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MELANESIA Melanchthon is intended to be the Greek equivalent. He studied at Heidelberg and Tubingen, and in 1518 was appointed Greek professor at Wittenberg, where he became the friend of Luther, and a con- vert to his doctrines. Luther was at that time Professor of Divinity there. In the following year he took part with Luther

PHILIP MELANCHTHON

in the disputation with Dr. Eck at Leip- sic. The Augsburg Confession was drawn up by Melanchthon in 1530, and under the sanction of the Elector of Sax- ony, he aided in framing a code of ecclesi- astical constitutions. He wrote numerous theological treaties, Latin poems, works on history, philosophy, etc., and died in Wittenberg, Germany, April 19, 1560. MELANESIA (-ne'shia), a group of islands stretching from the N. E. of New Guinea to the tropic of Capricorn, and in- cluding New Britain Archipelago (with the Admiralty Islands), Solomon Islands, Queen Charlotte or Santa Cruz Islands, New Hebrides, New Caledonia, Loyalty Islands, and the Fiji Islands. MELANITE (mel'an-it), a black variety of garnet; a lime-iron garnet in which the protoxides are almost wholly lime. Dana includes most of the black garnet in his group, andradite, but ex- cludes that from Arendal, Norway, re- ferring it to the magnesia-alumina gar- net group, for which he adopts the name of pyrope.

MELBA, NELLIE (MITCHELL), an Australian prima donna; bom in Mel- bourne, Australia, May 19, 1865; studied under Madame Marchesi in Paris, and made her debut in "Rigoletto" at the Theatre de la Monnaie, Brussels, Oct. 15, 1887; appeared as Lucia, at Covent Gar- den, London, in 1889; the following year as Ophelia at the Paris Grand Opera, and as Juliet in London. Since then she has sung in all the principal cities of Europe and the United States. She was a mem- ber of the Chicago Opera Company 1915-1916.

MELBOURNE (-burn), the capital of Victoria, and the largest city in Aus- tralia, on the Yarra-Yarra river, about 9 miles from its mouth in the basin of Port Phillip; lat. 37° 49' 5" S., Ion. 144^ 58' 35" E. Melbourne is one of the most im- portant of British colonial ports. Its overseas commerce is exceeded by Syd- ney. There are many fine public build- ings, among them that of the university (with an annual endowment from the state and possessing valuable scholar- ships and exhibitions, opened in 1855, and with a staff of professors, a considerable attendance of students in arts, laws, en- gineering, etc.) ; the post-office, a mag- nificent structure, in the Italian style, elaborately ornamented with sculpture, and having one of its facades surmounted by four towers, built in 1859; the Parlia- ment House, erected in 1855, at a cost of $2,000,000. Ships drawing 24 feet of water can come up Port Phillip as far as Hobson's Bay, at the mouth of the Yarra- Yarra; but vessels requiring more than 9 feet cannot get over the bars. Though the distance to the bay by the course of the river is 9 miles, it is not quite 2 miles by land, and a railway with an ex- tensive jetty at its lower terminus has been made, connecting with Port Phillip at Sandridge. There is another railway to Williamstown, on the opposite side of Hobson's Bay, which, though consider- ably longer, has the advantage of better shelter for ships lying at the jetty. A ship railway has been constructed here capable of taking up very large vessels. From the anchorage in Hobson's Bay to the Heads of Port Phillip the distance is about 35 mlies, and the channels are con- structed part of the way by sand-banks, which render the assistance of experi- enced pilots necessary. The basin of Port Phillip, which receives the Yarra-Yarra and other rivers, is a large circular bay or inlet of the sea, whence the colony de- rived its former name. It has a narrow entrance, not more than 1% miles in vndth, partly occupied vnth. rocks and shoals. The bay is about 40 miles wide from S. to N., and at its greatest extent is about 40 miles long from E. to W. It is said to cover an area of above 800 square miles, and might accommodate all the navies of all the countries in the world. Melbourne was founded in 1837.