pnugues/EB7 huggingface dataset:
MINDORO Isle, one of the Philippine Isles, a hundred and ten miles in length, by about twenty-five in average breadth, and situated due south from the southwest extremity of the island of Lucos. The interior is mountainous, but sloping towards the sea-coast; the whole covered with trees, and making a beautiful appearance from the sea-coast. The island is well inhabited, though the Spaniards have a few establishments there. Long. 120. 24. to 121. 24. E. Lat. 12. 21. to 13. 30. N."
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MINERVA, or Pallas, in Pagan worship, the goddess of science and of wisdom, who sprung completely armed from Jupiter’s brain. She disputed with Neptune the honour of giving a name to the city of Athens, upon which it was agreed, that whosoever produced what was most useful to mankind should have the advantage. In consequence of this compact, Neptune, with a stroke of his trident, formed a horse; and Minerva caused an olive to spring from the ground. The latter was judged the most useful, from its being the symbol of peace. Minerva changed Arachne into a spider, for pretending to excel her in making tapestry. She fought the giants; favoured Cadmus, Ulysses, and other heroes; refused to marry Vulcan, choosing rather to live in a state of celibacy; deprived Tiresias of sight; turned Medusa’s locks into snakes; and performed several other exploits. Minerva is usually represented by the poets, painters, and sculptors, as completely armed; with a composed but agreeable countenance, bearing a golden breastplate, a spear in the right hand, and an aegis or shield in the left, upon which is represented Medusa’s head encircled with snakes; whilst her helmet was usually entwined with olives. She had several temples both in Greece and in Italy. The usual victim offered to her was a white heifer, never yoked; and the animals sacred to her were the cock, the owl, and the basilisk.
MINERVALIA, in Roman antiquity, festivals celebrated in honour of Minerva, in the month of March; at which time the scholars were indulged with a vacation, and usually made a present to their masters, called from this festival Minerval.
MINERVINO, a city of the kingdom of Naples, in the province of Bari, on the declivity of the Apennines. It is the seat of a bishop, and has a cathedral and three other churches, with about 6000 inhabitants.
MINGRELIA, a large country of Asia, extending about 140 miles in length along the Black Sea, which bounds it on the west, and stretching into the interior about forty or fifty miles. It is situated on the southern side of the Caucasus, between the Caspian and the Black Sea, and is bounded on the north by Georgia, on the east by Immeritia, and on the south by the river Phasis. The country, though it possesses great natural capabilities, has greatly declined, and is now sunk in poverty and barbarism. The soil, near the Black Sea more particularly, is soft and moist, and neither wheat nor barley can be raised to any extent. It is chiefly on a small grain resembling coriander seed that the people subsist. Vines are plentiful, as is also honey; and the climate is favourable for silk. There are, however, no manufactures of any great value in the country; they consist chiefly of coarse taffeties, and an indifferent sort of handkerchiefs. A great trade is carried on in slaves, of which the number exported is about 12,000. The inhabitants are all of turbulent and predatory habits; fishing, war, and plunder, are the principal occupations of the chiefs. The females are remarkably handsome in their persons. This extensive tract of country, which long fluctuated in its obedience between the Russians and the Turks, is now under the dominion of the former. The Phasis, and its tributaries the Teghuri and Arascha, are the principal rivers. It has few towns worthy of the name. The largest is called Zalikara; Rugh and Egers are well fortified; and Rhoezia has an extensive trade. The country is well watered, and covered with extensive forests of the finest trees. The province, according to Reineggs, contains four millions of inhabitants.
MINFIO, a great river in Spain, which, taking its rise in Galicia, divides that province from Portugal, and falls into the Atlantic at Caminha.
MINIATURE, in a general sense, signifies representation in a small compass, or diminished form.
MINIM, in Music, is a note equal to two crotchets, or half a semibreve.
MINIMS, a religious order in the church of Rome, founded by St Francis de Paulo, towards the close of the fifteenth century. Their habit is a coarse black woollen stuff, with a woollen girdle of the same colour, tied in five knots. They are not permitted to quit their habit and girdle by day or by night. Formerly they went barefooted, but they are now allowed the use of shoes.
MINIMUM, in the higher geometry, the least quantity attainable in a given question.
MINNIN, a stringed instrument of music amongst the ancient Hebrews, having three or four chords to it. There is reason to question the antiquity of this instrument, both because it requires a hair bow, which was a kind of plectrum not known to the ancients, and because it so much resembles the modern viol. Kircher took the figures of this instrument, the machu], chinnor, and psaltery, from an old book in the Vatican library.
MINOR, a Latin term, literally denoting less, and used in opposition to major, greater.

Minor, in Law, denotes a person under age, or one who, by the laws of the country, has not yet arrived at the power of administering his own affairs, or the possession of his estate.

Minor, in Logic, is the second proposition of a formal or regular syllogism, called also the assumption. Minor, in Music, is applied to certain concords, which differ from or are lower than others of the same denomination, by a lesser semitone, or by four commas. Thus we say, a third minor, or lesser third, or a sixth major and minor. Concords which admit of major and minor, or greater and less, are said to be imperfect concords.
MINORS, or Friars Minor, an appellation which the Franciscans assume, out of humility, calling themselves fratres minores, or lesser brothers, and sometimes minorités. There, is, also an order of regular minors at Naples, which was established in the year 1588, and confirmed by Pope Sixtùs V.
MINOS, in fabulous history, a king of Crete, who was the son of Jupiter and Europa. He flourished about 1432 years before the Christian era, and gave laws to his subjects, which remained in force in the age of the philosopher Plato, about a thousand years after the death of the legislator. His justice and moderation procured him the appellation of the favourite of the gods, the confidant of Jupiter, and the wise legislator, in almost every city of Greece; and, according to the poets, he was after death rewarded for his equity with the office of supreme and absolute judge in the infernal regions. In this capacity he is represented sitting in the middle of the shades, and holding a sceptre in his hand. The dead plead their different causes before him; and the impartial judge shakes the fatal urn, which is filled with the destinies of mankind.
MINOTAUR, in fabulous history, was a celebrated monster, half man and half bull. The minotaur was the fruit of Pasiphaë’s amour with a bull. Minos having refused to sacrifice a white bull to Neptune, an animal which he had received for that purpose from the god, this offended Neptune, and he made Pasiphaë, the wife of Minos, enamoured of the bull, which had been refused to his altars. Daedalus prostituted his talents in subserviency to the queen’s unnatural desires, by which means Pasiphaë’s horrible passions were gratified, and the Minotaur came into the world. Minos confined in the labyrinth this monster, which convinced the world of his wife’s lasciviousness, and reflected disgrace upon his family. The Minotaur usually devoured the chosen young men and maidens whom the tyranny of Minos yearly exacted from the Athenians. Theseus delivered his country from this tribute, when it had fallen to his lot to be sacrificed to the voracity of the Minotaur; and by means of Ariadne, the king’s daughter, be destroyed the monster, and made his escape from the intricacies of the labyrinth.

The fabulous tradition of the Minotaur, and of the infamous commerce of Pasiphaë, has often been explained. Some suppose that Pasiphaë was enamoured of one of her husband’s courtiers called Taurus; and that Daedalus favoured the passions of the queen, by suffering his house to become the retreat of the two lovers. Pasiphaë some time afterwards brought forth twins, one of whom greatly resembled Minos, and the other Taurus; and in the natural resemblance of their countenance with that of their supposed fathers originated their name, and also the fable of the Minotaur.
MINSK, a province of the Russian empire, in Europe, extending in north latitude from 51. 12. to 55. 49. and in east longitude from 25. 13. to 30. 45. It is bounded on the north by Witepsk, on the east by Mohilew, on the south-east by Tschernigow, on the south by Kiew and Volhynia, on the west by Grodno, and on the north-west by Wilna. It contains 38,082 square miles, divided into ten circles, in which there are 109 cities and towns, and a great number of villages, hamlets, and lone farms. The number of dwellings is stated by Georgi at 148,219, and that of the inhabitants at 1,135,041. The towns are commonly both poor and filthy, being chiefly inhabited by Jews, who are the traders, distillers, and innkeepers. It is one of the extensive plains of Eastern Europe, on which a hill may here and there be seen, with some respectable rivers; in the north and east it is covered with woods, and in the south-west with extensive morasses. As the extent is 38,082 square miles, the poverty of the soil may account for the thin population. It is watered by several small streams, which terminate either in the Dnieper and run to the Black Sea, or in the Diina and run to the Baltic. There is a canal uniting those rivers, which run in opposite directions. The principal exportable commodity is wood. The chief product for home consumption is rye, which barely suffices for the supply of the inhabitants. There is little trade, and this may be described as the poorest province of European Russia.

Minsk, a city, the capital of the province and of the circle of that name, in European Russia. It is 603 miles from St Petersburg, on the river Swislocz, and is,the seat of a Greek and a Catholic bishop, and of the several departments of the provincial administration. The functionaries connected with these form the greater part of the inhabitants, who do not exceed 3000, all the traders amongst whom are Jews. Long. 27. 33. E. Lat. 53. 58. N.
MINSTER, a parish of the county of Kent, in the hundred of Ford and the lathe of Scray, forty-nine miles from London. The church was collegiate, supposed to have been part of a monastery founded by Sexburga, the wife of Ercombert, king of Kent, and eighteen stalls still remain in it. It is situated on the north side of the isle of Thanet. The population amounted in 1801 to 707, in 1811 to 824, in 1821 to 920, and in 1831 to 911.

Minster-in-Sheppy, a large parish in the county of Kent, in the hundred of Rinslow and lathe of St Augustine, sixty-eight miles from London. It comprehends the dock-yards and part of the town of Sheerness, and derives its name from a convent of nuns, said to have been founded by a Saxon lady in the year 700. The population amounted in 1801 to 5561, in 1811 to 7003, in 1821 to 8414, and in 1831 to 7983.

Minster (Saxon, mynster or mynstre) anciently signified the church of a monastery or convent.
MINT, the place or establishment in which the king’s money is coined. See Coining.
MINTURNAE, a town of Campania, between Sinuessa and Formiae. It was in the marshes in this neighbourhood that Marius concealed himself in the mud, to avoid the partizans of Sylla. The people condemned him to death; but when the sound of his imperious voice had terrified the executioner, they showed themselves compassionate, and favoured his escape.
MINUET, a very graceful kind of dance, consisting of a coupee, a high step, and a balance. It begins with a beat, and its motion is triple.

The invention of the minuet seems to be generally ascribed to the French, and particularly to the inhabitants of the province of Poitou. The word is said by Menage and Furetière to be derived from the French menue or menu, small or little, and in strictness to signify a small space. The melody of this dance consists of two strains, which, from being repeated, are called reprises, each having eight or more bars, but never an odd number. The measure consists of three crotchets in a bar, and is thus marked though it is commonly performed in the time f r Walther speaks of a minuet in Lully’s opera of Roland, each strain of which contains ten bars, the sectional number being 5; a circumstance which renders it very difficult to be danced.
MINUTE, in Geometry, is the sixtieth part of a degree of a circle.

MINUTE of Time is the sixtieth part of an hour.

Minute, in Architecture, usually denotes the sixtieth, and sometimes the thirtieth, part of a module.

Minute is also used for a short memoir, or sketch of a thing taken in writing.
MINYAE, a name given to the inhabitants of Orchomenos, in Boeotia, from Minyas, king of the country. Orchomenos the son of Minyas gave his name to the capital of the country; and the inhabitants retained their original appellation, in contradistinction to the Orchomenians of Arcadia. A colony of Orchomenians passed into Thessaly and settled in Iolchos; and from this circumstance the people of the place, particularly the Argonauts, were called Minyae. This name they received, according to the opinion of some, not because a number of Orchomenians had settled amongst them, but because the chief and noblest of them were descended from the daughters of Minyas. Part of the Orchomenians accompanied the sons of Codrus when the latter migrated to Ionia. Tfie descendants of the Argonauts, as well as the Argonauts themselves, received the name of Minyae. They first inhabited Lemnos, where they were born of Lemnian women, who had murdered their husbands. But being driven from Lemnos by the Pelasgi, about 1160 before the Christian era, they came to settle in Laconia, and thence passed into Callisto with a colony of Lacedaemonians.
MIQUELETTES, a name given to the Spaniards who inhabit the Pyrennean Mountains, on the frontiers of Aragon and Catalonia, and subsist by robbing.
MIRABELLO, one of the circles into which the Turkish island of Candia is divided. It is a fruitful district in the north-east part of the island, and yields a surplus of corn, oil, and fruits. The chief place, of the same name, is situated on the Bay of Spinalonga, where there is a good anchorage. It is the see of a bishop, and contains 1500 inhabitants. Long. 25. 5. E. Lat. 35. 15. N.
MIRANDE, an arrondissement of the department of [7:15:297] the Gers, in France, extending over 742 square miles. It comprehends eight cantons, divided into 229 communes, inhabited by 74,500 persons. The capital, a city of the same name, situated on the river Baise, is fortified, and contains 2100 inhabitants. Long. 0. 11. E∙ Lat. 42. 33. N.
MIRAN τ DOLA, a city of the duchy of Modena, in Italy. It stands in a marshy situation on the river Burana, whence a canal is carried to the Secchio. It is surrounded with walls, and has a cathedral and fifteen other churches, with about 7000 inhabitants. It was the capital of an independent duchy of the name till the year 1710, when the last sovereign of the house of Picoceded it to Modena for about L. 100,000.
MIRECOURT, an arrondissement of the department of the Vosges, in France, 524 square miles in extent. It is divided into seven cantons, and subdivided into 156 communes, containing 71,500 inhabitants. The chief place is the city of the same name situated on the river Maudon. It contains 5200 inhabitants, who are occupied in making lace and musical instruments, especially violins and hand-organs. Long. 5. 5. E. Lat. 48. 50. N.
MIREPOIX, a city of France, in the department of the Upper Garonne and arrondissement of Pamiers. It is situated on the river Lers, in a district rich in good wine, and contains 450 houses, with 3100 inhabitants. In the neighbourhood a large quantity of jet is found, the procuring and polishing of which is said to employ one half of the population. Long. 1. 47. E. Lat. 43. 7. N.
MIRGOROD, a circle of the Russian province of Pultowa, extending in east longitude from 33. 37. to 34. 51. and in north latitude from 49. 51. to 50. 28. It is a district rich in corn, cattle, honey, wax, and fruits. The capital, of the same name, is a city situated on the river Khoral, 918 miles from St Petersburg, containing three churches, 970 houses, and 7637 inhabitants. Long. 33. 27. E. Lat. 48. 50. N.
MIRIAM. See Mary.
MIRROR, a name for a looking-glass, or any polished body, the use of which is to form the images of distant objects, by reflection of the rays of light.

Mirrors are either plane, convex, or concave. The plane reflect the rays of light in a direction exactly similar to that in which the latter fall upon them, and therefore represent bodies of their natural magnitude. The convex make the rays diverge much more than before reflection, and therefore greatly diminish the images of objects; whilst the concave, by collecting the rays into a focus, not only magnify objects, but burn very fiercely when exposed to the rays of the sun, and hence such specula are commonly known by the name of burning mirrors. See Burning Mirrors.

In ancient times mirrors were made of some kind of metal; and from a passage of the Mosaic writings we learn that those mirrors used by the Jewish women were made of brass. The Jews certainly had been taught to use that kind of mirrors by the Egyptians; and hence it is probable that brazen mirrors were the first kind used in the world. Any kind of metal, indeed, when well polished, reflects powerfully; but of all others silver reflects the most, though it has been in all countries too expensive a material for common use. Gold is also a very powerful reflector; and metals, or even wood when gilded and polished, act as burning mirrors. Polished ivory, or straw nicely plaited together, forms mirrors capable of burning, if constructed upon a large scale.

Since the invention of glass, and the application of quicksilver thereto, became generally known, it has been universally employed for such plane mirrors as are used for ornaments to houses.
MIRZAPORE, a town of Hindustan, in the province of Allahabad, and district of Chunar. It is situated at the foot of a range of hills on the south bank of the river Ganges.

The town consists of handsome European houses and nai tive habitations, with clusters of Hindu temples crowding the banks of the Ganges, and making a lively appearance when seen from the river. It is one of the greatest inland trading towns in Hindustan, and the dépôt of all the cotton from Agra and the Mahratta countries. It has also an extensive manufacture of carpets, and some iron-works. Several opulent merchants and indigo planters, both native and European, reside in the town and its vicinity. The travelling distance from Benares is thirty miles. Long. 83. 35. E. Lat. 25. 10. N.
MISADVENTURE, in common language, signifies any unlucky accident which takes place without being foreseen.
MISANTHROPY (from αισος, hatred, and ανύζωπος, man), a general dislike or aversion to man and mankind. In this sense it stands opposed to philanthropy, or the love of mankind.
MISCHNA, or Misna (from muz, iteravit), a part of the Jewish Talmud. The Mischna contains the text, and the Gemara, which is the second part of the Talmud, contains the commentaries; so that the Gemara is, as it were, a glossary on the Mischna.

The Mischna consists of various traditions of the Jews, and explanations of several passages of Scripture. These traditions serve as an explication of the written law, and supplement to it; they are said to have been dclivered to Moses during the time of his abode on the Mount; and he is supposed to have afterwards communicated them to Aaron, to Eleazar, and to his servant Joshua, by whom they were transmitted to the seventy elders, and from them to the prophets, who communicated them to the men of the great sanhedrim, from whom the wise men of Jerusalem and Babylon received them. According to Prideaux’s account, they passed from Jeremiah to Baruch, from him to Ezra, and from Ezra to the men of the great synagogue, the last of whom was Simon the Just. The latter delivered them to Antigonus of Socho, from whom they came down in regular succession to Simeon, who took our Saviour in his arms; to Gamaliel, at whose feet Paul was educated; and last of all to Rabbi Judah the Holy, who committed them to writing in the Mischna. But Dr Prideaux, rejecting this Jewish fiction, observes, that after the death of Simon the Just, about 299 years before Christ, arose the Mischnical doctors, who, by their comments and conclusions, added to the number of those traditions which had been received and allowed by Ezra and the men of the great synagogue; so that towards the middle of the second century after Christ, under the empire of Antoninus Pius, it was found necessary to commit these traditions to writing; more especially as their country had considerably suffered under Hadrian, and many of their schools had been dissolved, and their learned men cut off, and thus the usual method of preserving their traditions had failed. On this occasion Rabbi Judah, being rector of the school at Tiberias, and president of the sanhedrim in that place, undertook the work, and compiled it in six books, each consisting of several tracts, which altogether make up the number of sixty-three. (Prideaux, Connex. vol. ii. p. 468, 9th edit.) This learned author computes that the Mischna was composed about the 150th year of our Lord; but Dr Lightfoot says, that Rabbi Judah compiled the Mischna about the year of Christ 190, in the latter end of the reign of Commodus, or, as some compute, in the year of Christ 220. Dr Lardner is of opinion that this work could not have been finished before the year 190, or later. (Collection of Jewish and Heathen Testimonies, vol. i. p. 178.) Thus was formed the book called the Mischna, which the Jews have generally received with the greatest veneration. The original has been published with a Latin translation by Surcnhusius, with notes of his own and others from the learned Maimollides, in six vols. folio, Amsterdam, [7:15:298]1698-1703. It is written in a much purer style, and is not nearly so full of dreams and visions, as the Gemara.
MISDEMEANOUR, in Law, signifies a crime. Every crime is a misdemeanour; yet the law has made a distinction between crimes of a higher and a lower kind; the former being denominated felonies, and the latter misdemeanours.
MISE, in law-books, is used in various senses. Thus it sometimes signifies costs or expenses; in which sense it is commonly used in entering of judgments in actions personal. It is also used to signify the issue to be tried on the grand assize; in which case, joining of the mise upon the mere right, is putting in issue between the tenant and demandant, the question as. to who has the best or clearest right.
MISELAR, a mountainous island in the Eastern Seas, of an irregular form, and fifteen miles in circumference. It lies off the Bay of Tappanooly, on the west coast of Sumatra. Long. 98. 30. E. Lat∙ 1. 39. N.