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MERSEBURG MESEMBRYANTHEMUM 413 Bedford, and elsewhere. In 1831 he edited "Zion's Herald " in Boston, and from 1832 to 1837 the "Christian Advocate and Journal" in New York. He also started a monthly pe- riodical in Boston entitled " Guide to Chris- tian Perfection." He was the author of " The Christian's Manual," "The Convert's Guide and Preacher's Assistant," and, with the Rev. Wilbur Fisk, " Lectures and Discourses on Uni- versal Salvation," besides numerous pamphlets and sermons mainly controversial. MERSEBURG, a town of Prussia, capital of a district in the province of Saxony, on the left bank of the Saale, 15 m. W. of Leipsic ; pop. in 1871, 13,364. It is fortified, and was formerly one of the most important towns of Germany. The cathedral, a fine Gothic structure dating from the 13th century, has a richly ornamented portal, and contains some of Albert Durer's paintings. The town has some manufactories of linen, leather, paper, &c., and extensive breweries and distilleries. Near it Henry the Fowler in 933 achieved a great victory over the Hungarians. MERSEY, a river of England, formed by the union of several small streams, which have their sources in the hills near the borders of Yorkshire, Cheshire, and Derbyshire. The two principal of these, the Tame and the Goyt, after receiving the waters of all the rest, unite at Stockport. Here the river takes the name of Mersey, and flowing W. divides Che- shire from Lancashire, and falls into the Irish sea below Liverpool. The chief affluents of the Mersey are the Irwell and Weaver. At Runcorn, about 17 m. from its mouth, it ex- pands into a large estuary, which varies in breadth from 2 to 3 m., and contracts at its mouth to about three fourths of a mile. The course of this river is mostly through a level country, but its scenery is occasionally very picturesque. The principal towns on its banks are Stretford, Warrington, Hale, Garston, and Liverpool on the right, and Stockport, Run- corn, Ince, and Birkenhead on the left. Its entire length is from 55 to 60 m., and it is navigable to the Irwell. MERTHYR TYDFIL (or TYDVIL), a parliamen- tary borough and market and mining town of Glamorganshire, South Wales, 21 m. N. by W. of Cardiff, with which it is connected by the Cardiff canal and the Taff Vale railway, and 140 m. W. by N. of London ; pop. of the bor- ough in 1871, 97,020; of the parish, 51,949. It is in the midst of the great mineral region of South Wales, and has attained its present importance since 1750, previous to which it was a mere village. It is irregularly and poor- ly built, being largely made up of workmen's houses ; but of late years it has been much im- proved, and in the centre of the new and prin- cipal street is one of the largest and finest market places in Wales. It has a large number of places of worship. There are 50 extensive iron works, one of which employs 6,000 men, producing about 260,000 tons of iron yearly. MERV, a town of Turkistan, in the khanate and 300 m. S. E. of the city of Khiva, and 12 m. E. of the Murghab river ; pop. about 3,000. It was one of the four imperial cities of Khorasan, and was the capital of many of the Persian sultans, especially of the Seljuk dynasty. It is on the caravan road from Meshed to Khiva and Bokhara, and though in a very unhealthy country was once a flourish- ing town, surrounded by beautiful gardens, whose fruits had a high reputation. It was sacked by the Uzbecks about the beginning of the present century, and since then has steadi- ly declined. MERY, Joseph, a French author, born at Les Aigalades, near Marseilles, Jan. 21, 1798, died in Paris, June 17, 1866. He was dismissed from a seminary for reading Voltaire, and from a law school on account of a duel. Sub- sequently he was wounded in another duel in Paris, and went to Italy, whence he was soon driven by his dissipations. In 1821 he was arrested at Marseilles for writing against the abbe Elicagaray, and rearrested on account of another obnoxious publication. In 1822 he visited Constantinople, quarrelled with the French ambassador, and was obliged to leave. After editing a journal at Marseilles, he estab- lished himself in Paris in 1824, and became known in conjunction with Barthelemy (see BAKTHELEMY, AUGUSTE MAKSEILLE) by effec- tive satires in verse against various adminis- trations and by his adulation of the Bonaparte family, Napoleon en figypte (1828) being one of their finest lyrics. He acquired still more literary fame by entertaining and eccentric novels and books of travel. Among the best known are Nuits de Londres (republished as Nuits anglaises Seta, La Floride, La guerre du Nizam, Les confessions de Marion Delorme, Nuits italiennes, Nuifa d* Orient, Nuits espa- gnoles, Nuits parisiennes, and Un carnaval de Paris. He wrote the libretto for Semiramis and other operas, but was less successful in plays, of which he published a collection en- titled Theatre de salon (1861). A new edition of his Poesies intimes appeared in 1864. Some of his novels have been translated into English. MESCAL A, a river of Mexico, rises near the city of Puebla, and flows westwardly 400 m. to the Pacific, forming the boundary between the states of Guerrero and Michoacan. In Puebla it is known successively as the Atoyac and the Rio Pablano, further on also as the Rio de las Balsas, and at its mouth it is called the Zacatula. It was long regarded as a prob- able route of interoceanic communication, but it is not navigable on account of frequent rapids. The waters of the Mescala are sup- posed to contain deleterious elements, which have caused a loathsome disease of the skin, prevalent among the Pinto (i. e., spotted) In- dians living on its banks. Rich gold placers are found near its mouth. MESEMBRYANTHEMUM (Gr. [teattpppia, mid- day, and avdos, a flower), a genus of succulent