rod being ascertained, F can be immediately calculated. To find
a point in its line of action, take a point Q on the rod such that
KG × GQ = R2, R having been determined experimentally by the
method of § 125; join G with O and through Q draw a line parallel
to BO to cut GO in Z. Z is a point in the line of action of the resultant
force F; hence through Z draw a line parallel to Og. The force
F acts in this line, and thus the problem is completely solved. The
above construction for Z is a corollary of the general theorem given
in § 127.
§ 129. Impact. Impact or collision is a pressure of short duration exerted between two bodies.
The effects of impact are sometimes an alteration of the distribution of actual energy between the two bodies, and always a loss of a portion of that energy, depending on the imperfection of the elasticity of the bodies, in permanently altering their figures, and producing heat. The determination of the distribution of the actual energy after collision and of the loss of energy is effected by means of the following principles:—
I. The motion of the common centre of gravity of the two bodies is unchanged by the collision.
II. The loss of energy consists of a certain proportion of that part of the actual energy of the bodies which is due to their motion relatively to their common centre of gravity.
Unless there is some special reason for using impact in machines, it ought to be avoided, on account not only of the waste of energy which it causes, but from the damage which it occasions to the frame and mechanism. (W. J. M. R.; W. E. D.)
MECHANICVILLE, a village of Saratoga county, New York,
U.S.A., on the west bank of the Hudson River, about 20 m. N.
of Albany; on the Delaware & Hudson and Boston & Maine
railways. Pop. (1900), 4695 (702 foreign-born); (1905, state
census), 5877; (1910) 6,634. It lies partly within Stillwater
and partly within Half-Moon townships, in the bottom-lands
at the mouth of the Anthony Kill, about 112 m. S. of the
mouth of the Hoosick River. On the north and south are hills
reaching a maximum height of 200 ft. There is ample water
power, and there are manufactures of paper, sash and blinds,
fibre, &c. From a dam here power is derived for the General
Electric Company at Schenectady. The first settlement in
this vicinity was made in what is now Half-Moon township
about 1680. Mechanicville (originally called Burrow) was
chartered by the county court in 1859, and incorporated as
a village in 1870. It was the birthplace of Colonel Ephraim
Elmer Ellsworth (1837–1861), the first Federal officer to lose
his life in the Civil War.
MECHITHARISTS, a congregation of Armenian monks in
communion with the Church of Rome. The founder, Mechithar,
was born at Sebaste in Armenia, 1676. He entered a monastery,
but under the influence of Western missionaries he became
possessed with the idea of propagating Western ideas and
culture in Armenia, and of converting the Armenian Church
from its monophysitism and uniting it to the Latin Church.
Mechithar set out for Rome in 1695 to make his ecclesiastical
studies there, but he was compelled by illness to abandon the
journey and return to Armenia. In 1696 he was ordained
priest and for four years worked among his people. In 1700
he went to Constantinople and began to gather disciples around
him. Mechithar formally joined the Latin Church, and in
1701, with sixteen companions, he formed a definitely religious
institute of which he became the superior. Their Uniat propaganda
encountered the opposition of the Armenians and they
were compelled to move to the Morea, at that time Venetian
territory, and there built a monastery, 1706. On the outbreak
of hostilities between the Turks and Venetians they migrated
to Venice, and the island of St Lazzaro was bestowed on them,
1717. This has since been the headquarters of the congregation,
and here Mechithar died in 1749, leaving his institute firmly
established. The rule followed at first was that attributed to
St Anthony; but when they settled in the West modifications
from the Benedictine rule were introduced, and the Mechitharists
are numbered among the lesser orders affiliated to the
Benedictines. They have ever been faithful to their founder’s
programme. Their work has been fourfold: (1) they have
brought out editions of important patristic works, some Armenian,
others translated into Armenian from Greek and Syriac
originals no longer extant; (2) they print and circulate Armenian
literature among the Armenians, and thereby exercise a powerful
educational influence; (3) they carry on schools both in Europe
and Asia, in which Uniat Armenian boys receive a good secondary
education; (4) they work as Uniat missioners in Armenia. The
congregation is divided into two branches, the head houses
being at St Lazzaro and Vienna. They have fifteen establishments
in various places in Asia Minor and Europe. There
are some 150 monks, all Armenians; they use the Armenian
language and rite in the liturgy.
See Vita del servo di Dio Mechitar (Venice, 1901); E. Boré, Saint-Lazare (1835); Max Heimbucher, Orden u. Kongregationen (1907) I. § 37; and the articles in Wetzer u. Welte, Kirchenlexicon (ed. 2) and Herzog, Realencyklopädie (ed. 3), also articles by Sargisean, a Mechitharist, in Rivista storica benedettina (1906), “La Congregazione Mechitarista.” (E. C. B.)
MECKLENBURG, a territory in northern Germany, on the
Baltic Sea, extending from 53° 4′ to 54° 22′ N. and from 10° 35′
to 13° 57′ E., unequally divided into the two grand duchies
of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
Mecklenburg-Schwerin is bounded N. by the Baltic Sea, W. by the principality of Ratzeburg and Schleswig-Holstein, S. by Brandenburg and Hanover, and E. by Pomerania and Mecklenburg-Strelitz. It embraces the duchies of Schwerin and Güstrow, the district of Rostock, the principality of Schwerin, and the barony of Wismar, besides several small enclaves (Ahrensberg, Rosson, Tretzeband, &c.) in the adjacent territories. Its area is 5080 sq. m. Pop. (1905), 625,045.
Mecklenburg-Strelitz consists of two detached parts, the duchy of Strelitz on the E. of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and the principality of Ratzeburg on the W. The first is bounded by Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Pomerania and Brandenburg, the second by Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Lauenburg, and the territory of the free town of Lübeck. Their joint area is 1130 sq. m. Pop. (1905), 103,451.
Mecklenburg lies wholly within the great North-European plain, and its flat surface is interrupted only by one range of low hills, intersecting the country from south-east to north-west, and forming the watershed between the Baltic Sea and the Elbe. Its highest point, the Helpter Berg, is 587 ft. above sea-level. The coast-line runs for 65 m. along the Baltic (without including indentations), for the most part in flat sandy stretches covered with dunes. The chief inlets are Wismar Bay, the Salzhaff, and the roads of Warnemünde. The rivers are numerous though small; most of them are affluents of the Elbe, which traverses a small portion of Mecklenburg. Several are navigable, and the facilities for inland water traffic are increased by canals. Lakes are numerous; about four hundred, covering an area of 500 sq. m., are reckoned in the two duchies. The largest is Lake Müritz, 52 sq. m. in extent. The climate resembles that of Great Britain, but the winters are generally more severe; the mean annual temperature is 48° F., and the annual rainfall is about 28 in. Although there are long stretches of marshy moorland along the coast, the soil is on the whole productive. About 57% of the total area of Mecklenburg-Schwerin consists of cultivated land, 18% of forest, and 13% of heath and pasture. In Mecklenburg-Strelitz the corresponding figures are 47, 21 and 10%. Agriculture is by far the most important industry in both duchies. The chief crops are rye, oats, wheat, potatoes and hay. Smaller areas are devoted to maize, buckwheat, pease, rape, hemp, flax, hops and tobacco. The extensive pastures support large herds of sheep and cattle, including a noteworthy breed of merino sheep. The horses of Mecklenburg are of a fine sturdy quality and highly esteemed. Red deer, wild swine and various other game are found in the forests. The industrial establishments include a few iron-foundries, wool-spinning mills, carriage and machine factories, dyeworks, tanneries, brick-fields, soap-works, breweries, distilleries, numerous limekilns and tar-boiling works, tobacco and cigar factories, and numerous mills of various kinds. Mining is insignificant, though a fair variety of minerals is represented in the district. Amber is found on and near the Baltic coast. Rostock, Warnemünde and Wismar are the principal commercial centres. The chief exports are grain and other agricultural produce, live stock, spirits, wood and wool; the chief imports are colonial produce, iron, coal, salt, wine, beer and tobacco. The horse and wool markets of Mecklenburg are largely attended by buyers from various parts of Germany. Fishing is carried on extensively in the numerous inland lakes.
In 1907 the grand dukes of both duchies promised a constitution to their subjects. The duchies had always been under a government of feudal character, the grand dukes having the executive entirely in their hands (though acting through ministers), while the duchies shared a diet (Landtag), meeting for a short session each year, and at other times represented by a committee, and consisting of the proprietors of knights’ estates (Rittergüter), known as the Ritterschaft, and the Landschaft or burgomasters of certain towns.
