output of the mines and the extent of the transactions requiring its use. In deals involving millions of dollars it would seem necessary to have some form of money in which the large sum might be easily transferred. In olden times money was issued by private individuals, but, in order to insure inspection and to inspire confidence, this duty and privilege has now been assumed by the state. In some countries a charge is made by the government for transforming bullion into coin; in others the metal is converted into money without expense to the owner, upon the ground that the cost is small and the benefits accruing to the state, by means of the increase of the stock of money, great. The history of coinage in the United States is of surpassing interest and full of economic lessons to the student. It is impossible to give them due attention in so compact a work as this, but it may be noted that the per capita of gold and bullion has increased from $3.23 in 1873 to $16.33 in 1904, and that of silver from $0.15 in 1873 to $8.30 in 1900. The money of all kinds in circulation in the United States has increased from $18.19 per capita in 1872 to $34.35 in 1911. The per capita circulation of gold for the world is estimated at $4.61 and of silver at $2.41. The coinage of gold and silver for the world averages, at present, about $627,700,000 a year, according to the reports made to and by the Federal government. A considerable portion of this metal coinage is used in the arts.
Mongolia, formerly a dependency, situated south of Siberia and north of China proper, west of Manchuria and east of eastern Turkestan. It in the main is a wide waste, comprising the great desert of Gobi. Its area is 1,367,600 square miles, with an estimated population of 2,600,000. (China)
Mongols (mŏṉ′gŏlz), an Asiatic race, constituting one of the large divisions of mankind, including the Mongols proper (known as East Mongols and West Mongols and Bariats) and the Tartars, who form a distinct branch. The Kalmucks belong to the West Mongols. Mongolia, inhabited by the East Mongols, is a part of the Chinese empire, lying south of Siberia and shut in by mountain ranges. The people lead a wandering life, dwelling in tents and having flocks of sheep and herds of horses, cattle, camels and goats. They are mostly Buddhists in religion, and fond of making long pilgrimages. There are about 2,600,000 of them under Chinese rule. The Western Mongols have mingled with their Turkish neighbors so that it is difficult to number them. They are found in Russia, Astrakhan, Turkestan, Bokhara, Samarcand and the Crimea. The history of the Mongols begins with Genghis Khan (q. v.), born about 1160, who united the different tribes into one nation and led them to conquest. They overran Tartary, a large part of China, Persia, Russia and Afghanistan. Under his sons and their successors other portions of China were conquered, the caliphs of Bagdad overthrown, and Europe invaded as far as the Danube, making the Mongol empire, at its height, the greatest the world has known. Kublai Khan (q. v.), the grandson of Genghis Khan, established the first Mongol dynasty in China, which was finally overthrown by the Chinese in the 14th century. The Mongol kingdom, divided in the 13th century, was united again in the 14th century under Tamerlane (q. v.), but after his death lost its power, until in the 17th century it became a part of the Chinese Empire. The Mongolian language belongs to what is called the Turanian family. There is very little extant literature, what they possess being mostly translations from Chinese religious works. The original works mainly are accounts of the deeds of Genghis Khan and Tamerlane. See History of the Mongols by Curtin and that by Howorth and Among the Mongols by Gilmour.
Mon′ism. The philosophic view that regards all substances as derived from one fundamental substance is known as monism. Materialism holds that substance to be physical, mind being regarded as a special sort of matter. Idealism considers all existence, material as well as psychical, as ultimately reducible to mind. The natural assumption that mind and matter are independent substances is dualism. Monism, however, is more satisfactory as a logical system, since dualism usually involves the contradictory assumption that independent realities may yet influence or be dependent upon each other. Pluralism holds that existence consists of a number of independent substances. It, too, is compelled to face the contradiction between the independence of these substances and the fact of experience that interaction seems universal. Analysis in revealing the law of interaction among things seems to have discovered a monistic principle or law superior to the things that it governs or connects. This would make monism inevitable. Even the agnostics, who declare that the supreme reality is unknowable, usually assume that it is unitary, thus becoming monists by implication. Consult Paulsen's Introduction to Philosophy.
Mon′itor, a kind of warship first used in the Civil War. It was a wooden ship covered with plates of iron, carrying in the center a revolving tower or turret, in which the guns were placed. The first one used was made by Captain Ericsson (q. v.) in 100 days, and was engaged in the naval battle with the Confederate ship Virginia or Merrimac. The success of the Monitor produced great excitement in Europe and made a revolution in the construction of naval vessels. England immediately experimented with this style of warship, changing a wooden vessel into an ironclad monitor, which was considered the most formidable ship in the navy.
