MEBGEB. 340
- yiERIDA.
equitable becomes merged in the legal estate un- less kept alive for the purpose of furthering justice, when equity will treat the two interests as distinct notwithstanding the merger. Consult the authorities referred to under Tbusts; Mobt- CAGE. (2) The term is also applied in the law of contracts when it is held that the acceptance of a higher security or obligation in lieu of a lower extinguislies the lower. Thus rights upon contract are merged in a judgment secured in an action upon the contract. A simple debt merges in a promissory note given in its stead. and both merge into a" bond or obligation under seal given in their place. The effect is to limit the obligee to his action or remedy upon the higher obligation. (3) The term is also in use in the criminal law to denote both the inclusion of a lesser crime in a greater and the sinking of private wrongs in public wrongs or crimes. Many greater crimes include lesser crimes: that is, the lesser crime is necessarily committed in committing the greater, as an assault in committing robbery or homi- cide. The State may prosecute and punish cither the greater or the "lesser offense, but of course not both, since that would be putting a man twice in jeopardy for the lesser offense. In Eng- land, where criminal prosecutions are usually con- ducted by private persons, whenever a tort is also a crime, tlic private wrong is postponed to or merged in the public wrong, so that the injured party has no private remedy until after the con- viction and punisliment of the criminal. This does not hold in the fnited States. Consult the authorities given under Tort. (4) By extension the term 'merger' is now ap- plied to denote the consolidation of the control of two or more corporations in a single corpora- tion by means of issuing the stock in exchange for a "majority of the stock of the several cor- porations to be controlled. The several corpora- tions to be controlled are then said to be merged in the single corporation holding their stock. The several corporations preserve their sejiarate legal identities, and there is no merger in a legal sen.se. MERGUI, mer-ge'. The capital of the ^Mcrgui Arcliipi'higci I i|.v. I . MERGUI ARCHIPELAGO. A group of isl- ands in the Day of IJengal, forming part of the district of the same name in the Burmese division of Tenasserim and scattered along the north- western shore of the Malay Peninsula (Map: Asia. .17). The islands are rocky and moun- tainous, some of them rising to .3000 feet above sea-level, ami arc noted for their varied and pio- turesqup scenery. They are inliabited by a race called SeUings, who sulisist mainly by pearl-fish- ing and by collecting and selling edilile birds' nests. Tin mines are worked in the south. Area of district. 07S!) square miles; population, in ino], SS.dCiT. Mergui, the capital of the district, ■with a heterogeneous popidation of 10.000 in- habitants, is situated r>n an island at the chief outlet of the Tenasserim River in the Bay of BenL-nl. MERIAN, m.-|'rf-ftn, :Mari. Sirti.i.a (lf.47- 1717). . •Jernian painter and naturnlisi, born in Frankfort mithe-Main, daughter of the en- graver Matthiins Merian. In lfiflr> she married .Tohann .Andreas Oraff. a painter, and removed to Nuremberg. Though she was skillful in painting fruits and flowers, her taste led her particularly to natural history. Her exquisite taste, as well as the great precision which eharacterized her artistic work in botany and entomology, gained for her a high reputation in the scientific world of the time. In 1079 slie publislied an excellent work on caterpillars, entitled Enicdium Ortun. Alimoitum et I'aradoxa Mctoniorphosis. In 1U98 she went to South America and devoted herself to research on the natural histor,v of Dutch Guiana, the result of which appeared ia her Jlctamorphosis Insectorum Suriuamcnsium (1705). There are two volumes of lier drawings in the British Jlusexini. one of the insects of Europe, the other of those of Dutch Guiana. There are collections in Saint Petersburg, Am- sterdam, and Frankfort. MERIAN, JNUttiiaus, called The Eldeb (1503-UijO). A Swiss engraver. He was born at Basel, and afterwards lived in Paris and Frankfort. He began in ltj40 the famous Zeiller's TopuyraphUt. presenting perspective views of Eu ropcan cities, towns, and castles which were drawn, engraved, and described liy liiiiiself. The work, which is regarded as extremely valuable, was continued after his death. For his biography, consult Eckardt (Basel. 18S7). MERIDA, mii'ri-Da. The capital of the State of Los Amies, Venezuela, situated about 60 miles south of L:ike Maracailio, on a plateau 5500 feet above sea-level (Ma|): Venezuela C 2). Its climate is cool and moist, the temperature averaging 61° Fahr. It has a new cathedral, and one of the two universities of the Repulilic. Its chief manufactures are car|)ets, cotton and woolen goods : it exports coffee and preserved fruits. Population, about 11.000. Merida was founded in 1558 by .Juan Rodrigeuz Saurez. It lias sufTered much" from eartliquakes, notably in 1812 and 1894. MERIDA. The capital of Yucatan, Mexico, situatcil on a barren plain in the northwestern jiart of the peninsula, 25 miles from the Gulf of Mexico (Map: Mexico. 7). The town is regu- larly built, with fine streets, squares, and parks, and has a university, a cathedral built in 1598, a Government palace, a museum, various second- ary schools, and a hospital. Among its nianu- fiictures are straw hats, cotton goods, soap, and leather, while great quantities of sisal grass are exported from here to the I'nited States, as well as brandy, sugar, hides, indigo, and salt. Popu- lation, about 37.000. Merida was founded in 1542 liy ^lontcjo. the comiueror of Yucatan. MERIDA. A small town of Southwestern Spain, in llie Province fif B;idajoz. situated on the rigid bank of the (;iiadiana. .30 mih>s cast of Badajoz (Map: Spain. B 3l. It is now an in- signiiicant town, but contains numerous evidences of its ancient greatness. Among these are the remains of the Roman walls with five gates still preserved, a triumphal areli erected by Trajan, the ruins of nn amphitheatre and of a Roman circus built to accommnilate 20.000 spectators, some remains of a temjde of Diana, and parts of an old reservoir and of two Roman aqueducts, as well as numerous columns, statues, and minor ruins. There is also a ma^inifieent Roman stone bridge crossing the Guadiana by 64 arches and nearly 3000 feet long. Merida was founded as a colony for Roman veterans (emeriti), and called Augusta Emcrita, whence the present name
