Part 6971

<hw>Mer"cu*ry</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[L. <ets>Mercurius</ets>; akin to <ets>merx</ets> wares.]</ety> <p><b>1.</b> <fld>(Rom. Myth.)</fld> <def>A Latin god of commerce and gain; -- treated by the poets as identical with the Greek Hermes, messenger of the gods, conductor of souls to the lower world, and god of eloquence.</def>

<p><b>2.</b> <fld>(Chem.)</fld> <def>A metallic element mostly obtained by reduction from cinnabar, one of its ores. It is a heavy, opaque, glistening liquid (commonly called <altname>quicksilver</altname>), and is used in barometers, thermometers, ect. Specific gravity 13.6. Symbol Hg (<it>Hydrargyrum</it>). Atomic weight 199.8. Mercury has a molecule which consists of only one atom. It was named by the alchemists after the god Mercury, and designated by his symbol, &mercury;.</def>

<note>&hand; Mercury forms alloys, called <i>amalgams</i>, with many metals, and is thus used in applying tin foil to the backs of mirrors, and in extracting gold and silver from their ores. It is poisonous, and is used in medicine in the free state as in blue pill, and in its compounds as calomel, corrosive sublimate, etc. It is the only metal which is liquid at ordinary temperatures, and it solidifies at about -39&deg; Centigrade to a soft, malleable, ductile metal.</note>

<p><b>3.</b> <fld>(Astron.)</fld> <def>One of the planets of the solar system, being the one nearest the sun, from which its mean distance is about 36,000,000 miles. Its period is 88 days, and its diameter 3,000 miles.</def>

<p><b>4.</b> <def>A carrier of tidings; a newsboy; a messenger; hence, also, a newspaper.</def> <i>Sir J. Stephen</i>. "The monthly <i>Mercuries</i>." <i>Macaulay</i>.

<p><b>5.</b> <def>Sprightly or mercurial quality; spirit; mutability; fickleness.</def> <mark>[Obs.]</mark>

<blockquote>He was so full of <b>mercury</b> that he could not fix long in any friendship, or to any design. <i>Bp. Burnet.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>6.</b> <fld>(Bot.)</fld> <def>A plant (<spn>Mercurialis annua</spn>), of the Spurge family, the leaves of which are sometimes used for spinach, in Europe.</def>

<note>&hand; The name is also applied, in the United States, to certain climbing plants, some of which are poisonous to the skin, esp. to the <spn>Rhus Toxicodendron</spn>, or poison ivy.</note>

<cs><col>Dog's mercury</col> <fld>(Bot.)</fld>, <cd><spn>Mercurialis perennis</spn>, a perennial plant differing from <spn>M. annua</spn> by having the leaves sessile.</cd> -- <col>English mercury</col> <fld>(Bot.)</fld>, <cd>a kind of goosefoot formerly used as a pot herb; -- called <altname>Good King Henry</altname>.</cd> -- <col>Horn mercury</col> <fld>(Min.)</fld>, <cd>a mineral chloride of mercury, having a semitranslucent, hornlike appearance.</cd></cs>

<h1>Mercury</h1> <Xpage=913>

<hw>Mer"cu*ry</hw>, <tt>v. t.</tt> <def>To wash with a preparation of mercury.</def> <mark>[Obs.]</mark>

<i>B. Jonson.</i>

<h1>Mercy</h1> <Xpage=913>

<hw>Mer"cy</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt>; <plu>pl. <plw>Mercies</plw> <tt>(#)</tt></plu>. <ety>[OE. <ets>merci</ets>, F. <ets>merci</ets>, L. <ets>merces</ets>, <ets>mercedis</ets>, hire, pay, reward, LL., equiv. to <ets>misericordia</ets> pity, mercy. L. <ets>merces</ets> is prob<?/ akin to <ets>merere</ets> to deserve, acquire. See <er>Merit</er>, and cf. <er>Amerce</er>.]</ety> <p><b>1.</b> <def>Forbearance to inflict harm under circumstances of provocation, when one has the power to inflict it; compassionate treatment of an offender or adversary; clemency.</def>

<blockquote>Examples of justice must be made for terror to some; examples of <b>mercy</b> for comfort to others. <i>Bacon.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>Compassionate treatment of the unfortunate and helpless; sometimes, favor, beneficence.</def>

<i>Luke x. 37.</i>

<p><b>3.</b> <def>Disposition to exercise compassion or favor; pity; compassion; willingness to spare or to help.</def>

<blockquote>In whom <b>mercy</b> lacketh and is not founden. <i>Sir T. Elyot.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>4.</b> <def>A blessing regarded as a manifestation of compassion or favor.</def>

<blockquote>The Father of <b>mercies</b> and the God of all comfort. <i>2 Cor. i. 3.</i></blockquote>

<cs><col>Mercy seat</col> <fld>(Bib.)</fld>, <cd>the golden cover or lid of the Ark of the Covenant. See <er>Ark</er>, 2.</cd> -- <col>Sisters of Mercy</col> <fld>(R. C. Ch.)</fld>,<cd>a religious order founded in Dublin in the year 1827. Communities of the same name have since been established in various American cities. The duties of those belonging to the order are, to attend lying-in hospitals, to superintend the education of girls, and protect decent women out of employment, to visit prisoners and the sick, and to attend persons condemned to death.</cd> -- <col>To be at the mercy of</col>, <cd>to be wholly in the power of.</cd></cs>

<syn>Syn. -- See <er>Grace</er>.</syn>

<h1>Merd</h1> <Xpage=913>

<hw>Merd</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[F. <ets>merde</ets>, L. <ets>merda</ets>.]</ety> <def>Ordure; dung.</def> <mark>[Obs.]</mark>

<i>Burton.</i>

<h1>-mere</h1> <Xpage=913>