MEADOW 168 MEASLES Academy in 1835; served for a time against the Seminole Indians and in the Mexican War. In 1861 he obtained a bri- gade of volunteers, and during the Pen- insular campaign received a severe gun- shot wound. He distinguished himself at Antietam and at Fredericksburg, and was promoted Major-General in Novem- ber, 1862. In June, 1863, he was placed in command of the Army of the Potomac, superseding Gen. Joseph Hooker {q. v.) on the night of the 27th. A week later the battles of Gettysburg had been fought under his command, and Lee's ef- ' fort to carry the war into the country N. of the Potomac had been defeated. Meade became Brigadier-General in the regular army on July 3, and Major-General in ] 864. After the war he commanded vari- ous military departments till his death, in Philadelphia, Nov. 6, 1872. MEADOW, a level tract of land under grass, and generally mown for hay; grass-land; low-lying, level land on the banks of a river or lake, but sufficiently dry to produce herbage of a superior quality. MEADOW GRASS, the common name of several common grasses of the genus Poa. The P. pratensis, or smooth meadow grass, is one of the most common of agii- cultural grasses. MEADOW HEN, a name commonly given to the American coot. MEADOW LARK, a beautiful Amer- ican species of lark, Orlanda Magna, found in eastern United States to the high central plains. It is about 11 inches long, and the tail 5 inches. The body is thick and stout, the legs large; the bill is nearly straight, and three times as long as high; inner lateral toe longer than the outer; feathers of head stiff- ened, the shafts above extended into a black bristle. The upper parts are brown, marked with brownish-white, and the exposed portions of the wings and tail with transverse dark-brown bars; the under parts yellow, with a black pectoral crescent. MEADOWSWEET, a well-known hand- some British plant, Spirx Ulmaria, natural order Rosacese. It grows by the sides of streams and in damp places, has pinnate leaves, and stems two feet high bearing corymbs of white fragrant flowers. MEADVILLE, a city and county-seat of Crawford co., Pa.; on the Venango river, and the Erie, the Bessemer and Lake Erie, and the Northwestern Penn- sylvania railroads; 120 miles N. of Pittsburgh. It contains Allegheny Col- lege, the M'eadville Theological Senu- nary. City and Spencer Hospitals, pub- lic library, parks, street railroad and electric light plants, waterworks, Na- tional banks, and several daily and week- ly newspapers. It is in the heart of an agricultural region, and is a market and shipping point for the oil regions. The city has the Erie railroad shops, iron works, furniture factory, a vise and tool factory, flour mills, tanneries, machine shops, etc. It has the commission form of government. Pop. (1910) 12,780; (1920) 14,568. MEAGHER, THOMAS FRANCIS (ma'Hur), an Irish- American patriot; born in Waterford, Ireland, Aug. 3, 1823. He was the son of a wealthy mer- chant, and educated at the Jesuit CoU lege of Clongowes Wood, Kildare, and at Stonyhurst. He early devoted himself to the patriotic cause as a prominent and fearless member of the Young Ire- land party. In 1848 he was sentenced to death under the "Treason-felony" Act, but was sent for life to Van Diemen's Land instead. He made his escape in 1852, studied law in the United States, but on the outbreak of the Civil War vol- unteered as a Union soldier. In 1861 he organized the "Irish brigade" and distin- guished himself by his courage in the seven days' battles around Richmond, at the second battle of Bull Run, Fredericks- burg, and Antietam. He was drowned, July 1, 1867. MEALY BUG, an insect very injurious to pineapples and other exotics. It is reddish, and covered with a white pov/- dery substance. MEASLES, an infectious disease, called also rubeola, most frequently attacking children, though sometimes occurring in old age, as in the case of George III. and of Otho, ex-King of Greece, who died of this affection. The period of incubation is about eight days, when the rash ap- pears, accompanied by catarrh, watery eyes, acrid watery discharge from the nose, sneezing, and often pain in the forehead, with, occasionally, bleeding at the nose. The bronchi are frequently af- fected, this forming the chief danger. The spots are small red, papular, and crescent-shaped, commencing on the face and passing downward, disappearing in the same order. The old-fashioned rem- edy is saffron-tea, but the chief neces- sity is to ward off any respiratory mis- chief, or to combat it when present. A form of measles known as rotheln, or German measles, is distinct from measles, or from scarlatina, with which it has often been confounded. The eruption
