MERCANTILE MARINE. See [Marine].
MERCANTILE MARINE FUND. A public fund accumulated by fees payable to the Board of Trade on account of the merchant shipping.
MERCATOR'S CHART or Projection. Introduced by Gerard Mercator, circa 1556: it is a projection of the surface of the earth in the plane, with all the meridians made parallel with each other, consequently the degrees of longitude all equal, the degrees of latitude increasing in a corresponding ratio towards the poles. This is the chart most commonly used in navigation; and its use appears to have obtained quickly, for in 1576, among the items of Martin Frobisher's outfit, we find, "For a greate Mappe Universall of Mercator, in prente, £1, 6s. 8d."
MERCATOR'S SAILING. Performed loxodromically, by means of Mercator's charts.
MERCHANTMAN. A trading vessel employed in importing and exporting goods to and from any quarter of the globe.
MERCHANT SERVICE. The mercantile marine.
MERCHANT-VENTURERS. A company of merchants who traded with Russia, Turkey, and other distant parts. In the Affectionate Shepheard, 1594, we find—
"Well is he tearm'd a merchant venturer,
Since he doth venter lands, and goods, and all;
When he doth travell for his traffique far,
Little he knowes what fortune may befall."
MERCURIAL GAUGE. A curved tube partly filled with mercury, to show the pressure of steam in an engine.
MERCURY. One of the ancient inferior planets, and the nearest to the sun, as far as we yet know. (See [Transit of].) Also, a name for quicksilver; the fluid metal so useful in the construction of the marine barometer, thermometer, and artificial horizon.