MAXTA. 751 MALTESE. Jtlaltese langiiage, spoken by about a quarter of a million persons, in and out of the island, has in its vocabulary about 70 per cent, ot Semitic words, but the grammatical stmcture is derived from the Latin. The speech of the ruling class is practically Italian, which is still the official language, although most of the pupils in the schools are now learning English. Malta is identified with the Hyperion or Ogy- gia of Homer, «here Calypso, the daughter of Atlas, who enslaved Odysseus, dwelt in a grotto. Two grottoes bearing her name are rivals as the traditional haunt of the nymph. Probably as early as the sixteenth century B.C. Malta was cfilonized by the Phoenicians, of which race there "■• numerous archaeological remains. It had veloped considerable commercial importance ii'U about B.C. 736 the Greeks dispossessed the Phoenicians and named the island Melita. The Greeks in turn were displaced by the Carthagin- ians about B.C. 500 to 480. During the first Punic War, Atilius Regulus. commanding a Roman fleet, ravaged the island, and in B.C. 218, during the Second Punic War. it was surrendered to Titus Sempronius by the Carthaginian com- mander Hamilcar. and became politically at- tached to Sicily. There are remains of a theatre, temples, and other buildings erected by the Ro- mans, to whom ilalta became well known for it> textiles. In a.d. 61 Saint Paul was ship- wrecked on the north coast, as mentioned in Acts NNvii. and xxviii.; Saint Paul's Bay, in which on the island of Selmun is a colossal statue of the Apostle, is pointed out as the generally accept- ed landing place. On the dissolution of the Roman power, Malta was occupied successively liv Vandals in 454, by Goths in 464. and again bv the Cireeks under Belisarius in 533. At their third attempt during the ninth centurj-, with the assistance of the natives who massacred the llyzantine garrison, the Arabs became the mas- t'Ts and fortified the harbor as a station for "ir corsairs in 870. They were not driven out til 1000 by the Xormans under Count Roger, . iio established a popular form of government which, with certain modifications, lasted for 700 Tiirs. Again it became politically attached to ily until 1530. when Emperor Charles V. inted it with Gozo and Tripoli in perpetuity the Knights of the Order of Saint John of lusalem, after the Turks had captured their f;reat stronghold at Rhodes. Taking the title of tlie Knights of Malta, they built immense forti- fications and rendered invaluable seiTices to Christendom in checking and chastising the Bar- bary pirates, and in defending the island against the" incessant attacks of the Turks. The most formidable of these was the siege in 1565 by the Sultan Solvman II., when the Knights, command- cil by the heroic La Valette, forced the enemy at the "end of three months to retire with an im- mense loss of men. Valetta was then built and the fortifications were increased ; a con- tinual war on the Moslems was waged until 1798, when, disorganized by internecine quar- rels, the Knights surrendered their fortresses to Bonaparte on his way to Egypt. Three months later, however, the ^Maltese revolted against the French and, assisted by Neapolitan, Portuciiese. and British auxiliaries, after a siege and blockade of two years, forced the French garrison to capitul.ate. The inhabitants claimed the protection of England, and the status of Malta as a British dependency dates from its recognition as such by the Congress of Vienna in 181-t. See S.ii.xT ."joHX, Knights of. Con- sult: Miege, Uistoire dc ilalle (Paris, 1840); Seddall, ^alta, Past and Present (London, 1870) ; Bono, Breve compendio delta storia di Malta (Malta, 1899) ; Ballon, The Story of Malta (Boston, 1893) ; Bedford, Malta and the Knights Hospitallers (London, 1894) ; Tullack, Malta Under the Phcenicians, Knights, and English (London, 1861) ; Winterberg, Malta, Geschichte nnd Gegeniciirt (Vienna, 1879). MALTA, AsciEXT and Illustbiocs Obdeb of Knights of. A fraternal and beneficial order, incorporated in America as a fraternal beneficial order in 1889. The order is composed of one supreme commandery, which is the executive branch, five grand commanderies, and 234 subor- dinate commanderies, which represent a total membership in America of 27.000. The total amount of disbursements for benefits to the ben- eficiaries of deceased members in 1902 wa3 $40,502. MALTA, Knights of. See Saint John op Jerusalem, Knights of. MALTA FEVER, or :Meditebbanean Fever, Rock Fever, Xe.politan Feveb, L'ndulant Fever, etc. A disease caused by the ilicrococeus melitensis and characterized by fever, profuse ix^rspiration, constipation, pain, and swelling in joints, enlargement of the spleen, and fre- quent relapses. This affection has a wide dis- tribution along the ilediterranean coasjj^. There is no specific medicinal treatment known. Cold sponging, antipyrin, hypnotics, the application of iodine to the painful joints, aperients, and a diet of milk and broth form the treatment desirable, with a change of climate as soon as the patient is fit to move with comfort. MALTE-BKTIN, mal'te-broon', Fr. pron. malt'brcN'. Konbad, properly Malte BBrrx (1775-1826). A Danish geographer, born 'at Thisted, Jutland. He studied in Copenhagen, and because of sympathy with the French Rev- olution and bitter pamphleteering against the Government, was in 1800 condemned to perpetual banishment. He sought refuge in Paris, where he maintained himself by teaching and literary labors. In 1808 he began the Annates des voy- ages, de la geograpliie et de I'hisfoire (24 vols.), which he concluded in 1S14, and in 1818 began, with Eyri&s, the Xoinelles annates des voyages. For some time he was joint editor of the Journal des Dchats, but is principally known for his geo- graphical works, chief of which is the Precis de la geograpliie iiniverselle. completed by Huot. 8 vols., with an atlas (Paris. 1810-29": 0th ed. 1853). He took part also in the preparation of the Dictionnnire de la gi'ographie universelle (Paris. 1821 et seq.), and was secretary to the Geographical Society of Paris.— His son, Victor Adolphe (1S16-S9). was one of the eminent geographers of France, taught at various institu- tions, and succeeded his father as secretary of the Geographical Society of Paris. He published La Franee iltustree (1855), Geograpliie univer- selle (1874), L'Altemagne itlustr^e (1884-85), and other geographical works. MALTESE. The name of a breed (1) of eats and (2) of lap-dogs. Tlie Maltese or blue cat is. so called on account of its uniform
