Page:EB1911 - Volume 18.djvu/320

 66°–67°, and having a specific gravity of 0·8142 at 0° C. It has a burning taste, and generally a spirituous odour, but when absolutely pure it is said to be odourless. It mixes in all proportions with water, alcohol and ether. Its compound with calcium chloride has the formula CaCl2·4CH3·OH, and with barium oxide BaO·2CH3OH. Oxidation gives formaldehyde, formic acid and carbonic acid; chlorine and bromine react, but less readily than with ethyl alcohol. The chief industrial applications are for making denatured (q.v.), and as a solvent, e.g. in varnish manufacture; it is also used for a fuel; a purer product is extensively used in the colour and fine chemical industries.

 METICULOUS (through Fr. méticuleux, from Lat. meticulosus, timid, cautious; metus, fear), a term meaning pedantically or excessively careful of details, over-scrupulous, laying too much stress on minutiae.

METOCHITA, THEODORE [], a Byzantine author, man of learning and statesman, who flourished during the reign of Andronicus II. Palaeologus (1282–1328). After the deposition of his patron by Andronicus III., Metochita was deprived of his office of great logothete (chancellor) and sent into exile. He was soon recalled, but retired from political life to a convent, where he died in 1332. He was a man of very great learning, only surpassed by Photius and Michael Psellus. His pupil Nicephorus Gregoras, who delivered his funeral oration, calls him a “living library.”

Only a few of his numerous works have been preserved. The best known is , Miscellanea philosophica et historica (ed. C. G. Müller and T. Kiessling, 1821), containing some 120 essays; for a list of them see Fabricius, Bibliotheca graeca (ed. Harles), x. 417; in these he chiefly made use of Synesius. Of his rhetorical pieces two have been published by C. N. Sathas in  (1872), and two poems on religious subjects by M. Treu (1895). The poems, dealing mainly with contemporary and personal matters, are written in hexameter, not in the usual “political” verse. Metochita was also the author of works on philosophical and astronomical subjects.

METONIC CYCLE, in chronology, a period of 19 years during which there are 235 lunations, so called because discovered by Meton. Computation from modern data shows that 235 lunations are 6939 days, 16·5 hours; and 19 solar years, 6939 days, 14·5 hours. The relation between integral numbers of months and years expressed by Meton’s rule therefore deviates only two hours from the truth. Since 19 Julian years make 6939 days, 18 hours, the relation errs by only 1·5 hour when the Julian year is taken. Meton was an Athenian astronomer (fl. 432 ).

 METONYMY (Gr. , change of name, from  , denoting change, and  , name), a figure of speech, in which the name of one thing is changed for that of another, to which it is related by association of ideas, as having close relationship to one another. Thus “sceptre,” “throne,” “crown,” are used for royal power or authority, “hearth and home” is used for “country,” &c.

“Synecdoche” (Gr. , from  , to join in receiving) is a rhetorical figure similar to metonymy, in which the part is used for the whole or vice versa, thus “hands” is used for the members of the crew of a vessel; a regiment of infantry is said to number so many “bayonets,” &c.

 METOPE (Gr. , a middle space), a term in architecture for the square recess between the triglyphs in a Doric frieze, which is sometimes filled with sculpture.

<section end="Metope" /> METRE (<span title=metrikē>, sc. <span title=technē> , from Gr. <span title=métron> , measure), in prosody, the harmonious and regulated disposition of syllables into verse. Metrical form is distinguished from prose by the uniformity of corresponding lines in relation to the number of syllables and the similarity of final sound (rhyme or assonance), by the repetition of certain letters at regular intervals (in alliterative measure), or merely by the regular succession of ups and downs of intonation. In ancient classic poetry the measure which creates the metrical form consists only of this last quantitative element, which is rhythm.

<section begin="Metric System" />METRIC SYSTEM (adapted from Gr. <span title=métron>, measure), that system of weights and measures of which the metre is the fundamental unit. The theory of the system is the metre is a part of a quadrant of the earth through Paris; the litre or unit of volume is a cube of metre side; the gramme or unit of weight is (nominally) of the weight of a litre of water at 4° C. The idea of adopting scientific measurements had been suggested as early as the 17th century, particularly by the astronomer Jean Picard (1620–1682), who proposed to take as a unit the length of a pendulum beating one second at sea-level, at a latitude of 45°. These suggestions took practical shape by a decree of the National Assembly in 1790 appointing a committee to consider the suitability of adopting either the length of the seconds pendulum, a fraction of the length of the equator or a fraction of the quadrant of the terrestrial meridian. The committee decided in favour of the latter and a commission was appointed to measure the arc of the meridian between Dunkirk and Mont Jany, near Barcelona. Another commission was also appointed to draw up a system of weights and measures based on the length of the metre and to fix the nomenclature, which on the report of the commission was established in 1795. It was not until 1799 that the report on the length of the metre was made. This was followed by the law of the 10th of December 1799 fixing definitely the value of the metre and of the kilogramme, or weight of a litre of water, and the new system became compulsory in 1801. It was found necessary however to pass an act in 1837, forbidding as and from the 1st of January 1840, under severe penalties, the use of any other weights and measures than those established by the laws of 1795 and 1799. The metric system is now obligatory in Argentina, Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Portugal, Rumania, Servia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland. Its use is legalized in Egypt, Great Britain, Japan, Russia, Turkey and the United States. In 1875 there was constituted at Paris the International Bureau of Weights and Measures, which is managed by an international committee. The object of the Bureau is to make and provide prototypes of the metre and kilogramme, for the various subscribing countries.

<section end="Metric System" /> METROCLES, a Greek philosopher of the Cynic school, was a contemporary of Crates, under whose persuasion he deserted the views of Theophrastus. It was his sister, Hipparchia, whose romantic attachment to Crates is a fascinating sidelight on the almost truculent asceticism of the Cynics. He was a man of peculiar strength of character, and esteemed the joys of life so low that he was deterred from an early suicide only by the influence of Crates. His philosophical views, which were identical with those of (q.v.), he expounded by precept and example with great success, and had among his pupils