MINISTRY 



5438 



MINNESINGERS 



Ministry (Lat. minister, ser- 

 vant). Word used in two main 

 senses : In religion for the whole 

 body of clergymen or ministers of a 

 religious body and their work, e.g. 

 the ministry of the Church of 

 England ; and in politics for the 

 body of ministers of the crown. 

 It does not usually include the 

 civil servants, but only the 

 politicians who hold their offices 

 temporarily and work under the 

 party system. In this sense the 

 word was used in the 18th century 

 by Swift, Wilkes, and others, and 

 this use has spread from England 

 to all the self-governing parts of 

 the Empire, and to many foreign 

 countries. 



Later the word was used in 

 another, although cognate, sense. 

 When the various parts of the Em- 

 pire obtained responsible govern- 

 ment they, being without the 

 historic names such as exchequer, 

 treasury, etc., began to call their 



Mink. Specimen of the European 

 species, Putorius lutreola 



departments of state ministries. 

 This use prevails in Canada, Aus- 

 tralia, and elsewhere. A similar 

 use has prevailed in France since 

 the establishment of the Republic, 

 and it has recently been followed 

 in Great Britain, where almost all 

 the new departments of state are 

 known as ministries. In France 

 the word is also used for the 

 building in which the ministry is 

 housed. See Health; National 

 Service; Pensions. 



Miuite. Belgian safety ex- 

 plosive of the carbonite type. It 

 contains nitroglycerine, 25 p.c. ; 

 potassium nitrate, 35 p.c. ; flour, 

 39'5 p.c. , sodium carbonate, 0'5 

 p.c. It is chiefly used in collieries. 

 See Carbonite; Explosives; Safety 

 Explosives. 



Minium OR RED LEAD. Name 

 given to a scarlet crystalline com- 

 pound of lead. It is chiefly lead 

 orthoplumbate, 2PbO'PbO 2 , and is 

 made by heating massicot in a 

 reverberatory furnace. Minium 

 when itself heated changes to violet 

 and then black, but becomes scar- 

 let again on cooling. Ignited, it is 

 converted into lead monoxide. It 

 is used in the preparation of flint 

 glass and as a paint. See Lead ; 

 Miniature. . 



Minneapolis. Plan of the adjoining cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul 



Mink. Name given to three 

 closely related species of carni- 

 vorous mammals, also called vison, 

 belonging to the weasel (Mustela) 

 tribe. They resemble polecats in 

 general form, and have soft glossy 

 fur and a bushy tail. In colour 

 they range from yellowish to cho- 

 colate brown, and the chin is white. 

 They are always found near water, 

 and feed mainly on frogs and fresh- 

 water mussels, but also catch birds 

 and small mammals. All have a 

 particularly penetrating and dis- 

 gusting odour. 



The European mink is found in 

 Poland, Finland, and in most parts 

 of Russia ; the Siberian species 

 occurs in the districts E. of the 

 Yenesei river ; and the American 

 mink is widely distributed in N. 

 America. The fur is highly valued, 

 especially that of Alaskan speci- 

 mens ; and incessant trapping has 

 made the animals scarce. t 



Minneapolis. City of Minne- 

 sota, U.S.A., the co. seat of 

 Hennepin co. The largest city of 

 the state, it stands on the Missis- 

 sippi river at the Falls of St. 

 Anthony, adjacent to St. Paul, 

 and is served by the Chicago, 

 Milwaukee and St. Paul and other 

 rlys The city is pleasantly situated 

 in a lake district which attracts 

 many visitors. Among its buildings 

 are two cathedrals, the university 

 of Minnesota, and the Minneapolis 

 School of Fine Arts. Minnehaha 

 Park covers nearly 3,800 acres, 

 and contains the falls familiarised 

 by Longfellow's Hiawatha. 



Minneapolis is the largest flour- 

 milling centre in the world and 

 one 1 of the foremost in the lumber 

 industry. Machinery, foodstuffs, 

 linseed oil and meal, and clothing 



are also important manufactures, 

 while the volume of its wheat trade 

 is unequalled. Power for its fac- 

 tories is provided by the Falls of 

 St. Anthony. A system of dams 

 and locks, begun in 1915, have 

 greatly increased the supply. The 

 site of Minneapolis was visited in 

 1680 by Father Hennepin, who 

 gave the Falls of St. Anthony their 

 name. Settlement began about 

 1847, and in 1856 Minneapolis was 

 incorporated as a town. It be- 

 came a city 11 years later, and in 

 1872 St. Anthony, first settled in 

 1837, was incorporated with it. 

 Pop. 380,600. 



Minnesingers (Ger. minne, 

 love). German lyric poets who 

 flourished for about 200 years from 

 the middle of the 12th century. 

 The earliest minnesingers developed 

 the native lyric, associated with 

 dancing, but about 1200 the in- 

 fluence of the Proven9al trouba- 

 dours modified the art. Like them, 

 mainly of knightly or noble birth, 

 the minnesingers formed a school 

 of artificial and courtly lyric, with 

 complicated metrical forms, but 

 they differed from the troubadours 

 in their more reverent, semi- 

 religious treatment of love. Many 

 were poets of nature, and some 

 were political and social satirists. 

 They composed the musical ac- 

 companiment to their own songs. 

 Most of them were Swabians, or S. 

 Germans. Among the most notable 

 minnesingers nearly 200 poets are 

 recorded as belonging to the period 

 are Heinrich von Veldeke, Hein- 

 rich von Morungen, Wolfram von 

 Eschenbach, Heinrich von Ofter- 

 dingen, Walther von derVogelweide, 

 Hartmann von Aue, and Neidhart 

 von Reuental. The minnesingers 



Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A. General view of the business distiict 



