Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/282

* MECHANICS OF DEVELOPMENT. 254 MECKLENBURG DECLARATION. egg ol all animals previous to and following fer- tilization. These changes are so orderly and complex as to suggest mechanical causes for them. As early as llie first quarter of the last century Pander (1817) inquired into the me- chanics of development, and Lotze followed him ■with some luminous suggestions. The subject was continued by His and by Rauber, Van Ben- cden, and more recently tlirough observation and experiments in artificial fertilization and in ani- mal grafting carried on by O. Hertwig, Bovcri, Fol, Biilselili, Plliiger. ISorn. Koux. Driesch, Schultzc. Herlach, Wilson, Loew. and otlicrs. Thus Uiitschli by his researches on 'foam' has shown that the forms of the amoeba and other Protozoa may be due to mechanical causes of the environ- ment. His studies may be called 'protoplasmic mechanics.' Here also come in the suggestions of Herbert Spencer and of Kyder as to the me- chanics and mathematics of the initial steps taken during the growth of organisms. See Growth. MECHANICSVILLE, mf-kanlks-vil. A vil- lage in Saratoga County, X. Y., 19 miles north of AUiany : on the Hu<lson River and the Cham- plain Canal, and on the Delaware and Hudson and the Boston and Maine railroads (ilap: Xew York, O 3). It has a public school library of over 4200 volumes. The industrial interests are favored by abundant water power, and include ex- tensive manufactures of pulp and paper, knit goods, sash and blinds, and other establishments. The water-works arc owned and operated by the municipality. Population, in 1800, 2670; in 1000, 4005." MECHANICSVILLE, Battle of. A battle fought at Medianicsville, on the Chickahominy River, seven miles from Richmond. Va.. .June 20. I.'i02. between a Federal force of about oOOO tinder the immediate eonunand of General Fitz .lohn Porter and a Confederate force of about 10.000 under the command of General Robert E. Lee. The Confederates in three corps, com- manded by A. P. Hill. Longstreet, and D. H. Hill, made two attacks on the strong Fed- eral position, but made little impression, and, after sufTering great loss, were finally driven back. Early on the morning of the 27th. how- ever. General .JacU'ion with a strong Confederate reenforcement having arrived in the vicinity. General Porter abandoned his position for a stronger one several miles to his rear, where later in the day he was again altaeked. (See Gaines's ^IlLL. ) In the engagement at ^leclianicsville the Federals lost about .300; the Confederates about 2000. The engagement was the first of the so-called 'Seven Days' Battle' of the Peninsular campaign, and is .sometimes known as the battle of Beaver Dam Creek. MECHANISM (Lat. mcclmnisnia. contriv- ance, frnni (k. ^7;xo*^» mrchimr, device). In philoMopliy properly employed to designate any view which seeks to explain the universe in terms of motion: in this sense it is praeticnlly equiva- lent to materialism (q.v.). It is. however, often used more loosely as a synonym for naturalism (q.v.) ; in this latter sense its antonym is teleol- opj' (q.v.). MECHERINO, mft'kfl-re'nA. Ir.. A name sometime- applii'd to the Italian painter Do- nienieo Beeeafumi (q.v.). MECHLIN, meK'lin. or MALINES. One of the chief cities of the Belgian Province of Ant- werp, situated 13 miles south-southeast of the city of Antwerp, on the navigable River Dyle, which Hows through the city in a number of arms (Map: Belgium, C 3). The city is circular in shape, surrounded by a canal and a wide boulevard. As the See of the ('ardinal Primate of Belgium, it retains a considerable ecclesiastical importance; of its numerous churches, tiie most noteworthy is the Cathedral of Saint Rombaiid. a i vast Gothic structiiie. adorned in the intiiior with many line paintings and choice carvings, the allarpieee by an Dyck being one of that master's finest works. It was built between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries, and one tower, 320 feet in height, remains unfinished. The other buildings most worthy of notice are the churches of Saint .John and of Our Lady, which contain works by Rubens; the town hall, dating from the fifteenth century, and known as the Beyard; the market hall, erected in 1340: and the splendid modern archiepiscopal palace. IMcchlin has two seminaries, an academy of painting, a g^nuia sitim, and a botanical garden. It was formerly the seat of important lace manufactures, but its chief manufactures now are caps and woolen goods, 'gobelin' tapestry, tobacco, .starch, and i beer. There are also extensive workshops at the railroad station outside the city, which is the centre of several important railroad lines. Popu- lation, in ISOn, .51.014; in 1000, 50,013. MECHLIN LACE. A lace so named from being originally manufactured nt Mechlin, in Belgium. It is a hexagon mesh of three threads in which the pattern is worked. The mesh con- sists of four plaited and two twisted sides. See Lace. MECK'EL'S GANGLION, or The Spiiexo- P.VL.VTIXE Gaxcliox. The largest of the four sympathetic ganglia connected with the fifth cranial nerve, the others being the ophtlialmic (q.v.), the otic (q.v.), and the submaxillary (q.v.). It lies deep in the spheno-maxilhiry fossa (a small triangular space just bencatli the apex of the orbit), close to the spheno-jial.t- tine foramen. The ganglion is a small tri- angular or heartshaiied body, of a reddish-gray color, and was first dcscrilied by Meckel. Like the other ganglia of the fifth nerve, it possesses a motor, a sensoiy, and a sympathetic root. Its sensory root is derived from the superior maxil- lary branch of the fifth nerve, through its two spheno-palatine branches; its motor root from the facial nerve, through the large superficial ]ietrosal nerve: and its sympathetic root from the carotid plexus, through the large deep pctro-,aI nerve. The ganglion gives olT branches of <listriliiiti.in in four groUjis: an ascending group, which p:i to the orbit: a descending, to the pahitc: an in ternal. to the nose: and posterior branehe- !" the pliarjTix and nasal foss.T. See Xervois Svs TEM Axn Brain, MECK'LENBURG DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. In American history, a series of re-^olutions purporting to have been adopted at Charlotte. ^lecklenburg County. X. C, ^lay 20. 1775, by a convention of delegates repre- senting each militia company of the county. . - other set of resolutions is attributed to a similar meeting on May 31, 1775. but the use at tli.lt time of both modes of reckoning time makes it