MICA 



3778 



MICHELANGELO BUONARROTI 



Various steamship lines connect with Atlantic 

 ports. 



Miami is known as the "Magic City," be-, 

 cause of its rapid growth. The population in 

 1910 was 5,471, but the city in 1916 claimed 

 over 15,000. It has a number of handsome 

 hotels, a Federal building erected in 1914 at a 

 cost of $225,000, a courthouse, city hall and a 

 Y. M. C. A. building. Here is the southern ter- 

 minus of the Dixie Highway (which see), and 

 in and about the city are Bay Boulevard, Royal 

 Palm, Lawrence and Biscayne drives. Inter- 

 esting features of the city are the two-and-a- 

 half mile bridge across the bay, an alligator 

 farm, a large paint factory, a moving-picture 

 studio and the subtropical laboratory of the 

 United States government. 



The city ships quantities of fish and sponges 

 taken from Biscayne Bay, and oranges, grape- 

 fruit, cocoanuts, pineapples, avocados and limes, 

 and winter vegetables. The value of the annual 

 fruit and vegetable crop of Dade and Palm 

 Beach counties exceeds $3,500,000. Miami is 

 the trading center of the Seminole Indians, who 

 live in and near the Everglades, northwest of 

 the city. j.s. 



MICA, mi'kah, sometimes incorrectly called 

 isinglass, is the mineral whose most common 

 use is observed in the doors of stoves. Mica is 

 easily recognized because of the glassy appear- 

 ance of its crystals, and because they can be 

 separated into very thin plates. It is found 

 surrounded by other rocks. There are several 

 varieties, but white mica, or muscovite, is the 

 one most widely used. When taken from the 

 mine it is freed from the other rock and then 

 split into layers of the desired thickness. Some 

 of these layers for the most delicate purposes 

 are thinner than tissue paper. The plates are 

 cut with shears into different sizes; all those 

 of one size are wrapped in packages, usually of 

 one pound each, for the market. The waste 

 from making the plates is ground to a powder, 

 which is used for lubricating machinery when 

 oil cannot be applied, for absorbing nitroglyc- 

 erine in making dynamite, and for producing 

 the "frost" effect on wall paper. The plates are 

 also used for insulators in dynamo-electric ma- 

 chines. 



Black or dark-green mica is known as biotite. 

 Mica is quarried in large quantities at Grafton, 

 N. H. 



MICA SCHIST, shist, the rock which imparts 

 to the White Mountains the snow-capped ap- 

 pearance from which they take their name, but 

 which is abundant in nearly all mountain 



regions. It is composed of mica and quartz and 

 is usually formed in layers which are folded. 

 The mica may be white or black. Its arrange- 

 ment in layers allows the rock to be easily 

 divided into slabs. The peculiar whiteness of 

 the White Mountains is caused by the reflec- 

 tion of light from this rock. It is of no value 

 as a building stone, but may be used in rough 

 foundation walls. 



MICHAEL, mi'kael or mi'kel, SAINT, one 

 of the seven spiritual beings called the arch- 

 angels, referred to in the Bible. Michael ap- 

 pears as one of the four great angels with Ga- 

 briel. In Revelation XII, 9, he is represented 

 as a military commander in the heavenly war 

 against Satan. The feast of Saint Michael oc- 

 curs on September 29 in the Roman Catholic 

 Church, while the Greek Church dedicates 

 November 9 to this festival. See MICHAELMAS. 



MICHAELMAS, mi'kel mas, a Christian fes- 

 tival held in honor of Saint Michael, the Arch- 

 angel, and All Angels, celebrated on September 

 29 by the Roman Catholic, the Anglican and 

 some other churches. The yearly celebration 

 appears to have arisen out of a local church 

 dedication in honor of Saint Michael in Italy 

 in the fifth century, and by the ninth century it 

 had become a day of considerable importance. 

 The Greek, Armenian and Coptic churches 

 dedicate November 9 to the feast of Saint 

 Michael and All Angels. 



MICHELANGELO BUONARROTI, mikelan' 

 jelo bwaw nahrraw'te (1475-1564), one of 

 the greatest figures in the world of art, the 

 most celebrated artist of the High Renaissance 

 (see RENAISSANCE). Not only was he supreme 

 as a sculptor and 

 painter, but he 

 was a poet, archi- 

 tect and military 

 engineer as well 

 and he put the 

 stamp of genius 

 upon everything 

 he touched. He 

 was happiest 

 when working 

 with his chisel, 

 for he displayed 

 greatest power in 

 sculpture. How- 

 ever, he was fre- 



MICHELANGELO 



quently called away from revealing the wonder- 

 ful art concealed in the rough blocks of stone 

 "in their superfluous shell" to execute some 

 other masterpiece with his brush. 



