<590 M O N 
conferred ; and the finding of fo precious a remain 
was confidered as a fortunate incident, that afforded a 
ltrong teftimony of the veracity of that hiftorian. But it 
was not the curiofity of mankind alone, nor the rarenefs 
of the objedf, and the Angularity of its form, that brought 
the narwal’s tooth into Inch high repute in the different 
countries of Europe. A medicine was prepared from it, 
which was long given out by the quacks as an infallible 
Ipecific againfl poifon, and malignant fevers. At length, 
however, thefe frauds were detefted and expofed by one 
of the privy counfellors, who had a concern in the whale- 
fifhery, and received by the return of his own veffels a 
number of thofe teeth, fome of which were of the enor¬ 
mous length of three yards. 
Some circumflances having led to the belief that the fe¬ 
male narwal was entirely without tufks, and that the male 
had only one, fir Everard Home w'as induced to examine a 
jiumberoflkulls, and to leek for information from different 
quarters ; from which he concludes, that “ the male has 
two tufks, but that the left tufk appears commonly long 
before the right one ; and that the female has likewife 
two tufks, but that they are late in making their appear¬ 
ance.” It is very rarely that a female has been taken of 
fuflicient age to poflefs tw’o perfeft tufks. (Phil. Tranf. 
for 1813.) So that, after all, Linnaeus’s generic character 
is correft; but the name, both generic and fpecific, fliould 
be altered. 
But, although thus armed, and endowed with amazing 
velocity and ftrength, the narwal is one of the moft liarm- 
lefs and peaceable inhabitants of the ocean. It wants 
teeth for chewing, and a throat for fwallowing any bulky 
prey: of confequence it commits hoftility againfl; no ani¬ 
mal; but is conftantly feen fporting inoffenfively among 
the other monfters of the deep, never attempting to in¬ 
jure any of them. It is called by the Greenlanders the 
forerunner of the whale ; for, wherever it is feen, that fifh 
feldom fails foon to appear. The manners of thefe two 
fpecies nearly refemble each other; the food of both is 
thofe infedts called Medufa, or fea-blubber; and both 
are peaceable and innocent, though qualified by their 
ftrength or their arms to fpread general deftrudlion. So 
little indeed does this fifh avail itfelf of thofe implements 
with which nature has provided it, that they appear rather 
an impediment than a means of defence. It is at no 
pains to keep them in repair for adtion ; but, on the con¬ 
trary, the tooth is conftantly feen covered with weeds, 
flime, and all the filth of the fea. In one inftance they 
evidently operate to the deftrudlion of the owners ; for, 
the nanvals being gregarious animals, they are no fooner 
attacked by a fifiling veflel, than they crowd together in 
Inch a manner, that they are mutually embarrafled by their 
tufks, and are prevented from finking to the bottom. In 
this fituation the liarpooners feldom fail of ftriking one or 
two of thofe that are longeft detained upon the furface of 
the water; and the quantity of the oil w'hich they pro¬ 
duce, renders their capture an objedl of very confiderable 
emolument. 
At prefentthe narw'al is rarely feen of more than twenty 
feet in length from the mouth to the tail. The head is 
fhort, and convex above ; the mouth is fmall; the fpiracle, 
or breathing-hole, is duplicated within.; the tongue is 
long ; the pedtoral fins are fmall. The general form of 
the animal is rather long than thick in proportion to its 
fize. The colour, when young, is nearly black, but the 
belly is lighter. As, however, it advances in age, it be¬ 
comes marbled, or variegated with black and white on 
the back and fides, while the belly is nearly white. The 
fkin is fmooth, and there is a confiderable depth of oil or 
blubber beneath it. It is commonly feen in the fmall 
open or unfrozen fpots towards the coafts of the northern 
feas. To fuch places the narwals refort in multitudes, for 
the conveniency of breathing, and becaufe they are fure 
to find, near the ftiores, a due fupply of food. They are 
taken by means of harpoons; and the flefnis eaten by the 
Greenlanders,, raw, boiled, and dried; the inteftines and 
oil are alfo tiled as a food ; the tendons makegood thread, 
MON 
and the teeth ferve the purpofe of hunting horns, as well 
as that of building tents and houfes. A throne made for 
the Danifh monarchs is faid to be ftill preferred in the 
caftle of Rofenberg, compofed entirely of narwals’ teeth, 
which were formerly confidered as more valuable than gold. 
This fpecies is fhown on the annexed Plate, at fig. 1. 
2. Monodon fpurius, the fpurious or doubtful narwal: 
back pinnated, and two fmall teeth in the upper jaw. 
This is deferibed by Fabricius, in his Fauna Greenlandica, 
as a fpecies moft allied to the narwal, but not perhaps, 
ftridly fpeaking, of the fame genus ; it has no teeth in 
the mouth, but from the extremity of the upper mandi¬ 
ble project two minute conic obtufe teeth, a little curved 
at the tips, weak, and not above an inch long. The body 
is elongated, cylindric, black. Befides the pedoral fins 
and horizontal tail, there is alfo a minute dorfal fin. Its 
fleih and oil are confidered as purgative ; it is among the 
rareft of whales, and inhabits the main ocean, feldom com¬ 
ing to the Ihore. It has a fpiracle like other whales. It 
is very feldom taken alive, but found dead on the ihores. 
MON'ODUS, a fon of Prufias, king of Bithynia. He 
had one continued bone inftead of a row of teeth ; whence 
his name /ton®* Angle tooth. 
MON'ODY, f. [compounded of the Gr. p.ovo <:, alone; 
and a fong.] A kind of mournful fong or ditty, 
fung by a perfon alone, to utter grief. A fong for a 
Angle voice, in oppofition to what the ancients called 
ehorodies, or mufic executed by a chorus.—It is called 
a monody from the Greek word fignifying a mournful or 
funeral long, fung by a Angle perlon. lip. Newton. 
MONCE'CIA, f. in botany; [from the Gr. ^oroj, one, 
and oiy.ta, a lioufe.] The 21ft clafs of the artificial lexual 
fyftem of Linnaeus, confifting of fuch plants as have bar¬ 
ren, or male, flowers on the fame individual with fertile, or 
female, ones ; whereas in the 2id clafs fuch flowers grow 
upon diftinft individuals of the fame fpecies. See the 
article.BOTANY, vol. iii. p. 258, 277. and Plate X. fig. 21. 
MONCE'CUS, a town and port of Liguria, where Her¬ 
cules had a temple, whence he is called Monecrins. 
MONOEMU'GI,Mo'no-Emu'gi, or Nimaa'ma,3 king¬ 
dom of Africa, faid to be of vaft extent, the internal 
parts reaching to Abyflinia northward: on the eaft it is 
bounded by the kingdoms of Mongallo, Mozambique, 
and other fmall ftates lying along the coaft of the Indian 
Sea; on the fouth it is bounded by Mocaranga, and on 
the weft by the Congo and Angola; but the real limits 
are unknown. However, all writers agree, that the fove- 
reign is a powerful and rich prince, and hath fubdued 
moft of the petty kingdoms round. He is faid to have 
many rich gold, filver, and copper, mines in his domi¬ 
nions, by means of which he carries on a commerce with 
Abyflinia and other countries, as well as with fome of the 
eaftern coafters, with whom he is forced to exchange the 
precious metals for Indian and European commodities, 
for want of having fome port of his own on either the 
eaftern or weftern fea. Elephants being here alfo very 
numerous, vaft quantities of ivory are exported by them 
into thofe kingdoms; from all which the emperor reaps 
a confiderable yearly profit. All therefore we lhall add 
with relation to this unknown empire is, that M. de Lille, 
in his Atlas, divides it into the five following kingdoms 
or provinces, viz. the Maracates, the Moflagueres, the 
kingdom of the Bengas, of Mafty, and of Maravi; the 
laft of which M. d’Anville places on the fouthermoft: 
verge of the lake of that name. 
MONOGA'MIA, J’. in botany; [from the Gr. ponoi; 
and yu/Aos, a Ample marriage.] The fixth order of the 
clafs Syngenefia in the Linnasan fyftem, as left by its 
author, deftined to admit fuch genera as have their an^ 
thers combined, the flowers being Ample. This order is 
now abolilhed. See the article Botany, vol. iii. p. 276. 
MONOG'AMIST,,/.' [from the Gr. Angle; and 
yci.p.o<;, a marriage.] One who dilallows of a fecond mar¬ 
riage.—I maintained with Whifton, that it was unlawful 
for a prieft of the church of England, after the death of 
his firlt wife, to take a fecond; or, to exprefs it in one 
i word. 
