indicated by the addition of some bearing from the wife's or mother's shield. Then followed dimidia

tion, where the shield was parted per pale, and the two coats placed side by side, half of each being shewn. By the more modern custom of impaling (fig. 1), the whole of each coat is exhibited, a reminiscence of the older practice being retained in the omission of bordures, orles, and tressures on the side beauded by the line of impalement. The most common case of impalement is where the coats of husband and wife are conjoined, the husband's arms occupying the dexter side of the shield, or place of honour, and the wife's, the sinister side. Bishops, deans, heads of colleges, and kings-of-arms, impale their arms of office with their family coat, giving

the dexter side to the former.

A man who marries an heiress (in heraldic sense) is entitled to place her arms on a small shield called

an escutcheon of pretence, in the centre of his achievement, instead of impaling, as in fig. 2.

The

Quartering (fig. 3), or the exhibiting different coats on a shield divided at once perpendicularly and horizontally, is the most common mode of marshalling arms, a practice which, however, was unknown till the middle of the 14th century. The divisions of the shield are called quarters, and are numbered horizontally, beginning at the dexter chief. most common object of quartering is to indicate descent. The coats quartered in an escutcheon must all have been brought in by successive heiresses, who have intermarried into the family. In the case of a single quartering, the paternal arms are placed in the first and fourth quarters, and the maternal in the second and third. The third and fourth quarters may, in after-generations, be occupied by the arms of a second and third heiress. Sometimes an already quartered coat is placed in one of the four quarters of the escutcheon, then termed a grand quarter. We occasionally find the shield divided by perpendicular and horizontal lines into six, nine, or even more parts, each occupied by a coat brought in by an heiress; and in case of an odd number of coats, the last division is filled by a repetition of the first. In the course of generations, a shield may thus be inconveniently crowded by the accumulation of coats, including the several coats to which each heiress may, in a similar way, have become entitled, and in Germany, sometimes twenty or thirty coats are found marshalled in one escutcheon; but in British heraldry, families entitled to a number of quarterings, generally select some of the most important. Quarterings, at least in Scotland, are not allowed to be added to the paternal coat without the sanction of the heraldic authorities.

Sovereigns quarter the ensigns of their several states, giving precedence to the most ancient, unless it be inferior to the others in importance. In the royal escutcheon of the United Kingdom, England is placed in the first and fourth quarters, Scotland in the second, and Ireland in the third; the relative positions of Scotland and England being, however, eversed on the official seals of Scotland. Spain bears the arms of Leon in the first and fourth quarters, and Castile in the second and third. An elected king generally places his arms surtout on an escutcheon of pretence.

MARSH'S TEST. See ARSENIC.

MAʼRSICO NUO'VO, a town of Italy, in the province of Basilicata, 18 miles south of Potenza, built on a height, and exposed to violent winds. Pop. 6355.

MARSILEA CEE, or RHIZOCARPEÆ, a natural order of Acotyledonous plants, nearly allied to Lycopodiacea, but differing in the want of a stem, and in the usually stalked leaves. The species are all inhabitants of ditches and pools, chiefly in temperate regions, and two of them occur in various parts of Great Britain. No species was known to be of any importance till the discovery of the Nardoo (q. v.) of Australia.

an

MARSUPIA'LIA, or MARSUPIATA, extensive order or group of mammals, differing essentially from all others in their organisation, and especially in their generative system. The animals of this aberrant group originally received the name of Animalia Crumenata, or Purse-bearing Animals; and the names now employed have a similar signification, being derived from marsupium, a pouch or bag. This marsupium, or pouch, which is situated on the abdomen of the female, contains the teats, and serves for the protection of the immature young; and is the most marked external characteristic of these animals. As the different genera of this order live upon various kinds of food- some being herbivorous, others insectivorous, and others, again, purely carnivorouswe find various modifications of their organs of progression, prehension, and digestion; but as the most important of these modifications are noticed in the articles on the principal genera, we shall confine ourselves to the characters common to the group.

The

The leading peculiarity presented by the skeleton is the presence of the marsupial bones (see MAMMALIA), which are attached to the pubis, and are imbedded in the abdominal muscles. Another constant but less striking peculiarity is a greater or less inversion of the angle of the lower jaw. The organs of digestion, including the teeth, vary extremely, according to the nature of the food; a complex stomach and a cæcum of considerable size being present in some, while others (the carnivorous genera) have a simple stomach and no cæcum. brain is constructed on a simpler type than in the placental mammals. The size of the hemispheres (fig. 1, A) is so small that they leave exposed the olfactory ganglion (a), the cerebellum (C), and more or less of the optic lobes (B), and they are but partially connected together by the fornix' and 'anterior commissure,' the great cerebral commissure known as the

་

Fig. 1.

Brain of Opossum

Fig. 2.

Outline of the Kangaroo about twelve hours after birth,

shewing its natural size and external development at this period.

The

order the uterus is double, and the introductory passage more or less (sometimes wholly) separated into two lateral canals. Both the digestive and generative tubes terminate within a common Cloaca (q. v.), and there are various other points in which these animals manifest their affinity to the oviparous vertebrates. The marsupial bones serve important purposes in connection with their generative economy. In the female,' he observes, they assist in producing a compression of the Mammary gland necessary for the alimentation of a peculiarly feeble offspring, and they defend the abdominal viscera from the pressure of the young as these increase in size during their marsupial existence, and still more when they return to the pouch for temporary shelter,' while in the males they are subservient to the reproductive process. marsupials belong to the aplacental division of the Mammalia (q. v.). The period of their gestation is short (26 days in the Virginian opossum, and 39 days in the kangaroo), and the young are produced in so immature a state, that the earlier observers believed that they were produced like buds from the nipples to which they saw them attached. The appearance presented by a young kangaroo of one of the largest species, within twelve hours of its being deposited in the pouch, is described by Professor Owen (from personal observation in the Zoological Gardens) as follows: It resembled an earthworm in the colour and semi-transparency of its integument, adhered firmly to the point of the nipple, breathed strongly but slowly, and moved its fore-legs when disturbed. The body was bent upon the abdomen, its short tail tucked in between the hind-legs, which were one-third shorter than the fore-legs. The whole length from the nose to the end of the tail, when stretched out, did not exceed one inch and two lines.' The mother apparently employs her mouth in placing the young at the nipple, where it remains suspended, involuntarily absorbing milk for a considerable time (probably about two months on an average), after which, it sucks spontaneously for some months. Although able from the first, by the muscular power of its lips, to adhere firmly to the nipple, it does not possess the strength to obtain the milk by the ordinary process of suck. ing. In the process, it is assisted by the adaptation of a muscle to the mammary gland, which, by contracting, injects the milk from the nipple into the mouth of the adherent foetus; and to prevent the entrance of milk into the air-passage, the larynx is prolonged upwards to the aperture of the posterior nares, where it is closely embraced by the muscles of the soft palate. The air-passage thus entirely separated from the throat, and the milk passes on either side of the larynx into the Csophagus.

Professor Owen has proposed that these animals should be divided into five tribes or primary groups, viz., Sarcophaga, Entomophaga, Carpophaga, Poephaga, and Rhizophaga, according to the nature of their food. With the exception of one American and one Malayan genus, all known existing marsupials belong to Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea.For further details regarding this order, the reader is referred to Waterhouse's Natural History of the Mammalia, vol. i., and to Owen's article Marsupialia' in the Cyclopædia of Anatomy and Physiology.

MARTABA'N, the name of a small town, in a province of that name, in British Burmah, on the banks of the river of the same name, and near its mouth in the Gulf of M., in lat. 16° 32′ N., long. 970 35′ E., was the first that fell into the hands of the British in the Burmese war in 1852.

MARTEL, CHARLES. See CHARLES MARTEL.

MARTELLO TOWERS are round towers for

coast defence, about 40 feet high, built most solidly, and situated on the beach. They occur in several places round the coast of the United King dom; but principally opposite to the French coast, along the southern shore of Kent and Sussex, where, for many miles, they are within easy range of each other. They were mostly erected during the French war, as a defence against invasion. Each had walls of 54 feet thickness, and was supposed to be bomb-proof. The base formed the magazine; above were two rooms for the garrison, and over the upper of these the flat roof, with a 4-feet On this roof a swivel brick parapet all round. while howitzers on each side were to form a flanking heavy gun was to be placed to command shipping, defence in connection with the neighbouring towers. Although the cost of these little forts was very great, they are generally considered to have been a failure; their armaments have mostly been removed, and their garrisons of six to twelve pensioner-soldiers replaced by coast-guard men, or in some cases by old master-gunners.

The name is said to be taken from Italian towers

built near the sea, during the period when piracy was common in the Mediterranean, for the purpose of keeping watch and giving warning if a pirateship was seen approaching. This warning was given by striking on a bell with a hammer (Ital martello), and hence these towers were called Torri

da Martello.

MARTEN (Martes), a genus of digitigrade carni. vorous quadrupeds of the family Mustelide, differing from weasels in having an additional false molar on each side above and below, a small tubercle on the inner side of the lower carnivorous cheek-teeth, and the tongue not rough-characters which are regarded as indicating a somewhat less extreme carnivorous propensity. The body is elongated and supple, as in weasels, the legs short, and the toes separate, with sharp long claws. The ears are larger than in weasels, and the tail is bushy. The martens exhibit great agility and gracefulness in their movements, and are very expert in climbing trees, among which they generally live. Two species are natives of Britain, the COMMON M., BEECH M., or STONE M. (M. foina), and the PINE M. (M. abietum), inhabiting chiefly the more rocky and wooded parts of the island; the former in the south, and the latter in the north. Both were once much more common than they now are, being sought after on account of their fur, and killed on every opportunity, because of their excessive depredations among game and in poultry-yards. The head and body are about 18 inches long, the tail nearly 10 inches. Both species are of a dark tawny colour, the Common M. having a white throat, and the Pine M. a yellow throat. Many naturalists regard them as varieties of one species, of which also they reckon the Sable (q. v.) to be another variety. The fur of the martens is of two sorts: an inner fur, short, soft, and copious, and long outer hair, from which the whole fur derives its colour. The Common M. is much less valuable for its fur than the Pine M., whilst the Pine M. is much less valuable than the sable; but skins of the Common M. are imported in great numbers from the north of Europe, and they are often dyed, and sold as an inferior kind of sable.

Pine M. skins are imported from the north of Europe, Siberia, and North America.-The martens generally have their retreats in the hollow trunks

1, Common Marten (Martes foina); 2, Pine Marten (Martes abietum).

of trees, or usurp the nest of a magpie or other bird, but sometimes among rocks. They are capable of a certain amount of domestication.

MARTHA'S VINEYARD, an island on the southern coast of Massachusetts, 21 miles long and 6 miles in average width; it has 3 towns, the largest of which is Edgartown, settled in 1642, by enigrants from Southampton, England. Pop. (1880) of Duke's county, of which it forms the chief part, 4305. MARTIAL (MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIALIS), the first of epigrammatists, was born at Bilbilis, in Spain, 43 A.D. In 66, he came to Rome, where he resided till 100, when he returned to his native town. There he married a lady called Marcella, on whose property he lived till his death (about 104). When at Rome, he soon became famous as a wit and poet; received the patronage of the Emperors Titus and Domitian, and obtained from them the privileges of those who were fathers of three children, and, in addition, the rank of tribune, and the rights of the equestrian order. He lived, seemingly, in affluence, in a mansion in the city, and in Nomentum, a suburban villa, to both of which he makes frequent reference. From Rome, his reputation rapidly extended to the provinces; and even in Britain his Epigrammata, which, divided into 14 books, now form his extant works, were familiarly read. These books, which were arranged by himself for publication, were written in the following order: the first eleven (including the Liber de Spectaculis) were composed at Rome, with the exception of the third, which was written during a tour in Gallia Togata; the 12th was written at Bilbilis; and the 13th and 14th at Rome, under Domitian. The last two, entitled Xenia and Apophoreta, describe, in distichs, the various kinds of souvenirs presented by the Romans to each

other on holidays. To the other books, we are also indebted for much of our knowledge of the manners and customs which prevailed under the Emperors Nero, Galba, Otho, Vespasian, Titus, Domitian, Nerva, and Trajan, under whose collec tive reigns he spent 35 years of his life. His works have also a great literary value, as embodying the first specimens of what we now understand by epigram-not a mere inscription, but a poem of two or more lines, containing the terms of an antithesis, which goes off with a repercussion at the close. The wonderful inventiveness and facility displayed by M. in this species of composition have always received the highest admiration, only qualified by his disgusting grossness, which, blame worthy in him, was even more so in the age by which it was demanded and relished. The best edition of M. is that of Schneidewin. He has never found an adequate translator.

MARTIAL LAW is a collective name for those laws to which the individuals composing the mili tary and naval forces of a country are subject, but which do not apply to civilians. As, however, the soldier remains a citizen, he is governed by the common law in all matters not coming under the cognizance of the martial law, the degree to which the latter is applicable to his actions varying in different countries, and in times of peace and war. In France and Austria, a soldier's offences against the civil code are dealt with by a court-martial; while among British troops-unless serving against an enemy-the civil tribunals deal with non-military

offences.

The maintenance of discipline and other obvious causes necessitate, for a body of armed men, a code of laws and regulations much more strict and severe in their penalties, as well as more prompt in their execution, than suffices for ordinary society. Accordingly there have always been martial laws, more or less clearly defined, where there have been armies. For the nature of the rules under which the discipline of the British army is kept up, see ARTICLES oF WAR and MUTINY ACT.

There is yet another phase of martial law, and that is the degree of severity which may be applied to an enemy. All authorities agree that the life of an enemy taken in arms is forfeit to his captor; but modern ideas preclude his being put to death, unless in open resistance; and the massacre of prisoners in cold blood, once thought lightly of, is now esteemed a barbarity, which nothing but the most urgent circumstances, such as their uprising, or their attempted rescue by their countrymen, could justify. The slaughter of the captive Mamelukes at Jaffa has left an indelible stain on Napoleon's memory. As regards civil population and property, much amelioration has taken place with advancing civilisation. For merly, the devastation of the country, and the destruction, accompanied even by torture, of the inhabitants, was deemed a legitimate feature of war. Now, the rule is to spare private property, to respect personal liberty, unless the inhabitanta directly or indirectly aid the enemy, and only to lay waste so much ground as military necessities may require. Such at least is the principle professed; but few commanders are able to prevent their troop3 from deeds of violence. A province occupied by a hostile army is usually considered under martial law.' This means that civil law is defunct, and all government under military regimen; but it is impossible to define the bounds of this martial law; nor is any more correct dictum on the subject likely to be arrived at than that celebrated saying of the Duke of Wellington when he described it as 'the will of the cou mander-in-chief.'