meth 
respect; < metan, measure: see mete 1 ."} Mea- 
sure; moderation; modesty. 
And Mari ledd hir life with methe 
In a toun that hiht Nazarethe. 
Metrical Homilies, p. 107. 
meth 1 t, a. [ME., (.meth 1 , n.] Moderate; mild; 
courteous. 
Alle that meyne mylde and meth 
Went hem into Nazareth. 
Cursor Mundi. ( Halliwell. ) 
meth 2 t, n. An obsolete form of mead 1 . 
meth 3 t, .[Also methe; ME., a var. of mood: 
see mood 1 .] Anger; wrath. 
Quen the lorde of the lyfte lyked hymseluen 
For to mynne on his mon his melh that abydez. 
Alliterative Poems (ed. Morris), ii. 436. 
Ne tell thou neuer at borde no tale 
To harme or shame thy felawe in sale ; 
For if he then withholde his methe, 
Eftsons he wylle forcast thi dethe. 
Babees Book (E. E. T. S.), p. 302. 
methal (meth'al), n. [< meth(yl) + al(cohol).] 
Same as methylic alcohol (which see, under al- 
cohol). 
methane (meth'an), n. [< meth(yl) + -one ] 
A hydrocarbon (CH 4 ) belonging to the paraffin 
series, a colorless, odorless gas which may be 
reduced to a liquid by extreme pressure and 
cold. It is innocuous when breathed in moderate quantity. 
It burns with a slightly luminous flame, and when mixed 
with seven or eight volumes of air explodes violently. It 
occurs in nature in the emanations of volcanoes and petro- 
leum-wells. It also occurs in large quantity in the coal- 
measures, and when mixed with air constitutes the dreaded 
fire-damp of the miners. Also called marsh-gag. 
methanometer (meth-a-nom'e-ter), n. ^meth- 
ane + Gr. /icrpof, measure.] An apparatus, de- 
vised by Monnier, to determine and indicate 
automatically the quantity of marsh-gas (meth- 
ane) in coal-mines. It depends upon the change of 
level of the mercury in a manometer-tube in which car- 
bon dioxid is formed by the combination of the gas with 
the oxygen of the air under the action, for example of an 
electric spark. 
metheH, . An obsolete form of mead 1 . 
methe 2 t, . S_ee meth*. 
metheglin (me-theg'lin), n. [< W. meddyglyii, 
< medd, mead (see mead 1 ), + Ili/n, liquor.] 
Mead. 
It is not my fault if I fill them out nectar and they run 
to metheglin. B. Jonson, Masque of Hymen. 
O'er our parch'd tongue the rich metheglin glides. 
Gay, To a Lady, i. 
methemoglobin (met-he-mo-glo'bin), n. [< Gr. 
//era, with, + E. hemoglobin.] A modification 
of hemoglobin, into which it can be recon- 
verted. It differs from hemoglobin in that its combined 
oxygen is not displaced by carbon monoxid nor given up 
in a vacuum. 
methemoglobinemia (met-he-mo-glo-bi-ne'mi- 
a), n. [< methemoglobin + Gr! aifia, blood.] 
In pathol., the presence of methemoglobin in 
the blood. Med. News, LIII. 240. 
methemoglobinuria (met-he-mo-glo-bi-nu'ri- 
a), n. [< methemoglobin + Gr. ovaov, urine.] In 
pathol. , the pres- 
ence of methe- 
moglobin in the 
urine. 
methene (meth'- 
en),jj. [<meth(yl) 
+ -ene.] Same 
as methylene. 
mether (meTH'- 
(r),. [Of. mHlft. ESHfcRB'./JMI * - 
meath, mead 1 .] 
A drinking -ves- 
sel formerly in 
use, especially in- 
tended for drink- 
ln g . ead Or Mether. from specimen in the Museum 
metheglin. The , e R y al Ir 'sh Academy, Dublin, 
vessels identified as 
methers are of wood, cut out of a single piece having a 
capacity of from one to three pints. 
The Dunvegan cup, a mether of yew covered with silver 
mounts. s. K. Cat. Spec. Exhib., 1862, No. 902. 
methinks (mf-thingks'), . impers.; pret. me- 
thought. [< ME. me thinketh, <AS. me tlnjncth 
it seems to me: see me 1 and think*.] It seems 
to me; it appears to me. See me 1 and tliiu^ 
method (meth'od), n. [= OF. methode, F. me- 
thode = Sp. metodo = Pg. mcthodo = It. metodo 
= D. G. Dan. methode = Sw. method,< LL. metho- 
dus, methodos, a way of teaching or proceeding. 
Gr. /ifoWof, a going after, pursuit, investi- 
gation, inquiry, method, system, < /ierd, after, 
*- orSof, way.] 1. Orderly regulation of con- 
duct with a view to the attainment of an end ; 
systematic procedure subservient to the pnr- 
3740 
pose of any business ; the use of a complete set 
of rules for carrying out any plan or project : 
as, to observe method in business or study ; with- 
out method success is improbable : in this and 
the next two senses only in the singular. 
Though this be madness, yet there is method in 't. 
Shak., Hamlet, ii. 2. 208. 
Horace still charms with graceful negligence, 
And without method talks us into sense. 
Pope, Essay on Criticism, 1. 654. 
The particular uses of method are various : but the gen- 
eral one is, to enable men to understand the things that 
are the subjects of it. 
Bentham, Introd. to Morals and Legislation, xvi. 1, note. 
Where the habit of Method is present and effective, 
things the most remote and diverse in time, place, and 
outward circumstance are brought into mental contiguity 
and succession, the more striking as the less expected. 
Coleridge, Method, ii. (Encyc. Diet.) 
2. A system, or complete set, of rules of pro- 
cedure for attaining a given end ; a short way 
to a desired result; specifically, in logic, a gen- 
eral plan for setting forth any branch of know- 
ledge whatever; that branch of logic which 
teaches how to arrange thoughts for investi- 
gation or exposition. 
Method hath been placed, and that not amiss, in logic, as 
a part of judgment : . . . the doctrine of method contain- 
eth the rules of judgment upon that which is to be deliv- 
ered. Bacon, Advancement of Learning, ii. 
Method is procedure according to principles. 
Kant, Critique of Pure Reason (tr. by Meiklejohn), p. 510. 
3. Any way or manner of conducting any busi- 
ness. 
In this method of life it was once his fate to approach a 
clear fountain. Bacon, Moral Fables, iii. 
4. A plan or system of conduct or action ; the 
way or mode of doing or effecting something: 
as, a method of instruction; method of classifi- 
cation ; the English method of pronunciation. 
Therefore to know what more thou art than man, . . . 
Another method I must now begin. 
Milton, P. B,, iv. 540. 
Let such persons ... not quarrel with the Great Phy- 
sician of souls for having cured them by easy and gentle 
methods. South, Sermons, IX. i. 
Still less respectable appears this extreme concern for 
those of our own blood which goes along with utter un- 
concern for those of other blood, when we observe its 
methods. H. Spencer, Man vs. State, p. 71. 
5. In music : (a) Manner of performance ; tech- 
nique ; style, (b) A manner or system of teach- 
ing, (c) An instruction-book, systematically 
arranged Acroamatlc, analytic, antecedental 
method. See the adjectives. Arbogast's method 
[Named after the inventor, the Alsatian mathematician 
Louis Francois Antoine Arbogast, 1759-1803, who himself 
named it the calculus of derivations.] A method for the 
development of the function of a function according to 
the rowers of the variable of the latter function. Ba- 
. method. See Baconian 
methodism 
of the observation are specially chosen so that one usual 
source of error does not enter into the result. Method 
of compensation, a method in which a source of error 
of unknown amount is got rid of by a special mechanical 
contrivance. Method of concomitant variations, the 
method in which the known quantities on which the results 
of an experiment depend are made to vary with a view 
to ascertaining the values of the unknown quantities. 
Method Of correction, a method of experimentation in 
which a source of error is allowed for by calculation. This 
differs from the method of residues only in that the nature 
of the causes of the residual phenomena are known, and 
only their quantities remain to be determined. Method 
of difference, that method in which an experiment is 
tried under conditions seeming to differ in but one 
material circumstance, and the difference in the two 
results is ascribed to that circumstance. Method of 
dimensions, divisors, exclusions, fluxions. See di- 
rion, divisor, etc. Method of exhaustion, the 
,tion to the area of a curvilinear 
gons. Method of increments, of indivisibles, of 
infusion, of limits. See increment, indivisible, etc. 
Method of least squares. See square. Method of 
residues, (a) That method of experimental inquiry in 
which from an observed quantity is subtracted the effects 
of known causes in order that the effectsof unknown causes 
may be studied by themselves, (b) A method invented by 
Oauchy of treating the integral calculus. See residual. 
Method Of reversal, a method in which two experi- 
ments are made under different circumstances, in such a 
way that their results can be combined by calculation, so 
that the error shall be determined and eliminated. Nat- 
ural method, a method in which the order of nature 
is observed. See Jussieuan. Null-method, a method 
of measurement in which the equality of two physical 
quantities is indicated when, on performing a specified 
operation, no effect is produced on the testing apparatus : 
for example, the wheatstone bridge method of measuring 
electrical resistance. Progressive method. Same as 
si/nthetic method. Regressive or resolutive method. 
Same as analytic method. Scientific method, a method 
of investigation proceeding in a scientific manner, and 
setting out from fundamental and elementary princi- 
ples; especially, the method of modern science. So- 
cratic method, the method of teaching by questions ad- 
dressed to the understanding. Subjective method. 
Same as metaphysical method. Symbolical method, (a) 
A method in which symbols of operations are treated as if 
they were symbols of quantities, (b) A method in which, 
in analytical geom., the functions which vanish on straight 
lines, etc . are represented by single letters, (c) In algebra, 
a method in which, by the aid of umbrae, quantics are writ- 
ten as powers of polynomials. Synthetic, progressive, 
or compositive method, a method in which we set out 
with general principles and proceed to deduce their con- 
sequences. Tabular or tabellary method, the method 
of exhibiting the divisions of a subject by tables. Total 
method, the method of a whole science ; partial meth- 
od, the method of a particular part of a science. Uni- 
~* or general method, a method applicable to all 
problems. 
methodic (me-thod'ik), a. [= F. methodiqve = 
Sp. metddico = Pg. methodico = It. metodico 
(cf. D. G. methodised = Dan. methodisk), < LL. 
methodicus, following a method (medici metho- 
dici, physicians known as methodists), < Gr. 
ory. Centrobaric method. See centrobaric. Com- 
parative method, any method of investigation which 
rests upon the comparison of several groups of objects 
Compositive method. Same i&syntheticmethod. Cor- 
relative method. See correlative. Deductive meth- 
od. See deductive. Definitive or divisive method 
See divisive. Dialogic method. See dialogic. Differ- 
ential method, (a) A method of estimating the value 
of a physical quantity by comparing it with another of the 
same kind the value of which is known and estimating the 
difference. See differential, and differential galvanometer, 
(b) A method, introduced byFrischen, in duplex telegraphy 
for eliminating the effect of the transmitted current on 
the instruments at the transmitting station while leaving 
them available to record any message received at the same 
time. See telegraphy. Epidermic, erotematic, Eule- 
rian, exoscopic, expectant method. See the adiec 
lives. Euler's method of elimination. See elimina- 
tion. Genetic, graphical, historical method. See 
the adjectives. Homer's method of approximation. 
See approximation. latrallptic method t. Same zsepi- 
dermic method. Inductive or experimental method 
a method which depends upon making new observations 
Introspective method. See introspective. Lagran- 
gian, lunar, magistral method. See the adjectives. 
Mance's method, a method of measuring the electrical 
resistance of a circuit in which there is an electromotive 
force. See resistance. Metaphysical or subjective 
netnod, one which rests on the assumption that the 
, physicians known as 
methodists), < p.tdo6o(, a method: see method.] 
Pertaining to or characterized by method ; con- 
formed or conforming to a method: as, the me- 
thodic principle or sect in medicine. 
The legislator whose measures produce evil instead of 
good, notwithstanding the extensive and methodic inquiries 
which helped him to decide, cannot be held to have com- 
mitted more than error of reasoning. 
H. Spencer, Man vs. State, p. 77. 
Methodic doubt. SeedouMi. 
methodical (me-thod'i-kal), a. [< methodic + 
-al.] Characterized by or exhibiting method ; 
disposed or acting in a systematic way; sys- 
tematic; orderly: as, the' methodical arrange- 
ment of objects or topics ; methodical accounts ; 
a methodical man. 
When I am old, I will be as methodical an hypocrite as 
any pair of lawn sleeves in Savoy. 
Shirley, Grateful Servant, ii. 1. 
I have done it in a confused manner, and without the 
nice divisions of art ; for grief is not methodical. 
Bp. Atterbury, Sermons, I. vi. 
methodically (me-thod'i-kal-i), adi: In a me- 
o a method ; with 
At the recent meeting of the British Association, Dr. 
E. B. Tylor read an interesting paper on the laws of mar- 
riage and descent, illustrative of his ingenious method of 
studying ethnological phenomena. All myths and cus- 
toms, on a close study, may by analysis be disintegrated, 
and are found to consist of certain elements. Dr Tylor 
arranges these elements statistically, and, by inquiring 
which occur simultaneously among various peoples, 
Science, XII. 211. 
Method of agreement, that method of experimental 
inquiry in which, some experiment being tried under a 
great variety of circumstances and found always to yield 
the same result, it is inferred that this result would be 
reached under all circumstances. Method of ap- 
proaches.. See approach. Method of avoidance a 
method of experimentation in which the circumstances 
methodics (me-thod'iks), 11. [PI. of metlwdii : 
see-i'cs.] The science of method ; methodology. 
methodisation, methodise, etc. See methndi- 
zation, etc. 
methodism (meth'od-izm), ii. [< method (see 
Methodist) + -ism.] 1. The principle of acting 
according to a fixed or strict method ; the sys- 
medioine, or in conduct. 
This system fof medical doctrine] was known as meth- 
odism, its adherents :is the methodic] or methodists. 
Encyc. Brit.,S.\. 802. 
Specifically 2. [cap.] The doctrines and pol- 
ity of the Methodist Church. See Methmlixl 
Cluiri'h. under 
