MONMOUTHSHIRE 



MONOCOTYLEDONS 



275 



tant Duke' against the Popish heir- presumptive to 

 tin- throne, how to enmesh him in the Rye-house 

 Plot (1683), on whose discovery Minimum li He<l, as 

 four years before, to the Low Countries. There he 

 remained until Charles's death, when, in concert 

 with Argyll's Scotch expedition, with eighty-two 

 followers lie invaded England. On llth June 1685 

 he landed at Lyme-Kegis, and issued a manifesto 

 branding James as a murderer and popish usurper, 

 and asserting his own legitimacy and right to the 

 crown. He was received with acclamations at 

 Tannton, where he was himself proclaimed King 

 James II. ; and on the early morning of 6th June, 

 after a roundaliout march to near Bristol and Bath, 

 he attempted with 2600 foot and 600 horse ( peasants 

 mostly and miners), to surprise the king's forces, 

 2700 strong, which under the Earl of Feversham 

 were encamped on Sedgemoor, near Bridg water. 

 His men could not cross a broad drain, ami were 

 mowed down by the royal artillery, 300 falling on 

 the Held, 1000 more in the pursuit. Monmuiith 

 himself had lied, but on the 8th was taken, dis- 

 guised as a shepherd, in a ditch near Kingwood. 

 1 1 is bearing Ijefore James was dastardly. He wept ; 

 he crawled to his feet ; he even offered to turn 

 Catholic. No : on 15th July he was bunglingly 

 beheaded upon Tower Hill, and buried in the cha|>el 

 of St Peter-ad-Vincula. His duchess had borne 

 him six children ; but his last thoughts were all 

 with his mistress, Lady Henrietta Wentworth, who 

 died of sorrow nine months after him. In the 

 ' Bloody Assize' that followed the rebellion. Judge 

 Jeffreys hanged 331 rebels, transported 849 to the 

 plantations, and whipped or lined 33 others. 



See G. Roberts, Life of MonmoutH (2 volu. 1844), with 

 works cited at CHARLES II. and JAM KM II. 



MoillllOlUllshirr. a county in the west of 

 England, bounded NE. by Hereford, E. by (Jlou- 

 cester, S. by the estuary of the Severn, and W. 

 and NW. by South Wales. With a maximum 

 length and breadth of 32 and 28 miles, it contains 

 578 sq. in., or 370,350 acres, of which more than one- 

 half is under permanent pasture, and about one- 

 twelfth in W.MM|S. Pop. (1801) 45,582; (1841) 

 134,368; (1891) 252,260. Its surface is for the 

 most part liilly, especially in the north and north- 

 west (the Sugar Loaf is 1954 feet high), but the 

 Caldicot and Wentloog Levels, which for a distance 

 of 25 miles skirt the southern coast, are so low as 

 to require in places the protection of sea-walls and 

 earthworks. The Wye, with its tributary the 

 Monnow, the Usk, Ebwy, and Kumney, all flowing 

 south into the estuary of the Severn, are the 

 principal rivers. In the rich valleys of the three 

 former wheat is the principal crop raised, whilst on 

 the poorer soils on the west side of the county oats 

 and barley are chiefly grown. There are also ex- 

 tensive orchards. The great wealth, however, of 

 Monmouthshire is derived from ita minerals, coal 

 and ironstone abounding in the region of Pontypool 

 ami Uhyinney. In 1889 coal weighing 6,751,308 tons 

 and in 1S<I4 the amount of 8,213,156 tons were 

 raised ; some 400,000 tons of pig-iron are annually 

 made, and much limestone and other building 

 stone, as also fireclay, produced. The county com- 

 prises six hundreds, the municipal boroughs of 

 Monmoiith and Newport, and 147 civil parishes. 

 Three members are returned to parliament for 

 the county, and one for the combined borough of 

 Monmoiith, Newport, and Usk ; the County 

 Coiim-il nurnherK 64. Towns other than the above 

 are Aliergavenny, Blaenavon, Caerleon, Chepstow, 

 and Trwlegar. Monmouthshire, which until 1535 

 formed part of Wales, is noted for its beautiful 

 nery and for the many remains of feudal castles, 

 iVe. scattered throughout it. Of these the finest 

 examples are the castles of Raglan, Caldicot, and 

 and the abbeys of Llanthony and 



Tintern. See the county histories by Williams 

 (1796) and Coxe(lSOl). 



Monoclilamydca?. See CALYX, FLOWER. 



.lloiiochord, an apparatus constructed to 

 exhibit the mathematical proportions of musical 

 intervals. It consists of a flat board of 4 or 

 8 feet Ion", or better 16 feet, where space can be 

 spared. The breadth of the board is according 

 to the number of the strings, which are from 

 two to six. The board is covered with fine white 

 paper. A straight line is drawn from end to end 

 below each string, and each line is accurately 

 divided into the different proportions into which the 

 full length of the string, as a fundamental sound, 

 harmonically divides itself (see HARMONICS). The 

 string is fixed at one end, and rests on a bridge ; 

 while at the other end, where it also rests on a 

 bridge, it is stretched by a tuning-peg, or by a 

 weight. The sounds from the strings are produced 

 by a violin-l>ow. The monoehord is chiefly used in 

 illustrating acoustical experiments in the proportion 

 of intervals and temperament. 



MoilOflilial Strata. See the article GEOLOGY 

 (Vol. V. ]>. 15-.J), MOUNTAINS. 



MpIlOOOtjle dons. The higher phanerogams 

 are distinguished from the Gymnosperms by their 

 closed ovary as Angiosperms, and there fall into 

 two main alliances, recognised by Ray and other 

 predecessors of Linmeus as monocotyledons and 

 dicotyledons. The former are readily distinguished, 

 as the name implies, by the single cotyledon of the 

 embryonic plant, but also by a number of other 

 important structural characters. Thus, the primary 

 root (although it may develop strongly in ger- 

 mination, as in palms, lilies, maize, &c. ) soon ceases 

 to grow, and is replaced by lateral (adventitious) 

 roots. The axis of the embryo also often dies 

 away after producing lateral shoots, which may die 

 in turn, and so on (e.g. sympodial rhizome of 

 Solomon's Seal, tubers of orchids, &c. ), but fre- 

 quently also lengthens into the primary stem of 

 full-grown plant (e.g. palms, aloe, maize, &c. ); 

 while young it grows (as in ferns) in the form of 

 an inverted cone, each successive section being 

 longer than the preceding until the adult size is 

 reached, when the stem l>ecomes cylindrical, taper- 

 ing off only at the extreme point. There is thus 

 usually no secondary growth in thickness (see, 

 however, DRAOSNA). The leaves are seldom 

 whorled, and the arrangement in two alternating 

 rows is commonest. The leaf-bores are usually 

 sheathing, and stipules are absent. The lamina is 

 usually entire, the venation not ridged on the 

 under side, and usually parallel. The fibro- vascular 

 bundles of the stem do not anastomose nor form a 

 ring, but are distributed throughout the whole 

 stem, which thus does not exhibit the pith nor 

 separable bark so familiar in many dicotyledons. 

 The flower consists of alternating and isomerous 

 whorls, outer and inner ]ieriaiith, outer and inner 

 stamens, and usually only one carpellary whorl ; 

 but from this type many characteristic specialisa- 

 tions arise. The endosperm is usually large and 

 persistent, but some orders are exalbuminons. 



The systematic study of the monocotyledons is 

 most easily undertaken by clearly familiarising 

 one's self with the Liliacete and their immediate 

 allies, Amaryllidacese, Iridaceae, &c. ; and next by 

 studying the progress of the floral specialisation ', 

 through Scitamineie to its extreme in Orchidaceie. 

 Starting again from the lilies and their scarcely 

 distinguishable allies, the rushes (Juncaceue), we 

 easily distinguish one series of degenerative (or 

 more accurately vegetative) types, culminating in 

 the sedges (Cyperaceie) and grasses, commonly 

 grouped as Glumiflorn*. Another somewhat analo- 

 gous line of change gives us the palms and Aroidea:, 



