Chapter 12

(J. S. Bl.)

The published writings of Mazzini, mostly occasional, are very voluminous. An edition was begun by himself and continued by A. Saffi,Scritti editi e inediti di Giuseppe Mazzini, in 18 vols. (Milan and Rome, 1861-1891); many of the most important are found in the partially autobiographicalLife and Writings of Joseph Mazzini(1864-1870) and the two most systematic—Thoughts upon Democracy in Europe, a remarkable series of criticisms on Benthamism, St Simonianism, Fourierism, and other economic and socialistic schools of the day, and the treatiseOn the Duties of Man, an admirable primer of ethics, dedicated to the Italian working class—will be found inJoseph Mazzini: a Memoir, by Mrs E. A. Venturi (London, 1875). Mazzini’s “first great sacrifice,” he tells us, was “the renunciation of the career of literature for the more direct path of political action,” and as late as 1861 we find him still recurring to the long-cherished hope of being able to leave the stormy arena of politics and consecrate the last years of his life to the dream of his youth. He had specially contemplated three considerable literary undertakings—a volume ofThoughts on Religion, a popularHistory of Italy, to enable the working classes to apprehend what he conceived to be the “mission” of Italy in God’s providential ordering of the world, and a comprehensive collection of translations of ancient and modern classics into Italian. None of these was actually achieved. No one, however, can read even the briefest and most occasional writing of Mazzini without gaining some impression of the simple grandeur of the man, the lofty elevation of his moral tone, his unwavering faith in the living God, who is ever revealing Himself in the progressive development of humanity. His last public utterance is to be found in a highly characteristic article on Renan’sRéforme Morale et Intellectuelle, finished on the 3rd of March 1872, and published in theFortnightly Reviewfor February 1874. Of the 40,000 letters of Mazzini only a small part have been published. In 1887 two hundred unpublished letters were printed at Turin (Duecento lettere inedite di Giuseppe Mazzini), in 1895 theLettres intimeswere published in Paris, and in 1905 Francesco Rosso publishedLettre inedite di Giuseppe Mazzini(Turin, 1905). A popular edition of Mazzini’s writings has been undertaken by order of the Italian government.For Mazzini’s biography see Jessie White Mario,Della vita di Giuseppe Mazzini(Milan, 1886), a useful if somewhat too enthusiastic work; Bolton King,Mazzini(London, 1903); Count von Schack,Joseph Mazzini und die italienische Einheit(Stuttgart, 1891). A. Luzio’sGiuseppe Mazzini(Milan, 1905) contains a great deal of valuable information, bibliographical and other, and Dora Melegari inLa giovine Italia e Giuseppe Mazzini(Milan, 1906) publishes the correspondence between Mazzini and Luigi A. Melegari during the early days of “Young Italy.” For the literary side of Mazzini’s life see Peretti,Gli scritti letterarii di Giuseppe Mazzini(Turin, 1904).

For Mazzini’s biography see Jessie White Mario,Della vita di Giuseppe Mazzini(Milan, 1886), a useful if somewhat too enthusiastic work; Bolton King,Mazzini(London, 1903); Count von Schack,Joseph Mazzini und die italienische Einheit(Stuttgart, 1891). A. Luzio’sGiuseppe Mazzini(Milan, 1905) contains a great deal of valuable information, bibliographical and other, and Dora Melegari inLa giovine Italia e Giuseppe Mazzini(Milan, 1906) publishes the correspondence between Mazzini and Luigi A. Melegari during the early days of “Young Italy.” For the literary side of Mazzini’s life see Peretti,Gli scritti letterarii di Giuseppe Mazzini(Turin, 1904).

(L. V.*)

MAZZONI, GIACOMO(1548-1598), Italian philosopher, was born at Cesena and died at Ferrara. A member of a noble family and highly educated, he was one of the most eminent savants of the period. He occupied chairs in the universities of Pisa and Rome, was one of the founders of the Della Crusca Academy, and had the distinction, it is said, of thrice vanquishing the Admirable Crichton in dialectic. His chief work in philosophy was an attempt to reconcile Plato and Aristotle, and in this spirit he published in 1597 a treatiseIn universam Platonis et Aristotelis philosophiam praecludia. He wrote alsoDe triplici hominum vita, wherein he outlined a theory of the infinite perfection and development of nature. Apart from philosophy, he was prominent in literature as the champion of Dante, and produced two works in the poet’s defence:Discorso composto in difesa della comedia di Dante(1572), andDella difesa della comedia di Dante(1587, reprinted 1688). He was an authority on ancient languages and philology, and gave a great impetus to the scientific study of the Italian language.

MAZZONI, GUIDO(1859- ), Italian poet, was born at Florence, and educated at Pisa and Bologna. In 1887 he became professor of Italian at Padua, and in 1894 at Florence. He was much influenced by Carducci, and became prominent both as a prolific and well-read critic and as a poet of individual distinction. His chief volumes of verse areVersi(1880),Nuove poesie(1886),Poesie(1891),Voci della vita(1893).

MEAD, LARKIN GOLDSMITH(1835- ), American sculptor, was born at Chesterfield, New Hampshire, on the 3rd of January 1835. He was a pupil (1853-1855) of Henry Kirke Brown. During the early part of the Civil War he was at the front for six months, with the army of the Potomac, as an artist forHarper’s Weekly; and in 1862-1865 he was in Italy, being for part of the time attached to the United States consulate at Venice, while William D. Howells, his brother-in-law, was consul. He returned to America in 1865, but subsequently went back to Italy and lived at Florence. His first important work was a statue of Ethan Allen, now at the State House, Montpelier, Vermont. His principal works are: the monument to President Lincoln, Springfield, Illinois; “Ethan Allen” (1876), National Hall of Statuary, Capitol, Washington; an heroic marble statue, “The Father of Waters,” New Orleans; and “Triumph of Ceres,” made for the Columbian Exposition, Chicago.

His brother,William Rutherford Mead(1846- ), graduated at Amherst College in 1867, and studied architecture in New York under Russell Sturgis, and also abroad. In 1879 he and J. F. McKim, with whom he had been in partnership for two years as architects, were joined by Stanford White, and formed the well-known firm of McKim, Mead & White.

MEAD, RICHARD(1673-1754), English physician, eleventh child of Matthew Mead (1630-1699), Independent divine, was born on the 11th of August 1673 at Stepney, London. He studied at Utrecht for three years under J. G. Graevius; having decided to follow the medical profession, he then went to Leiden and attended the lectures of Paul Hermann and Archibald Pitcairne. In 1695 he graduated in philosophy and physic at Padua, and in 1696 he returned to London, entering at once on a successful practice. HisMechanical Account of Poisonsappeared in 1702, and in 1703 he was admitted to the Royal Society, to whoseTransactionshe contributed in that year a paper on the parasitic nature of scabies. In the same year he was elected physician to St Thomas’s Hospital, and appointed to read anatomical lectures at the Surgeons’ Hall. On the death of John Radcliffe in 1714 Mead became the recognized head of his profession; he attended Queen Anne on her deathbed, and in 1727 was appointed physician to George II., having previously served him in that capacity when he was prince of Wales. He died in London on the 16th of February 1754.

Besides theMechanical Account of Poisons(2nd ed., 1708), Mead published a treatiseDe imperio solis et lunae in corpora humana et morbis inde oriundis(1704),A Short Discourse concerning Pestilential Contagion, and the Method to be used to prevent it(1720),De variolis et morbillis dissertatio(1747),Medica sacra, sive de morbis insignioribus qui in bibliis memorantur commentarius(1748),On the Scurvy(1749), andMonita et praecepta medica(1751). ALifeof Mead by Dr Matthew Maty appeared in 1755.

MEAD.(1) A word now only used more or less poetically for the commoner form “meadow,” properly land laid down for grass and cut for hay, but often extended in meaning to include pasture-land. “Meadow” represents the oblique case,maédwe, of O. Eng.maéd, which comes from the root seen in “mow”; the word, therefore, means “mowed land.” Cognate words appear in other Teutonic languages, a familiar instance being Ger.matt, seen in place-names such as Zermatt, Andermatt, &c. (See Grass.) (2) The name of a drink made by the fermentation of honey mixed with water. Alcoholic drinks made from honey were common in ancient times, and during the middle ages throughout Europe. The Greeks and Romans knew of such under the names ofὁδρόμελιandhydromel;mulsumwas a form of mead with the addition of wine. The word is common to Teutonic languages (cf. Du.mede, Ger.MetorMeth), and is cognate with Gr.μέθυ, wine, and Sansk.mádhu, sweet drink. “Metheglin,” another word for mead, properly a medicated or spiced form of the drink, is an adaptation of the Welshmeddyglyn, which is derived frommeddyg, healing (Lat.medicus) andllyn, liquor. It therefore means “spiced or medicated drink,” and is not etymologically connected with “mead.”

MEADE, GEORGE GORDON(1815-1872), American soldier, was born of American parentage at Cadiz, Spain, on the 31st of December 1815. On graduation at the United States Military Academy in 1835, he served in Florida with the 3rd Artillery against the Seminoles. Resigning from the army in 1836, hebecame a civil engineer and constructor of railways, and was engaged under the war department in survey work. In 1842 he was appointed a second lieutenant in the corps of the topographical engineers. In the war with Mexico he was on the staffs successively of Generals Taylor, J. Worth and Robert Patterson, and was brevetted for gallant conduct at Monterey. Until the Civil War he was engaged in various engineering works, mainly in connexion with lighthouses, and later as a captain of topographical engineers in the survey of the northern lakes. In 1861 he was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers, and had command of the 2nd brigade of the Pennsylvania Reserves in the Army of the Potomac under General M’Call. He served in the Seven Days, receiving a severe wound at the action of Frazier’s Farm. He was absent from his command until the second battle of Bull Run, after which he obtained the command of his division. He distinguished himself greatly at the battles of South Mountain and Antietam. At Fredericksburg he and his division won great distinction by their attack on the position held by Jackson’s corps, and Meade was promoted major-general of volunteers, to date from the 29th of November. Soon afterwards he was placed in command of the V. corps. At Chancellorsville he displayed great intrepidity and energy, and on the eve of the battle of Gettysburg was appointed to succeed Hooker. The choice was unexpected, but Meade justified it by his conduct of the operations, and in the famous three days’ battle he inflicted a complete defeat on General Lee’s army. His reward was the commission of brigadier-general in the regular army. In the autumn of 1863 a war of manœuvre was fought between the two commanders, on the whole favourably to the Union arms. Grant, commanding all the armies of the United States, joined the Army of the Potomac in the spring of 1864, and remained with it until the end of the war; but he continued Meade in his command, and successfully urged his appointment as major-general in the regular army (Aug. 18, 1864), eulogizing him as the commander who had successfully met and defeated the best general and the strongest army on the Confederate side. After the war Meade commanded successively the military division of the Atlantic, the department of the east, the third military district (Georgia and Alabama) and the department of the south. He died at Philadelphia on the 6th of November, 1872. The degree of LL.D. was conferred upon him by Harvard University, and his scientific attainments were recognized by the American Philosophical Society and the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences. There are statues of General Meade in Philadelphia and at Gettysburg.

See I. R. Pennypacker,General Meade(“Great Commanders” series, New York, 1901).

MEADE, WILLIAM(1789-1862), American Protestant Episcopal bishop, the son of Richard Kidder Meade (1746-1805), one of General Washington’s aides during the War of Independence, was born on the 11th of November 1789, near Millwood, in that part of Frederick county which is now Clarke county, Virginia. He graduated as valedictorian in 1808 at the college of New Jersey (Princeton); studied theology under the Rev. Walter Addison of Maryland, and in Princeton; was ordained deacon in 1811 and priest in 1814; and preached both in the Stone Chapel, Millwood, and in Christ Church, Alexandria, for some time. He became assistant bishop of Virginia in 1829; was pastor of Christ Church, Norfolk, in 1834-1836; in 1841 became bishop of Virginia; and in 1842-1862 was president of the Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary in Virginia, near Alexandria, delivering an annual course of lectures on pastoral theology. In 1819 he had acted as the agent of the American Colonization Society to purchase slaves, illegally brought into Georgia, which had become the property of that state and were sold publicly at Milledgeville. He had been prominent in the work of the Education Society, which was organized in 1818 to advance funds to needy students for the ministry of the American Episcopal Church, and in the establishment of the Theological Seminary near Alexandria, as he was afterwards in the work of the American Tract Society, and the Bible Society. He was a founder and president of the Evangelical Knowledge Society (1847), which, opposing what it considered the heterodoxy of many of the books published by the Sunday School Union, attempted to displace them by issuing works of a more evangelical type. A low Churchman, he strongly opposed Tractarianism. He was active in the case against Bishop Henry Ustick Onderdonk (1789-1858) of Pennsylvania, who because of intemperance was forced to resign and was suspended from the ministry in 1844; in that against Bishop Benjamin Tredwell Onderdonk (1791-1861) of New York, who in 1845 was suspended from the ministry on the charge of intoxication and improper conduct; and in that against Bishop G. W. Doane of New Jersey. He fought against the threatening secession of Virginia, but acquiesced in the decision of the state and became presiding bishop of the Southern Church. He died in Richmond, Virginia, on the 14th of March 1862.

Among his publications, besides many sermons, wereA Brief Review of the Episcopal Church in Virginia(1845);Wilberforce, Cranmer, Jewett and the Prayer Book on the Incarnation(1850);Reasons for Loving the Episcopal Church(1852); andOld Churches, Ministers and Families of Virginia(1857); a storehouse of material on the ecclesiastical history of the state.See theLifeby John Johns (Baltimore, 1867).

See theLifeby John Johns (Baltimore, 1867).

MEADVILLE,a city and the county-seat of Crawford county, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., on French Creek, 36 m. S. of Erie. Pop. (1900), 10,291, of whom 912 were foreign-born and 173 were negroes; (1910 census) 12,780. It is served by the Erie, and the Bessemer & Lake Erie railways. Meadville has three public parks, two general hospitals and a public library, and is the seat of the Pennsylvania College of Music, of a commercial college, of the Meadville Theological School (1844, Unitarian), and of Allegheny College (co-educational), which was opened in 1815, came under the general patronage of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1833, and in 1909 had 322 students (200 men and 122 women). Meadville is the commercial centre of a good agricultural region, which also abounds in oil and natural gas. The Erie Railroad has extensive shops here, which in 1905 employed 46.7% of the total number of wage-earners, and there are various manufactures. The factory product in 1905 was valued at $2,074,600, being 24.4% more than that of 1900. Meadville, the oldest settlement in N.W. Pennsylvania, was founded as a fortified post by David Mead in 1793, laid out as a town in 1795, incorporated as a borough in 1823 and chartered as a city in 1866.

MEAGHER, THOMAS FRANCIS(1823-1867), Irish nationalist and American soldier, was born in Waterford, Ireland, on the 3rd of August 1823. He graduated at Stonyhurst College, Lancashire, in 1843, and in 1844 began the study of law at Dublin. He became a member of the Young Ireland Party in 1845, and in 1847 was one of the founders of the Irish Confederation. In March 1848 he made a speech before the Confederation which led to his arrest for sedition, but at his trial the jury failed to agree and he was discharged. In the following July the Confederation created a “war directory” of five, of which Meagher was a member, and he and William Smith O’Brien travelled through Ireland for the purpose of starting a revolution. The attempt proved abortive; Meagher was arrested in August, and in October was tried for high treason before a special commission at Clonmel. He was found guilty and was condemned to death, but his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in Van Diemen’s Land, whither he was transported in the summer of 1849. Early in 1852 he escaped, and in May reached New York City. He made a tour of the cities of the United States as a popular lecturer, and then studied law and was admitted to the New York bar in 1855. He made two unsuccessful ventures in journalism, and in 1857 went to Central America, where he acquired material for another series of lectures. In 1861 he was captain of a company (which he had raised) in the 69th regiment of New York volunteers and fought at the first battle of Bull Run; he then organized an Irish brigade, of whose first regiment he was colonel until the 3rd of February 1862, when he was appointed to the command of this organization with the rank of brigadier-general. He took part in the siege of Yorktown, the battle of Fair Oaks, the seven days’ battle beforeRichmond, and the battles of Antietam, Fredericksburg, where he was wounded, and Chancellorsville, where his brigade was reduced in numbers to less than a regiment, and General Meagher resigned his commission. On the 23rd of December 1863 his resignation was cancelled, and he was assigned to the command of the military district of Etowah, with headquarters at Chattanooga. At the close of the war he was appointed by President Johnson secretary of Montana Territory, and there, in the absence of the territorial governor, he acted as governor from September 1866 until his death from accidental drowning in the Missouri River near Fort Benton, Montana, on the 1st of July 1867. He publishedSpeeches on the Legislative Independence of Ireland(1852).

W. F. Lyons, inBrigadier-General Thomas Francis Meagher(New York, 1870), gives a eulogistic account of his career.

MEAL.(1) (A word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Ger.Mehl, Du. meel; the ultimate source is the root seen in various Teutonic words meaning “to grind,” and in Eng. “mill,” Lat.mola,molěre, Gr.μύλη), a powder made from the edible part of any grain or pulse, with the exception of wheat, which is known as “flour.” In America the word is specifically applied to the meal produced from Indian corn or maize, as in Scotland and Ireland to that produced from oats, while in South Africa the ears of the Indian corn itself are called “mealies.” (2) Properly, eating and drinking at regular stated times of the day, as breakfast, dinner, &c., hence taking of food at any time and also the food provided. The word was in O.E.mael, which also had the meanings (now lost) of time, mark, measure, &c., which still appear in many forms of the word in Teutonic languages; thus Ger.mal, time, mark, cf.Denkmal, monument,Mahl, meal, repast, or Du.maal, Swed.mal, also with both meanings. The ultimate source is the pre-Teutonic rootme-ma-, to measure, and the word thus stood for a marked-out point of time.

MEALIE,the South African name for Indian corn or maize. The word as spelled represents the pronunciation of the Cape Dutchmilje, an adaptation ofmilho(da India), the millet of India, the Portuguese name for millet, used in South Africa for maize.

MEAN,an homonymous word, the chief uses of which may be divided thus. (1) A verb with two principal applications, to intend, purpose or design, and to signify. This word is in O.E.maenan, and cognate forms appear in other Teutonic languages, cf. Du.meenen, Ger.meinen. The ultimate origin is usually taken to be the rootmen-, to think, the root of “mind.” (2) An adjective and substantive meaning “that which is in the middle.” This is derived through the O. Fr.men,meienormoien, modernmoyen, from the late Lat. adjectivemedianus, frommedius, middle. The law French formmesneis still preserved in certain legal phrases (seeMesne). The adjective “mean” is chiefly used in the sense of “average,” as in mean temperature, mean birth or death rate, &c.

“Mean” as a substantive has the following principal applications; it is used of that quality, course of action, condition, state, &c., which is equally distant from two extremes, as in such phrases as the “golden (or happy) mean.” For the philosophic application seeAristotleandEthics.

In mathematics, the term “mean,” in its most general sense, is given to some function of two or more quantities which (1) becomes equal to each of the quantities when they themselves are made equal, and (2) is unaffected in value when the quantities suffer any transpositions. The three commonest means are the arithmetical, geometrical, and harmonic; of less importance are the contraharmonical, arithmetico-geometrical, and quadratic.

From the sense of that which stands between two things, “mean,” or the plural “means,” often with a singular construction, takes the further significance of agency, instrument, &c., of which that produces some result, hence resources capable of producing a result, particularly the pecuniary or other resources by which a person is enabled to live, and so used either of employment or of property, wealth, &c. There are many adverbial phrases, such as “by all means,” “by no means,” &c., which are extensions of “means” in the sense of agency.

The word “mean” (like the Frenchmoyen) had also the sense of middling, moderate, and this considerably influenced the uses of “mean” (3). This, which is now chiefly used in the sense of inferior, low, ignoble, or of avaricious, penurious, “stingy,” meant originally that which is common to more persons or things than one. The word in O. E. isgemaéne, and is represented in the modern Ger.gemein, common. It is cognate with Lat.communis, from which “common” is derived. The descent in meaning from that which is shared alike by several to that which is inferior, vulgar or low, is paralleled by the uses of “common.”

In astronomy the “mean sun” is a fictitious sun which moves uniformly in the celestial equator and has its right ascension always equal to the sun’s mean longitude. The time recorded by the mean sun is termed mean-solar or clock time; it is regular as distinct from the non-uniform solar or sun-dial time. The “mean moon” is a fictitious moon which moves around the earth with a uniform velocity and in the same time as the real moon. The “mean longitude” of a planet is the longitude of the “mean” planet,i.e.a fictitious planet performing uniform revolutions in the same time as the real planet.

The arithmetical mean of n quantities is the sum of the quantities divided by their number n. The geometrical mean of n quantities is the nth root of their product. The harmonic mean of n quantities is the arithmetical mean of their reciprocals. The significance of the word “mean,”i.e., middle, is seen by considering 3 instead of n quantities; these will be denoted by a, b, c. The arithmetic mean b, is seen to be such that the terms a, b, c are in arithmetical progression,i.e.b =1⁄2(a + c); the geometrical mean b places a, b, c in geometrical progression,i.e.in the proportion a : b :: b : c or b2= ac; and the harmonic mean places the quantities in harmonic proportion,i.e.a : c :: a − b : b − c, or b = 2ac/(a + c). The contraharmonical mean is the quantity b given by the proportion a : c :: b − c : a − b,i.e.b = (a2+ c2)/(a + c). The arithmetico-geometrical mean of two quantities is obtained by first forming the geometrical and arithmetical means, then forming the means of these means, and repeating the process until the numbers become equal. They were invented by Gauss to facilitate the computation of elliptic integrals. The quadratic mean of n quantities is the square root of the arithmetical mean of their squares.

MEASLES,(Morbilli,Rubeola; the M. E. word ismaseles, properly a diminutive of a word meaning “spot,” O.H.G.māsa, cf. “mazer”; the equivalent is Ger.Masern; Fr.Rougeole), an acute infectious disease occurring mostly in children. It is mentioned in the writings of Rhazes and others of the Arabian physicians in the 10th century. For long, however, it was held to be a variety of small-pox. After the non-identity of these two diseases had been established, measles and scarlet-fever continued to be confounded with each other; and in the account given by Thomas Sydenham of epidemics of measles in London in 1670 and 1674 it is evident that even that accurate observer had not as yet clearly perceived their pathological distinction, although it would seem to have been made a century earlier by Giovanni Filippo Ingrassias (1510-1580), a physician of Palermo. The specific micro-organism responsible for measles has not been definitely isolated.

Its progress is marked by several stages more or less sharply defined. After the reception of the contagion into the system, there follows a period of incubation or latency during which scarcely any disturbance of the health is perceptible. This period generally lasts for from ten to fourteen days, when it is followed by the invasion of the symptoms specially characteristic of measles. These consist in the somewhat sudden onset of acute catarrh of the mucous membranes. At this stage minute white spots in the buccal mucous membrane frequently occur; when they do, they are diagnostic of the disease. Sneezing, accompanied with a watery discharge, sometimes bleeding, from the nose, redness and watering of the eyes, cough of a short, frequent, and noisy character, with little or no expectoration, hoarseness of the voice, and occasionally sickness and diarrhoea, are the chief local phenomena of this stage. With these there is well-marked febrile disturbance, the temperature being elevated (102°-104° F.), and the pulse rapid, while headache, thirst, and restlessness are usually present. In some instances, these initial symptoms are slight, and the child is allowed to associate withothers at a time when, as will be afterwards seen, the contagion of the disease is most active. In rare cases, especially in young children, convulsions usher in, or occur in the course of, this stage of invasion, which lasts as a rule for four or five days, the febrile symptoms, however, showing some tendency to undergo abatement after the second day. On the fourth or fifth day after the invasion, sometimes later, rarely earlier, the characteristic eruption appears on the skin, being first noticed on the brow, cheeks, chin, also behind the ears, and on the neck. It consists of small spots of a dusky red or crimson colour, just like flea-bites, slightly elevated above the surface, at first isolated, but tending to become grouped into patches of irregular, occasionally crescentic, outline, with portions of skin free from the eruption intervening. The face acquires a swollen and bloated appearance, which, taken with the catarrh of the nostrils and eyes, is almost characteristic, and renders the diagnosis at this stage a matter of no difficulty. The eruption spreads downwards over the body and limbs, which are soon thickly studded with the red spots or patches. Sometimes these become confluent over a considerable surface. The rash continues to come out for two or three days, and then begins to fade in the order in which it first showed itself, namely from above downwards. By the end of about a week after its first appearance scarcely any trace of the eruption remains beyond a faint staining of the skin. Usually during convalescence slight peeling of the epidermis takes place, but much less distinctly than is the case in scarlet fever. At the commencement of the eruptive stage the fever, catarrh, and other constitutional disturbance, which were present from the beginning, become aggravated, the temperature often rising to 105° or more, and there is headache, thirst, furred tongue, and soreness of the throat, upon which red patches similar to those on the surface of the body may be observed. These symptoms usually decline as soon as the rash has attained its maximum, and often there occurs a sudden and extensive fall of temperature, indicating that the crisis of the disease has been reached. In favourable cases convalescence proceeds rapidly, the patient feeling perfectly well even before the rash has faded from the skin.

Measles may, however, occur in a very malignant form, in which the symptoms throughout are of urgent character, the rash but feebly developed, and of dark purple hue, while there is great prostration, accompanied with intense catarrh of the respiratory or gastro-intestinal mucous membrane. Such cases are rare, occurring mostly in circumstances of bad hygiene, both as regards the individual and his surroundings. On the other hand, cases of measles are often of so mild a form throughout that the patient can scarcely be persuaded to submit to treatment.

Measles as a disease derives its chief importance from the risk, by no means slight, of certain complications which are apt to arise during its course, more especially inflammatory affections of the respiratory organs. These are most liable to occur in the colder seasons of the year and in very young and delicate children. It has been already stated that irritation of the respiratory passages is one of the symptoms characteristic of measles, but that this subsides with the decline of the eruption. Not unfrequently, however, these symptoms, instead of abating, become aggravated, and bronchitis of the capillary form (seeBronchitis), or pneumonia, generally of the diffuse or lobular variety (seePneumonia), supervene. By far the greater proportion of the mortality in measles is due to its complications, of which those just mentioned are the most common, but which also include inflammatory affections of the larynx, with attacks resembling croup, and also diarrhoea assuming a dysenteric character. Or there may remain as direct results of the disease chronic ophthalmia, or discharge from the ears with deafness, and occasionally a form of gangrene affecting the tissues of the mouth or cheeks and other parts of the body, leading to disfigurement and gravely endangering life.

Apart from those immediate risks there appears to be a tendency in many cases for the disease to leave behind a weakened and vulnerable condition of the general health, which may render children, previously robust, delicate and liable to chest complaints, and is in not a few instances the precursor of some of those tubercular affections to which the period of childhood and youth is liable. These various effects or sequelae of measles indicate that although in itself a comparatively mild ailment, it should not be regarded with indifference. Indeed it is doubtful whether any other disease of early life demands more careful watching as to its influence on the health. Happily many of those attending evils may by proper management be averted.

Measles is a disease of the earlier years of childhood. Like other infectious maladies, it is admittedly rare, though not unknown, in nurslings or infants under six months old. It is comparatively seldom met with in adults, but this is due to the fact that most persons have undergone an attack in early life. Where this has not been the case, the old suffer equally with the young. All races of men appear liable to this disease, provided that which constitutes the essential factor in its origin and spread exists, namely, contagion. Some countries enjoy long immunity from outbreaks of measles, but it has frequently been found in such cases that when the contagion has once been introduced the disease extends with great rapidity and virulence. This was shown by the epidemic in the Faroe Islands in 1846, where, within six months after the arrival of a single case of measles, more than three-fourths of the entire population were attacked and many perished; and the similarly produced and still more destructive outbreak in Fiji in 1875, in which it was estimated that about one-fourth of the inhabitants died from the disease in about three months. In both these cases the great mortality was due to the complications of the malady, specially induced by overcrowding, insanitary surroundings, the absence of proper nourishment and nursing for the sick, and the utter prostration and terror of the people, and to the disease being specially malignant, occurring on what might be termed virgin soil.1It may be regarded as an invariable rule that the first epidemic of any disease in a community is specially virulent, each successive attack conferring a certain immunity.

In many lands, such as the United Kingdom, measles is rarely absent, especially from large centres of population, where sporadic cases are found at all seasons. Every now and then epidemics arise from the extension of the disease among those members of a community who have not been in some measure protected by a previous attack. There are few diseases so contagious as measles, and its rapid spread in epidemic outbreaks is no doubt due to the well-ascertained fact that contagion is most potent in the earlier stages, even before its real nature has been evinced by the characteristic appearances on the skin. Hence the difficulty of timely isolation, and the readiness with which the disease is spread in schools and families. The contagion is present in the skin and the various secretions. While the contagion is generally direct, it can also be conveyed by the particles from the nose and mouth which, after being expelled, become dry and are conveyed as dust on clothes, toys, &c. Fortunately the germs of measles do not retain their virulence long under such conditions, comparing favourably with those of some other diseases.

Treatment.—The treatment embraces the preventive measures to be adopted by the isolation of the sick at as early a period as possible. Epidemics have often, especially in limited localities, been curtailed by such a precaution. In families with little house accommodation this measure is frequently, for the reason given regarding the communicable period of the disease, ineffectual; nevertheless where practicable it ought to be tried. The unaffected children should be kept from school for a time (probably about three weeks from the outbreak in the family would suffice if no other case occur in the interval), and all clothing in contact with the patient or nurses should be disinfected. In extensive epidemics it is often desirable to close the schools for a time. As regards special treatment, in an ordinary case of measles little is required beyond what is necessary in febrile conditions generally. Confinement to bed in a somewhat darkened room, into which, however, air is freelyadmitted; light, nourishing, liquid diet (soups, milk, &c.), water almostad lib.to drink, and mild diaphoretic remedies such as the acetate of ammonia or ipecacuanha, are all that is necessary in the febrile stage. When the fever is very severe, sponging the body generally or the chest and arms affords relief. The serious chest complications of measles are to be dealt with by those measures applicable for the relief of the particular symptoms (seeBronchitis;Pneumonia). The preparations of ammonia are of special efficacy. During convalescence the patient must be guarded from exposure to cold, and for a time after recovery the state of the health ought to be watched with a view of averting the evils, both local and constitutional, which too often follow this disease.

“German measles” (Rötheln, orEpidemic Roseola) is a term applied to a contagious eruptive disorder having certain points of resemblance to measles, and also to scarlet fever, but exhibiting its distinct individuality in the fact that it protects from neither of these diseases. It occurs most commonly in children, but frequently in adults also, and is occasionally seen in extensive epidemics. Beyond confinement to the house in the eruptive stage, which, from the slight symptoms experienced, is often difficult of accomplishment, no special treatment is called for. There is little doubt that the disease is often mistaken for true measles, and many of the alleged second attacks of the latter malady are probably cases of rötheln. The chief points of difference are the following: (1) The absence of distinct premonitory symptoms, the stage of invasion, which in measles is usually of four days’ duration, and accompanied with well-marked fever and catarrh, being in rötheln either wholly absent or exceedingly slight, enduring only for one day. (2) The eruption of rötheln, which, although as regards its locality and manner of progress similar to measles, differs somewhat in its appearance, the spots being of smaller size, paler colour, and with less tendency to grouping in crescentic patches. The rash attains its maximum in about one day, and quickly disappears. There is not the same increase of temperature in this stage as in measles. (3) The presence of white spots on the buccal mucous membrane, in the case of measles. (4) The milder character of the symptoms of rötheln throughout its whole course, and the absence of complications and of liability to subsequent impairment of health such as have been seen to appertain to measles.

1Transactions of the Epidemiological Society(London, 1877).

MEAT,a word originally applied to food in general, and so still used in such phrases as “meat and drink”; but now, except as an archaism, generally used of the flesh of certain domestic animals, slaughtered for human food by butchers, “butcher’s meat,” as opposed to “game,” that of wild animals, “fish” or “poultry.” Cognate forms of the O. Eng.meteare found in certain Teutonic languages,e.g.Swed.mat, Dan.madand O. H. Ger.Maz. The ultimate origin has been disputed; theNew English Dictionaryconsiders probable a connexion with the rootmed-, “to be fat,” seen in Sansk.mēda, Lat.madere, “to be wet,” and Eng. “mast,” the fruit of the beech as food for pigs.

SeeDietetics;Food Preservation;Public Health;Agriculture; and the sections dealing with agricultural statistics under the names of the various countries.

MEATH(pronounced withthsoft, as inthe), a county of Ireland in the province of Leinster, bounded E. by the Irish Sea, S.E. by Dublin, S. by Kildare and King’s County, W. by Westmeath, N.W. by Cavan and Monaghan, and N.E. by Louth. Area 579,320 acres, or about 905 sq. m. In some districts the surface is varied by hills and swells, which to the west reach a considerable elevation, although the general features of a fine champain country are never lost. The coast, low and shelving, extends about 10 m., but there is no harbour of importance. Laytown is a small seaside resort, 5 m. S.E. of Drogheda. The Boyne enters the county at its south-western extremity, and flowing north-east to Drogheda divides it into two almost equal parts. At Navan it receives the Blackwater, which flows south-west from Cavan. Both these rivers are noted for their trout, and salmon are taken in the Boyne. The Boyne is navigable for barges as far as Navan whence a canal is carried to Trim. The Royal Canal passes along the southern boundary of the county from Dublin.

In the north is a broken country of Silurian rocks with much igneous material, partly contemporaneous, partly intrusive, near Slane. Carboniferous Limestone stretches from the Boyne valley to the Dublin border, giving rise to a flat plain especially suitable for grazing. Outliers of higher Carboniferous strata occur on the surface; but the Coal Measures have all been removed by denudation.The climate is genial and favourable for all kinds of crops, there being less rain than even in the neighbouring counties. Except a small portion occupied by the Bog of Allen, the county is verdant and fertile. The soil is principally a rich deep loam resting on limestone gravel, but varies from a strong clayey loam to a light sandy gravel. The proportion of tillage to pasturage is roughly as 1 to 31⁄2. Oats, potatoes and turnips are the principal crops, but all decrease. The numbers of cattle, sheep and poultry, however, are increasing or well maintained. Agriculture is almost the sole industry, but coarse linen is woven by hand-looms, and there are a few woollen manufactories. The main line of the Midland Great Western railway skirts the southern boundary, with a branch line north from Clonsilla to Navan and Kingscourt (county Cavan). From Kilmessan on this line a branch serves Trim and Athboy. From Drogheda (county Louth) a branch of the Great Northern railway crosses the county from east to West by Navan and Kells to Oldcastle.The population (76,111 in 1891; 67,497 in 1901) suffers a large decrease, considerably above the average of Irish counties, and emigration is heavy. Nearly 93% are Roman Catholics. The chief towns are Navan (pop. 3839), Kells (2428) and Trim (1513), the county town. Lesser market towns are Oldcastle and Athboy, an ancient town which received a charter from Henry IV. The county includes eighteen baronies. Assizes are held at Trim, and quarter sessions at Kells, Navan and Trim. The county is in the Protestant dioceses of Armagh, Kilmore and Meath, and in the Roman Catholic dioceses of Armagh and Meath. Before the Union in 1800 it sent fourteen members to parliament, but now only two members are returned, for the north and south divisions of the county respectively.

The climate is genial and favourable for all kinds of crops, there being less rain than even in the neighbouring counties. Except a small portion occupied by the Bog of Allen, the county is verdant and fertile. The soil is principally a rich deep loam resting on limestone gravel, but varies from a strong clayey loam to a light sandy gravel. The proportion of tillage to pasturage is roughly as 1 to 31⁄2. Oats, potatoes and turnips are the principal crops, but all decrease. The numbers of cattle, sheep and poultry, however, are increasing or well maintained. Agriculture is almost the sole industry, but coarse linen is woven by hand-looms, and there are a few woollen manufactories. The main line of the Midland Great Western railway skirts the southern boundary, with a branch line north from Clonsilla to Navan and Kingscourt (county Cavan). From Kilmessan on this line a branch serves Trim and Athboy. From Drogheda (county Louth) a branch of the Great Northern railway crosses the county from east to West by Navan and Kells to Oldcastle.

The population (76,111 in 1891; 67,497 in 1901) suffers a large decrease, considerably above the average of Irish counties, and emigration is heavy. Nearly 93% are Roman Catholics. The chief towns are Navan (pop. 3839), Kells (2428) and Trim (1513), the county town. Lesser market towns are Oldcastle and Athboy, an ancient town which received a charter from Henry IV. The county includes eighteen baronies. Assizes are held at Trim, and quarter sessions at Kells, Navan and Trim. The county is in the Protestant dioceses of Armagh, Kilmore and Meath, and in the Roman Catholic dioceses of Armagh and Meath. Before the Union in 1800 it sent fourteen members to parliament, but now only two members are returned, for the north and south divisions of the county respectively.

History and Antiquities.—A district known as Meath (Midhe), and including the present county of Meath as well as Westmeath and Longford, with parts of Cavan, Kildare and King’s County, was formed by Tuathal (c.130) into a kingdom to serve as mensal land or personal estate of the Ard Ri or over-king of Ireland. Kings of Meath reigned until 1173, and the title was claimed as late as the 15th century by their descendants, but at the date mentioned Hugh de Lacy obtained the lordship of the country and was confirmed in it by Henry II. Meath thus came into the English “Pale.” But though it was declared a county in the reign of Edward I. (1296), and though it came by descent into the possession of the Crown in the person of Edward IV., it was long before it was fully subdued and its boundaries clearly defined. In 1543 Westmeath was created a county apart from that of Meath, but as late as 1598 Meath was still regarded as a province by some, who included in it the counties Westmeath, East Meath, Longford and Cavan. In the early part of the 17th century it was at last established as a county, and no longer considered as a fifth province of Ireland.

There are two ancient round towers, the one at Kells and the other in the churchyard of Donaghmore, near Navan. By the river Boyne near Slane there is an extensive ancient burial-place called Brugh. Here are some twenty burial mounds, the largest of which is that of New Grange, a domed tumulus erected above a circular chamber, which is entered by a narrow passage enclosed by great upright blocks of stone, covered with carvings. The mound is surrounded by remains of a stone circle, and the whole forms one of the most remarkable extant erections of its kind. Tara (q.v.) is famous in history, especially as the seat of a royal palace referred to in the well-known lines of Thomas Moore. Monastic buildings were very numerous in Meath, among the more important ruins being those of Duleek, which is said to have been the first ecclesiastical building in Ireland of stone and mortar; the extensive remains of Bective Abbey; and those of Clonard, where also were a cathedral and a famous college. Of the old fortresses, the castle of Trim still presents an imposing appearance. There are many fine old mansions.

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