Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

MERIAN, MATTHEW (1593–1650)

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V18, Page 164 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

MERIAN, See also:MATTHEW (1593–1650) , Swiss engraver, was See also:born in See also:Basel, on the 25th of See also:September 1593. The See also:family came originally from near Delemont, but in his grandfather's See also:time settled in Basel, where in 1553 it obtained the burghershj, of the See also:city. As Matthew See also:early showed signs of See also:artistic tastes, he was placed (1609) under the care of See also:Dietrich See also:Meyer, a painter and engraver of See also:Zurich (1572–1658). He went' on to See also:Nancy in 1613, where he already displayed considerable talents as an engraver on See also:copper. After studying in See also:Paris, See also:Stuttgart (1616) and the See also:Low Countries, he came to See also:Frankfort, where in 1618 he married the eldest daughter of J. T. de See also:Bry, who was a publisher and bookseller as well as an engraver. Merian worked for some time with his See also:father-in-See also:law in See also:Oppenheim, but then returned to Basel, whence he came back (1624) to Frankfort after Bry's See also:death (1623), in See also:order to take over his business; M. cucullatus, the hooded See also:merganser of See also:North See also:America, is in See also:size intermediate between M. albellus and M. serrator; the male is easily recognizable by his broad semicircular See also:crest, bearing a fanshaped patch of See also:white, and his elongated subscapulars of white edged with See also:black. The conformation of the trachea in the male of M. merganser, M. serrator and M. cucullatus is very like that of the ducks of the genus Clangula, but M. albellus has a less exaggerated development more resembling that of the See also:ordinary Fuligula.' From the See also:southern hemisphere two See also:species of Mergus have been described, M. octosetaceus or brasilianus, L. P. Vieillot (N. See also:Diet. d'Hist. naturelle, ed. 2, vol. xiv. p.

222; Gal. See also:

des oiseaux, torn. ii. p. 209, pl. 283), inhabiting See also:South America, of which but few specimens have been obtained, having some See also:general resemblance to M. serrator, but much more darkly coloured, and M. australis, Hombron and Jacquemont (See also:Ann. sc. nat. zoologie, See also:ser. 2, vol. xvi. p. 320; Voy. au Pol Sud, oiseaux, pl. 31, fig. 2), known only by the unique example in the Paris Museum procured by the See also:French See also:Antarctic expedition in the See also:Auckland Islands. Often associated with the mergansers is the genus Merganetta, the so-called torrent-ducks of South America, of which six species have been described; but they possess spiny tails and have their wings armed with a See also:spur. These with Hymenolaemus Malacorhynchus, the See also:blue See also:duck of New See also:Zealand, and Salvadorina waigiuensis of Waigiou are placed in the sub-family Merganettinae. (A.

End of Article: MERIAN, MATTHEW (1593–1650)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
MERGUI ARCHIPELAGO 		[next]
MERIDA

Site © 2006 - Net Industries