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 728 MOMOTOMBO MONACHISM February, 1874, professor of Roman archaeol- ogy in the university of Berlin, when he was reappointed professor of jurisprudence at Leip- sic, and made rector of the university. He has published Osleische Studien (Berlin, 1845 ; supplement, 1846) ; Ueber das Romische Mum- icesen (1850) ; Corpus Inscriptionum Neapoli- tanarum (1851); Die Stadtrechte der Lateini- schen Gemeinden Salpensa und Malaga (1855); and Romuches Staatsrecht (3 vols., Leipsic, 1871-'5 et <??.). Of his "History of Rome" (3 vols., Berlin, 1854-'6) five editions have ap- peared, the last in 1869. It has been translated into French (Paris, 1863-72), and into English by W. P. Dickson (2 vols., London, 1862-'3 ; new ed., 4 vols., New York, 1871). MOMOTOMBO, the loftiest volcano in the re- public of Nicaragua, 7,200 ft. high, standing at the head of Lake Managua, 25 m. E. by N. of the city of Leon. It sends out constantly a light plume of smoke, and occasional showers of fine ashes. The upper 3,000 ft. of its elevation seems to be made up of ashes and scoriae. A tradition that the early priests who undertook to plant the cross on its summit were never afterward heard of, is the subject of a poem in La Ugende de* sttcles, by Victor Hugo. There are hot springs at its base, and a number of orifices or vents (infiemillos) on its flanks. It is a prominent landmark from the sea, and constitutes one extremity of the volcanic range of the Marrabios, which terminates in the high cone of El Viejo. MOMPOS, or Mompox, an inland city of the United States of Colombia, in the state of Santa Marta, on the Magdalena, about 300 m. N. by W. of Bogot4 ; pop. about 11,000. The city is on a large island formed by the Magdalena, the Caflo Lova, the Cano Sicuco, and the Cauca. The streets are very long, wide, and well kept. Some of the houses have two stories, are tile- roofed, and present an agreeable aspect. Be- sides the parish church, there are three other churches attached to convents, all well built. Several primary schools weje opened in 1872 and 1873. The climate is hot, humid, and generally unhealthy; the thermometer ranges for most of the year from 85 to 100 F. Alligators and mosquitoes of enormous size are common. It is rare to see a native free from goitre. The soil is remarkably fertile. The port is defended by forts of compara- tively modern construction, and there is an excellent mole which protects the city from damage during the periodical swelling* of the river, which in December often rises 12 ft. above its usual level. Mompos was long the principal entrepot for the whole basin of the Magdalena ; and an important trade is sfill carried on with Ocafla, Giron, Antioquia, and the upper Magdalena, in tobacco, sugar, flour, cacao, coarse cotton fabrics, and precious metals. The city was founded in 1540. It has experienced several disastrous inundations, especially in 1762, when the inhabitants were saved by taking to canoes. MOMTS, in Greek mythology, the god of mockery and censure, said to have been a son of Night. Having been chosen by Neptune, Minerva, and Vulcan to decide on the merits of their respective works, he censured them all, in consequence of which he was expelled from heaven. He is generally represented raising a mask from his face, and holding a small image in his hand. MOMtmSM (Gr. fwvaxb, solitary), a term denoting solitary life or retirement from the ordinary concerns of the world, with a view to the occupation of the soul with religious objects. The first type of monachism may be found in the asceticism practised by the Jewish Essenes and Therapeutae at the dawn of Chris- tianity. Origen gives the name of ascetes to persons who fast rigorously. It was also ap- plied to all who habitually devoted several hours of the day and night to prayer, or who bestowed their wealth and time in relieving the sick and poor. These ascetics generally dwelt in the cities, and wore distinctive garments of a dark color, together with the pallium or cloak of the ancient philosophers. During divine ser- vice the ascetics were assigned an intermediate place between the clergy and the laity. A severer form of asceticism was the life led by anchorets or hermits. Their numbers increased very much during the 3d century, filling the mountain wildernesses of Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt. Communities of women were or- ganized as early as the close of the 3d century. According to Dollinger, the term fiovaar^pt&v was first applied to the common abode of the Egyptian therapeutae. It is also in Egypt that the first known Christian monasteries or mon- achal communities of men were formed by Paul of Thebes and his disciple Pachomius. The germ of these establishments was planted by Paul in the island of Tabenna, a little north of the first cataract of the Nile, and was developed by Pachomius, who first drew up a rule for monks in 340. Several monasteries were uni- ted under his government. Each monastery was divided into several " families," and each family pursued a distinct mechanical occupation and was governed by a prior. The family counted 40 monks, who dwelt there by threes in sepa- rate cells. Some monasteries comprised 40 families. When Athanasius in 356 took ref nge in the island of Tabenna, Pachomius met him at the head of an army of monks singing psalms. In imitation of Pachomius, Ammon founded a monastery on a hill above the valley of Nitria, on the confines of the Libyan desert, where 5,000 monks soon assembled under him; and Macarius next established numer- ous monasteries in the desert between the Ni- trian mountains and the Nile. Near Arsinoe the abbot Serapion ruled 5,000 monk?: and Rufinus says that in 356 the monasteries of Oxyrinchus contained 10,000 men and 15.000 women. The life of the inmates was divided between private prayer, public psalmody, the study of the Scriptures, the copying of manu-