MINUTE MEN 



3443 



MIRABEAU 



tin- iliarnrtor of the shaft 



of a c-liissic- coliunti. Tin- minute of 



i tin- minute of time both 



-unt.iin 60 seconds, and the usual 



:liliieviiitiiiii for tin- word is the 



See Degree ; Hour ; Time 



Minute Men. Popular name 

 HIM ii .luring tin- Anu-rican War ot 

 hiili-p'-Mcl'-tii-i- i<> the militia men 

 \\li.> pledged themselves to take 

 t hr ti'-Id at a moment's notice. A 

 hnni/.c statue, The Minute Man. 

 Concord sculptor, Daniel 

 ni-li, representing a farmer 

 still tit the plough, but grasping a 

 flint-lock musket, stands at one end 

 of the North Bridge at Concord, 

 Mass.- See Concord, Battle of. 



Minutes. Business term for a 

 summary of the proceedings of the 

 meet ings of a company, committee, 

 or other body of men acting in a 

 joint capacity. The record is put 

 down in a minute book by the 

 seeivtary, and the custom is that 

 at every meeting the minutes of 

 the last meeting are read before 

 other business is proceeded with. 

 If accepted as a correct account, 

 the minutes are then signed and 

 passed, and a continuous record of 

 the transactions of the company or 

 society is kept. By the Company 

 Acts, limited companies must keep 

 minutes both of their general meet- 

 ings and of those of their board of 

 directors. In the United Kingdom 

 a Treasury minute is the name 

 given to an official memorandum 

 issued from the Treasury. 



Minyah, MINIA, MINYA, OR 

 MINEII. Prov. in Upper Egypt, 

 containing the districts of Abu 

 Qirqas, Bahria, Beni Mazar, Feshn, 

 Maghagha, Minia, and Samalut. 

 Area, 651 sq. m. Pop. 764,000. 



Minyans. Primitive seafaring 

 race of the Mycenaean age of 

 Greece. They were established at 

 Orchomenos, in the marshy basin 

 of the Copals, and farther north at 

 lolcus, under Mt. Pelion, whence 

 Jason sailed for the Black Sea in 

 quest of the Golden Fleece. , 



Miocene. In geology, name 

 given to an epoch of time between 

 the Oligocene and Pliocene periods. 

 The rocks of the Miocene period are 

 chiefly unconsolidated clays and 

 sands, limestones, and conglomer- 

 ates, and are found in Europe, 

 notably France, Belgium, Switzer- 

 land, Austria, and the Mediterran- 

 ean and America, etc., but are ab- 

 sent in Great Britain. During this 

 period of time there were great 

 jeological changes due to volcanic 

 activity and general earth move- 

 ments, evidences of which exist in 

 the 6nal uplifting of the Himalayas, 

 Alps, the Isthmus of Panama, etc. 



During the Miocene period the 

 u m perate climes were undoubtedly 

 much warmer than at present, 



striking evidence being the forma- 

 tion of Miocene ooal deposits in 

 Greenland from the tropical vege- 

 tation of the period. The masto- 

 don, dinotheriurn, rhinoceros, etc.. 



Minute Men. Stone erected at Lexington, Mass., 

 marking the line occupied by the minute men at the 

 first engagement in the War ot Independence. It 

 s inscribed with the words of their commanding 

 officer. Captain J. Parker 



were among the larger animals of 

 the Miocene plains, and also an 

 early ancestor of the horse, the 

 three-toed protohippus, and hip- 

 potherium. See Horse; Pliocene. 



MioseaoRMJdSEN. Largest lake 

 of Noiway. It is situated about 

 38 m. N.N.E. of Christiania, and 

 extends about 60 m. in a N. di- 

 rection. Its width varies from 2 m. 

 to 10 m., and its maximum depth 

 is 1,480 ft. The Lougen river flows 

 into it, and it discharges into the 

 Glommen by the Wormen. It con- 

 tains a fertile island, 10 m. round. 

 Miquel, JOHANNES VON (1829- 

 1901). German statesman. Of 

 French descent, he was born at 

 Neuenhaus, Hanover, on Feb. 19, 

 1829, and studied law at Gottin- 

 gen and Heidelberg. He was 

 elected to the 

 Hanover diet 

 in 1864. He 

 was on the 

 governing 

 body of the 

 D i s k o n t o- 

 gescllschaft in 

 Berlin from 

 1870-73, was 

 a leading 

 member of 

 the National 

 the Prussian 



chamber of deputies 1867-82, and 

 entered the Reichstag in 1887. 

 From June, 1890-May, 1901, he 

 was Prussian minister of finance, 

 chosen by William II. In 1897 he 

 was raised to the nobility, and 

 made vice-president of the Prussian 

 ministry. Opposed by von Bulow, 

 he resigned office, and died at 

 Frankfort on Sept. 8, 1901 Pron. 

 Mee kel. 



J. von Miquel, 

 German statesman 



Liberal party in 



Miquelon, GREAT AND LITTLE. 

 Inlands off the S. coast of Newfound- 

 land, forming, with the St. Pierre 

 group, the only French North 

 American colony. jTho inlands are 

 connected by a 

 strip'of sand, 5J m 

 long, and have 

 (with St. Pierre 

 group) an area of 

 93 aq. m Barren 

 and rocky, the 

 chief pursuit n a 

 declining cod-fish- 

 ing industry. St. 

 Pierre is the capi- 

 tal. Bet ween 1 7 13 

 and 1816, they 

 were four times 

 appropriated t o 

 England, and as 

 many times re- 

 stored to France. 

 Pop. (Miquelon 

 group),443;withSt 

 Pierre group, 5,100. 

 Mir. Form of 

 village community 

 found among the Russians, Serbs, 

 and other Slavonic people. Under 

 it the land belongs to the inhabit- 

 ants in common, and is assigned to 

 each, according to his working 

 capacity, for a stated period. This 

 and other matters of joint interest 

 are decided by a village assembly. 

 In some features the mir resembles 

 the manor. See Manor; Village 

 Community. Pfbn. Meer. 



Mira. In astronomy, the name 

 given to the first known variable 

 star. Discovered by David Fabri- 

 cius, 1596, who announced it as a 

 new star, it fluctuates in brightness 

 from the second to the ninth mag- 

 nitude during a period of about 332 

 days. Neither the maximum and 

 minimum brightness nor the period 

 are constant, and the causes for the 

 changes are unknown. Spectro- 

 scopic examination has established 

 that the change is a physical one 

 confined to the star itself and pro- 

 bably not due to the regular eclipse 

 of a dark companion. The star is 

 also known under the name Omi- 

 cron Ceti. See Stars. 

 Mirabeau, ANDR& BONIFACE 



LOUIS RlQUETI, VlOOMTB DE 



(1754-92). French politician. A 

 brother of Gabriel Honore 

 de Mirabeau, ' he was born at 

 Bignon, Nov. 

 30. 1754, and 

 became an 

 officer of dra- 

 goons. He 

 served in the 

 American War 

 of Independ- 

 ence between 

 1780-85, be- 

 came colonel of Vicomte de Mi,.,,,. 

 the regiment 01 French politician 



