the way a large island which he named Santa Cruz, and resolved to establish his colony there. He was at first well received by the natives, but some of his crew murdered one of the native chiefs, and a bloody war was begun against the invaders. Afterward there was a mutiny among the troops. These adversities undermined Mendaiia's health, and he soon died, leaving the government to his wife, who under the direction of Quiros resolved to abandon the colony, and after the loss of two vessels arrived safely at the Philippine islands. Hernan Gallego, Mendana's pilot in the first voy- age, described the discovery, and his manuscript is now in the library of Barcia. Mendana himself left notes about both voyages, and they were col- lected by the historian Pedro Guerico de Victoria under the title " Derrotero de Mendaiia de Neyra," the manuscript of which is still preserved in the National library of Paris.
MENDENHALL, George, physician, b. in
Sharon, Pa., 5 May, 1814 ; d. in Cincinnati, Ohio, 4
Jime, 1874. He studied medicine in Salem, Ohio,
and was graduated at the medical department of
the University of Pennsylvania in 1835. He set-
tled in Cincinnati in 1843, and there acquired a
large practice, making a specialty of obstetrics, in
which he held a high rank. He was professor of
that branch in the Miami medical college, where he
was also dean. On the organization of the U. S.
sanitary commission, at the beginning of the civil
war. he was one of the associates and president
of the Cincinnati branch of the commission. In
this capacity, with his wife's aid, he rendered valu-
able services to the work of that body. After the
close of the war they continued their philanthropic
work in other directions, and were distinguished
for their charitable labors. Dr. Mendenhall was a
fellow of the Royal obstetric society in England,
and in 1870 was president of the American medical
association. In 1854, with other physicians, he es-
tablished the " Cincinnati Observer," and also con-
tributed to other medical journals. He was the
author of "The Medical Student's Vade-Mecum "
(Philadelphia, 1852).
MENDENHALL, Thomas Convin, physicist,
b. near Hanoverton, Ohio, 4 Oct., 1841. He re-
ceived a common-school education, but, having a
fondness for the study of mathematics and natural
science from his childhood, acquired by himself a
knowledge of those branches of physics, in which
he has since attained note. He was first professor
of physics and mechanics in Ohio university in
1873-'8, and then went to Japan as professor of
physics in the Imperial university in Tokio. In
connection with this appointment he organized the
special course of physics and also the physical
laboratory of the science department of the uni-
versity. He founded a meteorological observatory
in which systematic observations were made dur-
ing his residence in Japan, and afterward until it
was merged into the general meteorological system
that has since been established by the imperial
government. From measurements of the force of
gravity at the sea-level and at the summit of the
extinct volcano Fujiyama, Prof. Mendenhall de-
duced a value for the mass of the earth that agrees
closely with that which Francis Baily obtained in
England by another method. He also made a se-
ries of elaborate measurements of the wave-lengths
of the principal Frauenhoter lines of the solar
spectrum by means of a large spectrometer, which
at the time of its consti'uction was one of the most
perfect in existence. He became interested in
earthquake phenomena while in Japan, and was
one of the founders of the Seismological society of
Tokio. In 1881 he returned to the United States
and resumed his chair at Ohio state university.
He organized the Ohio state weather service in
1882, was its director until 1884, and was the first
to devise and put into operation a system of
weather-signals for display on railroad-trains. This
method became general throughout the United
States and Canada, and continued to be employed
until the introduction in 1887 of a new code by
the chief signal officer. In 1884 he became pro-
fessor in the U. S. signal service, and was charged
with the organization and equipment of a physical
laboratory in connection with the bureau in Wash-
ington, with the introduction of systematic obser-
vations of atmosplieric electricity, and with the
investigation of methods for determining ground-
temperatures. He was the first to establish sta-
tions in the United States for the systematic ob-
servation of earthquake phenomena. Immediately
after the Charleston earthquake, on 31 Aug., 1886,
he visited that city and made a report upon the
agitation, with a co-seismic chart of the disturbed
area. In 1886 he resigned from the government
service to accept the presidency of Rose polytech-
nic institute. Terre Haute, Ind. Prof. Menden-
hall has lectured extensively throughout the United
States on subjects that relate to physics, and in
Japan he was one of the American professors that
in addition to their university duties gave public
lectures on scientific subjects to general audiences
in the temples and theatres of the city of Tokio,
resulting in the establishment of the first public
lecture hall in the empire. He received the degree
of Ph. D. from Ohio university in 1878, and that of
LL. D. from the University of Michigan in 1887.
Besides membership in other scientific societies,
Prof. Mendenhall in 1882 was vice-president for
the physical section of the American association
for the advancement of science, and in 1887 was
elected to the National academy of sciences. In
addition to papers, scientific monographs, and spe-
cial reports,'he has published "A Century of Elec-
tricity " (Boston, 1887).
MENDES, Pedro (men'-des), Portuguese clergy-
man, b. in Villavi9osa in 1558 ; d. in Mexico in
1643. In 1575 he entered the company of Jesus.
From Toledo, where he was professor of Latin, he
went to Mexico, and in the province of Sinaloa
worked in the missions during twenty-four years,
after which he was sent into retirement in Mexico.
At the age of seventy years he was sent again to
Sinaloa to convert several tribes. In 1633 he un-
dertook the conversion of the Sisibotario and Te-
hueco Indians, with whom he lived four years, and
in 1638 he returned to Mexico. He wrote " Varias
cartas historicas sobre las misiones de los Mayas,
Sisibotares, y Batueas 6 Tehuecos."
MENDES, Manoel Odorico (men'-des), Brazilian politician, b. in Maranhao in 1799 ; d. in Paris, France, in 1864. He was graduated at Coimbra in 1824, and returning to IMaranhao began to publish the " Argos da Lei." In 1826 he was elected to congress by his province, and sided with the most advanced political party, also publishing the " Astrea," a daily paper. In 1829 he issued in S. Paulo
the " Pharol Paulistano." In 1831 he was present at the abdication of Pedro I., and, though asked to be a member of the regency, he absolutely declined, and retired to private life. In 1839 he appeared again as a journalist, publishing the "Liga Americana," which paper was under his direction
till 1844, when he was again elected to congress. In 1847 he went to Europe on a commission from his government. Mendes is highly esteemed as a poet. His writings include " Himno a Farde," and
