MERCIER 



3742 



MERCURY 



allied ships either used for military purposes 

 or taken away from their usual trade channels, 

 there resulted a great scarcity of ships for car- 

 rying on the trade of the world. It was America's 

 opportunity, but facilities were lacking. 



Recent Developments. In order to relieve 

 the situation created by the scarcity of ships 

 Congress passed a measure to make it easier for 

 foreign-built ships to register in the American 

 merchant marine. This measure had the effect 

 of transferring in 1915 to the American flag 

 over 523,000 tons of shipping which belonged 

 to other nations. The lack of ships had also 

 the effect of greatly increasing the output of 

 American shipbuilding yards, for during the fis- 

 cal years ending June 30, 1915, and June 30, 

 1916, 1,266 vessels of 215,711 tons and 1,030 

 vessels of 347,847 tons were built in the United 

 States. O.B. 



Consult Hough's Ocean Traffic and Trade; 

 Meeker's History of Shipping Subsidies. 



MERCIER, mersya', HONORE (1840-1894), a 

 Canadian barrister and statesman, premier of 

 Quebec from 1887 to 1891, a bold defender of 

 provincial rights and of the Roman Catholic 

 Church. For years he was the idol of the 

 French-Canadians. He was born at Sainte 

 Athanase, was educated at the Jesuit College 

 of Saint Mary at Montreal, and in 1865 was 

 admitted to the bar. While studying law he 

 also edited the Courrier de Saint Hyacinthe, one 

 of the leading Liberal papers in Quebec. Un- 

 like most of the Liberals, however, Mercier 

 opposed Confederation on the ground that the 

 French-Canadians would lose their distinctive 

 position and political power. 



In 1871 the more aggressive of the French- 

 Canadians organized the Quebec Nationalists 

 for the purpose of asserting what they believed 

 to be their political and religious rights. One 

 of the founders of the party was Mercier. He 

 was a member of the Dominion House of Com- 

 mons from 1872 to 1874, and in 1879 became 

 solicitor-general of Quebec. In Quebec politics 

 his policy involved an intimate alliance with 

 the Roman Catholic Church, an alliance which 

 became more open after he was elected leader 

 of the Quebec Liberals in 1883. Two years 

 later the execution of Louis Riel brought un- 

 der Mercier's leadership all the sympathizers 

 who looked on Riel as a martyr. In 1887 Mer- 

 cier became premier of Quebec, and for the 

 next four years he was the storm center of 

 Canadian politics. At his direction the provin- 

 cial assembly incorporated the Jesuits and also 

 passed a law compensating them for the estates 



which had been confiscated by the government 

 years before. These laws aroused a bitter de- 

 mand in other parts of the Dominion for dis- 

 allowance, but the House of Commons decided 

 that Mercier's course was within his rights. His 

 services to the Church were recognized in 1891 

 by Pope Leo XIII, who made him a Count. In 

 the same year charges of misuse of public funds, 

 in connection with the construction of the Baie 

 de Chaleur Railway, were brought against him, 

 and compelled the resignation of his ministry. 

 At the ensuing elections Mercier was reflected 

 to the assembly, but the party was defeated. 

 Though personally innocent, Mercier's political 

 influence was broken by the scandal. 



MERCURY, mer'kuri, or QUICK 'SILVER, 

 the metal used for filling thermometer and ba- 

 rometer tubes, and the only metal that remains 

 a liquid at ordinary temperatures. Mercury is 

 a silver-white metal, over 13.5 times heavier 

 than water; it flows freely, and when spilled is 

 not easily recovered. Because of these pecu- 

 liarities the Greeks gave it the name hydrargy- 

 rum, which means water silver, and the Romans 

 named it after the messenger god. Mercury 

 freezes and becomes solid at 37.9 F. below zero 

 and boils at 675 F., changing to a vapor. When 

 heated or cooled it expands or contracts quickly 

 and at a very regular rate; that is, an equal 

 amount for each degree of temperature. For 

 this reason it is especially valuable for th( 

 mometers. It combines with a number of me 

 als to form amalgams (see AMALGAM). 



Its most extensive use is for extracting golc 

 and silver from ores. The powdered ore mi? 

 with water is run over copper plates cover 

 with a thin layer of mercury. The mercur 

 combines with the gold or silver, forming ai 

 amalgam, while the rocky or earthy material 

 the ore is washed away, leaving the gold or sil- 

 ver free (see GOLD; METALLURGY). When 

 amalgam is heated, the 'mercury distills off. 

 There are a number of compounds of mercur 

 used in the arts. It unites with oxygen to for 

 a red oxide, used in laboratory experiments, 

 compound with chlorine (mercurous chloride) 

 is extensively used as a medicine under tl 

 name of calomel. Another compound wit 

 chlorine, mercuric chloride, is the well-kno\ 

 and exceedingly poisonous corrosive sublimat 

 often used as an antiseptic and sometimes 

 lowed by people, with fatal results (see Ai 

 DOTE). Mercuric sulphide, or cinnabar,, occur 

 in red crystals and is the chief source of me 

 cury. Vermilion, another compound with sul 

 phur, is used in some red paints. Nearly 



