MERCY MERIDIAN. 



781 



metal. These mines have already been explored to 

 a depth not far from 1000 feet. They are capable of 

 furnishing annually 6000 quintals of metal ; but the 

 Austrian government, in order to maintain the value 

 of the metal, have limited' their produce to 1500 

 quintals per annum. Their total produce from 1809 

 to 1813, a period of fifty-six months, was 1,419,425 

 pounds of mercury ; 270,029 pounds of vermilion ; 

 76,225 pounds of lump cinnabar ; 6,400 pounds of 

 calomel ; 2,867 pounds of red precipitate, and 2,450 

 pounds of corrosive sublimate. The memorable con- 

 flagration of these mines in 1803 was extinguished 

 only by filling their chambers and galleries with 

 water, and the mercury which was sublimed during 

 that catastrophe, occasioned the most dreadful dis- 

 eases among more than 900 persons. Next to the 

 mines of Idria come those of Almaden, in the pro- 

 vince of Manche, in Spain, and which are nearly as 

 rich as those of Idria. Their mean annual product 

 is about 5000 quintals of quicksilver. These cele- 

 brated mines, near which are also those, of Cuebas 

 and Almadenejos, were known to the Romans, and, 

 it is presumed, are those alluded to by Pliny, under 

 the name of the mines of the territory of Sisapanus. 

 After having been, for a great number of years, 

 leased out to the merchants of Ausbourg, they are 

 now explored on account of the government, and 

 their product is exclusively applied to the amalgama- 

 tion of gold and silver in the mines of Mexico and 

 South America. The mines of the palatinate, situ- 

 ated upon the left bank of the Rhine, approach next 

 in importance to those of Idria and Almaden. Their 

 annual product is estimated at about half that of the 

 Spanish mines. There exist in Hungary, in Bohe- 

 mia, and in many other parts of Germany, small 

 explortations for mercury, of which the total yield is 

 about 400 quintals per annum. The mines of 

 Guanca Velica, in Peru, have afforded an immense 

 supply of quicksilver for the purposes of amalgama- 

 tion in the new world. Between the years 1570 

 and 1800, they are said to have furnished 537,000 

 quintals of this metal ; and their actual product is, 

 at present, rated at 1800 quintals. The ores of 

 mercury are found in several places in Mexico, but 

 are nowhere wrought to any extent. In 1590, mer- 

 cury was sold in Mexico at .40 10s. per cwt.; in 

 1750, it had diminished to 17 15s.; in 1782, a fur- 

 ther reduction had taken place, the price then being 

 8 17s. 6d. The consumption was estimated in the 

 year 1803 (for Mexico), when the mines were in full 

 work, as being 2,000,000 pounds per annum. 



MERCY, FRANgois DE, one of the most distin- 

 guished generals in the thirty years' war, was born 

 at Longwy, in Lorraine, and rose in the service of 

 the elector of Bavaria, through the successive ranks. 

 After having defeated general Raiitzau at Tuttlingen, 

 he was appointed, with the rank of Bavarian lieute- 

 nant-general and imperial field-marshal, to the com- 

 mand of the combined forces, and captured Rotweil 

 and Ueberlingen. In the succeeding year (1644), 

 Friburg fell into his hands, and he threw up a forti- 

 fied camp in its vicinity. The great Conde attacked 

 him in this position, and, after a combat of three 

 days, compelled him to retire. Turenne pursued 

 him, but the retreat was so ably conducted, that the 

 French general was unable to obtain any advantage 

 over him. May 5 (April 25), 1645, he defeated 

 Turenne, at Marienthal (Mergentheim), and fell, 

 August 3, in the battle of Allersheim, near Nord- 

 lingen. He was buried on the field, and a stone was 

 raised with the inscription Sta, viator, heroem calcas. 

 Rousseau, in his Emile (liv. iv.), very justly remarks, 

 that the simple name of one of his victories would 

 have been preferable to this pompous sentence, bor- 

 rowed from antiquity. 



MERCY, FLORIMOND CLAUDE DE, a grandson of 

 the preceding, born in Lorraine, 1666, entered the 

 service of the emperor Leopold, 1682, and distin- 

 guished himself as a volunteer in the defence of 

 Vienna against the Turks. His gallantry, particu- 

 larly in the battle of Zenta, 1697 (see Eugene), was 

 rewarded with the rank of major. He afterwards 

 served with equal distinction in Italy and on the 

 Rhine. In 1705, he stormed the lines of Pfaffen- 

 hofen, and compelled the French to retreat under 

 the cannon of Strasburg. In 1706, he covered 

 Landau by his skilful manoeuvres, and supplied it 

 with provisions and troops. In 1707, he defeated 

 general Vi vans, at OfFenburg; but, in 1709, having 

 penetrated too far into Alsace, was entirely defeated 

 at Rumersheim. In 1716, he commanded against 

 the Turks, as field-marshal, and took part in the 

 victories of Peterwardein and Belgrade. In 1719, 

 he commanded, with equal success, in Sicily, against 

 the Spaniards, and, during the peace, exerted him- 

 self in improving the condition of the Bannat. In 

 1734, he received the command in Italy, and occu- 

 pied the duchy of Parma ; but fell, while leading the 

 attack, in person, on the village of Croisetta. His 

 remains were interred at Reggio. 



MERGANSER (mergus); a genus of aquatic 

 birds, consisting of five species. These birds are 

 wild and untamable, migrating, according to the 

 season, from cold to temperate climates. They 

 keep in flocks, the adult males usually by them- 

 selves, leaving the young with the females. They 

 are extremely voracious, destroying immense num- 

 bers of fish. They build among grass, near fresh 

 water: the nest is lined with down, and contains 

 from eight to fourteen eggs. The male keeps near 

 the nest, though the female alone incubates. They 

 swim with the body very deep in the water, the 

 head and neck only appearing; dive by plunging, 

 and remain under water for a long time. They 

 walk badly ; fly well, and for a long time. Their 

 flesh is dry, and of a bad flavour. 



MERIAN, MATTHEW, senior, born at Basle, in 

 1593, studied at Zurich, under Dietrich Meyer, and 

 at Oppenheim, under Theodore de Bry, settled at 

 Frankfort on the Maine, and died in 1651. His prin- 

 cipal engravings consist of views of the chief cities of 

 Europe, particularly those of Germany, with de- 

 scriptions, and are remarkable for the excellence of 

 their perspective. His other works are landscapes, 

 historical scenes, the chase, &c. 



His son Matthew, born at Basle, 1621, was a 

 good painter of portraits. He studied at Rome, 

 1644, travelled in England, the Low Countries, 

 France, &c., and died in 1687. 



Maria Sibylla, a daughter of the elder Matthew, 

 was born at Frankfort, in 1647. She studied under 

 her step-father Morefels, and Mignon, and was dis- 

 tinguished by the taste, skill, and accuracy with 

 which she painted flowers and insects in water 

 colours. Her zeal for this department of painting 

 induced her to make a voyage to Surinam, for the 

 purpose of observing the metamorphosis of the 

 insects of that country ; and, after a residence of 

 two years, she returned with a large collection of 

 drawings of insects, plants, and fruits on vellum. 

 Her works are Erucarum Ortus, Alimentum, et 

 Metamorphosis; History of the Insects of Europe ; 

 and Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium, with 

 sixty plates. She died at Amsterdam, 1717. One 

 of her daughters published a new edition of the last 

 named work, which her mother was preparing at the 

 time of her death. 



MERIDA, or YUCATAN ; one of the states of 

 the Mexican confederacy. See Yucatan, and Mexico. 



MERIDIAN, in astronomy (from the Latin meri- 



