MERCURY 



3744 



MEREDITH 



Related Subjects. For illustration of com- 

 parative sizes of the planets, see PLANET. Refer- 

 ence is suggested, also, to the following articles 

 in these volumes : 

 Astronomy Moon 



Conjunction Planet 



MERCURY, an important deity in classical 

 mythology, who served as the messenger of the 

 gods, and particularly of Jupiter, whose son he 

 was. He presided over eloquence and was the 

 patron of orators and merchants, and also of 

 dishonest persons, 

 thieves and rob- 

 bers; besides, he 

 ruled over roads 

 and conducted 

 the souls of the 

 dead to Hades. 

 From his birth 

 he was most re- 

 markable, for be- 

 fore noon of the 

 first day of his 

 life he had in- 

 vented the lyre, 

 and by evening 

 had stolen the 

 cattle of Adme- 

 tus, which Apollo 

 was tending, and 

 had hidden them. 

 Forced to admit 

 his guilt and to 

 restore the cattle, 

 he confessed that 

 he had eaten ten 

 of them, and in 

 payment he of- 

 fered Apollo his 



The statue by Bologna, in 

 lyre. The sun god the National Museum, Flor- 



was so pleased ei 



with the gift that he gave Mercury in exchange 



the caduceus (see illustration). 



Mercury was a great favorite with the gods, 

 because of his pranks as well as of his wit and 

 intelligence. Jupiter gave him a winged cap 

 and winged sandals and a short, scythelike 

 sword, and by means of these he performed 

 many wonders as the spy and servant of the 

 king of gods. It was he who fixed Ixion to his 

 revolving wheel, who slew the giant Argus, con- 

 ducted Priam to the tent of Achilles, carried 

 Bacchus to the nymphs, sold Hercules to Om- 

 phale and brought Proserpina back from the 

 underworld. His festival was celebrated by 

 Roman merchants on the thirteenth of May, in 

 a temple near the Circus Maximus. The best- 



MERCURY 



known representation of Mercury in art is the 

 bronze statue by Bologna, which shows the 

 god with his winged cap, winged sandals and 

 caduceus; he is poised on one foot, as though 

 about to spring into the air,, and one hand is 

 raised, pointing upward. See MYTHOLOGY, and 

 the characters named above. 



MERCURY, BICHLORIDE OF. See CORROSIVE 

 SUBLIMATE. 



MERCY, SISTERS OF, a name frequently ap- 

 plied to religious societies of women, whose mis- 

 sion is to nurse the sick, to visit the prisoner, 

 to protect women in distress and to educate 

 females. Their work in time of pestilence and 

 plague is well known. The name is specifically 

 applied to the Order of Our Lady of Mercy, a 

 Roman Catholic organization founded in Dub- 

 lin, in 1827, by Miss Catherine McAuley, who 

 became its first mother superior. The first 

 house of the Order in North America was estab- 

 lished in Pittsburgh, Pa., in 1843, and now there 

 are communities of these sisters widely dis- 

 tributed throughout the United States, Europe 

 and Australia. They have no general superior, 

 and are subject to the bishop. The habit is a 

 long, flowing black robe, with long, loose 

 sleeves, and a white hood with white or black 

 veil, the last-named being replaced by a bonnet 

 for street wear. G.W.M. 



MER DE GLACE, glahs, the name of a cele- 

 brated Alpine glacier which has a greater ve- 

 locity than any other glacier in the Alps Moun- 

 tains. Its rate of movement is 35.5 inches a 

 day. This sea of ice is situated on the northern 

 slope of Mont Blanc; it has an area of sixteen 

 square miles and a length of about nine miles. 

 It is noted for beautiful surrounding scenery, 

 and is easily reached by tourists from the vil- 

 lage of Chamouni. Most sightseers especially 

 wish to view the solitary rock, or oasis, called 

 Le Jardin, seven acres in extent and covered 

 with beautiful foliage, which lies in the upper 

 part of the glacier. The lower end is known 

 as the Glacier des Blois, where it flows into 

 the Arveyron River, in the valley of Chamouni. 

 See GLACIER. 



MER 'EDITH, GEORGE (1828-1909), an Eng- 

 lish novelist, one of the last eminent figures of 

 the group of fiction writers who made the Vic- 

 torian Era glorious in English literature. Mere- 

 dith's first novel, The Ordeal of Richard 

 Feverel, by many regarded his greatest achieve- 

 ment, was published in 1859, the year in which 

 George Eliot's Adam Bede appeared. It was 

 not until a quarter of a century later, however, 

 when Diana of the Crossways was written 



