MONOCHORD MONOMANIA. 



member of the academies nt Paris, London, and Ber- 

 lin, was born at t'uris in 1715, and early displayed a 

 ilrriited inclination for astronomical studies. In his 

 sixteenth year, he made observations on Saturn, and 

 in his twentieth year communicated to the academy 

 of sciences in Paris his Nouvelie Figure de la Lune, 

 avec la Description des Taches. The academy admit- 

 ted him into their number, and, in 1735, he went with 

 Maiipertuis to Lapland. In 1748, Mourner observed 

 the annular eclipse of the sun, in Scotland, and was 

 the first who measured the moon's diameter on the 

 sun's disk. In 1750, Louis XV. employed him to 

 run a meridian line through the castle of Bellevue. 

 Lalande, with whom he was afterwards on unfriendly 

 terms, was his pupil, and always spoke of him with 

 the highest esteem. Lemonnier was of an impetuous 

 and capricious temper; and after his death several 

 valuable works were found among his papers, which, 

 in spite of all entreaties, he had obstinately refused 

 to publish, and which he threatened to burn. Among 

 them was a catalogue of fixed stars, the plan of 

 which he had exhibited to the academy in 1741. He 

 was indefatigable in his labours, and his whole life 

 was devoted to science, which is indebted to him for 

 many improvements. He was the first to determine 

 the difference of refraction in summer and winter. 

 He corrected the tables of the sun, and the catalogues 

 of the stars, fixed with greater accuracy the inclina- 

 tion of the ecliptic, and ascertained the elevation of 

 the pole at Paris. He introduced into France the 

 transit-instrument constructed by Graham, and pointed 

 out the irregularities in the motion of Saturn, pro- 

 duced by the attraction of Jupiter. He died in 

 1799. Of his numerous works, his Hlstoire Celeste 

 and his Theorie des Cometes deserve to be particularly 

 mentioned. 



MONOCHORD (from the Greek); an ancient 

 instrument, or machine, so called, because it is fur- 

 nished with only one string. Its use is to measure 

 and adjust the ratios of the intervals, which it ef- 

 fects by the means of movable bridges, calculated to 

 divide the chord at the pleasure of the speculatist. 

 The monochord appears to have been in constant use 

 with the ancients, as the only means of forming the 

 ear to the accurate perception, and the voice to the 

 true intonation, of those minute and difficult intervals 

 which were then practised in melody. 



MONOCHROME (Gr. ,*, single, and %/>*>(**, 

 colour), in ancient painting ; a painting with one 

 single colour. This description of art, is very ancient, 

 and was known to the Etruscans. The first specimens 

 of the art of painting were of one tint only, which was 

 most commonly red, made either with cinnabar or 

 minium. Instead of red, white paint was sometimes 

 used. Quintilian says of Polygnotus, and Pliny of 

 Zeuxis, that their performances of this kind were of 

 the latter description. The antique tombs of the 

 Tarquins, in the neighbourhood of Corneto, offer 

 several figures painted in white upon a dark ground. 

 The first four plates in the first volume of the paint- 

 ings of Herculaneum contain several monochromes 

 upon marble. The most numerous monuments exist- 

 ing of this kind of painting are on terra cotta. 



MONOCRAT has been used by a few writers to de- 

 signate with one word an absolute monarch. They ob- 

 ject to autocrat, as not sufficiently precise, since there 

 might be also an autocratic tody, that is, several or 

 many persons who govern without any dependence on 

 those who are governed. 



MONODRAMA ; a drama in which only one per- 

 son plays. 



MONOGRAM (paw, single, or only, andyga/t^a), 

 in archaeology ; a character or cipher composed of 

 one, two, or more letters interwoven, being a sort of 

 abbreviation of a name, anciently used as a seal, 



badge, arms, &c. They were used on coins, stand- 

 ards, walls and tapestry, seals and documents ; first 

 on coins, latest on documents, in which they were 

 employed not only by princes and ecclesiastical dig- 

 nities, but also by magistrates and notaries. Their 

 use particularly as arms is ancient, as appears from 

 Plutarch, and from some Greek medals of the time 

 of Philip of Macedon, and Alexander, his son. The. 

 Roman labarum bore the monogram of Jesus Christ, 

 which consisted of two letters, a P placed perpendicu- 

 larly through the middle of an X, as we find it on many 

 medals of the age of Constantine, these being the two 

 first letters of the word XPISTOS. Under the Eastern 

 empire, it is usual to find MIK, which form the mono- 

 gram of Mary, Jesus, Constantine. The use of 

 monograms was exceedingly common upon Greek 

 coins ; and many antiquarians have bestowed much 

 time and attention in the effort to decipher them a 

 useless labour, since a great number of these mono- 

 grams were, without doubt, of a conventional nature, 

 and understood only by a few, even in the times at 

 which the coins were current. After the time of 

 Charlemagne, who made much use of them, and im- 

 proved their form, monograms became very common 

 in all the countries which had belonged to the Frank- 

 ish empire, but after the twelfth century, gradually 

 went out of use. The use of them remained longest 

 in Germany, where it was formally abolished by the 

 diet of Worms, in 1495. The knowledge of mono- 

 grams of this public kind is of great importance for 

 the illustration of the monuments and documents of 

 the middle ages, and therefore forms a particular 

 branch of diplomatics. The term was subsequently 

 applied to all sorts of ciphers and signs, with which 

 artists, particularly painters and engravers, were ac- 

 customed to designate their works. These have often 

 been counterfeited. The ancients called every out- 

 line, every simple sketch, a monogram. Montfaucon, 

 in his Paleographie Grecgue, has given a very exten- 

 sive catalogue of monograms taken from medals of 

 various kinds. John Fr. Christ's collection of figures 

 of monograms, accompanied by explanations, An- 

 zeige und Auslegung der Monogrammatum (Leipsic, 

 1747), is valuable ; also Brouillot's celebrated 

 Diet, des Monogrammes, completed and corrected, 

 in his Table generale des Monogr., Chiffres, &c. 

 (Munich, 1820). 



MONOGRAPH (>vf, only, single, y^apti); a 

 treatise on a single subject in literature or science ; 

 thus we say, a monograph on violets, a monograph 

 on Egyptian mummies. The advantage of a treatise 

 of this nature is, that it allows more minuteness of 

 detail in reference to all the properties and relations 

 of the subject of the monograph. Papers in the me- 

 moirs or transactions of literary and scientific socie- 

 ties, and in periodical journals, are often mono- 

 graphs, and have contributed much to the progress 

 of modern science. 



MONOLITHIC (from ftoym, single, and x/A*, 

 stone) ; consisting of a single stone. According to 

 Herodotus, there was a monolithic sanctuary attached 

 to a temple at Sais, dedicated to Minerva, twenty- 

 one cubits long, fourteen wide, and eight high, which 

 was brought from Elephantine. The carriage of it 

 employed 2000 men three years. Some striking 

 specimens of monolithic temples are still found in 

 Egypt, and, like the monolithic obelisks, bear testi- 

 mony to the wonderful application of mechanical 

 power among the ancient Egyptians. See Obelisks. 



MONOLOGUE (ftnos, single, \tyt, discourse); 

 in distinction from dialogue (q. v.), in the drama; the 

 same as soliloquy. See Soliloquy. 



MONOMANIA (from , and ^awa); the name 

 given, by some physicians, to that form of mania, in 

 which the mind of the patient is absorbed by one 



