Melegnano
formerly MARIGNANO (mä-ren-yä'nō), a town of northern Italy, 12 miles S. E. of Milan. Here Francis I. of France defeated the Swiss in 1515, and the French routed the Austrian rear-guard in 1859.
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Single-source entries: M (46)
Each of these 17 subjects appears in only one of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. None is long enough to carry a page by itself, so they are gathered here by letter. Anything that grows moves out to a page of its own.
Melenara
Spain, one of three towns having two sets of wireless communications of the Marconi system of the "Compañia Nacional de Telegrafia sin Hilos," holding a government concession. The other two stations are at Cadiz and Teneriffe.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Meles
the badger; the typical genus of the family Melide. M. taxus (or vulgaris) is the largest of the indigenous British mammals. The siffleur of the United States and Canada is M. labradoricus, and the Indian badger, M. collaris.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Melilla
a Spanish fortress town on the northern coast of Morocco. Built on a peninsula extending out into the Mediterranean sea, and defended by forts on the land side. In 1902 the port was opened to commerce. Pop. about 40,000.
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Meline
FELIX JULES, a French statesman; born in 1838. After joining the bar he was active as a democrat in opposing the Empire. He declined election during the Commune. In 1872 he was returned to the National Assembly as a conservative Republican. Secretary of Agriculture, 1883-1885. Under Secretary of State a few months under Simon. Secretary of Agriculture, in Ferry's cabinet in 1883-1885. President of the Chamber of Deputies, 1888. Carried through his great protective measures which went into force in 1892. Re-elected President of Chamber, 1894. Prime Minister under Faure, 1896. The elections of 1898 forced the cabinet to resign and he returned to the Chamber of Deputies. Was a candidate for President of France in 1899. Meline lost much of his political influence by taking sides against Captain Dreyfus in the famous affair. After 1903 a member of the Senate for the Vosges. He founded the Society for Agricultural Merit.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Melo
capital of the department of Cerro Largo, Uruguay, 200 miles N. E. of Montevideo. Center of a region in which cattle raising is the chief industry. Pop. about 10,000.
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Melodeon
a wind instrument with a row of reeds and operated by keys. In 1846 a method of drawing air through the reeds by suction bellows was patented. Pressure on the key drives down the pin and the valve, allowing passage to the air. The principle is the same as that of the accordeon.
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Melody
an agreeable succession of simple sounds, produced by a single voice or instrument, and so regulated as to give a pleasing effect or to be expressive of some kind of sentiment. It is often founded on relative harmonies and yet is completely distinguished from harmony by not needing the addition of parts to make it perfect.
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Meloe
oil beetle; the typical genus of the family Meloïdæ. One or two species are common on hedgebanks in spring. Wing cases short, color blueblack, abdomen full, and general appearance greasy. The eggs are laid in holes in the ground, and the larvæ when hatched attach themselves to bees of various species, whence their popular ist and parliamentary troops, resulting in name bee lice. The active six-footed larva changes into a fleshy cylindrical grub with less aborted legs and stronger jaws than the corresponding stage of Sitaris.
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Melon
in botany, Cucumis melo. Linnæus, who discriminated it from others of the genus by the angular points of the leaves being rounded off and its torulose, i. e., knotted, fruit, says that it is a native of the Kalmuck country (in Tartary). MELOS (mē'los) (Italian Milo), a Greek island, the most S. W. of the Cyclades; length 13 miles, width 8 miles. The island is volcanic, and produces sulphur, salt, pumice stone, stucco, millstones, and a little oil and wine. Among the ruins of the ancient city of Melos, and near its theater, was found the price less antique, the Venus de Milo, now one of the chief treasures of the Louvre. Pop. about 5,000.
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Melting Points
Metals. Specific Gravity. Order of Malleability. Order of
Only in American Watchmaker and Jeweler
Melting-furnace
The cupola and reverberatory are the iron-foundry melting-furnaces; the crucible air-furnace, forced-draught, and reverberatory are the brass-founders' and steel-melters.' A reverberatory furnace is employed by glass-makers for calcining the materials, and crucible or "glass furnaces" to melt the glass. The application of the Siemens regenerative process is becoming general for all these purposes, excepting for iron-foundries, and a considerable saving in fuel is effected wherever this system obtains. See FURNACES.
Only in The Encyclopedia of Founding
Melton
. See Kersey
Only in Aiton's Encyclopedia
Melton-Mowbray
Leicestershire, England, in the center of a great hunting district; on the Eye river near its junction with the Wreak, 104 miles N. N. W. of London; it has a fine cruciform church, mainly Early English; and is famous for its manufactures of pork pies and Stilton cheese. Near the town in February, 1644, a severe engagement took place between parties of royalthe defeat of the latter; and among its natives have been Archbishop de Melton, who lies buried in the church, and "Orator" Henley.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Melusina
The most famous of the fays of France . Being condemned to turn into a serpent from the waist downwaist downwards every Saturday, she made her husband, Count Raymond of Lusignan, promise never to come near her on a Saturday. This prohibition finally exciting his curiosity and suspicion, he hid himself and witnessed his wife's transformation. Melusina was now compelled to quit her mortal husband and destined to wander about as a spectre till the day of doom. It is said also that the count immured her in the dungeon of his castle. :
Only in An Encyclopaedia of Occultism
Membrane
an expansion of any tissues in a thin and wide layer. Bichat divides them into serous, mucous, and fibrous membranes. Among the most important membranes in the body are those of the brain: viz., the dura mater, the arachnoid, the pia mater and the falx. Undulating membranes, simple membranous bands, one margin only of which is attached, the other being free and exhibiting an undulatory motion. They are allied to and answer the same purpose as cilia. They are stated to occur on the spermatozoa of salamanders and tritons, and in the water vessels of some Annelids, Infusoria, and Rotatoria.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Memel
a Prussian seaport, defended by a citadel and two forts on the sea side; at the N. extremity of the Kurisches Haff, at its opening into the Baltic, 70 miles N. N. E. of Danzig; has a large harbor, and exports from Lithuania and Russia timber, flax and linseed, coal, manure, grain, and herrings; has also manufactories of brandy, soap and chemicals, sawmills, iron foundries, breweries, and shipbuilding yards. Memel was founded in 1252 by the Livonian order, who gave it to the Teutonic Knights, by whom it was fortified in 1404. It suffered severely in the Lithuanian wars (13th to 15th centuries). Here in 1807 Frederick-William III. of Prussia took refuge, and a treaty with England was signed. Having been almost wholly destroyed by fire in 1854, it was rebuilt in modern style. The city was captured by the Russians in 1914, but the German armies soon regained it and retained possession. Pop. about 25,000.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia