County, North Carolina, May 20 or 31, 1775

Mecklenburg-Schwerin (mek'len-börg-shvaren'). A grand duchy, a state of the German Empire. Capital, Schwerin. It is bounded by the Baltic on the north, Pomerania and Mecklenburg-Strelitz on the east, Brandenburg and Hannover on the south, and Lübeck, Ratzeburg, and Schleswig-Holstein on the west. It comprises also a few enclaves. The surface is generally level. The chief occupation is agriculture. The government is a constitutional hereditary monarchy (peasantry unrepre sented), with 2 members in the Bundesrat and 6 members in the Reichstag. The prevailing religion is Protestant. Mecklenburg was early peopled by Slavs; was conquered by the Germans in 1160; and was made a duchy in 1348. The region was variously divided, finally into Mecklenburg Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz in 1701. Mecklenburg-Schwerin joined the Confederation of the Rhine in 1808; became a grand duchy in 1815; joined the Germanic Confederation in 1815; abolished serfdom in 1820; was the scene of an unsucce ful agitation to change the feudal conditions in 1848; sided with Pru ia in 1866; and joined the North German Confederation in 1867, and the new German Empire in 1871. miles. Population (1900), 607,770. Area, 5,135 square Mecklenburg-Strelitz (mek'len-börg-str a' lits). Agrand duchy, one of the states of the German Empire. Capital, Neustrelitz. It comprises two divisions: Stargard, lying east of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and northwest of Brandenburg; and Ratzeburg, lying northwest of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. The surface is nearly level. The chief occupation is agriculture. The govern ment is a constitutional hereditary monarchy (general conditions as in Mecklenburg-Schwerin), with 1 member in the Bundesrat and 1 in the Reichstag. The prevailing religion is Protestant. It became a separate duchy in 1701, and adopted the constitution of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in 1755. Its later history is generally the same as that of Mecklen burg-Schwerin. Area, 1,131 square miles. Population Medal, The. A satire by Dryden, which ap 102,602. peared in 1682. Medamothi (me-dä-mo-te'). An island in Ra belais's "Life of Gargantua and Pant a gruel." "Thus, the first place touched at (chap. iv.) is the island of Medamothi ( μηδαμόθι , Nowhere); and in the account of the rarities with which this country abounds, the improbable fictions of travellers are ridiculed." Dunlop , Hist. Prose