MONTH 



member to Parliament. Pup. 

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 m N. W.il, -. V (!. Itradtcy, I 



Month. Period (it tune chiflly 



((I liy tin- moon's iniitiiiii 

 round i In- earth. Thcrearevjun.il- 

 inoiitha according to the different 

 iin-tlii.,1- of computation. (1) The 

 lunar month, lunation or synodic 

 month, is tin- time which elapses 

 lietueen consecutive new or full 

 moons, and its length on tin- 

 is 29 days, 12 hours, 44 

 minutes, 2*8 seconds. (2) The 

 tropical month is the revolution of 

 tin- month with respect to the 

 movable equinox. It is 27 days, 

 7 hours, 43 minutes, 4'71 seconds. 



(3) The anomalistic month is the 

 time in which the moon returns to 

 the same point of her movable 

 elliptic orbit. It is 27 days, 13 

 hours, 18 minutes, 37*4 seconds. 



(4) The sidereal month is the inter- 

 val between two successive con- 

 junctions of the moon with the 

 same fixed star. It is 27 days, 

 7 hours, 43 minutes, 11'54 seconds. 



(5) The nodical month is the time 

 in which the moon accomplishes a 

 revolution with regard to her mov- 

 able nodes. It is 27 days, 5 hours, 

 5 minutes, 35'6 seconds. (6) The 

 calendar month is the month recog- 

 nized in the almanacs, consisting 

 of an arbitrary number of days. 

 (7) The solar month, the twelfth 

 part of a solar year, consists of 30 

 days, 10 hours, 29 minutes, 4 

 seconds. See Calendar. 



Monti, VINCENZO (1754-1828). 

 Italian poet. He was born at 

 Fusignano, near Ravenna, Feb. 19, 

 1754. His lyrical tragedy, Aristo- 

 demo, 1786, rendering the grief 

 of a father for having slain his 

 daughter, was followed by a ro- 

 mantic tragedy, Galeotto Manf redi , 

 1788. In 1793 

 he produced a 

 Dan tesqu e 

 epic, Basse- 

 villiana, the 

 subject being 

 the murder in 

 Rome of Hugo 

 Basseville, re- 

 presentative of 

 the French re- 

 public. This 

 was translated 

 into English by H. Boyd, 1805, 

 and by Lodge, 1845. Later he be- 

 came Napoleon's historiographer 

 in Italy and his panegyrist, most 

 notably in his Mascheroniana. He 

 translated the Iliad into Italian. 

 He died at Milan, Oct. 13, 1828. 



Montian. In geology, a division 

 of the Upper Cretaceous system of 

 rocks. See Cretaceous System. 



Montigny-sur-Sambre. Town 

 of Belgium, in the prov. of Hainault. 

 It lies 3 m. E. of Charleroi, on the 



Vincenzo Monti, 

 Italian poet 



55O9 



left liank of the Sambre, in tin- 

 midst of the thickly populated in- 

 dii-irial area of the valley. The 

 loun li i imp<. it. int coal mine- m 

 the \icinity, and various metal- 

 \\orkin rin^. and glass- 



making industries. It was occupied 

 throughout the Great War by the 

 Germans, who stripped its factories. 

 Pop. 18,800. 



Montilla. Town of Spain, in 

 the prov. of Cordova. It stands on 

 a spur of the Sierra de Montilla, 

 alt. 1,165 ft., 31 m. by rly. S.S.E. 

 of Cordova. It is noted for its 

 wine, Amontillado (q.v.). The 

 birthplace of Gonsalvo de Cordova 

 (q.v.), it contains the ruined castle 

 of his father, Fernandez. Montilla 

 manufactures coarse linen, olive 

 oil, and pottery. Pop. 13,600. 



Montluc OR MONLUC, BLAISE 

 DE (1502-77). French soldier. 

 Born of a good family in Gascony, 

 he became, 

 after his 

 father, the 

 seigneur of an 

 estate there. 

 Beginning in 

 the ranks, he 

 saw much 

 service in the 

 French army 

 in Italy. He 

 made a name 

 by his d e- 

 fence of Siena hi 1555, and, a tried 

 warrior, the king was glad of his 

 services when the civil war broke 

 out in France. In 1574 he was 

 made a marshal, and he continued 

 in the field until his death, some 

 time in 1577. Montluc is known as 

 the author of some Commentaries 

 which deal with his campaigns 

 between 1521 and 1574. Written 

 in a vivid and attractive manner, 

 they afford valuable material for 

 the history of the time. Henry IV 

 named the book the Soldier's Bible. 

 There is an edition in five vols., 

 1 804-72. 



Moutlucon. Town of France, 

 in the dept. of Allier. It stands on 

 the Cher, 50 m. S.W. of Moulins, 

 and consists of an upper or old 

 town and a newer one below. In the 

 former are the churches of Notre 

 Dame and S. Pierre, the latter a 

 Romanesque building begun in the 

 12th century, and the castle. In 

 the newer town are factories for 

 making glass, chemicals, iron and 

 steel goods, sewing machines, etc. 

 In the neighbourhood are coal 

 mines. Pop. 34,000. 



Mont mar tre. Arrondissement 

 of Paris, containing the quar tiers 

 of Grandes-Carrieres, Clignancourt, 

 Goutte-d'Or, and Chapelle. It lies 

 to the N. of Paris, within the forti- 

 fications, built on a hill rising to 

 the summit crowned by the large 



Blaise de Montluc, 

 French soldier 



MONTM^DY 



basilica of the Sacre Coeur, begun 

 in 1875. The once famoutt Abbaye 

 des Dame* de Montmartre was 

 founded in 1133. It was in Mont- 

 martre that the insurrection of the 

 Commune broke out, Feb., 1S71. 

 The district is thickly populated, 

 has many steep and narrow 



Montmartre, Paris. Basilica of the 



Sacre Coeur from the stairway in the 



Rue de la Bane 



streets, and is noted chiefly for the 

 large number of cabarets and night 

 restaurants which have grown up 

 since about 1880. The large ceme- 

 tery of Montmartre dates from 

 1798, and contains the graves of 

 many distinguished men, including 

 Murger and Gautier. The name 

 is thought to be a corruption of 

 Mont Martyr, given to it because 

 in Roman times, so it is said, 

 S. Denis and other martyrs were 

 put to death here. There was a 

 temple to Mercury on the hill. 

 See Paris. 



Montmedy. Town of France, 

 in the dept. of Meuse. It lies on the 

 river Chiers, 31 m. by rly. S.E. of 

 Sedan, and from its junction a rly. 

 runs into Belgium. The citadel is 

 on a hill known in Latin as Mons 

 Medius, whence the name of the 

 town. There are industries in tan- 

 ning, hat-making, and vinegar, with 

 miscellaneous local commerce. For- 

 merly in Belgian Luxembourg, it 

 was taken by Louis XIV in 1657, 

 and, after two days' bombard- 

 ment, by the Prussians in 1870. 



The fortress, with works con- 

 structed by Vauban, had not been 

 modernised before the Great War. 

 though it was of great strategical 

 importance, dominating the rlys. 

 from Belgian Luxembourg into 

 France. Its commander evacuated 

 it with the garrison on the night 

 of Aug. 28-29, 1914. He attempted 

 to reach the 4th French army on 



