Mengele Vmeq-go-loV Josef (b. March 16, 1911, Giinzburg, Ger.—d. Feb. 7, 1979, Enseada da Bertioga, near Sao Paulo, Braz.) German Nazi doctor. Influenced by the racial ideology of Alfred Rosenberg, in 1934 Mengele joined the research staff of the newly founded Institute for Hereditary Biology and Racial Hygiene. An ardent Nazi, he served in World War II as medical officer with the SS. In 1943 he was appointed chief doctor at AuscHWiTZ-Birkenau, where he selected incoming Jews for labour or extermination, becoming known as the “Angel of Death,” and conducted medical experiments on inmates in pseudoscientific racial stud¬ ies. After the war he escaped to South America, where he died in 1979 under the name of Wolfgang Gerhard, a Nazi he befriended in Brazil and whose identity he assumed.
Mengistu Haile Mariam Vmen-'gis-.tii-'hl-le-'mar-yamX (b. 1937, Kefa province, Eth.) Ethiopian army officer and head of state (1974-91). Mengistu headed a group of rebel soldiers that overthrew Haile Selassie (1974). After assassinating his rivals, Mengistu became the new regime’s acknowledged strongman. By 1978 he had crushed a major rebellion in Eritrea and, with Soviet and Cuban help, an invasion of the Ogaden region by the Somalis. In the 1980s he faced new rebellions in Eritrea and Tigray, and devastating droughts and famines drew attention to his failed agri¬ cultural policies. With the withdrawal of Soviet support in 1991, his power was weakened and he fled to Zimbabwe.
Mengs VmeqsV, Anton Raphael (b. March 22, 1728, Aussig, Bohemia—d. June 29, 1779, Rome, Papal States) German painter. After study in Dresden and Rome, he became painter to the Saxon court in Dresden in 1745. Back in Rome in the late 1740s and again in the early 1750s, he developed an enthusiasm for Classical antiquity. His fresco Parnassus (1760-61) at the Villa Albani helped establish the ascendancy of Neoclassical painting. He also worked extensively for the Spanish court in Madrid. He was regarded as Europe’s greatest living painter in his day, but his reputation has since declined.
menhaden \men-'ha-d 3 n\ or pogy Any of several species of Atlantic coastal fishes (genus Brevoortia of the herring family), used for oil, fish meal (mainly for animal feed), and fertilizer. Menhaden have a deep body, sharp-edged belly, large head, and tooth-edged scales. Adults are about 15 in. (38 cm) long and weigh 1 lb (0.5 kg) or less. Dense schools of menhaden range from Canada to South America. When feeding, they swim with mouth agape and gill openings widespread to strain out plankton.
menhir Vmen-.hirX Type of ancient megalithic stone monument (see megalith). Menhirs were simple upright stones, sometimes of great size, erected chiefly in Western Europe. Arrangements of menhirs often form vast circles, semicircles, or ellipses. Many were built in Britain, the best- known sites being Stonehenge and Avebury in Wiltshire. Menhirs were also placed in parallel rows, called alignments, the most famous being the Carnac alignments in northwestern France, with 2,935 menhirs. These were probably used for ritual processions.
Menilek II Vmen-9-,lek\ orig. Sahle Miriam (b. Aug. 17, 1844, Ankober, Shewa, Eth.—d. Dec. 12,
1913, Addis Ababa) King of the semi-independent state of Shewa, or Shoa (1865-89), and emperor of Ethiopia (1889-1913). Captured and imprisoned for 10 years after his father, King Malakot of Shewa, was deposed by Tewodros II. he escaped in 1865 and returned to Shewa to assume the title of negus (king). On the death of Emperor Yohannes IV (r.
1872-89), he ascended to the Ethio¬ pian throne, taking his crown name from Menilek I, legendary son of Solomon and the queen of Sheba.
When Italy sought to make Ethiopia a protectorate, Menilek roundly defeated its forces at the Battle of Adwa (1896). In later years he expanded the empire, initiated mod¬ em educational programs, and built up the country’s infrastructure.
Menindee Lakes \m3-'nin-de\
Series of reservoirs, western New South Wales, Australia. Located near
Menilek II, detail of an oil painting by Paul Buffet, 1897; in the Senate Pal¬ ace, Paris.
J.E. BULLOZ
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the town of Menindee, they are part of the Darling River Conservation Scheme. The lakes are flooded through creeks linking them with the Dar¬ ling River. The total capacity of the Menindee Lakes Storage Scheme is 2 million acre-ft (2.47 billion cubic-m). Menindee is an Aboriginal word meaning “egg yolk.”
meninges \mo-'nin-jez\ Three fibrous membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord to protect the central nervous system. The pia mater, a very thin membrane, adheres to the surface of the brain and spinal cord. The subarachnoid space, containing cerebrospinal fluid, separates the pia mater from a second membrane, the arachnoid. Around the brain, fine filaments connect these two membranes, which are believed to be imper¬ meable to fluid. The third membrane, the dura mater, is strong, thick, and dense. It envelops the arachnoid, covers the inside of the skull, and sur¬ rounds and supports the large venous channels carrying blood from the brain. Several septa divide it and support different parts of the brain. In the spine, the dura mater and the arachnoid mater are separated by the subdural space; the arachnoid and pia mater are separated by the sub¬ arachnoid space. The extradural space (between the dura mater and the wall of the vertebral canal) is the site of epidural anesthesia (see anesthe¬ siology).
meningitis N.me-non-'jl-tosV Inflammation of the meninges. Bacteria (including meningococcus, among others), often from infection elsewhere, produce the most dangerous forms. Symptoms develop rapidly: vomiting, then severe bursting headache, then stiff neck. Young children may have convulsions. The patient may die within hours. Pus in cerebrospinal fluid can block brain passages and spinal spaces, leading to life-threatening hydrocephalus. Speedy diagnosis (by lumbar puncture) and treatment (with antibiotics) can prevent brain damage and death. Viral meningitis usually has a short course and requires no therapy.
meningococcus Xmo-.niq-go-'ka-kosV Neisseria meningitidis, the bac¬ terium that causes meningococcal meningitis in humans, the only natural hosts in which it causes disease. Meningococci are spherical, frequently occur in pairs, and are strongly gram-negative (see gram stain). They enter the nasal passage and may cause no symptoms (up to 30% of the popu¬ lation may harbour them between epidemics), or they may enter the blood¬ stream and produce the symptoms of meningitis.
Menninger Vmen-irj-oiA family U.S. physicians and pioneers in psy¬ chiatric treatment. Charles Frederick Menninger (1862-1953) was bom in Tell City, Ind., and began practicing medicine in Topeka, Kan., in 1889. He saw the benefit of group medical practice after visiting the Mayo fami¬ ly’s clinic in 1908. His son Karl (1893-1990) was bom in Topeka and received psychiatric training in Boston. In 1919 the two founded the Menninger Diagnostic Clinic for the practice of general medicine and psychiatry. With Charles’s youngest son, William (1899-1966), they established the Menninger Sanitarium and Psychopathic Hospital (1925). Their belief that the mentally ill should be treated, not merely institution¬ alized, attracted attention and other scientists, and they made significant strides in establishing psychiatry as a legitimate science. In 1931 the sani¬ tarium became the first training facility for nurses specializing in psychi¬ atric care, and in 1933 it opened a neuropsychiatric residency program for physicians. They formed the Menninger Foundation in 1941 and the Men¬ ninger School of Psychiatry in Topeka four years later.