pnugues/EB7 huggingface dataset:
METEOR (by the Greeks called μtπωζa, sublime or high raised ; by the Latins, impressiones, as making signs or impressions in the air) commonly denotes any bodies in the air which are of a transitorynature. Hence it is extended to the phenomena of hail, rain, snow, and thunder; but is most commonly confined to those unusual and fiery appearances named falling stars, ignes fatui, aeurorae boreales, and the like.
METEOROMANCY, a species of divination by meteors, principally by lightning and thunder.
METESSIB, an officer among eastern nations, who has the care and superintendence of all the public weights and measures.
METHEGLIN, a species of mead. The word is Welsh, in which language rneddyglin signifies the same thing.
METHOD, the arrangement of our ideas in such regular order that their mutual connection and dependence may be readily comprehended. See Logic.
METHUSELAH, the son of Enoch, and father of Lantech, was born in the year of the world 687; he begat Lamech in 874, and died in 1656, at the age of 969, the greatest age which has been attained to by any man upon earth.
METOECI, a name given by the Athenians to such as had their fixed habitations in Attica, though by birth they were foreigners.
METONYMY, in Pheforic, is a trope in which one [7:14:755]name is put for another, on account of the near relation that subsists between them.
METOPE, in Architecture, is the interval or square space between the triglyphs of the Doric frize.
METOPOSCOPY, the pretended art of knowing a person’s dispositions and manners by viewing the traces and lines in the face.
METRE, in Poetry, a system of feet of a just length. The different metres in poetry are the different modes of ordering and combining the quantities, or the long and short syllables. Thus hexameter, pentameter, iambic, and sapphic verses, consist of different metres or measures. In English verses, the metres are extremely various and arbitrary.
METRETES, a Grecian measure, containing something more than nine English gallons.
METRICAL Verses, are verses consisting of a determinate number of long and short syllables, as those of the Greek and Latin poets.
METROCOMIA (from μητη>, mother, and κωμη, town or village), a term in ancient ecclesiastical history, signifying a borough or village which had other villages under its jurisdiction.
METRONOMII, the name given by the Athenians to five officers in the city and ten in the Piraeus, whose duty it was to inspect all sorts of measures excepting only those of corn.
METROPOLIS (from μητηο, mother, and πολ/g, city), the capital of a country or a province; or the principal city, and, as it were, the mother of all the rest. The term metropolis is also applied to archiepiscopal churches, and sometimes to the principal or mother-church of a city. The Roman empire having been divided into thirteen dioceses and a hundred and twenty provinces, each diocese and each province had its metropolis or capital city, where the proconsul had his residence. To this civil division the ecclesiastical was afterwards adapted; the bishop of the capital city having the direction of affairs, and the preeminence over all the bishops of the province. His residence in the metropolis gave him the title of metropolitan. The erection of metropolitans is referred to the end of the third century; it was confirmed by the council of Nice.
METZ, an arrondissement of the department of the Moselle, in France, extending over 664 square miles. It is divided into nine cantons, and these into 275 communes, and it contains 136,500 inhabitants. The city of Metz, the capital of the department, as well as that of the arrondissement, is situated on the river Moselle, where the Seille falls into that stream, and becomes navigable. It is divided into two branches, one of which washes the walls of the city, and the other divides it into two parts. The Seille passes the city on the south and east sides, and then falls into the Moselle. Metz is one of the strongest fortified cities of France, and is defended by a powerful quadrangular citadel on the south side. The situation is fine, being surrounded with gentle elevations, forming a circle, the sides of which are covered with vineyards and fruit-trees. It has several institutions for education, especially a united college for the instruction of officers of engineers and artillery. There are sixteen churches; and it is the see of a bishop. The cathedral is of Gothic architecture, of prodigious extent, and has a tower 360 feet in height. Some of the other public buildings are large, but in a very antique style, as are the greater part of the private dwellings. The city contains 5850 houses and 43,400 inhabitants, exclusively of the garrison. There are in it manufactories of coarse cloths, flannels, and blankets; of sail-cloth and other linen goods; besides distillers, paper-makcrs, and hat-makers. Long. 6. 5. 8. E. Lat. 49. 7. 10. N.
MEURTHE, a department of France, formed out of the ancient Toulois and a southern portion of Lorraine. It extends in east longitude from 5. 30. to 7. 12. and in north latitude from 48. 31. to 49. 7., being in extent 2602 square miles, or 643,800 hectares. The appropriation of the land is as follows: 242,288 hectares-are arable, 227,197 consist of woods and forests, 69,140 are pastures and meadows, 14,712 vineyards, and the remainder is either roads, rivers, lakes, the sites of towns and villages, or uncultivated. It is not a mountainous, but a hilly district, interspersed with valleys of moderate fertility. None of the hills are more than 600 feet above the level of the sea, though some spurs of the Vosges Mountains, on the border of the department, attain a greater elevation. The subsoil is generally calcareous, but in some parts consists of gypsum, and is covered with a mixture of clay, sand, and pebbles. It is fertile upon the whole, and produces more wheat and rye than is required for home consumption, especially since the extension of the growth of potatoes has made that food a substitution for grain with the more indigent part of the population. The water of the department passes either into the Moselle or the Meuse, which are alone navigable. The Meurthe gives name to the department. The climate is cold and. variable, but not unhealthy. The inhabitants are a hardy and active race, amounting to 370,500. In the cities and towns the French language is spoken; in the country a very disagreeable patois is used; and on the eastern side of the department a corrupt German is the common language. The greater part of the people adhere to the Roman Catholic church, but there are several consistories of both Lutherans and Calvinists; and in Nancy there are many Jews. The principal exports are wood and salt; of the latter about 34,000 tons are made annually. There are some manufactories of glass, pottery, iron, paper, seed-oil, and many distilleries and breweries; and some woollen and cotton goods are also manufactured. The capital is Nancy. The department sends three deputies to the legislature, and is divided into five arrondissements, twenty-nine cantons, and 718 communes.
MEUSE, a department of the north of France, formed out of the ancient provinces of Verdun, Barois (at one time called Lorraine), and Clermont. It extends in east longitude from 4. 42. to 5. 47. and in north latitude from 48. 29. to 49. 42. It is bounded on the north by the Ardennes, the duchy of Luxemburg, and the department of the Moselle; on the east by that of the Moselle and Meurthe, on the south by the Vosges and Upper Maine; and on the west by the Maine departments. It extends over 2517 square miles, and is divided into four arrondissements, twenty-eight cantons, and 591 communes. The population amounts to 284,700 persons, who all adhere to the Roman Catholic church. The whole department is hilly, and the northern part mountainous. In the valleys and the plains, which are few in number, there is moderate fertility, but nearly the half of the surface is covered with woods; and it yields barely sufficient corn for the consumption of the inhabitants. The cultivation of the vine has been of late extending, and wine of tolerably good quality is produced. The principal river, the Aleuse, is a small stream, which passes through the department, and only becomes navigable when it enters that of the Ardennes. The Aire, the Aisne, the Ornain, and the other rivers, fall into the Marne. The climate is dry and healthy, but much more temperate on the south than on the north part. Some woollen and cotton goods are manufactured; but the most important branch of industry consists of the working of iron mines, and in reducing the ore. These mines are said to yield 6600 tons of cast iron and 4400 tons of wrought iron annually. The produce of the forests is one of the chief articles of export. The capital is Bar-le-Duc. The department sends two deputies to the legislature.
MEW, Sea Mew, or Sea Mall. See Larus i Ornithology, Index.
MEWING, the falling off'or the change of hair, feathers, skin, horns, or other parts of animals. This happens in some annually, in others only at certain stages of their lives; but the generality of animals mew in the spring. An old hart casts his horns sooner than a young one. This commonly takes place in the months of February and March, alter which they begin to button in March or April; and as the sun grows strong, and χ the season of the year puts forth the fruits of the earth, so their antlers grow, and are summed full by the middle of June. It is to be observed, that if a hart be gelded before he has antlers, he will never have any; and if he be gelded after he has antlers, he will never cast his horns; again, if he be gelded when he has a Ýelvet head, it will always remain so, without fraying or burnishing.
[7:14:757]
MEYAHOON, a town of the Burman dominions, ex- -L’-®- tending about two miles along the western margin of the Irrawaddy, and glittering at a distance with gilded spires. It has also many spacious convents. The vicinity is uncommonly productive in rice, of which large stores are kept here ready to be transported to any part of the empire where a scarcity occurs. Long. 95. 8. E. Lat. 18. 19. N.
MEYWAR, a very extensive district of Hindustan, in the province of Ajmeer, situated principally between the 25th and 26th degrees of north latitude, and occasionally named Chitore and Odeypoor. The general surface is hilly, but not mountainous, although it abounds in naturally strong positions. The productions of this territory are wheat, rice, sugar, barley, and other grains; besides which it has a good breed of camels and horses. The principal manufactures are matchlocks, swords, and cotton cloth. The principal towns are Odeypoor, Shapoorah, and Bilarah. The district is at present possessed by numerous petty rajpoot chiefs, who live in perpetual hostility with each other.
MEYRINGEN, a town of Switzerland, which, on account of its natural beauties, is visited by most persons who, to gratify their taste for picturesque scenery, visit that country. It is situated in the vale of Hosli, in the upper part of the canton of Berne. It stands on a mountain 1950 feet above the level of the sea, and is surrounded by the snow-covered pinnacles of the neighbouring hills. The town, though so high, is situated in a rich and well-cultivated valley, into which there are some of the most lofty and copious waterfalls from the surrounding heights. The most remarkable of these cascades is the Reichenbach, which forms seven successive falls, the first of which is the largest, being 300 feet in height; it falls into a basin, into which the sun rarely penetrates, and, when seen from below, exhibits, about noon, in fine weather, some surprising rainbows. The town itself contains only 650 inhabitants; but there are two large hotels generally well filled with strangers during the summer months. The whole valley and parish contain 4490 souls, whose chief occupation consists in making butter and cheese, their cows being nearly 4000 in number.
MEZIERES, an arrondissement of the department of the North, in France, extending over 380 square miles. It is divided into seven cantons, and subdivided into 113 communes, containing 56,500 inhabitants. The capital is the city of the same name situated on the river Meuse, by which it is separated from Charleville. It contains 460 houses, and 3400 inhabitants. There is a strong citadel, and also a school for the engineers. Long. 4. 38. 1. E. Lat. 49. 45. 47. N.
MEZIRIAC, Claude Gaspar Bacret Sieur de, one of the most ingenious men of the seventeenth century, was born at Bourg-en-Bresse on the 9th of October 1581. He was a good poet, an excellent grammarian, a great Greek scholar, and an admirable critic. He was well versed in the controversies both in philosophy and religion, and deeply skilled in algebra and geometry, of which he gave proof by publishing the six books of Diophantus, enriched with a very able commentary and notes. In his youth he spent a considerable time at Paris and also at Rome, where, in competition with Vaugelas, he wrote a small collection of Italian poems, amongst which there are imitations of the most beautiful similes contained in the first eight books of the Aeneid. He also translated Ovid’s Epistles, great part of which he illustrated with very curious commentaries of his own; and undertook the translation of Plutarch’s works, with notes, which he had nearly brought to a conclusion, when he died, at Bourg-en-Bresse, in 1638, at the age of fifty-seven. He left behind him several works, the principal of which are, 1. Problèmes Plaisans et Délectables qui se font par les Nombres, Lyons, 1613, 1624, in 8vo; 2. Diophanti Alexandrini Arithmeticoum libri sex, et de Numeris multangulis liber unus, Gr. et Lat. Commentar, illustrat. Paris, 1621, in folio; 3. Chansons dévotes et saintes sur toutes les principales fêtes de l’Année, et'sur autres divers sujets, Dijon, 1615, in 8vo; 4. Les Epitres d’Ovide, trad, en vers François, avec des Commentaires, Bourg-en-Bresse, 1626, in 8vo.
MEZUZOTH, in the Jewish customs, certain pieces of parchment, which the Jews affix to the door-posts of their houses; taking that literally which Moses commanded them, when he said, “Thou shalt never forget the laws of thy God, but thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.” This expression apparently meant nothing more than that they should always remember the laws of their God, whether they came into the house or went out. But the Hebrew doctors imagined that their lawgiver meant something more. They pretended that, to avoid making themselves ridiculous, by writing the commandments of God without their doors, or rather to avoid exposing themselves to the profanation of the wicked, they ought at least to write them on a parchment, and to enclose it in something. They, therefore, wrote these words upon a square piece of parchment prepared on purpose, with a particular ink, and in a square kind of character. The Hebrew word mezuza properly signifies the doorposts of a house; but it is also applied to the roll of parchment now mentioned.
MGLIN, a circle of the Russian province of Tscherne-gow, extending in north latitude from 52. 49. to 53. 17. and in east longitude from 32. 37. to 33.54. The capital is a city of the same name situated on the river Sudenka. It is one of the best built cities of the province, and contains 980 houses, with 5370 inhabitants, who carry on considerable trade in the productions of its vicinity, especially in hemp, which is conveyed by the rivers to the Baltic . ports. It has some large annual fairs, and is 611 miles from Petersburg. Long. 32. 39. E. Lat. 53. 6. N.
MIANA, a village of Persia, in Azerbijan. Here the celebrated traveller Thevenot died upon his return from Ispahan. It is 60 miles S. E. from Tabreez.
MIASSE, a considerable river of Asiatic Russia, which rises in the Ural Mountains, and, traversing the district of Kourgan, in the government of Tobolsk, falls into the Icette.
MIASMA, amongst physicians, a particular kind of effluvia, by which certain fevers, particularly intermittents, are produced.
MIAVA, a town of Hungary, in the circle of Neustadtel, in the province of the Lower Danube. It stands upon the river Waag, and is a manufacturing place, producing large quantities of linen and woollen cloths, of blankets and quilts; there are also several distilleries and extensive tanneries. The inhabitants amount to 10,000 persons, who are chiefly of the Sclavonian race.
MICA, Muscovy Glass, or Glimmer, a species of mineral substance.
MICAH, or The Book of MiCAii, a canonical book of the Old Testament, written by the prophet Micah, who is the sixth of the twelve lesser prophets.
MICHAEL, Mount, formerly one of the most celebrated state-prisons of France. It is a rock situated in the middle of the Bay of Avranches, and is only accessible at low water. Nature has completely fortified one side, by its craggy and almost perpendicular descent, which renders it impracticable to ascend it by any address or courage. The other parts are surrounded by walls fenced with semilunar towers after the Gothic manner, but sufficiently strong, together with the advantage of its situation, to render it impregnable to any attack. At the foot of the mountain begins a street or town, which winds round its base to a considerable height. Above are chambers where state-prisoners are kept, and where there are other buildings intended for residence. On the summit is erected the abbey itself, occupying a prodigious space of ground, and of a strength and solidity equal to its enormous size; since it has for many centuries withstood all the injuries of the weather, to which it is so much exposed. In an apartment called the Salle de Chevalerie, the knights of St Michael used to meet in solemn convocation on important occasions. They were the defenders and guardians of this mountain and abbey, as those of the Temple, and of St John of Jerusalem, were of the holy sepulchre. The hall in which they met is very spacious, but rude and barbarous.

Michael’s Mount, St, in the county of Cornwall, and in the corner of Mount’s Bay, is a very high rock, only divided by the tide from the main land, so that it is land and island twice a-day. The town here was burned by the French in the reign of Henry VIII. At the bottom of this mount, in digging for tin, there have been found spear-heads, battle-axes, and swords, of brass, all wrapt up in linen. The county is contracted here into a sort of isthmus. Large trees have been driven in by the sea between this mount and Penzance.
MICHAELMAS, or Feast of Sτ Michael and all Angels, a festival of the Christian church, observed on the 29th of September.
MICHELDEAN, a town of the county of Gloucester, in the hundred of St Breavell, 119 miles from London. It is on the western side of the Severn, in the forest of Dean, which abounds in mines of coal, and in iron-works, that have consumed much of the wood that formerly covered it. The town consists principally of one long street, and has a market which is held on Monday. The population amounted in 1801 to 563, in 1811 to 535, in 1821 to 556, and in 1831 to 601.
MICONE, an island of the Archipelago, in the Turkish province of Andros, which, with the small islands which surround it, contains forty-six square miles, and about 6000 inhabitants, living in one town of the same name, and in many detached rural hamlets. Although the soil is not good, and there is a scarcity of water, yet much wine and some corn, besides olives and figs, are produced. A great number of seamen are educated in the island. There are very few Turks, except the officers of government. Long. 25. 59. E. Lat. 37. 30. N.
MICROCOSM, a Greek term signifying a little world, and used by some for man, who is supposed to be an epitome of the universe or great world.
MICROGRAPHY, the description of objects viewed with the assistance of a microscope. See Microscopic Objects.
MIDAS, in fabulous’history, a famous king of Phrygia. Bacchus, having been received by him with great magnificence, offered, out of gratitude, to grant him whatever he should ask. Midas desired that every thing which he touched should be changed into gold. Bacchus consented; and Midas, with extreme pleasure, found everywhere the effects of his touch. But he had soon reason to repent of his folly; for, when he wanted to eat and to drink, the aliments no sooner entered his mouth than they were changed into gold. This obliged him to have recourse to Bacchus again, to beseech him to restore him to his former state; upon which the god ordered him to bathe in the river Pactolus, which thenceforward had sands of gold. Some time afterwards, being chosen judge between Pan and Apollo, he gave another instance of his folly and bad taste, in preferring Pan’s music to Apollo’s; upon which the latter, being enraged, provided him with a pair of ass’s ears. This Midas attempted to conceal from the knowledge of his subjects; but one of his servants having seen the length of his ears, and being unable to keep the secret, yet afraid to reveal it .from apprehension of the king’s resentment, opened a hole in the earth, and after he had whispered there that Midas had the ears of an ass, he covered the place as before, as if he had buried his words in the ground. On that place, however, as the poets mention, there grew a number of reeds, which, when agitated by the wind, uttered the same sound which had been buried beneath, and published to the world that Midas had the ears of an ass. Some explain the fable of the ears of Midas, by the supposition that he kept a number of informers and spies, who. were continually employed in gathering and, retailing every seditious word which might drop from the mouthsof his subjects. Midas, according to Strabo, died of drinking bull’s blood hot, a potion which he is said to have taken in order to free himself from the numerous evil dreams which continually tormented him. According to some, this personage was son of Cybele, and built a town, which he called Ancyrae.
MIDDELBURG, a circle of the province of Zealand, in the Netherlands, consisting of the island of that name, which is separated by the £loe water from South Beveland; it is divided into six cantons, and contains 30,000 inhabitants. The capital is the city of the same name, nearly .in the centre of the island; it was once fortified, but is now with its walls converted into pleasing promenades. It is well built, and has twelve churches, one of which, the New Church, has a lofty tower, serving as a useful seamark. In 1830 it Contained 14,700 inhabitants, viz. 6469 males and 8231 females. The city has manufactories of linen and woollen cloth, and is celebrated for its chocolate. It is connected by water with the West Scheldt, but its shipping operations have been on the decline, and but slightly revived since the return of peace. This city was the birth-place of the celebrated jurist Bynkershoeck. Long. 3. 32. 10. E. Lat. 51. 30. 6. N.
MIDDELTON, a 'market-town of the county of Lancaster, in the hundred of Salford, 190 miles from London and seven from Manchester, on the road to Rochdale. The inhabitants are chiefly employed in the different branches of the cotton manufacture. It is a parish of itself, and has a market, which is held on Saturday. The inhabitants of the town were, in 1801,3265; in 1811, 4422; in 1821, 5809; and in 1831, 6903; but at the last census the whole parish, which comprises also seven other chapelries or townships, contained 14,370 inhabitants.
MID-HEAVEN, the cuiminating point of the ecliptic, or that in which it cuts the meridian.
MIDDLE Island lies off the south coast of New Holland, in longitude 123. 10. east, and latitude 34. 7. south. There is another small island of this name in the strait between the islands of Billiton and Banca, which it divides into two, namely, on the west, Gaspar’s Strait, and on the east, Clement’s Strait. It is also the name of a small island in the narrowest part of the Straits of Sunda, opposite to Hog’s Point, in Sumatra, called also Thwart the Way. Long. 105. 43. E. Lat. 5. 55. S.
MIDDLEBURG, one of the Friendly Islands, in the South Sea. See Polynesia.
MIDDLEBURGH, a small island, about ten miles in circumference, situated off the north-western extremity of Ceylon.