Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 06.djvu/222

This page needs to be proofread.
LEFT
180
RIGHT

MEGHNA 180 MEIGHEN skeleton discovered on the banks of the Lujan, about 9 miles from Buenos Aires, and sent by the Marquis of Loretto, the viceroy, to the Royal Museum of Madrid. There are two skeletons in England ; one found near Rio Salado, in 1832, now in the Museum of the College of Surgeons; the other, found at Luxan, in 1837, now in the British Museum of Natural His- tory, South Kensington. The best-known species, M. americarmm, was nearly as all Egypt. Together with his son Ibra- him he aided in bringing a large part of the Sudan under Egyptian rule. In 1824-1827 he assisted the Sultan in en- deavoring to reduce the Morea, which led to the destruction of his fleet by the allied European powers at Nava- rino (1827). Subsequently he turned his arms against the Sultan, and in his ef- forts to secure dominion over Syria by armed invasion, he was so far successful SKELETON OF MEGATHERIUM large as an elephant, though the limbs were shorter. Its mounted skeleton measures 18 feet in length, of which the tail occupies five. MEGHNA (megh'-), a river or estu- ary of Bengal, which carries the waters of the Ganges and the Brahmaputra to the sea; its most noteworthy character- istic is the "bore" or tidal wave which advances swiftly at the height of 20 feet. MEHEDINTSI, Rumania, a depart- mental unit of administration in the W. part of the country, lying between the Banat and Transylvania, bounded on the S. by the Danube river. Pop., mixed Ru- manian and Magyar, about 250,000. Area, 1,910 square miles. The chief cen- ter is Turnu-Severin. MEHEMET ALI (ma'he-met a'le), Viceroy of Egypt; bom in Kavala, Mace- donia, in 1769. He entered the Turkish army, and served in Egypt against the French; rose rapidly in military and political importance; became Pasha of Cairo, Alexandria, and subsequently of that the European powers had to inter- fere and compel him to sign a treaty in 1839, which gave him the hereditary pashalic of Egypt in lieu of Syria, Can- dia, and Hejaz. In his latter days he sank into dotage. He died in Cairo, Egypt, Aug. 2, 1849. MEIGHEN, THOMAS, Premier of Canada; born in 1876, at St. Marys, western Ontario. He graduated from Toronto University in 1897 and for a short time after taught school. He re- moved to Winnipeg where, after studying law, he was admitted to the bar in 1903. He entered politics and in 1908 was elected as a Conservative to the Dominion Parliament, He soon became notable as a speaker, and was re-elected in 1911. Two years later he was appointed Solic- itor-General. In 1915 he became a mem- ber of the Privy Council and^ on the reorganization of the Cabinet in 1917, with a coalition membership, he was made Minister of the Interior. He re- mained in that post until his appoint- ment as Premier. He succeeded Sir