MEilOE 197 MEimiTT MEBOE (mer'6-e), a city and state of ancient Ethiopia, in the N. E. part of Africa, corresponding mainly with the district between the Nile and Atbara, N. of Abyssinia. Meroe was the center of the caravan trade between Ethiopia, Egypt, Arabia, northern Africa, and India. There are pyi'amids at the site of ancient Meroe and a small town of same name on the Nile. MEROPS, the typical genus of the family Meropidx. The bill moderate or long, arched, acuminate, margins entire; tongue narrow, horny at apex; tarsi short; tibiae denuded above the heel; wings long, tail with two middle feathers elongate. Twenty-one species are known. M. apiaster is common in the S. of Eu- rope and in Africa. The back is red- brown, the throat yellow with a black margin, breast and belly greenish-blue. It feeds on insects, especially wasps and bees, which it captures on the wing, like swallows. MEROSTOMATA (-tom-a-ta), the order of Podostomata, represented by Limulus, the horseshoe or king crab, and a number of fossil forms popularly called in Scotland "seraphims," and known to zoologists as Eurypterida. The latter re- semble scorpions in general appearance, but were marine, some of their feet end- ing in paddles, while they breathed by ^ills. The typical forms of the latter group were Pterygotiis and Eurypterus. They flourished in the Palaeozoic Age, disappearing during the Carboniferous Period, when the predecessors of the king crab made their appearance. MEROVINGIANS, or MERWINGS, the 1st dynasty of Frankish kings in Gaul. The name is derived from Merwig or Merovech, king of the Western or Salian Franks from 448 to 457. His grandson Clovis established the fortunes of the dynasty which gave way to the Carlovingians in 752. MERRICK, LEONARD, English nov- elist and dramatist; born in London in 1864, educated at Brighton College and private schools. In 1918 his works were republished in a collected edition with in- troductions by well-known writers, among them Sir J. M. Barrie and Sir Arthur Pinero. His novels include: "Conrad in Quest of His Youth"; "When Love Flies Out of the Window"; "The Position of Peggy Harper"; "The Man Who Understood Women"; "The Quaint Companions"; "Cynthia"; "The Man Who Was Good"; "A Chair on the Boulevard"; "One Man's View"; "The Worldlings"; "The Actor-Manager"; "The House of Lynch," and "While Paris Laughed." His plays are: "The Free Pardon"; "When the Lamps Are Lighted"; "My Innocent Boy"; "The Elixir of Youth," and "A Woman in the Case." MERRILL, county-seat of Lincoln co., Wis., 18 miles N. W. of Wausau, on Wis- consin and Prairie rivers, the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul railroad. Has handsome public buildings and parks. Center of region rich in timber. Has- large sash and shoe factories. Pop. (1910) 8,689; (1920) 8,068. MERRILL, SELAH, an American archaeologist; born in Canton Centre, Conn.., May 2, 1837. He was chaplain in the Civil War (1864-1865); after that was engaged in explorations in Palestine. He was consul at Jerusalem 1884-1886, in 1890-1893, and after 1898. Among his works are: "East of the Jordan" (2d ed. 1883); "Galilee in the Time of Christ" (1881); "The Site of Calvary" (1886); "Ancient Jerusalem" (1906). He died in 1909. MERRIMAC, a river rising among the White Mountains of New Hampshire, flowing S. into Massachusetts, and fall- ing into the Atlantic Ocean near New- buryport. after a course of 150 miles; it has numerous falls, affording immense water power, and is navigable to Haver- hill. The principal manufacturing towns on its banks are Manchester, Nashua, and Concord in New Hampshire, and Lowell and Lawrence in Massachusetts. MERRITT, WESLEY, an American military officer; born in New York City, June 16, 1836; was graduated at the United States Military Academy in 1860; assigned to the dragoons and served in the Federal army with gallantry and dis- tinction throughout the Civil War. He was promoted captain April 5, 1862; took part in General Stoneman's raid toward Richmond in April and May, 1863. and was in command of the reserve cavalry brigade in the Pennsylvania campaign of the same year, being commissioned Brig- adier-General of volunteers in June; for gallantry at Gettysburg he was brevetted major. He took part in the various en- gagements in central Virginia in 1863- 1864, and was brevetted colonel, U. S. A., and Major-General, U. S. V., for gal- lantry at the battles of Yellow Tavern and Winchester, and Brigadier-General and Major-General, U. S. A., for bravery at Five Forks, and his services during the final Virginia campaign. He was ordered to Fort Leavenworth, and in 1897 he became Major-General, U. S. A. In 1898 he commanded the land forces of the United States ip, the Philippine cam- paign, which culminated in the fall of
