Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/356

* MENSHIKOFF. 322 MENSURABLE MUSIC. Holland and England, and on the death of Lefort became the Czar's chief adviser. ilenshikolV showed equal ability as a general and as a diplii- niatist; and although totally uneducated he did much to promote the education of the people, and was a liberal patron of the arts and sciences. On October 30, 1700, lie defeated the Swedes at Kalisz; he contributed to some of the Czar's other victories, was made a ticld-niarshal on the field of Poltava, 1700, and after the battle com- pelled Lewenhaupt to capitulate with a great ])art of the Swedish army. In 1710 he took Riga ; in 1712 he led the Eussian troops into Pomerania and Holstein, and in 1713 took Stettin, liut gave it up to Prussia contrary to the will of the Czar. This and his avarice so displeased Peter that MenshikolV was court-martialed and condenuied to death, but he was pardoned on payment of a heavy fine. During the reign of Catharine 1. he regained his influence at Court, and after her death governed Russia with almost absolute au- thority in the name of Peter II. His dauglitcr was about to marry the young Czar, when Menshi- koff was overthrown by Dolgoruki and banislu'd to Siberia, September. 1727. His estates and treasures were confiscated. MENSHIKOFF, or MENTCHIKOFF, Alex- ander SERiiEYEVITfll. Prime ( 17S7-1.S01)). .V Russian general, the great-grandson of Alexander Hanilovilch ^MenshikotV. He was born Se])tember 11, 1787, and participated in the camjiaigns of 1812 to LSI,') against Napoleon. In the Russo- Turkish War of 1828-20 he took Anapa and Varna. In 1836 he became Jlinister of Marine, and did much to increase the efVeetiveness of the Russian Navy. In 18.53 he was sent as Envoy Extraordinary to Constantinople, where his over- bearing demeanor produced the rujiture winch resulted in the Crimean War. During this war lie became prominent as defender of Sebastopol, where he sliowed the greatest energy' until his retirement on account of ill health in JIaich, 185.->. He .lied at Saint Petersburg, May 2, 18G9. MENSES, men'sez. See ^Iexstrvatiox. MENSTRUATION. The discharge of bloody lluid which i»ues every month from the genera- tive organs of the human female during the period ill which she is capable of |)rocrealion. The first appearance of this discharge, to vvhieli are applied the terms mcii.-ics and mtameiiia, is 11 decicled indication of the arrival of the period of commencing womanhood, and is usually accom- panied by an enlargement of the mammary glands, a gi'owth of the external genitals, an in- crease of hair U|M)n the nions Veneris, and an ac- cession of rcsene, thoughtfulness, and inaturily. ^lenstruation usually eomnicnees between the fourteenth and the sixteenth years, and termi- nates between the forty-eighth and fifty-second years. The cessation of the menstrual (low is called menopause. The interval which most com- monly elajises between the successive appearances of the discharge is about four weeks, although it is oftener shorter; and the duration of the flow is usually three or fi>ur ilays. but is liable fo great variations. The lirst appearance of the discharge is usually preeeded and aeeompanied by pain in the loins and headache, malaise, de- pression, nnd restlessness, and in many women these symptoms invariably necompany the dis- charge. As n general rule there is no menstrual flow during pregnancy and lactation, and its i<'ssation is one of the tirst signs that concep- tion has taken jilace. In robust young girls who have lived an out- door life there is no disturbance experienced at the appearance of the menses. In many others, however, there is considerable nervous excite- ment, consisting of irritability, emotion, de- ])ression. Hushing, and throbbing of the head. DilKcult and painful menstruation is called dya- menorrhoea. During such nervous manifesta- tions the girl should be treated as an invalid, and studies should not be persistently prose- cuted. Avoidance of drains upon |)hysical and mental powers should be enjoined, and abundant daily outdoor life should be secured. MENSURABLE MUSIC (Lat. »»ieH.<(i(ra6i7ig, measurable, from Dtnisiini, measure). Strictly speaking, all music written in notes that have a definite time-value. In a specific sense the term is a])plied to the music written between the be- ginning of the twelfth and the seventeenth cen- turies, before the invention of the line dividing ', a composition into bars. Before the twelfth century tile choral note of the ])laiii chant indi cated only the pitch. The duration of each note was left to the individual singer, and arbitrarily ' determined by the rliylhiii of the text. As long I as music was sung in unison this system an- swered all practical purposes. But with the in- troduction of harmony and the development of polyphonic music, employing a nunilicr of inde- jiendent voices, an imperative need made itself felt to fix the duration of the individual note. Jlensurable music, therefore, borrowed the forms of the notes as used in the plain chant. These were: the large (mtuiinrt or duplex lottga), ■! ; the long {longa), ■; the breve (hreeis). ■; and the seinibreve (semibrevis), ♦. To these were added the minim (ininixiii). ^, and semi- minim (semiminima), ^. For nearly three liundred years the notes were written in thU form. At the beginning of the fifteenth century the black notes were gradually supplanted by the white or open notes : tlj, t|. IzJ. O. A. For the smaller notes both the black and white forms continued in use : semimiiiim, <> or ^. ; eroma or fusa, ov ^; semicroma or semifusa, <5 or 4. Even as early as the sixteenth cen- tury rounded notes were substituted for the s(|uarc ones in writing music, liut it was not until 1700 that the round forms were generally adopted by music ])rinters. Out of "reverence for the Trinity triple time was regarded as perfect time, whereas duple time was imperfect. A division of a note into three of the next smaller kind was vicnsura perfecta : into two of the smaller kind, mcnuura imperfeclti. This division was indicated by certain signs, hut a sharp distinction was made between the di- vision of a long into breves, or of a breve into semibreves. These signs were )ilaced at the be ginning of a composition. The division of a large into longs or of a long into breves wn- known as modus: of a breve into semibreves i>- tempim: of a semibreve into minims as prolnti" The modim it.self was further distinguished a- modiis major (division of a large into longs) nnd modus minor (division of a long into breves). A still further subdivision of both the modus major and minor was into pcrfeetut