146 



MESENTERY 



MESOPOTAMIA 



ies are to be met with in <>r greenhouses. M. 

 nm/i/furum U employed in the manufacture of 



M'Hocco leather, ami furnishes abundance of 

 alkali. The Kim uf the Hottentots in .)f. eiiuir- 

 iii/n,n, the nxits, stems, anil leaves of which tln-\ 

 colleei ami beat uml ti-t together, an<l then 

 ferment, for tin- purpose of chewing l<> allay 

 thii-t. If chewed immediately after fermentation 

 it i- nan-otic anil inti'xicating. It i the ''anna 

 Root of the Cape colonists. The Hottentot .- Fig 

 (M. i-iliilr) is abundant on the sandy plains of the 

 C.ipe of Good Ho|ic, anil the fruit is eaten when 

 ri|ic. The leaves are eaten also when young ami 

 fie-h, ami when somewhat oliler are pickled in 

 vinegar. The juice of the plant ha-- some reputa- 

 tion as a cure for dysentery and thrush in children, 

 and as nn external applieation for ImrriR. The 

 fruit of -V. tymilattraU is named Pigs' faces in 

 Australia, and is eaten by the natives; that of -I/. 

 ii/tijtfiriini is Around into Hour in Africa and 

 made into bread, as is that of the Ice Plant. The 

 Flower of Crete is the seed-vessel of M. trijitiliiuii, 

 which ill the rainy season expands in the form of 

 a star, allowing the seeds to esca|>e. The name 

 should lie sjielled Mesembriaceie, a it is from the 

 (Ir. iiii-si'iiiliriii, ' miil-day, because the (lowers bloom 

 usually at mid-day. 



Jli'M'iitrry (Or, noon, middle : ~ tutors*, 



'the intestine') is the broad fold of peritoneum 

 (the great serous membrane of the abdomen) 

 which attaches the intestines (strictly the small 

 intestine; for s|>ccial names have been Driven to 

 the coi rescinding structure j M connection with the 

 d i lie-rent parUofthe large intestine) posteriorly to 

 the vertebral column. It serves to retain the 

 inte>tine>< in their place, while it at the same time 

 allows the necessary amount of movement, and it 

 contains U-tween its layers the bloodvessels and 



s which pass to them, the lacteal vessels, and 

 mc.enteiic {.-lands. These ^Iniids are joo to 150 in 

 nnmlxT, and are aliout the size of an almond. 

 They exert an organising action on the contents of 

 the lacteals, the chyle lit-ing more abundant in 

 hbrine ami in corpuscle- after it has passed through 

 them. The only disease of any ini|M>rtanee affect- 

 ing these glands is Tnltercle (q.v.), which, when 



i-ively developed in them, is sometimes called 

 



Me -lili'I ('the place of martyrdom,' also 



rlt Meslinl ami Musli/iatl), the prim-ipal city 

 north-eastern Persia, the capital of Khor- 

 nan, and the centre of important tiade route*. 

 The city stands on a tributary of the Hari- 

 Kud, 4<SO miles K. liv N. from Teheran and 

 200 N\V. of Herat, and has a beautiful ap]H-ar- 

 anrp when seen from a distance. Above the 

 wall-, which I ; circuit, shine the gilded 



dome ami minarets of one of the most splen- 

 did untwine* of the Host, that built aUive the 

 tomb of Imam Hi/a, a follower of Ali, and the 

 eighth imam of the Shiite wet. Meshhed is the 

 I city of the Shiite-. and is held in OH murh 

 veneiution by them nt Mecca is by the Siinnite 

 M',-lcms; it is visited c\.-i\ year by nearly 100,000 

 pilgrims. The city is hi-eet.*! by a wide 

 shaded street, down the middle of which flows a 



I Idy current l-teen low stone walls. Then' 



either handsome, mosque, and several colleges 



and caravanserais. Tie- people make excellent 



felt- rug*, carpets, RWords, turquoise jewellery, 



velvet, and cotton ami silk go-id-. Optam (37,900), 



>etm and cott<ms. driisl ftintu, tnri| noises 



(i'lT.'JOD) are exerted to Uussia, India, and 



on. to the t.ital value of 100,000. The 



import- consist of textiles, sugar, \'c. from I: 



(IH iiles, \c. i,,,:,, HriUinf 84,300), tea 



\14!2,MO), &c. from India (total, 184,000), and 



miscellaneous goods from Afghanistan (17,300) 

 and from Turkey (l(i,000). The Ti.in~i-aspi.ni 

 llaih M. -iv is j:ivin;; Uns^ia the pie- 



dominance in Hade with Mi-shhed. The lived 

 ]Hipiilation is alxint "i<),(KH>. Owin^ to its elevated 

 situation (3055 feet), the city has a cold climate in 

 winter : the summer tem|ierature ranges from 7'i 

 to 92' K. Close by are tne ruins of Tus, the old 

 capital of Khorassiin, where the celebrated iMK-t 

 Firdansi, Haraun-al-Kaschid, and the Imam l:i/a 

 were buried. See O'Donovan, Mcrv Ousts (1882), 

 and J. Itassett, Pcrtia (1886). 



Meskoiilin. or HAMMAM MESKOI-TIX ('the 

 An-ursed 15;itlis'), a place in Algeria, 48 miles i 77 

 by rail) E. by N. of ConateouBA, with renmik- 

 able hot bulbs (203 F.), known to the KOIIKM 

 A'/ini 'I'lliilitimr. They and the adjoining ferrn^in * 

 oils and sulphureous springs i 17u a-.- slill used 

 medicinally. The incrustations of carlionate ,,f 

 lime and clouds of steam, &c. give the region a 

 very singular appearance. 



lllesmer, FRIEDRICH ANTON or FRANZ, the 

 founder of the doctrine of Animal Magnetism 

 (q.v.), was liorn near Constance, 23d May 1734. 

 He was bred for the priesthood at Iiillin^cn and 

 In^olstadt, but took up the study of medicine at 

 \ ienna, and look his doctor's degree in 17(i(i with 

 a treatise DC jifnin-tnruin \nfl\ixn. About 1772 he 

 Iwgan with a Jesuit, Hell, to investigate the cura- 

 tive powers of the magnet, and was led to adopt 

 the opinion that there exists a power, similar to 

 magnetism, which exercises an extraordinary inllu- 

 cnce on the human Ixidy. This he called animal 

 magnetism, and published an account of his dis- 

 covery, and of its medicinal value, in 1773. In 

 177H he went to Paris, where lie created a jrreat 

 sensation. His system obtained the support of 

 memliers of the medical profession. a> well as of 

 others; but he refused an otler of an annual pension 

 of 20,000 livres (aliout 800) to reveal his secret ; and 

 this, combined with other circumstances. j_'avc rise 

 to suspicion, and induced the government in 1785 

 to appoint a commission, composed of physici 

 and scientists , liailly. Franklin, Lavoisier, \c.), 

 whose report was unfavourable to him. He now- 

 fell into disrepute, and, after a visit to Kn^land, 

 retired to Meershiiif.', in Switzerland, where he 

 ~penf the rest of his life in complete obscurity. 

 He died Tith March ISiri. See his I.ile by '.\. 

 Ketner ( Frankf. 1856), and P. Anderson Graham's 

 AfcxiiH r tin M</netiser ( 18!>0). 



INesodorm. See KMRRYOLOOY. 



.M>sol<llifioll. See Miss, ,i, ( iv,;iii. 



Mfsopolaillia ('lietween the rivers'), the 

 distiiet lietween the rivei-s Tigris and Euphrates, 

 exiending from the foot of the Armenian moun- 

 tains south eastwards to near the ncighliourhood 

 of llagdnd. The name is the Creek equivalent 

 of tin- old Aramaic (Syrian) Aram -Naharaim, and 

 became current after Alexander's Asiatic con- 

 que-ls: the Arabs call the district Kl-Jexira ('the 

 island ' ). It has an area of aliout 55,000 sq. in. ; 

 the surface is level and falls from an altitude of 

 1100 feet in the north-west to 160 feet in the south- 

 east, where the alluvial region of Ifabylonia ( Irak) 

 begins. The soij is sandy, but, when well watered 

 or, an it was in ancient times, well irrigated, 

 it develops extraordinary fertility. Yet since the 

 Turks (Seljuks) made themselves masters of the 

 region (IMS) it has fallen more and more a prey 

 to barrenness and neglect Having been in the 



IMMwession successively of the Assyiians, Itaby- 

 oniaiis, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, and 

 Tuiks, and many a time and oft the battle-ground 

 between the armies of these mighty empires, 

 its records are full of stirring events and great 

 changes and vicissitudes. Amongst the. cities of 



