MONRO, ALEXANDER, founder of Edinburgh Medical School, born of Scotch parentage in London; studied there, and at Paris and Leyden, and was appointed lecturer on Anatomy by the Surgeons’ Company at Edinburgh in 1719; two years later he became professor, and in 1725 was admitted to the University; he was a principal promoter and early clinical lecturer in the Royal Infirmary, and continued his clinical work after resigning his chair to his son Alexander; he wrote several medical works, and was a Fellow of the Royal Society; he was called primus, to distinguish him from his son and grandson, who were called respectively secundus and tertius, and were professors of Anatomy in Edinburgh like himself (1697-1767).

MONROE, JAMES, American President, born in Virginia, of Scottish descent; left college to join Washington’s army; was wounded in the war, and studying law, entered Congress in 1783; he assisted in framing the Constitution, and sat in the Senate 1790-1794; his diplomatic career in France was marked by the purchase of Louisiana from that country in 1803; he was governor of Virginia thrice over, and Secretary of State till 1817; then followed two terms of the Presidency, during which Florida was acquired from Spain 1819, the delimitation of the slave limit by the Missouri compromise, the recognition of the South American Republics, and the statement of the “MONROE DOCTRINE” (q. v.); in his later years his generosity led him into debt, and he spent his closing days with relations in New York (1758-1831).

MONROE DOCTRINE, the doctrine of James Monroe, twice over President of the United States, that the United States should hold aloof from all interference with the affairs of the Old World, and should not suffer the Powers of the Old World to interfere with theirs.

MONSON, SIR EDWARD, English diplomatist; entered the diplomatic service in 1856, and after service at various courts, became ambassador at Paris in 1896; b. 1834.

MONSOON originally denoted a periodical wind in the Indian Ocean, which blows from SW. from April to October, and from NE. from October to April; now denotes any wind connected with a continent regularly recurring with the seasons.

MONSTRANCE, a transparent pyx on which the Host is exhibited on the altar to the people, or conveyed in public procession.

MONT BLANC, in the Graian Alps, on the French-Italian frontier, the highest mountain in Europe, 15,782 ft., the upper half under perpetual snow; has 56 magnificent glaciers, including the Mer-de-Glace; it was first climbed by Balmat and Paccard in 1786, and since then has been many times ascended, now by 50 parties every year.

MONT CENIS, an Alpine peak (12,000 ft.) on the Savoy-Piedmont frontier and the adjacent pass, over which a road was constructed 1802-1810, and near which a railway tunnel was pierced (1857-70) at a cost of L3,000,000.

MONT DE PIETE, an institution to lend money to the poor at little or no interest, first established in the 15th century, a time when lending to the poor was as much a work of mercy as giving to them; a public pawnbroking establishment, so called in France.