MEAFORD 



3709 



MEASLES 



mayor and four councilmen. The population 

 increased from 12,780 in 1910 to 13,802 in 1916 

 (Federal estimate). The area of the city is two 

 square miles. 



Meadville is primarily a manufacturing city, 

 but in addition it is the market for a lumber 

 and grain region, which is also rich in petro- 

 leum and natural gas. Here are located the car 

 and machine shops of the Erie Railroad, which 

 employ about 2,000 people. There are also large 

 iron works, manufactories of iron and steel prod- 

 ucts, silk mills, confectionery factories, printing 

 works and lumber mills. The city has large 

 wholesale houses, and many churches, parks and 

 public buildings. Besides public and parochial 

 schools, it has Meadville Theological School 

 (Unitarian), opened in 1844, Allegheny College 

 (Methodist Episcopal), opened in 1815, Penn- 

 sylvania College of Music, and a public library. 



MEAFORD, me'jerd, a town in Grey County, 

 Ontario, on Nottawasaga Bay, an arm of Geor- 

 gian Bay. It is 115 miles northwest of Toronto, 

 and lies about midway between Collingwood 

 and Owen Sound, being twenty-one miles by 

 the Grand Trunk Railway northwest of the for- 

 mer and eighteen miles directly east of the lat- 

 ter. The town is the center of an apple-grow- 

 ing district, and among its chief industrial es- 

 tablishments are three apple-evaporating plants 

 and a canning factory. Other important prod- 

 ucts are boxes, hardwood flooring, furniture, 

 wheelbarrows, flour, blankets and yams. The 

 harbor accommodates ships drawing not over 

 twenty feet of water, and there is regular 

 steamer connection in season with other lake 

 ports. Population in 1911, 2,811 ; in 1916, esti- 

 mated, 3,300. 



MEALY, meel'i, BUG, a troublesome mem- 

 ber of the scale insect family, which takes its 

 name from a powdery substance covering its 

 body. This is an excretion of wax in the form 

 of flourlike grains. The mealy bug lives upon 

 tender growths and does great damage to fruit 

 and shade trees. Only the males have wings. 

 The female sheds her skin from three to five 

 times before becoming full grown, and each 

 time the legs, eyes and antennae (feelers) be- 

 come smaller, while the body increases in size. 

 Finally the power to move is lost, and as soon 

 as she lays her eggs, or after the birth of the 

 young (for the baby bugs of some species are 

 born alive), she dies. Mealy bugs secrete honey 

 dew which the ants seek, and they are fre- 

 quently carried by the latter from one feeding 

 place to another. Most of these bugs found in 

 the United States have been brought from Eu- 



rope in importations of fruit and plants. These 

 pests may be destroyed by spraying plants with 

 a tobacco wash or with an emulsion of kero- 

 sene. 



MEASLES, me'z'lz, a contagious disease 

 characterized by a rash upon the skin and by 

 catarrh of the nose and lungs. Although it may 

 be contracted by older persons, it occurs most 

 frequently between the ages of one and five. 

 In most cases a second attack of the disease is 

 not likely to occur. Measles is more contagious 

 than scarlet fever and less so than smallpox. 

 It is spread by mouth and nose secretions, and 

 may be conveyed by contact with infected 

 hands, lead pencils, cups, spoons, etc. The 

 germ which causes it has not been identified. 



A week or two after the disease has fastened 

 itself on the victim the first symptoms appear; 

 these symptoms are those that accompany a 

 bad cold, including headache, rise of tempera- 

 ture toward evening, weariness, and running of 

 the eyes and nose. On the fourth day a bright 

 red rash appears on the face, spreading to the 

 neck, chest and extremities. Three days after 

 its appearance it begins to decline, and is fol- 

 lowed by a fine, branlike peeling of the skin. 

 The rash in measles differs from that in scarlet 

 fever (which see) in that the former has the 

 tint of a raspberry; the latter is the color of 

 boiled lobster. In measles, too, the rash appears 

 in patches, while the fine eruption of scarlet 

 fever is spread over the body more evenly. A 

 serious and often fatal form called black measles 

 is fortunately of rare occurrence. 



Treatment. With proper care victims of 

 measles usually recover, but because of the dan- 

 ger of complications, especially pneumonia and 

 bronchial trouble, a physician should be in at- 

 tendance. Eye and ear afflictions often result 

 from severe cases. The eyes should be pro- 

 tected from bright light, the body from expo- 

 sure to cold, and the cough be carefully treated. 

 The diet should be light. It is also essential that 

 the bowels receive careful attention. When 

 the rash does not come out well, hot drinks, 

 hot blankets or a warm bath will be found help- 

 ful. The patient should be kept warm and 

 quiet for a week or two after the apparent dis- 

 appearance of the disease, as the lungs and 

 mucous lining of the bowels are then suscepti- 

 ble to attacks of inflammation. A child ill with 

 measles should be kept entirely away from other 

 children 'during the entire progress of the at- 

 tack. W.A.E. 



German Measles. Some physicians consider 

 this disease, with its run of rather mild fever 



