MO N 



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MON 



plants. MonaeciaSyngenesia. Name from 

 morcUo, to bite, in allusion to the sharp 

 taste of the fruit. The squirting cucum- 

 ber of the South of Europe, and the bal- 

 sam apple of the East Indies, are species. 

 The dried juice of the fruit of the first is 

 the elaterium of the shops, and from which 

 tintine is obtained. 



MON'ACHISM, j ^aas, alone. The monk- 



MONKERT. i ish system was estab- 

 lished in the middle of the third century, 

 by which many persons were brought 

 together, and bound by vows to the per- 

 formance of religious duties, and abstin- 

 ence from worldly enjoyments. 



MON'ADE. 1. An indivisible thing : from 



/xr/vaj, unity. 2. An individual of the 



genus Monas (q. v.). 



MONADEI/PHIA, from /Mvo<;, one, and 

 5sA<px, a brotherhood. The name of 

 the 16th class of plants in the sexual 

 system of Linnseus, consisting of plants 

 with hermaphrodite flowers, in which 

 all the stamina are united below into a 

 cylindrical body, through which the pistil 

 passes. It consists for the most part of 

 plants belonging to the natural orders 

 Malvaceae and Geraniaceae, as the cotton- 

 tree, geranium, passion-flower, &c. 



MONAN'DRIA, from f&nos, one, and v>jf , 

 male. The name of the first class of plants 

 in the sexual system of Linnaeus, consist- 

 ing of plants with hermaphrodite flowers, 

 which have only one stamen. It contains 

 only two orders, Monogynia and Digynia. 



MON'ARCH Y, from /MHOS, one, and ?, 

 a chief. A government in which the su- 

 preme power is vested in a single person. 

 It is absolute when the " sovereign is ac- 

 countable to none but God," and limited 

 when the supreme power is virtually in 

 the laws. 



MO'.N AS, from uava;, unity. A genus of 

 animalcules of the class Infusoria, re- 

 siding in water, and usually considered 

 the ultimate term ofanimality, as neither 

 mouth nor vessels can be perceived in the 

 individuals ; yet they perform their loco- 

 motive evolutions with considerable ra- 

 pidity. The recent observations of Prof. 

 Ehrenberg have brought to light the ex- 

 istence of monades, which are not larger 

 than the 24,000th of an inch, and are so 

 thickly crowded in the fluid as to leave 

 intervals not greater than their own 

 diameter. Hence, he concludes, that a 

 single drop may contain 500,000,000 of 

 these monades. 



MONOTREM'ATA. The name given by 

 Geoffrey to a tri DC of Edentata found only 

 in New Holland. Two genera are known, 

 thecArf/Mi,Cuv., and the Ornithorynchus, 

 Blum., or Platyput, shaw. 



MON'EY, Sax. mynet. Whatever is made 

 the medium of trade for determining tt e 



value of commodities in buying and sell- 

 ing, whether it be stamped metals, called 

 coin and specie, or promissory notes com- 

 prehending bank paper, bills of exchange, 

 and all other tangible promises to pay. 

 There are also moneys of account, which 

 are merely imaginary names, as the Eng- 

 lish pound, before sovereigns were coined. 

 Paper money is styled paper currency, to 

 distinguish it from specie or metallic 

 currency or cash. The word has been 

 derived from moneta, the Latin name for 

 money, because the Romans kept their 

 silver money in the temple of Juno 

 Moneta. 



MON'EYERS. Oflicers of the mint. 



MON'ITOR. 1. One who gives warning, 



from monitio, warning. 2. A genus of 



lizards, containing those species which 

 are of the largest size ; have two teeth 

 in both jaws, but none in the palate, and 

 a laterally compressed tail, which ren- 

 ders them more aquatic. They frequent 

 the waters like the crocodiles and alliga- 

 tors, and are said to give notice by whist- 

 ling of the approach of those dangerous 

 animals. Species are found in most warm 

 and temperate parts of the world, and 

 some of large size are found fossil 



MON'KEY. The monkeys, so called, be- 

 long to the eastern continent. They have 

 the same number of grinders as Man ; but 

 otherwise differ from each other by cha- 

 racters which have caused them to be 

 denominated Ourang-Outangs, Gibbons, 

 Macaques, Baboons, and Mandrills. The 

 American monkeys are divided into 

 Sapajous, Sagouins, and Lemurs. 



MONOCAR'POUS, fAovos, .single, and 

 x^os> fruit. In botany, a term applied 

 to plants which perish as soon as they 

 have once borne fruit. 



MONOCEN'TRIS. The name given by 

 Schneider to a singular genus of acan- 

 thopterygious fishes found in the sea of 

 Japan, from [MVOS, one, and xivr^ov, 

 centre. The body is short (six inches), 

 thick, and completely mailed with enor- 

 mous angular, rough, and carinated 

 scales, of a silvery white. One species. 



MONOC'EROS. The Unicorn, fromftevof, 

 one, and xt^atf, a horn. 1. The unicorn 

 of the ancients is commonly regarded as 

 a fabulous animal ; but the name mono- 

 ceros has been appropriated by Linnajus 

 to the narwhal, which has a single horn 

 or tusk, of ten feet in length, implanted 

 in the intermaxillary bone, and pointed 

 in the direction of the axis of the body. 

 It has indeed the rudiments of two tusks, 



but both are never developed. 2. A 



constellation of the northern hemisphere, 

 formed by Hevelius out of the Stella n- 

 forntes of the ancients ; 36 stars. 



M-jN'orai.-uD, from /~o*o;, one, tj.J 

 X{?-7. chord. A musical instrument of 



