M E N 
Walls in the yes? 157S. In the year 1 5S5, it was nearly 
deftroyed by fire. It has often been taken and retaken 
during former wars. The French made themfelves mat¬ 
ters of it in 1667 ; and while in their poffeffion it was for¬ 
tified by Vauban. After the battle of Ramillies, Menin, 
which was by the French confidered the key of Flanders, 
fell into the hands of the allies ; and, by the treaty of An¬ 
twerp being made one of the barrier-towns, the ftates-ge- 
neral kept a good garrifon there. In the year 1744, it 
was again taken by the French, who deftroyed the fortifi¬ 
cations ; but was reftored to Auftria at the peace of Aix 
la Chapelle. It was recovered by the French at the revo¬ 
lution; and, during the late war, was confidered as a 
place of cenfiderable confequence, and many attempts 
were made mutually to take and preferve it. It is two 
polls north of Lille, and four foutli of Bruges. Lat. 50. 
48. N. Ion. 3. 5. E. 
ME'NIN, or Menin'ski (Francis), a confiderable ori¬ 
ental Icholar, was born at Lorraine in 1623. Of the early 
part of his life we have no account; but he ftudied at 
Rome ; and, being particularly attached to the acquiii- 
tion of the eaftern languages, when about the age of thirty 
he accompanied the Polifh ambaffador to Constantinople, 
and there applied fo afikiuoufly to the ftudy of the Turkifh 
tongue, that in a very fhort time he was made firft inter¬ 
preter to the Polifh embaify at the Porte ; and afterwards 
was raifed to the office of ambaffador plenipotentiary to 
that court. Flence he was naturalized in Poland, and 
added the termination Jki to his family-name of Menin. 
In 1661 he accepted the poll of interpreter of the oriental 
languages at the court of Vienna, and accompanied the 
imperial ambaffador to the Porte. In 1669 he vilited the 
holy fepulchre at Jerufalem, and was created a knight of 
that order. His fervices were fo much approved, that 
on his return to Vienna he was appointed one of the em¬ 
peror’s council of war, as well as firit interpreter. He died 
m 1698. As an author, the great work of Meniniki was 
bis Thefaurus Livguarum Orientalium , publilhedat Vienna 
in 1680, in four vols. folio. Of thefe the fourth was en¬ 
tirely deftroyed by the falling of a bomb upon the author’s 
houfe during the fiege of Vienna by the Turks, which 
obliged him to recompofe it. The other volumes were 
greatly injured at the lame time, which rendered the work 
extremely icarce and dear. A new edition of it with im¬ 
provements was begun at Vienna in the year 1780. The 
Turkilh, Perfian, and Arabic, grammars, contained in 
the Thefaurus, were republiihed in two volumes quarto, 
1756. Gen. Biog. 
MENIN'GEN, a town of Germany, two miles north of 
Moefkirch. 
MENIN'GES, f. [Greek.] The meninges arc the two 
membranes that envelope the brain, which are called the 
pia .mater and dura mater; the latter being the exterior 
involucrum, is, from its thicknefs, fo denominated.—The 
brain being expoled to the airgroweth fluid, and is thruft 
forth by the contraction of the meninges. Wife-man. 
ME'NINX, in ancient geography, an ifland in the Me- 
riiterranean, to the well of the Syrtis Minor. Suppofed 
by Strabo and Polybius to be Homer’s country of the 
LctophagJ; and hence Ptolemy and Eratofthenes deno¬ 
minate the ifland Lotop/iagitis. It was the country of Vi- 
bius Callus the emperor, and of Volufianus. Now called 
Go bi and Zarbi. 
MENIP'PUS, a cynic philofopher of Phoenicia. He 
was originally a Have, but obtained his liberty with a fum 
of money, and became one of the greatell ufurers at 
Thebes. He grew fo delperate from the continual re¬ 
proaches and infults to which he was daily expoled on 
account of his meannefs, that he deftroyed himfelf. He 
wrote thirteen books of Saties, which have been left. In 
imitation of him, Varro alfo wrote fa tires under the title 
of Satira Menippece: whence this fort of compoiition is 
-alio denominated Vurronian Satire. Among the mo¬ 
derns there is a famous piece under this title frit pub- 
■Vql. XV. No. 1027. 
M E N 105 
H bed in 5 594, agalnft the chiefs of the league, called aifa 
the Catholicon of Spain. It is eftcemed a mafterpiece for 
the time. 
MENIS'CIUM, f. [fo called by Schrcber, the author of 
the genus, from pr,vio-xoc, a crefcent, in allufion to the 
fhape of the fruftification.] In botany, a genus of the 
clafs cryptogamia, order filices, or ferns. Generic cha¬ 
racters—Caplules annulated, in fmall Angle curved iir.es, 
nearly parallel to each other, and fituated tranfverfely, in 
regular feries, betwixt the veins of the frond ; involucrum 
none.— EJfentia .1 Character. Fruftification in a feries of 
fmall traftfverfe crefcent-fliaped lines, between the veins 
of the frond ; involucrum none. There are five fpecies. 
1. Menifcium reticulatum : frond pinnate; leaflets un¬ 
divided. Native of the Weft Indies ; particularly St. Kitt’s. 
Plunder found it very abundantly in afe’ending the moun¬ 
tain called de la Calebaffe, in Martinico. It is a very iara-e 
and handfome fern, about four feet high ; the ftalks linooth 
and fliining, dark brown, or black ; leaflets numerous, 
about a fpan long, and above an inch wide, almoft feffile, 
alternate, broadeft near the bafe, tapering to a Iharp nar¬ 
row point; the margin flightly crenate, or wavy. The 
whole under-fide is covered with fructifications, in curved 
lines, anfwering to the form of a crefcent. 
2. Menifcium triphyllum : frond three-leaved. Native 
of China and the Eall Indies. Sprengel reprefents the 
frond as about five inches long, fmooth, confiftin°- of one 
large, terminal, oblong, pointed, entire, leaflet ° and a 
pair of much fmaller, oppofite, fefiile, ones, a little be¬ 
low it. Each of the leaflets , is furnilhed with a midrib, 
and numerous tranfverfe, oblique, parallel, veins, con¬ 
nected by line, regular, decuflating, lines of fruftification. 
3. Menifcium proliferum : frond pinnate; leaflets lan¬ 
ceolate, crenate, with axillary fmaller leaflets. Sent by 
Koenig from the Eaft Indies. It is deferibed as a lar°-e de¬ 
cumbent fern, with alternate, .feffile, lanceolate, crenate, 
leaflets, about half a foot long, abrupt at their bate; from 
thefe are produced, at their origin, other axillary fronds or 
branches, a foot and a half long, often in pairs, whofe 
leaflets are exaftly like the former, but much linaller; and 
the Italic has a knot at the part whence they originate. 
Fruftification in decuflating irregular lines, lb as lome- 
times to give the character of a Polypodium, fometimes of 
an Acroftichum. 
4. Menifcium criftatum: frond pinnate ; leaflets nearly 
oppofite, lanceolate, pointed ; the lower ones pinnatifid, 
with obtule finely-toothed fegments. Fronds about a 
foot and a Half high, or more, with numerous falcate leaf¬ 
lets, of a delicate texture, about four inches long, and near 
an inch broad. Fruftification-copious, in curved lines. 
Native of Martinique. 
5. Menifcium ferratum : front! pinnate ; leaflets alter¬ 
nate, lanceolate, ferrate. Fronds above two feet high, 
Ihining; leaflets five inches long, the lower ones an inch 1 
broad ; all (harp-pointed, finely toothed ; fruftification in 
curved parallel lines. Native of the Havannah. 
MENIS'CUS, f. [Gr. a little moon.] In optics, a glafs 
or lens, concave on one fide and convex on the other; 
fometimes alfo called lunu/c. See the article Optics. 
MENISPER'MUM, f. [to.named by Tournefort, from 
the Gr. p-urm, moon, and ajn^pot, feed ; the feed beinp- 
fhaped like a crefcent.] Moon-seed ; a genus of theclais 
dioecia, order dodecandria, natural order of farmentace*, 
(menilpemia, Jujf.) Genericcharafters—I. Male. Calyx: 
perianthium two-leaved ; leaflets linear, ffiort. Corolla : 
petals, outer fix, ovate, fpreading, equal; inner eight, ob- 
cordate, concave, fmaller than the outer, four of them in 
the inner row wider. Stamina : filaments iixteen, cyiin- 
dric, a little longer than the corolla; anthene terminating, 
very fhort, bluntly four-lobed. II. Female. Calyx and 
corolla as in the male. Stamina : filaments eight, like 
thofe of the male; anthers; pellucid, barren. Piftillum-: 
germens two or three, ovate, curved inwards, converging, 
P-edicelisd ; -ftyles folitary, -very ffiort, recurved; ftigmaa 
.e ‘ Wifid, 
