METAPHYTA 



METEOROLOGY 



153 





ta pKysika means probably ' tlie books after the 

 physics,' but lias been interpreted ' tlie matters 

 above or beyond physics.' The branch of philo- 

 sophy so called is the highest department, and deals 

 with speculative questions as to the nature and 

 limit of human consciousness and the possibility of 

 establishing truths beyond empirical consciousness. 

 The term has been sometimes used, as by Mansel, 

 to comprise Psychology along with metaphysics 

 pn>|>er or Ontology. See PHILOSOPHY. 



Metapliyta. many-celled plants, in contrast 

 to the single-celled Protophytes. 



Metasta.slo, the Greek form of the surname of 

 PlKTlio TllAI'ASsi, an Italian poet, who was born 

 of humble parents at Koine, on 6th January 1698. 

 A precocious boy, he improvised verses and recited 

 them to crowds on the street. This gift gained him 

 a patron in his ninth year, one (iravina, a cele- 

 brated Roman lawyer, who educated him, and on 

 his death (1718) left him his fortune. In 1722 

 Metastosin wrote his first libretto at Naples, which 

 BO charmed the great Roman singer liulgarini, 

 called La Roinanina, that she took him into her 

 house, and launched him on his successful career 

 as a writer of opera-libretti libretti which pos-i-- 

 some real poetic qualities. These dramas, all 

 with classical subjects, were set to music by some 

 of the greatest composers then living, as Pergolese, 

 Scarlatti, Durante, Hns.se, Pnesiello, Marcello, and 

 others, and sung by some of the greatest singers 

 who have ever lived, Farinclli and Caft'ariello. In 

 17'2!( Metnstasio was appointed court-poet to the 

 theatre at Vienna, for which he wrote several of 

 his l>est pieces. His reputation spread rapidly ami 

 stood high throughout Kurope, out from 1X25 to 

 ].Hii."> his name was anathema in Italy. He died in 

 Vienna on 12th April 1782, having for nearly forty 

 ye.-irs siitl'eied from 'mental and moral ennui." 

 Good collected editions of his dramas were pub- 

 lished at (.cnoa ( 1802) and at Padua (1811); and 

 his Letters were edited by Carducei (Bol. 1SS3|. 

 s,-i. Vernon Lee's Stm/ics of IMh Ci-ntm-y in Italy 

 (1880), and Li\e, by Burney (1790), Mussalia 

 i l.ss-2), and Falconi (1883), the 'first in English, the 

 last two in Italian. 



Metanrns, a river of Central Italy, still 

 called the Metaui-o or Metro, emptying into the 

 Adriatic near Kami. On its bank- the Romans 

 defeated the Carthaginians under Hosdiubal iti 

 207 B.C. 



.Metayer System, r. METAIRIE. See LAND 

 LAWS, Vol. VI. p. 505. 



Metazoa. many celled animals, in contrast to 

 the .single-celled Protozoa (q. v. ). 



Mr loll IIS, t' ie name of a Roman family of the 

 plel>eian gens C'a-cilia, which rose to be one of 

 the first families of the Roman nobility. One of 

 the most distinguished member* of the family 

 v.-ns oiiintu> ('j-rilin- Metellus Macedonians, who 

 received his surname from \\\- victory over Andris- 

 cus, an aspirant to the throne of Macedonia ( 148 

 B.C. ). His life was considered by ancient writers 

 an example of the greatest felicity : Itefore his 

 death in 115 three of his sons had been consuls, 

 one censor, and one was a candidate for the con- 

 siilshiji. Another was Quintus (.'iccilius Metel- 

 In- Numidieiis, who twice defeated Jugurtha in 

 Nil mid ia (109 B.C.), and was celebrated for his 

 integrity of character, but was superseded in his 

 _ command by Mai ins. Mis son, Quintus ('a-cilius 

 .Metellus, siirnamed Pius, joined Sulla in 83 B.C., 

 but sought to moderate the severity of his pro- 

 ! lotions. Quintus Ca-cilius Metellus Creticus 

 conquered Crete, and reduced it to a Roman pro- 

 vince (67 B.C.). Quintus Cu-cilius Metellus Pius 

 Scipio, sometimes called Quintus Scipio, and some- 



times Scipio Metellus, was a son of Scipio Nasica, 

 who was adopted by one of the Metelli, and be- 

 came the father-in-law of Pompey, and his zealous 

 partisan. He commanded the centre at Pharsalia, 

 maintained war on his behalf for some time in 

 Africa, and, after the battle of Thapsus (46 B.C.), 

 died by his own hand. 



Metempsychosis. See TRANSMIGRATION. 



Meteorology (Gr. meteora, 'meteors, or atmo- 

 spheric phenomena') was originally applied to the 

 consideration of all appearances in the sky, both 

 astronomical and atmospherical ; but the term is 

 now confined to that department of physics which 

 treats of the phenomena of the atmosphere as 

 regards weather and climate. Owing to the com- 

 plexity of the phenomena, meteorology is the most 

 difficult and involved of the sciences, and may 

 seem, at first sight, almost incapable of being 

 reduced to a science at all. On this account, the 

 only procedure admissible in the first place is a 

 faithful recording of facts by long and patient 

 observation. 



From the nature of the subjects which make up 

 the science, it may be inferred that they occupied 

 men's minds from a remote antiquity. From the 

 time spent in the open air in the early ages, and 

 from the imperfect protection afforded against the 

 inclemency of the seasons, those appearances which 

 experience proved to precede a change of weather 

 would be eagerly recorded and handed down. In 

 this way many valuable facts. were ascertained and 

 passed current from hand to hand ; and perhaps 

 there is no science of which more of the leading 

 facts and inferences have been from so early a 

 period incorporated into popular language. Aris- 

 totle was the first who collected, in his work On 

 Meteors, the current prognostics of the weather. 

 Some of these were derived from the Egyptians, 

 while a considerable number were the result of his 

 own observation. Theophrastus, one of Aristotle's 

 pupils, classified the opinions commonly received 

 regarding the weather under four heads viz. 

 the prognostics of rain, of wind, of storm, and 

 of fine weather. The subject was discussed only 

 in its popular and practical bearings, and no 

 attempt was made to explain phenomena whose 

 (.((urn-nee appeared so irregular and capricious ; 

 but still the treatise of TTieophrastus contains 

 about all that was known down to comparatively 

 recent times. No real progress was made till 

 instruments were invented for making observations 

 with regard to the temperature, the pressure, the 

 humidity, the purity, and the electricity of the air. 

 The discovery of the weight or pressure of the 

 atmosphere made by Torricclli in 1643 was un- 

 doubtedly the first step in the progress of meteor- 

 ology to the rank of a science. As this memorable 

 discovery discloses what passes in the more elevated 

 regions of the atmosphere, it follows that the eleva- 

 tions and depressions of the barometric column 

 largely extent! our knowledge of the subject. In- 

 deed, nearly all of the more important of the dis- 

 coveries of modern meteorology have been made 

 through the barometric observations. 



The invention and gradual perfecting of the 

 thermometer in the same century formed another 

 capital advance; as without it nothing beyond 

 vague impressions could be obtained regarding 

 temperature, the most important of all the ele- 

 ments of climate. Fahrenheit constructed small 

 and portable thermometers, which, being carried by 

 medical men and travellers over every part of the 

 world, furnished observations of the most valuable 

 description. By such observations alone the com- 

 parative temperature of different countries became 

 known, and the exaggerated accounts of travellers 

 with regard to extreme heat and cold were reduced 



