120 



MEDINA 8IDONIA 



MKIMTKKHANKAN SEA 



in represented l>y a modern erection hard )>y. There 

 eenui no reason to doulit that the I'rophet was 

 huriitl in tin- s|iace (originally A veslmh's nut ) now 

 endows I in tin- IIIOMIIIC; nor' i- it likely that the 

 grave wan ever rifled. That his coffin, said to 1 

 eovereil with a marble flab, and cased with silver 

 I no Kunipean has ever Keen it ), rests suspended in 

 tin' ..n is of course nn idle Christian faide. Of the 

 treasure* whirh this sanctuary once contained, 

 lit I If now remains. It is a meritorious act to 

 perform the pilgrimage to Medina, though there 

 to DO flxed season for it A* in Mecca, a LH-.U 

 number of ecclesiastical officials are attached in 

 mime cajiacity or other to the Great Mosque ; and 

 nut only they, hut many of the townspeople 

 live to a great extent on* the pilgrims' alms and 

 custom. There are few other noteworthy spots in 

 Medina, save the minor mosques of Ahn-bekr, "AH, 

 'Omar, Kilal. \c. Thirty Medrcsschs. or public 

 i-ndowi-d schools. represent what learning there IB 

 left in the city, once famed fur its scholars and 

 theologians. In the Ttli century Medina was the 

 capital of Islam ; but since tlien it has passed 

 iimlcr tin- rule of emirs, sherffs, Turkish pashas, 

 ami \Vah.ilii-. though the internal government of 

 the city is still Arabian. 



Medina Sidonia. .1 city of Spain, 2T> miles 

 SSK. of Cadi/, stands on an isolated hill overlook- 

 ing a wide plain, and has the mins of a castle, the 

 ancestral seat of the dukes of Medina Sidonia, 

 descendants of (in/man (lie Good, conqueror nf 

 Tarifa (129*2). It was a memlicr of this house 

 who eiininianded the 'invincible Armada' (q.v.). 

 I'op. I'J.%17, who make pottery. 



H.ilim l-< l-r:illlli. See FAYYCM. 



Medltatio FIIKU-. Se,- DEBT, Vol. III. p. 717. 



llrilitrrrailciill Sea, so named from lying 

 in the midst !H>I \\een tin- continents of Europe, 

 Asia, and Africa. It is the largest enclosed sea 

 in the world, and is connected with the open 

 ocean only by the narrow Strait of Gibraltar, 9 

 mi!. - in width at the Pillars of Hercules. Since 

 IMtiit, however, it has been artificially connected 

 wiih the Kcd Sea and Indian Ocean by means 

 of the Suez Canal (q.v. ). From its great size the 

 Mediterranean might lie ranked with the oceans, 

 but from licing s ...... mpletely eut oil' it presents 



di-tinctiv |IM-:I! characters when compared with the 

 great ocean-basins, and is consequently of special 

 interest to tin- student of physical science. The 

 Mediterranean, in a nearly east and west direction. 

 i* about '.MOO miles in length from the Strait of 

 (Gibraltar to the Syrian coast: its width varies 

 from .VK) or 000 miles in some places to less than 

 KM) miles Is-twcen Sicily and CU|H- Iton, wheie il 

 is divided by rvhitiicly shallow banks into two 

 distinct hydrographic basins, the eastern one lieing 

 the larger. It is connected with the Itlack SIM 

 through the Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmora, and 

 tin- ltos|ihorus. The- African and Syrian 

 are comparatively even and unindented, the wide 

 gulfs of (ialies and Sidra scarcely presenting an 

 -- nn the other hand, the shores of Europe 



uid Asia Minor a.e cut up into numerous gulls 

 and Ixiyp., the largest of which is the Adriatic Sen. 

 i" parts of the Mediterranean have liceii 

 known by s|H-cial names, such an the Tyrrhenian 

 nnil IlK-rian Sea.* in the western, and the Levant, 



m, and Ionian Sea* in the eastern liasin. The , 

 princi|>al islands in the western part are Sardinia 

 and (.oreica, the Balearic and l.ipari Islands, the 

 two latter croup* l-ing of volcanic origin. The 

 continental island* of Sicily and Malta are situated 

 on the lianks dividing the two basins : 1'antellaria. 

 Limma, and Craham Island (now reduced to a 



hoal) are, however, volratiir though ii 

 Uw Mne hanks. In the eastern regions th<n 



on 

 are 



the large islands of Cyprus and Crete, with the 

 Ionian Islands and the islands of the Archipelago. 

 The Mediterranean is frequently subject to earth 

 ipiakes, and Vesuvius, Stroniboli, and Etna are 

 among the most famous of its active \olcatioea. 

 The scenery of the shores of this great inland sea 

 is varied, mountain -ranges and high tablelands 

 predominating. Although there is considerable 

 diversity IxM ween the climates of Northern Italy and 

 the desert shores of North Africa, still the terrestrial 

 fauna and flora are not markedly distinct in the 

 ditl'erent legions of the Mediterranean basin, many 

 of the plants and animals lieini; identical on the 

 northern and southern shores, and there is abundant 

 evidence that this similarity was much more pro 

 nounccd in recent geological times. The countries 

 bordering the Mediterranean have been the cradle 

 of civilisation, I'luenicia, (Greece, and Italy having 

 IM-CII successively the homes of knowledge and pro- 

 gress, and at the present ti this inland sea is 



commercially the most important waterway of the 

 world. 



The area of the Mediterranean is estimated at 

 about 9(X),0()0 si|. m., or, including tin- Illack Sea 

 and Sea of Azov, at 1,0">3,<XX) s<|. m. The area of 

 land draining into the Mediterranean is estimated 

 at 2,069,350 sq. in., or nearly 3,000,000 sq. m. of 

 the richest country on the earth's surface. The 

 annual amount of rain that falls on this land is 

 estimated by the writer at I.~>S cubic miles, and of 

 this amount about 'J'J(i cubic miles reach the \ledi 

 tcnanean through the annual discharge of ri 

 the principal of which are the Hhone, To. Damilic, 

 Dnieper, I)on, and the Nile. 



The liasin of the Mediterranean commences 

 about 50 miles to the west of (iihraltnr, where 

 ili. 'ic is a ridge with a maximum depth of about 

 200 fathoms. There is a similar depth on the 

 ridge Ix-tween Sicily and Africa which separates 

 the Mediterranean into two basins: 'J(I4O fat!. 

 is the greatest depth recorded in the western, and 

 2187 fathoms the greatest in the eastern basin ; 

 the mean depth ot the whole sea is 7(!K fathoms. 

 The area of the sea I M it torn with a less depth than 

 100 fathoms is estimated at al>out one-fourth of i In- 

 whole area : theaica with a depth of from KKMo 1000 

 fathoms is estimated al lUHI.IMX) sq. m.. and with a 

 depth of from 1000 to 'JOOO fathoms at I5,(KHI sq. m. 

 The bulk of water is estimated at 70!),H(K) cubic 

 miles. The greatest depth in the Black Sea i 

 11)7(1 fathoms, the average depth licing 41'2 fathoms. 



On the whole northerly winds prevail over the 

 Mediterranean, due chicllv to the influence of the 

 anticyclonic region of the North Atlantic, although 

 in the eastern portions the alternate c\clonic and 

 anticyclonic area of northern Asia has a distinct 

 inllueiicc on the direction of the winds. The 

 Mediterranean lies wholly lietween the annual 

 isotherms of 00 F. in the north and 70 in the 

 south. The temperature of the surface waters 

 may occasionally reach INI , but is usually much 

 less, the mean of the winter months ln'ing lietweeii 

 ."'It and 57. Generally the temperature of the sea 

 is higher than that of the air, esjiecially in winter, 

 but ill some of the summer months the re.crse is 



tl ase. Whatever the temperature of the surface 



water may lie, at a depth between HHI and 200 

 fathoms a temjierature of 54 to 56 is met with, 

 and this persists without sensible variation to the 

 greatest depth. The temperature of the bottom 

 water in the western basin is alnmt 54' ">, and in 

 the eastern basin a little, wanner, 56' '0. these 

 temperatures being fully 120 higher than the 

 tem|n-ratiire of the iKittom water of the Atlantic 

 at corresponding depths. From recent oliserva- 

 tions it would appear that the deep water of the 

 Mediterranean is subject to slight annual varia- 

 tions, dependent on the temperature of the previous 



