172 



MEZlfcRES 



MICA 



that Mcvcrbecr, in-pin-d by no deeply rooted 

 arti.-lic pmi.iple, made everything WUmUS/UJ to 

 theatrical .-Meet. His successive adoption of 

 widely-diircrcnt style* bean this out ; MM Heine. 

 an enthusiastic admirer, mentioning hi- admitted 

 mastci > of instiiiiuentaiion, slily extends it to 

 In- never resting ellbrts to make everything anil 

 e\erylly concerned ill his o|eros instrumental 

 towards his success. Hut even r>|>|M>nrnts concede 

 tbe IHIHIT and tioauty (if such a piece as the 

 Union- duct in ill.- f.iuitli act of tin- llii'iiicnoti. 

 Endowed with a considerable native talent, he 

 had hy unceasing lalmur mastered the eMcute of 

 all tlir diiicicni -chool.-, and was able to utilise 

 his know -ledge to brilliant purpose. Written (ul 



n, hU grand operas, unii|iie rather than 

 original. ha\e accurately hit the taste of the 

 pulilic, and to this <lay tin-.' splendid melodrama- 

 tic sp.-etacular works are the ptiru tie resistance 

 of tin- Paris Opera. S.-e Dennett's biography in 

 Novello'H series; or Fetis, Biographic Uiuversellc 

 da Mtuicieiu. 



Mr/lTcs, the capital of the French depart- 

 ment ui Ardennes, on a bend of tin- MiMise, opposite 

 Charleville (<j.v. ), l.Vi miles by rail NK. of Paris. 

 Strongly fortified by Vauban, and protect**! by a 

 citadel, in I.vjl it was successfully defended by the 

 Chevalier liayanl. with -MX) MICH, against 40,000 

 Spaniards uiuliT Charles \". : in ISI.'i held out for 

 two in.. nth-, against the Allies, who besieged it 

 after the battle ul Waterloo ; and ill the Franco- 

 .ciman .u i.f |s7o 71 capitulated after a fright- 

 ful bombardment. The principal building is the 

 Flamboyant chiireh, restored in 1S84, in which 

 Charles IX. wan married in 1570. Pop. 6550. 



Meztt-Tlir. a town of Hungary, 40 miles by rail 

 Si; ,,i ltudap.-t. Pop. (1890)23,757. 



Mrzqilite, the name of two trees or shrubs, of 

 the natural order Lcgnniitiosje, snl. older Mimosa?, 

 (tearing |KX| filled with a nutritious pulp, MM 

 found in Mexico, Texas, Ari/ona, \-o. The 

 Common Mezquite (Prosopia ytandiUomt, formerly 

 Algarnliiii I i- u-ually a large slirub (though sonie- 

 tiu 40 feet high), with stems often decumlieiit, 

 and arme.l willi Mron;; trnif;ht spines. In dry 

 eaaons it exudes a great quantity of gum ((!nin 

 Memuitr ), similar in quality to gum-arabic. The 

 Curly Mezquite, Screw Dean or Tornillo (Prosopii 

 jtulifMftu, also Stntmboearpa), although only a 

 hhriib or -ni.-ill tree, in of great value in the desert 

 regions of the western part of North America, 

 mm it occurs along with willow-bushes near 

 spring* of water. It- wood is used as fuel, and 

 its pods are much liki-d by cattle and horses; the 

 Indian-, too, u-e tlii'in as an article of I'oo.!. 



M-//iiiiiii<-. See KMRESOU 



Mrzzofnnli. <-n SKI-I-E, Cardinal, a remark- 

 able lingui-i. was Inirii at Ihdogna, 17th .SeptemlxT 

 1771. II- wan ordaimil priest in 1711", and ap- 

 j.int<-l (it the chair of Arabic at Itologna ; soon 

 after he wan de|ni\cd liccauw of hi- inability to 

 take the oath to the Cisalpine It. 'public, but 'was 

 reinstated later. In I s:tl he settled in Komc with 

 tin- r.uik of Mon-L'iiorc, and two yearn after suc- 

 ceeded Cardinal Mai OK Keeper of the Vatican 

 Library. In 1H.1M he was raised to llie dignity of 

 cardinal. lie dl.-d I.MIi March IM'.I, at I!., inc. 

 Moz/oianti - l-'.iiiM|'an reputalion was founded, not 

 on hi- riling-, hut mi the almost miraculous extent 

 of hi" lingui-lic MqnlrMMnta. Toward* thi' eml of 

 hi- life h<- iimlerstiMNl and sinikc linv eight dillercnt 

 tongncM. As early, indeed, a- Iv.'n |,,,,,| |iyi,,n 

 callnl him 'a walking |>olyglot, a mounter of 

 languages, and a l(ii/ireu< ..I |..m- of i>eerh.' \ ', 

 be wa not in the -tri. t -ense a critical or scientific 

 scholar, or even otherwise a man of great intel- 

 lectual power. See hi* Life by Kumell ( 1857). 



Mezzo-soprano. See SOPRANO. 

 Mezzotint. Sec I M;KAVINO. 



Mfllllllliro. a mountain of Central Afri- 

 11,01)0 feet high, situati-d in 1 :("' S. hit. ami 

 'Mi' I'., long., and west of Victoria Nvanza, jiih 

 within the holders of the British East Africa Con 

 pany's territories. 



NllUW t M/IIIHI. a Itiiii-h cnntonniont in linl 

 state, Central India, 13 miles by mil S\V. of Indo) 

 city. It is 11)19 feet above the sea. l'o|. 

 -'7>-'7, mostly Hindus ; ( 1891 ) 31,773. 



Miako, the capital of Japan. Se KVOTO. 



Miall. KDWARD, an a)>oetle of digeMahlixlinicn 

 was born in 1809, and served as an lnde|iend. : 

 minister at Ware, and afterwards at I.. 

 t low n to 1840, when he founded the NIH-"I- 

 newspaper. In 1844 he hcl)>ed to establish ti 

 Hritisb Anti-state Church Association, known lat> 

 as the Liberation Society, and sat in the II 

 Commons for Rochdale, 1852-67, and for liradfoi. 

 1869-74. On retiring he was presented with t. 

 thousand guineas. He died at Sevenoiil. 

 April 1881. See the Life by A. Miall ( 1884). 



Minsina. SeeMALAKi.v. 



Miilllts*'. an abmiginal hill-tribe, of south' i 

 China, who have contrived to maintain a practic. 

 independence and many curious lin'al usages. Tbf 

 consist of numerous clans, still occupying lai. 

 jHirtions of Kwang se, Kwei-chow, Kwang-tun. 

 and Yun-nan. Sonic of them own Chinese swa\ 

 other triliesare alwolutely independent They ai 

 smaller than the Chinese, and unlike in features 

 in character. I'liysiipie and language imlic:r 

 allinity with the Annainese. Siame-e, and \aii" 

 other inliahitants of the Indo-Chinese peninsula. 



Mi<*a (Lat. micare, 'to glitter'), the nam 



given to an important group of rwk fonnin 

 minerals, which have all a hardness of atiout 

 and are characterised by their perfect cleavage ii 

 one direction the lamina' being flexible aim 

 They are essentially aluminous silicates conlainii 

 pola-li, or soda, or lithia, and in sonic speci 

 iiesia along with potash. They all ci \stallise i 

 monoclinic forms which approximate closely i 

 hexagonal and rhombic crystals. .]/> 

 potash mica is a silicate of alumina and potasli 

 with some of the latter occasionally replaced b 

 soda and small quantities of magnesia, i.-n- 

 oxide, and fluorine. It is seldom colourless, In 

 usually yellowish, brownish, or greenish. The lush 

 i- pearly or almost metallic. The thin pl.r 

 which it divides are generally transparent, and w.-i 

 formerly much used in setting object* for the miei. 

 -cope, but for this purpose thin glass is now pi 

 I. ! led. It is still useful for the mounts of natur. 

 history objects which are to IK' put ill spirit 

 more easily Isired than glass. 1'lates of HMISCO\M 

 often a yard across are found near Lake Hail. 

 at Acworth in New Hampshire, and in Chin. 

 Large plates also occur in Sweden and in Noi \\. 

 and masses of the mineral are met with in I'm 

 wall. In Sil>eria, China, Peru, and elsewhere i 

 is used as a substitute for glass in windows. 

 is sometimes preferred to glass for lanterns, an 

 especially for the fronts of stoves, as not Ix-ii 

 liable to break with sudden changes of temp. , 

 lure. In India small pictures are frei|u.n 

 painted in disteni|>er on mica. Muscovite occn 

 as one of the essential constituents of ordinar 

 granite, gneiss, and mica schist. It is also a 

 ingredient of many other plutonic rocks an 

 crystalline schists, but is not a primary coi 

 stitucnt i if volcanic rocks: where present in t 

 lat'er it is as an alteration-product Sen*. 

 talc like variety of muscovite, not uncommon! 

 met with as a constituent of certain schistose rock 



