MINA 



MINERALOGY 



209 



upper lip is bifid and the lower lip trifid, two long 

 and two short stamens, and a stigma of two lamellfe 

 which close together upon irritation. The specie 

 are mostly herbaceous plants, natives of America 

 Some of them are very frequent in flower-gardens 

 and many fine varieties have resulted from cultiva 

 tion. They sometimes receive the name of Monkey 

 flower. One species, M. luteus, a native of Peru 

 and Chili, and there used as a potherb, has become 

 naturalised in many parts of Britain. The little 

 yellow- (lowered Musk Plant, now so common in 

 gardens and on window-sills in Britain, is M. mos- 

 c/iatits, a native of Oregon and other north-western 

 parts of America, 



.11 ilia, a Greek weight and money of account, 

 the sixtieth part of a Talent (q.v.), containing 

 KHJ Drachmae (q.v.). 



Nina Bird. See MYNA. 

 llilia-ans. See SAD.-EANS. 



Minaret. Minar. a tall turret used in Sara- 

 cenic architecture. It contains a staircase, and is 

 divided into several stories, with balconies from 

 which the muezzins summon the Mohammedans to 

 prayer bells not being permitted in their religion 

 and is terminated with a spire or ornamental 

 finial. The minarets are amongst the most beauti- 

 ful features of Mohammedan architecture, and are 

 an invariable accompaniment of the Mosques (q.v.). 

 For an illustration, see ARABIAN ARCHITECTURE. 

 In India Minors, or pillars of victory, are fre- 

 quently erected in connection with mosques ; some 

 of those are lofty and splendid monuments, that 

 of Kutab, at Old Delhi (q.v.), l>eing 47 feet in 

 diameter at the base and 2.18 feet high. The 

 form of the minaret was derived from the Pharos 

 (q.v.), the ancient lighthouse of Alexandria: and 

 the name ia from the Arabic mandrat, 'a light- 

 house.' 



Minas, capital of a wild, mountainous province 

 (area, 4844 s.i. m. ; pop. 23,000) of the same name 

 in southern Uruguay, 75 miles by rail NE. of 

 Montevideo. Pop. 7000. 



Minas Geraes, the most populous state of 

 Brazil, lies inland from Espirito Santo and south 

 of Bahia, and has an area of 222,160 sn. m. Pop 

 (1888) 3,018,807. Lying wholly in the tableland! 

 ts surface is occupied with grass and bush-covered 

 7w, rising, however, in the Serra do Espinhaco 

 to .')!KX feet. The principal rivers include the navi- 

 gable Sflo Francisco and the Rio Grande, which 

 unites with the Paranahyba to form the Parand. 

 Agriculture and stock-raising are the chief indus- 

 tries. Some gold is still obtained, and diamonds, 

 iron, and lead are mined. The inhabitants include 

 very few whites ; among the Indians the Botocudos 

 (q.v.) are met with. 



Miltrc-pies, an important item of English 

 I liristmas fare, coin|>osed of very numerous in- 

 gredients (suet, raisins, apples, lemons, currants, 

 BO| almonds, flavoured with nutmeg, cinnamon, 

 ginger, &.<.) variously compounded and baked in 

 pastry. Formerly mutton or neat's-tongue was an 

 ntial ingredient The shape of the crust was 

 not originally round, but is said to have been 

 intended to represent the manger in which the 

 Holy Child was laid. 



Winch, the channel separating the island of 

 Lewes from the mainland of Scot land. It is 24 to 40 

 miles wide, and lias a rapid current. The Little 

 .!//./.. MMntag Skye from North Cist and the 

 neighbouring islands in the Outer Hebrides, is 14 

 to I'O miles wide. 



Minrllinhampton, a market-town of Glouces- 

 tershire, 3J miles SSK. of Stroiid. James Mradley 

 is buried in the churchyard. Pop. of parish, 45G1. 



MinciO, a river of Italy, rises as the Sarca in 

 bputh Tyrol, flows 80 miles to and througli Lake 

 Garda, and thence as the Mincio through a southerly 

 course of 93 miles pas,t Mantua, joining the Po from 

 the left. It is part of the Quadrilateral (q.v. ) forti- 

 fication of North Italy; several great battles have 

 been fought nearby, as Castiglione ( 1796), Solferino 

 (1859), Custozza ( 1849 and 1866). 



Mind. See PSYCHOLOGY. 



Mindanao, the southernmostand second largest 

 island of the Philippines (q.v. ). Area, about 34,000 

 sq. m. It is very irregular in outline, and the coasts 

 have many bays and headlands. It has high and 

 well-wooded mountains, and numerous rivers, some 

 of great volume. The soil is fertile ; the vegetable 

 and mineral products are those of the archipelago, 

 /aiuboanga, in the south-western part, is the chief 

 town. Pop. 611,300, less than one-third Christians. 



Mindoii, a Prussian town in Westphalia, on 

 the Weser, 41) miles W. of Hanover. Till 1873 a 

 fortress of the second class, it was already a town 

 in Charlemagne's day, and suffered much in the 

 Thirty Years War, and again in the Seven Years' 

 War, when, on 1st August 1759, the French were 

 defeated here by an Anglo-Hanoverian army under 

 Ferdinand of Brunswick and Lord George Sack- 

 ville. It has a fine new bridge (1874), a Gothic 

 town-hall, a Catholic church (till 1811 cathedral), 

 built between the llth century and 1379, and 

 restored in 1864-85, manufactures of tobacco, beer, 

 brandy, glass, &c., and a considerable trade. Pop. 

 ( 1885) 18,592 ; ( 1890) 20,223. 'See also MlJNDEN. 



Mindere'rus Spirit, or SOLUTION OF ACE- 

 TATK OF AMMONIA, is a valuable diaphoretic, much 

 used in febrile diseases. It is prepared by adding 

 ammonia or the carlxmate of ammonia to acetic acid 

 till a neutral liquid is obtained. It is sometimes 

 applied hot on flannel in cases of mumps, and has 

 been used as an eyewash in chronic ophthalmia. 



Mindoro. an island of the Philippines (q.v.), 

 south of Luzon. Area, 3087 sq. m. The coasts are 

 rugged and dangerous ; the interior has denseforests, 

 tnd is but little known. Capital, Calapan. Pop. 

 106,170. 



Mine. See MINING, MINES ( MILITARY ). 



Mineral Kingdom, the inorganic portion of 

 nature, not including, however, the inorganic prod- 

 ucts of organic beings, as sugar, resins, &c. , although 

 substances more remotely of vegetable or even ani- 

 mal origin are reckoned among minerals, as naph- 

 ;ha, bitumen, asphalt, &c. Liquid and gaseous 

 substances, such as water, atmospheric air, &c. are 

 ncluded, as well as solids. All the chemical ele- 

 ments are found in the mineral kingdom, from which 

 vegetable and animal organisms derive them. 



Mineralogy, the science which treats of mine- 

 rals, does not embrace all that relates to the mine- 

 ral kingdom, but simple minerals alone, or homo- 

 geneous mineral substances ; rocks formed by the 

 utgregation of simple minerals, and their rela- 

 rions to each other, are the subjects of Geology 

 q.v.). This limitation of the term mineralogy 

 s comparatively, recent. Geology or geognosy was 

 ormerly included in it. The arrangement and 

 lescription of simple minerals according to their 

 external characters has been called by Werner 

 nd others Oryctotinosy, but the term has t'or- 

 unately fallen into disuse. Nor is the study of 

 uerc external characters sufficient in mineralogy. 

 The chemical composition of minerals equally de- 

 nands attention. In the classification of minerals 

 ome mineralogists, as Mohs and Jameson, have 

 egarded only the external characters, and some, 

 as Berzelius, only the chemical composition ; but 

 ;he results have been unsatisfactory, and the pres- 

 nt tendency is in favour of a system which seeks 



