Elementary Course of Military Engineering. He also published An Elementary Course of Ciiil Engineering in 1837, which he rewrote and re- vised in 1868; Advanced (Jitard, Outpost, and Detachment Herviee of Troops (1847); Elementary Treatise on Industrial Druuing (1853); Descriptive Geometry (1804) ; and an edition of Jloseley's Mechanical Principles of Engineering end Architecture (185(5). A biographical me- moir by Gen. H. L. Abbot will be found in volume ii. of the Biographical Memoirs of the y atidudl Arademy of l:icieiiccs (Washington, 1880).
MAHAN, JIiLO (1819-70). An American
Protestant Episcopal minister, brother of D. H.
31ahan. born in Sufi'olk. Va. He was educated at
Saint Taul's College, Flushing, L. I.; took orders
in the Protestant Episco])al (_'hurch in 1S45, and
became rector of Grace tliurch, Jersey City, in
1848, and assistant minister of Saint ilark's
Church, Pliiladelphia, in 1850. In 1857 lie was
elected professor of ecclesiastical history in the
General Theological Seminar}- in New York. In
1864 he became rector of Saint Paul's Church,
Baltimore. His published works are: The Exer-
cise of Faith (1851); History of the Church
During the First Three Centuries (1800; new ed.,
enlarged, 1872); Ifeply to Colenso (1863) ; Pal-
moni: A Free Inquiry (1S04); Comedy of Can-
onization (1808). His works were collected and
published, with a memoir, in three volumes, by
Hopkins (New York, 1872-75 ).
MAHANADI, or MAHANUDDY, mii'hJl-
iiud'i (Skt., great river). A river of India, rising
in the soutiiern part of the Central Provinces
(Map: India, D 4). It flows in an irregular
eastern direction across Orissa to the city of
Cuttaek, where it divides into several arms, form-
ing a large delta, through which it enters the
Bay of Bengal about 100 miles southwest of the
Ganges Delta. Its entire lengtli is upward of
500 miles, and it is navigable during the rainy
season about 300 miles to Sambalpur. During
this season the volume of water discharged by the
JIahanadi is very great ; the surplus is being
utilized for irrigation by an elaborate system of
canals constructed by the British Government.
MAHANOY (ma'h.i-noi') CITY. A borough
in Schuylkill County, Pa.. 10 miles north by east
of Pottsville, on JIahanoy Creek and on the
Philadelphia and Reading and the Lehigh Valley
railroads (Map: Pennsylvania, E 3), It is situ-
ated in the anthracite region, and has extensive
coal-mining and shipping interests, besides pot-
teries, foundries, and flour, lumber, and hosiery
mills. The borough is well laid out and has a
public-school library. Malianoy City was settled
in 1859 and was chartered as a borough in 1803.
Population, in 1800, 11,280: in 1900, 13,.504.
MAHANUDDY. A river of India. See
M.ANAI)I.
MAHARIF, mUlia-ref. An antelope of the
Sudan illippotragus linheri). allied to the roan
and sable antelopes, and standing nearly five feet
high at the withers. It is of a pale liver color,
with penciled ears and black stripes across the
shoulders. This fine antelope, whose horns are
massive, was discovered by Sir Samuel Baker,
MAHASEER, miilia-ser. A large barbel of
India and Ceylon (Barbiis tor), which reaches
a length of six feet mder favorable circum-
stances. These great fish reside in the streams
of the highlands, and form one of the principal
attractions to the 'angler in the East. When
the rainy season begins, the mahaseers ascend the
hill rivers and their tributaries as far as possi-
ble, and spawn, after which they drop down with
the subsiding waters. When the ova hatch the fry
find themselves alone in the scanty headwaters,
and safe from the devouring appetites of their
now absent parents. In these small streams and
pools they grow almost immolested until the next
season's high water enables them to go down
stream. Thus the continued supply of this and of
various other similar fishes is secured to the
people of the plains. !Maliaseer fishing is one
of the leading sports of India.
MAHATMA (Skt., possessing a great soul).
A name applied in theosophy (q.v.) to a class of
saints who are said to refrain from entering
Nirvana (q.v.) that they may help mankind by
their presence on earth. As a result of their
asceticism and meditation they are supposed to
possess superhuman powers, by means of which
they are enabled to project their astral bodies to
vast distances. The idea of mahatmas is entirely
theosophical. Real Oriental philosophy knows
nothing of them.
MAHAVANSA, ma'ha-viiN'sa (Pali, great
lineage I . The title of a celebrated historical
work, written in Pali, giving an account in epic
form of the island of Lanka, or Ceylon, from
the earliest times and the introduction of Bud-
dhism down to the death of King Mahasena,
which occurred a.d. .302. and extended later by
various additions down to the time of the Eng-
lish occupation. Like the Dipavansa (q.v.), the
Mahavansa is derived from a more ancient source,
the historical portion of the Attnknthu. which
commented on the Buddhist Scriptures after giv-
ing an annalistic record by way of introduction.
An incomplete edition of the ilahavansa, with an
English translation, was imblished by G. Tum-
our (Ceylon. 1837) and reissued later in revised
form by L. C. Wyesinha, Mrihdirnitso, Translated
from the Pali into English, vol. i. (Colombo,
1889). Consult Geiger, Dipavansa xtnd maha-
rnnsa, die heiden Chroniken der Inscl Ceylon
(Erlangen. 1901),
MAHAVIRA, ma'hii've'rii (Skt, maha-vira, great hero). Name of the founder of the sect of the .Jains. (See .Tainism.) He is known also as Vardhamana 'the Exalted,' Ytra 'the Hero,' or as Jina 'the Victorious.' He is regarded as the twenty-fourth and last in the long list of deified masters recognized in Jainism, and he
appears to have been an elder contemporary of Buddha, His birthplace was at Kotigama (now Vasakund), in Xortheastern India. His legendary history is given in the Kalpa-Hntra (q.v.) and the Mahavlra-Charilni. two works held in great authority by the .Tainas. According to these works, ilahavlra's first birth occurred at
a period infinitely remote; it was as a nayasara, head man of a village, that he first appeared in the country of Vijaya, subject to Satrumardana. He was next born as ^Nlarichi, the grand-son of the first .Taina saint Rishabha ; he then came to the world of Brahma, was reborn as a worldy minded Brahman, and after several
other births—each separated from the other by an interval passed in one of the .Jaina heavens, and each period of life extending to many hundreds of thousands of years — he quitted the state
