110 



MKCIIANICS 



MECKLENBURG 



analysis consists of sewage matter. ThU important 

 attraction for pilgrim* wu long KM, tmt wu re- 

 discovered by Mohammed's grandfather Another 

 objevt ill' veneration U ' Abraham's Stand,' Un- 

 done of wlii.-li, with tin- imprint of his foot, ia 

 concealed from view. duti-ide tin- Kaaba are 

 no sacred or anti<|Uarian buildings of importance, 

 though several houses are |x>inte<l o it by the 

 guide* as dwellings of persons famous in the 

 early day* of Islam. In the time before Moham- 

 Mad MT was under tin- control of the Kosaites, 

 ami then of the Koreish, from whom the I'm- 

 iiliel reconquered it in li-T, live years after his 

 Flight or Hegira (q.v.) therefrom. It long re- 

 niained under the rule of the califs, who Hpent 

 large sums in its adornment. In 930 it wax sacked 

 hv (lie Karmathians, who carried off the Hlock 

 -, and kept it for twenty-two \care. Mecca 

 afterward* fell under the inlluence of whatever 

 dynasty FatimiU', Ayyubite, or Mameluke 

 happened to rule in Egypt : nd thus finally it 

 came into the possession of the Ottoman -ult;in.-. 

 whom; power, however, is noiiiimil, whilst the real 

 governor i- tin- sherlf, or reputed head of the 

 deacendent of the Prophet, who has long held the 

 chief authority in the Hedjuz, and has the support 

 of a large following of retainers. Burckhardt, the 

 first cliii-ii.-ui to \i-it Mecca, has, owing to native 

 fanaticism, found Km few successors. 



See Snnuck Hurgronje, Mtkka, mil Bildrr-Atlai 

 (1888); W. KoberUon Miiith in Knry. Brit. (1883); 

 WUt.-nf-M, <'l,roikr d. Stadt Mttta 1 1857-S9) ; 

 Sir Kichanl Burtoii'i l'il ;t rimage (1850; new ed. 1880); 

 llurckUrdfi. I rarrli in Arabia (1829). 



Mwhnnir* U the science which treats of the 

 nature of forces and of their action on bodies, either 

 directly or by the agency "f machinery. See FORCE, 

 IIVNAMICS. The action of forces on 

 bodies may ! in the form of pressure or of impulse, 

 and may or may not produce motion. When the 

 forces are so balanced as to preserve the body 

 affected by them in a state of equilibrium, their 

 actions are inteMigatcd in that branch of mechanics 



called Static- ; when motion is produ I, they are 



considered under the head of Kinetics (<j.v. ). See 

 also the articles on Kim-mat n^, Hydrostatics, 

 II vdi.lv mimics, and Pneumatics. 



M.iehme- are in-tiumeni- inti'ipii-i-d between the 

 moving | H ier and the rexistance, with a view of 

 changing the direction of the force, or otherwise 

 modifying it. Machines are of various degrees of 

 complexity ; but the simple tiarts, or elements of 

 which they are all coni|>osed, are reducible to a 

 very few. These elementary machines are called 

 tin- Mechanical Powers, and are usually reckoned as 

 nix in number, three U-ing primary vi/_ the lever, 

 inrlinnl /i/niir, and /mtlrif : and three secondary, or 

 I from the others -vi/.. the irlnrl mill il.i'lf 

 tdetived fnim the lever), the imlyr, and the tcrtw 

 (Ixilh derived from the inclined plane). What is 

 Ui each machine will IK- found under its 



>l<-<-hBlC*' Illxlillllcs .n- voluntary 1111- 

 chartered aMociations of iixvlianics or working- 

 men for the piii|.-.- of proviiling themselves, at 

 mall individual COM, wiib irrstnictjnn in element- 

 ary and technical Kranches of knowleilge, Ky means 

 of a liKrary, reading PMIIII*, clauses, and lectures. 

 The management i- wholly or irr great part in the 



hands of acommitl .r .-oiiiMiitlees eh-cteil Ky the 



iiienilMTii of the acMM-iation. The earliest germ of 

 toe Mechanii--' Institute was a class for journeyman 

 ntechanim forim-d by Mr HiiklM-<-k d|.v.| HI 'r;hu<. 

 go in IWJO; but the first M.-chanics' Institute, 

 |ini|M-rlv so called, was organised Kv the same 

 philanthropi't in London in 1H-J4. The original 

 airrr of the lir-t institutes was to teni-h mechanics 

 the correct knowledge of the principle*! of their 



respective trades. BvbMOMBtly the l>asis was en- 

 larged, and the teaching of the elements* and prin- 

 ciples of a general education aimed at. Out of 



these organisations have grown, through the intro- 

 duction of means of recreation ant! teniperate en- 

 iovmeiit, the Working-men's Social Clubs and 

 Educational Institutes. 



Mccllilur istK, a congregation of Armenian 



('liiisiiaiis who eiiti-red into communion with the 

 Church of Koine, when ('lenient XL wax JH>|M.-. in 

 1712. They derive their name from Meehltar ( i.e. 

 the Comforter ) da Petro ( 1676-1749), who in 1701 

 founded at Constantinople a religious society for 

 raising the intellectual and spiritual condition ot 

 his countrvmen, and for the purpose of dill'm-ing 

 a knowletlge of the old Armenian language and 

 literature. Two years later, however, the sectarian 

 jealousy of the Armenian patriarch in Constantin- 

 ople led to their removal to the Morea, and theme. 

 on the conquest of that portion of (Ireece by the 

 Turks in I71.">, to Venice, which in 1717 granted 

 them the island of San l.a//aro. Their most use- 

 ful occupation is printing the classic writing 

 Armenian literature, as well as valuable transla- 

 tions of works by Kiihracm Syrns, 1'hilo, EuseKiris, 

 and other wiiteis, ilie originals being lost. At San 

 Lazzaro they possess it large and valuable library 

 of oriental works, and at Vienna (since 1810) an 

 academy, with a printing-office, \c. , to which non- 

 Armenians are admitted. See Langlois. /,< Cum; nt 

 Ariia UK n ill- fitiint-l.ir.are de Veinse (1863). 



Mechlin. See MALINES. 



Mccklcnliliru. the common name of two 

 grand-duchies of (iermany, distinguished respec- 

 tively as MKCKLENHII:', S'CIIWKHIN and MI.CKI i N 

 HCKti-STKKI.lTX, and situated lietween the lialtic 

 on the N. and Brandenburg on the S. . whilst 

 Pomerania lies on the E. and Slesw ick HoNiein 

 and Liibeck on the W. The former is a corrrpact 

 territory, abutting on the lialiic for (i."i miles, iis 

 area In-ing .MH7 ><\. irr. (much less than Yorkshire i. 

 Mecklenburg-Strelitz ( 1144 sq. m.) consists of two 

 detached portion*, the grand duchy of Strclit/. 

 lying SE. of Mecklenburg Schwerin, and the 

 principality of Uatzeburg, wexlgetl in between 

 Schwerin and LiiWk. Tire region indicated forms 

 iiart of the great North (ierman plain, but is crossed 

 liy a low ridge from the south-east to the north- 

 west, the water-parting between numerous small 

 rivers that drain to the KIKe and to the Kaliic. 

 Along the line of this ridge there ar-e more than 500 

 lakes, some of fairly large si/.e. Canals too connect 

 many of the lakes and navigaKle rivers, especially 

 towards the Kllie. Kxcept for sandy tracts mid 

 turfy moors the soil is fertile; agriculture is the 

 chief iK-cirpation. The merino sheep an; the finest 

 in Germany. Then: is some iron-founding, making 

 of agricultural implements and tiles, manufacturing 

 of U-et-root sugar, distilling, brewing, and tanning. 

 AmlxT is found on the coast and some of the lakes, 

 and turf is dug. The chief ports are Wixmar 

 anil Kostock (Warnemiinde The population of 



Schwerin was . r >7M,34L' in IS!H>, Il>s7 re than ill 



Issii; of St relit/. I |.S;HI) <I7.'.IS7. against KK(,'.'(i!l in 

 isso, it.s diminution I M'ing chiefly due to emigration. 

 The rural population are almost entirely (iernian- 

 i-e,| Slavs, the nobility ami the inhabitants of tin 

 towns for the most part of Lower Saxon slock. 

 The popular dialcet i* I'lalt Deutsch or Low <;!- 

 man; the religious coniession Lutheran. Kostock 

 (i|.v.), the largest town in Schwerin, Iras a univer- 

 sity. The capital of each grand-duchy is a town 

 of the same name as itself. Society in Meck- 

 lenburg is still organised on a feudal Wis, and in 

 the early part of the HMh century was not so 

 advanced as England in the 13th century; serf- 

 dom was abolished only in 1824. At the 'head of 



