HEME was started in France 1717 by John Law and the
Government, ostensibly to develop the Mississippi basin, but really to
ease the pressure on the exchequer; a company was formed and empowered to
monopolise almost all the foreign trade; 624,000 shares were issued;
depreciated paper currency was accepted in payment, and the national bank
issued notes without stint; in 1719 the demand for shares was enormous;
the nation was completely carried away; next year the crash came; the
Government made every effort to save the position, but in vain; the
distress was extreme, and Law had to leave the country.

MISSOLONGHI (6), Greek seaport and fishing town, on the Gulf of
Patras, chiefly noted for heroic defences in the War of Independence
1821-1826, and as the place of Byron's death 1824.

MISSOURI (2,679), an American State on the right bank of the
Mississippi, between Iowa and Arkansas, is half the size of the British
Isles, and is traversed by the Missouri River; N. of that river the
country is level, S. of it there rise the Ozark tablelands; the soil is
very fertile, and the State principally agricultural; immense crops of
maize, oats, potatoes, cotton, and tobacco are raised; there are large
cattle ranches, and dressed beef and pork are largely exported; the
climate is subject to extremes; coal, iron, lead, zinc, and other
minerals abound, while marble, granite, and limestone are quarried; the
rivers afford excellent transport facilities; the educational system is
very complete; admitted to the Union in 1821, Missouri was divided in the
Civil War, and suffered terribly, but since then has been very
prosperous; the capital, St. Louis (452), is one of the greatest
commercial and manufacturing towns in the Union, does a vast trade in
grain and cotton, and has hardware, leather goods, and tobacco factories;
Kansas City (133), has great pork-packing establishments and railroad
iron-works.

MISTRAL, FREDERICK, poet of Southern France, born near Maillaune,
was a peasant's son, and himself a peasant; his fame rose on the
publication of the epic, "Mireio," in Provencal dialect, 1859; in 1867 he
published "Calendou," and in 1876 a volume of songs, and in 1884 "Nerto,"
a novel; _b_. 1830.

MITFORD, MARY RUSSELL, authoress, born at Alresford, Hants, lived
with her father, an extravagant physician, at Lyme Regis and London; she
published poems in 1810-11-12, but, forced to earn a living, took to
dramatic work; "Julian," "The