to the lord chancellor. In the United States, the chancellor in different sections of the state appoints as many masters or assistants as he thinks necessary.

MASTICATION. In Medicine, the action of chewing, or of agitating the solid parts of our food between the teeth, by means of the motion of the jaws, the tongue, and the lips, whereby it is broken into small pieces, impregnated with saliva, and so fitted for deglutition and a more easy digestion.

MASORITES. The rabbies who, under Esdras the scribe, are supposed to have purged the Hebrew Bible of the errors that crept into it during the Babylonish captivity. They divided the canonical books into twenty-two, and-these twenty- MASTICH. In the Materia Medica, when pure, two books into chapters, and the chapters into is in the form of little round drops or tears, of a

verses.

with teeth peculiarly formed for the most effectual crushing of the firmest substances, we are assured that its life could only be supported by the destruction of vast quantities of food.

very pale amber; a piece recently broken is quite | been endowed with a strength exceeding that of transparent, but by exposure to the air it becomes other quadrupeds, as much as it exceeded them in somewhat inclining to the form of powder. When size; and, looking at its ponderous jaws, armed slightly warmed this resin has a faint and rather pleasant odor, which becomes stronger and more grateful when it is melted. In its chemical properties, mastich does not much differ from the other resins. If it is digested in alcohol it is separated into two portions; the one soluble in the spirit, the other insoluble: the former composes four-fifths of the whole, and is pure resin; the latter, in most of its properties closely resembles caoutchouc. In Turkey, mastich is in great request among women as a masticatory; and the produce of China is appropriated solely to the use of the Emperor's seraglio. In other countries it is employed, medically, in fumigations; and by painters and other artists, in the composition of the tougher kinds of varnishes.

MASTIFF. This species of dog is peculiar to England. It is nearly of the size of a Newfoundland dog, strong and active, possessing great sagacity, and is commonly employed as a watch dog. The mastiff is said seldom to use violence against intruders, unless resisted, and even then he will sometimes only throw down the person, and hold him for hours, without doing him further injury, till he is relieved. He has a large head, with short pendent ears, and thick lips hanging down on each side. In the reign of James I. a contest was exhibited between three mastiffs and a lion, in which the king of beasts was compelled to seek for safety in flight.

'Enormous as were these creatures during life, and endowed with faculties proportioned to the bulk of their frames, the whole race has been extinct for ages. No tradition nor human record of their existence has been saved, and but for the accidental preservation of a comparatively few bones, we should never have dreamed that a creature of such vast size and strength once existed, nor could we have believed that such a race had been extinguished forever. Such, however, is the fact; ages after ages have rolled away, empires and nations have arisen, flourished, and sunk into irretrievable oblivion, while the bones of the mastodon, which perished long before the periods of their origin, have been discovered, scarcely changed in color, and exhibiting all the marks of perfection and durability.

That a race of animals so large, and consisting of so many species, should become entirely and universally extinct, is a circumstance of high interest; for it is not with the mastodon as with the elephant, which still continues to be a living genus, although many of its species have become extinct; the entire race of the mastodon has been utterly destroyed, leaving nothing but the "mighty wreck" of their skeletons, to testify that they once were among the living occupants of this land.'

MATCH. In Gunnery, a rope slightly twisted and prepared with inflammable ingredients, which will burn for a length of time without going out.

MASTODON, or MAMMOTH. This animal, which must have been many times larger than the elephant, is now extinct, and all that remains to attest its former existence, are the bones which are found deeply imbedded in the earth. These bones MATERIA MEDICA. Every substance emhave been discovered in various parts of the United ployed in the cure of disease, whether in its natStates, but as yet only one nearly entire skeleton ural state, or after having undergone various prehas been obtained. This was dug up near New-parations, belongs to the Materia Medica, in the burg, in the state of New York, and is now in the museum at Philadelphia.

It is impossible to determine to what race this huge animal belonged, except that its formation and modes of living were analogous to those of the elephant. That he was not of the same species, is probable; that he was nearly allied to the rhinoceros and hippopotamus, is also probable.

The bones of prodigiously large animals of the elephant kind have been found in Siberia, and those of the mastodon have been found in various parts of Europe. The following striking observations on this subject, are by Dr. Godman.

extended acceptation of the words. But in most pharmacopoeias, the Materia Medica is confined to simples, and to those preparations which are seldom prepared by the apothecary himself, but commonly purchased by him, as articles of commerce, from druggists and others. Systematic authors on this branch of medical knowledge, have bestowed much pains in contriving scientific arrangements of these articles. Some have classed them according to their natural resemblances; others according to their active constituent principles; and others according to their real or supposed virtues. Each of these arrangements has its particular advantages. 'The emotions experienced, when for the first The first will probably be preferred by the natural time we behold the giant relics of this great animal, historian, the second by the chemist, and the last are those of unmingled awe. We cannot avoid by the physiologist. But every scientific classifireflecting on the time when this huge frame was cation hitherto proposed is liable to numerous obclothed with its peculiar integuments, and moved jections. Accordingly, in the pharmacopoeias pubby appropriate muscles: when the mighty heart lished by the Colleges of Physicians of London, dashed forth its torrents of blood through vessels Dublin, and Edinburgh, the articles of the Materia of enormous calibar, and the mastodon strode Medica are arranged in alphabetical order; and along in supreme dominion over every other tenant the same plan is now almost universally adopted. of the wilderness.

'However we examine what is left to us, we MATERIALS OF CLOTHING. The mate cannot help feeling that this animal must have rials of which our external clothing is composed,

are so completely under the control of fashion, ducts more slowly the excess of external heat to that the advice of the physician in relation to them our bodies. But this is not the only advantage, is seldom required—or when volunteered, is rarely though a great one. When a vicissitude takes if ever followed. In regard to those of our under place, and the atmospherical temperature sinks garments, however, particularly of that in imme- suddenly far below that of the body, the cotton, diate contact with the skin, some degree of atten- still faithful to its trust, abstracts more slowly the tion is absolutely necessary, in order that health heat from our bodies, and thus preserves a more may be preserved during the more changeable steady equilibrium there. To all these must be seasons of our unsteady climate. added the facility with which it absorbs the perspiration; while linen would feel quite wet, and, during the exposure to a breeze, under such circumstances, would often occasion a shiver, and be followed by dangerous consequences.'

The inner clothing of the present day, consists of either linen, or cotton, or of wool. Whatever may be the dictates of health, observes a highly respected writer; however wise the voice of the charmer, the comforts and neatness of linen will always secure a demand for this article. The luxury of clean linen was one that the Romans, in the plenitude of their power, were unable to obtain; and its general use, as an inner garment, in more modern times, was considered to have had a very beneficial influence upon health. It is, undoubtedly, a very useful article of clothing; and by the healthy, when not engaged in laborious exercise, or exposed to cold or damp, or to frequent alternations of temperature, may be worn with perfect safety. The advantages, however, in point of health, which have been ascribed to the introduction of linen into common use, are with more propriety to be attributed to the greater attention paid to personal cleanliness among the middle classes of society, after the introduction of linen, than previously. Changing the linen at night, and again in the morning, is a practice which merits our commendation. It not only insures cleanliness, but, by renewing the air in contact with the surface of the body, becomes an air bath, which greatly assists insensible perspiration.

The qualities here ascribed to cotton, are possessed in a still greater degree by flannel. The latter, however, is better adapted for under garments in cold, temperate, or very changeable climates and seasons, than in those marked by a very high and steady temperature. When worn in contact with the skin, flannel preserves a moderate and equable warmth of the body, promotes perspiration, readily absorbs the perspired fluid, which it communicates, in consequence of its porous structure, to the atmosphere, leaving the skin dry, warm, and comfortable. Hence, persons who wear flannel, may, even while in a state of profuse perspiration, expose themselves to the open air, or to a colder atmosphere, with comparative impunity; whereas, if their inner clothing was composed of linen, or fine muslin, a violent cold, or inflammation of the chest would, in all probability, be produced. During the autumnal, winter, and spring months, an under dress of flannel, is, in this climate, indeed in most parts of the United States, an almost indispensable article for the preservation of health. The weakly and valetudinarian, they who are subject to affections of the lungs, stomach, or bowels-who catch cold easily, to use a popular phrase, or who are liable to rheumatic pains from slight exposures to cold or dampness, will experience, from a dress of this kind, the most beneficial effects. Hufeland, with his accustomed good sense, remarks, that flannel is the best dress which can be devised for those who have begun to decline in years, and to all who lead a sedentary life. It is, also, well adapted to infants and young children, as well during autumn and spring, as during winCotton or muslin, being a less perfect conductor ter. The celebrated John Hunter's recipe for of heat, and absorbing more readily the moisture rearing healthy children, was plenty of milk, of the skin, is, on these accounts, preferable, as an plenty of sleep, and plenty of flannel; this, had under garment, for common use, to linen. This is he added plenty of exercise, without which all the more especially true of the softer species of cotton others would be of little avail, will be found equal-those neither of a very fine texture nor highly ly efficacious in our own climate, as in that of Great dressed. For children, muslin is, on many ac- Britain. There is one class of persons who will counts, the only proper shirting-it is, also, better experience the best effects from wearing flannel all adapted, under ordinary circumstances, for a night the year round; we allude to those who are exdress, than either linen or flannel. It is, however, posed, from their occupations, to wet and dampduring summer, and in warm climates, that the ness, or to sudden alternations of temperature; advantages of this material, when worn next the hence, the sailor, boatman, tanner, fisherman, and skin, are experienced to the greatest extent.-those who work in damp situations, whether in or 'When we enter the tropics,' says Dr. James Johnson, we must bid adieu to the luxury of linen-if what is both uncomfortable and unsafe, in those climates, can be styled a luxury. There are many substantial reasons for so doing. Cotton, from its slowness as a conductor of heat, is admirably adapted for the tropics. It affords a covering Many persons object to the use of flannel as an which is cooler than linen; inasmuch as it con-underdress, in consequence of its producing a dis

The chief objections to linen, when worn next the skin, are, that it allows the heat of the body readily to escape; and having little affinity for water, causes the matter of perspiration to accumulate upon the skin. Hence, they who wear linen, when, from any cause, perspiration is increased, experience an uncomfortable sensation of chilliness; and are extremely liable to attacks of catarrh, rheumatism, or pleurisy, if exposed under such circumstances to a slight degree of cold, or dampness, or to a current of air.

out of doors, should invariably be clothed in flannel.-A similar clothing will be found, also, a powerful means of preserving the health of the workmen in glass-houses, founderies, forges, or in any other situation in which the body is exposed, in quick succession, to heat and cold.