MAYER
MAYER
of Science in 1898, and contributed papers to
scientific journals, his subjects including : Esti-
mation of the Weight of Very Small Portions of
Matter (1857); Researches in Electro-Magnetism
(1870); Obsenxitions on the Magnetic Declination
in Connection vyith the Aurora of October 11 (1870);
and Researches in Acoustics (1871-75). He in-
vented the topophone and an acoustic pyrometer.
He continued to contribute numerous and impor-
tant papers to scientific literature and published
the following in book form : Lecture Notes on
Physics (1868); The Earth, a Great Magnet (1872);
Light ilSll) ; Sound (1878). He edited : Sport with
Oun and Rod in American Woods and Waters,
writing the chapters : " Shotgun" and "Blow-
gun." He died in Maplewood, N.J., July 13, 1897.
MAYER* Brantz, author, was born in Balti-
more, Md., Sept. 27, 1809; son of Christian and
Anne Katharine (Baum) Mayer. He was a
student at St. Mary's college, Baltimore, Md. ;
studied law during a voyage to China, 1827-28 ;
and was graduated LL.B. at the University of
Maryland. He was married, Sept. 27, 1835, to
Mary, daughter of Daniel S. and Mary (Dunham)
Oris wold of St. Mary's, Ga. She died Oct. 30,
1845, and he was married, secondly, Nov. 15,
1848, to Cornelia, daughter of John Henry and
Jane (Taylor) Poor of Baltimore. He practised
law in Baltimore, Md., 1833-42 ; was secretary of
the U.S. legation in Mexico, 1842-44, and prac-
tised law in Baltimore, 1844-55. He founded the
Maryland Historical society in 1844, and was its
president, 1844-70. He served as an executor of
the estate of Jolm McDonough, 1851-55, and as a
commissioner of the city of Baltimore for the
administration, sale and liquidation of the inter-
est of the city in that estate, 1855-59, and in
1859 transferred to the city of Baltimore the
large bequest accruing, which was devoted to
tlie support of the McDonough Educational in-
stitution. He was president of the central
union committee in 1861, and was active in sus-
taining the Federal government. He was ap-
l)<)inted brigadier-general of volunteers, 1861 ;
was paymaster of volunteers, 1863-^5, and pay-
master in the U.S. army with rank of major,
1867-75, when he was retired from active service
with the rank of colonel, having reached the age
of sixty-two. He was brevetted lieutenant-colo*
nel, Nov. 24, 1865, for service during the w^ar.
He is the author of : Mexico As It Was and As It
Is (1844) ; Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican
(2 vols., 1851): Captain Canot, or Twenty-four
Years of an African Slaver (1854); Observations
07i Mexican History and Archreology in Smithsoti-
ian Contributions to Knowledge (ISr^) ; Mexican
Antiquities (1858); Memoir of Jared Sparks
<1867); Baltimore As It Was and As It Ts (1871).
He died in Baltimore, Md., March 21, 1879.
VII. — 21
MAYER, Constant, artist, was born in Be-
Sanson, France, Oct. 4, 1832. He entered the
Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, and continued
his studies under Leon Cogniet. He opened a
studio in Paris, and in 1857 established himself
in New York city, where he remained for some
years, subsequently dividing his time between
New York and Paris. He was elected an as.so-
ciate of the National Academy of Design in 1866,
was made a chevalier of the Legion of Honor of
France in 1869, and was a member of the S<x;iety
of French Artists and of the American Art union.
He exhibited frequently in the Paris Salon aft^r
1865. His works, chiefiy genre paintings and
portraits, include : portraits of General Grant
and General Sherman (1863); Beggar Girl (1863);
Consolation (1864): Recognition (1865); Good
Words (1866); Riches and Poverty (1867) ; Maud
Muller (1867); Street Melodies (1867); Early
Gn>/(1869); Oracle of Vie Field (1875); Song of
the Shirt (1875); Song of Twilight (1879); In the
Woods (1880); The Vagabonds {\8ii\)\ Lord: s Day
(1883); Lawn Tennis (1883); Mandolin Player
(1884); The First Communion (1886); Evangeline,
Tlie Witch's Daughter and Trilby.
MAYER, Francis Blackwell, painter, was born in Baltimore, Md., Dec. 27, 1827 ; son of Charles Frederick and Elizabeth Caldwell (Blackwell) Mayer, and brother of Alfred Marshall Mayer. He studied art under Alfred J. Miller and Ernest Fischer in Baltimore, Md., was present at the treaties of Traverse des Sioux and Mendota, Min- nesota Territory, in 1851, then visited the Da- kota Indians, and travelled in the western and northwestern states to study Indian types. He studied under Gleyre and Brion in Paris, 1862-70 ; visited Holland, France, Germany and England, and was in Paris during the siege. He exhibited in the Paris salons between the years 1862-70 ; opened a studio in Annapolis, Md., in 1870, and in 1876 received a medal and diploma from the Centennial Exposition for his pictures Conti- nentals and Attic Philosopher. Among his more important paintings are : The Feast of Mondaufmin (1857); Doing and Dreaming (1858); The Nineteenth Century (1869); Annapolis in 1750 (1876): Talking Business in 1750 (1879): Crowning a Troubadour (ISSo): Treaty of Traverse des Sioux, Minnesota (1886), The Washington Cockade; The Planting of the Colony of Maryland ; The Foun- ders of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, an his- torical painting containing twenty-nine portraits (1891) ; and The Burning of the Peggy Stuart. He is the author of contributions to magazines, illustrated by himself.
MAYER, Philip Frederick, clergyman, was born in New York city, April 1, 1781 ; son of George Frederick Mayer, a Swabian and Lutheran, who immigrated to New York and mairied a native of
