Megapodius
moundbird; the typical genus of the family Megapodidæ; often referred to the Cracidæ. Authorities vary greatly as to the number of species. They are found in the Samoa Islands, the Tonga group, the New Hebrides, the N. portion of Australia, in New Guinea and the neighboring islands, in the Celebes, the Pelew islands, the Ladrones, the Philippines, Labuan, and the Nicobars. They are about the size of small fowls, the head generally crested, the tail very short, feet enormously developed, and, with the exception of Megapodius wallacii, from the Mollucas, have somber plumage.
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Megaptera
the humpbacked whale. M. longimana is the long-finned whale, found in the Atlantic area, as far as Davis' Straits; M. lalandii is the Cape humpback, from the SKELETON OF MEGALOSAURUS South Atlantic; M. novæ zelandiæ is from the South Pacific; and M. kuzira, the Japanese humpback, ranges to the Aleutian and Californian coasts. They yield little oil or baleen. An adult averages 50 feet in length.
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Megaris
in ancient geography, a small mountainous region of Hellas, or Greece proper, lying between Attica and the Isthmus of Corinth. The people were excellent sailors, and founded several the most famous were Byzantium (667 colonies, of which b. c.), Chalcedon, and in Sicily. The capital was Megara, long Megara (Hyblæa) an important commercial city, and famous for its white shell marble, and for a white kind of clay, of which pottery was made. MEGATHERIUM (-ther'i-um), a genus of extinct edentates, family Megatheriidæ , founded on a nearly complete skeleton discovered on the banks of the Lujan, about 9 miles from Buenos Aires, and sent by the Marquis of Loretto, the viceroy, to the Royal Museum of Madrid. There are two skeletons in England; one found near Rio Salado, in 1832, now in the Museum of the College of Surgeons; the other, found at Luxan, in 1837, now in the British Museum of Natural History, South Kensington. The best-known species, M. americanum, was nearly as large as an elephant, though the limbs were shorter. Its mounted skeleton measures 18 feet in length, of which the tail occupies five.
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Meghna
a river or estuary of Bengal, which carries the waters of the Ganges and the Brahmaputra to the sea; its most noteworthy characteristic is the "bore" or tidal wave which advances swiftly at the height of 20 feet.
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Mehedintsi
Rumania, a departmental unit of administration in the W. part of the country, lying between the Banat and Transylvania, bounded on the S. by the Danube river. Pop., mixed Rumanian and Magyar, about 250,000. Area, 1,910 square miles. The chief center is Turnu-Severin.
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Mehemet Ali
Viceroy of Egypt; born in Kavala, Macedonia, in 1769. He entered the Turkish army, and served in Egypt against the French; rose rapidly in military and political importance; became Pasha of Cairo, Alexandria, and subsequently of all Egypt. Together with his son Ibrahim he aided in bringing a large part of the Sudan under Egyptian rule. In 1824-1827 he assisted the Sultan in endeavoring to reduce the Morea, which led to the destruction of his fleet by the allied European powers at Navarino (1827). Subsequently he turned his arms against the Sultan, and in his efforts to secure dominion over Syria by armed invasion, he was so far successful SKELETON OF MEGATHERIUM that the European powers had to interfere and compel him to sign a treaty in 1839, which gave him the hereditary pashalic of Egypt in lieu of Syria, Candia, and Hejaz. In his latter days he sank into dotage. He died in Cairo, Egypt, Aug. 2, 1849.
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Meighen
THOMAS, Premier of Canada; born in 1876, at St. Marys, western Ontario. He graduated from Toronto University in 1897 and for a short time after taught school. He removed to Winnipeg where, after studying law, he was admitted to the bar in 1903. He entered politics and in 1908 was elected as a Conservative to the Dominion notable as Parliament. He soon became a speaker, and was re-elected in 1911. Two years later he was appointed Solicitor-General. In 1915 he became a member of the Privy Council and on the reorganization of the Cabinet in 1917, with a coalition membership, he was made Minister of the Interior. He remained in that post until his appointment as Premier. He succeeded Sir Robert Borden, who resigned on July founded in 928 by Henry I. 10, 1920.
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Meiklejohn
ALEXANDER, an American educator, born in Rochdale, England, on Feb. 3, 1872. He came to America at the age of eight and was educated at Brown and Cornell Universities, receiving the degree of Ph. D. from the latter institution. He also other institutions. After serving suc- born in Lyons, Mass., in 1912.
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Meilhac
HENRI (mā-yäk'), a French playwright; born in Paris, France, Feb. 23, 1831. He was trained as an artist and published his first drasubsequently matic work, in 1855. He subs comedies produced a long series of light com -some in conjunction with Halévy. Some are well known through Offenbach's music. His best work is "Frou- Frou" (1869). He died in Paris, July 6, 1897.
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Mein
a town in the province of Tenasserim, Burma, near the mouth of the Salween river. There are numerous public buildings, churches, chapels, and missionary establishments, several charitable and educational institutions, barracks, a hospital, gaol, etc. The principal exports are teakwood and rice; the imports consist of general merchandise, chiefly piece goods, hardware, provisions, and sundries; is backed by a fine range of hills, on whose heights flash the gilded spires of innumerable pagodas; and here, too, are built many pretty residences, commanding a fine view of the town, river, and adjacent country, which for picturesque beauty and varied scenery has few equals. Pop. about 60,000.
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Meiningen
the capital of the former German duchy of Saxe- Meiningen, in a narrow valley on the banks of the Werra, 43 miles N. W. of Coburg. The former ducal castle (1682), the most prominent building in the town, contains libraries, a picture gallery, collection of coins, etc. There is a fine English garden here. The town has been in great part rebuilt since 1874, when a fire It was an apdestroyed the old streets. It pendage of the see of Würzburg from 1008 to 1542, and in 1583 came into the hands of the Saxon ducal family. Pop. about 17,000.
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