eei 



MECONIN. 



MEDALS. 



662 



Pyrwnfconic acid (C 10 H 4 6 ) is obtained by heating meconic acid, which 

 yields about one-fifth of its weight. It is purified by pressure between 

 folds of blotting paper, and crystallisation from solution in water. It is 

 fusible between 248 and 257, and then flows like oil ; it is entirely 

 soluble at a moderate temperature, and is more soluble in alcohol than 

 in water. It turns the persalts of iron red, and its salts are generally 

 soluble in water. It is formed by the separation of four eqxiivalents of 

 carbonic acid and one equivalent of water, from two equivalents of 

 meconic acid. It is colourless, very sour, and mono-basic. 



Bromine and iodine displace hydrogen, and form Bromo- and lodo- 

 pyromeconic acids. 



MECONIN, or Opianyl (C^H^O^, a neutral principle existing in 

 opium, first noticed by Dablane, and more particularly examined by 

 Couerbe. To obtain it, an infusion of opium, from which the morphine 

 has been precipitated, is to be evaporated, and the crystallised matter 

 obtained, after being pressed, is to be treated with boiling alcohol ; the 

 solution contains narceine and colouring matter, from which it is to be 

 separated by subsequent operations. [OPIUM, ALKALOIDS OF.] 



The properties of meconin are, that it is colourless, inodorous, is at 

 first tasteless, but afterwards acrid ; it is soluble in water, alcohol, and 

 ether, and crystallises well from any of them ; the crystalline form is a 

 six-sided prism with dihedral summits; it fuses at 194, and is 

 volatilised at 310, without undergoing any change of properties. It is 

 soluble in about 265 parts of cold water, and 20 of boiling water. 

 Sulphuric acid gives it a fine green or purplish colour. Chlorine 

 renders it of a blood-red colour, forming Mec/iloic acid. It does not 

 act either as an acid or an alkali. Nitric acid converts it into Nitro- 

 meconin (C^H^NOJO,). 



MEDALLET, a small medal. 



MEDALLION, a medal of an extraordinary size. Medallions were 

 never used as current coin ; the term is more particularly applied to 

 ancient Roman medals. 



MEDALLION, in architecture, any circular or oval tablet on which 

 heads, animals, flowers, or other objects, are represented in relief. 



MEDALS. Numismatists have usually given the name of medals 

 to those coins that have been struck or cast for particular purposes and 

 on extraordinary occasions, in commemoration of victories, treaties, 

 coronations, and similar important events, or in.. honour of remarkable 

 persons, in distinction to those which have been issued and generally 

 circulated as money. 



The words mcdarjKa and medaglione first occur in Italian writers, 

 from whom the English and French have evidently taken their rttfdai 

 and medaille. The derivation seems to be from the Greek nira^\ov 

 (metal), of which medals are always made. 



A reference to medals, in connection with numismatics, has been 

 made in the article on coins [Cora], to which a few observations must 

 now be added respecting them independently of their relation to the 

 general subject. Owing to the earlier writers on ancient corns con- 

 sidering them as medals, and not coins, the term knowledge of medals 

 was applied to the study of numismatics. The Greeks struck no medals ; 

 but certain large coins of Syracuse, weighing from 668 to 680 grains of 

 silver, dekadrachms, or pieces of 10 drachms, have been called erroneously 

 by some numismatists medallions. They were, however, destined for 

 circulation, like the 20 shilling silver coin of Charles I. in England, 

 and the 100 zecchini gold of Ludovico Manin, doge of Venice, 1789-97. 

 The first ancient medals, in the proper sense of the word, are the 

 Roman brass medallions [NUMISMATICS], with which may be classed 

 the brass pieces called cmtorniati, ipintritz, &c. Gold and silver coins 

 of unusual size and weight are also called medallions, and by some 

 supposed to have been issued for commemorative purposes. 



Among the peculiarities which distinguish modern from ancient 

 medals, may be mentioned the introduction of portraits of illustrious 

 characters who were not of princely or regal houses. It is remarkable 

 that while busts are found of many celebrated poets, historians, and 

 philosophers of antiquity, their portraits seldom occur on medals. When, 

 after the long interval of darkness in which literature and art were 

 enveloped, from the decline of the Roman empire to the 7th or 8th 

 century, taste began again to appear, and, with the other arts, die- 

 engraving revived, it was employed in transmitting to posterity the 

 portraits of eminent individuals. 



The first medals were the productions of painters and sculptors, and 

 were made of lead or bronze, and cast in moulds of clay or fine sand 

 taken from models of wax. The art was subsequently taken up by 

 goldsmiths, and medals were made in repousse work, or in chasing in 

 the precious metals, or in bronze, a style of work which Carradosso and 

 Cellini chiefly produced. At the beginning of the 16th century, in 

 Germany, medals were made in boxwood or soapstone from which 

 moulds were made : and the medals cast and chased by Albert Durer 

 and other artiste. At the beginning of the 17th century Camelio 

 began to cut steel dies, a master mould, or model of raised steel, was 

 made, and soft iron dies stamped from it. Cellini had previously used 

 dies for small medals. About A.D. 1583 small enamelled medals were 

 made by jewellers for ornamental purposes. 



The earliest examples of modern medals and medallions seem to be 

 of the 1 5th century, though there is one remarkable exception to this 

 in a medal of David II., lung of Scotland. It is of gold, and was 

 probably executed during that prince's captivity in England, some 

 time between the years 1330 and 1370. Another medal of A.D. 1371, 



ABTg AHD SCI. DIV. VOL. V. 



of the Lord of Schornverst is also known. From the 15th century there 

 is a succession of medals in most European countries. A gold medal 

 of the council of Florence, dated 1439, is one of the earliest. A still 

 earlier one, if the date 1415 is correct, is of John Huss; but some 

 doubts have been entertained of .its authenticity. Vittore Pisano, a 

 painter of Verona, is celebrated as the restorer of the art at that period ; 

 but the medal alluded to of David of Scotland seems to prove that it was 

 practised before his time. Pisano's medals are very large, and are all 

 cast. They are usually inscribed " Opus Pisani Pictoris." It is curious 

 that he should always refer to his being a painter, while exercising a 

 totally distinct branch of art. Another painter, Boldu, in 1457 made a 

 medal of the poet Mesararo. 



The Papal medals are among the finest of a continued series. They 

 commence properly with Paul II., who began to reign in 1464, those 

 of pontiffs who lived prior to that date having been added to the 

 collection by his successors. Till the age of Julius II. they were cast in 

 moulds, and not struck. Some of the medals of a later period are 

 valuable examples of the art, in which great improvements took place 

 under Alexander VI. His successors, Julius II., Leo X., and 

 Clement VII., had many of their medals designed by Raffaelle and 

 Giulio Romano, while Benvenuto Cellini and other distinguished 

 artists were employed to engrave them. The medals of Julius III., in 

 1550, and of Gregory XIII., in 1571, were made by Covinio and 

 Bassiano. Ccrmaui, who engraved in 1644 a medal of Innocent X., 

 having on the reverse Olympia Maidalchina, was imprisoned. Par- 

 migiano engraved a medal of Gregory XIII., on the Restoration of 

 the Calendar. Many of the Cinque-Cento medals are chased, as well 

 as cast or struck. A German "family, named Ermerani, or Hamerani, 

 of eminence as medal engravers, settled in Italy about the middle of 

 the 17th century, and executed many of the papal medals. This talent 

 was not, it appears, confined to the men of this family ; Venuti says 

 each of the daughters also produced a fine medal. In later times 

 Girometti and Cerbara are renowned. 



The German medals commence in 1453, and are very numerous; 

 the Emperor Maximilian I. and Rudolph II. employed Italian artists, 

 but the German artists of Augsburg and Nuremberg acquired great 

 celebrity. The Sicilian medals appear as early as 1501. The first 

 modern satirical medal is of that time, and was published by Fre- 

 derick II. against his adversary Ferdinand, king of Spain. It bears on 

 one side the head of Ferdinand, with the inscription FERDINANDVS B. 

 AR. VETCS VULPES OKBis ; on the reverse, a wolf carrying off a sheep, 

 with JUGUM MEUM SUAVE EST ET ONUS 'MUCH LEVE. Many others 

 might be mentioned of this description. The employment of medals 

 for the conveyance of satire is not confined to the moderns. They are 

 the precursors of the modern caricatures. 



In Russia the taste for medals commenced with Peter the Great, 

 and Maria Feodorowna the wife of Paul I., and Count Feodor Tolstoy, 

 in the beginning of this century, engraved medals of considerable 

 merit. 



The Spanish medals begin in 1503. The earliest of Venice appear 

 in 1509 ; and those of Denmark in 1474. The first Dutch medals 

 seem to be of 1566, and they are remarkable for the elaborate views, 

 maps, and plans that are engraved on many of them. It has been 

 observed among the distinctions of ancient and modern medals, that in 

 the former, when buildings are represented, the simple elevations only 

 are given, while in the latter perspective views are exhibited. The 

 Dutch indulged very freely in the satirical vein, and for which they 

 eventually paid very dearly, as it contributed, in no small degree, to 

 bring on them the whole hostile power of France under Louis XIV., 

 who is said to have been highly exasperated at the publication of a 

 medal in which Van Heubingen, the Dutch ambassador, was repre- 

 sented as Joshua (his name) arresting the progress of the sun, tinder 

 which type the flatterers of Louis designated that monarch. Mueller, 

 Pool, and Abeele were chiefly renowned. 



The French medals commence with Louis XL, and reached high 

 perfection in the reign of Francis I., who employed Cellini. The 

 popularity of Louis XIV. gave an impulse to the art, and we find 

 his entire life illustrated (with more respect, however, to the national 

 glory and the prince's vanity than to historical truth) by medals ; some 

 of them are well designed and finely executed. The best engravers 

 of these medals were Dupre", Varin, and Duvivier. The medallio 

 history of Napoleon I. deserves notice in the series of medals of France. 

 It is of great extent, and is, for the most part, honourable to Frencu 

 art. These medals, executed by Andrieu, Jeuffroi, Droz, and Manf redini, 

 exhibit great classical taste and feeling, and contain a record of the 

 events of the first empire. The reverses are generally allegorical. 

 Many of them were executed from the designs of the celebrated Denon, 

 and the painter David. One, struck in anticipation of the taking of 

 London, is remarkably rare. In recent times Barre made fine medals 

 for Louis Philippe. 



The series of English coins and medals is one of the most perfect. 

 The first medal is of 1480. It is of a large size, and is executed in the 

 early Italian manner. On one side is a portrait of Sir John Kendal, 

 general of cavalry of the. order of Rhodes, with 10. KENDAL. RHODI. 

 TURCUPELLABIUS ; on the reverse, the arms of Kendal, with the 

 inscription TEMPORE OBSIDIONIS TURCOBUM. MCCCCLXXX. It is believed 

 to be of foreign, probably Italian, workmanship. The next English 

 medal is of the time of Henry VIII. It is of gold, and bears the king's 



