ME T 



463 



MET 



plieature of the peritoneum. Epithets 

 nwsenteric and meseraic. 



MES'LIN, from Fr. mesler, miler, to 

 mix. A mixture of various sorts of 

 grain : especially a mixture of wheat and 

 ryp. 



ittEssE. An old Trench term (pron. 

 meen}> and signifying middle or intereeii- 

 iug, a? a mesiie lord, that is, a lord who 

 holds land of a superior, but grants it to 

 another person. 



MESN-E PROCESS is that part of the pro- 

 ceedings of suit which intervenes be- 

 tween the original process or writ and 

 the final issue, and which issues, pend- 

 ing the suit, on the collateral matter. 



MES'OCOLO.N. That part of the mesen- 

 tery to which the colon is attached. 



MES'OLABE, from ptiro;, and /MU-Savu, 

 1 take. An instrument for finding two 

 mean proportionals between two given 

 lines, required in the duplication of the 

 cube. 



MESOTPHY'LLUM, u.--/-,^ and 0yXXav, leaf. 

 The tissue forming the fleshy part of a 

 leaf, between the upper andlower integu- 

 ments. 



MESOTHE'N.VR, from [Astros, middle, and 

 S-'va*. the palm. The muscular mass 

 forming the palm of the hand, consisting 

 of the abductor and part of the short 

 flexor of the thumb. 



MESOTHO'RAX, /u,ire; and ,9-&/a|, chest. 

 The posterior segment of the alitrunk of 

 insects, bearing the posterior wings and 

 legs. 



MES'OTYPE, from /MITO;, middle, and 

 mro;, form ; prismatic zeolite. A simple 

 mineral, which occurs regularly crystal- 

 lised in drusy cavities, or in veins in 

 secondary trap-rocks. Colours white, 

 red, yellow, and brown. Sp. gr. 2'3. 



ME'S'SEXGER. One who executes a mes- 

 sage. 2. In Scotland, a bailiff. 3. In 



a i,ht/j, a small cable of 60 fathoms in 

 length, wound round the capstan, and 

 having its two ends lashed together. It 

 is used in weighing anchor. 



MES'SCAOE. In law, a dwelling-house 

 and adjoining land, appropriated to the 

 use of the household. The term is from 

 the old French meson, mesonage, a house 

 or house-room. The French now write 

 manon. 



MESTIN'S. In Spanish America, the 

 child of a Spaniard, or Creole, and a 

 native Indian. 



METACAR'PUS, from /MTX., beyond, and 

 **Tf . the wrist. That part of the hand 

 which is between the wrist and the 

 fingers. 



METJBO'LIANS. Insects which undergo 

 a metamorphosis, and which are usually 

 fitted with wings in their final state ; 

 from M.tr *>./,.. to change. 



METACH'RONISM, from /U,IT 

 and %$oio(, time. An error in chronology 

 by placing an event after its real time. 



MET'A.L (Dan. and Fr. metal ; Germ, 

 and Sw. met all ; Lat. metallwn ; Gr. 

 jtUTaXAi<). Metals are distinguished bv 

 the following general characters: ;i ) 

 They possess a peculiar lustre, which 

 continues in the streak and in then 

 smallest fragments ; (2.) They are fusible 

 by heat, and in fusion retain their lustre 

 and opacity ; (3.) They are all, except 

 selenium, e'xcellent conductors of elec- 

 tricity and caloric ; (4.) Many of them 

 may be extended under the hammer, and 

 are called malleable ; or under the roll- 

 ing press, and are called laminable; or 

 drawn into wire, and are called ductile ; 

 (5.) When exposed to the action 'of oxy- 

 gen, chlorine, or iodine, at an elevated 

 temperature, they generally take fire, 

 and combining with one or other of these 

 three elementary dissolvents in definite 

 proportion, are converted into earths- 

 looking bodies, devoid of metallic lustre, 

 called oxides, chlorides, and iodides ; (6.) 

 They are capable of combining in their 

 melted state with each other, in almost 

 every proportion, constituting the im- 

 portant order of metallic alloys, in which 

 the characteristic lustre and tenacity are 

 preserved. From a consideration of these 

 properties metals may be divided into 

 many classes ; but the most modern classi- 

 fication is formed from a consideration of 

 their chemical properties. Thus, seven 

 form with oxygen bodies possessed of al- 

 kaline properties ; viz., potassium, sodi- 

 um, lithium, barium, strontium, calcium, 

 and magnesium. Other five with oxygen 

 form the earths proper; viz. .aluminum, 

 zirconium, yttrium, glucinum, thorinuin. 

 The others may be named in alphabetical 

 order : antimony, arsenic, bismuth, cad- 

 mium, cerium, chromium, cobalt, copper, 

 gold, iridium, iron, lead, manganese, 

 mercury, molybdenum, nickel, osmium, 

 palladium, platinum, rhodium, silver, 

 tantalum (columbium), tellurium, tin, 

 titanium, tungsten, vanadium, uranium, 

 zinc. The only metals known to the 

 ancients were gold, silver, mercury, cop- 

 per, lead, tin, and iron. In the annexed 

 table, arranged according to the date of 

 their discovery, with the names of the 

 chemists by whom they were discovered, 

 their specific gravities, melting points, 

 equivalent weights, and abbreviated sym- 

 bols, a more satisfactory information, 

 may, however, be obtained. 



METALEP'SIS. Mira>.t;-4"?' participa- 

 tion. In rhetoric, a continuation of 

 trope in one word through a succession 

 of significations, or thr union of two 01 

 more tropes of different kinds in or<- 



