MEXICO 



MEYERBEER 



171 



eighth to one fifth of the deaths are due to con- 

 sumption and pneumonia, and one-third to typhoid 

 and other fevers. It is only the extreme dryness 

 of the atmosphere that renders the site habitable 

 at all. New works, on a very large scale, intended 

 to drain the valley, were begun in 1890 by two 

 English companies, and were practically com- 

 pleted in 1895, at a cost of 2,600,000. The 

 trade of Mexico is chiefly a transit trade, and 

 its manufactures (cigars, religious art objects, 

 pottery, silver- work, &c.) are unimportant. Foreign 

 enterprise is already working ereat changes, 

 and there are now railways to Vera Cruz (263 

 miles), to El Paso ( 1224), Laredo (840), and Ciudad 

 Porlirio Diaz (1089) the last three on the Texan 

 frontier as well as other points. Pop. 350,000. 



Mexico, GULF OF, a basin of the Atlantic 

 Ocean, is closed in by the United States on the 

 north, by Mexico on the west and south, and its 

 outlet on the east is narrowed by the jutting 

 ]M-niii.sulas of Yucatan and Florida, which approach 

 within 500 miles of each other. Right in the middle 

 of this entrance is planted the island of Cuba, 

 dividing the strait into two the Strait of Florida 

 and that of Yucatan, the former connecting the 

 gulf with the Atlantic Ocean, the latter with the 

 Caribbean Sea. Dr John Murray calculates the 

 area of the gulf at 716,200 sq. m. Over a fourth of 

 this area the ocean-floor lies at a depth of lietween 

 1000 and 2000 fathoms, while 58,000 sq. m. is deeper 

 still. The shores, however, are very shallow 

 as it were, the broad rim of this central cauldron ; 

 the portion less than 100 fathoms deep exceeds 

 400.0W sq. m. The extreme length from SW. to 

 NE. is more than 1100 miles. Of the numerous 

 bays, the largest is the Bay of Cainpeachy ( Cam- 

 pi'i-lii-l. The coasts are mostly low and sandy or 

 marshy, and are lined with numerous lagoons ; the 

 best of the few good harlmurs are those of New 

 Orleans, Pensacola, and Havana. The gulf is 

 vi.-itcil from September to March by violent north- 

 easterly gales called niirtes. There are very few 

 islands. The principal rivers it receives are the 

 Mi~i-sippi and the Rio Grande del Norte. See 

 GCLK STREAM. 



Meyer, CONRAD FERDIXAND, Swiss poet and 

 novelist, was born on 12th October 1825, at Zurich, 

 near which he finally settled in 1877. His style is 

 graceful, and he excels in character-drawing and in 

 genre-pictures of descriptive work. His chief novels 

 are ./on/ Jenettsc/i (1876; 7th ed. 1889), a story of 

 Switzerland in the 17th century, and Der Heilige 

 (1HMO; 9th ed. 1889), two of the best historical 

 novels of modem German literature. His power is 

 also well shown in Diis Amulet (3d ed. 1882), Der 

 Schtus run tier Kam/ei (3d ed. 1882), Die Leiden 

 eine Knnben ( 3d ed. 1889), Die Hochzeit des Monchs 

 (4th ed. 1889), Die Richterin (1885), and Die Ver- 

 ,,,/ ,/, Pescarn (1887). His poetical skill is 



lifst displayed in the idyllic epic poem Hvttens 

 letzle T'iffe ( 1872 ; 7th ed. "1889 ), in Gulichte ( 1882 ; 

 3d ed. 1887), and in Engelbery (2<i ed. 1886). 

 There is a Memoir of him by Itcitler ( 1885). 



Meyer, HEIXRICH Auorsx WILIIELM, com- 

 mentator, was born at Gotha, 10th January 1800, 

 studied at Jena, was pastor at Harste, Hoye, and 

 Neustadt, retired in 1848, and settled in Hanover, 

 where he died 21st June 1873. His name survives 

 in his Commentaries on the New Testament a 

 monument of exegetical science (commenced 1832). 

 Later editions showed constant improvements, and 

 since his death this work has been continued by 

 Weias, Wendt, Beysrhlag, and others. The Englisli 

 translation in Clark's series is in 20 vols. ( 1873-82). 



Meyer, JOSEPH, publisher and industrial or- 

 ganiwr, was born at Gotha, 9th May 1796, and 

 died on 27th June 1856. A man of great energy 



and liberal ideas, he started several industrial 

 enterprises, the most important being the issue of 

 great serial works by subscription at low prices, 

 such as the German classics, the Konversations- 



was founded at Gotha, but in 1828 was transferred 

 to Hildburghausen, in 1874 (by his son) to Leipzig. 



Meyerbeer, GIACOMO, operatic coinposer, was 

 born at Berlin, September 5, 1791. The son of 

 Herz Beer, a wealthy Jewish banker, his name 

 was originally Jakob Beer ; the name Meyer was 

 afterwards adopted from a benefactor, and 

 the whole consolidated and Italianised. His 

 musical genius was h'rst shown on the pianoforte ; 

 at the age of seven he played in public Mozart's 

 I) minor concerto. He was" received, when fifteen, 

 into the house of the celebrated musician, the 

 Abbe Vogler, at Darmstadt; with his fellow-pupil 

 Welier he was on terms of the most intimate and 

 lasting friendship. His earlier works, produced at 

 Munich and Vienna, were unsuccessful, but in the 

 latter city he obtained fame as a pianist, which 

 nii^ht have stood against that of any rival had he 

 chosen to rely on this talent. His ambition, how- 

 ever, was to succeed as a composer ; and on the 

 advice of Salieri he proceeded to study vocal com- 

 position in Italy. There Rossini's music had just 

 taken the public by storm ; and Meyerbeer, with 

 his remarkable adaptability, after three years was 

 able to produce operas in the. new style, which at 

 once gained a cordial reception ; the last of these, 

 // Crociuto, brought out at Venice in 1824, was 

 received with acclamation, and the coinposer was 

 presented on the stage with a laurel crown. From 

 1824 to 1831 he lived mostly in Berlin, married, and 

 hail two children, whose loss in infancy he keenly 

 felt. He also applied himself, with the unremitting 

 industry he evinced from boyhood, to a minute and 

 comprehensive study of French opera. The result 

 of this was seen in the production at Paris in 1831 

 of Hubert le Diable (libretto by Scribe), in which 

 a totally new style was evident. It had un- 

 paralleled success over all Europe, and made the 

 fortune of the Paris opera even Rossini was 

 thrown rather into the shade. It was followed in 

 1836 by the Huguenots, which, with the assistance 

 of a magnificent cast, almost eclipsed its prede- 

 cessor. He was soon after appointed by the king 

 of Prussia as his Kapellmeister at Berlin. Here 

 he wrote the opera Ein Feldlager in Scldesien, the 

 success of which \yas signalised by the first appear- 

 ance of Jenny Lind. After long preparation, Le 

 Prophete appeared at Paris in 1849, also with 

 success, though it was not altogether to the mind 

 of even friendly critics. The composer now ven- 

 tured into a fresh field, the Opera Comiqne ; 

 L'Etoile du Nord, given in 1854, carried the day 

 in spite of the prognostications of French critics, 

 and was succeeded in 1859 by Le Pardon de Plo- 

 ermel, known in England as Diuorah. He was 

 subsequently occupied with a musical drama, La 

 Jennesse de Goethe, the setting of which M. Blaze 

 de Bury, the author of the work, says he saw com- 

 plete, but which has not hitherto come to light. 

 In 1861 he set to work with his usual anxiety and 

 fastidiousness on the production of L'Africaine, 

 which had been in hand since 1838. But his 

 delicate health gave way before his ceaseless 

 In In MI rs, and he died at Paris, May 2, 1864. The 

 opera hail a triumphant reception a year later. 



Scarcely any composer has been so variously 

 estimated as Meyerl>eer. The magnificent praise 

 of Fetis and Blaze de Bury is counterbalanced by 

 the emphatic condemnation of Schumann and the 

 savage and ungrateful attacks of Wagner. There 

 seems to be truth in the main charge of the latter, 



