Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/409

* METAMORPHOSIS. 373 METASTASIO. gaiil the occasional lejilaceniciit of a usual organ by ail unusual one as any argument in favor of such a view. Consult Sachs, (Jeachichte der Botantk com 16. Juhrhundvrt bis IStiO (Munich, 1875), trans, by Garnsey (Oxford, 1890). METAPHOR (Gk. furacpopd, mclai>hora, a transference ) . A figure of speech by means of which one thing is put for another which it only resembles. Thus, the Psalmist speaks of God's law as being "a light to his feet and a lamp to his jialli.'' The metaphor is a kind of comparison in which the sjieaker or writer, casting aside the circumlocution of the ordinary similitude, seeks to attain his end at once by boldly identifying his illu~tratiuu with the thing illustrated. METAPHYSICS (Lat. mcluphijsica, from Gk. n(Ta tA (pva-cKo.. nictu la plti/silia, following the physics; because of the position this subject occupied in Aristotle's collected works ) . The name given to the science which deals with ulti- mate reality, iletaphysics or ontologj' is a tenn used to designate a branch of philosophy, but much difl'erence of opinion prevails as to the precise character and function of this philo- sophic discipline, and even as to its possibility. Its possibility naturally depends upon its task and scope. According to the older view, meta- physics had to do, not with the world of experi- ence, but with a metempirical world— i.e. a world other than the world of experience, and sup- posed by some to be more real than the latter. But there are many, especially in modern times, who take a different view of the task of meta- physics. They regard it as a science dealing with tlie world of experience as every other science does, but studying that w'orld with a view to answering certain questions which the so-called natural sciences do not raise. The natural sci- ences take up certain isolated aspects of ex- perienced reality, and by means of this speciali- zation are able to obtain much more detailed knowledge. But this knowledge does not pretend to go beyond appearances. 'The question is al- ways left open whether after all the things may not be a surface show while true being lies below in unfatliomable deeps. This question some mod- ern metaphysicians take up and claim to answer in the negative, not dogmatically, but scientifical- ly. According to this school the proper point of departure for metaphysical inquiry is the epistemological conclusion that knowledge and reality are two sides of one and the same con- crete experience. (See Know'ledge, Theory of.) Any attcm]it to divorce reality from knowledge involves tile logical fallacy of supposing that what is always validated to us by ex])erience can be sundered from experience and yet remain real. The error is of the same kind as would be committed by one who should say that because color and extension are distinguishable, therefore color can exist when separated from extension. According to this school, metaphysics is the sci- ence which draws conclusions as to the nature of reality from the scientifie findings of epis- tenlolog^■. As epistemology is an experiential and inductive science, metaphysics is based on experience: it is not an attempt to spin cobwebs in the brain. Among metaphysical problems are those as to the nature of cause (see C,r.s.UTY), of time and space (q.v.), of substance (q.v.), of infinity (see Infinite), of the absolute (q.v.), of the freedom of the will (see Determinism), of mechanism and teleology (q.v.), of monism and pluralism (q.v.), and of the relation be- tween mind and body. See Dualism and Ma- TEBIAXISM. As Kiilpe has remarked, the bibliography of metaphysics is that of philosophj' (q.v.) itself. Some systematic treatises on the subject may be mentioned here: Deussen. Elcmcitle dcr Mcta- physik (Aix-la-Chapelle, 1S77: 2d ed. 1800; Eng. trans., London, 18'J4) ; Dietrich, (JnituhiU/c der Metaphysik (Freiburg, ISS,"?) ; Bowne, Metaphys- ics (2d ed.. New York, 1895) ; Ladd, A Thcorxj of Reality (ib., 1899) ; Lotze, System dcr I'hiloso- phie, part ii., Metuphysik (Leipzig, 1879; Eng. trans., O.xford, 1884, 1887); Bradley, Appear- ance and Reality 1 2d cd.. London, 1897). See akso Philosophy and its bibliograpliy. MET'APON'TUM, or METAPONTIUM. (Lat., from Gk. MeTair6>Tio;'. ilclapontiun) . An ancient city of ilagna Gnecia. Ital.v, 24 miles from Tarentum and 14 from Heraclea. It w-as founded at the instigation of the S.vbarites, who wished to check the advance of "Tarentuin, by Achiean and probably ilessenian emigrants, early in the seventh century B.C. To this place the philosopher P;y'thagoras was said to have retired, and here his tomb was shown. In D.c. 415 we find the inhabitants allies of the Athenians in their invasion of Sicilv, and for some time previous the town had evidently been in a condition of constantly increasing prosperity. In .the wars waged against Rome by Pyrrhus and Hannibal, the Metapontines were hostile to the Imperial cit,v. At the end of the war of Pyrrhus the.v were sub- jugated completely by the Romans, but in B.C. 212 succeeded in throwing off the yoke by ad- mitting the Carthaginians. After the withdrawal of the Carthaginians the city was deserted, and soon fell into ruin. In the neighborhood of the modern railway station are some remains of ancient temples, and excavation has brought to light some inscriptions and architectural frag- ments. Consult Lacava. Topografia e storia di Metaponto (Naples, 1891). METAB'GON (Neo-Lat, from Gk. /lera, mcta, after + Eng. argon). A name applied by Ramsay to what he erroneousl.v thought to be a new chemical element contained in minute quanti- ties in atmospheric air. METASTASIO, ma'ta-stii'ze-o (originally Trapassi), Pietro (1698-1782). One of Italy's most admired poets. He was born at Rome, .January 13, 1698, of humble parents, and gave early evidence of his genius by his boyish im- provisations. Metastasio having attracted the casual notice of Gravina, a famous jurisconsult of the day, the latter undertook the entire educa- tion and career of the youth, whose paternal name of Trapassi had thenceforward the Greek form Metastasio. In 1724 he published one of his most celebrated dramas. La Dione abbando- nata, which, with I! Catone and IlSiroe. conferred on the poet a European name. In 17.30 Meta- stasio accepted the post of Court poet at Vienna. During his sojourn in Vienna Jletastasio com- posed his Giuseppe riconosciiito. II Demofoontc, and the Olimpiade. Among the best of his pieces are the melodramas Clemen:a di Tito (1734) and Attilio Regolo, this latter being usually considered his masterpiece. He died at Vienn;i, April 12, 1782. Metastasio was distinguished