MESOZOA 



MESSAGERIES MARITIMES 147 



historic fame may be quoteil Harran, Serug 

 (Seruj), Apamea, Edessa, Nisibis, Nicephoriuiii 

 (Rakka), Hit (Is), Manlin, Mosul (Nineveh), 

 Amid (I)iarbekr), and Thapsacus. In biblical 

 times this region was inhabited by prosperous 

 Aramoran agriculturists. At the present time 

 the population consists chiefly of semi-nomad 

 Arabs and Kurds, who keep herds of camels, sheep, 

 and goats, and grow wheat, barley, rice, millet, 

 sesamum, besides cotton, tobacco, safHower, hemp, 

 cucumbers, melons, and other fruits. There is 

 little timlier on the plains. Wild hogs, jackals, 

 hy.Tiias, foxes, and cheetahs, antelopes and gazelles, 

 are common ; but lions and wild asses, so numerous 

 in antiquity, are now scarce. In summer excessive 

 heat (up to 122 K.) prevails, whilst the winter is 

 comparatively cool the thermometer may go down 

 to 14 F. A brief summary of the work of explor- 

 ing ancient sites, and of sites still to lie excavated, 

 is given in the Academy, 12th June 1886. See art- 

 icles on the empires and towns mentioned above; 

 also TIGRIS, EUPHRATES, and works quoted there. 



Moo/oa. a term applied by Van Beneden to 

 a number of extremely simple animal parasites, 

 found in cuttle-fishes, brittle-stars, and some 

 worms. Their cells are in two layers, the inner 

 forming reproductive elements ; they have no 

 mouth or gut, and are sometimes very like the 

 larval forms (planulce) of some jelly-lish and other 

 stinging animals. The name refers to their 

 apparent median position between the single- 

 celled Protozoa and the many-celled Metazoa. 

 See DlCYEMlD-e. 



Mi-so/.oicC-r., 'middle-life'), a term introduced 

 by Professor Phillips to designate the group of 

 geological systems, the fossil remains of wliich 

 differ equally from those of the Pahi'ozoic ('ancient- 

 life') and <';iinoxoic ('newer-life') eras. It is syn- 

 onymous with the term Secondary, and includes the 

 Tnassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous systems. 



Mess ( Fr. mets. Old Fr. met, Ital. messo, 'a dish,' 

 from Lut. misium, 'sent,' or 'served up') originally 

 signified a dish or portion of food. In the British 

 army and navy the men are divided into 'messes' 

 of whatever niimlier is most convenient for taking 

 their meals together. Officers and sergeants also 

 have their ' messes,' which, in addition to being 

 'common rooms' in which they take their meals, 

 are much of the nature of clubs, having smoking, 

 billiard, and reading rooms attached to them, and 

 often libraries. 



In the army each man, unless married, or for 

 other reasons allowed to live out of mess, pays 

 a daily rate of 5d. a day to his mess, which is 

 managed by a non-commissioned officer under the 

 supervision of an officer. For this sum he is pro- 

 viiled with groceries, vegetables, puddings, and 

 plates and mugs. A knife, fork, and spoon is 

 part of his kit which he must always have with 

 him. His rations (j lip. of meat, including bone, 

 and 1 Ib. of bread per day) are given him free, but 

 are drawn in bulk for the whole mess, the meat 

 rations being cooked together and only distributed 

 at dinner, which is eaten in the barrack room where 

 usually the members o f the mess live. Tea and 

 breakfast are similarly served. The men's wash- 

 ing is also managed by messes, and charged in the 

 monthly mess accounts. One of the mess is told 

 off as cook each day. He cleans the room, sets 

 the table, and carries up and divides the dinner, 

 but the actual cooking is done by trained cooks. 

 Sergeantt' Mestet are managed by one of them- 

 Hi'K.-, under a committee of sergeants supervised 

 by an officer, the adjutant if possible. There is a 

 mall entrance fee (usually three days' pay) and a 

 ni'inthly subscription for newspapers, &c. Some, 

 furniture is provided by government, but kitchen 



and table requisites, carpets, pictures, &c. are 

 purchased out of the mess funds. 



Officers' Messes are very similar, but on a larger 

 scale. Every officer on joining is charged an 

 entrance fee of thirty days' pay towards the main- 

 tenance of the mess, and thirty days' difference of 

 pay on promotion. Unless married or specially 

 exempt, he must be a ' dining ' member of the mess 

 of his regiment i.e. he pays the regulated price for 

 his dinner whether he eats it or not ; other meals, 

 as well as wine, cigars, &c., are only charged if 

 taken. All officers also pay a monthly subscrip- 

 tion of two-thirds of a day's pay for single, and 

 half that amount for married officers, towards 

 keeping up the mess establishment, such as furni- 

 ture, liveries, wages of servants, table-linen, &c. 

 The only assistance received from government is 

 'J5 a year for each troop, battery, or company 

 connected with the mess ; out this is only at home 

 and in some colonies. This sum was originally 

 intended to allow each officer a glass of wine a day, 

 but may l>e applied towards reducing the general 

 expenses of the mess. The affairs of the mess are 

 managed by a committee of officers presided over 

 by the senior meml>er. The usual cost of the meals 

 is 2s. 4d. for dinner, without wine, Is. for lunch, 

 and Is. for breakfast. The bills are paid monthly, 

 and will generally amount to some 7 or 8, without 

 wine, for each officer. 



In the British navy there are in all ships as 

 a rule, except in the smaller ones, four messes 

 for officers : the ward-room, the gun-room, the 

 engineers' mess, and the warrant-officers' mess. 

 The ward-room includes all officers, below the 

 captain (who messes by himself), who are above 

 the rank of sub-lieutenant. The gun-room com- 

 prises the sub-lieutenants, midshipmen, cadets, 

 junior assistant-paymasters, and clerks ; the 

 engineers' mess, all engineers not entitled to mess 

 in the ward-room ; the warrant-officers' mess, the 

 gunner, boatswain, and carpenter. In troopships 

 there is one general mess for all officers, naval 

 and military, including the captain of the ship. 

 The system of having one general mess has been 

 tried in other ships, but it has been found 

 impossible so far to arrange for a mess-place suf- 

 ficiently large to allow of all the officers sitting 

 down to their meals together. The separate 

 mess-place for the engineer officers is, however, 

 being gradually done away with, those engineers 

 not entitled to mess in the ward-room messing 

 in the gun-room. Among the ship's companies 

 the chief petty-officers, first-class petty-officers, 

 and the engine-room artificers have respectively 

 their own mess-places, while the rest of the crew 

 are divided off into messes, according to their 

 numbers, the marines and stokers forming messes 

 by themselves. Flag-officers and officers in com- 

 mand of ships can draw all their plate, glass, china, 

 and linen from the dockyard, paying the Admiralty 

 a percentage for the use of it. The officers of the 

 other messes are supplied on commissioning with 

 a complete set of mess-traps, linen, &c. free of 

 charge, which they have afterwards to keep up at 

 their own expense. All officers and men, admiral 

 and second-class boy alike, are entitled to the same 

 daily rations. Officers, however, are not com- 

 pelled to take up their rations, but can take up as 

 much or as little of it as they please, receiving 

 instead a money allowance, which is paid into the 

 mess-fund. The men, hov/ever, must take up two- 

 thirds of their rations, but they can receive money 

 in lieu of the remaining third. Rum is no longer 

 served out to the officers, but the men still con- 

 tinue to receive their half-gill. 



Messagci-les Maritimcs, or in full, 'La 



Compagnie des Services Maritimes des Messag- 

 eries,' a great French shipping company of Mar- 



