have originated in the appearance of seals, walruses, and the herbivorous cetacea. MERMAID, THE. A famous London club, the foundation of which is ascribed to Sir Walter Raleigh. Its members included Jonson, Beaumont, Fletcher, Selden, and Carew. Shakespeare also is said to have belonged to it. The meeting place was the old Mermaid Tavern on Bread Street. MERMAID'S GLOVE. A local English name applied to a sponge (Halichondria oculata) often cast ashore on the coast of Great Britain and Northeastern America. Its branches are somewhat finger-shaped, giving to the entire animal a rude glove-like appearance. The name is also given to a social polyp, Alcyonium digitatum, more aptly and commonly called 'deadman's fingers.' MERMAID'S HEAD. The popular British name for a spatangoid sea-urchin (Amphidetus cordatus). MERMAID'S PURSE. A shark's egg-case. See RAY. MERMILLOD, mĕr'mē'lô', GASPARD (182492). A Swiss Catholic prelate, whose ecclesiastical history is largely the story of the quarrel between the radical Government of Geneva in the seventies and the Holy See. He was born in Carouge, studied in a Jesuit college at Freiburg, and took holy orders in 1847. He immediately sprang into prominence as an impassioned orator and a leader of the Ultramontanists, in whose behalf he founded L'Observateur Catholique and the Annales Catholiques. In 1864 he was appointed Vicar-General of Geneva, and in 1865 received full episcopal powers in the canton. In the struggle precipitated by this action, the Genevan Government acted with great bitterness, and in 1873 exiled him. An attempt on the Pope's part in 1879 to restore him was unsuccessful, as the brief forming the Canton of Geneva into an apostolic vicarate was still in force; but in 1883 Mermillod was appointed Bishop of Lausanne and Geneva, and the distasteful title was thus abrogated and the decree of exile consequently withdrawn. He was made a cardinal in 1890. His collected works, sermons, lives of the saints, and political pamphlets, were published in Paris and Lyons in 1893. Consult Lesur and Bournand, Le Cardinal Mermillod (Abbeville, 1895). MERODACH, mērô-dăk, or BEL-MERODACH. The name of a Babylonian-Assyrian deity, who is generally referred to in the Old Testament as Bel (i.e. lord') or Bel-Merodach. The Babylonian form of the name is Maruduk or Marduk. Originally merely the patron deity of the city of Babylon, he became the head of the Babylonian Pantheon, as Babylon grew to be the capital of a great kingdom. In virtue of this preeminent position, he usurped the rites of older gods, who in earlier periods of Mesopotamian history had been supreme, notably the chief god of Nippur, known as Bel of Nippur or simply Bel. Hence the references to him in the Old Testament as Bel or Bel-Merodach, and, in the Babylonian religious literature, the substitution of Marduk by the Babylonian theologians in hymns and myths which originally spoke of Bel. By virtue of this process, Marduk becomes the creator of mankind as well as the god who brings order into the uni verse by his conquest of the monster Tiamat. This story of Marduk and Tiamat became known to the Hebrews, among whom it gave birth to such conceptions as Leviathan (q.v.), and plays a prominent part in the Apocalyptic literature. In the legend of Saint George and the dragon we have another transformation of the Marduk and Tiamat myth. Marduk appears originally to have been a solar god, but, as in the case of other gods, his nature is not 'single,' and hence he appears also in the literature as a storm god. In the artificial astronomical system of the Babylonian scholars, which identified the chief deities with the great stars, Marduk is identical with the planet Jupiter of the Romans. As the head of the Pantheon he receives such titles as 'King of the Gods,' 'King of Heaven and Earth,' 'the supreme god,' and the like. The chief temple of Marduk stood in the city of Babylon and was known as E-sag-ila (i.e. the lofty house'). It is now being explored by a German expedition. Consult: Jastrow, Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, especially chaps. viii. and xxi. (Boston, 1898); Zimmern, Keilinschriften und das Alte Testament, pp. 370-96 (Berlin, 1902). MÉRODE, mâ'ród', FRANÇOIS XAVIER MARIE FRÉDÉRIC GHISLAIN, Count de (1820-1874). A Roman Catholic prelate. He was born at Brussels, a grand-nephew of Lafayette. He entered the Belgian army and took part in the Algerian campaign. In 1874 he began the study of theology at Rome, where he was ordained to the priesthood in 1850. Pius IX. made him his chamberlain, and canon of Saint Peter's. In 1860 he was appointed temporary Minister of War, and recruited, chiefly from foreigners, a Pontifical army. In 1865 he went out of office in consequence of a dispute with Cardinal Antonelli. The next year he was made Archbishop of Mytilene and Papal Almoner. In 1869 he resisted the declaration of the doctrine of Papal infallibility; but he acquiesced in the final enunciation of it by the Ecumenical Council. Consult his Life by Besson (Paris, 1886). MEROE, měrô-ē (Lat., from Gk. Mepón). The second capital of ancient Ethiopia (q.v.), dominant from the reign of King Ergamenes (about B.C. 250), and the only residence of the kings after the downfall of Napata (q.v.). As Berua, it is mentioned as early as B.C. 500; the extensive ruins (described by Cailliaud, and finely illustrated in Lepsius, Denkmäler, part v.) are situated at a place now called Begerawieh. Consult: Cailliaud, Voyage à Méroé (Paris, 1823-27); Lepsius, Letters from Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Peninsula of Sinai (London, 1853). ME'ROM, WATERS OF. The scene of the great battle between the Hebrews under Joshua and the allied kings of Canaan (Josh. xi.). The Waters of Merom are commonly identified with the more northern of the two lakes through which the Jordan flows in its course to the Dead Sea, although the identification is not free from difficulty and is disputed. This lake is now called Huleh, or more fully Baheiret el-Huleh, 'the little lake of Huleh.' It is triangular in shape; at its base, toward the north, the Jordan enters and flows out again from its apex toward the south on its descent to the Sea of Galilee. The falling rains and melting snows periodically increase its size, but its average length is about three and one-half miles, and its width at the broadest point about three; its depth is 10 to 16 feet. Josephus calls the lake Semechonitis (Wars, iii.x. 7), and the region about it Ulatha (Antiquities, xv., x. 3). The district, which is very fertile, is inhabited by Arabs. Consult Macgregor, The Rob Roy on the Jordan (New York, 1870). MEROPE, měr'o-pē. (1) A sister of Phaethon and one of the Heliades. (2) One of the Pleiades, the wife of Sisyphus and mother of Glaucus. (3) The daughter of Cypselus and wife of the Messenian King Cresphontes. All her sons except Epytus were killed when her brother-in-law, Polyphontes, seized the kingdom. Epytus fled, and when he had grown up returned and put Polyphontes to death. MÉROPE, ma'rop'. A tragedy by Voltaire (1743). MEROP'ODA (Neo-Lat., from Gk. μépos, meros, a part, a segment + TOús, пodós, pous, podos, a foot). The name given by Packard to a phylum or general group of arthropodous animals comprising three classes, i.e. the diplopod Myriapoda (q.v.) or 'thousand-legs,' the Pauropoda, and the Symphyla. It is equivalent to the Tracheata progoneata of Pocock. In the typical forms (Diplopoda) the second pair of mouthappendages, corresponding to the mandibles of insects, are very different in structure and composed of three segments, since all the head and thoracic appendages are made up of several joints, hence the name Meropoda, or jointed-legs. In this phylum all the forms agree in having the genital outlets situated a little behind the head; i.e. in diplopods and pauropods in the third segment behind the head, while in the Symphyla (Scolopendrella) the single opening is in the fourth segment from the head. The young on hatching differ from those of centipedes (Chilopoda) in having but three pairs of legs, but unlike those of insects, either the third or the second trunk-segment in diplopods is footless. See CENTIPEDE; MYRIAPODA. MER'OSTOM'ATA (Neo-Lat. nom. pl., from Gk. μépos, meros, part + σтbua, stoma, mouth). A class of Arthropoda, standing next above the Trilobites and immediately below the Arachnida, these three classes forming a series by themselves and distinct from the Crustacea. They are represented by the king-crab (q.v.), or Limulus, the sole surviving member of the class. The merostomes are subdivided into three orders: the Eurypterida, represented by Eurypterus; the Synziphosura, of which three Paleozoic families are the types; and, third, the Xiphosura, type Limulus. The class chiefly differs from Trilobites in having appendages of two types, those of the head being single, those of the abdomen being biramous; in being provided with bookgills, attached to the broad abdominal legs, which are fused together at the base, the head appendages often ending in a forceps, while they differ from the Arachnida in breathing by gills, all the forms being marine, in the nature of the appendages, the brain, the nervous cord enveloped by arteries, and by the reproductive organs. The earliest forms are the Eurypterida. The typical genus Eurypterus, unlike the kingcrab, probably actively swarm nearer the surface of the sea. The species are found fossil in rocks of Cambrian to Permian age. The form of the body is somewhat like that of a scorpion, though flatter and of larger size. A quadrate VOL. XIII.-23. headpiece or cephalothorax with rounded front corners bears two large reniform compound eyes, between which are two small eye spots or ocelli. The abdominal portion consists of twelve segments that taper posteriorly and are terminated by a strong, sharp spine or telson. The structure of the ventral surface of the body is quite similar to that of the horse-shoe crab. The eurypterids appeared first in the Potosi Cambrian limestones of Missouri. At the end of the Silurian period geographic conditions seem to have favored their development, for they expanded rapidly and became the dominant types of the fauna of the inclosed basins in which were deposited the shallow water passage beds between the Silurian and Devonian formations. They appear in great numbers in the water limestones or cement rocks of New York State, and in beds of equivalent age and similar character in Great Britain and the Baltic Provinces; also in the coal measures of Carboniferous age in Pennsylvania, Nova Scotia, and in Europe, where they are associated with the fossil remains of a swamp fauna and flora. The last member of the genus is known from Permian fresh-water beds of Portugal. The genus seems to have been first a marine shallow-water organism and to have changed its habitat through brackish and possibly to fresh water in succeeding geological periods. Several allied genera are found associated with the remains of Eurypterus; of these Pterygotus, Slimonia, and Stylonurus are the most important. See the articles KING-CRAB; XIPHOSURA. EURYPTERUS FISCHERI. BIBLIOGRAPHY. Zittell, Text-Book of Paleontology, trans. by Eastman (New York, 1900); Woodward, Monograph of the British Fossil Crustacea of the Order Merostomata (Palæontological Society, London, 1866-78); Packard, "On the Carboniferous Xiphosurous Fauna of North America," in the Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. iii. (Washington, 1886); with the writings of De Kay, Hall, Huxley, Salter, Peach, and Laurie. The first dynasty of MER'OVIN'GIANS. the Frankish Kings in Gaul. The name is derived from Merovæus, the reputed grandfather of the great Frankish King Clovis (q.v.), who in 486 put an end to the Roman dominion in Gaul. Clovis on his death divided his kingdom among his four sons, one of whom, Clotaire I., reunited them under his own sway, in 558. On his death, in 561, the Kingdom was again divided into four parts-Aquitaine, Burgundy, Neustria, and Austrasia. His grandson, Clotaire II., again reunited them in 613. Later there were again three States, Neustria, Austrasia, and Burgundy, which were united in 687. The power of the Merovingian kings was finally reduced to a shadow, the real power having passed into the hands of the major domus (q.v.). The dynasty of the Merovingians terminated with the deposition of Childeric III. by Pepin the Short (q.v.) in 752, and gave place to that of the Carolingians (q.v.). (See FRANKS.) The chief authority for the earlier parts of the history of the Merovingians is Gregory of Tours. Consult: Thierry, Récits des temps mérovingiens (Paris, 1840); Richter, Annalen des fränkischen Reichs (Halle, 1873); Sergeant, The Franks (New York, 1898). MERRIAM, AUGUSTUS CHAPMAN (1843-95). An eminent classical scholar, born at Locust Grove, N. Y. In 1866 he graduated with the highest honors from Columbia College, and from 1868 until his death he was connected with his alma mater as tutor, adjunct professor of Greek, and professor of Greek archæology and epigraphy. He was director of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 1887-88, during which year important excavations were carried He died January 19, 1895, while on a visit to Athens, and was buried there. His chief publications are: The Phæacians of Homer (New York, 1880); The Greek and Latin Inscriptions on the Obelisk Crab in Central Park (1883); The Sixth and Seventh Books of Herodotus (New York, 1885); The Law Code of Gortyna in Crete (New York, 1886). on. MERRIAM, CLINTON HART (1855-). An American biologist, born in New York City and educated at the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale (1877) and the New York College of Physicians and Surgeons. He served as naturalist to the Hayden Survey in 1872; was appointed assistant of the United States Fish Commission in 1875, and head of the Biological Survey in 1885; and acted as one of the Bering Sea Commissioners in 1891 and as head of various expeditions. He developed the Biological Survey as a bureau of the United States Department of Agriculture and edited a long and important series of publications relating to the fauna of North America, in the classification of which he became a leading authority. Among his published works are: The Birds of Connecticut (1877); Mammals of the Adirondacks (188284); Biological Reconnaissance of Idaho (1891); Geographic Distribution of Life in North America (1892); Flora and Fauna of the Death Valley Expedition (1893); Temperature Control of Dis tribution of Animals and Plants (1894); and many pamphlets relating to American zoology. MERRIAM, FLORENCE. See BAILEY, FLORENCE MERRIAM. mander of the Department of Colorado in 1900, and was retired in 1901. The Merriam infantry pack was invented by him. MER'RILL. Lincoln County, Wis., 170 miles northwest of A city and the county-seat of Milwaukee; on both sides of the Wisconsin River, and on the Chicago, Milwaukee and Saint Paul Railroad (Map: Wisconsin, D 3). It is laid out with broad and well-paved streets, and has the T. B. Scott Public Library occupying a fine building, a commodious opera house, a large and well equipped high school, and a handsome court house. The surrounding country possesses valuable hardwood timber, and there are in Merrill very important lumber manufactories, producing sawed lumber, shingles, laths, etc. Settled in 1875. Merrill was incorporated five years later. The government is vested in a mayor, biennially elected, and a unicameral council. Population, in 1890, 6809; in 1900, 8537. MERRILL, FREDERICK JAMES HAMILTON (1861-). An American geologist, born in New York City. He graduated at the Columbia School of Mines in 1885, received his Ph.D. there five years afterwards, held a fellowship in geology at Columbia College (1886-90), and was assistant in the New Jersey Geological Survey (1885-89). From 1890 to 1893 he was assistant geologist for New York State. He was director of the New York State Museum in 1894, and he was in charge of the New York exhibit at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. He was a member of numerous scientific societies, to whose bulletins and to other periodicals he contributed special articles, and in 1898 he was made State Geologist for New York. To the bulletin of the New York State Museum he contributed Salt and Gypsum Industries in New York (1893); Mineral Resources of New York (1896); Road Materials and Road Building in New York (1897). MERRILL, GEORGE PERKINS (1854-). An American geologist, born at Auburn, Me. After graduating at the Maine State College (1879) he was assistant in chemistry at Wesleyan University, Conn. (1879-80). In 1880 he was appointed assistant curator at the National Museum. He also served as professor of geology and mineralogy at the Corcoran Scientific School of Columbian University, Washington, D. C. (1893); and was appointed head curator of the department of geology at the National Museum, Washington, in 1897. His chief publications are: Stones for Building and Decorations, Handbooks for the Department of Geology, United States National Museum, and a Report of the Smith sonian Institution (1890). MERRIAM, HENRY CLAY (1837-). An American soldier, born in Maine. He graduated at Colby College (Waterville, Maine), studied law, entered the United States Army in 1862 as captain in the Twentieth Maine Volunteer Infantry, MERRILL, LEWIS (1834-96). An American resigned in 1863, and in the same year was ap- soldier, born at New Berlin, Pa. He graduated pointed captain in the Eightieth United States at West Point in 1855, was assigned to duty with colored troops. He served until the close of the the First Dragoons, and served in Missouri, in Civil War from 1863 with colored troops, was Kansas Territory, and with the Utah expedition. brevetted colonel of volunteers for faithful and In 1861, as colonel and chief of staff to John C. meritorious services during the campaign against Frémont, he organized Merrill's Horse to oppose Mobile and its defenses, and in 1865 led the final guerrillas in Missouri, and later commanded the attack on Fort Blakely, Ala., with the Seventy- Department of Saint Louis, and then that of third United States colored infantry. In 1866 he Northern Missouri. In 1864 he was commander became major in the Thirty-eighth United States of the cavalry bureau at Saint Louis and took Infantry, in 1885 colonel of the Seventh Infantry, part in the engagements at Franklin, Mo. The and in 1897 brigadier-general. As commander next year he was sent against guerrillas in northof the departments of Columbia and California ern Georgia and Alabama, and was brevetteď in 1898 he organized and forwarded troops for brigadier-general. After various Western assignthe Philippines expedition. He became com- ments he was placed in command of a military district in South Carolina with orders to break up the Ku Klux Klan (q.v.). From 1871 to 1873 he succeeded in this so well that when similar conditions arose in the Red River District of Louisiana he was made commander there in 1875, remaining until the following year. MERRILL, SELAH (1837—). An American Congregationalist clergyman, born in Canton Centre, Conn. After studying theology at the Yale Divinity School he was ordained in 1864. During the last year of the Civil War he was chaplain of the Forty-ninth United States colored infantry, and in 1868 went to Germany, where he studied two years. In 1874-77 he was in Palestine as archæologist of the American Palestine Exploration Society, and in 1882 became United States consul at Jerusalem. While there he made important explorations and excavations to discover the second wall of Jerusalem and determine the site of Calvary. He was again consul in 1891-94, and was reappointed in 1898. He taught at Andover Theological Seminary in 1872 and 1879, and became curator of the Biblical Museum there. His works include: East of the Jordan (1881 and 1883); Galilee in the Time of Christ (1881); Greek Inscriptions Collected in the Years 1875-77 in the Country East of the Jordan (1885); and parts of Picturesque Palestine (1882-83). MERRILL, STEPHEN MASON (1825-1905). A Methodist Episcopal bishop, born in Jefferson County, Ohio. He entered the ministry in Ohio An He in 1846, was editor of the Western Christian Advocate (1868-72), and in 1872 was elected bishop. He retired in 1904. His chief works are: Christian Baptism (1876); Hell (1878); Second Coming of Christ (1879); Aspects of Christian Experience (1882); Methodist Law (1885 et seq.); Mary of Nazareth and Her Family (1895); Atonement (1901); Sanctification (1901). MERRILL, WILLIAM EMERY (1837-91). American soldier and military engineer. was born at Fort Howard, Wis.; graduated first in his class at West Point in 1859, and from September, 1860, to July, 1861, was assistant professor of engineering there. In the Civil War he served as assistant engineer in the Army of the Potomac during the Peninsular campaign and in the Northern Virginia campaign; was superintending engineer at Newport and Covington, Ky., at the time of the threatened Confederate attack in September and October, 1862; was chief engineer of the forces in Kentucky from October, 1862, to May, 1863, and of the Army of the Cumberland from August to September, 1863, and again from January to June, 1865; participated in the invasion of Georgia from May to June, 1864; and from July, 1864, to September, 1865, commanded, as colonel, a regiment of 'veteran volunteer' engineers which was charged with the erection of defenses along the military railroads in Tennessee, Georgia, and northern Alabama, and at Chattanooga, Tenn. During the war he received the successive brevets of captain, major, lieutenant-colonel, and colonel for gallant services. In March, 1867, he was raised to the regular rank of major and in February, 1883, to that of lieutenant-colonel. From 1867 to 1870 he was chief engineer on the staff of General Sherman, then commanding the Military Division of the Missouri, and thereafter until his death he was engaged on engineering work for the Government. In 1889 he represented the United States Engineer Corps at the International Congress of Engineers at Paris. He published: Iron Truss Bridges for Railroads (1870) and Improvement of Non-Tidal Rivers (1881). MERRIMAC. A river of New Hampshire and Massachusetts. It is formed by the union of the Winnipiseogee and Pemigewasset, the former being the outlet of the lake of that name, and the latter rising in the White Mountains (Map: Massachusetts, E 2). It flows southward until it enters Massachusetts, when it turns eastward and empties into the Atlantic Ocean at Newburyport. Its length, including the Pemigewasset, is 183 miles, and its chief importance is the waterpower which it furnishes to the manufacturing cities of Lowell, Lawrence, and Manchester. MERRIMAC, THE. (1) A United States frigate, sunk with other vessels when the Federal Government abandoned the Norfolk Navy Yard in 1861, and reconstructed as a Confederate ironclad. She was then renamed the Virginia. After destroying the Congress and the Cumberland at Newport News on March 8, 1862, she met the Monitor in Hampton Roads on March 9, and after a contest of four hours was obliged to withdraw. She was destroyed when the Norfolk yard was evacuated by the Confederates on May 11, 1862. See HAMPTON ROADS and MONITOR. To (2) A collier accompanying the United States fleet investing Santiago de Cuba, in 1898. prevent the escape of the Spanish fleet she was sunk at the mouth of the harbor on June 3 by Lieutenant Richmond P. Hobson, who, after accomplishing his perilous feat, was captured by the Spaniards and held prisoner until July 6. An MER'RIMAN, HENRY SETON. The pseudonym of the English novelist Hugh S. Scott (q.v.). MERRIMAN, MANSFIELD (1848-). American civil engineer, born at Southington, Conn. He graduated at the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University in 1871, was assistant in the United States Corps of Engineers in 187273, and instructor in civil engineering at the Sheffield School from 1875 to 1878. In 1878 he was appointed professor of civil engineering in Lehigh University. From 1880 to 1885 he was also assistant on the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey. His researches in connection with hydraulics, bridges, strength of materials, and pure mathematics are important. His chief publications, widely used as standard text-books,. are: Method of Least Squares (1884; 8th ed. 1901); Mechanics of Materials (1885; 9th ed. 1902); Treatise on Hydraulics (8th ed. 1903). MERRITT, WESLEY (1836-). An American soldier, prominent in the Civil War and the Spanish-American War. He was born in New York City, graduated at West Point in 1860, was assigned as second lieutenant of the Second Dragoons in January, 1861, acted as aide-decamp to General Cooke from February to September, 1862, and in April, 1862, was promoted to be captain. He participated in Stoneman's famous raid toward Richmond in April-May, 1863; commanded the reserve cavalry brigade of the Army of the Potomac in the battle of Gettysburg and in the Richmond campaign from April to August, 1864; and commanded a cavalry division in the Shenandoah Valley campaign under Sheridan from August, 1864, to March, 1865, and in the final Richmond campaign of In March-April, 1865. For his services he received the successive brevets of major, lieutenantcolonel, colonel, major-general of volunteers, and brigadier-general and major-general in the Regular Army; and on April 1, 1865, was promoted to be major-general of volunteers. He acted as chief of cavalry of the military division of the Southwest from June 9 to July 17, 1865, and commanded the cavalry in the Department of Texas from July 28 to November 8, 1865. February, 1866, he was mustered out of the volunteer service, and in July was appointed lieutenant-colonel in the Regular Army. He then served on frontier duty at various stations for several years, was promoted to be colonel of the Fifth Cavalry, July 1, 1876, and in the same year served against the Indians in Wyoming and Dakota. From 1882 to 1887 he was superintendent of the United States Military Academy, and in April, 1887, he was promoted to be brigadiergeneral. He became a major-general in April, 1895; was in command of the Department of the East in 1897-98; was placed in command of the United States forces in the Philippine Islands (q.v.) in May, 1898; and later in the same year was summoned to Paris to assist the American Peace Commissioners there. In June, 1900, he was retired from active service. MERRY, ROBERT (1755-98). An English poet, born in London. He studied at Christ College, Cambridge, and began the study of law, but was never called to the bar. In 1775 he purchased a commission in the Horse Guards, but soon afterwards sold it. After leaving the service, Merry traveled extensively throughout Europe, and in Florence was made a member of the so-called Della Cruscan Circle. He wrote much for the Florence Miscellany, and after his return to England published reams of affected and grandiloquent verse over the signature Della Crusca. His ambition was to form a new school, and his style is similar to that of Mrs. Piozzi and Bertie Greatheed. He also wrote a number of incoherent dramas, including: Lorenzo (1791); The Magician No Conjurer (1792); and The Abbey of St. Augustine (1797). From 1796 he resided in the United States. MERRY, WILLIAM WALTER (1835-). Rector of Lincoln College, Oxford. He was born in Worcestershire; educated at Cheltenham College and Balliol College, Oxford, where he gained the Chancellor's prize for a Latin essay in 1858. He was elected fellow and tutor of Lincoln College in 1859, and rector in 1884; was presented to the Vicarage of All Saints, Oxford, in 1861; was appointed one of the select preachers to the university in 1878-79, and again in 1889; was elected public orator in the university in 1880; and in 1883-84 was, by appointment of the Bishop of London, one of the preachers in the Chapel Royal, Whitehall. He has been prominent in teaching and examining in the university, and has frequently been classical moderator. He has been for many years engaged in the preparation of editions of the classical authors to be published by the Clarendon Press, Oxford. Of these have so far appeared: Homer's Odyssey (books i. to xii., second edition, 1886; books xiii. to xxiv., 15th thousand, 1901); and a series of the plays of Aristophanes, begun in 1879. other work in classical literature is on The Greek Dialects (1875). An MERRY DEVIL OF EDMONTON, THE. An anonymous comedy acted in 1607 and printed in 1608. It has been attributed on slight evidence to Drayton by Coxeter, and also ascribed to Shakespeare. Fleay thinks the play, originally called Sir John Oldcastle, was written by Drayton for the Chamberlain's Men before 1597, and that the prose story of the same title by T. B., 1608, is not to be identified with the play. It was very popular; Jonson remarks that it was the "dear delight of the public." Allusions to it are found in Grim, the Collier of Croyden, and probably in Merry Wives of Windsor as well. The hero, Fabel, whose tomb was at Edmonton, was said to have sold his soul to the devil, but his wit proved too much for the purchaser. MERRY ENGLAND. An old popular name early meaning of 'pleasant.' of England, in which the word merry has its MERRY MONARCH, THE. A nickname of King Charles II. of England. MERRY MOUNT. The name of a settlement made by Thomas Morton within the limits of the present Quincy, Mass. See MORTON, THOMAS. MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR, THE. A The comedy by Shakespeare, produced probably in 1597, printed complete in 1623. An imperfect copy, entitled Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor, was printed by Thomas Creede in 1602, bearing evident marks of haste. play was made for a Court performance, and is said to have been written at Queen Elizabeth's command, to show Falstaff in love. Some incidents of the plot are taken from two tales in Straparola's Notti Piacevoli; from Tarleton's The Lovers of Pisa in his Newes Out of Purgatorie; from Brainford's "Fishwife's Tale" in Westward for Smelts. The buck-basket found in the tale of Buciolo in Fiorentino's Pecorone is in the comedy the basket of soiled linen in which Falstaff hides. It is notably a play of middle-class people, and, like Much Ado About Nothing, is mostly prose. A version called The Comical Gallant was made in 1702 by John Dennis, who is one authority for Elizabeth's connection with the play. Another is Rowe in 1709. MERSCHEID, měrʼshit. A town of Germany. See OHLIGS. MERSEBURG, měrʼze-boork. A town in the Province of Saxony, Prussia, situated on the Saale, about 20 miles west-northwest of Leipzig (Map: Prussia, D 3). It is ancient in appearance. It has a fine cathedral, begun in the eleventh and finished in the sixteenth century. The Gothic castle, the former residence of the bishops, is now used as an administration building. Other interesting buildings are the Rathaus, the new assembly house, and the chapter house. The gymnasium, founded in 1575, is the chief educational institution. Merseburg manufactures machinery, leather, iron products, toys, textiles, etc. It is considered one of the oldest towns of Germany. As early as the ninth century it was the residence of the counts of Merseburg. During the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth centuries it was the favorite residence of the German emperors and the seat of many diets. Merseburg was the seat of an important bishopric in the Middle Ages. With the introduction of Protestantism the see passed to Sax |