attributed to him
existed as far back as the 14th century; Tennyson represents him as
bewitched by Vivian; legend also tells of a Clydesdale Merlin of the 6th
century; his prophecies, published in 1615, include the former; both
legends are based on Armorican materials.

MERMAIDS and MERMEN (i. e. sea-maids and sea-men), a class of
beings fabled to inhabit the sea, with a human body as far as the waist,
ending in the tail of a fish; the females of them represented above the
surface of the sea combing their long hair with one hand and holding a
mirror with the other; they are supposed to be endowed with the gift of
prophecy, and are of an amorous temper.

MEROVINGIANS, a name given to the first dynasty that ruled over
France, and which derives its name from Merovig, the founder of the
family.

MERRILEES, MEG, a half-crazy Border gipsy; one of the characters in
Scott's "Guy Mannering."

MERRY MONARCH, a title by which Charles II. of England was at one
time familiarly known.

MERSEY, river rising in NW. Derbyshire, flows westward 70 m. between
Lancashire and Cheshire to the Irish Sea; is of great commercial
importance, having Liverpool on its estuary; its chief tributary is the
Irwell, on which stands Manchester.

MERTHYR-TYDVIL (58), industrial town in Glamorganshire, on the Taff,
15 m. NW. of Cardiff; is the centre of great coal-fields and of enormous
iron and steel works, which constitute the only industry.

MERV (500), an oasis in Turkestan, belonging to Russia, being
conquered in 1883, 60 m. long by 40 broad, producing cereals, cotton,
silk, &c.; breeds horses, camels, sheep, with a capital of the same name,
on the Transcaspian railway.

MERYON, CHARLES, etcher of street scenes, born at Paris; son of
English doctor; died insane (18211868).

MESMER, FRIEDRICH ANTON, a German physician, born near Constance;
bred for the Church, but took to medicine; was the founder of animal
magnetism, called mesmerism after him, his experiments in connection with
which created a great sensation, particularly in Paris, until the
quackery of it was discovered by scientific investigation, upon which he
retired into obscurity, "to walk silent on the shore of the Bodensee,
meditating on much" (1733-1815).

MESMERISM, animal magnetism so called, or the alleged power which,
by operating on the nervous system, one person obtains control over the
thoughts and actions of another.

MESOPOTAMIA, the name given a