MERIDA 



3746 



MERIDIAN 



handsome coat is a combination of glossy 

 greenish-black, salmon-buff, gray and white. In 

 its nest, built of leaves, grasses and moss, and 

 lined with down from the duck's own breast, 

 are laid from six to ten creamy-buff eggs. 



The red-breasted merganser, as its name indi- 

 cates, is distinguished by its cinnamon-red 

 breast. This bird nests from Illinois as far 

 north as the Arctic Circle, and in winter is 

 found in Cuba. Its cousin, the hooded mer- 

 ganser, wears a handsome black crest on its 

 head, and two crescent-shaped bands of black 

 on the sides of its breast. This bird, which is 

 of more leisurely habits than its two relatives, 

 is fond of still waters and peaceful lakes. It 

 nests throughout its range, from Cuba and 

 Mexico to the far northern part of the conti- 

 nent. The mergansers live about fifty years. 

 See DUCK. 



MERIDA, ma'rethah, the capital of the 

 state of Yucatan, Mexico, noted especially for 

 having the largest trade in sisal hemp in the 

 world; the quantity exported annually to 

 America alone is 2,000,000 pounds. A railway 

 connects it with its port, Progreso, on the Gulf 

 of Mexico, about twenty-six miles distant. It 

 was founded in 1542 by Francisco de Montejo, 

 and has numerous institutions and public build- 

 ings, many cathedrals and a university. There 

 are manufactories of cigars, cotton goods, 

 panama hats, etc., but the surrounding country 

 is almost exclusively devoted to the hemp in- 

 dustry. Population, 1910, 62.440. 



MER'IDEN, CONN., a city in New Haven 

 County, southwest of the center of the state, 

 eighteen miles south and west of Hartford and 

 the same distance northeast of New Haven. It 

 is on the New York, New Haven & Hartford 

 Railroad and on interurban electric lines. The 

 population, which in 1910 was 27,265, was 29,130 

 in 1916 (Federal estimate). In the same year 

 Meriden town was credited with 34,183. 



Meriden covers an area of nearly four square 

 miles, and is situated on uneven ground drained 

 by Harbor Brook, which runs through the 

 town. To the north is Hubbard Park, a reser- 

 vation of 900 acres; among its picturesque fea- 

 tures are three elevations known as the Hanging 

 Hills, which rise to 1,000 feet. Lake Merimere 

 and Castle Craig are other places of interest. 

 Prominent buildings and institutions include 

 the Federal building, the state armory, Curtis 

 Memorial Library, Meriden Hospital, Connecti- 

 cut School for Boys (reformatory), the Curtis 

 Home for Orphan Children and Aged Women 

 and a tuberculosis sanatorium. 



Meriden is called the Silver City, because of 

 its extensive manufactures of electroplated and 

 solid silverware. It also has manufactories of 

 hardware, cutlery, glassware, cut glass, brass 

 and bronze goods, firearms, organs, self-playing 

 attachments for pianos and organs, optical in- 

 struments, electrical goods and novelties. 



Meriden was settled about 1670 and was 

 originally a part of the parish of Wallingford. 

 It became a separate township in 1806 and re- 

 ceived a city charter in 1867. 



MERIDIAN, me rid' i an, in geography, any 

 imaginary line drawn around the earth at right 

 angles to the equator and passing through the 

 north and south poles. There is a meridian 

 for every place on the globe, and when the sun 



North Pole 



90 70' 



South Pole 



MERIDIANS SHOWN TEN DEGREES APART 



reaches that line it is midday at that place. In 

 order to find the distance of a place east or 

 west of any certain point, men saw that there 

 must be some fixed line from which to measure. 

 In 1884, at a meeting held in Washington, D. C., 

 it was decided to establish a line passing 

 through the observatory at Greenwich, near 

 London, as a starting point, to call it the prime 

 meridian, and to reckon distances east or west 

 from it up to 180, a degree at the equator 

 being equal to about sixty-nine and one-fifth 

 miles. There is also a prime meridian in the 

 Western hemisphere through the city of Wash- 

 ington, but it is little used. The longitude of 

 a place is its. distance usually stated in de- 

 grees, minutes and seconds east or west of 

 the meridian selected as a starting point. Dis- 

 tance north or south of the equator is termed 

 latitude. See LONGITUDE; LATITUDE. 



