Maltese language Principal language of Malta, developed from a dialect of Arabic closely related to those of Algeria and Tunisia. It has been strongly influenced by the Romance languages, especially Italian. Maltese is the only form of Arabic written in the Latin alphabet.
Malthus Vmal-thssV Thomas Robert (b. Feb. 14/17, 1766, Rookery, near Dorking, Surrey, Eng.—d. Dec. 23, 1834, St. Catherine, near Bath, Somerset) British economist and demographer. Born into a prosperous family, he studied at the University of Cambridge and was elected a fellow of Jesus College in 1793. In 1798 he published An Essay on the Principle of Population, in which he argued that population will always tend to out¬ run the food supply—that the increase of population will take place, if unchecked, in a geometrical progression, while the means of subsistence will increase only in an arithmetical progression. He believed population would expand to the limit of subsistence and would be held there by fam¬ ine, war, and ill health. He enlarged on his ideas in later editions of his work (to 1826). He argued that relief measures for the poor should be strictly limited since they tended to encourage the growth of excess population. His theories, though largely disproven, had great influence on contemporary social policy and on such economists as David Ricardo.
Malvinas, Islas See Falkland Isands
mamba Ymam-bsN Any of four or five species of slender, agile elapid snakes (genus Dendroaspis, or Dendraspis ) having large scales and long
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© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
1180 I Mamet ► Mamoulian
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front teeth. They inhabit sub-Saharan Africa, where they hunt small ani¬ mals. The aggressive black mamba ( D. polylepis ), up to 14 ft (4.2 m) long, may be dull gray, greenish brown, or black, depending on age. It dens in rocky open country. It rears up to strike, biting a person’s head or trunk. Its bite is nearly always fatal without antivenin treatment. The green mamba (e.g., D. angusticeps ) is smaller (to 9 ft, or 2.7 m), more strongly arboreal, and less aggressive.
East African green mamba (Dendroaspis angusticeps).
E.S. ROSS
Mamet Vmam-itV, David (Alan) (b. Nov. 30, 1947, Chicago, Ill., U.S.) U.S. playwright, director, and screenwriter. In 1973 he founded the St. Nicholas Theatre Co. in Chicago. He won wide notice with Sexual Perversity in Chicago (1974) and followed it with plays such as Ameri¬ can Buffalo (1977) and Glengarry Glen Ross (1983, Pulitzer Prize). He became known for rapid-fire dialogue studded with obscenities and for his preoccupation with power relationships and corporate corruption. Mamet used the rhythms and rhetoric of everyday speech to delineate character, describe intricate relationships, and drive dramatic develop¬ ment. His later plays include Speed-the-Plow (1987), Oleanna (1992), and The Cryptogram (1994); his screenplays include The Verdict (1980) and The Untouchables (1986). He also wrote and directed films such as House of Games (1987) and State and Main (2000).
Mamluk Vmam-.lukV dynasty or Mamluke Vmam-o-.liflA dynasty (1250-1517) Rulers of Syria and Egypt. The term mamluk is an Arabic word for slave. Slave soldiers had been used in the Islamic world since the 9th century, and they often exploited the military power vested in them to seize control from the legitimate political authorities. In 1250 a group of mamluk generals seized the throne of the AyyObid dynasty on the death of the sultan Al-Malik al-Salih Ayyub (r. 1240-49). The resulting dynasty legitimized its rule by reconstituting the caliphate of the ‘Abbasid dynasty (destroyed by the Mongols in 1258) and by acting as patrons to the rulers of Mecca and Medina. Under Mamluk rule the remaining crusaders were expelled from the eastern Mediterranean coast, and the Mongols were driven back from Palestine and Syria. Culturally, historical writing and architecture flourished during their rule. A shift in their ethnic makeup from Turkish to Circassian corresponded with their slow decline; their failure to adopt field artillery as weapons (except in siege waif are) contributed to their defeat by the Ottoman Empire in 1517. They afterward remained intact as a social class, however, and continued to exercise a high degree of political autonomy, though they were only one of several forces influencing Egyptian political life. Their power was finally broken by the Albanian-Egyptian officer Muhammad c Au in a mas¬ sacre in 1811. See also Baybars I.
mammal Any member of the class (Mammalia) of warm-blooded ver¬ tebrates having four limbs (except for some aquatic species) and distin¬ guished from other chordate classes by the female’s milk-secreting glands and the presence of hair at some stage of development. Other unique characteristics include a jaw hinged directly to the skull, hearing through bones in the middle ear, a muscular diaphragm separating the pectoral and abdominal cavities, and nonnucleated mature red blood cells. Mam¬ mals range in size from the tiny shrew to the enormous blue whale. Monotremes (platypus and echidna) lay eggs; all other mammals bear live young. Marsupial newborns complete their development outside the womb, sometimes in a pouchlike structure. Placental mammals (see pla¬ centa) are bom at a relatively advanced stage of development. The ear¬
liest mammals date from the late Triassic Period (which ended 206 million years ago); their immediate ancestors were the reptilian therapsids. For 70 million years mammals have been the dominant animals in terrestrial ecosystems, a consequence of two principal factors: the great behavioral adaptability provided by the ability of mammalian young to learn from their elders (a consequence of their dependence on their mothers for nour¬ ishment) and the physical adaptability to a wide range of climates and conditions provided by their warm-bloodedness. See also carnivore; ceta¬ cean; herbivore; insectivore; omnivore; primate; rodent.
mammary gland Vmam-o-reV Milk-producing gland of female mam¬ mals, usually present but undeveloped and nonfunctional in males. Regu¬ lated by the endocrine system, it is derived from a modification of sweat glands. The mammary gland of a woman who has not borne children con¬ sists of a conical disk of glandular tissue, encased in fat that gives the breast its shape. The gland is made up of lobes drained by separate ducts that meet at the nipple. Pregnancy causes the cells lining the lobes to mul¬ tiply, and lactation begins in response to hormones released starting at the time of birth. At the end of lactation, the glands return almost to their state before pregnancy. After menopause, they atrophy and are largely replaced by connective tissue and fat.
mammoth Any of several species (genus Mammuthus ) of extinct elephants whose fossils have been found in Pleistocene deposits (begin¬ ning 1.8 million years ago) on every continent except Australia and South America. The woolly. Northern, or Siberian mammoth (M. primigenius) is the best-known species because the Siberian permafrost preserved numerous carcasses intact. Most species were about the size of modern elephants; some were much smaller. The North American imperial mam¬ moth (M. imperator) grew to a shoulder height of 14 ft (4 m). Many spe¬ cies had a short, woolly undercoat and a long, coarse outer coat. Mammoths had a high, domelike skull and small ears. Their long, downward-pointing tusks sometimes curved over each other. Cave paint¬ ings show them traveling in herds. Mammoths survived until about 10,000 years ago; hunting by humans may have been a cause of their extinction. See also mastodon.
Mammoth Cave National Park National park, southwest-central Kentucky, U.S. The park, authorized in 1926 and established in 1941, occupies a surface area of 82 sq mi (212 sq km) that covers a system of limestone caverns. In 1972 a passage was discovered linking the Mam¬ moth Cave and the Flint Ridge Cave System; the explored underground passages have a combined length of some 329 mi (530 km). The caves are inhabited by various animals that have undergone evolutionary adap¬ tation to the dark, including cave crickets, blindfish, and blind crayfish. Mummified Indian bodies, possibly of pre-Columbian origin, have been found in the caves.