Part 167

Mer*cu"ri*al*ism (?), n. [Mercurial + -ism.] (Med.) The morbid condition produced by the excessive use of mercury, or by exposure to its fumes, as in mining or smelting.

||Me"ro (?), n. [Sp.; cf. Pg. mero.] Any of several large groupers of warm seas, esp. the guasa (Epinephelus guaza), the red grouper (E. morio), the black grouper (E. nigritas), distinguished as Me"ro de lo al"to (&?;), and a species called also rock hind, distinguished as Me"ro ca*brol"la (&?;).

Mer`o*zo"ite (?), n. [Gr. &?; part + Sporozoa.] (Zoöl.) A form of spore, usually elongate or falciform, and somewhat amœboid, produced by segmentation of the schizonts of certain Sporozoa, as the malaria parasite.

||Mes`o*my*ce"tes (?), n. pl. [NL.; meso- + mycetes.] (Bot.) One of the three classes into which the fungi are divided in Brefeld's classification. -- ||Mes`o*my*ce"tous (#), a.

||Mes`o*tho"ri*um (?), n. [NL.; meso- + thorium.] (Chem.) A radioactive product intermediate between thorium and radiothorium, with a period of 5.5 years.

Mes*qui"te bean. The pod or seed of the mesquite.

Mess, v. t. To make a mess of; to disorder or muddle; to muss; to jumble; to disturb.

It was n't right either to be messing another man's sleep.

Scribner's Mag.

Mes"sage stick. A stick, carved with lines and dots, used, esp. by Australian aborigines, to convey information.

Mess beef. Barreled salt beef, packed with about 80 pounds chuck and rump, two flanks, and the rest plates.

Me*tab"o*lism (?), n. (Biol.) The series of chemical changes which take place in an organism, by means of which food is manufactured and utilized and waste materials are eliminated.

Me*tal"lo*phone (?), n. [L. metallum metal + Gr. &?; sound.] (Music) (a) An instrument like a pianoforte, but having metal bars instead of strings. (b) An instrument like the xylophone, but having metallic instead of wooden bars.

||Me*ta"te (?), n. [Sp., fr. Mex. metlatl.] A flat or somewhat hollowed stone upon which grain or other food is ground, by means of a smaller stone or pestle. [Southwestern U. S. & Sp. Amer.]

Meth`a*nom"e*ter (?), n. [Methane + -meter.] An instrument, resembling a eudiometer, to detect the presence and amount of methane, as in coal mines.

||Mé`tier" (?), n. [F.] Calling; vocation; business; trade.

Not only is it the business of no one to preach the truth but it is the métier of many to conceal it.

A. R. Colquhoun.

Me"tol (?), n. [G.; trade name, fr. meta- + kresol cresol.] A whitish soluble powder used as a developer in photography. Chemically, it is the sulphate of methyl-p-amino-m-cresol.

Met"ric ton. A weight of 1,000 kilograms, or 2,204.6 pounds avoirdupois.

||Me"um (?), n. [L., neut. of meus mine.] Lit., mine; that which is mine; -- used in the phrase meum et tuum, or meum and tuum; as, to confound meum and tuum, to fail to distinguish one's own property from that of others; to be dishonest.

Ancestors . . . generally esteemed more renowned for ancient family and high courage than for accurately regarding the trifling distinction of meum and tuum.

Sir W. Scott.

||Mez"za ma*jol"i*ca (?). [It. See Mezzo; Majolica.] (Ceramics) Italian pottery of the epoch and general character of majolica, but less brilliantly decorated, esp. such pottery without tin enamel, but painted and glazed.

Mez"za*nine (?), n. 1. A flooring laid over a floor to bring it up to some height or level.

2. Also mezzanine floor. (Theat.) A floor under the stage, from which various contrivances, as traps, are worked.

Mho (?), n. [Anagram of ohm.] (Elec.) A unit of conductivity, being the reciprocal of the ohm.

Mhom"e*ter (?), n. [Mho + - meter.] (Elec.) An instrument for measuring conductivity.