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MEKONG MELANCHTHON 365 high reputation. See Bond's Convent de St. Lazaro d Venise (Paris, 1837). MEKONG, or Cambodia, the chief river of the Indo-Chinese peninsula (Further India), rises near the E. extremity of the main range of the Himalaya mountains, in the S. E. portion of Thibet, flows S. E. through the Chinese prov- ince of Yunnan, the E. part of Burmah, Laos, Siam, Cambodia, and French Cochin-China, and empties through several channels into the China sea near Cape St. Jacques ; length, about 1,800 m. In the early part of its course, in Thibet and China, it is called the Lan-tsang; the Burmese call it Kin-lung ; while the name Mekong, which has now become its most com- mon designation among Europeans, is locally applied to that longest portion lying in Siamese and Cambodian territory. For about 1,000 m. from its source the Mekong flows through mountainous regions and among some of the most remarkable of the Indian ranges, begin- ning with the Himalaya proper, and ending with the long chain that extends 1ST. "W. and S. E. through the peninsula of Further India. Leaving the main ridge of the latter chain in Laos, in about lat. 18 N., and diverging E. and S. E., it flows through the great central plain of the southern peninsula, irrigating it thoroughly by annual overflows which take place between September and November, and rendering it a region of the greatest fertility. The navigation of the upper river is difficult and dangerous, its bed, even in the widest parts, being obstructed with shifting bars or projecting reefs. Excepting in the lower por- tion of its course, rapids are frequent. The scenery along the upper Mekong is of the wild- est and most rugged character, the stream often flowing through very deep gorges in the moun- tains, and in some places tunnelling the cliffs into fantastic forms. For some distance from its mouth, however, the river is navigable even for large vessels, and Panomping, the capi- tal of Cambodia, is easily reached by shipping from the coast. In 1866-'8 the Mekong was explored as far as the borders of Burmah by a French government commission, which made an elaborate report upon the river and its val- ley. See " Travels in Indo-China and the Chi- nese Empire," translated from the French of Louis de Carne (London, 1872), and the report of the commission, published in Paris in 1873. MELA, Pomponins, a Roman geographer in the time of the emperor Claudius. He was a na- tive of Spain, and is said to have been the first Roman author of a methodical treatise on ge- ography. His work is entitled De Situ Orbis, and consists of three books, which give a brief description of the whole world as known to the Romans. The text is corrupt, but the style is simple and the Latinity pure. The editio princeps appeared at Milan in 1471 ; the best editions are by Tzschucke (7 vols., Leipsic, 1807) and Parthey (Berlin, 1867). MELAMPUS, in Grecian mythology, son of Amythaon by Idomene, Aglaia, or Rhodope, esteemed the first mortal who was endowed with the gift of prophecy, and who practised the medical art. He is said to have introduced the worship of Bacchus into Greece. MELANCHOLIA. See INSANITY. MELANCHTHON, Philipp, the second leader of the Lutheran reformation, born at Bretten, in the present grand duchy of Baden, Feb. 16, 1497, died in Wittenberg, April 19, 1560. His family name was Schwarzerd (black earth), but his uncle, the celebrated scholar Reuchlin, trans- lated it into the corresponding Greek Melanch- thon. He was educated at the Latin school of Pforzheim, and at the universities of Heidel- berg and Tubingen. He was uncommonly pre- cocious, graduated as master of arts in 1514, began to lecture at Tubingen, and published a Greek grammar, an edition of Terence, and pro- jected a new edition of Aristotle's writings, as a means of reviving the true philosophy. He took rank at once among the very first Greek and Latin scholars of the age. In 1516 Erasmus said of him : u My God ! what expectations does Philipp Melanchthon excite, who is yet a youth, yea, we may say a mere boy, and has already attained to equal eminence in the Greek and Latin literature. What acumen in demonstra- tion, what purity and elegance of style, what comprehensive reading, what tenderness and refinement of his extraordinary genius ! " With his classical studies he combined a careful study of the Bible in the original. This, in connec- tion with the influence of Reuchlin, predis- posed him favorably to the great movement of the reformation, which commenced during his residence at Tubingen with the controversy between Luther and Tetzel in 1517. On the recommendation of Reuchlin he was called to the professorship of Greek at the rising uni- versity of Wittenberg in 1518, and thus be- came the colleague of Luther. Although he was subsequently called to other prominent positions in Nuremberg, Tubingen, Heidelberg, and even France and England, he preferred remaining at Wittenberg to the close of his life. He was the most popular teacher of the university, and attracted students from every direction. At first he lectured on classical literature, but in 1519 he graduated as bachelor of divinity, and thenceforward devoted him- self mainly to theology. Yet he was never ordained, nor would he ever accept the title D. D., and in a discourse in 1533 uttered a warning against conferring it too frequently. He never ascended the pulpit, although he frequently wrote sermons for others, and de- livered in his house practical lectures on the Gospels in Latin, which were taken down by some hearers and published as sermons (Postilla). He was therefore a lay theologian ; but as such he wielded a powerful influence in that great . ecclesiastical movement which makes the 16th century one of the most im- portant periods in church history. He acted a prominent part in the German reformation, and is inferior only to Luther and Calvin among