licenses. Medical boards and councils set standards and oversee medical education. Boards of certification have stringent requirements for physi¬ cians seeking to practice a specialty and stress continuing education. Advances in therapy (see therapeutics) and diagnosis have raised complex legal and moral issues in areas such as abortion, euthanasia, and patients’ rights. Recent changes include treating patients as partners in their own care and taking cultural factors into consideration.
Medicine Bow Mountains Northwest section of the Front Range, in the central Rocky Mountains, U.S. Averaging a height of 10,000 ft (3,050 m), the mountains run southeast for about 100 mi (160 km) from Medi¬ cine Bow, Wyo., to Cameron Pass, Colo., just northwest of Rocky Moun¬ tain National Park. The highest summit, Medicine Bow Peak, reaches 12,014 ft (3,662 m). The name refers to the practices of local Indians, who collected wood for bows in the area and held ceremonial medicine dances.
medicine man Priestly healer or shaman, especially among the Ameri¬ can Indians. The medicine man (often a woman in some societies) com¬ monly carries a kit of objects such as feathers, stones, or hallucinogenic plants that have magical associations. The work of healing often involves the extraction—by sucking, pulling, or other means—of offending sub¬ stances from the patient’s body. Singing, recitation of myths, and other ceremonies often accompany the healing rite.
Medicis, Catherine de See Catherine de Medicis Medicis, Marie de See Marie de Medicis
Medill \m3-'dil\, Joseph (b. April 6, 1823, near Saint John, N.B., Can.—d. March 16, 1899, San Antonio, Texas, U.S.) Canadian-born U.S. editor and publisher. Bom into a family of shipbuilders, he studied law in the U.S. and was admitted to the bar in 1846. He turned to newspaper publishing in 1849. As managing editor of the Chicago Tribune (from 1855), he set its antislavery editorial policy. He helped found the Repub¬ lican Party (1854) and worked for Abraham Lincoln’s nomination. As mayor of Chicago (1871-74), he helped establish the Chicago Public Library (1872-74). In 1874 he resigned as mayor and acquired a control¬ ling share in the Chicago Tribune. Four of his grandchildren, including Robert McCormick, also ran newspapers.
Medina Arabic Al-Madinah X.al-ma-'de-noX ancient Yathrib. City (pop., 1992: 608,295), western Saudi Arabia, north of Mecca. It devel¬ oped from an oasis settled by Jews c. ad 135. In 622 the Prophet Muham¬ mad fled from Mecca to Medina (see Hijrah). It served as capital of the Islamic state until 661. Held by the Ottoman Empire (1517-1804), it then was seized by the Wahhabiyyah. An Ottoman-Egyptian force retook it in 1812. Ottoman rule ceased during World War I (1914-18), and in 1925 it fell to the forces Ibn Sa'Gd. A sacred city of Islam, it is second only to Mecca as a place of Muslim pilgrimage; among its many mosques is the Prophet’s Mosque, containing the tomb of Muhammad.
medina worm See guinea worm
meditation Private religious devotion or mental exercise, in which techniques of concentration and contemplation are used to reach a height¬ ened level of spiritual awareness. The practice has existed in all religions since ancient times. In Hinduism it has been systematized in the school of Yoga. One aspect of Yoga, dhyana (Sanskrit: “concentrated medita¬ tion”), gave rise to a school of its own among the Buddhists, becoming the basis of Zen. In many religions, meditation involves verbal or mental repetition of a single syllable, word, or text (e.g., a mantra). Visual images (e.g., a mandala) or mechanical devices such as prayer wheels or rosaries can be useful in focusing concentration. In the 20th century, movements such as Transcendental Meditation emerged to teach meditation techniques outside a religious context.
Mediterranean fruit fly or Med fly Fruit fly ( Ceratitis capitata) proven to be particularly destructive to citrus crops, at great economic cost. The Med fly lays up to 500 eggs in citrus fruits (except lemons and sour limes), and the larvae tunnel into the fruit, making it unfit for human consumption. Because of this pest, quarantine laws regulating fruit impor¬ tation have been enacted worldwide.
Mediterranean Sea Inland sea enclosed by Europe, Africa, and Asia. Its west-east extent is approximately 2,500 mi (4,000 km), while its aver¬ age north-south extent is about 500 mi (800 km). The Mediterranean Sea occupies an area of about 970,000 sq mi (2,510,000 sq km). It has a maxi¬ mum depth of about 16,000 ft (4,900 m). In the west the Strait of Gibral-
Lorenzo de' Medici, terra-cotta bust by Andrea del Verrocchio, c. 1485; in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON, D.C., SAMUEL H. KRESS COLLECTION, 1943
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tar connects the Mediterranean with the Atlantic Ocean. In the northeast the Sea of Marmara, the Dardanelles, and the Bosporus link it with the Black Sea. The Suez Canal connects the Mediterranean with the Red Sea in the southeast. A submarine ridge between Sicily and Africa divides the sea into eastern and western parts, which are subdivided into the Adriatic, Aegean, Tyrrhenian, Ionian, and Ligurian seas. Its largest islands are Majorca, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, Crete, Cyprus, and Rhodes. The Rhone, Po, and Nile rivers form its only large deltas.
Medusa In Greek mythology, the most famous of the monsters known as Gorgons. Anyone who looked directly at Medusa turned to stone. She was the only Gorgon who was mortal. The hero Perseus, looking only at her reflection in a shield given to him by Athena, killed her by cutting off her head. Perseus later gave the severed head to Athena, who placed it in her shield; according to another account, he buried it in the marketplace of Argos.
medusa \mi-'du-s3\ In zoology, one forms; the typical form of the jelly¬ fish. Its name derives from its ten¬ tacles, resembling the snakes borne by Medusa in place of hair. The medusoid body is bell- or umbrella¬ shaped. Hanging downward from the center is a stalklike structure, the manubrium, bearing the mouth at its tip. The mouth opens into the main body cavity, which connects with radial canals extending to the outer rim of the bell. A free-swimming form, the medusa moves by rhythmic muscular contractions of the bell, providing a slow propulsive action against the water. The other princi¬ pal cnidarian body type is the polyp.
Meegeren Vma-k3-re,\ English Vma-go-ronV Han van orig. Hen- ricus Antonius van Mee¬ geren (b. Oct. 10, 1889, Deventer,
Neth.—d. Dec. 30, 1947, Amster¬ dam) Dutch art forger. He forged at least 14 “Old Masters” and sold them at enormous profit; critics had hailed his Christ and the Disciples at Emmaus as a Johannes Vermeer master¬ piece. His activities came to light after World War II, when a commission was established to restore to their owners artworks collected by Nazi leaders. Discovering a work purportedly by Vermeer among those amassed by Hermann Goring, the commission traced it to Meegeren. Charged with collaboration, he confessed. He died of a heart attack before his one-year sentence began.
meerkat or suricate Colonial species ( Suricata suricatta ) of the mon¬ goose family (Herpestidae). It is a burrowing carnivore found in south¬ western Africa that differs from mongooses in having four (rather than five) toes on each foot. Meerkats are noted for their constant vigilance for predators. This sentinel behaviour involves one member of the group finding an elevated position, standing on its hind legs, and alerting the group of danger when it is seen. The meerkat grows to a total length of 17-24 in. (43-60 cm). Insects and other small animals constitute most of its diet, but bulbous roots are also eaten for the water they contain. It is diurnal and easily tamed as a pet. The yellow mongoose ( Cynictis peni- cillata) is sometimes called the red meerkat.