Menopome
Protonopsis horrida, a large North American amphibian in the Salamander order. It is widely distributed in the rivers of the Mississippi basin, and is well known as the "hellbender," "alligator," "waterdog," etc., names which suggest its fierce characteristics. It resembles the salamander in form, has four well-developed limbs, and a persistent gil gill-aperture. It attains a length of 18 inches to 2 feet, and has extraordinary powers of voracity and vitality.
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Mensa
or MONS (monz) MENSA, one of the 14 constellations which Lacaille added to the heavens in connection with his work at the Cape of Good Hope. It is named from the mountain which is a conspicuous feature of the landscape at the Cape. The constellation is a very inconspicuous one near the South Pole, its brightest star being only of 5.3 magnitude. It is surrounded by Octans, Hydrus, Dorado, Volans, and Chamæleon. sanguineous
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Menstruation
a flow from the lining membrane of the uterus, regularly returning once a month. It generally begins about the 15th year, indicating pubescence, and terminates about the 45th. It is sometimes prolonged, but cases are rare in which women above 50 years have borne children. There is, as a rule, no menstrual flow during pregnancy and lactation. The diseases incidental to the woman as a result of menstruation are numerous, the chief being menorrhagia and dysmenorrhea. A similar flow of blood from the lining membrane of the uterus of oviparous animals. It generally recurs once a year, usually in the spring, though in the case of some animals from two to six times. In those that have undergone a change by domestication, as dogs and cats, the recurrence is usually irregular, depending upon various circumstances, as diet, temperature, etc.
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Mentana
a small village, 12 miles N. E. of Rome, where Nov. 3, 1867, the Garibaldians were defeated by the Papal and French troops.
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Menthol
a white crystalline substance obtained from oil of peppermint, and considered a valuable remedy in neuralgic affections of the face and head. The crystals are partially soluble in water, but entirely so in ether and the fixed and volatile oils. MENTONE (-tō'ne) (French Menton), a town in the department of Alpes Maritimes, France, pleasantly situated on the Mediterranean, 1/2 miles from the Italian frontier and 14 miles N. E. of Nice. Owing to its S. exposure, and the fact that spurs of the Alps shelter it on the N. and W., it enjoys a delightful climate (average for the year 61°) and so has become a favorite winter resort of invalids and health seekers from England, Germany, and other countries. The town stands on a promontory that divides its bay into two portions; the native town clings to the mountain side, while the hotels and villas for the visitors extend along the water's edge. The harbor is protected on the S. and W. by a sea-wall. Great damage was done to the place by an earthquake in February, 1887. In the 14th century it was purchased by the lords of Monaco, and, except during the period of the revolution and down to 1815, when France seized it, the princes of Monaco kept possession till 1848. In that year the inhabitants voluntarily put themselves under the protection of Sardinia, but that power yielded the town to France 12 years later. Pop. about 18,- 000.
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Menzaleh
LAKE, a coast lagoon of Egypt, extending E. from the Damietta branch of the Nile, and separated from the Mediterranean by a narrow strip of land, with several openings. Its surface, 460 square miles in extent, is studded with islands, the most interesting of which is Tennees, the ancient Ten nesus, with Roman remains of baths, tombs, etc. Its waters are full of fish, and its shores abound in wild fowl. The Suez Canal passes through the E. portion. The lake has an average depth of not more than three feet, except when the Nile, mouths of whose delta reach it, is in flood; and it is being gradually drained.
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Menzel
ADOLF VON (ment'sel), a German artist; born in Breslau, Prussia, Dec. 8, 1815. He is best known for his drawings and oil paintings illustrative of the times of Frederick the Great and William I., emperor-pictures characterized by historical fidelity, strong realistic conception, originality, and humor. His "Adam and Eve," "Christ among the Doctors," and "Christ Expelling the Moneychangers" are also notable pictures. He died Feb. 9, 1905. (mef-is-tof'uh- MEPHISTOPHELES lēz), the name of one of the best-known personifications of the principle of evil. The word has been very variously explained, but is probably of Hebrew origin, like most names of devils in the history of magic, confounded with, and approximated in form to, the Greek, μηφωστoφίλης "one who loves not light." Mephistopheles owes all his modern vitality to Goethe's "Faust."
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Mer de Glace
a famous glacier of Switzerland. It flows from the north shoulder of Mount Blanc to the valley of Chamounix--a stream of ice two miles wide and nine miles long. The flow in the summer season is about an inch an hour. It is the best known glacier in the world. It has been studied by scientists for centuries. See Tyndall ; Agassiz
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Merath
a town, district, and division in the Northwestern Prov. inces of British India. The town lies 40 miles N. E. of Delhi, about half-way between the Ganges and the Jumna. Here in 1857 the great mutiny broke out. Pop. about 116,000. MEGÆRA (me-jē'rä), one of the Furies.
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Mercantile Law
that department of law which pertains to or is characteristic of commercial transactions. See LAW.
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Mercator
GERARD (mer-kä'tor), a Flemish mathematician and geographer; born in Rupelmonde, Belgium, Mar. 5, 1512. He is distinguished especially for the method of laying down charts and maps which goes by his name. He died in Duisburg, Prussia, Dec. 2, 1594.
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Mercator's Chart
or PROJEC- TION, a mode of projection or representation of a portion of the surface of the earth on a plane, in which the meridians are represented by equi-distant parallel straight lines, and the parallels of latitude by straight lines perpendicular to them. This chart is particularly adapted to the purposes of navigation, inasmuch as the plot of a ship's course, or a rhumb line between two points poi upon it, is represented by a straight line. On this account, as well as on account of the facilities which it affords for making calculations necessary in navigation, Mercator's chart is now almost universally adopted for sailing purposes.
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