their property and franchises. Amendments to the Constitution may be proposed in either House, the approval of two-thirds of the members elected to each being necessary to adoption, followed by the approval of a majority of the qualified electors of the State. Every sixteenth year, and oftener if provided by law, the question of the general revision of the Constitution is submitted to the electors, and if approved by a majority vote a convention must be called by the Legislature for that purpose. Suffrage is granted to male citizens above twenty-one years of age, who have resided in the State six months, and in the township or ward twenty days.

EXECUTIVE. The Lieutenant-Governor and the president pro tempore of the Senate are in the line of succession to the Governorship in case of vacancy. The Governor may convene special sessions of the Legislature and exercise the usual pardoning power, subject to certain regulations. Other State officers are the Secretary of State, superintendent of public instruction, treasurer, commissioner of the land office, auditor, and attorney-general. All these officers are elected at the general biennial election, and serve for two years.

LEGISLATIVE. There are 32 Senators elected for two years from single districts, in the composition of which counties cannot be divided unless they are entitled to two or more Senators. The minimum and maximum constitutional limits to the number of members in the House are 64 and 100 respectively. They are also elected for two years, from districts composed of contiguous territory, in the formation of which no township or city can be divided. Members are paid for mileage and stationery, and $3 per day of actual attendance and when absent on account of sickness; but extra compensation may be granted to members from the Upper Peninsula. Bills may originate in either House, and a two-thirds vote of the members elected to each overcomes the Governor's veto. No new bill can be introduced after the first fifty days of a session. Election of members is on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November of even years. The Assembly opens on the first Wednesday of January of odd years.

JUDICIAL. The Supreme Court consists of one Chief Justice and three associates, chosen by the people for eight years. The State is divided into judicial circuits, in each of which one circuit judge is elected for six years. In each county organized for judicial purposes there is a court of probate, the judge being elected by the county for four years. Justices of the peace, not exceed ing four to each township, are elected for four

years.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT. The Legislature may confer upon townships, cities, and villages, and upon the board of supervisors of the several counties, such powers of a local, legislative, and administrative character as it may deem proper; and may organize any city of 20,000 inhabitants into a county when the majority of the electors of the county in which the city is located consent. Each county biennially elects a sheriff, clerk, treasurer, register of deeds, and a prosecuting at torney, the sheriff not being eligible to office more than four years in any period of six years. The board of supervisors, composed of one representative from each organized township, has charge of bridges, etc., and may raise by tax

$1000 per year, or a greater amount, if the electors consent. There are annually elected in each township a supervisor, clerk (ex-officio school inspector), commissioner of highways, treasurer, school inspector, not exceeding four constables, and an overseer of highways for each highway district.

STATUTORY PROVISIONS. The legal rate of interest is 6 per cent.; 10 per cent. is allowed by contract. The penalty for usury is forfeiture of debt if over 12 per cent. A local-option liquor law was passed in 1887, under which both manufacture and sale may be prohibited within the county. A married woman may carry on business in her own name, and her property is not liable for the debts of her husband.

Michigan has twelve members in the National House of Representatives. The capital of the State is Lansing.

The

FINANCE. The first Legislature of the State authorized in 1837 a loan of $5,000,000, to be devoted to public improvements. Only a small part of the bonds were sold direct and paid in full. About two-thirds of them were deposited with the United States Bank of Pennsylvania, which failed in 1841 after selling some of the bonds. State became liable for interests on these bonds, It for which it never received any payment. could not meet the interest payment in 1842. An adjustment was soon reached, which amounted to a partial repudiation of the State debt. The State debt amounted in 1861 to $2,316,328, increased during the war to $3,880,399, but fell to $904,000 in 1880, and was almost altogether extinguished in 1890. The present Constitution contains very strict provisions against formation of a State debt, any debts over $50,000 being absolutely prohibited except in case of war or insurrection. The indebtedness dates from the Civil War, and amounted in 1902 only to $416,300. The State must not subscribe to the stock of any company, shall not lend its credit to any one, and must not undertake any internal improvement unless it possesses a specific grant of land or other property for that purpose. The income of the State grows steadily, and was $1,510,000 in 1870, $2,607,000 in 1880, and $3,181,000 in 1890. In 1902 the total receipts were $7,079,429, and expenditures $6,253,141, leaving a surplus of $826,288, and a total balance in The revenue of the June, 1902, of $3,453,811. State is derived partly from direct taxation (about 65 per cent.), and partly from specific taxes on railroads (about 23 per cent.), and on mining companies, banks, insurance and express companies. Altogether, about one-third of the income comes from these specific taxes.

MILITIA. The militia is composed of all ablebodied male citizens between the ages of eighteen and forty-five, except such as are exempted by law. In 1901 the organized militia numbered 3106 enlisted men and commissioned officers.

POPULATION. The population of Michigan increased from 4762 in 1810 to 31.639 in 1830: 212,267 in 1840; 397.654 in 1850; 1,184,059 in 1870; 2,093,889 in 1890; and 2.420,982 in 1900. The rate of gain for the last decade was 15.6 per cent., as against 20.7 per cent. for the United States. From twenty-seventh in rank in 1830, the State rose to ninth in 1880. where it has remained. The density of the population is 42 persons to the square mile. The prairie region in the south was naturally the

first portion of the State settled, and the mass of the population is still found in the southern half of the Lower Peninsula. The population is steadily increasing, however, in the more northern regions. The early settlers were largely from New England and New York, but a very considerable German element settled in the State about the middle of the nineteenth century. The position of Michigan relative to Canada has resulted in giving it a large Canadian element-greater than that of any other State except Massachusetts. The Canadians form the most numerous foreign-born element in the State. They predominate in many northern localities. The German-born population is second in importance among the foreign-born. The total foreign-born population in 1900 was 521,653. In that year there were 26 cities having each over 8000 inhabitants, and aggregating 30.9 per cent. of the total population. The largest cities, with their population in 1900, are as follows: Detroit, 285,704; Grand Rapids, 87,565; Saginaw, 42,345; Bay City, 27,628; Jackson, 25,180; Kalamazoo, 24,404; Muskegon, 20,818; Port Huron, 19,154; Battle Creek, 18,563; Lansing, 16,485; Ann Arbor, 14, 509; Manistee, 14,260.

RELIGION. The Methodist and the Roman Catholic churches are in the lead, followed in the order named by the Lutherans, Baptists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and Protestant Episcopalians.

EDUCATION. In 1900 the total illiterate population ten years of age and over was 4.2 per cent. In 1900 there were 498,665 pupils enrolled in the public schools, of whom 350,000 were in average attendance. In 1899 there were 692 graded and 6469 ungraded school districts in the State, but the attendance in the former was much greater than in the latter. The average duration of the graded schools was 9.26 months; of the ungraded, 8.05 months. There are county boards of three school examiners, who determine the qualifications of persons proposing to teach in public schools; township boards of three school inspectors, whose title indicates their work; and district boards of six trustees for graded school districts and boards of three trustees for ungraded ones, their duties being to look after the educational interests of the respective districts, specify the studies to be pursued, prescribe textbooks, and elect teachers. No separate school for any race is allowed. Schools must be unsectarian and must be taught at least nine months in districts having eight hundred or more youths of school age, and at least five months in districts having from thirty to eight hundred, and three months in smaller districts. In 1899-1900 there were 15,564 teachers, of whom 12,093 were females. The average monthly wages of men in 1900 were $44.48, and of women $35.35. The State contains normal schools at Mount Pleasant, Ypsilanti, and Marquette. The primary school fund amounted in 1897 to $4,646,204. The greater part of this fund was acquired from the sale of the sixteenth section of land in every township. The remainder was acquired from the sale of swamp lands. The total expenditure of the State for public schools in 1899-1900 was $6.539,146, of which $4,312,245 was paid as salaries to teachers and superintendents. The State University, located at Ann Arbor, is one of the foremost higher educational institutions in the country. The university fund amounted in 1897 to $549,

621. The State also maintains an agricultural college and a school of mines. In 1897 there was a State educational fund of $569,951. Besides the State institutions, there are the following denominational schools: Adrian College, at Adrian (Methodist); Albion College, at Albion (Methodist); Alma College, Alma (Presbyterian); Detroit College, Detroit (Roman Catholic); Hillsdale College, Hillsdale (Free Baptist); Hope College, Holland (Reformed); Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo (Baptist); Olivet College, Olivet (Congregational).

The

CHARITABLE AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS. There is a State board of correction and charities appointed by the Governor for a term of 8 years. This board is authorized to examine into the conditions of every city and county poor-house and county jail, visit the State charitable, penal, and reformatory institutions, and make reports and recommendations concerning the same. law authorizes the Governor to appoint an agent of the board in every county to look after the care of juvenile offenders and dependent children. The system is intended to secure reformation without commitment to State institutions, and only one-third of the children arrested are sent to the Industrial School for boys at Lansing, and to the Industrial Home for girls at Adrian. The State Public School for the care of dependent and neglected children is located at Coldwater. The Michigan School for the Deaf is located at Flint, and the School for the Blind at Lansing. The State insane asylums, with the number of patients June 30, 1900, were as follows: Michigan Asylum for the Insane, at Kalamazoo, 1392 patients; Eastern Michigan Asylum, at Pontiac, 1056 patients; Northern Michigan Asylum, at Traverse City, 1050 patients; and the Upper Peninsula Hospital for Insane, at Newberry, 345 patients. The charge of maintenance of the State's insane has been gradually decreased from $4.06 per week in 1883-84 to $3.08 in 1899-1900. The Wayne County Asylum at Eloise (414 patients) is recognized by the State and is under the supervision of the State board. The State has a home for the feeble-minded and epileptics at Lapeer. The State penal institutions are the Michigan State Prison at Jackson; the State House of Correction at Ionia; and the Upper Peninsula Prison at Marquette. On June 30, 1900, 1372 convicts were confined in these institutions. Besides these the Detroit House of Correction receives prisoners from different counties. Most of the convicts in this institution are on short-time sentences. The State has a parole law under which certain prisoners are allowed to be at large, while still under the control of the prison authorities. The State House of Correction was intended as an adult reformatory, but new legislation has converted it into an ordinary prison, to which all classes of prisoners are sentenced. Part of the prisoners are employed under the State account system, others by contractors who hire the convicts. Various occupations are followed, shirt-making and laundering probably being the most important. The prisoners in county jails are generally kept in idleness.

HISTORY. Remains of ancient mines and mining implements have been found within the present limits of the State. The white discoverers and first settlers were French missionaries and fur traders, some of whom visited the site of Detroit as early as 1610. In 1641 French Jesuits found

their way to the falls of the Saint Mary. The first actual settlement by Europeans within the limits of the State was the mission at Sault Sainte Marie, founded by Father Marquette and others in 1668. Three years later Michilimackinac (now Mackinac) was established. In 1679 and 1686 forts were built at the mouth of the Saint Joseph, and at the outlet of Lake Huron, and in 1701 Antoine de la Mothe-Cadillac founded Detroit. Through the entire period of French occupation the town dragged out a painful existence, though the centre of a considerable fur trade and a place of meeting for friendly Indian tribes. The territory, with other French possessions, fell into the hands of the English at the end of the French and Indian War. Detroit was occupied in 1763, but early in May of that year the Indians, loyal to the French, rose under Pontiac (q.v.), massacred the garrison at Mackinac, and besieged Detroit for about five months. The English showed no capacity for government and the country made no progress under their rule. By the Quebec Act of 1774 the territory became a part of Canada, and during the Revolution Detroit was the starting point for many Indian expeditions which laid waste the American frontier. By the Treaty of Paris in 1783 the region passed to the United States, although England did not at once relinquish possession. After 1784 the Indians of the Northwest, deeming themselves unjustly treated by the Americans, waged a bloody warfare against the Western settlements till they were brought to terms by General Wayne in 1795. By the treaty of peace concluded in that year, they ceded large tracts of land on the east ern shore of the southern peninsula of Michigan and in the north to the United States. It was not until June 11, 1796, that the United States took actual possession of Detroit, though the region was included within the boundaries of the Northwest Territory, so called, and amenable to the ordinance of 1787. In 1800 Ohio was set off from the Northwest Territory, including the eastern portion of Michigan, but in 1802 the whole of the Lower Peninsula was annexed to the Territory of Indiana. Its southern boundary was a line drawn east from the southerly extreme of Lake Michigan to Lake Erie. At that time the white population of Michigan was about 4000, consisting for the most part of Canadian traders and coureurs de bois. On June 30, 1805, Michigan was set off as a separate Territory, with substantially its present limits, and Gen. William Hull was appointed Governor. During the War of 1812 the inhabitants were harassed by the British and Indians; Mackinac was captured by the British; Detroit was surrendered by Governor Hull (q.v.); and at Frenchtown, in 1813, a number of American prisoners of war were massacred by the Indians. (For military operations during the War of 1812, see UNITED STATES.) At different times after 1814 the Indians ceded large tracts of land, and by 1836 all the Lower Peninsula and part of the Upper Peninsula had been freed from Indian title. Surveys were made as early as 1816, and in 1818 a large tract of land was put on the market. In 1819 the Territory was authorized to send a delegate to Congress, and in 1823 the system of rule by a Governor and three judges was replaced by that of a Governor and a council of nine, selected from eighteen chosen by the people; in 1825 the council was increased to thirteen, and after 1827 the

members were elected by popular vote. In 1835 a State Constitution was adopted by a convention called for that purpose, but the admission of Michigan into the Union was delayed by a dispute with Ohio concerning a strip of land on the southern boundary. There was danger that the dispute would lead to bloodshed, but in 1836 Congress agreed to admit Michigan upon condition that she should surrender her claim to the disputed territory and accept in lieu thereof a larger area in the Upper Peninsula. The first convention called to consider this proposal, January 26, 1836, rejected it, but it was accepted by a second in December, 1836, and on January 26, 1837, Michigan was admitted into the Union.

The following have been Governors of the State since its organization as a Territory:

The first printing press in Michigan was set up in 1809, and in 1817 the first newspaper was published at Detroit. The opening of the Erie Canal (1825) poured a vast stream of immigration into Michigan, and at the time of the admission of the State the population was nearly 70,000, many of them from New England and New York. The first bank was established at Detroit, in 1818, and by 1837 there were fifteen such institutions. After 1835 the country went speculation mad, a general banking law was passed in 1837, and the State was flooded with paper money. The panic of 1837 did not interfere with the completion of the elaborate system of internal improvements that had been planned. The State undertook the building of three railways across the Lower Peninsula, but after running greatly into debt was forced in 1846 to sell them to private persons at a loss. An act establishing the University of Michigan was passed in 1817, academies and high schools were projected in 1821, and a board of education was created in 1829, but the common schools did not really come into existence till after 1835, and teaching in the university was begun on an appreciable scale about 1845. In 1847 the capital was removed from Detroit to Lansing. From 1853 to 1876 prohibition of the sale of liquor was a part of the Constitution. In 1876 prohibition was abolished and a heavy liquor tax substituted.

Legislation after the Civil War was concerned largely with the taxation of corporations. In 1889 the Australian ballot was adopted; a law providing for the election of Presidential electors by districts, instead of on a general ticket, was passed in 1891, but was repealed in 1893. Α factory inspection act was enacted in 1894, and a stringent anti-trust law in 1899. Michigan has consistently supported the Republican Party since its formation, except for three lapses-in 1882 and 1883, when the Democrats and Greenback party in fusion elected their candidate for Governor, and in 1890, when the Democrats alone carried the State.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

Michigan Geological Survey Report (Lansing, 1839 et seq.); Lamman, History of Michigan Civil and Topographical (New York, 1839); Sheldon, The Early History of Michigan (New York, 1856); Campbell, Outline of the Political History of Michigan (Detroit, 1876); Cooley, Michigan: A History of Governments (Boston, 1885); Farmer, The History of Detroit and Michigan (Detroit, 1889); McLaughlin, History of Higher Education in Michigan (Washington, 1891); Beal and Wheeler, Michigan Flora (Lansing, 1892); Champlin, "Industrial Prosperity," in Michigan Political Science Association Publications (Lansing, 1897). MICHIGAN, LAKE. The second in size of the great fresh-water lakes of the North American continent, and the only one lying wholly in the United States, bounded on the north and east by Michigan, on the south by Indiana, and on the west by Illinois and Wisconsin (Map: United States, H 2). It contains an area of 22,450 square miles. It is over 300 miles long, and its mean breadth is about 75 miles; the mean depth is about 870 feet. It is 581 feet above the level of the sea, and has been found by accurate observations to have a slight lunar tidal wave. Its banks are low and sandy, containing rocky sections of sandstone and limestone, but few high bluffs. Inland the sand-hills rise to the height of 150 feet. On the Wisconsin side the land is being gradually worn away, while a gain is noticeable on the Michigan side. The lake communicates with Lake Huron through the Straits of Mackinac, and is connected with the Mississippi, supposed to have been its ancient outlet, by the old Illinois and Michigan Canal and the new Chicago Drainage Canal (q.v.) at Chicago. Like all the Great Lakes, it is subject to violent storms, and its shores are guarded by twenty-three light-houses. The best harbors are at the mouths of tributary rivers; the chief ones are Chicago, Milwaukee, Escanaba, and Grand Haven. Its islands are in the northern portion, forming the Manitou group; the largest, Beaver Island, is 50 miles long. It has two large bays-Green Bay, 100 miles long, and Grand Traverse Bay, 30 miles long-and three of lesser dimensions, Little Traverse Bay, Little Bay of Noquet, and Big Bay of Noquet. Ice remains longer in the Straits of Mackinac than elsewhere, and navigation is usually closed for four consecutive months. Lake Michigan has important fisheries; white-fish and lake trout are taken and exported in large quantities, fresh and canned. The largest rivers which empty into it are the Saint Joseph, Muskegon, Grand, Kalamazoo, and Manistee, all in Michigan; the Fox in Wisconsin, emptying into Green Bay; and the Menominee on the borders

of Michigan and Wisconsin, also discharging into Green Bay. The lake forms, with the Saint Lawrence and the Lower Lakes, a natural outlet for one of the richest grain-growing regions in the world.

MICHIGAN, UNIVERSITY OF. A coeducational State institution at Ann Arbor, Mich., chartered in 1837. According to the terms of the charter, branches were established at various places to serve as preparatory schools of the university. These existed only a short time and were the forerunners of the State high schools, which are now in intimate relation with the university. The institution was opened in 1841, graduating its first class in 1845. It is intended primarily for the higher education of residents of the State, but receives students from all parts of the country on payment of a small tuition fee. The governing body is a board of regents, elected for terms of eight years. The university is organized in seven departments: literature, sciences, and the arts (including the graduate school); engineering (opened in 1853); medicine and surgery (1850); law (1859); pharmacy; the Homœopathic Medical College (1875); and the College of Dental Surgery (1875). Each department has its special faculty, with representation on the University Senate, which considers questions of common interest. The degrees conferred are bachelor and master of arts, science, and law; civil, mechanical, and electrical engineer; and doctor of philosophy, science, medicine, dental surgery, and dental science. The total attendance in 1902, including the summer session, was 3782, of whom 1400, including 668 women, were students in the department of literature, science, and the arts, 854 in law, and 513 in medicine. The total attendance of women was 725. The university, to 1901, had conferred 18,883 degrees, of which 1968 were given to women. The university was a pioneer in coeducation, women having first been admitted in 1870. They now constitute about one-fifth of the student body. Coeducation at the university has been uniformly successful. The libraries of the university, including a number of important collections, aggregated 165,000 volumes, with a recorded circulation of 167,949. The university museums contain collections illustrative of natural history, the industrial arts, chemistry, materia medica, anatomy, archæology, ethnology, the fine arts, and history, including a very full Chinese exhibit sent by the Chinese Government to the New Orleans Exposition and presented to the university in 1885. The Detroit Astronomical Observatory contains a meridian circle by Pistor and Martins, of Berlin, mounted clocks by Tiede and Howard, and a refracting telescope with a thirteen-inch object glass, constructed by the late Henry Fitz, of New York. A smaller observatory, used in the work of instruction, contains an equatorial telescope of six inches aperture and a transit instrument of three inches aperture. There are two hospitals connected with the university. The Waterman Gymnasium, for men, and the Barbour Gymnasium, for women, are free to all students. The general supervision of athletic sports is vested in a board of control of nine members, five chosen from the University Senate and four from the Students' Athletic Association. The university is a member of the Northern Oratorical League, which includes the universities of Chicago, Minnesota, and Wiscon

sin, the State University of Iowa, Northwestern, and Oberlin. It belongs to the Central Debating League, with the universities of Chicago and Minnesota, and Northwestern University, and has maintained for several years a series of debates with the University of Pennsylvania. Entrance is based upon examination or upon certificates from accredited schools. The university has no dormitories and no commons. Recent extension of the elective system has resulted in a considerable loss in the choice of Latin, Greek, and mathematics, and a marked gain in the modern languages. Among other developments, the establishment of courses in marine engineering and in the training of students for foreign consular service are noteworthy. The faculty in 1902 numbered 247. The endowment of the university was $545,964; its gross income, $741,000. The total value of the college property was $2,501,138, and that of the grounds and buildings $1,583,925. James B. Angell became president

in 1871.

MICHIGAN CITY. A city in Laporte County, Ind., 56 miles east of Chicago, Ill.; on Lake Michigan, and on the Lake Erie and Western, the Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville, and the Michigan Central railroads (Map: Indiana, C 1). It is the seat of the Northern Indiana State Prison, and has a public library, a United States life-saving station, a public park on the lake front, and a soldiers' monument. There are good transportation facilities, to which are due the city's large commercial interests, the trade being principally in lumber, salt, and iron ore. The manufactures of railroad cars, chairs, hosiery and knit goods, lumber and products of lumber are important. The government, as provided by the charter of 1867 and numerous amendments thereto, is vested in a mayor, who holds office for two years, and a common council, which elects all administrative officials, excepting the statutory municipal officers, who are chosen by popular vote. The city owns and operates the water-works. Michigan City was laid out in 1832 and settled in the following year. It was incorporated in 1837. Population, in 1890, 10,776; in 1900, 14,850.

MICHIGAN HERRING. The cisco (q.v.). MICHIGAN STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. A coeducational State institution at Lansing, Mich., the oldest institution of its kind in the country. It was established in pursuance of a constitutional provision in 1855, and was opened in 1857. Its endowment consists of a fund of $800,000 derived from the sale of part of the lands (235,673 acres) given by the General Government through the act of 1862. There are three courses, agricultural, mechanical, and women's or domestic science, which were attended in 1902 by 850 students under a faculty of 60. The library contained 23,000 volumes. Farmers' institutes are carried on annually in each county of the State, the total attendance at these instruction schools in 1902 being about 100,000. The income from the endowment fund, with other Government grants and State appropriations, amounted in 1902 to $225,000. In that year the buildings and grounds were valued at $700.000.

MICHMASH, mik'mãsh. The site of the camp of the Philistines in the war at the beginning of Saul's reign, connected with the notable

exploit of Jonathan (q.v.) related in I. Sam. xiv. It was a town of Benjamin, about seven miles north of Jerusalem. Its importance arose from its position on one of the two main roads from Jerusalem northward, at a point where the road descends into a steep and rugged valley. Josephus (Ant., vi. 6, 2) gives a detailed account of Jonathan's exploit, which tallies well with the features of the locality to-day. Men of Michmash returned with Zerubbabel (Ezra ii. 27; Neh. vii. 31). It is mentioned in the fictitious invasion of the Assyrians in Isaiah x. 28 sqq. In the time of the Maccabees it became the headquarters of Jonathan (I. Macc. ix. 73), and was a large village in the time of Eusebius. It is the modern Muhmas.

State of Mexico, bounded by the States of Jalisco MICHOACÁN, mê-chō'à-kän'. A Pacific Coast and Guanajuato on the north, Mexico on the east, Guerrero and the Pacific Ocean on the south, and Colima and Jalisco on the west (Map: Mexico, H 8). Area, 22,874 square miles. The surface is generally mountainous, although its highest elevations are below 13,000 feet. The northern part is the more elevated, being in general over 6000 feet above the sea, with a few peaks exceeding 10,000 feet. The southern part slopes toward the coast, which is mostly low. The extreme northern part is rather flat and interspersed with a number of lakes. With the exception of the large rivers Lerma and Las Balsas, forming part of the boundaries, and the Tepalcatepec, a tributary of Las Balsas, crossing the State from east to west, the rivers are small, but lakes are abundant, and some of them, such as Cuitzeo, are of considerable size. The climate is on the whole healthful, except in the southern part, where fever prevails to some extent. The soil is of remarkable fertility; the principal products are cereals in the more elevated parts, and sugar, coffee, vanilla, tobacco, and other tropical plants in the valleys. Stock-raising and mining are also important industries, and trade is considerable. The State is crossed by the Mexican National and the Mexican Central

railway lines. Population, in 1895, 896,495. Capital, Morelia (q.v.). Michoacán was inhabited by the Tarascos, who had successfully resisted the domination of the Aztecs up to the time of the Conquest.

MICKIEWICZ, mits'ki-â'vich, ADAM (17981855). The greatest of Polish poets. He was born near Novogrodek, Lithuania; his father was a lawyer of the lesser nobility. Inclined to the study of nature, he took up mathematics and physics at the University of Vilna, but later passed to biology and literature (1815-19). After that he taught Latin and Polish at the gymnasium in Kovno until 1823, publishing there the first collection of his poems in two volumes in 1822. To the legends, superstitions, and tales of the Polish nation contained in it, Mickiewicz gave a wonderfully poetic form, and at one bound became the national poet of the Poles. The volumes contained two longer works: Dziady (Ancestors, Festival in honor of the Dead), a romantic drama; and Gražyna, an historical epic. The former contains much autobiographical material. The poem is deficient in orderliness, the episodes being flung together with almost reckless freedom, but the chief theme-love-has, perhaps, never been better sung. Gražyna relates