126 



MKL< HITKS 



MELON 



exquisite mixture of sarcasm and romplimept. 

 MelUiimie died Novcinlier 24, 1.H48. He married 

 ( 1805) a daughter uf the Earl of Hexsl>oiough. who, 

 under th>- ml.- of l-i'h Caroline Lamb ( I 

 IS2X), attained HOIIIC celebrity as a novel-writer, 

 besides notoriety from her relation* with I... id 

 Hvron. The charge Inoujilit against him by the 

 hu>baiid in lS.1ti of seducing the famous Mrs 

 Norton was thrown out by the jury without leav- 

 ing the box. 



See Iftmoirt by Torren (2 ToU. 1878); Lord Mel- 

 bournt'i Pitpert, edited by U C. Sanders (!*); Tke 

 (irrrillt Mrmoirt (|rU i. and ii. 1875-85) ; and Life 

 l.> imnckley (1). 



M ' I < III M'S. tin' name given to a liody of Chris 

 tians in Swia. ('ale-tine, ami Kgypt. who acknow- 

 l.-dge the aiithoiiiy of the pope, ami accept the 

 ilociriuit* uf the Clmrch of Koine. Imt use the 

 liturgy and ceremonies of the Creek Church. They 

 roiuliict divine service in the vernacular tongue, 

 receive the l.md - SII|I|HT in Ixiih kinds, ami follow 

 the Eastern Calendar. Their priests need mil ! 

 celibate, but must not marry after ordination. 

 They numlicr close u|.,m SII.IKKI. ami are ruled by a 

 |iatriarch at llama-cus, ami twelve bishops. The 

 name Mclchites i lit. Itoyali-ts. from Syriac tnrlcliu, 

 'a king') dates from the .">th century, ami was 

 given to those nicmlicr- of the orthodox Eastern 

 Chinch who Hiip|H>rted the em|>erors a^ain-t the 

 Monophysites (q.v.) and Nestorians (i|.v. ). 



MVh'hl/edek ( ' king of righteousness'), in the 

 Mory of Cene-i-. king of Salem and priest of 

 Supreme Kl.' He met A brain on his return from 

 the' victorious ex|iedition against Chedorlaomer, 

 cave him his blessing, and received tithes from 

 him. The ante legal king-priest -tamls in I'salm 

 ex. ana (inure typical of the vicegerent ot'.leho\ali. 

 and in Helirews. vii. :t, of the kindly prie>tliiKMl of 

 Jesus. The chapter in (ienesis containing liis 

 tor}' Btaiids alone in character in the Pentateuch, 

 and according to Wellliaiisen is one of its latent 

 additions. As to bin living ' without father and 

 without mother,' it may lie noted that Abd-Kiba, 

 kinK of Jerusalem, in the Tell el-Amarna tablets 

 Myaof himself : ' Neither my father nor my mother 

 appointed me in thu place i.e. he wan elective, 

 not hereditary king. 



Mrlrombe Begin. See WEYMOUTII. 



Mrh-ffnano, formerly MxRIGNANO, a town 12 

 miles SK. of Milan. Pop. 6438. Here Francis I. 

 of France defeated the Swim in 1515, and the 

 French routed the Austrian rear-guard in 1859. 



Mr I ft, a town of Southern Italy, 30 miles V of 

 I'otenza. The once, magnificent cathedral (1155) 

 win* ruined by earthquake in Is.'il. Melli was (lie 

 Norman capital <>f Apulia. I'op. ll,7ll.">. 



Mfllord. I.MM.. a pietiire-i|iie \illage of Suf- 

 folk, l.'l miles S. of llury St F.dmuiiils K\- rail. It 

 liana \eiy line l'er|M'iiilienlar ehiireh _'IM)'feet long. 

 I'op. of parish. 3iVJ. See l\\o woiks by Sir \V. 

 I'arker i IsT.'li and K. I.. Cornier ( 1888). 



HHilln* a Spiitiish '1'iesiilio' (<|.v. ) and convict 



Tl on (he coast of Morocco, S miles SK. of 



Cane Tre Forran, ib-fen.led not withoui mi-hiip 



and ditliculty against the Iterlien* of the liitl in 



18M. It km l-en held by Spain since 1496, 



Mclllot (Mflil'ilu*), ft gentle of clover like 

 plantx of (he natural order Ix-jiuiiiino-.-c. The 

 Common Mclilot, a yellow (lowered annual, com 

 nion in Itritain, ban when in flower a )ieculiar 

 weet oilour like Tonka IW-an. which in<-rease> m 



diving. The flowi-m nnd t- 1 are the chief 



ingredient" in flavouring OruycTp ehwwe. The 

 Hlne Melilot (M. r,rrulr,i), a native of the north 

 i Africa, with xhort rnneme* of blue flowers, in 

 niltivati| in many parU of Europe, particularly 



in Switzerland and Tyrol, and has the peculiar 

 melilot odour iii a high degree. The name Bokhara 

 Clover ban been given to one or more specie-. 



Melinite, an exploHive obtained from I'iciic 

 Acid H|.v.), itelf a powerful explosive, by the 

 admixtuie of some other substance. The fabulous 

 powers attributed to melinite when introduced for 

 artillery purposes (for shells) by Central ISoulanger 

 in 1886 have not been reali-ed : it was lounil i 

 neither stable nor reliable, ami caused soiii" 

 accidents. Lyddite (<|.v. i is similar, but safer. 



llcli|ili:iuid:c. See HUXKV-KATM:. 



ll.'lissir H'hl. See WAX. 



Ill Ililolil AlllM'V. a ruin standing 4 miles 

 N\V. of Mroghinla, was the lii-t Cisten-ian founda- 

 tion in Ireland, founded by St Malachy (<|.v.) in 

 1142. In !.":{! I, when it surrendered to Henry 

 VIII. 's commissioners, it had 140 monks. Its 

 remains were e\caated duiinj; 1884-85. See 

 Mrllifont AM,,-,!, by K. F. 11. (1886). 



Melo. a town of Cerro Lar^o in rruguay, on 

 the Tacuari. here erosseil by a stone bridge, 

 'built in Istk'i by a Frenchman who was murdered 

 for collectin- toll ' (Mulhall i. l'<ip. . r >000. 



>l-|o<l'OII. an instrument of the type of the 

 Harmonium (o.v.), mimwdfld by the Americnn 

 organ. In 1 s.~i!t over 20.000 melodeoim were made 

 in the I'nited States. The name is also applied to 

 an improved variety of the Accordion (q.v.). 



Melodrama (*ir. melos, 'a Hong.'and </nti,i<i) 

 strictly denotes a half musical drama, or that Kind 

 of dramatic peifm malice in which declamation 



is inteiruiite<l from ti to time by instrumental 



music. The name, however, which was lirst 

 applied to the Uficrii by its inventor. (Mtavio 

 Kinuccini, has come to designate a romantic play, 

 depending mainly on wnsat ional incidents, thril- 

 ling situation-, and an ell'ective denouement. Great 

 Hums are spent in the staging of such pieces, and 

 the rostumes. scenery, ami mechanical ellects are 

 often very striking. The expression ' transpontine 

 drama' refer- to a time when such plays were 

 identified with houses on the Surre\ side of the 

 Thames; nowadays the home of melodrama in 

 London is to l>c found iii such theatres its Drury 

 Kane and the Adelphi. 



Melon (I'lfiiiiiix mrJo), a plant of the same 

 genus with the ( 'uciimber (i|.\.i. much cultivated 

 for its fruit, which is sweet, with a delicious though 

 jMviiliar tlavoiir and smell. The melon is an annual, 

 with trailing or climbing steins, lateral tendril-. 

 rounded angular leaves, sinall. yellow, ninnavioiis 

 llowers. ami large round or somewhat ovate fruit. 

 It i- supposed to l>e a native of the subtropical 

 parts of Asia, although it has never beci. discovered 

 in a wild stale. Its F.nglish name was originally 

 .'/./. Mi-tun. The varieties in cultivation an- 

 \ery Jiunierous. some of them distinguished b\ a 

 thick and warty rind, some by a rind cracked 

 in a net-like manner, some by ribs and furrows. 

 -ome by a perfectly smooth and thin rind: they 

 diller also in the colour of the flnh of the fruit, 

 which is green, red, yellow, ,Vc. ; and in the 

 si/e of the fruit, which varies from 3 or 4 inches 

 to a foot or more in diameter. The melon is 

 eaten either by itself or with sugar, and some- 

 limes w iih |M-jiper or ginger. Its cultivation in 

 hotlx-ds and in specially constructed hothouses 

 is extensively carried on' in all parts of Britain, 

 anil very great care is In-stowed on it. A loamy 

 soil is U-st suitiil to it. The xrttitiff o( the fiuit hy 

 dusting the female flower with the pollen of the 

 male (lower is constantly practised by gardeners. 

 Warmth and bright sunshine are requisite to the 

 production of fruit of good quality. The Water 

 bin or Citrul (C. citrntliu), although rarely 



