Meise

Meise, a N. E. department of France, in the old province of Lorraine, bordering on Belgium and the departments of Meurthe-et-Moselle, Vosges, Haute-Marne, Marne, and Ar-dennes; area, 2,308 sq. m.; pop. in 1872, 284,-725. The Faucilles mountains traverse it from S. E. to N. W., and send off numerous ramifications. The chief rivers are the Meuse, Aisne, Aire, and Orne. Cotton and iron are manufactured. It is divided into the arrondisse-ments of Bar-le-Duc, Commercy, Montmedy, and Verdun. Capital, Bar-le-Duc.

Meivelacs

Meivelacs, one of the Homeric heroes, king of Lacedaemon, son of Atreus and younger brother of Agamemnon, and husband of Helen. After his wife had eloped with Paris, he and Ulysses proceeded to Troy to demand her restitution. In the war which followed the refusal he repeatedly distinguished himself, slaying many Trojans in single combat. He also engaged Paris, and would have killed him had not Venus interfered and enabled her favorite to escape. Menelaus was one of the warriors concealed in the famous wooden horse. On recovering Helen he embarked for home; but when he arrived off Cape Malea Jupiter sent a storm which scattered his fleet, and drove his ship as far as Egypt. With the exception of Ulysses, he was the last of the Hellenic heroes that reached Greece. He is said to have been the father of several children by Helen.

Mejerda (Anc. Bagradas)

Mejerda (Anc. Bagradas), a river of northern Africa, formed by several streams which rise in the Atlas mountains in Algeria, and running X. and X. E. to the gulf of Tunis, into which it falls, 24 m. N. of the city of that name. Its whole course is about 200 m., and it is the only considerable river of Tunis. Toward the sea it enters a wide plain whose numerous lakes or ponds seem to have been formed by inundations of the river. Its waters are deeply colored by the soil, and the sediment which it bears down has enlarged its delta and made alterations in the coast line. Its whole lower course has changed, the ruins of Utica now standing close to its left bank. In ancient times it Mowed nearer to Carthage.

Melampus

Melampus, in Grecian mythology, son of Amythaon by Idomene, Aglaia, or Rhodope, esteemed the first mortal who was endowed with the gift of prophecy, and who practised the medical art. He is said to have introduced the worship of Bacchus into Greece.

Melancholia

See Insanity.

Melanesia

See Micronesia.

Melanosis

Melanosis (Gr. , to blacken), a morbid growth on the human body, characterized by the deposit of a black pigment. For a long time this was looked upon as a distinct disease, and melanotic tumors formed a class by themselves; but it is now believed that melanosis may occur in any of the textures, natural or morbid. It is found in the lungs, in the bronchial and mesenteric glands, and in the sympathetic ganglia, mixed with new deposit as cancer and tubercle. The coloring matter is generally thought to be derived from the hema-tine of the blood. The black deposit in the air cells of miners is a mere accumulation of carbonaceous dust.