Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 06.djvu/230

LEFT MENE 188 MENNONITES running water, and the Alameda is the most beautiful on the continent; an active trade is carried on with Chile. An earth- quake in 1861 destroyed Mendoza (founded 1559) and 13,000 of its 14,600 inhabitants; many of the ruins are still visible in the larger city, which has been raised on its site. Pop. about 60,000. MENE, be is numbered; Tekel, he is weighed; Upharsin, and they are di- vided, the Chaldee words supernaturally traced on the wall at Belshazzar's im- pious feast, and significant of his impend- ing doom (Dan. v.). The astrologers could not read them, perhaps because they were written in antique Hebrew characters; still less could they explain, even if they had dared to do so. Daniel, however, received skill to understand, and courage to declare their a^vful mean- ing; and the same night witnessed their fulfillment. MENELAUS (men-e-la'us), in Greek legend, one of the Greek heroes, a King of Sparta, brother of Agamemnon, and the unfortunate husband of the lovely but faithless Helen, whose flight with Paris, the youthful envoy from Priam, led to the Trojan war. In the "Iliad" he fights a duel with Paris and does many brave deeds, including the beai'ing of the body of Patroclus from the battlefield. In the 10th year of the Trojan war, Hel- en, by perfidiously introducing Menelaus into the chamber of Deiphobus, obtained his forgiveness and she returned with him to Sparta, after a voyage of eight years. He died some time after his return. MENELEK, or MENELIK, II., King or Negus of Abyssinia; son of Hailo Menelek, King of Shoa; bom in 1842; succeeded Johannes II. in 1889, and was crowned in 1890. He was of Negro blood ^ith a strain of Jew, Arab and Galla and claimed descent from Solomon and the! Queen of Sheba. Menelek united the ter- ritories of many lesser chiefs, whom he kept tributary by force and by virtue of the new feudal system, which he substi- tuted for the old feudalism. He was charged with depending, secretly, on the slave trade for the larger part of his revenue. He had considerable intelli- gence and attempted to keep in touch with European affairs. At the battle of Adowa, in the spring of 1896, his troops inflicted an overwhelming defeat on the Italian army, thus securing the independ- ence of his territories. He practically ceased to rule in 1910, and died in 1913. He was succeeded by his grandson Lidj Jeassu. The latter was deposed in 1916 and was succeeded by his aunt Waizeru Zauditi. See Abysinnia- MENES (me'nez), the conductor, the first king of the first Egyptian dynasty, who built Memphis, made foreign con- quests, introduced luxury, and was de- voured by a hippopotamus. His name marks a great chronological epoch, being placed by chronologists 3643, 3892 B. C, or even 5702 B. c. Stricter chronologists make his accession 2717 B. C. MENHADEN (-ha'-) (Indian name), Alosa Menhaden, one of the Clupeidae, abounding in the waters of New England and as far S. as Chesapeake Bay. It is also called bony-fish, white-fish, hard- head, moss-bunker, and pauhagen. In Massachusetts and Rhode Island they are known by their native name; in New York as moss-bunkers and skippaugs. MENINGITIS (-jl'tis), the term ap- plied generally to the inflammation of the membranes enveloping the brain. Acute simple meningitis as a rule involves the membranes extensively, but is more marked over the convexity of the cerebral hemisphere than at the base or any local- ized spot. The pi-emonitory symptoms are usually well marked, as headache, gradually getting worse, heaviness, giddi- ness, irritability, and frequently sickness and vomiting. When the disease is es- tablished, it presents the following stages: (1) Excitement; (2) Transi- tion; (3) Depression. The extent of the inflammation and its position on the brain determine the symptoms. There are acute and chronic forms of the mal- ady. Cerebral meningitis, rare in acute formj, is due to injuries, sunstroke, al- coholism and is very dangerous. Acute tubercular meningitis is due to inflam- mation of pia mater caused by deposit of miliary granules in the surface. Spinal meningitis is uncommon, due to injuries and generally fatal. Epidemic cerebro- spinal meningitis, or spotted fever due to a special organism. How transmitted is unknown. The use of a serum first ob- tained from the monkey, but now from the horse, has reduced mortality 30 per cent, except in chronic cases. MENNONITES (men'non-!tz), the followers of Menno Simons (1492-1559), a priest at Witmarsum, in Friesland, who resigned his position from religious con- victions. His teaching was ascetic rather than dogmatic, except that he was anti- paedobaptist. The discipline of the Men- nonites involved separation from the world, to the extent of refusing to bear arms or to fill any civil office. There was no hierarchy, but exhorters were^ chosen by the congregations, each of which was independent of all the rest, and from these exhorters elders were selected to