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MINTO 251 MIQUELON inspection they are weighea on very accu- rate scales. If a planchet is too heavy, but near the weight, it is filed off at the edges ; if too heavy for filing, it is thrown aside with the light ones to be remelted. The planchcts, after being adjusted, are taken to the coining and milling rooms, and are passed through the milling ma- chine. The planchets are fed to this machine through an upright tube, and as they descend are caught on the edge of a revolving wheel and carried about a quarter of a revolution, during which the edge is compressed and forced up. By this apparatus 560 half-dimes can be milled in a minute; for large pieces the average is 120. The massive but deli- cate coining presses cein from 80 to 100 pieces a minute. MINTO, GILBERT JOHN MURRAY KYNYMOND ELLIOT, 4th EARL OF, an English military officer; born July 9, 1847. He was educated at Eton and Cambridge; served with the Turkish army (1877) ; in the Afghan War (1879) ; was private secretary to General Lord Roberts at the Cape (1881) ; military secretary to the governor-general of Can- ada (the Marquis of Lansdowne) 1883- 1885; chief of staff in N. W. Canadian rebellion (1885) ; Brigadier-General com- manding S. Scotland infantry (1888) ; Governor-General of Canada (1898- (1904); Viceroy of India (1905-1910). Died i514. MINUS, as a substantive, less. A term iapplied to the sign of subtraction — . MINUSINSK, a town of Siberia in the ^government of Yeniseisk on the Yenisei river. It has important mining indus- tries and a considerable trade in grain and cattle. It is the capital of the dis- trict of the same name. Pop. about 16,000. MINUTE, a division of time and of angular measure. As a division of time it is the 60th part of an hour. As a division of angular measure it is the 60th part of a degree. In astronomical works, minutes of time are denoted by the initial letter m, and minutes of a degree or of angular space, by an acute accent ('). MINUTE MEN, in the American Revo- lutionary War, the militia, who were prepared for service at a minute's notice. They were mostly civilians of Massachu- setts, enrolled by act of the provincial government passed Nov. 23, 1774. In Boston alone there were 16,000 prepared to serve. MIOCENE, in geology, a term intro- duced in 1835 by Sir Charles Lyell to designate the beds formerly called Mid- dle Tertiary. The term Miocene denotes that only a minority of the shells be- long to recent species. Bejrrich separ- ated from it its lower portion, and, _ __ HruBteB HERE ONCE-mE EMBATTuEB FARMERS 5TOOO ANP f (*eO THE SM01 HEflft fiouNP -iHe woftir ?C1 ,i777T^'!% THE 'MINUTE-MAN" STATUE AT CONCORD, MASS. combining this with the Upper Eocene, founded a new division, the Oligocene. MIQUELON (mek-lo7tg') , an island in the Atlantic off the S. coast of New- foundland, forming with St. Pierre (g. r.) a French colony, and belonging to France. The S. part. Little Miquelon, or Langley Island, was once a separate isle, but since 1783 has been joined to Great Miquelon by a sand bank. Dis- covered by Sebastian Cabot in 1497. A commandant at St. Pierre represents the French government. Area 83 square miles; pop. (1918) 4,652. Fishing is nearly the sole occupation.