Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/332

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296
MENDENHALL
MENDES

the way a large island which he named Santa Cruz, and resolved to establish his colony there. He was at first well received by the natives, but some of his crew murdered one of the native chiefs, and a bloody war was begun against the invaders. Afterward there was a mutiny among the troops. These adversities undermined Mendaiia's health, and he soon died, leaving the government to his wife, who under the direction of Quiros resolved to abandon the colony, and after the loss of two vessels arrived safely at the Philippine islands. Hernan Gallego, Mendana's pilot in the first voy- age, described the discovery, and his manuscript is now in the library of Barcia. Mendana himself left notes about both voyages, and they were col- lected by the historian Pedro Guerico de Victoria under the title " Derrotero de Mendaiia de Neyra," the manuscript of which is still preserved in the National library of Paris.


MENDENHALL, George, physician, b. in Sharon, Pa., 5 May, 1814 ; d. in Cincinnati, Ohio, 4 Jime, 1874. He studied medicine in Salem, Ohio, and was graduated at the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania in 1835. He set- tled in Cincinnati in 1843, and there acquired a large practice, making a specialty of obstetrics, in which he held a high rank. He was professor of that branch in the Miami medical college, where he was also dean. On the organization of the U. S. sanitary commission, at the beginning of the civil war. he was one of the associates and president of the Cincinnati branch of the commission. In this capacity, with his wife's aid, he rendered valu- able services to the work of that body. After the close of the war they continued their philanthropic work in other directions, and were distinguished for their charitable labors. Dr. Mendenhall was a fellow of the Royal obstetric society in England, and in 1870 was president of the American medical association. In 1854, with other physicians, he es- tablished the " Cincinnati Observer," and also con- tributed to other medical journals. He was the author of "The Medical Student's Vade-Mecum " (Philadelphia, 1852).


MENDENHALL, Thomas Convin, physicist, b. near Hanoverton, Ohio, 4 Oct., 1841. He re- ceived a common-school education, but, having a fondness for the study of mathematics and natural science from his childhood, acquired by himself a knowledge of those branches of physics, in which he has since attained note. He was first professor of physics and mechanics in Ohio university in 1873-'8, and then went to Japan as professor of physics in the Imperial university in Tokio. In connection with this appointment he organized the special course of physics and also the physical laboratory of the science department of the uni- versity. He founded a meteorological observatory in which systematic observations were made dur- ing his residence in Japan, and afterward until it was merged into the general meteorological system that has since been established by the imperial government. From measurements of the force of gravity at the sea-level and at the summit of the extinct volcano Fujiyama, Prof. Mendenhall de- duced a value for the mass of the earth that agrees closely with that which Francis Baily obtained in England by another method. He also made a se- ries of elaborate measurements of the wave-lengths of the principal Frauenhoter lines of the solar spectrum by means of a large spectrometer, which at the time of its consti'uction was one of the most perfect in existence. He became interested in earthquake phenomena while in Japan, and was one of the founders of the Seismological society of Tokio. In 1881 he returned to the United States and resumed his chair at Ohio state university. He organized the Ohio state weather service in 1882, was its director until 1884, and was the first to devise and put into operation a system of weather-signals for display on railroad-trains. This method became general throughout the United States and Canada, and continued to be employed until the introduction in 1887 of a new code by the chief signal officer. In 1884 he became pro- fessor in the U. S. signal service, and was charged with the organization and equipment of a physical laboratory in connection with the bureau in Wash- ington, with the introduction of systematic obser- vations of atmosplieric electricity, and with the investigation of methods for determining ground- temperatures. He was the first to establish sta- tions in the United States for the systematic ob- servation of earthquake phenomena. Immediately after the Charleston earthquake, on 31 Aug., 1886, he visited that city and made a report upon the agitation, with a co-seismic chart of the disturbed area. In 1886 he resigned from the government service to accept the presidency of Rose polytech- nic institute. Terre Haute, Ind. Prof. Menden- hall has lectured extensively throughout the United States on subjects that relate to physics, and in Japan he was one of the American professors that in addition to their university duties gave public lectures on scientific subjects to general audiences in the temples and theatres of the city of Tokio, resulting in the establishment of the first public lecture hall in the empire. He received the degree of Ph. D. from Ohio university in 1878, and that of LL. D. from the University of Michigan in 1887. Besides membership in other scientific societies, Prof. Mendenhall in 1882 was vice-president for the physical section of the American association for the advancement of science, and in 1887 was elected to the National academy of sciences. In addition to papers, scientific monographs, and spe- cial reports,'he has published "A Century of Elec- tricity " (Boston, 1887).


MENDES, Pedro (men'-des), Portuguese clergy- man, b. in Villavi9osa in 1558 ; d. in Mexico in 1643. In 1575 he entered the company of Jesus. From Toledo, where he was professor of Latin, he went to Mexico, and in the province of Sinaloa worked in the missions during twenty-four years, after which he was sent into retirement in Mexico. At the age of seventy years he was sent again to Sinaloa to convert several tribes. In 1633 he un- dertook the conversion of the Sisibotario and Te- hueco Indians, with whom he lived four years, and in 1638 he returned to Mexico. He wrote " Varias cartas historicas sobre las misiones de los Mayas, Sisibotares, y Batueas 6 Tehuecos."


MENDES, Manoel Odorico (men'-des), Brazilian politician, b. in Maranhao in 1799 ; d. in Paris, France, in 1864. He was graduated at Coimbra in 1824, and returning to IMaranhao began to publish the " Argos da Lei." In 1826 he was elected to congress by his province, and sided with the most advanced political party, also publishing the " Astrea," a daily paper. In 1829 he issued in S. Paulo the " Pharol Paulistano." In 1831 he was present at the abdication of Pedro I., and, though asked to be a member of the regency, he absolutely declined, and retired to private life. In 1839 he appeared again as a journalist, publishing the "Liga Americana," which paper was under his direction till 1844, when he was again elected to congress. In 1847 he went to Europe on a commission from his government. Mendes is highly esteemed as a poet. His writings include " Himno a Farde," and