melopceia 
melopoeia (mfl-6-pe'ya), . [LL.,< Gr. /ie'Ao- 
TToda, a making of lyric poems, musical compo- 
sition, < fjeAof, song, + iroieiv, make: see poet."] 
The art or science of constructing melodies; 
melodies. 
Melopsittacus (mel-op-sit'a-kus), n. [NL. , < Gr. 
fik'Kof, , song, + ifiiTTaKof, a .parrot.] An Australian 
genus of small long-tailed parrots; the grass- 
Zebra Grass-parrakeet (Afelofsittacus undulatus), 
parrakeets. M. undulatus is one of the commonest and 
prettiest parrots of the aviaries, and one of the few which 
breed in confinement. The birds are amiable and sociable, 
with more melodious notes than is usual in this family. 
Melospiza (mel-o-spi'za), n. [NL., < Gr. [tttof, 
song, + oTrt'fo, a finch.]' A genus of the finch 
family, Fringillidce, founded by Baird in 1858, 
containing a number of fully spotted and streak- 
ed species peculiar to North America; the 
song-sparrows. The best-known is the common song- 
sparrow, M, melodia, which abounds in most parts of the 
United States and runs into several varieties in the West. 
M. cinerea is a much larger and otherwise distinct species 
found in Alaska. Two common sparrows of eastern parts 
of the United States and of Canada are the swamp-spar- 
row, M. palttstris, and Lincoln's flnch, M. lincolni. 
Melothria (me-loth'ri-a), n. [NL. (Linnus, 
1767), < Gr. fiffkov, an apple (L. melo, melon), + 
('i)6piov, fig-leaf, leaf.] A genus of cucurbi- 
taceous plants of the series Plagiospermeai, 
and the cucumber tribe Cucumerinete. The male 
flowers are usually in racemes, the anthers subsessile, fre- 
quently with a 2-lobed connective produced from the apex, 
and the fruit usually on a long and slender peduncle. It 
embraces about 58 species, inhabiting the warmer regions 
of both hemispheres. They are mostly graceful vines, 
either climbing or prostrate, with membranaceous pal- 
mately lobed or divided leaves, simple tendrils, and small 
yellow or white flowers. M. pendula, the creeping cucum- 
ber(which see, under cucumber), is the best-known species. 
melotrope (mel'o-trop), n. [< Gr. /ittoc, song, 
+ TpoTrfj, a turn', turning, < rpexetv, turn.] A 
piano fitted with a mechanical device for auto- 
matically reproducing a piece of music by means 
of a melo- 
graph sten- 
cil. 
The melotrope 
is merely me- 
chanical in its 
operation, and 
is intended, as 
far as possible, 
to imitate the 
motion of the 
fingers in play- 
ing upon the 
keys of the in- 
strument. 
Sci.Amer.,H.>l., 
[UX. 876. 
mel-pellt, 
adv. Same 
as pell-mell. 
Without any 
examination 
had to know 
where the fault 
was, [a band of 
men] slew mel- 
pelt both guilty 
and innocent, to 
the number of 
7,000. 
Hooker, Eccles. 
[Polity, viii. 9. 
Melpomene 
(mel-pom'e- 
ne), II. [L., statue of Melpomene, in the Louvre Museum. 
3702 
< Gr. Me/bro,uw7, one of the Muses, prop. ppr. 
fern, of [i&Ttea&at, sing.] 1. In class, myth., 
originally, the Muse of song and musical har- 
mony, looked upon later as the especial pa- 
troness of tragedy. She is generally represented as a 
young woman, bearing the tragic mask and often the club 
of Hercules, and with her head wreathed with vine-leaves 
in token of her relation with the dramatic deity, Bacchus. 
2. A planetoid, the eighteenth in order of dis- 
covery, first observed by Professor Hind at 
London in 1852. 
melrose (mel'roz), n. [< NL. mel rosce : L. mel, 
honey; roste, gen. of rosa ; rose.] Honey of 
roses, a preparation consisting of powder of 
red rose, clarified honey, and diluted alcohol. 
What I used was a mixture of melrose with sixteen 
drops of the muriatic acid. 
Sir W. Fardyce, On Muriatic Acid, p. 8. 
melt 1 (melt), v. ; pret. melted, pp. melted (or 
molten), ppr. melting. [< ME. tnelten (pret. 
malt, pp. molten), < AS. meltan, miltan (pret. 
mealt, pp. molten), melt, = Icel. melta, melt, 
digest; Gr. fie'Adeiv, liquefy, melt; cf. OBulg. 
mludii, soft. Akin to maZt 1 , milfl.] I, intrans. 
1. To become liquid through heat; be changed 
from a fixed or solid to a flowing state by heat. 
This Pandare that neyghe malt for wo and routhe. 
Chaucer, Troilus, i. 582. 
These fellows commonly, which use such deceitfulness 
and guiles, can speak so finely that a man would think 
butter should scant melt in their mouths. 
Latimer, Misc. Selec. 
0, that this too too solid flesh would melt, 
Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew ! 
Shak., Hamlet, i. 2. 129. 
2. To suffer dissolution or extinction ; be dis- 
sipated or wasted. 
All the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away. 
Ex, xv. 15. 
My heart melted away in secret raptures. 
Addison, Vision of Mirza. 
3. To be softened to love, pity, tenderness, 
sympathy, or the like ; become tender, mild, or 
gentle. 
I should melt at an offender's tears. 
Shak., 2 Hen. VI., ill. 1. 126. 
They say women have tender hearts ; I know not ; 
I am sure mine melts. 
Fletcher, Hnmorous Lieutenant, v. S. 
4. To be weakened or broken ; be subdued, as 
by fear. 
As soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did 
melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any 
man. Josh. ii. 11. 
5. To pass, as one thing into another, so that 
the point of junction is imperceptible ; pass by 
imperceptible degrees ; blend; shade. 
The twilight melted into morn. 
Tennyson, Day-Dream, The Departure. 
II. trans. 1. To reduce from a solid to a fluid 
state by means of heat; liquefy; fuse: as, to 
melt iron, lead, wax, or tallow ; to melt ice. 
When sun doth melt their snow. Shale. , Lucrece, 1. 1218. 
Get me some drink, George ; I am almost molten with 
fretting. Beau, and Fl., Knight of Burning Pestle, iii. 5. 
Inscriptions, victories, buildings, and a thousand other 
pieces of antiquity [on coins) were melted down in these 
barbarous ages. Addixon, Ancient Medals, iii. 
2. Loosely, to make a solution of; liquefy by 
solution ; dissolve : as, to melt sugar in water. 
3. Figuratively, to soften, as by a warming and 
kindly influence ; render gentle or susceptible to 
mild influences, as to love, pity, or tenderness. 
For pity melts the mind to love. Dryden. 
Hfir noble heart was molten in her breast. 
Tennyson, Princess, vi. 
= Syn. To mollify, subdue; Melt, Dissolve, Thaw, Fuse. 
Two words, . . . popularly confounded, though scien- 
tifically very distinct, are melt and dissolve. The former 
signifies to bring a substance from a solid to a liquid con- 
dition by the agency of heat alone ; the latter signifies the 
bringing about of this result by distributing the particles 
of the substance acted on among the particles of another 
substance which is itself liquid, and this process is termed 
the solution of the solid substance. Thaw differs from 
melt in being applicable only to substances whose or- 
dinary condition is that of a liquid, and which have be- 
come solid in consequence of the abstraction of heat, 
and therefore return to the liquid condition as if of them- 
selves. (Chambers's Journal.) Dissolve is much used as 
a synonym of either melt or thaw. Fuse is sometimes 
synonymous with melt (as, iofuse a wire by electricity), but 
it is more often used of melting together : as, bell-metal 
is made by fusing copper and tin. See the definitions of 
these words. 
melt 1 (melt), n. [< melfl-, v.] 1. The melting 
of metal; the running down of the metal in the 
act of fusion. 2. The charge of metals placed 
in a cupola or pot for melting. 
12,867 melts of ingots were made for coinage during the 
year. Rep. of Sec. ofTreasury, 1886. p. 175. 
3. Anv substance that is melted. 
melvie 
The melt is then allowed to cool, and is dissolved in a 
large quantity of water and neutralized with hydrochloric 
acid. BenedUd, Coal-tar Colours (trans.), p. 216. 
melt 2 (melt), 11. Same as mil ft. 
meltable (mel'ta-bl), a. [< melfl + -able.'} Ca- 
pable of being melted ; fusible. 
Iron . . . is the most impure of all metals, hardly melta- 
ble. Fuller, Worthies, Salop, II. 258. (Davies.) 
meltada (mel-ta'da), n. [E. Ind.] A murine 
rodent found in Madras, Golunda meltada. J. 
E. Gray. 
melter 1 (mel'ter), n. 1. One who melts; spe- 
cifically, the official in a mint who superintends 
the melting of gold and silver for coining. 
The melter melteth in vayne, for the euell is not taken 
away from them. Bible of 1651, Jer. vi. 29. 
Thou melter of strong minds. 
Beau, and Fl., False One, ii. 8. 
The entire melting requires about sixteen hours, and is 
carefully watched by the master welter, who urges the 
furnaces to their utmost intensity. 
Harper's Mag., LXXIX. 250. 
2. A furnace, pot, or crucible used for melting 
any substance ; a melting-pot : as, a melter for 
combining the ingredients in the manufacture 
of sealing-wax. Workshop Receipts. 
melter 2 (mel'ter), n. Same as milter. 
melting (mel'ting), p. a, 1 . Disposed to melt or 
soften ; feeling or showing tenderness ; tender ; 
compassionate . 
To kindle cowards, and to steel with valour 
The melting spirits of women. 
Shak., J. C., ii. 1. 122. 
One whose subdued eyes, 
Albeit unused to the melting mood, 
Drop tears. Shak., Othello, v. 2. 849. 
2. Adapted to melt or soften; affecting; mov- 
ing: as, a melting speech. 
As the mind is pitched, the ear is pleased 
With melting airs or martial. Cowper, Task, vi. 3. 
melting-furnace (mel'ting-fer'nas), n. A glass- 
makers' furnace in which the frit for the glass 
is melted before it goes to the blowing-furnace. 
In some manufactories the glass is worked from 
the melting-furnace direct. 
meltingly (mel'ting-li), adv. [< melting + -?y 2 .] 
In a melting manner ; in a manner to melt or 
soften; by the process of melting. [Rare.] 
Zelmane lay upon a bank, that, her tears falling into the 
water, one might have thought she began meltingly to be 
metamorphosed to the running river. 
Sir P. Sidney, Arcadia. 
meltingness (mel'ting-nes), n. [< melting + 
-ness.] The quality of melting; capability of 
being softened by some warming and kindly 
influence. [Rare.] 
Give me, O thou Father of compassion, such a tender- 
ness and meltingness of heart that I may be deeply affected 
with all the miseries and calamities, outward or inward, 
of my brethren. Whole Duty of Man, Collect for Charity. 
melting-pan (mel 'ting-pan), n. A pan, usu- 
ally in the lower part of a sugar-refinery, in 
which raw sugar is reduced to a syrup with 
water aided by heat and mechanical stirring, 
and from which the syrap is pumped to the 
blow-ups in the upper part of the refinery to 
be treated with lime for the precipitation of 
albuminous and other organic impurities. 
melting-point (mel'ting-point), n. The point 
or degree of temperature at which a solid body 
melts; the point of fusion or fusibility. See 
fusion . 
melting-pot (mel' ting-pot), i. A crucible. 
meltith (mel'tith), . [Probably a form of 
meal-tide.] A meal. [Scotch.] 
melton (mel'ton), n. [So called after the origi- 
nal manufacturer.] A stout kind of cloth for 
men's wear, the surface of which is without nap, 
and is neither pressed nor finished, 
In the treatment of broad-cloth, doeskins, meltons, and 
all nap-finished cloth, the milling is carried so far that the 
fibres become densely matted. Encyc. Brit., XXIV. 681. 
melungeon (me-lun'jon), n. [Origin obscure; 
perhaps ult. < F. melange, a mixture : see me- 
lange.] One of a class of people living in 
eastern Tennessee, of peculiar appearance and 
uncertain origin. 
They resented the appellation Melungeon, given to them 
by common consent by the whites, and proudly called 
themselves Portuguese. Boston Traveller, April 13, 1S89. 
Melursus(me-ler'sus), n. [NL., irreg. < ii.mel, 
honey, + ursus, bear.] An Indian genus of 
Ursi(ia>, characterized by the shaggy hide, pro- 
trusile lips, and fewer and smaller teeth than 
those of Ursus ; honey-bears or sloth-bears. M . 
Idliatiis is the aswail (which see). Proehihis is 
a synonym. 
melvie (mel'vi), r. t. ; pret. and pp. meleied, ppr. 
Hifln/ing. [A dial. var. of MM0P, r., < ME. mele, 
