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LEFT MONASTIR 276 MONEL METAL Along the W. side of the cloister, and sometimes extending much farther, lay the hospitium or guest-house, where all travelers were received. A very impor- tant room in the monastery was the scriptorium or library, in which the MSS. were written and illuminated. The abbot's lodge formed a separate edifice, as also did the infirmary. The whole establishment was surrounded by a wall, and provided with proper gates and de- fenses. In later times the simplicity of the plan was broken in on. The monks, de- sirous of more comfortable quarters, di- vided the dormitory and made it into cells. The early simplicity was departed from, and the monastic buildings of the 15th century are rich in decoration. The monasteries of the other orders were, generally speaking, similar to those of the Cistercian, except in the case of the Carthusians. In their convents, where absolute solitude and silence were re- quired, each monk had a small house and garden to himself. MONASTIR (mo-nas-ter'), or BITO- LIA, formerly second town in Turkish Macedonia; 90 miles N. W. of Salonica. It manufactures carpets and silver fili- gree, and trades in corn and agricultural products. Under its ancient name of Pelagonia it gives title to a Greek arch- bishop. The Serbs captured the town in the Balkan War 1912. Since then a part of Serbia. In November, 1915, the town was captured by the Austrians and Bulgarians, who, however, lost it again to the Allied forces in November, 1916. See World War. MONAZITE, an ore of cerium metals, consisting of cerium-lanthanum-didymi- um phosphate, (Ce,La,Di,) PO^, and con- taining thorium and other rare earth metals. The thorium content varies from nothing up to 18 per cent, thorium oxide. Monazite occurs either as yellowish brown and translucent or dull brown and opaque. S.G. 4.9 to 5.3, hardness 5%. River sands frequently contain this mineral in small amounts, this source being worked commercially in Brazil and North and South Carolina. The ore is mined in many parts of the United States, in the southern Urals and in Norway. Thorium is used in the manu- facture of incandescent gas mantles and cerium for pyrophoric alloys. MONBTJTTU, or MANGBATTU, a country in central Africa. Its area is about 4,000 square miles. Pop. about 1,500,000. The soil is fertile and pro- duces tobacco and sugar cane. The in- habitants were formerly cannibals, but the country in recent years has become almost depopulated by slave traders. MONCTON, a town and port of entry of New Brunswick, on the Petitcodiac river, 89 miles N. E. of St. John. It is at the head of navigation on the river, has a fine harbor, and contains many important factories in leather, hats, foundry materials and flour and planing mills. A center for lumber and farm products. Pop. about 12,500. MOND, LUDWIG, German chemist; born at Cassel, Hesse-Nassau, in 1839. He attended Marburg and Heidelberg universities, and after graduating worked in England at a Leblanc soda factory, where he succeeded in experiment to save the calcium sulphide lost in the process of manufacture. After living for a time in Utrecht he started an alkali works in England, developing new meth- ods of making bleaching powder. He gave liberally to the work of promoting chemical research and provided funds for the establishment of the David Fara- day Laboratory of the Royal Institution in London. He died in 1909. MONDAY (that is, moon-day; Anglo- Saxon, Monandaeg; German, Montag), the second day of our week, formerly sacred to the moon. MONDELL, FRANK WHEELER, member of the House of Representatives from Wyoming and majority leader of the Republican party in the 65th Con- gress (1919). Bom in St. Louis, 1860, later settled in Wyoming in 1887. From 1890 to 1895 he was mayor of Newcastle, Wyoming. He was elected to Congress for the first time in 1895, and while he was defeated in 1897 for re-election, he returned to Washington as Congressman- at-large in 1899 and for twenty years has never failed to be re-elected. A member of important committees in the House, including Ways and Means Com- mittee, Representative Mondell always voted as a regular Republican. MONDOVI (mon-do-ve'), a cathedral city of Italy, 58 miles S. of Turin. Here April 22, 1796. the Sardinians were total- ly defeated by Napoleon. Pop. about 16,000. MONEL METAL, an alloy made from the nickel-copper ores of Ontario, and containing 67 per cent, nickel, 28 per cent, copper, 5 per cent, iron and man- ganese. It is strong, tough, and ductile, will not rust, and is resistant to the action of acids and alkalies. These prop- erties render it valuable in marine en- gineering and the construction of chem- ical equipment.