148 



Mi:>SAl.INA 



METALLURGY 



Milieu, it* headquarters, trading with tlie Levant 

 an<t Block Sea, with nnti-in A.-ia an. I Anstrnlia. 

 by way of tlie Suez Caaal, oiiJ with Sj.ain ami 

 Algiera. 



VAI.KKIA, the daughter of M.u.--.;- 



VaJeriiiH M--.ilu ItarUitus, and wife of the Uoman 

 -m|-ror ClauiliiiN, a unman infamous for her 

 avarice, her lust, ami her atrocious n uclty. Taking 

 advantage of the weakm an. I stupid'ity of the 

 emperor, she iilaved the harlot without restraint. 

 ana inunlerol all \vho murmured at her gilded 

 shame. The !-M blood of Koine Mowed at her 

 pleasure : among her victims were the daughters 

 oi ( ;.-iinaiiici>s ami MIII-U-. Justus Catonius, M. 

 Vinicius, Valeiius A-iaticii8, and her confederate 

 I'olybiu-. During a tem|M>rary absence of the 

 eni]peror she \vent so far in o|ien shamelessness aa 

 publicly to marry ('. Silius, one of her favourite*. 

 The blinded emperor '- eyes were at last opened by 

 liU frecdmaii Narcissus, ami he was persuaded to 

 i ..... lei- for her execution. Slie was put to 

 death hy Kuodus. a tribune of the guards, in the 

 gardens of Lucullus, 4$ A.D. 



Meoftapian*. See APULIA, INSCUIITION-;. 



Messenger*. Kixo's (QUEEN'S), oiiieers em- 

 ployed hy secretaries of state to convey valuable 

 ami i-Miiliii.-Mii.il despatches at home ami abroad. 



HcMenla, in ancient Greece, the western of the 

 tin. -i- |H-nin-ulas that project southwards from the 

 l'.-l,,|Mimi"sus, wan hounded on the K. liy I.aoonia, 

 and on the N. hy Arcadia ami Klis. It NILS com 

 IHMtcd chielly of fertile plains, separated hy moun- 

 tain chains and walere.l by tin- I'ami-u- and other 

 streams, and yielded abundant corn and wine. The 

 original I'elasgic inhahitants were conquered by 

 the !><iriaiis, but noon alworbed their conquerers 

 and rose to great prosperity. This excited the 

 envy of the Spartan-, who waged two long warn 

 (7i:(7-J4 ami IM.VWM) against the brave M. - 

 seni.-ms. Most nf those who survived the second 

 war emigrate! to Sicily, where they took posses.-ioii 

 of /ancle, and changed its name to Mi ana. the 

 present Messina, Those who submitted to Sparta 

 wen- made liclotM ; hut they revolted ami wage.l a 

 third war of ten years' duration (from 4HI I. The 

 survivors settled in Naupaktos. After the bat tie of 

 I^-iictra (.'170 1 Kpamiiiomlas invited the descend- 

 ant* of the Me emails liack to Greece, and they 

 joyfully res|Himled to hi- invitation. Their hide 

 |H-ndcnce continued till the Koman con<|Uct in 140 

 li.i-. Me enia i- the name of a nomaicliy of the 

 modern kingdom of (ireece. 



M.-ssiali (lleb. Muhinrh, equivalent to the 

 Greek t'krutot, ' the Anointed ') designate-, in the 

 Old Testament, the great Deliverer ami Saviour, 

 whom the .lews expected to In- xent by (Jod, not 

 only to restore their country to the ]>ower and 

 splendour which it exhibited In tin* days of Ihivjd. 

 but i-vcii, by ...... i|>elling the <!entiles'to acknow- 



ledge the supremacy of the theocratic | ..... pie. t.. 



raise it to the summit of universal dominion. See 

 llllil.K. Vol. II. p. 1IH; and for the New T.-tamcnt 

 Mewuah, nee articles Itiiu.i: i p. u:ii. CHHIST, and 

 .If -i - i iiiilsr. See also .IK.W-, and M AMMI. 



Hilia. the s.M-ond eity of Sicily, stnds on 

 the western shore of the strait* of tbeMOM na ..... 



llt miles E. by N. of Palermo and 1!I5 SSK. of 

 Naph-. Tl ..... ity occupies a narn>w strip of eoaxt 



MMWM the barlMiiir and the hills behind ; the 

 opp- tern Mile of the harlNuir is foniii-.! 



by a M'ckle >ha[H-d tongue of rock, that only leaves 

 a narrow fntran. ..... n the north. Although a very 



ancient city. Me ina iiowicws few antiiiue buihf 

 ings or remain* The d.-tni.-the hands of enemies. 

 and the -till more destructive agency of earth- 

 quakes, are MpaMtbh for this. The greater part 



of the city was laid out. regularly, with handsome 

 hoiisem, alter the earthquake r>f 1788. The cathe- 

 dral wms iM-giin by Count Hoger the Norman in 

 lolis. lint has IH-.-H almost wholly rebuilt since then. 

 This and the chinches of St (Jregory ami St Niccolo 

 are adorned with magiiilieent mosaics. Thecnthc- 

 dral ha also amrgeous high-altar and /r/i/.i. ,-//,.,, 

 and a venerated treasnre in a reputed letter of the 

 Virgin to the townsmen. The citadel was built 

 by Charles II. of Spain hi 1680, the (ion/.-.ga Ca-tle 

 in 1540, and another ca-stle in I.M7 .">.. The haml- 

 some theatre, the palaces, and official buildings 

 are for the most iiart modern. There are here 

 a university, founded in lf>4!, with lifty teacher* 

 and two hundred students, a college of the line 

 arts, an academy of the sciences ami arts, scientific 

 collections, and technical schools. Messina is an 

 archbishop's see. The industry is confined chiefly 

 to muslin, linen, and silk goixls, the working .if 

 coral, and the preparation of fruit essences. The 

 harbour, which is very deep and well protected, U 

 entered annually by some 3370 vessels of 1,277,000 

 tons burden, bringing imports i wheat, cottons, 

 Hour, hides, coals, .hied fish, woollens, iron, &c.) 

 to the annual value of 1,094,280. The export-, 

 embracing principally fruits and their manufactured 

 products, such as wine, essences, olive-oil, seeds, 

 Ac., average 1,'J04,720 annually. More than half 

 the shipping is Italian, and alxiut one-third liiitish. 

 Top. (1881) of the city, 7s:.4.-(s, and of the com- 

 mune. |-_T,,4!I7 (18UO, 14H.400 i. 



Founded in 732 B.C. by the people of rumir-, the 

 place was first called /ancle (i.e. a sickle), and 

 through the commercial enterprise of its people 

 rapidly grew in prosperity. In 495 Anaxtlas of 

 Kfiegitim seized the town and changed its name 

 to Messana (Messene). The Carthaginian- con- 

 quered it and destroyed it in 31X5, and in 2S8 it 

 fell into the hands of the Mamertines, who again 

 changiil its name to Mann-it ina. The intestinal 

 qoarrab of these people gave occasion to the out- 

 break of the I'unic war between Carthage and 

 Rome, on the conclusion of which (241 B.C.) the 

 city became Koman. and in due time pas-ed to the 

 Eastern Empire. The Saracens took the city in 

 the 9th century, and were only expelh-d in' the 

 1 1 th century by the Normans. Here the Sicilian 

 \ .-|ers' massacre raged in 1282, and from that 

 year down to 171.') Messina belonged to Spain. 

 The people revolted in 1(171 and were backed up 



by Prance, but were nilu I to submission in 



1H7S. ami at the same time deprived of their 

 privileges of self government. Then in 1743 the 

 plague, ami forty years later an earthquake, came 

 to complete the ruin of the city. It was, more- 

 oer. bombMdd by the Neapolitan- in ISIS, and 

 in IH01 it was the last place in Sicily to yield to 

 i he Sardinian (Italian) troops. The province of 

 'ia has tin area of 124(1 si., m and a pop- 

 ( IH81 ) of 400,924 and ( I.S'.W) .118,430. 



>l(-sin;i. STHAIT UK (I.at. M,(i,,<,-/intimfre- 

 liiin, or J-'i-itnm .s'/ru/um), separates Italy from 

 Sicily, is -J4 miles in length, and \aries from I 

 14 miles in breadth. Since 1N7'J a scheme for 

 making a railway tunnel under the strait has been 

 under disen ion, but us yet it has come to no 

 practical result. s.-,-S(M.i.\ AM> CiiAitvnms. 



Metabolism, a gem-ial term for the chemical 

 change* oi living matter. See FUNCTION, 1'HYSI- 



"K".'. , I'IKIIOI'I.ASM. 



Mrtawnirc. s,-,- HVDROSTATICS. 



MrtnlllirKy. A brief account will In- given 

 here of ancient metallurgy and of that department 

 of modern metallurgy relating to the mechanical 

 treatment of ores. For the siwcific treatment of 

 the ores of cop|wr, gold, iron, silver, tin, zinc, &c., 

 see the articles on those metals. 



