Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 16.djvu/294

Rh 278 M I D M I D and on the same plane would give its real dimensions in thousandths of an inch, while the tenths of the inch scale would represent a real dimension of as many ten-thousandths. It is often desirable to make such measurements from careful tracings of the outlines of objects, rather than from the visual images, this plan being especially advantageous when the exact dimensions of many similar objects have to be compared, as in the case of blood-cor puscles, precise measurements of which are not unfrequentlyrequired in judicial inquiries. It was by the use of this method that the late Mr Gulliver made his admirable series of measurements of the average and extreme dimensions of the blood-corpuscles of different animals. And more recently Mr Dallinger has shown, by first making a very fine camera lucida tracing of Bacterium termo under an amplification of 2000 diameters, and measuring the breadth of its body in the mode above indicated (which gave it as -j^-jnrth of an inch), and then by magnifying his tracing from five to ten diameters, and comparing, by means of the screw-micrometer, the breadth of the flagellum with that of the body (which last proved to be just ten times as great), that, although the theoretical limit of resolving power for closely approximated lines is Trs sTs th of an inch, a semitransparent filament whose breadth is not greater than sWinnfth f an i ncn ma y ^ e clearly discerned, and even measured with a close approximation to accuracy (Jour, of Royal Micros. Society, vol. i., 1879, p. 169). (W. B. C.) MIDAS, king of Phrygia, is one of those half-legendary heroes in whom religious legends have gathered round a real person. The name Midas the king, MIAAI /ANAKTEI, occurs on a very ancient tomb in the valley of the Sangarius, the legendary seat of the Phrygian kingdom (Iliad iii. 189). The Phrygian monarchy was destroyed by the Cimmerians about 670 B.C., and the last king Midas com mitted suicide by drinking bull s blood. The name Midas became in Greek tradition the representative of this ancient dynasty, but all that is told of him is religious myth. He is a figure in the cycle of Cybele legends, the son of the goddess and her first priest. He is also closely connected with the cultus of Dionysus, like the two heroic personages Marsyas and Silenus. The Midas legend was known on Mount Bermius in Macedonia, and must at one time have existed in Greece; two cities Midea, in Argolis and in Boeotia, recall the Phrygian city Midsdum. See Herod, viii. 138; Xen., Anab., i. 2, 13; Paus. i. 45, &c. MIDDELBURG, in Holland, the ancient capital of the province of Zealand, situated in the middle of the island of Walcheren, is mentioned as early as 1153, and receives the title &quot;town&quot; in a charter granted it in 1227. It has all the characteristics of an old and worn-out place. The population (25,000 in 1739) had sunk to 12,000 or 13,000 by the beginning of the 19th century, and has only begun recently to increase again, being 15,939 in 1882. The dwelling-houses, which in 1739 were about 3800, are now but 3000, and of these about 600 are unoccupied. The vast warehouses and imposing mansions once belonging to wealthy families, which have either died out or left the place, call up the memory of that prosperity which Midclel- burg enjoyed before its extensive trade, with the East and West Indies, with England and Flanders, was ruined by the war with England and the French occupation. By the opening of the railway (1872) and of the ship canal (1873) to Flushing Middelburg was lifted out of its isola tion, and, with the assistance of the chamber of commerce, manufacturing industries (iron, machinery, furniture, oil, cigars, &c.) were established ; but the prosperity anticipated for Flushing, and consequently for Middelburg, remains unrealized. One of the chief sights of Middelburg is the splendid town-house, for the most part erected in 1512-13, with its front gable adorned with twenty-five statues of counts and countesses of Holland and Zealand ; it contains the archives, and a most valuable antiquarian and historical collection. The abbey, begun in 1150, has frequently been the residence of royal visitors (Maximilian, Philip the Fair, Charles V., and so on down to Napoleon I., and William I., II., and III.) ; part of it is now an hotel, and part of it is occupied by the provincial authorities. The great hall of the building, in which the states of Zealand assemble, is adorned with beautiful tapestries by Jan de Maecht, repre senting the heroic feats of the men of Zealand in the contest with Spain. What was formerly the nave of the abbey church is now the New Church, and the ancient choir constitutes the Choir Church. The former contains a fine pulpit resting on an eagle, the monument of William, king of the Romans (d. 1256), and the tombs of Jan and Cornelis Evertsen, two naval heroes who fell in the war against England in 1666; the latter has the monuments of the learned Hadrian Junius and of Jan Pieterszoon. The provincial court, the corn exchange, the Hof St Joris and the Hof St Sebastian (formerly buildings belonging to the guilds of archers, and now places of amusement) deserve mention. The great museum of Zealand antiquities, col lected by the Zealand Society of Arts and Sciences (founded at Flushing in 1769 and transferred to Middelburg in 1801), shows that the town is the intellectual centre of the province. The principal facts in the history of Middelburg are the sieges by the Flemings in 1288, 1296, and 1303 (the last resulting in the capture of the town by Guy of Dampierre); the recovery of the town from the Spaniards in 1574, after an investment of nearly two years; the frequent disturbances among the townsfolk in the 17th and 18th centuries; the surrender to the English in 1809 ; and the arrival and departure of the French in 1809 and 1814. MIDDLEBOROUGH, a town of the United States, in Plymouth county, Massachusetts, 34 miles south of Boston. It has a handsome town-hall and a public library, manufac tures woollen goods, straw goods, shovels, shoes, carriages, &c., and in 1880 had 5237 inhabitants. MIDDLESBOROUGH, situated near the mouth of the Tees, on its south bank, in the North Riding of Yorkshire, has now become the principal seat of the English iron trade. It is a municipal and parliamentary borough, locally governed by a mayor and corporation, and returns a member to parliament. The earlier history of the place is meagre. Where Middlesborough now stands (Graves s History of Cleveland] there were at one time a small chapel and priory founded by Robert de Brus of Skelton Castle. These were dedicated to St Hilda, and with some lands were given by De Brus to the abbey of St Hilda at Whitby in 1130. The priory fell into ruins at the time of the Reformation, and no trace now remains beyond some stones built into the wall of a brewery. The mayor s chair also is made from a fragment. In 1801 there were upon the site of Middlesborough only four farm-houses. In 1829 a company styling itself the Middlesborough Owners bought 500 acres of land, and commenced building the town. In 1830 the Stockton and Darlington Railway was extended from Stockton to Middlesborough ; four years later the town was lighted with gas ; and after six years more a public market was established. The census of 1831 showed the population to be 154; that of 1841 showed 5709. In 1842 the opening of the docks gave additional importance to the town. First containing an area of 9 acres, they were extended in 1872 to 12 acres, with 1700 feet of quays. Vessels of 3000 tons burden can be accommodated. From the year 1851, when J. Vaughan discovered the presence of ironstone in the Eston Hills, the town advanced with rapid strides. When the jubilee of the town was held in 1881 (a year late) the population had risen to 55,934, the area to 2731 acres, and the rateable value to 140,000, the population of the parliamentary borough (area 4715 acres) being 72,145. In the district there are upwards uf