MADRAS (35,630), one of the three Indian Presidencies, occupies the S. and E. of the peninsula, and is one-half as large again as Great Britain; the chief mountains are the Ghats, from which flow SE. the Godavari, Kistna, and Kavari Rivers, which, by means of extensive irrigation works, fertilise the plains; climate is various; on the W. coast very hot and with a rainfall from June to October of 120 inches, producing luxurious vegetation; on the E. the heat is also great, but the rainfall, which comes chiefly between October and December, is only 40 inches; in the hill country, e. g.  Ootacamund, the government summer quarters, it is genial and temperate all the year, and but for the monsoons the finest in the world; rice is everywhere the chief crop; cotton is grown in the E., tobacco in the Godavari region, tea, coffee, and cinchona on the hills, and sugar-cane in different districts; gold is found in Mysore (native State), and diamonds in the Karnul; iron abounds, but without coal; the teak forests are of great value; cotton, gunny-bags, sugar, and tiles are the chief manufactures; English settlements date from 1611; the population, chiefly Hindu, includes 2 million Mohammedans and 3/4 million Christians; the chief towns are Rujumahendri (28), Vizugapatam (34), Trichinopoli (91), of cheroot fame, and Mangalore (41), on the W. coast, and the capital MADRAS (453), on the E., Coromandel, coast, a straggling city, hot but healthy, with an open roadstead, pier, and harbour exposed to cyclones, a university, examining body only, colleges of science, medicine, art, and agriculture, and a large museum; the chief exports are coffee, tea, cotton, and indigo.

MADRID (522), since 1561 the capital of Spain, on the Manzanares, a mere mountain torrent, on an arid plateau in New Castile, the centre of the peninsula; is an insanitary city, and liable to great extremes of temperature; it is regularly built, sometimes picturesque, with great open spaces, such as the Prado, 3 m. long; fine buildings and handsome streets.  It contains the royal palace, parliament and law-court houses, a university, magnificent picture-gallery, many charitable institutions, and a bull-ring.  The book-publishing, tapestry weaving, and tobacco industries are the most important.  It is a growing and prosperous city.

MADRIGAL, a short lyric containing some pleasant thought or sweet sentiment daintily expressed; applied also to vocal music of a similar character.

MADVIG, JOHAN NICOLAI, Danish scholar and politician, born at Svaneke, Bornholm; studied at Copenhagen, where he became professor of Latin in 1829; his studies of the Latin prose authors brought him world-wide fame, and his Latin Grammar (1841) and Greek Syntax (1846) were invaluable contributions to scholarship; he entered parliament, was repeatedly its president, and was Liberal Minister of Education and Religion 1848 to 1851; he died blind (1804-1886).

MAEANDER, a river in Phrygia, flowing through the Plain of Troy, and noted for its numerous windings.