M O N 
letters was born at Dijon in 1641. He was brought up 
to the bar; but his attachment to polite literature gave 
him a diftafte for legal purfuits, and he was contented 
with the office of correftor in the chamber of accounts at 
Dijon. He acquired an accurate knowledge of the Greek, 
Latin, Spaniffi, and Italian, languages; and attained great 
excellence in the compofition of French poetry. His 
poem, entitled “ Le Duel aboli,” gained the prize of the 
French Academy in 1671, which was the firft diftributed 
by that body. Several of his fublequent pieces obtained 
the fame honour: the fubjebt of each was fome topic of 
the praife of Louis XIV. Notwithftanding the reputation 
he had acquired in the capital, he rather chofe to relide 
in his native province; and his abfence from Paris was 
the caufe that he w'as not affociated to the French Aca¬ 
demy till 1713. Void of ambition, and univerfally ef- 
teemed as well for the qualities of his heart as of his un- 
derftanding, he palled his time in an ealy independence, 
till the fatal fyltem of Law reduced him to indigence. His 
diftrefs was alleviated by a penfion from the duke of Vii- 
leroi ; and he lived to the advanced age of eighty-eight, 
dying at Paris in 1729, one year after the lofs of his wife. 
Monnoye was extremely well verfed in literary anecdote, 
whence he was the oracle of the bibliographers of his 
time. His principal works are, 1. Poefies Franyoifes, and 
Nouvelles Poefies; confifting of milcellaneous pieces of 
different merit; there are annexed to them fome Latin 
poems, confifting of fables, epigrams, and tales, written 
■with much elegance and claffical limplicity, but many of 
them licentious in their language; the Latin poems were 
alfo publiffied by the abbe d’Olivet, together with thofe of 
Huet, Maffieu, and Frauguier. 2. Noels Bourguignons ; 
a fet of Chriftmas carols in the Burgundian dialeft, much 
praifed for their humorous fimplicity, but rather grofs, 
on which account, probably, they were condemned by 
the Sorbonne 3. Remarques fur le Menagiana, avec 
une Dilfertation fur le Livre De tribus Impoltoribus. 4. 
Notes fur la Bibliotheque choifie de Colomies. 5. Re¬ 
marques fur les Jugements des Savans de Baillet. 6. Re- 
marques fur les Bibliotheques de Du Verdier et De la 
Croix-du-Maine. Monnoye was the editor of a Collec¬ 
tion of the French Poets, and of a Recueil de Pieces 
choilies. A colleftion of his own works was given in 
3 vols. 8vo. 1769. Moreri. 
MONOCAR'POUS, adj. [from the Greek yovoc , alone, 
and xafTj-o?, a fruit.] In botany, bearing one iingle fruit. 
MONOCA'SY, a river of Maryland, which runs into 
Potomack fifty miles above George-town. 
MONO'CEROS, or Mono'cerot, f. [from the Greek 
/aov 0?, tingle, and x£ga?, horn.] A name which has been 
given to feveral animals, particularly the unicorn, gene¬ 
rally fuppofed to be a fabulous animal, but the exiltence 
of which, in the interior of Africa, is infifted upon by 
feveral writers. A Mahometan African prince is faid to 
have fent two of them to Mecca in the year 1799.—Jacob 
de Dondis, in his catalogue of fimples, hath ambergreece, 
the bone of a (tag’s heart, monocerot's horn. Burton's Anat. 
of Melancholy. 
MONO'CEROS, the Unicorn; in aftronomy, afouth- 
ern conftellation formed by Hevelius, containing in 
his Catalogue 19 liars, and in the Britannic Cata¬ 
logue 31. 
MON'OCHORD, f. [from the Greek /^ovo?, fingle, and 
chord or firing.] An inftrument by which the fe¬ 
veral proportions of mufical founds and intervals, as well 
in the natural as in tempered fcales, are tried. Origi¬ 
nally it had, as its name implies, only one firing; but it 
is better conftrubted with two; for, by means of this 
additional firing, we have an opportunity of judging of 
the harmony of tw'o tempered notes in every poffible va¬ 
riety of temperament. 
The monochord, according to Boethius, is an inftru¬ 
ment invented by Pythagoras, for meafuring geometri¬ 
cally, or by lines, the quantities and proportions of lounds. 
The ancient monochord wascompofied of a rule divided 
Vol. XV. No. 1075. 
M O 085 
and fubdivided into divers parts, on which there was a 
firing pretty well ftretched upon two bridges, at each 
extremity. In the middle between both was a moveable 
bridge, called magas, by means of which, in applying it 
to the different divifions of the line, the founds were 
found to be in the fame proportion to one another, as the 
divifions of the line cut by the bridge were. The mono- 
chord is alfo called the harmonical canon, or canonical rule; 
becaufe ferving to meafure the degrees of gravity, and 
acutenefs of founds. Ptolemy examines his harmonica! 
intervals by the monochord. 
There are alfo monochords with divers firings, and a 
multitude of fixed bridges; but the ufe of all thefe may¬ 
be fupplied by one fingle moveable bridge; by only thrft- 
ing it under a new chord or firing, which is placed in the 
middle, and reprefents the entire found, or open note, 
anfwering to all the divifions on the other bridges. When 
the chord was divided into equal parts, fo that the terms 
were as 1 and 1, they called them unifons; if they were 
as 2 to 1, oftaves, or diapafons ; when they were as 8 to 2, 
fifths, or diapentes; if, they were as 410 3, they called 
them fourths, or diateffarons; if the terms were as 5 to 4, 
diton, ora greater third; if as 6 to 5, demi-diton, or a 
leffer third ; laftly, if as 24 to 25, demi-diton, or dielis. 
See the article Music. 
Cenforinus informs us, that Apollo found the mono- 
chord in the found of the firing of his fitter Diana’s bow ; 
and it feems at leaft probable, that the firft ftringed in¬ 
ftrument was a monochord, and that that fingle firing 
was the firing of a bow. Ariftides Quintilianus fays, that 
the monochord was recommended by Pythagoras on his 
death-bed as the mufical inveftigator, the criterion of 
truth. It appears to have been in conltant ufe among 
the ancients, as the only means of forming the ear to the 
accurate perception, and the voice to the true intonation, 
of thofe minute and difficult intervals which were then 
pradtifed in melody. 
Monochord is alfo ufed for any mufical inftrument 
confifting of only one chord, orftring. Thus the vielle, vul¬ 
garly called the hurdy-gurdy, is a kind of monochord ; it 
has frets which are railed by the action of the fingers on 
a row of keys; and, inftead of a bow, the firing is made 
to vibrate by the motion of-a wooden wheel: there is alfo 
a fecond firing ferving as a drone,- producing always the 
fame found : this is furniffied with a bridge loofely fixed, 
which (trikes continually againft the founding-board, and 
produces a peculiar nalal effeft. The trumpet marine, or 
trumpet Marigni, was a firing of the fame kind, which 
was lightly touched at proper points, fo as to produce 
harmonic notes only: it was impelled by a bow. 
MONOCHRO'MA, or Monochrom'aton, f. [from 
the Greek yov 0;, fingle, and a colour.] A picture 
all of one colour. Scott. 
MONOCO'LON, _/.' [from the Greek/aoroj, fingle, and 
xoiAo;, hollow.] A name (ometimes given by anatomifts 
to the reftum. 
MONOCOTYLEDO'NES, f. in botany ; [from j tC0I'G£, 
one, or fingle, and xoIvXrfav, a cotyledon, or feminal leaf.] 
One of the great tribes or affemblages of plants, into 
which the whole vegetable kingdom is divided by bota- 
nifts who ftudy a natural (yftem of arrangement, parti¬ 
cularly by Jufiieu. See Cotyledon, vol. v. p. 271. 
MONOC'ULAR, or MoNOc'uLOUS,«rfJ [from yovos and 
oculus.~\ One-eyed; having only one eye.—He was well 
ferved who, going to cut down an ancient white haw¬ 
thorn-tree, which, becaufe fine budded before others, 
might be an occaiion of fuperftition, had fome of the 
prickles flew into his eyes, and made him monocular. 
Ilouell. —Thofe of China repute the reft of the w’orld 
monoculous. G/anville's Scepjis. 
MONOC'ULUS, / in entomology, a genus of infefts 
of the order aptera, of which the generic characters are— 
•Legs from four to eight, formed for fwimming, and very 
long; body covered with a cruft or (hell divided into 
fiegments; fome have four, fome two, antennse, and feme 
8 M are 
