MINNESOTA 



MINOS. 



were succeeded by the ni>-i-irr-m 

 '. ). 'I'lp n- liave been several 



, oil, -rti, ins of i In- works of the 

 iiiiiini-iii-iTs in CiTiiiaii. notalily 

 .'in- in !i\ -i- \ .'liiini-. li\ I II \ nil 'I'M 



> -56. See Troubadour. 



Minnesota. River of Minnesota, 



lii 'in Big Stone 



"ii tin South Dakota border, 



it tl.iws for 450 m. first S.E. to 



to ami tlii-u N.E. to the 



I -I 'i river, at Minneapolis, 



Ulou St. Anthony's Falls. At 



high tide small vessels may ascend 



J'.*5 m., and for steamers it is 



i bio for 45 m. 



Minnesota. Northern state of 

 tiir I'.S.A., lying to the W. of L. 

 Superior. The surface, mainly un- 

 dulating, is marked by a few large 

 ami many smaller lakes, including 

 Red Lake (345 sq. m.) and Lake 

 Itasca, from which the Missis- 

 sippi river takes its rise. Besides 

 the Mississippi, the chief rivers are 

 the Minnesota, Red, and St. Croix, 

 all navigable, and utilised to sup- 

 ply water-power. Largely an agri- 

 cultural state, Minnesota yields 

 great quantities of maize, wheat, 

 and oats. The mineral wealth is 

 considerable, red haematite, gra- 

 nite, and limestone being worked. 

 The capital is St. Paul and the 

 largest town Minneapolis. The 

 Mesabi iron range is the greatest 

 iron ore district in the world ; 

 with the Vermilion and Cuyuna 

 iron ranges it is situated in the 

 forested height of land W. of Lake 

 Superior. The state was admitted 

 to the Union in 1858. Its area is 

 84,682 sq. m. Pop. 2,387,100. 



Minnow (Leuciacus phoxinus). 

 Small fresh-water fish, common 

 in the rivers of Great Britain 



Minnow. Small fresh-water fish 

 common in British rivers 



and of most parts of Europe. 

 It belongs to the same genus 

 as the roach and dace, and is 

 distinguished from them by the 

 broken line which runs along each 

 side of the body. It varies in 

 length from three to six inches, and 

 is largely used as bait in angling for 

 larger species. 



Minoan. Alternative name for 

 a pre-Hellenic civilization, also 

 called Aegean or Mediterranean. 

 See Aegean Civilization ; Crete. 



Minor. In law, a person under 

 J I , .ira of age. In English law the 

 term infant is used in this penso. 

 See Infant. 



Minor (Lat., smaller). In 

 music, a term applied to those 

 intervals of the 2nd, 3rd, 6th, and 

 7th, which are less by a semitone 

 than the corresponding major in- 

 tervals. As commonly used in 

 connexion with scales and keys, 

 both major and minor in their 

 signification are obviously absurd; 

 they are merely brief and con- 

 venient ways of referring to the 

 scale or key with the larger or 

 smaller 3rd and 6th which dif- 

 ferentiate the one from the other, 

 and replace the older expression, 

 " In the key of C with the greater 

 (or lesser) third." 



Minorca (Sp. Menorca). Second 

 largest of the Balearic Isles in the 

 Mediterranean, belonging to Spain. 

 So called from its being smaller 

 than Majorca, the largest island 

 in the group, it is 25 m. to the 

 N.E. of the latter. It is 35 m. in 

 length, with an average width of 

 10 in. and an area of about 290 

 sq. m. The coast is indented and 

 rocky, and the surface hilly ; the 

 highest point, near the centre, 

 rises to 1,206 ft. Cereals, wine, oil, 

 oranges, lemons, figs, almonds, and 

 flax are grown ; iron, copper, lead, 

 slate, marble, alabaster, etc., mined. 

 Cattle and horses are reared. A 

 good road, built by the British, 

 runs through the island from Ciu- 

 dadela to Port Mahon. The island 

 is rich in stalactite caves, mega- 

 lithic remains and ancient towers 

 (talayote), and other sepulchral 

 monuments. Pop. 40,000. See 

 Balearic Isles. 



Minorca Fowl. Breed of 

 domestic poultry supposed to have 

 originated in the island whose 

 name they bear. In reality they 

 appear to be merely a red-faced 

 variety of the white-faced Black 

 Spanish breed, from which they 

 differ also in the shorter and 

 stouter body, shorter shanks, and 

 larger combs. Though champion 

 layers of large eggs, they cannot be 

 prevailed upon to sit. See Fowls, 

 colour plate. 



Minories, THE. London thor- 

 oughfare. It runs S. from Aldgatc 

 High Street to Tower Hill, -E.G., 

 and derived its name from the 

 abbey of the Minoresses of S. Mary 

 of the order of S. Clare. On the 

 abbey site was built the old parish 

 church of Holy Trinity, rebuilt in 

 1706, and dismantled in 1899, 

 when the parish was united with 

 that of S. Botolph, Aldgate. In 

 a vault S. of the altar in 1851 was 

 discovered, in tannin, the head, 

 since preserved at S. Botolph's, 

 supposed to be that of Edmund de 



la Pole, duke of Suffolk, executed 

 1513, or of the father of Lady 

 Jane Grey, Henry Grey, duke of 

 Suffolk, executed 1554. Between 

 the 16th and 18th centuries a 

 centre of the gunsmith trade, the 

 Minories became a Jewish quarter. 

 The thoroughfare figures in Defoe's 

 Journal of the Plague and in 

 Dickens's novel, Dombey and Son. 



Minor Interval. In music, an 

 interval containing one semitone 

 leas than a major interval of the 

 same degree. Thus, C-E, a major 

 3rd, contains 4 semitones, while C-E 

 flat, minor 3rd, contains 3 semi- 

 tones. The minor triad is the 

 sounding together of a note, its 

 minor 3rd, and its perfect 5th, e.g. 

 C-E flat-G. 



Minorites. Name adopted by 

 the early Franciscan friars as an 

 indication that they wished to be 

 regarded as less than the other 

 religious orders. The female 

 branch of the order, founded by S. 

 Clare about 1212, adopted the 

 name of Minoresses. They are now 

 commonly known as Poor Clares, 

 but the old name still survives in 

 the Minories, London, where they 

 had a convent. See Franciscans ; 

 Poor Clares. 



Minor Planets. Group of 

 planetary bodies numbering over 

 600, the orbits of which tie be- 

 tween those of the planets Mars 

 and Jupiter, and for the most part 

 nearer to Mars. See Asteroids. 



Minos. In Greek legend, king 

 and lawgiver of Crete. He was the 

 son of Zeus by Europa, brother of 

 Rhadamanthus, and father of 

 Deucalion, Ariadne, and Phaedra. 

 His wife was Pasiphac, daughter 

 of Helios, who brought forth the 

 Minotaur, which was slain by 

 Theseus. When Daedalus fled from 

 Crete, Minos pursued him to Sicily, 

 where he was killed by Cocalus. 



The foregoing, which is the ver- 

 sion of the legend in the ordinary 

 accounts, represents Minos as a 

 monster of cruelty. Other accounts 

 represent him as an able monarch, 

 who made Crete a great maritime 

 power, cleared the seas of pirates, 

 and by wise legislation promoted 

 the welfare of his subjects. After 

 death Minos was m&de one of the 

 judges of the dead in Hades. 

 Recent archaeological discoveries 

 throw remarkable light on the . 

 legend. The labyrinth, i.e. house 

 of the double axe, which, like the 

 bull, was the object of a cult at 

 Cnossus, is probably the great 

 palace there, with its intricate 

 passages. A wall-painting of the 

 Minoan age represents a bull toss- 

 ing boys and girls. Botli Athens 

 and Sicily came under Minoan in- 

 fluence. See Aegean Civilization; 

 Daedalus ; Theseus. Pron. Mynoss. 



