Mastodons have fewer ridges on their molar teeth than elephants; the
ridges are also less elevated, wider apart, with a thicker enamel
covering, and scarcely any cement filling the space between them.
Sometimes (as in _M. americanus_) the ridges are simple transverse
wedge-shaped elevations, with straight or concave edges. In other
species the summits of the ridges are divided into conical cusps, and
may have accessory cusps clustering around them (as in _M.
arvernensis_, fig. 2). When the summits of these are worn by
mastication their surfaces present circles of dentine surrounded by a
border of enamel, and as attrition proceeds different patterns are
produced by the union of the bases of the cusps, a trefoil form being
characteristic of some species.
Certain of the molar teeth of the middle of the series in both
elephants and mastodons have the same number of principal ridges;
those in front having fewer, and those behind a greater number. These
teeth are distinguished as "intermediate" molars. In elephants there
are only two, the last milk-molar and the first true molar (or the
third and fourth of the whole series), which are alike in the number
of ridges; whereas in mastodons there are three such teeth, the last
milk-molar and the first and second molars (or the third, fourth and
fifth of the whole series). In elephants the number of ridges on the
intermediate molars always exceeds five, but in mastodons it is nearly
always three or four, and the tooth in front has usually one fewer and
that behind one more, so that the ridge-formula (i.e. a formula
expressing the number of ridges on each of the six molar teeth) of
most mastodons can be reduced either to 1, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, or 2, 3, 4,
4, 4, 5. Three-ridged and four-ridged types occur both in _Mastodon_
and _Tetrabelodon_. (R. L.*)
MAS'UDI (ABU-L HASAN 'ALI IBN HUSAIN IBN 'ALI UL-MAS'UDI) (d. c. 956),
Arabian historian, was born at Bagdad towards the close of the 9th
century. Much of his life was spent in travel. After he had been in
Persia and Kerman, he visited Istakhr in 915, and went in the following
year to Multan and Mansura, thence to Cambay, Saimur and Ceylon, to
Madagascar and back to Oman. He seems about this time to have been as
far as China. After a visit to the shores of the Caspian Sea he visited
Tiberias in Palestine, examined the Christian church there, and
described its relics. In 943 he was in Antioch, studying the ruins, and
two years later in Damascus. The last ten years of his life he spent in
Syria and Egypt. His great object in life had been to study with his own
eyes the peculiarities of every land and to collect whatever was of
interest for archaeology, history and manners. Himself a Mo'tazilite
(see MAHOMMEDAN RELIGION: _Sects_), he was singularly free from bigotry,
and took his information, when necessary, from Persians, Jews, Indians,
and even the chronicle of a Christian bishop.
His most extensive work was the _Kitab akhbar uz-Zaman_ or _Annals_,
in 30 volumes with a supplement, _the Kitab ul-Ausat_, a chronological
sketch of general history. Of these the first part only of the former
is extant in MS. in Vienna, while the latter seems to be in the
Bodleian Library, also in MS. The substance of the two was united by
him in the work by which he is now best known, the _Muruj udh-Dhahab
wa Ma'adin ul-Jawahir_ ("Meadows of Gold and Mines of Precious
Stones"), an historical work which he completed in 947. In 956 he
finished a second edition of this and made it double its former size,
but no copy of this seems to be extant. The original edition has been
published at Bulaq and Cairo, and with French translation by C.
Barbier de Meynard and Pavet de Courteille (9 vols., Paris,
1861-1877). Another work of Mas'udi, written in the last year of his
life, is the _Kitab ut-Tanbih wal Ishraf_ (the "Book of Indication and
Revision"), in which he summarizes the work of his life and corrects
and completes his former writings. It has been edited by M. J. de
Goeje (Leiden, 1894), and a French translation has been made by Carra
de Vaux (Paris, 1896); cf. also the memoir of S. de Sacy published in
Meynard's edition of the _Muruj_.
An account of Mas'udi's works is to be found in de Sacy's memoir and
in Goeje's preface to his edition of the _Tanbih_, and of the works
extant in C. Brockelmann's _Gesch. der Arabischen Litteratur_, i.
144-145 (Weimar, 1898). C. Field's _Tales of the Caliphs_ (1909) is
based on Mas'udi. (G. W. T.)
MASULIPATAM, or BANDAR, a seaport of British India, administrative
headquarters of the Kistna district of Madras, on one of the mouths of
the river Kistna, 215 m. N. of Madras city. Pop. (1901), 39,507.
Masulipatam was the earliest English settlement on the Coromandel coast,
its importance being due to the fact that it was the _bandar_ or port of
Golconda. An agency was established there in 1611. During the wars of
the Carnatic, the English were temporarily expelled from the town, which
was held by the French for some years. In 1759 the town and fort were
carried by storm by Colonel Forde, an achievement followed by the
acquisition of the Northern Circars (q.v.). In 1864 a great storm-wave
swept over the entire town and is said to have destroyed 30,000 lives.
Weavers form a large portion of the inhabitants, though their trade has
greatly declined since the beginning of the 19th century. Their
operations, besides weaving, include printing, bleaching, washing and
dressing. In former days the chintzes of Masulipatam had a great
reputation abroad for the freshness and permanency of their dyes.
Masulipatam is a station of the Church Missionary Society. The port is
only a roadstead, where vessels anchor 5 m. out. A branch line from
Bezwada on the Southern Mahratta railway was opened in 1908. The chief
educational institution is the Noble College of the C.M.S.
MAT (O. Eng. _meatt_, from late Lat. _matta_, whence Ital. _matta_, Ger.
and Dan. _matte_, Du. _mat_, &c.), an article of various sizes and
shapes, according to the purpose for which it is intended, and made of
plaited or woven materials, such as coir, hemp, coco-nut fibre, straw,
rushes, &c., or of rope or coarse twine. The finer fabrics are known as
"matting" (q.v.). Mats are mainly used for covering floors, or in
horticulture as a protection against cold or exposure for plants and
trees. When used near the entrance to a house for people to wipe their
boots on "door mats" are usually made of coarse coco-nut fibre, or
india-rubber, cork, or of thickly coiled wire. Bags, rolls or sacks made
of matting are used to hold coffee, flax, rice and other produce, and
the term is often used with reference to the specific quantities of such
produce, e.g. so many "mats" of coffee, rice, &c.
To be distinguished from the above is the term "mat" in glass-painting
or gilding, meaning dull, unpolished or unburnished. This is the same
as Ger. _matt_, dead, dull, cf. _matt-blau_, Med. Lat. _mattus_,
adapted from Persian _mat_, dazed, astonished, at a loss, helpless,
and seen in "mate" in chess, from Pers. _shah mat_ the king is dead.
MATABELE ("vanishing" or "hidden" people, so called from their
appearance in battle, hidden behind enormous oxhide shields), a people
of Zulu origin who began national life under the chief Mosilikatze.
Driven out of the Transvaal by the Boers in 1837, Mosilikatze crossed
the Limpopo with a military host which had been recruited from every
tribe conquered by him during his ten years' predominance in the
Transvaal. In their new territories the Matabele absorbed into their
ranks many members of the conquered Mashona tribes and established a
military despotism. Their sole occupation was war, for which their laws
and organization were designed to fit them. This system of constant
warfare is, since the conquest of Matabeleland by the British in 1893, a
thing of the past. The Matabele are now herdsmen and agriculturists.
(See RHODESIA.)
MATACHINES (Span. _matachin_, clown, or masked dancer), bands of mummers
or itinerant players in Mexico, especially popular around the Rio
Grande, who wander from village to village during Lent, playing in
rough-and-ready style a set drama based on the history of Montezuma.
Dressed in fantastic Indian costumes and carrying rattles as their
orchestra, the chief characters are _El Monarca_ "the monarch"
(Montezuma); _Malinche_, or _Malintzin_, the Indian mistress of Hernando
Cortes; _El Toro_, "the bull," the malevolent "comic man" of the play,
dressed in buffalo skin with the animal's horns on his head; _Aguelo_,
the "grandfather," and _Aguela_, "grandmother." With the help of a
chorus of dancers they portray the desertion of his people by Montezuma,
the luring of him back by the wiles and smiles of Malinche, the final
reunion of king and people, and the killing of El Toro, who is supposed
to have made all the mischief.
MATADOR, a Spanish word meaning literally "killer," from _matar_, Lat.
_mactare_, especially applied to the principal performer in a
bull-fight, whose function it is to slay the bull (see BULL-FIGHTING).
The word is also used of certain important cards in such games as
quadrille, ombre, &c., and more particularly of a special form of the
game of dominoes.
MATAMOROS, a town and port of the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico, on the S.
bank of the Rio Grande, 28 m. from its mouth, opposite Brownsville,
Texas. Pop. (1900), 8347. Matamoros stands in an open plain, the
commercial centre for a large district, but its import trade is
prejudiced by the bar at the mouth of the Rio Grande, which permits the
entrance of small vessels only. The exports include hides, wool and live
stock. The importance of the town in the foreign trade of northern
Mexico, however, has been largely diminished by the great railways.
Formerly it was the centre of a large contraband trade with Brownsville,
Texas. Matamoros was founded early in the 19th century, and was named in
honour of the Mexican patriot Mariano Matamoros (c. 1770-1814). In the
war between the United States and Mexico, Matamoros was easily taken by
the Americans on the 18th of May 1846, following General Zachary
Taylor's victories at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. Matamoros was
occupied by the Mexican imperialists under Mejia in 1864, and by the
French in 1866.
MATANZAS, an important city of Cuba, capital of Matanzas Province,
situated on a large deep bay on the N. coast, about 54 m. (by rail) E.
of Havana. Pop. (1907), 36,009. There are railway outlets W., S. and E.,
and Matanzas is served by steamships to New York and by the coast
steamers of the Herrera Line. The bay, unlike all the other better
harbours of the island, has a broad mouth, 2 m. across, but there is
good shelter against all winds except from the N.E. A coral reef lies
across the entrance. Three rivers emptying into the bay--the San Juan,
Canimar and Yumuri--have deposited much silt, necessitating the use of
lighters in loading and unloading large ships. The city is finely placed
at the head of the bay, on a low, sloping plain backed by wooded hills,
over some of which the city itself has spread. The conical Pan de
Matanzas (1277 ft.) is a striking land-mark for sailors. The San Juan
and Yumuri rivers divide Matanzas into three districts. The Teatro
Esteban, Casino Español and Government House are noteworthy among the
buildings. The broad Paseo de Marti (Alameda de Versalles, Paseo de
Santa Cristina) extends along the edge of the harbour, and is perhaps
the handsomest parkway and boulevard in Cuba. At one end is a statue of
Ferdinand VII., at the other a monument to 63 Cubans executed by the
Spanish Government as traitors for bearing arms in the cause of
independence. A splendid military road continues the Paseo to the
Castillo de San Serverino (built in 1694-1695, reconstructed in 1773 and
following years). There are two smaller forts, established in the 18th
century. Near Matanzas are two of the most noted natural resorts of
Cuba: the valley of the Yumuri, and the caves of Bellamar. Commanding
the Yumuri Valley is the hill called Cumbre, on which is the Hermitage
of Monteserrate (1870), with a famous shrine. Matanzas is the second
port of the island in commerce. Sugar and molasses are the chief
exports. The city is the chief outlet for the sugar product of the
province, which, with the province of Santa Clara, produces two-thirds
of the crop of the island. There are many large warehouses, rum
distilleries, sugar-mills and railway machine-shops. Matanzas is
frequently mentioned in the annals of the 16th and 17th centuries, when
its bay was frequented by buccaneers; but the city was not laid out
until 1693. In the next year it received an _ayuntamiento_ (council).
Its prosperity rapidly increased after the establishment of free
commerce early in the 19th century. In 1815 it was made a department
capital. The mulatto poet, Gabriel de la Concepción Valdés, known as
Plácido (1809-1844), was born in Matanzas, and was executed there for
participation in the supposed conspiracy of negroes in 1844, which is
one of the most famous episodes in Cuban history. The hurricanes of 1844
and 1846 are the only other prominent local events. American commercial
influence has always been particularly strong.
MATARÓ (anc. _Iluro_), a seaport of north-eastern Spain, in the province
of Barcelona, on the Mediterranean Sea and the Barcelona-Perpignan
railway. Pop. (1900), 19,704. The streets of the new town, lying next
the sea, are wide and regularly built; those of the old town, farther up
the hill, still preserve much of their ancient character. The parish
church of Santa Maria has some good pictures and wood carvings. The wine
of the neighbourhood, which resembles port, is shipped in large
quantities from Barcelona; and the district furnishes fine roses and
strawberries for the Barcelona market. The leading industries are
manufactures of linen and cotton goods, especially canvas and tarpaulin,
and of soap, paper, chemicals, starch, glass, leather, spirits and
flour. The railway to Barcelona, opened in October 1848, was the first
to be constructed in Spain. Outside the town is the much-frequented
carbonated mineral spring of Argentona.
MATCH: 1. O. Eng. _gemaecca_, a cognate form of "make," meaning
originally "fit" or "suitable"; a pair, or one of a pair of objects,
persons or animals. As particularly applied to a husband and wife, and
hence to a marriage, the word is especially used of two persons or
things which correspond exactly to each other. The verb "to match" has
also the meaning to "pit one against each other," and so is applied in
sport to an arranged contest between individuals or sides.
2. O. Fr. _mesche_; apparently from a latinized form of Gr. [Greek:
myxa], mucus from the nose, applied to the nozzle of a lamp; primarily
the wick which conveys oil or molten wax to the flame of a lamp or
candle (this use is now obsolete), the word being then applied to
various objects having the property of carrying fire. With early
firearms a match, consisting of a cord of hemp or similar material
treated with nitre and other substances so that it continued to smoulder
after it had been ignited, was used for firing the charge, being either
held in the gunner's hand or attached to the cock of the musket or
arquebus and brought down by the action of the trigger on the powder
priming ("matchlock"); and more or less similar preparations, made to
burn more or less rapidly as required ("quick-match" and "slow-match"),
are employed as fuses in blasting and demolition work in military
operations. The word "match" was further used of a splint of wood,
tipped with sulphur so that it would readily ignite, but it now most
commonly means a slip of wood or other combustible material, having its
end covered with a composition which takes fire when rubbed either on
any rough surface or on another specially prepared composition.
The first attempt to make matches in the modern sense may probably be
ascribed to Godfrey Haukwitz, who, in 1680, acting under the direction
of Robert Boyle, who at that time had just discovered how to prepare
phosphorus, employed small pieces of that element, ignited by friction,
to light splints of wood dipped in sulphur. This device, however, did
not come into extensive use owing to its danger and inconvenience and to
the cost of the phosphorus, and till the beginning of the 19th century
flint and steel with tinder-box and sulphur-tipped splints of
wood--"spunks" or matches--were the common means of obtaining fire for
domestic and other purposes. The sparks struck off by the percussion of
flint and steel were made to fall among the tinder, which consisted of
carbonized fragments of cotton and linen; the entire mass of the tinder
was set into a glow, developing sufficient heat to ignite the sulphur
with which the matches were tipped, and thereby the splints themselves
were set on fire. In 1805 one Chancel, assistant to Professor L. J.
Thénard of Paris, introduced an apparatus consisting of a small bottle
containing asbestos, saturated with strong sulphuric acid, with splints
or matches coated with sulphur, and tipped with a mixture of chlorate of
potash and sugar. The matches so prepared, when brought into contact
with the sulphuric acid in the bottle, ignited, and thus, by chemical
action, fire was produced. In 1823 a decided impetus was given to the
artificial production of fire by the introduction of the Döbereiner
lamp, so called after its inventor, J. W. Döbereiner of Jena. The first
really practical friction matches were made in England in 1827, by John
Walker, a druggist of Stockton-on-Tees. These were known as "Congreves"
after Sir William Congreve, the inventor of the Congreve rocket, and
consisted of wooden splints or sticks of cardboard coated with sulphur
and tipped with a mixture of sulphide of antimony, chlorate of potash
and gum. With each box which was retailed at a shilling, there was
supplied a folded piece of glass paper, the folds of which were to be
tightly pressed together, while the match was drawn through between
them. The same idea occurred to Sir Isaac Holden independently two and a
half years later. The so-called "Prometheans," patented by S. Jones of
London in 1830, consisted of a short roll of paper with a small quantity
of a mixture of chlorate of potash and sugar at one end, a thin glass
globule of strong sulphuric acid being attached at the same point. When
the sulphuric acid was liberated by pinching the glass globule, it acted
on the mixed chlorate and sugar, producing fire. The phosphorus
friction-match of the present day was first introduced on a commercial
scale in 1833. It appears to have been made almost simultaneously in
several distinct centres. The name most prominently connected with the
early stages of the invention is that of J. Preschel of Vienna, who in
1833 had a factory in operation for making phosphorus matches, fusees,
and amadou slips tipped with igniting composition. At the same time also
matches were being made by F. Moldenhauer in Darmstadt; and for a long
series of years Austria and the South-German states were the principal
centres of the new industry.
But the use of ordinary white or yellow phosphorus as a principal
ingredient in the igniting mixture of matches was found to be
accompanied with very serious disadvantages. It is a deadly poison, and
its free dissemination has led to many accidental deaths, and to
numerous cases of wilful murder and suicide. Workers also who are
exposed to phosphoric vapours are subject to a peculiarly distressing
disease which attacks the jaw, and ultimately produces necrosis of the
jaw-bone ("phossy jaw"), though with scrupulous attention to ventilation
and cleanliness much of the risk of the disease may be avoided. The most
serious objections to the use of phosphorus, however, were overcome by
the discovery of the modified form of that body known as red or
amorphous phosphorus. That substance was utilized for the manufacture of
the well-known "safety matches" by J. E. Lundström, of Jönköping,
Sweden, in 1852; its employment for this purpose had been patented eight
years previously by another Swede, G. E. Pasch, who, however, regarded
it as an oxide of phosphorus. Red phosphorus is in itself a perfectly
innocuous substance, and no evil effects arise from freely working the
compositions of which it forms an ingredient. The fact again that safety
matches ignite only in exceptional circumstances on any other than the
prepared surfaces which accompany the box--which surfaces and not the
matches themselves contain the phosphorus required for ignition--makes
them much less liable to cause accidental fires than other kinds.
The processes carried out in a match factory include preparing the
splints, dipping them first in molten paraffin wax and then in the
igniting composition, and filling the matches into boxes. All these
operations are performed by complicated automatic machinery, in the
development of which the Diamond Match Company of America has taken a
leading part, with the minimum of manual intervention.
The chief element in the igniting mixture of ordinary or "strike
anywhere" matches used to be common yellow phosphorus, combined with
one or more other bodies which readily part with oxygen under the
influence of heat. Chief among these latter substances is chlorate of
potash, others being red lead, nitrate of lead, bichromate of potash
and peroxide of manganese. But at the beginning of the 20th century
many countries took steps to stop the use of yellow phosphorus owing
to the danger to health attending its manipulation. In Sweden, matches
made with it have been prohibited for home consumption, but not for
export, since 1901. In 1905 and 1906 two conferences, attended by
representatives of most of the governments of Europe, were held at
Berne to consider the question of prohibiting yellow phosphorus, but
no general agreement was reached owing to the objections entertained
by Sweden, Norway, Spain and Portugal, and also Japan. Germany,
France, Italy, Denmark, Holland, Switzerland and Luxemburg, however,
agreed to a convention whereby yellow phosphorus was prohibited as
from 1912, and to this Great Britain expressed her adherence after the
passing of the White Matches Prohibition Act 1908, which forbade the
manufacture and importation of such matches from the 1st of January
1910; though to avoid hardship to retailers and others holding large
stocks it permitted their sale for a year longer. Phosphorous sulphide
(sesquisulphide of phosphorus) is one of the substances widely
employed as a substitute for yellow phosphorus in matches which will
strike anywhere without the need of a specially prepared surface.
Safety matches contain no phosphorus in the heads; according to one
formula that has been published the mixture with which they are tipped
consists of chlorate of potash, 32 parts; bichromate of potash, 12;
red lead, 32; sulphide of antimony, 24; while the ingredients of a
suitable rubbing surface are eight parts of amorphous phosphorus to
nine of sulphide of antimony. There is no doubt, however, that there
is considerable diversity in the composition of the mixtures actually
employed.
"Vestas" are matches in which short pieces of thin "wax taper" are
used in place of wooden splints. Fusees or vesuvians consist of large
oval heads fixed on a round splint. These heads consist of a porous
mixture of charcoal, saltpetre, cascarilla or other scented bark,
glass and gum, tipped with common igniting composition. When lighted
they form a glowing mass, without flame.
It is calculated that in the principal European countries from six to
ten matches are used for each inhabitant daily, and the world's annual
output must reach a total which requires twelve or thirteen figures
for its expression. In the United States the manufacture is under the
control of the Diamond Match Company, formed in 1881; which company
also has an important share in the industry in Great Britain, where it
has established large works. Similarly the manufacture of safety
matches in Sweden is largely controlled by one big combination. In
France matches are a government monopoly, and are both dear in price
and inferior in quality, as compared with other countries where the
industry is left to private enterprise. The French government formerly
leased the manufacture to a company (_Société générale des allumettes
chimiques_), but since 1890 it has been undertaken directly by the
state.
MATE (a corruption of _make_, from O. Eng. _gemaca_, a "comrade"), a
companion. In the language of the sea, the mate is the companion or
assistant of the master, or of any officer at the head of a division of
the crew. In the merchant service the mates are the officers who serve
under the master, commonly called the captain, navigate the vessel under
his direction, and replace him if he dies, or is disabled. In a war-ship
mates serve under the gunner, boatswain, carpenter, &c. They are
officers told off to attend to a particular part of the ship, as for
example mate of the upper deck, whose duty is to see that it is kept
clean, or mate of the hold, who is employed to serve out the water and
other stores, and to keep the weights adjusted so as to preserve the
trim--or balance--of the ship. (For "mate" in chess, see CHESS.)
MATÉ, or PARAGUAY TEA, the dried leaves of _Ilex paraguariensis_,[1] an
evergreen shrub or small tree belonging to the same genus as the common
holly, a plant to which it bears some resemblance in size and habit. The
leaves are from 6 to 8 in. long, shortly stalked, with a somewhat acute
tip and finely toothed at the margin. The small white flowers grow in
forked clusters in the axils of the leaves; the sepals, petals and
stamens are four in number, or occasionally five; and the berry is
4-seeded. The plant grows abundantly in Paraguay, and the south of
Brazil, forming woods called _yerbales_. One of the principal centres of
the maté industry is the Villa Real, a small town above Asuncion on the
Paraguay river; another is the Villa de San Xavier, in the district
between the rivers Uruguay and Parana.
Although maté appears to have been used from time immemorial by the
Indians, the Jesuits were the first to attempt its cultivation. This
was begun at their branch missions in Paraguay and the province of Rio
Grande de San Pedro, where some plantations still exist, and yield the
best tea that is made. From this circumstance the names Jesuits' tea,
tea of the Missions, St Bartholomew's tea, &c., are sometimes applied
to maté. Under cultivation the quality of the tea improves, but the
plant remains a small shrub with numerous stems, instead of forming,
as in the wild state, a tree with a rounded head. From cultivated
plants the leaves are gathered every two or three years, that interval
being necessary for restoration to vigorous growth. The collection of
maté is, however, chiefly effected by Indians employed for that
purpose by merchants, who pay a money consideration to government for
the privilege.
When a yerbal or maté wood is found, the Indians, who usually travel
in companies of about twenty-five in number, build wigwams and settle
down to the work for about six months. Their first operation is to
prepare an open space, called a _tatacua_, about 6 ft. square, in
which the surface of the soil is beaten hard and smooth with mallets.
The leafy branches of the maté are then cut down and placed on the
tatacua, where they undergo a preliminary roasting from a fire kindled
around it. An arch of poles, or of hurdles, is then erected above it,
on which the maté is placed, a fire being lighted underneath. This
part of the process demands some care, since by it the leaves have to
be rendered brittle enough to be easily pulverized, and the aroma has
to be developed, the necessary amount of heat being only learned by
experience. After drying, the leaves are reduced to coarse powder in
mortars formed of pits in the earth well rammed. Maté so prepared is
called _caa gazu_ or _yerva do polos_, and is chiefly used in Brazil.
In Paraguay and the vicinity of Parana in the Argentine Republic, the
leaves are deprived of the midrib before roasting; this is called
_caa-míri_. A very superior quality, or _caa-cuys_, is also prepared
in Paraguay from the scarcely expanded buds. Another method of drying
maté has been adopted, the leaves being heated in large cast-iron pans
set in brickwork, in the same way that tea is dried in China; it is
afterwards powdered by machinery.
[Illustration: Maté (_Ilex paraguariensis_).
Portion of plant, half natural size. Flower, drupe and nuts, twice
natural size. Part of under-side of leaf showing minute glands,
natural size.]
The different methods of preparation influence to a certain extent the
value of the product, the maté prepared in Paraguay being considered
the best, that of Oran and Paranagua very inferior. The leaves when
dried are packed tightly in serons or oblong packages made of raw
hides, which are then carefully sewed up. These shrink by exposure to
the sun, and in a couple of days form compact parcels each containing
about 200 lb. of tea; in this form it keeps well. The tea is generally
prepared for use in a small silver-mounted calabash, made of the fruit
of _Crescentia cujete_ (Cuca) or of _Lagenaria_ (Cabaço), usually
about the size of a large orange, the tapering end of the latter
serving for a handle. In the top of the calabash, or _maté_,[2] a
circular hole about the size of a florin is made, and through this
opening the tea is sucked by means of a bombilla. This instrument
consists of a small tube 6 or 7 in. long, formed either of metal or a
reed, which has at one end a bulb made either of extremely fine
basket-work or of metal perforated with minute holes, so as to prevent
the particles of the tea-leaves from being drawn up into the mouth.
Some sugar and a little hot water are first placed in the gourd, the
yerva is then added, and finally the vessel is filled to the brim with
boiling water, or milk previously heated by a spirit lamp. A little
burnt sugar or lemon juice is sometimes added instead of milk. The
beverage is then handed round to the company, each person being
furnished with a bombilla. The leaves will bear steeping about three
times. The infusion, if not drunk soon after it is made, rapidly turns
black. Persons who are fond of maté drink it before every meal, and
consume about 1 oz. of the leaves per day. In the neighbourhood of
Parana it is prepared and drunk like Chinese tea. Maté is generally
considered disagreeable by those unaccustomed to it, having a somewhat
bitter taste; moreover, it is the custom to drink it so hot as to be
unpleasant. But in the south-eastern republics it is a much-prized
article of luxury, and is the first thing offered to visitors. The
_gaucho_ of the plains will travel on horseback for weeks asking no
better fare than dried beef washed down with copious draughts of maté,
and for it he will forego any other luxury, such as sugar, rice or
biscuit. Maté acts as a restorative after great fatigue in the same
manner as tea. Since it does not lose its flavour so quickly as tea by
exposure to the air and damp it is more valuable to travellers.
Since the beginning of the 17th century maté has been drunk by all
classes in Paraguay, and it is now used throughout Brazil and the
neighbouring countries.
The virtues of this substance are due to the occurrence in it of
caffeine, of which a given quantity of maté, as prepared for drinking,
contains definitely less than a similar quantity of tea or coffee. It
is less astringent than either of these, and thus is, on all scores,
less open to objection.
See Scully, _Brazil_ (London, 1866); Mansfield, _Brazil_ (London,
1856); Christy, _New Commercial Plants_, No. 3 (London, 1880); _Kew
Bulletin_ (1892), p. 132.