106 HER 
the four leaves of the calyx are the four vaft regions to¬ 
wards the cardinal points; and the leaves of the plant 
are the different iflands in the ocean round Jambu.” At 
the end of this ingenious effay are curious plates, repre- 
fenting Meru under the fanciful femblance of srlotos, and 
other geographical extravaganzas of the Hindoo Purani- 
•cas, or poetical fabulifts. “ Brahma, Indra, and all the 
gods, declare that this largeft of mountains is a form con¬ 
fiding of jewels of numberlefs colours; the abode of va¬ 
rious tribes; like gold; like the dawning morn, refplen- 
dent, with a thoufand petals ; like a thoufand water-pots, 
with a thoufand leaves. ‘Within it is adorned with the 
felf-moving cars of the gods, all beautiful; in its petals 
are the abodes of the gods, like heaven; in its thoufand 
petals they dwell with their conforts. There refides above 
Brahma, god of gods, with four faces. There in the eaft 
is Indra, for ever to be praifed; the lord of wealth, with 
a thoufand eyes, the deflroyer of towns.” On this Olym¬ 
pia of the Hindoos are all the gods affembled in their 
magnificent palaces, under different defignations; and the 
reader, defirous of farther accounts of it, and of myflicifms 
connected with it, is referred to the Afiatic Refearches, 
toI. viii. p. 245-375. and to Moor’s Hindoo Pantheon. 
MERU', a town of France, in the department of the 
Oife: ten miles eaft of Chaumont, ana twelve fouth- 
fouth-eaft of Beauvais. 
MERU AL ROU'D. See Maru el Roud, vol. xiv. 
MER'VANS, a town of France, in the department of 
the Saone and Loire, near the river La Guiotte: ten miles 
north of Louhans, and thirteen eaft of Chalons fur Saone. 
MER'VILLE, a town of France, in the department of 
the North, on the Lys: nine miles eaft of Aire, and fif¬ 
teen welt of Lille. 
MER'VILLE (Michael Guyot de), a French writer, 
tvas born at Verfailles in 1696. After travelling through 
Various countries, he fettled as a bookfeller at the Hague, 
where he publifhed a literary journal. His affairs becom¬ 
ing embarraffed, he went to Swifferland, and drowned 
himfelf in the Lake of Geneva in 1765. He wrote, 1. 
Voyage Hiftorique, 2 vols. nmo. 2. Several Comedies, 
Itc. publifhed at Paris, in 3 vols. 121110. 
MER'ULA (George), a critic and hiftqrian, and one 
of the revivers of ancient literature, was a native of Alef- 
fandria in Italy. His family name was Merlani, which 
lie latinized, after the manner of his age, to Merula. He 
acquired much reputation for claffical knowledge, and 
palled the greateft part of his life in teaching the lan¬ 
guages and rhetoric at Venice, Milan, and Pavia. He 
died at Milan in an advanced age, in 1494. Merula dif- 
tinguifhed himfelf both as an original writer, and as an 
editor and commentator. Under the patronage of Louis 
Sforza, he wrote “ Antiquitates Vicecomitum, five de 
Geftis ducum Mediolanenfium,” of which the firft decade 
was printed in his life-time; and four books of the fe- 
cond decade, which had long remained in manufcript, 
tvere publifhed in the laft century among the Scriptores 
Rerum Ital. vol. xxv. He alfo compofed a defcription 
of Montferrat, and of the eruption of Mount Vefiivius ; 
and a fmall hiftorical trad! entitled “ Bellum Scodrenfe,” 
defcribing the fiege of Scutari by the Turks in 1474. His 
merits as a claflical editor were confiderable. He was the 
firft who gave an edition of the four Latin writers on 
agriculture collectively, viz. Cato, Varro, Columella, and 
Palladius, with annotations, 1472. In the fame year he 
gave the firft edition of the Comedies of Plautus. He 
likewife either firft publifhed or illuftrated Juvenal, Mar¬ 
tial, Aufonius, and the declamations of Quintilian. He 
tranflated from the Greek of Xiphilinus, the lives of 
Trajan, Nerva, and Adrian, which verfions were much 
commended by Erafmus. To him alfo was owing the 
difcovery of 'many ancient manufcripts in the monaftery 
of Bobbio, in 1494. This learned man had, however, the 
common fault of his age and profeffion, that of being 
prone to exalt his own merits at the expenfe of his fel¬ 
low-labourers in learning. He made attacks on leveral 
M E R 
contemporary writers, among whom were his preceptor- 
Filelfo, and Poliziano ; and employed all that acrimony 
of language which has been the difgrace of letters. Yof- 
Jii Hiji. Lot. Tirabojchi. 
MER'ULA (Paul), born in 1558 at Dordrecht in Hol¬ 
land, acquired, in his own country, a profound know¬ 
ledge of law, hiftory, and polite literature ; and then tra¬ 
velled for improvement into France, Italy, Germany, 
and England. On his return he was appointed to fuc- 
Ceed the famous Lipfius in the chair of hiftory at Ley¬ 
den, which he held for fifteen years. His application to 
ftudy having brought on a dangerous difeafe, he went to 
Roftock for change of air, where he died in 1607. This 
learned man pubiifhed, 1. The Fragments of Ennius, with 
a Commentary. 2. Eutropius. 3. The Lives of Eraf¬ 
mus and Junius. 4. Cofmographia, an ufeful work on 
ancient geography. 5. A Treatifeon Law. 6. A Trea- 
tife on Hunting, with the Laws refpedting it, in the Dutch 
language. After his death were publifhed “ P. Merulaa 
era varia pofthuma,” 1684. Moreri. 
MER'ULA (Claudio), furnamed (la Correggio, (a fmall 
town in the ftate of Modena,) organift of the church of 
St. Marc at Venice in the time of Zarlino, who calls him* 
Juaviffimo organijla del J'uo tempo, “ the fweeteft organift 
of his time.” He had been maeftro di cappella to the duke 
of Parma ; and was one of the firft who attempted dra¬ 
matic mulic. In 1574, he compofed a theatrical piece at 
Venice, which was performed in the grand council-cham¬ 
ber, for the entertainment of Henry III. of France, when 
he returned from Poland on the death of his brother 
Charles IX. This piece was called a tragedy, and was pro¬ 
bably declaimed, with madrigals and chorulfes intermixed. 
MER'ULA (Tarquinio), a whimfical compofer of Ber¬ 
gamo ; in the tenth volume of whofe works, printed at 
Venice in 1655, moft of his inftrumental movements ar# 
compofed on a ground-bale, which foon after became a 
common practice with Stradella, Purcell, and others. 
This mafter was a church-compofer, and a madrigalifb, 
but his favourite ftyle feems to have been the burlefque. 
He compofed a learned fugue in four parts, on the de- 
clenfion of Hie, lieec, hoc ; and another upon Quis vel qui ; 
nominative qui, qius, quod, < §-c. This laft confifts of feveral 
movements which are fupported with vivacity, and imi¬ 
tations of the cant and ftammering of fchool-boys in re-, 
peating their grammatical leflons. 
MERU'LIUS, f. [a name of far-fetched etymology and 
meaning; adopted by Haller, from John Bauhin, who 
mentions fome fungi as called by the name of Merulius 
or Metulius, from meta, a pillar or boundary-poll with a 
round top, which their lhape refembles. Such fungi, no 
doubt, are numerous, belonging to various genera; but 
the idea is lefs fuitable to our prefent Meruli than to 
moft others, becaule many of them have no Item at all.] 
In botany, a genus of the clafs cryptogamia, order fungi. 
—Effential Character. Cap fleihy or membranous : re¬ 
ceptacle veiny underneath, with luperficial fwellingplaits. 
Perfoon defines twenty-five fpecies of this very well- 
marked genus, whofe frudlifying membrane refembles the 
gills of an Agaricus in appearance only, being totally 
diftindt in nature. Its furface is perfedlly continuous, 
but pinched up, as it were, into fimplq or branched tumid 
plaits. The genus is divided into two fedtions. 
I. Cantharelli ; with an entire or rather cup-lhaped cap? 
and furni Hied withaftalk. 
1. Merulius cantharellus: cluftered, deep yellow all 
over; cap fleihy, fmooth, depreffed; ftera lolid. It varies 
in the breadth of its top, from one to near three inches, 
and is entirely of the colour of yolk of egg, with an agree¬ 
able feent like a plum or apricot, efpecially when drying. 
This fung us is eaten in many countries, and feems to be no 
otherwifeunwholelome than as its toughnefs renders it in- 
digeftible: Haller reports the flavour to be excellent,though 
fomewhat acrid, and fays he had often eaten this meru- 
ljus drefled i» meat-broth, without any bad elfedts. It 
inhabits 
