Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/368

* MERCIER DE LA RIVIERE. 334 MERCURY. free-trade notions of the Pliysiooratic School. He returned to France in ITtiV, and publislied L'OrUre naturel et essentiel des socictcs puli- tiqties, pronounced by Adam Smitli to be the best exposition of the doctrines of the Physiocrats. This work was received with extravagant ap- plause, and gained for him an invitation to the Court of Catliarine II. of Russia. He publislieJ several other works, which do not, however, rise above mediwrity. MERCK, merk, Joiiann IIei.xrich (1741- iU ). A (ierman autlior and critic, born at Darm- stadt and educated at Giessen. llis inlluence on German literature was the result of his critical ability, but chielly through his early recognition and encouragement of Goethe, his intimate friend- ship with Herder. Wieland. Forster. and Lichten- berg. and the prominent part he took in Wie- land's Mcrhiii; the Frank jurtvr ydchrtv AnzcUjcn, and Xicolai's Allgenu inc dcittsilw lUhliolhck. In business ventures and in his domestic relations he was unfortunate, his mind Ix'came afl'eetod, and in 1791 he committed suicide. His correspond- ence, printed at Darmstadt (1835-38) and at Leipzig (1848), and a selection from his crit- iques, edited by Stahr (1840). alone remain as evidences of his literary ability. Consult Zim- mermann. Johann llcinrich Merck (Frankfort, 1871). MER'CUR, James (1842-90). An American military ollicer and scientist. He was born at Tonawiinda, Pa., and, after graduation at West Point, was assistant engineer on the survey of the Northern and Xorthwcsteni lakes. In 18G7 he was appointed assistant professor of natural and experimental philosoph.y at West Point. He likewise engaged in dilTerent river and liarbor improvements, notably at Hell Gate, and was professor of civil and military engineering at West Point from 1884 until his death. He re- vised and enlarged ilahan's Pcrmuiicnt Fortificii- tion (1887) and wrote Elements of the Art of TVur (1888) and Mililari/ iliiies. Blasting, and VeiiKiliHons ( IMi'ii. MERCURIC CHLORIDE, or Cokbosive Sub- limate, HgCl.,. One of the two known eom- [lounds of mercury and chlorine, the other, which contains a smaller proportion of eldorine, being described iinder (alomki,. Mercuric chloride may be prepared l>y heating a mixture of mer- curic sulphate and common salt with man- pinesp dioxide, and collecting the sublimate in a suitable receiver. The nuinganese dioxide re- mains behind unchanged, its presence being de- sirable only in order to jirevent the formation of caloniid along with mercuric chloride. Corrosive sublimate is moderately and very slowly soluble in water, but is quite soluble in ordinary alcohol, which disscdves about one-third of its weight of the sublimate. Mercuric chloride is a violent poison, the symptoms of acute poisoning being painful gastrointestinal irritation, vomiting, and diarrhoea. A moderate amount of white of egg forms a good antidote. Hesides, milk and Hour should be given, and vomiting should be induced bv mustard and lukewarm water, or by irritating the fauces. In small quantities mercuric chlo- ride is ailministered internally, either by the nioulb or byjiodcrmalieally, ns a remedy for syphilis. miTcury salts being especially valualde in the priniar>- and seeonrlary stages of the dis- ease, r.xicrnally inercnrie chloride is exten- sively used as an antiseptic and as an antipara- sitic, the maximum strength of solutions thus employed being about one part of the sublimate to one thousantl parts of water. It is one ol the most jxiwerful antise]itics known. MERCURIC CYANIDE. See Hydrocyanic Acid. MERCUROUS CHLORIDE. See Calomel. MERCURY (Lat. ilercurius, Gk. 'E/j/ifo/f, lltjriiiriiis, hence 'E/ifii'/;, llermCs, Doric 'Ejifia^, Herman). The Latin name for one of the Olym- pian divinities of Greece and Rome, known to the Greeks as Hermes. Greece. According to the common Greek leg- end Hermes was the son of Zeus and Maia, who bore him on ilount Cyllene in Arcadia. Imme- diately after his birth he went forth and stole the cattle of Apollo, dragging them backward to his cave. 'hen accused he stoutly denied the theft even Ijefore Zeus, and when convicted suc- ceeded in pacifying his brother by the gift of the lyre, which he' had been led to invent from dis- covering a tortoise-shell in which only the dried sinews remained. In the Odyssey and later, Hermes is the messenger of the gods — their her- ald {Kf/pv'), of supernatural swiftness, often with wings on his slioes and cap, and earning a magic rod ( the later caduceus, q.v. ) . With this rod he charms men to sleep and wakes them. He also appears in the latest stages of epic jioi'try and throughout classical antiquity as Hermes rsychopompos, who conducts the souls of the dead to the lower world, where he intrusts them to Charon, who ferries them over the Styx. He was also the herdsman's god, being especially worshiped to secure increase of tlic lloeks. . d from this function perhaps arises connection with the ram and calf, both of which are associated with him in cult and art. Travelers looked to him for guidance and help on their journeys, and traders venerated him as one who could incftasa their gains, for he was the god of good luck and 'windfalls.' He was also the patron of thieves; perhaps originally of cattle-raiders. He was also honored in the pala>stra and gynuiasiuni. where his statues were erected, as the guardian and favorer of manly sports. In later times he ap- pears frequently as a god of eloquence and pet^ suasion. Perhaps his most common appearance in the Greek world, certainly in Attica, was as the (tod of roads and boundaries. Square pillars, called herma; were conuuon as guide-posts and bound- ary marks. They usually bore the head of the god, and a phallus, and" on them, as a sacred place, food was sometimes left for needy wan- derers. The pillar seems the essential and orig" inal sign of the god. and perha|)s even earlier the god was present in cairns or heaps of stone*, which were called henna-a. The worship of Hermes therefore shows a mixttire of elements in which conceptions of a heavenly god are com- bined with worshi]) of rude stones. The name has not been satisfactorily exjilained. for its etymo- logical identity with Saramri/as or Knrinnii, the ddii of the gods of Indian mythology, is by no means certain, and any other connection in the conception is hard to' see. It is possible that tptm, a 'njound' or 'cairn.' is at the basis of the name, and that the pile of stones in the pasture or on the road is the dwelling place of the gpd who protects the herds and the wayfarer. Many of his functions, however, agree well with the