Messiah

Měs-si-ah, †Měs-si -ǎs, s. [Heb. mashiachh= anointed, a verbal noun and participle, from mashachh to smear with colors, to anoiut; Gr. Messias.] 1. Jewish Hist. & Faith: The Anointed One; a certain Personage or Being regarding whom Daniel prophesied. He was called "the Prince,' was apparently identified with the "most Holy "[One], was to appear at the end of seven weeks and three score and two weeks" from the issue of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem, was in sixty-two weeks to be cut off, but not for Himself," after which Jerusalem was to be destroyed by foreign invaders (Dan. ix. 25, 26). In Psalm ii. 2, the Lord and His anointed might be rendered the Lord and His Messiah. Three classes of men were officially anointed under the Jewish dispensation: (1) Priests, and especially high priests (Exod. xxviii. 41; Levit. iv. 3, 5, 10; Num. xxxv. 25: (2) Kings (1 Sam. ix. 16, xvi. 3; 2 Sam. xii. 7; 1 Kings i. 34, xix. 16): (3) Prophets; Elijah, before his translation, was directed to anoint Elisha, his successor (1 Kings xix. 16; cf. also Isaiah Ixi. 1-3). Presumably then the Messiah spoken of by Daniel would discharge priestly, kingly, or prophetic functions, or two out of the three, or all of the three. The name the Prince" would suggest that kingly functions would be specially prominent. During the later and more calamitous period of the old Hebrew monarchy, there were increasingly ardent desires for the coming of the Messiah, who was regarded chiefly as a deliverer from foreign oppressors. In Jewish belief that advent is still to be expected.

2. Christian Hist. & Faith: The Anointed One is in Greek Christos, from chrio-to anoint. So thoroughly are the words identified, that the Hebrew mashiachh, which occurs thirty-nine times in the Old Testament, is in every case rendered in the Septuagint christos. When Jesus of Nazareth consented to accept the appellation "the Christ," or simply "Christ," as His official designation, He claimed to be the Messiah of Daniel's prophecy (Matt. i. 16, xvi. 20, xxvi. 63; Mark viii. 29, xiv. 61; Luke iii. 15, ix. 20, xxii. 67; John i. 41, vi. 69, &c.). All Christendom has acknowledged the claim. [CHRIST.]

3. Fig. The highly gifted leader of a nation, capable, if properly appreciated and followed, of leading it to the greatest prosperity. Thus, à propos of the assassination of Julius Caesar, Napoleon III. said of nations in general, "They crucify their Messiah."

měs-si-ah-ship, mes-i-ah-ship, s. [English Messiah; -ship.] The state, office, or position of the

Messiah.

2. Bot.: Eucalyptus obliqua. fate, făt, färe, amidst, what, fâll, or, wöre, wolf, work, whô, son;

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Messrs., contr. [MESSIEURS.]

měs -suage (suage as swig), *mes-uage, s. [O. Fr. mesuage a manor-house; cf. Low Latin mesuagium, messuagium a closely connected with, if not the same word as O. Fr. masage, masaige=a tenement, from mas, mes, mex, metz= a messuage, a tenement, from Low Lat. masa, massa a small farm with a house, from Lat. mansa, fem. sing. of mansus, pa. par. of maneo-to remain.]

Law: A dwelling-house with the adjacent buildings and curtilage appropriated to the use of the household; a manor-house.

*meste, a. & adv. [MOST.] měs-tee, mus-teē, s. [MESTIZO.] The child of a white and a quadroon.

měs têque (que as k), s. [Mexican.] A native name for the finest kinds of the cochineal insect. *mest full, a. [Lat. mæst (us)=sad, and Eng. full.] Sad, gloomy.

*měs -tive, a. [Lat. mastus=sad.] Sad, sorrowful, gloomy.

"Now have they scal'd thir mestive mountaine top." Davies: Holy Roode, p. 16. měs-tî-zō, měs-tî-nō, 8. [Sp. mestizo, from Lat. mixtus, pa. par. of misceo-to mix, to mingle; Old Fr. mestis; Fr. mêtis.] The offspring of a Spaniard or Creole and an American Indian. "Hated by Creoles and Indians, Mestizos and Quadroons."-Macaulay: Hist. Eng., ch. xxiii.

*měst-ling, s. [MESLIN.] Yellow metal; brass used for the manufacture of church vessels and ornaments in the Middle Ages.

měs -u-a, s. [Named after two Arabian physicians called Mesue. They were father and son, and flourished at Damascus in the eighth and ninth centuries.]

Bot.: A genus of Clusiacea, tribe Calophyllem. Mesua ferrea is a middle-sized evergreen tree, growing in the south of India and Ceylon, the east of Bengal, the Eastern Peninsula, and the Andaman Islands. The fruit, which is wrinkled and has a rind like a chestnut, is eaten by the natives. The fragrant blossoms are sold under the name of nage sar or negekesar in Indian bazaars; they are stimulant, astringent, and stomachic, useful in thirst, stomach irritation, and excessive perspiration. An attar is prepared from them. If made with butter and sugar into a paste, they tend to stop bleeding piles. The bark is a mild astringent and aromatic. A thick and dark-colored oil expressed from the kernels is used in India as an external application in itch and sores, and as an embrocation in rheu matism. It is also burnt in lamps.

*mos-ur-a-blo (3 as z), a. [MEASURABLE.] *měs -ûre (3 as zh), s. & v. [MEASURE, S. & v.] *mě-sym-ni-cùm, s. [Gr. mesos=middle, and hymnos a hymn, a song.] Ancient Poetry: A repetition at the end of each stanza; a burden.

[MEET, v.]

Butylamine NH H

transition.

metacetamide

mě-tǎb-o-la (1), s. [Gr. metabole, from metaballo to throw over, to change.]

Med.: A change of some sort, as of air, time, or disease.

mě tǎb-o-la (2), s. pl. [Neut. pl. of Gr. metabolos changeable.]

Entom.: A sub-class of Insects, containing those having complete metamorphosis. The larva, pupa, and imago are all very different in appearance, and these several states constitute three quite distinct phases of life. The larva is known as a maggot, a grub, or a caterpillar. The pupa, which is always quiescent, is sometimes called a chrysalis. Dallas divides it into two sections: Mandibulata, containing the orders Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, and Neuroptera; and Haustellata, containing the orders Lepidoptera, Diptera, and Aphaniptera.

mět-a-bō'-li-an, s. [METABOLA.] Entom.: One of the Metabola (q. v.). mět-a-bol-ic, a. [Gr. metabolikos=changeable, from metabole=a change.]

I. Ord. Lang.: Pertaining to change; capable of changing or being changed.

BOLA.]

Theol.: A term coined by Rückert to describe the doctrinal views of Ignatius, Justin, and Irenæus on the Lord's Supper. They stand midway between transubstantiation and the merely symbolical view, and hold fast to an objective union of the sensible with the supersensible. (McClintock & Strong.) mět-a-bör-Ic, a. [Pref. meta-, and Eng. boric.] Derived from or containing boric acid. metaboric-acid, s. [BORIC-ACID.] mět-a-brăn-chi-ǎl, a. [Pref. meta-, and Eng.

brushite.]

Min.: A monoclinic mineral found in crystals in the guano and altered coral rock in the island of Sombrero, Lesser Antilles. Cleavage, clinodiagonal, perfect; hardness, 25-3; specific gravity, 2 2:362; luster, feeble, but on cleavage face pearly; color, pale-yellow; translucent to transparent. Composition: Phosphoric acid, 41-90; lime, 35-42; water, 2068=100.

mět-a-car-pal, a. [METACARPUS.]

Anat.: Of or pertaining to the metacarpus.

"The hand is modified remarkably from the form of the foot by the divergence of the outer metacarpal bone." -Todd & Bowman, Physiol. Anat., i. 149.

metacarpal-saw, s.

Surg. A narrow-bladed saw, about six inches long, used for dividing the bones of the fingers or middle hand, or of the foot, in amputation.

mět-a-car-po-, pref. [METACARPUS.] Anat. Of or belonging to the metacarpus (q. v.). metacarpo-phalangeal, a.

Anat.: Of or belonging to the phalanges, and to the metacarpus. There are metacarpophalangeal articulations.

mět-a-car-pŭs, s. [Pref. meta-, and Lat. carpus, from Gr. karpos=the wrist.]

Anat.: The bony structure of the palm of the hand, between the wrist and the fingers. It com prises five shafted bones.

mět-a-çen'-ter, s. [Pref. meta-, and Eng. cen

ter.]

Hydros.: The point of intersection of the ver tical line passing through the center of gravity of a floating body in equilibrio, and a vertical line through the center of gravity of the fluid displaced, if the body be turned through a small angle, so that the axis takes a position inclined to the ver tical. If the metacenter is above the center of gravity, the position of the body is stable; if below it, it is unstable.

mět-a-çět-a-mide, s. [Pref. meta-, and English acetamide.] [PROPIONAMIDE.]

pine, pit, sïre, sir, marine; gō, pot, 88, ∞ =ē; ey = å. qu = kw. Syrian.

metacetone

mět-aç-ě-tone, s. [Pref. met-, and Eng. ace

tone.]

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mět-a-crō'-mi-ŏn, s. [Pref. met(a); -acromion.] ward from the acromion of the scapula in some Anat.: A process projecting downward and backmammals.

Chem.: C6H10O. A substance obtained in the dry distillation of sugar or starch with lime. It is a colorless oil, having an agreeable odor, insoluble in water, but very soluble in ether and alcohol. mět-a-çỹ-an-ǎn'-I-lîne, s. [Pref. meta-; English mět-ǎç-ě-ton-ic, a. cyan(ogen) and aniline.] [Eng. metaceton(e); -ic.] C(NH)-NH(CH) Derived from or contained in metacetonic acid. Chem.: CH14N4= | A modifimetacetonic-acid, s. [PROPIONIC-ACID.] C(NH)–NH(CH cation of cyananiline, obtained by distilling urammět-ǎç-ě-ton -I-trile, s. [Pref, met-, and Eng. ido-benzoic acid with a fourth of its weight of acetonitrile.] [PROPIONITRILE.] phosphoric anhydride. It melts at 54°. mět-a-ç-mēne, s. [Pref. meta-, and English cymene.] [CYMENE.]

mět-a-chlör -al, s. [Pref. meta-, and English chloral.]

Chem.: CHC130. Insoluble chloral. A solid, white amorphous substance, formed when chloral is acted on by sulphuric acid. It is insoluble in water, alcohol, and ether. When heated to 180°, it is reconverted into ordinary chloral.

mět-a-chlör-ite, s. [Gr. meta=after, and Eng.

chlorite.]

Min.: A foliated columnar mineral of a dull, leekgreen color, and pearly luster. Hardness, 25; composition: Silica, 237; alumina, 16:43; protoxide of iron, 40 36; magnesia, 310; lime, 074; potash and soda, 145; water, 13'75-99:53. Found in veins in a green rock at Büchenberg, near Elbingerode, Harz.

mět a chrōm-Ic, adj. [Pref. meta-, and Eng. chromic.] Derived from or containing chromic acid. metachromic-oxide, s.

Chem.: A term applied by Frémy to the oxide of chromium which is precipitated by ammonia from a violet chromic salt, and is soluble in acetic acid, potash, and excess of ammonia, in opposition to the oxide, which, by the action of boiling water, is rendered insoluble in these liquids.

mět-ǎch -rôn-Işm, subst. [Gr. meta=after, and chronos time.] An error in chronology by assigning an event to a date after the true one.

mět-a-chrō'-sis, s. [Pref. meta-; Gr. chrōsis=a

coloring.]

Zool. The power of changing color voluntarily, by special pigment cells, as exhibited in several reptiles, fishes, &c.

mět-a-çin-na-bar‍-ite, s. [Pref. meta-; Eng. cinnabar, and suff. -ite (Min.).]

Min.: A grayish-black amorphous mineral. Hardness, 3; specific gravity, 770-7748; luster, metallic streak, black; fracture, uneven. Compo sition: Sulphide of mercury, formula Hg.S. Differs from cinnabar (q. v.) in color, streak, density, and luster, being identical in these respects with the artifical mineral. Found at the Redington mine, Lake Co., California.

mět-a-çin'-na-mein, 8. [Prof. meta-, and Eng.

cinnamein.]

Chem.: C16H1402 == CHO. A crystalline substance, isomeric, with cinnamein, produced by keeping cinnamein under water for three or four weeks. It melts between 12 and 15°, resolidifying on cooling, but after solution in boiling alcohol it cannot be again obtained in the crystalline form. mět-a-çin'-na-mēne, s. [Pref. meta-, and Eng.

cinnamene.]

Chem.: CsHs. Metastyrolene. A white, transparent, highly refractive, solid substance, isomeric with cinnamene, formed, together with cinnameno and other products, by heating phenylbromethyl with an alcoholic solution of potassic cyanide. By distillation in a small retort, it yields puro liquid

cinnamene.

mět-a-çişm, s. [Lat. metacismus, from Gr. metakismos.] A defect in the pronunciation of the let ter m; a too frequent repetition of the letter m. mět-a-co-paiv'-Ic, a. [Pref. meta-, and English copaivic.] Derived from or contained in copaiba (q. v.).

metacopaivic-acid, s.

Chem.: C2H3O4. An acid discovered by Strauss in 1865 in the balsam of copaiba, imported from Maracaibo. It crystallizes in laminæ, insoluble in water, but is soluble in alcohol and ether, and melts at 203-206. It has a bitter taste, an acid reaction, and decomposes carbonates. Its neutral solution in ammonia forms white precipitates with the salts of calcium, barium, and lead.

mět ǎc-rô-lein, s. [Pref. met-, and Eng. acrolein.] Chemistry: CH12O3=3C3H4O. A crystalline body polymeric with acrolein, obtained by heating the hydrochloride of acrolein with potassium hydrate. It forms colorless needle-shaped crystals, insoluble in water, but soluble in alcohol and ether. It melts at 50, but at a higher temperature is changed into acrolein.

mět-a-di-çỹ-an-ô-běn'-zēne, s. [Prefs. metaand dicyano-, and Eng. benzene.]

Chem.: CH(CN)2. A cystallino substance obtained by distilling the potassium salt of benzenemetadisulphonic acid with potassium cyanide. It is very soluble in water, and melts at 156.

mět-a-dis-col-dal, a. [Prof. meta; discoidal.] Anat.: Discoidal by derivation; applied to the placenta of anthropoid mammals, because it is supposed that the original form was a diffused placenta.

mět-a-fĕr-ric, a. [Pref. meta, and English ferric.] Derived from or contained in ferric acid. metaferric-oxide, s.

Chem. Fe2O3H2O. An insoluble modification of ferric hydrate produced by boiling the ordinary yellow hydrate in water for six or seven hours. It is then nearly insoluble in strong boiling nitric acid.

mět-a-für-fu-rŏl, s. [Pref. meta-, and English

Chem.: A salt of metagallic-acid. mět-a-gǎl-lic, a. [Pref. meta-, and English gallic.] Derived from or contained in gallic-acid (q. v.).

metagallic-acid, s. Chem.: C6H402. A black shining mass resembling charcoal, obtained by heating dry gallic acid rapidly to 250. It is insoluble in water, but soluble in the alkalies, from which it is again precipitated by the addition of an acid. It forms insoluble salts with several of the metals.

mēt -age (age as Iġ), s. [Eng. met(e), v.; -age.] 1. The act of measuring; measurement, especially of coal. metage of coals."-Defoe: Tour Thro' Britain, ii. 145.

"An act

metal

Herbert Spencer (Principles of Biology, vol. i., ch. vii.), adopts the term as one of the three divisions of his agamogenesis, and divides it into (1) external, where the new individuals bud out, not from any specialized reproductive organs, but from unspe cialized parts of the parent:" and (2) internal, as in the case of the "King's-yellow worm" produced in the egg of Distoma. It increases in size, and the greater part of its inner substance is transformed into Cercari (the larvae of Distoma), until at length it becomes little more than a living sac, full of living offspring. In Distoma pacifica, the brood arising by internal gemmation are of the same form as their parent, themselves producing Cercaria after the same manner at a subsequent period.

mět-a-gě nět -ic, mět-a-gĕn'-ic, a. [METAGENESIS.] Belonging to or connected with metagenesis (q. v.).

mẽ tǎg-na-thoŭs, a. [Pref. meta; Gr. gnathos jaw.] Zool. Having the mandibles of the bill crossed, as in several species of birds.

mět-ǎg-nos-tics, s. [Pref. meta-, and Greek gnosis knowledge.] A synonym for metaphysics, because it transcends ordinary knowledge.

mět-a-grăm-ma-tişm, s. [Gr. meta=beyond, The same as ANAGRAMMATISM (q. v.). over, and gramma (genit. grammatos)=a letter.]

Anagrammatism or metagrammatism, is a dissolution of a name into its letters, as its elements, and a new connection of it by artificial transposition, without addition, subtraction, or change of any letter into different words, making some perfect sense applicable to the person named."-Camden: Remaines.

mět-a-grǎph-ic, a. [Pref. meta; Gr. graphō= to write; ic.] Relating or pertaining to metagraphy.

mě-tag-ra-phy, s. [See supra.] The act or art of rendering the alphabet of one language into its equivalent letters in another; transliteration.

mět-a-hæ'-mô-glô-bắn, 8. [Pref. meta-, and Eng. hæmoglobin.]

Chem. A mixture of hæmatin and an albuminous

substance resembling serum-albumin, produced by the decomposition of hæmoglobin, when a concentrated solution of this substance is left to itself, at ordinary temperatures. It has an acid reaction.

mět -al, *met-tal, *met-tall, *met-tle, s. & a. [Fr. métal, from Lat. metallum a mine, metal; Gr. metallona pit, a mine, a mineral a meta).]

A. As substantive:

I. Ordinary Language:

1. Literally: *(1) A mine.

gelatine.]

setting power, usually by boiling with ammonia. Photog.: Gelatine which has been deprived of its It is sometimes used in preference to ordinary gelatine in the earlier stages of compounding a gelatine emulsion.

mět-a-gĕn'-ě-sis, s. [Pref. meta-, and Eng., &c., genesis (q.v.).]

Biol.: A term introduced by Prof. Owen, and defined by him as

species of animal or plant undergoes in passing by a

"The changes of form which the representative of a series of successively generated individuals from the egg to the mature or imago state. It is distinguished from metamorphosis, in which those changes are undergone in the same individual."-Comp. Anat. Invert. Anim. (Glossary.) To show the distinction between metamorphosis and metagenesis, he carefully traces the course of development of the Lernæan parasite of the perch, and points out that metamorphosis "is attended with the casting-off of a certain proportion of the said to creep out from the old; while in metagenesis precedent individual," or the new animal may be "the outer case and all that gave form and character to the precedent individual perish and are cast off; they are not changed into the corresponding parts of the new individual. These are due to a new and distinct developmental process, rendered possible through the retention of a certain proportion of the unchanged germ-cells. The process is essentially the same as that which develops the cercariform larva of the Distoma within the gregariniform one, or the external bud from the Hydra, or the internal bud from the Aphis. It is a slightly modified parthenogenesis; and the phases by which the locomotive anellidous larva of the Lernæa passes through the entomostracous stage before retrograding to the final condition of the oviparous, limbless, bloated, and rooted parasite, are much more those of a metagenesis than a metamor phosis."-Comp. Anat. Invert. Anim., lect. xiii.

bổll, boy; pout, jowl; cat, cell, chorus, chin, bench; go, gem; thin, this;

(2) In the same sense as II. 4.

"Where one veine is discovered, there is another alwayes of silver onely, but also in all others of what mettall found not far off; which is a rule observed not in mines soever; and hereupon it seemeth that the Greeks doe call them mettalla.”—P. Holland: Pliny, bk. xxxiii. ch. vi.

*2. Fig.: Courage, spirit, mettle. (Now only written mettle.)

"Being glad to find their companions had so much metal, after a long debate the major part carried it."

Clarendon: Civil War.

II. Technically:

metallurgist

metal by another, as in the case of the deposition of copper from its solution by metallic iron, to gether with the application of the laws of electricity in the important process of electro-plating, &c. mět al-lur-gist, s. [Eng. metallurg(y); -ist; Fr. métallurgiste. A worker in metals; one who purifies, retines, and prepares metals for use.

mět -al-lur-gỷ, s. [Fr. métallurgie, from Low Lat. metallurgia, from Gr. metallourgos working in metals, mining; metallourgeō = to work metals; metallon metal, and ergon = work; Ital, metallur gia; Sp. metalurgia.] The art of separating metals from their ores or from impurities; comprehending the processes of smelting, reducing, refining, alloy ing, parting, plating, &c.

mět al-măn, s. [English metal, and man.] A worker in metals, a smith.

mět-a-log ́-ic-al, a. [Pref. meta-, and English logical.] Beyond the province of logic.

mět ǎl-or-găn-ic, adj. [Eng, metal; organic.] Of a series of compounds of metallic elements with organic radicals, as zinc ethyl, sodium-methyl, &c. mět-a-lu -min-a, 8. [Prefix met-, and English alumina.]

Chem. A name applied to the soluble dihydrate of alumina, obtained by dialyzing a solution of acetate altered by heat. The solution is tasteless, and neutral to test paper.

mět-ǎl'--sis, s. [Pref. met-, and Eng. (an)aly.

sis.]

Chem.: Döbereiner's name for Catalysis (q. v.). mět-a-mar-găr'-Ic, a. [Pref. meta-, and Eng. margaric.] Contained in or derived from margaric acid.

metamargaric-acid, s.

Chem.: An acid once supposed to be isomeric with margaric acid, but now known to be a mixture of stearic and palmitic acids.

mět-a-mě-con-ic, a. [Pref. meta-, and English meconic.] Contained in or derived from meconic acid.

metameconic-acid, 8. [COMENIC-ACID.] mět-a-mer, s. [METAMERE.] One of the meta meric forms of the same substance, or of different substances, having the same composition.

mět -a-mere, s. [Gr. meta with, among, and meros a part.]

Comp. Anat.: One of a series of similar parts. mět-a-měr -ic, a. [METAMERISM.] Chem. Referring to the quality of metamerism. mě-tăm -er-işm, s. [Pref. meta-; Gr. meros=a part, and Eng. suff. -ism.] [ISOMERISM.]

mět-a-mor-phic, adj. [Eng. metamorph (osis);

-ic.]

1. Ord. Lang.: Producing or causing, metamor phosis; transforming; causing change in form or structure.

2. Geol.: (See the compound.) metamorphic-limestone, s.

Geol.: Crystalline or, as it was called by the older geologists, Primary Limestone. In general it occurs in thin beds forming a foliated schist, resembling gneiss or mica-schist, and alternating with those rocks, in which case it often contains crystals of 'mica, sometimes with quartz, hornblende, talc, chlorite, garnet, &c. At other times, it is a white, crystalline, granular marble, capable of being used for sculpture. It is largely developed in the Alps, and more sparingly in the hypogene districts of Norway, Sweden, and Scotland."

subst. pl.

metamorphic-rocks, metamorphic - strata, Geol.: The term-first proposed by Lyell in 1833, and since universally adopted-for the stratified crystalline rocks-that is, rocks which have been presumably laid down originally by the action of water, and then transformed by fire, chemical agency, pressure, or all combined. Metamorphic action is divided into local-affecting only small portions of rock, or small areas, and regionalaffecting rocks over considerable regions. The metamorphic rocks constitute one of the five great classes of rocks. The chief are gneiss, eurite, horr.blende schist, serpentine, actinolite schist, mica-schist or micaceous schist, clay slate, argilla ceous schist or argillite, chlorite schist, quartzite or quartz rock, and crystalline or metamorphic limestone. Besides, these which were probably at first sedimentary, the other classes of rocks have in places undergone metamorphosis. mět-a-mor-phine, s. [Pref. meta-, and English

morphine.]

-ist.]

arians of the fifteenth century, who affirmed that Church Hist.: A name given to certain sacramentChrist's natural body with which He ascended was wholly deified, and had entirely lost its humanity. (Shipley.)

mět-a-mor-phize, v. t. [Eng. metamorph (osis); size. To transform, to change, to metamorphose. mět-a-mor'-phose, v. t. [Fr. métamorphoser.] [METAMORPHOSIS.] To transform; to change into a different form; to change the form, shape, or character of; to transmute.

"Can transubstantiate, metamorphose,

And charm whole herds of beasts, like Orpheus." Butler: Miscellaneous Thoughts. mět-a-mor'-phose, s. [METAMORPHOSE, v.] A change of form or character; a metamorphosis, a transformation.

tmět-a-mor'-phō-ser, s. [Eng. metamorphos(e); er. One who or that which metamorphoses, changes, or transforms.

mět-a-mor-phō-sic, a. [Eng. metamorphos(e); ic.] Of or pertaining to metamorphosis; changing the form or character; transforming.

mět-a-mor-phō-sis, s. [Lat., from Gr. metamorphosis a transformation, from metamorphoomai to change, to be transformed; meta=denot ing change, and morphoo=to form; morphe=form, shape; Fr. métamorphose; Ital. metamorfose; Sp. metamorfosis.]

form, shape, structure, or character of anything. I. Ord. Lang. A change or transformation in the II. Technically:

1. Bot.: A change, especially of an abnormal character, in an organ. It may be progressive or retrogressive. Calyx, corolla, stamens, and pistils are all transformed leaves. This interesting dis covery-foreshadowed by Jung or Jungius in 1678, Linnæus in 1763, and Caspar Friedrich Wolff in 1759-was first clearly enunciated by Goethe in 1790. In the Peony, Paonia albiflora, a whole series of connecting links may be observed between the form of the lower leaves and that of the petals, the higher leaves and then the bracts being the connecting links. In the White Water-lily, Nymphaea petals and stamens. In the double-flowered cherry alba, a similar gradation may be observed between to the appearance of leaves. the pistils will sometimes be found to have reverted

mět-a-nē-phrit'-Ic, a. [Pref. meta-; nephritic.] ros. Anat.: Relating or belonging to the metaneph

mět-a-něph'-ros, s. [Gr. meta-behind; neph ros a kidney.].

Anat.: The hindermost pair of the embryonic renal organs developed in some vertebrates. anggeion=a vessel, a receptacle, and monos-alone, Mět-ăn-gis-mon-i-ta, s. pl. [Greek meta=in; only.]

Church Hist.: A sect of heretics of the third cent ury, who maintained that the union between the Father and the Son in the Trinity was effected by the Son entering into the Father, as a lesser vessel may be placed in a greater. (Blunt.)

Chem.: CsH1409 (?). Acide cellulique. An amor phous mass obtained by boiling pectic acid with caustic alkali. It is deliquescent, soluble in water, and destitute of rotatory power. The metapectates, except the basic salts, are all soluble in water.

mět-a-pěc-tin, s. [Pref. meta-, and Eng. pectin.] Chem.: An isomeric modification of pectin (q. v.). mět-a-pěp-tone, s. [Pref. meta-; peptone.] Physiol. An intermediate product of the gastrio digestion of albuminous substances.

mě-tǎph -ĕr-y, s. [Gr. metaphero to carry over, to transier: pref. meta-, and Gr. pherō to bear, to carry.] Bot.: Displacement of organs.

mět-a-phor, *met-a-phore, s. [Fr. métaphore, from Lat. metaphora, from Gr. metaphora a trans ferring of a word from its proper signification to another, from metaphero to transfer, to carry over: meta-over, beyond, and phero to bear, to carry; Sp. & Ital. metafora.]

2. Entom.: A series of transformations which insects undergo in their progress from the egg to full maturity. Macleay divided metamorphosis into obtect, as in Lepidoptera and Trichoptera; coarctate, as in Hymenoptera and Diptera; incomplete, as in Coleoptera and Aptera; and semi-complete, as in Orthoptera and Hemiptera. Now only two divisions are generally recognized-viz., perfect when the pupa is inactive, and imperfect when it is the reverse. In the Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths), the Metamorphosis is complete. They may stand as types in this respect of the whole class. The animal emerges from the egg as a caterpillar with six legs, which will become the future legs of the perfect insect, and some prolegs, destined to disappear. Its function in the larval state is to eat, which it does with such vigor and persistency that its skin, time after time, becomes too small to contain its expanding body, and has to be renewed. When the caterpillar is full grown it ceases to eat, becomes quiescent, and has developed around it a horny case, in which it lies like a corpse in its coffin. In due time it makes its way out of its chrysalis as a fully-developed winged animal. There are analogous changes more or less complete in the other orders. (1839), 3. Zool. Metamorphosis takes place in many other animals besides insects. Thus a barnacle

pas) or an acorn-shell (Balanus) is at first a free and swimming creature, which ultimately becomes sedentary and attached to rocks or ships' bottoms. Metamorphosis exists also in Annelids, in Mollusks, in Medusas, &c. [METAGENESIS.]

*mět-a-mor-phos'-tic-al, a. [English metamorphose); t connective, and suff. -ical.] Pertaining to or produced by metamorphosis.

sects.

"The metamorphotic system divides insects into those that undergo complete and incomplete metamorphoses." -Encyc. Brit. (ed. 9th), xiii. 147.

chin, bench; go, gem; thin, this;

Rhetoric: A figure of speech by which a word is transferred from an object to which it properly belongs to another, in such a manner that a comparison is implied though not formally expressed; a simile without any word implying comparison; a short simile. Thus, "That man is a fox," is a met aphor; but "That man is like a fox," is a simile. "He bridles his temper," is a metaphor, expressing that a man restrains or controls his temper, as a bridle serves to restrain or control a horse.

"Analogies are used in aid of conviction; metaphors as means of illustration."-Coleridge: Aids to Reflection P. 149.

mět-a-phor'-Ic, mět-a-phor-ic-al, adj. [Fr. métaphorique, from tir. metaphorikos, from metaphora a metaphor; Ital. & Sp. metaphorico.] Pertaining toor of the nature of a metaphor; containing a metaphor; not literal; not to be understood literally.

"This does not, at the very first sight, appear to be a metaphorical expression."-South: Sermons, vol. v., ser. 7. mět-a-phor-ic-al-ly, adv. [Eng. metaphorical; -ly. In a metaphorical manner; in metaphors; not literally.

"I make bold thus to talk metaphorically for the ripen. ing of the wits of young readers."--Bunyan: Pilgrim's Progress, pt. ii.

mět-a-phor-Ist, s. [Eng. metaphor; ist.] One who makes or uses metaphors. sin, aş; expect, Xenophon, exist. ph = £

metaphosphates

mět-a-phosphates, s. pl. [Pref. meta-, and Eng. phosphates.]

Chem. The salts of metaphosphoric acid, obtained by igniting the dihydric phosphate of a fixed base.

mět-a-phos-phor'-ic, a. [Pref. meta-, and Eng. phosphoric. Derived from phosphoric-acid. metaphosphoric-acid, s.

Chem.: POHO. An acid formed by dissolving phosphoric anhydride in cold water. It is very Soluble in water, and its solution coagulates albu

men.

mět -a-phraşe, mět-a-phrã-sis, s. [Gr. metaphrasis = a paraphrasing, from meta = denoting change, and phrasis a saying, a phrase.]

1. A literal or verbal translation; a translation from one language into another, word for word, or phrase for phrase.

2. A phrase replying to another; a repartee. "I'm somewhat dull still in the manly art

Of phrase and metaphrase."

E. B. Browning: Aurora Leigh. *mět -a-phraşe, v. t. [METAPHRASE, 8.] To translate literally; to render word for word. mět-a-phrast, s. [Gr. metaphrastes one who translates from one language into another; Fr. métaphraste.] A literal translator: one who translates from one language into another word for word.

mět a phrǎs tic, mět a phras-tic-al, adj. [Eng, metaphrast: -ic, -ical.] Closely or literally translated; translated word for word."

"Maximus Planudes, who has the merit of having familiarized to his countrymen many Latin classics of the lower empire, by metaphrastic versions."-Warton: Hist. Eng. Poetry, ii. 109.

tmět-a-phre-non, s. [Greek metaphrenon (see def.): pref. meta-, and Gr. phren the midriff.] Anat.: The parts behind the midriff-i. e., the back from the neck to the loins.

+mět-a-phyş-ic, *mět-a-phys'-ike, a. & s. [Lat. metaphysicus metaphysical; metaphysica= metaphysics, from Gr. meta ta physika=after physics; because the study of metaphysics was supposed fitly to follow that of physics or natural science.]

A. As adjective:

1. Of or pertaining to metaphysics; abstract, general; existing only in thought, and not in reality.

2. According to the rules or principles of metaphysics.

3. Supernatural, preternatural. B. As subst.: Metaphysics.

The form metaphysic as a srbstantive is growing in favor, especially among the students of German philosophy.

mět-a-phys'-Ic-al, adj. [Eng. metaphysic; -al.] The same as METAPHYSIC (q. v.).

"Language more precise and luminous than has ever been employed by any other metaphysical writer."-Macaulay: Hist. Eng.

mět-a-phyş-ic-al-ly, adv. [Eng. metaphysical; -ly.] In a metaphysical manner; according to the rules or principles of metaphysics.

"Those who discourse metaphysically of the nature of truth."-South: Sermons.

mět-a-phy-şi'-cian, s. [Eng. metaphysic; -ian.] One who studies or is versed in the science of metaphysics.

*mět-a-phy-şi-cian-işm, s. [Eng. metaphysician; -ism.] The science of metaphysics. "Phrenology and metaphysicianism.”—E. A. Poe: Imp of the Perverse.

mět-a-phys'-1-cō-, pref. [METAPHYSIC.] metaphysico-theological, a. Embracing metaphysics and theology.

mět a phyş-ics, mět-a-phyş-ic, *mět-aphyş-icks, s. METAPHYSIC.]

1. Hist. & Philos.: A term popularly employed to denote a science dealing with subjects incapable of being dealt with by physical research. Broadly viewed, the Aristotelian metaphysic was the science of the first principles of being, the science of the first principles of knowing, and the science of God, as the beginning and ending of all things; and these three were the foundation of scholastic philosophy, which found its highest expression in Thomas Aquinas. Metaphysics "is made by him conversant with being as such and its modifications. In itself each ens is res and unum; in distinction

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and Dogmatic) Theology. The Leibnitzo-Wolfian metaphysic is noteworthy for its rationalistic tendency. Its ontology treats of the existent in general; its rational psychology, of the soul as a simple nonextended substance: its cosmology, of the world as a whole; and its rational theology, of the existence and attributes of God. The Metaphysic of Kant was rationalist. Summarizing the remarks accompanying his notice of the course for 1765, Wallace says:

"In the course on Metaphysics the early lectures would deal with experiential Psychology, where, avoiding all mention of a soul, a reasoned account would be given of the facts or phenomena of the mental life. Going on next and thirdly to Cosmology, or the theory of the material to the theory of living bodies (the Biology of the period), world, he would come in the fourth place to Ontology, which expounds the general properties of things, and includes rational Psychology (where the idea of soul or spirit is brought in), and would terminate with rational Theology."-Kant, p. 131.

Sir William Hamilton (1788-1856) gives the following

definition:

"Science and Philosophy are conversant either about Mind or about Matter. The former of these is Philosophy properly so called. With the latter we have nothing to do, except in so far as it may enable us to throw light upon the former, for metaphysics, in whatever latitude the exclusively occupied with mind."-Lect. on Metaphysics, term be taken, is a science, or complement of sciences, i. 121.

Auguste Comte, the founder of the Positivist phi

losophy, excluded metaphysics from his system, substituting for it the teachings of positive science. One of the latest authorities on the subject, Prof. Ferrier, of St. Andrews, says (Institutes, pp. 36, 37): "Metaphysic is the substitution of true ideas-that is, of necessary truths of reason-in the place of the over sights of popular opinion and the errors of psychological sciences."

The three divisions of his philosophy-for he prefers that term to metaphysic-are, (1) The Epistemology, or theory of knowledge; (2) the Agnoiology, or theory of ignorance, and (3) the Ontology, or theory of being."

*2. Supernatural arts. (Cockeram.) mě-tǎph-y-sis, s. [Gr. meta, denoting change, and physis-nature; phyo-to grow.] Change of

form or character; transformation; metamorphosis. mět -a-plăşm, s. [Lat. metaplasmus, from Gr. metaplasmos, from metaplassō to transform, to change: meta, denoting change, and plassō = to form, to mold; Fr. métaplasme; Ital. & Sp. metaplasmo.]

Gram. The change or transformation of a word by the addition, transposition, or taking away of a letter or syllable.

metatheria

metarsenic-acid, s.

Chem. AsO2HO. A white nacreous mass, ob tained by heating arsenic acid to 206. It can only exist in the solid state. When dissolved, it is at once converted into ortharsenic acid. mět-a-sil-1-căte, s.

suff. -ate.]

[Pref. meta-; silic (ic);

Chem.: A salt of metasilicic acid. mět-a-si-liç-ic, a. [Pref. meta-; silicic.] Chem. Relating to or designating an acid derived from silicic acid by dehydration.

mět-a-sōm-a-tişm, s. [Pref. meta-; Gr. soma

(genit. somatos)=body: suff. -ism.]

Geol.: An alteration in the mass of a mineral or rock when accompanied by chemical changes.

mět -a-sōme, mět-a-sõ ́-ma, s. [Pref. meta-, and Gr. soma=the body.]

lopodous mollusk. It is enveloped in the mantle Zool. The hinder portion of the body in a cepha

and contains the viscera.

mě-tǎs'-ta-sis, s. [Gr., from meta=over, change, and stasis a standing, position; histêmi=to place, to stand.] 1. Med. A change in the seat of a disease, attributed by the Humorists to the translation of morbific matter to a part different from that which it had previously occupied, and by the Solidists to the displacement of the irritation.

2. Bot. A change produced upon a substance designed for the nutriment of a plant, to make its assimilation more easy. Thus, when the starch formed in the leaf of a potato has to be transferred to the tubers as a depot of nutritial material, it is first changed into a soluble substance-glucose. mět-a-stǎt -ic, a. [METASTASIS.] Pertaining or relating to metastasis.

mět-a-ster-năl, a. [METASTERNUM.] Anat.: Relating to or of the metasternum (q. v.). mět-a-ster-num, s. [Pref. meta-, and Greek

sternon the chest.]

mět -ǎ-pōde, s. [Gr. meta=behind; pous (genit. podos) foot.]

Zool. The posterior portion of the foot in the gastropoda and pteropoda.

mět-a-pō-di-ǎl, a. [METAPODE.]

Zool. Of or relating to the metapodialia, or to the parts of the members to which they belong. mět-a-pō-di-ā -lē, s. [METAPODE.] Zool.: A metatarsal or metacarpal bone. mět-a-pō-dí ŭm, s. [Pref. meta-, and Greek pous (genit. podos) = a foot.]

Zool. The posterior lobe of the foot in the Mollusca. It is often called the operculigerous lobe, because it develops the operculum, when that structure is present.

mět-a-poph -ỹ-sis, s. [Pref. met-, and Eng., &c., apophysis.]

Anat. (pl.): Owen's name for the mammillary processes of the vertebræ. mē-tǎp-te-ryg-1-ùm, s. [Gr. meta = behind; = a fin.] The hindmost of the three basal cartilages in the tins of fishes. pterygoid (q. v.).). mět-ap-tĕr-y-gold, s. [Pref. meta-, and Eng.

pterygion

Ichthy. A modification of the malleus bone in Osseous fishes.

mět ap-to-sis, s. [Pref. meta-, and Eng., &c., ptosis (q. v.).]

Med.: Any change in the form or seat of a disease.

mět-ǎr-a-bin, s. [Pref. met-, and Eng. arabin.] Chem. C2H22O11. A substance obtained by heating arabin to 130-140. It is insoluble in water, with a solution of potassic hydrate, or lime water, but swells up enormously in it. By treating it it forms the metallic derivatives of ordinary arabin.

fate, făt, färe, amidst,

mět-ar-sĕn'-ic, a. [Pref. met-, and Eng. arsenic.]

to an advanced age. Called also the ensiform process.

mě-tǎs-to-ma, s. [Pref. meta-, and Gr. stoma=a

mouth.]

Zool. A post-oral plate or process bounding the hinder part of the aperture of the mouth in the various crustacea, as the lobster, the species of fossil Eurypterida, &c.

mět-a-stỹ -rol, s. [Pref. meta-, and Eng. styrol.] [METACINNAMENE.]

mět-a-stỹ -rô-lêne, s. [Eng. metastyrol; -ene.] [METACINNAMENE.]

mět-a-tar-sal, a. & s. [Mod. Lat. metatars(us); Eng. adj. suff. -al.]

A. As. adj.: Of or pertaining to the metatarsus; as, the metatarsal artery, metatarsal articulations. B. As substantive:

Anat.: Any bone of the metatarsus; as, the third metatarsal.

mět-a-tar-sō-, pref. [METATARSUS.] Of or belonging to the metatarsus.

metatarso-digital, a. Of or belonging to the metatarsus and the digits. There are metatarsodigital articulations of the foot.

mět-a-tar-sŭs, s. [Pref. meta-, and Lat., &c., tarsus (q. v.).]

Anat. That part of the foot situated between the tarsus and the toes. It corresponds to the metacarpus, and is composed of five parallel bones, one to each toe. It exists also in the higher vertebrates.

mět a thër-I-a, s. pl. [Pref. meta- (here-intermediate), and Gr. theria, pl. of therion=a wild animal.]

Zoology: A name proposed by Prof. Huxley, and adopted by Prof. Flower in his article Mammalia," hypothetical group of early mammals, and their in the Encyclopædia Britannica (ed. 9th), for a successors in time (the Marsupialia).

"We have the mammalian type in a higher stage of evolution than that presented by the Prototheria and the Metatheria."-Proc. Zool. Soc., 1880, p. 657. pine, pit, sïre, sir,

marîne; gō, pot,