tate of ancient Greece, S. of Attica,
whose inhabitants were adventurous seafarers, credited with deceitful
propensities. The capital, Megara, famous for white marble and fine clay,
was the birthplace of Euclid.

MEGATHERIUM, an extinct genus of mammalia allied to the sloth, some
18 or 20 ft. in length and 8 ft. in height, with an elephantine skeleton.

MEHEMET ALI, pasha of Egypt, born in Albania; entered the Turkish
army, and rose into favour, so that he was able to seize the pashalic,
the Sultan compromising matters by exaction of an annual tribute in
acknowledgment of his suzerainty; the Mamelukes, however, proved unruly,
and he could not otherwise get rid of them but by luring them into his
coils, and slaughtering them wholesale in 1811; he maintained two wars
with the Sultan for the possession of Syria, and had Ibrahim Pasha, his
son, for lieutenant; compelled to give up the struggle, he instituted a
series of reforms in Egypt, and prosecuted them with such vigour that the
Sultan decreed the pashalic to remain hereditary in his family
(1769-1849).

MEISSEN (15), a town of Saxony, on the Upper Elbe, 15 m. NW. of
Dresden; has a very fine Gothic cathedral and an old castle. Gellert and
Lessing were educated here. There is a large porcelain factory, where
Dresden china is made, besides manufactures of iron.

MEISSONIER, JEAN LOUIS ERNEST, French painter, born at Lyons; began
as a book illustrator of "Paul and Virginia" amongst other works,
practising the while and perfecting his art as a figure painter, in which
he achieved signal success, from his "Chess-player" series to his designs
for the decoration of the Pantheon, "The Apotheosis of France," in 1889
(1811-1891).

MEISTER, WILHELM, a great work of Goethe's, fraught with
world-wisdom, the hero of which of the name represents a man who is led,
in these very days, by a higher hand than he is aware of to his appointed
destiny.

MEISTERSAeNGERS or SINGERS, a guild founded in Germany in the
15th century or earlier for the cultivation of poetry, of which HANS
SACHS (q. v.) was the most famous member.

MEKHONG, is the great river of Siam. Its source In the mountains of
Chiamdo is unexplored. Its course, 3000 m., is southerly to the China
Sea; the last 500 m. are navigable. It carries great quantities of silt
which goes to form and augment the delta through which it issues.

MELANCHTHON, PHILIP, Protestant Reformer, born in the Palatinate of
the