MEDUSA LUMINOSA, a species discovered by Sir Joseph Banks, to which he has given the name of luminosa, as, when brought aboard by the casting net, it had the appearance of metal violently heated, and emitted a white light. These luminous animals are one of the causes of that appearance of the sea which has been mentioned by many navigators, and for which various reasons have been assigned. They seemed to emit flashes of light exactly resembling those of lightning, only not so considerable; but so frequent, that sometimes eight or ten were visible at the same moment. MEDUSA UNDULATA, the waved medusa, has the edges waved, with fangs on the projecting parts; four orifices beneath, between which rises a stem divided into eight large ragged tentacula. These animals swim in large companies in search of food, with their tentacula in continual motion, with which they seize their prey, and convey it to their mouths; they vary in size, the largest being generally about eight inches in diameter. They vary likewise in the number of their tentacula; some have only two; others four, six, and some eight, but they rarely exceed that number. So powerful is their embrace, that whatever prey comes within their reach never escapes. They subsist on insects, small fish, &c. MEDWAY, a river of England, which rises in the Weald of Sussex, and, entering Kent near Ashurst, runs by Tunbridge, and thence continues its course towards Maidstone. It is navigable for large ships to Rochester Bridge, and thence for vessels and barges to Maidstone, the tide flowing up to that town. The distance between its mouth, where the fort at Sheerness is erected, and Rochester Bridge, is between sixteen and eighteen miles. In this part of the river, the channel is so deep, the banks so soft, and the reaches so short, that it is one of the best and safest harbours in the world; and ships of eighty guns ride a-float at low water, within musket-shot of Rochester Bridge. Nor is there an instance upon record, that any of the royal navy ever suffered here by storms, except in the dreadful tempest in November 1703, when the Royal Catharine was driven on shore, sunk, and lost. On the banks are two castles, one at Upnor, to defend the ships between that and the bridge; the other is Gillingham Castle, well furnished with cannon, which commands the river. There is also a platform of guns at a place called the Swam, and another at Cockham Wood. But the principal fort is at Sheerness. MEED, n. s. Sax. med; Teut. meeten, myde; Goth. met. Reward; hence present; gift; recompense, good or evil. But if I do this thing wilfulli I haue meide? but if aghens my wille dispendyng is bitaken to me. Wiclif, 1 Cor. ix. Ne for prayer, ne for mede he wil not be corrupt. Chaucer. Personnes Tale. He knows his meed, if he be spide, To be a thousand deaths, and shame beside. Spenser. Whether in beauties glory did exceed, Faerie Queene. Plutus, the god of gold, Is but his steward; no meed but he repays Seven-fold above itself. Id. Timon of Athens. He must not float upon his watery bier Unwept, and welter to the parching wind, Without the meed of some melodious tear. Milton. A long and prosperous enjoyment in the land of Canaan was the meed set before them, if they should obey and make good their part of the covenant. Barrow. If so, a cloak and vesture be my meed, Till his return no title shall I plead. } Pope's Odyssey. Goth. and Swed. mink; MEEK, adj. Moses was very meek above all men. Be therefore, O my dear lords, pacifyed, That pride and meekness mixt by equal part, • Do both appear to adorn her beauty's grace. Spenser. You sign your place and calling, in full seeming, With meekness and humility; but your heart Is crammed with arrogancy, spleen, and pride. Shakspeare. MEER, or Sax. mene; Belg. meer. A MERE, n. s. lake or river: hence a bounMEERED, adj. dary: meered is bounded, or relating to a boundary. What, although you fled! why should he follow you? The itch of his affection should not then Shakspeare. Antony and Cleopatra. MEEREN, or MEER (John Vander), an esteemed painter, born in 1627. He chose for his Of noble minds is honourable meed. Shakespeare. subjects sea-pieces, landscapes, and views of the Thanks to men sea and its shores; which he painted with great truth, as he had accustomed himself to sketch every scene after nature. He also painted battles with approbation. He died in 1690. MEEREN, OF MEER (John Vander) the Young, an eminent landscape-painter, supposed to have been the son of the preceding, of whom he learned the rudiments of the art; but, being deprived of his instructor before he had made great progress, he became a disciple of Nicholas Bergham, and was accounted the best of those who were educated by that admired master. In the style of his master he painted landscapes and cottages, with peasants at their rural occupations and diversions; but he very rarely introduced cows, horses, or any other animals, except goats and sheep, which last are highly finished. His touch is scarcely perceptible, and yet the colors are admirably united. He died in 1688. His genuine works bear a very high price, and are esteemed even in Italy. It is MEERJAOW, a town of the province of Canara, Hindostan, on an inlet of the sea. supposed to have been the Musiris of the ancients; and was nearly destroyed by Hyder Aly when he invaded the province in 1773. The neighbouring forests abound with teak and black pepper. Long. 74° 36′ E., lat. 14° 27′ Ν. MEERMAN (Gerard), a Belgic writer on jurisprudence, was born at Leyden in 1722; and was an author at the age of seventeen. Between 1744 and 1748 he was abroad in several voyages; and, on his return, was appointed pensionary counsellor of Rotterdam. In 1766 he was made counsellor of the high tribunal of the chace of Holland and West Friseland; and died at Aixla-Chapelle, December 15th, 1771. The emperor created him a baron of the German empire; and Louis XV. invested him with the order of St. Michael. He possessed an immense collection of books and MSS.; and presented several of the latter to the French king's library. Among his works may be specified Novus Thesaurus Juris civilis et canonici, 1751-54, 7 vols. folio; and Origines Typographicæ, 1765, 4to. MEERMAN (John), son of the preceding, was born in 1753, and early distinguished for learning. He studied at Leipsic under Ernesti; and completed his education at Leyden, where, in 1774, he took the degree of LL.D. He now visited France, Italy, Germany, Great Britain, and Ireland; and, on his return home, he was elected burgomaster of Leyden, a situation which he soon resigned. Under Louis Buonaparte he was director of the fine arts and of public instruction in Holland; and, on the union of that country to France, he was made a count of the empire. He died August 19th, 1815, leaving to the city of the Hague the rich library of his father, which he had largely increased. His best known published works, including a supplementary volume to his father's Thesaurus, are the History of William, earl of Holland, and king of the Romans, 5 vols. 8vo.; The Relations of Great Britain and Ireland, of Austria, of Prussia, and of Sicily, 1787-94, 5 vols. 8vo.; The Relations of the North and North-West of Europe, 1805-6, 6 vols. 8vo.; containing observations made by the author in his travels. MEERSCHAUM, in mineralogy, a kind of clayey earth, the keffekil of Kirwan. Color yellowish and grayish-white. Massive. Dull. Fracture fine earthy. Fragments angular. Opaque. Streak slightly shining. Very soft, sectile, but rather difficultly frangible. Adheres strongly to the tongue. Feels rather greasy. Specific gravity 1.2 to 1.6. Before the blowpipe it melts on the edges into a white enamel. Its constituents are, according to the analysis of Klaproth, silica 41.5, magnesia 18-25, lime 0.50, water and carbonic acid 39. It occurs in the veins in the serpentine of Cornwall. When first dug, it is soft, greasy, and lathers like soap. Hence the Tartars use it for washing clothes. In Turkey it is made into tobacco-pipes, from meerschaum dug in Natolia, and near Thebes. See Jameson's Mineralogy for an entertaining account of the manufacture. MEET, adj. Sax. mæte; Goth. mati, in MEET'LY, adv. ( measure. See METE. Fit; proper; adapted; suitable. 'Meet with' is a low phrase for even with' you. Arcite is ridden anon unto the toun, Chaucer. Cant. Tales. Ah! my dear love, why do you sleep thus long, When meeter were that you should now awake? Spenser. If the election of the minister should be committed to every parish, would they choose the meetest ? Whitgift. I am a tainted wether of the flock, To be known shortens my laid intent, My boon I make it, that you know me not, Till time and I think meet. Id. King Lear. Niece, you tax Signior Benedick too much; but he'll be meet with you. Shakspeare. As for the comfort of conjugal society, what other did our good God intend in the making of that meet helper? Bp. Hall. The eye is very proper and meet for seeing. ΜΕΕΤ, v. a. & n. s. MEET'ER, n. S. MEETING, Bentley. Sax. meran; Belg. moetan; Teut, moten; Goth. & Swed. mota. MEETING-HOUSE, n. s. To encounter; come face to face: hence to oppose in conflict or hostility; close with; join; to find; light upon; accost: as a neuter verb, to assemble; congregate: it frequently takes the preposition with. after it. Ameeting is an encounter; assembly interview, or place of assembly or meeting Meeting-house, an old but well-fashioned word signifying a dissenting place of worship. His daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and dances. Judges xi. 34. They appointed a day to meet in together. 2 Maccabees. When he cometh to experience of service abroad, he maketh as worthy a soldier as any nation he meeteth with. Spenser. When shall we three meet again, Falstaff at that oak shall meet with us. Of his almighty engine, he shall hear Infernal thunder. Their choice nobility and flower Milton. Id. Met from all parts to solemnize this feast. Id. The materials of that building happily met together, and very fortunately ranged themselves into that delicate order, that it must be a very great chance Tillotson. that parts them. I knew not till I met Dryden. Had I a hundred mouths, a hundred tongues, Id. Id. If the fathers and husbands of those, whose relief this your meeting intends, were of the household of faith, then their relicks and children ought not to be strangers to the good that is done in it, if they want it. Sprat's Sermons. He yields himself to the man of business with reluctancy, but offers himself to the visits of a friend with facility, and all the meeting readiness of desire. Royal mistress, South. Rowe's Ambitious Stepmother. Our meeting hearts Consented soon, and marriage made us one. Rowe. The nearer you come to the end of the lake, the mountains on each side grow higher, till at last they Addison. meet. What a majesty and force does one meet with in these short inscriptions: are not you amazed to see so much history gathered into so small a compass? Id. on ancient Medals. Hercules' meeting with pleasure and virtue, was invented by Prodicus; who lived before Socrates. Addison. His heart misgave him that the churches were so many meetinghouses; but I soon made him easy. Id. To me no greater joy, Than that your labours meet a prosperous end. Granville. Of vice or virtue whether blest or curst, Which meets contempt, or which compassion first. Pope. Since the ladies have been left out of all meetings, except parties at play, our conversation hath degeSwift. nerated. Meg fain wad to the barn gane To win three wechts o' naething; But for to meet the deil her lane, She pat but little faith in. Burns. MEGALE POLIS, written dividedly by Ptolemy and Pausanias; or conjunctly Megalopolis, according to Strabo; an ancient town of Arcadia, built under the auspices of Epaminondas, after the battle of Leuctra; many inconsiderable towns being joined together in one great city (whence the name), the better to withstand the Spartans. Strabo says it was the greatest city of Arcadia. It was destroyed by Cleomenes III., king of Sparta. MEGALESIA, AND MEGALENSES LUDI, feasts and games in honor of Cybele or Rhea, the mother of the gods, held on the 12th of April by the Romans, and famous for great rejoicings and diversions of various sorts. The Galli carried the image of the goddess along the city, with drums and other music, in imitation of the noise made to prevent Saturn from hearing the cries of his infant son Jupiter, when he was disposed to devour him. MEGANTICK, a lake of Lower Canada, on the borders of New England, from which the river Chaudiere in part arises. It is nine miles in length, and two in average breadth, running deeply into the land. It is surrounded by some excellent meadows, and altogether the scenery is beautifully picturesque here: large groups of stately trees ranging above each other until they crest the summit of the rising lands. The waters abound with fish; and the country is the resort of almost every species of game. MEGARA, in ancient geography, a noble city, capital of Megaris, which for many years carried on war with the Corinthians and Athenians. It had for some time a school of philosophers, called the Megarici, successors of Euclid the Socratic, a native of Megara. Their dialect was the Doric; changed from the Attic, which it formerly had been, because of the Peleponnesian colonists who settled there. Megara was situated at a distance from the sea. Its port was called Nisæa, from Nisus, son of Pandion II., who obtained Megaris for his portion, when the kingdom of Athens was divided into four lots by his father. He founded the town, which was eighteen stadia, or two miles and a quarter from the city, but united with it, as the Piræus with Athens, by long walls. It had a temple of Ceres. The site is now covered with rubbish, among which are standing some ruinous churches. The place has been named from them Dode Ecclesiais, the Twelve Churches; but the number is reduced to seven. The acropolis or citadel, called also Nisæa, was on a rock by the seaside. Some pieces of the wall remain, and a modern fortress has been erected on it, and on a less rock near it. Megara consists now only of a few cottages on the slope of an eminence, divided in the middle. A few inscriptions are found, with pedestals fixed in the walls and inverted; and also some mutilated statues. One of the former relates to Atticus Herodes, and is on a pedestal which supported a statue erected to him when consul, A. D. 143, by the council and people of Me gara, in return for his benefactions to the city. In the plain behind the summits is a large basin of water, with scattered fragm fragments of marble, the remains of a bath or fountain, which is recorded as in the city, and remarkable for its size and ornaments, and for the number of its columns. The spring was named from the local nymphs called Sithnides. The stone of Megara was of a kind not found any where else in Hellas; very white, uncommonly soft, and consisting of cockle shells. This was chiefly used, and, not being durable, may be reckoned among the causes of the desolation at Megara, which is so complete that one searches in vain for vestiges of the many public edifices, temples, and sepulchres, which once adorned the city. Megara was engaged in various wars with Athens and Corinth, and experienced many vicissitudes of fortune. It was the only one of the Greek cities which did not flourish under their common benefactor Adrian. Another benefactor was Diogenes, son of Archelaus, who bestowed on the Megarensians 100 pieces of gold towards building their towers, and also 150 more, with 2200 feet of marble, towards re-edifying the bath. This Diogenes was one of the generals employed by the emperor Anastasius on a rebellion in Isauria, and took the capital Claudiopolis, A. D. 494. MEGARIS, in ancient geography, the country of the Megareans, is described as a rough region, like Attica; the mountain called Oneian, or the Asinine, now Macriplayi, or the Long Mountain, extending through it towards Beotia and Mount Cithæron. It belonged to Ionica or Attica, until it was taken by the Peloponnesians in the reign of Codrus, when a colony of Dorians settled in it. This territory had Attica on the east, Bœotia on the north and west, and the Isthmus of Corinth on the south. MEGASTHENES, a Greek historian in the age of Seleucus Nicator, about A. A. C. 300. He wrote concerning the oriental nations, and particularly the Indians. His history is often quoted by the ancients. What now passes as his composition is spurious. MEGIDDO, in ancient geography, a town of Galilee, mentioned (Josh. xvii. 11) among the cities of Manasseh, in the tribe of Issachar or Asser, on the west side of the Jordan, near an open plain, fit for drawing up an army in battle array. It was situated on the north, contrary to its position in the common maps. The Canaanites, being tributary to the Israelites, dwelt in it, Josh. xvii. It was rebuilt by Solomon, 1 Kings ix; and is remarkable for the deaths of Ahaziah king of Israel, and Josiah king of Judah, 2 Kings ix. 27; xxiii. 29. MEGNA, THE, a river of Hindostan, formed by the junction of numerous streams, which issue from the mountains on the northern boundary of Bengal. The principal of these is the Brahmapootra. Below Dacca it is joined by the Issamutty, Dullasary, Luckia, and Ganges, after which it pours its immense waters into the bay of Bengal, forming several large islands at its mouth. Between these the tide enters with great rapidity, forming in the spring tides what is called the Bore, and which in a few minutes rises twelve feet high. The sand-banks run nearly thirty miles into the sea. This appears Disorder of the head. tion joined with a semblance of turning round. Bacon's Natural History. There, screened in shades from day's detested glare, MEHALLET KEBEER, a city of Lower Egypt, the capital of the district of El Garbie, in the Delta, and standing on a canal between the eastern and western branches of the Nile. It is of considerable magnitude and commercial importance, so as to be called Kebeer 'the great,' and possesses manufactures of cloth and sal ammoniac. Long. 31° 24' E., lat. 30° 50′ N. MEHKOOR, a populous district of Hindostan, in the province of Berar; situated between two ranges of mountains, and subject to the Nagpore rajah. MEHWAS, a district of the province of Gujerat, Hindostan, situated on the south-east bank of the Puddar. The inhabitants, formerly Hindoos, have been converted in considerable numbers to the Mahometan religion, and are marauders, who live by plunder. Any one who can head twenty horsemen considers himself an independent chief. They breed horses and cattle, but cultivate little of the soil. MEIBOMIUS (John Henry), a learned German, who was professor of physic at Helmstadt, where he was born, and at Lubec. He wrote the Life of Mæcenas, published at Leyden, in 4to. 1653, with several other learned works. MEIBOMIUS (Henry), son of the preceding, was born at Lubec in 1638; he became professor of physic at Helmstadt; and, besides medical works, published Scriptores rerum Germanicorum, 3 vols. folio, 1688; a very useful collection, first begun by his father. MEIBOMIUS (Marcus), another writer of the same family, who published a collection of seven Greek authors, who had written upon ancient music, with a Latin version by himself, dedicated to queen Christina of Sweden, who invited him to her court. But his enthusiasm in favor of ancient music subjected him to a degree of raillery, that made him leave the court of Sweden. His edition of the Greek mythologists, and notes upon Diogenes Laertius in Menage's edition, show him to have been a man of learning. MEJERDAH, a river of Tunis, the Bagrada of the ancients, in the western part of that territory, and running along the borders of Algiers, till it falls into the Mediterranean at Porto Farina. The country beside its banks is level, and very rich, in consequence of which it is deeply impregnated with soil, and often presents the same discolored aspect as the Nile. It is one of the most considerable streams in Barbary. ary. MEINUNGEN, a principality of Saxony, forming part of the duchy of Saxe-Meinungen, and divided into the Oberland and the Unterland, two districts situated at some distance from each other. The extent of the whole is about 448 square miles. The Unterland is the larger of the two, containing nearly 350 square miles, and a population of 40,000. It is traversed by the Werra, and has extensive forests, several iron mines, and mines of coal and cobalt. The manufactures, which are not considerable, are of woollen, linen, and hardware. The chief export is salt from the mines of Salzungen. The Oberland has 16,000 inhabitants, and is a hilly district of the great forest of Thuringia. MEINUNGEN, a town of the above principality, situated amongst mountains, on the Werra. Since 1681 it has been the residence of the dukes of Saxe-Meinungen, who have an elegant palace here, with a library and a depôt of archives. Here is also a lyceum, council-house, and state-house. The chief manufacture is black crape. Population 4200. Twenty-one miles north of Schweinfurt. MEINY, n. s. Sax. menizu; old Fr. mesnie, mesne; Lat. mansio. A house or family; a reti nue or train. They summoned up their meiny; strait took horse; Commanding me to follow, and attend. Shakespeare. MEISSEN, or MISNIA, a circle of Saxony, on both sides of the Elbe, and extending from Bohemia on the south, to Prussian Saxony on the north. Part of it was ceded to Prussia at the congress of Vienna in 1815, but it has still an area of 1600 square miles. It is one of the best cultivated parts of Saxony, and yields corn, fruit, flax, hops, and pasturage, in abundance, and, in a few districts, wine. It contains also the principal manufactures of the kingdom in woollen, linen, and cotton. Dresden itself lies within its limits. Inhabitants 298,000. MEISSEN, a town of Saxony, the capital of the former margraviate and circle of this name, is situated on the left bank of the Elbe, at its junction with the Meissa, in one of the most beautiful valleys of Saxony. It is divided into three parts: the upper and middle towns, and the suburbs. On a rock, eighty feet in height, stand the remains of an ancient castle, built by the emperor Henry I.; and on a neighbouring eminence the rock of Afra, the ancient monastery of that name. The objects worth notice in this town are the fine Gothic cathedral, the chapter-house, and a covered bridge over the Elbe. This place is also distinguished for its porcelain manufacture, the clay of which is yielded in the neighbourhood. Population 4000. Fifteen miles W. N. W. of Dresden. MEISSNER (Augustus Theophilus), an author of German romances, was the son of a Saxon quarter-master, and born in 1753 at Bautzen in Lusatia. He studied law and the belles lettres at Leipsic and Wittemberg, and became keeper of the archives at Dresden. His literary career commenced in his translating comic operas from the French. In 1785 he obtained at Prague the chair of belles lettres, and twenty years after was invited to Fulda, to direct the superior schools. He died in 1807. Meissner translated Hume's England into German, 17771780, and wrote a number of historical romances and other works. His Sketches have been translated into French, Danish, and Dutch. MERBAN, a large maritime province of Persia, extending along the shore of the Indian Ocean to Scinde, and on the west and north to Kerman and Seistan. It has been little traversed by travellers. Alexander the Great, in returning from his Indian expedition, passed through this province, and the sufferings and hardships endured by his army gave the most unfavorable impression of the nature of the country. The northern and inland part is the Baloochistan of modern geography, and separated from the maritime part by a range of mountains. BALOOCHISTAN. The entire province is occupied by a great number of independent chiefs, whose power and territory is always fluctuating. The whole military force of the country may amount to about 25,000. men. pore the people are migratory, and live in tents of black hair. The women of Mekran are not confined as in other Mussulman countries. The chief place at present is Kei. MEL, honey. See HONEY. See Around Bun MELA (Pomponius), an ancient Latin writer, who was born in Hispania Bætica, and flourished under Claudius. His three books of Cosmography, or De Situ Orbis, are written in a concise, perspicuous, and elegant manner. Isaac Vossius gave an edition of them in 1658, 4to., with copious notes. MELADA, MELEDA, or MELIT, an island of the Austrian empire, on the coast of Dalmatia. It formerly belonged to the republic of Ragusa, and has a town of the same name; a good harbour, and a large monastery. Population 2000. Long. of the eastern point 17° 58′ E., lat. 43° 5' N. MELADA, a small barren island of Dalmatia, at the entrance of the canal of Zara, to the north of Isola Grossa. It is inhabited chiefly by fishermen. MELALEUCA, in botany, the cayputi, ór cajeput-tree, a genus of the polyandria order, and polydelphia class of plants: CAL. quinquepartite, superior: COR. pentapetalous; the filaments are very numerous, and collected in such a manner as to form five pencils; there is one style: CAPS. half-covered with the calyx, formed like a berry, trivalved and trilocular. The species are all natives of India and the South Sea Islands. The most remarkable is, M. leucodendron, from a variety of which (the latifolia, or broad-leaved leucodendron) the cajeput oil is obtained: a medicine in very high esteem among the eastern nations, particularly in India. It is said to be obtained by distillation from the fruit. When brought into this country it is a liquid of a greenish color, of a fragrant but very peculiar odor, and of a warm pungent taste. Hitherto the oleum cajeput has been little employed either in Britain or on the continent; but in India it is used both internally and externally, and is highly extolled for its medical properties. It is applied externally where a warm and peculiar stimulus is requisite; it is employed for restoring vigor after luxations and sprains. MELAMPODIUM, in botany, a genus of the polygamia necessaria order, and syngenesia class of plants; natural orde forty-ninth, com |