MENTOR 192 MERCIA that year the inhabitants voluntarily put themselves under the protection of Sar- dinia, but that power yielded the town to France 12 years later. Pop. about 18,- 000. MENTOR, in Greek legend, the faith- ful friend of Ulysses, who intrusted to him the care of his domestic affairs dur- ing his absence in the war against Troy. The education of the young Telemachus fell to his charge, and the wise and pru- dent counsel which he gave the youth has given to his name its metaphorical sig- nificance. MENU, or MANU, an Indian writer. MENZALEH (-zS'le), LAKE, a coast lagoon of Egypt, extending E. from the Damietta branch of the Nile, and separ- ated from the Mediterranean by a narrow strip of land, with several openings. Its surface, 460 square miles in extent, is studded with islands, the most interesting of which is Tennees, the ancient Ten- nesus, with Roman remains of baths, tombs, etc. Its waters are full of fish, and its shores abound in wild fowl. The Suez Canal passes through the E. portion. The lake has an average depth of not more than three feet, except when the Nile, mouths of whose delta reach it, is in flood; and it is being gradually drained. MENZEL, ADOLF VON (ment'sel), tL German artist; born in Breslau, Prus- sia, Dec. 8, 1815. He is best known for his drawings and oil paintings illustrative of the times of Frederick the Great and William I., emperor — ^pictures character- ized by historical fidelity, strong realistic conception, originality, and humor. His "Adam and Eve," "Christ among the Doc- tors," and "Christ Expelling the Money- changers" are also notable pictures. He died Feb. 9, 1905. _ MEPHISTOPHELES (mef-is-tof 'uh- lez), the name of one of the best-known personifications of the principle of evil. The word has been very variously ex- plained, but is probably of Hebrew origin, like most names of devils in the history of magic, confounded with, and approxi- mated in form to, the Greek, iJ.7i<})(j}(TTo<f)tv)t "one who loves not light." Mephistopheles owes all his modem vitality to Goethe's "Faust." MERCANTILE LAW, that depart- ment of la-w which pertains to or is char- acteristic of commercial transactions. See Law. MERCATOR, GERARD (mer-ka'tor) , a Flemish mathematician and geograph- er; born in Rupelmonde, Belgium, Mar. 5, 1512. He is distinguished especially for the method of laying down charts and maps which goes by his name. He died in Duisburg, Prussia, Dec. 2, 1594. MERCATOR'S CHART, or PROJEC- TION, a mode of projection or repre- sentation of a portion of the surface of the earth on a plane, in which the merid- ians are i^epresented by equi-distant par- allel straight lines, and the parallels of latitude by straight lines perpendicular to them. This chart is particularly adapted to the purposes of navigation, inasmuch as the plot of a ship's course, or a rhumb line between two points upon it, is repre- sented by a straight line. On this ac- count, as well as on account of the facil- ities which it affords for making calcula- tions necessary in navigation, Mercator's chart is now almost universally adopted for sailing purposes. MERCEDES, a town in Argentina, 36 miles from Buenos Ayres. Situated in the midst of a great sheep-raising sec- tion; it is a flourishing town of the prov- ince of Buenos Ayres. Pop. about 50,000. MERCEDES, capital of departmenlt of Soriano, Uruguay, on Rio Negro, 150 miles N. W. of Montevideo. Is a great resort for visitors and invalids. Has large trade in wool and cattle products. Pop. about 16,000. MERCERIZED COTTON, the name applied to cotton fabrics after they have been subjected to a chemical process which gives to them a silky luster which remains permanent. The process was in- vented by John Mercer, an English chem- ist, in 1844, and it has been successively improved by others. The agents used are caustic soda or caustic potash, and the mercerizing is performed by machinery. By treatment with acids it is possible to give to the fabrics all the external qual- ities of silk. MERCHANT LAW. See LAW. MERCHANT MARINE. See SHIP- PING. MERCIA (mur'shia), the great Ang- lian kingdom of central England. The name, originally limited to the district around Tamworth and Lichfield and the Upper Trent valley, refers to a "march" or frontier that had to be defended against hostile Welshmen. The first set- tlements were most probably made in the second half of the 6th century, but Mer- cia first rose into real importance, and m- deed grew into middle England, under gse vigorous rule of Penda (626-655). His nephew, Wulfhere (659-675), pushed back the Northumbrians, and extended the
