MONITOR 



3890 



MONK 



in destroying mice, rats and snakes. It is about 

 sixteen inches long and has a fierce disposition, 

 but is easily tamed. It seizes and kills snakes, 

 the poisonous cobra included, and avoids the 

 stroke of the serpent by its agility. In parts of 

 the world it has been colonized to destroy ver- 

 min, but it increases in numbers so rapidly that 

 birds, poultry and small animals have suffered 

 severely. For the latter reason, since 1902 the 

 bringing of a live mongoose into the United 

 States has been prohibited by law. 



MONITOR, mon'iter, the name of a species 

 of large lizards, sometimes wrongly called the 

 iguana by Europeans. They are the largest liz- 

 ards of the Eastern hemisphere, and live in the 

 rivers of Egypt, India and Africa, where they 

 are greatly feared by the natives. These crea- 

 tures often attain a length of six feet and are 

 greenish-gray or brown on the back, with fine 

 yellow lines and black stripes on the head and 

 neck. Young crocodiles or crocodile and turtle 

 eggs form the principal food of the monitor, 

 while the big crocodile is its greatest enemy. 

 The natives believe that these lizards warn their 

 fellows with a hiss and plunge down into the 

 w r ater when a crocodile approaches; the name 

 monitor, or warning lizard, is derived from this 

 habit. See LIZARD. 



MONITOR AND MERRIMAC, mer'imak, 

 the names of ' two ironclad warships that en- 

 gaged in a naval encounter in Hampton Roads, 

 Va., on March 9, 1862, during the War of Seces- 

 sion. The Monitor was the invention of Cap- 



THE HISTORIC SCENE 



Engagement of the first iron-clad ships of war, 

 In Hampton Roads. 



tain John Ericsson, and was the first successful 

 ironclad vessel in the United States navy, be- 

 ing constructed at Greenpoint, L. I., between 

 October, 1861, and January, 1862. 



The length of the Monitor was 172 feet; it 

 lay so low in the water that its flat iron-plated 

 deck was but two or three feet above water level. 

 The revolving turret contained two eleven-inch 

 guns and was made of iron so thick that it could 

 stop a heavy cannon ball. The Monitor was 

 launched on January 30, 1862, and sailed on 

 March 6 for Hampton Roads to meet the Mer- 

 rlmac, the Confederate ironclad ship which had 

 destroyed a number of Federal vessels in the 



harbor and had been rechristened the Virginia. 

 The two vessels met on March 9, 'and after a 

 four hours' battle the Monitor forced her oppo- 

 nent to retreat to Norfolk in a disabled condi- 

 tion; the broadsides fired by the Merrimac pro- 

 duced no effect on the "cheesebox on a raft," 

 as the Monitor had been ironically nicknamed. 



This naval engagement demonstrated the 

 value of armored vessels; it put an end to the 

 building of wooden ships of war, and these 

 comparatively simple vessels proved the fore- 

 runners of the 25,000-ton steel battleships of 

 the present day. See ERICSSON, JOHN. 



MONK, mungk, originally a man who aban- 

 doned the world and retired to solitary life for 

 religious reasons. At the present time the term 

 is applied to any member of a community of 

 people, men or women, who have retired from 

 the world because of religious vows which they 

 have taken. It is probable that the first order 

 of Christian monks originated in Northern 

 Egypt in the third or fourth century. The 

 members lived solitary lives, devoting them- 

 selves to the study of the Scriptures, medita- 

 tion and prayer. Later monks began to gather 

 themselves into communities and to erect 

 monasteries. There are now many monastic or- 

 ders, especially in the ' Roman Catholic Church, 

 and their members are found in all lands. See 

 MONASTICISM. 



MONK, or MONCK, mungk, GEORGE, first 

 Duke of Albemarle (1608-1670), an English sol- 

 dier famed for his share in the restoration of 

 the Stuarts to the throne of England after the 

 execution of Charles I. Throughout his entire 

 military career, which was begun to escape the 

 consequences of a thrashing given by himself 

 to an officer who had wronged his father, he was 

 distinguished for his ability to fill difficult 

 places, for his keen judgment and for his fear- 

 less energy. As a soldier he served in Spain, 

 Holland, Ireland, Scotland and England. Dur- 

 ing the struggle between Parliament and Charles 

 I, Monk held a command under Cromwell in 

 Scotland, and remained there to complete the 

 union of Scotland with England. After the 

 death of Cromwell, he secretly waited for the 

 right time to advance to London and restore the 

 crown to the Stuart king, Charles II. This he 

 eventually did without shedding blood, by call- 

 ing together the Presbyterian members who had 

 been expelled from Parliament in 1648, thus 

 securing a majority favorable to the restora- 

 tion. In recognition of this service Charles II 

 created him Duke of Albemarle. See COMMON- 

 WEALTH OF ENGLAND. 



