mon1tor

[Latin, from monitus, pa. par. of moneo to remind, to admonish; Fr. moniteur; Sp. monitor; Ital. monitore.] I. Ordinary Language : 1. One who warns of faults or informs of duty; one who admonishes; an admonisher; one who instructs by way of caution or admonition. "To be more serious, new fashions, follies, and vices make new monitors nece ary in every age."-Goldsmith: Polite Learning , ch. x. 2. A senior pupil in a school, selected to look after the junior pupils in the absence of the principal; a pupil appointed to superintend other pupils; a pupil-teacher. *3. A back-board. ( Cowper: Task, ii. 585.) II. Technically: 1. Mil .: An iron-clad railway-truck carrying a IMG:content-1354.png:[blocks in formation] 3. Zool.: The typical genus of the family Monitor ide. The teeth are sharp and conical. Found only in the Old World. Monitor or Varanus niloti cus , the Monitor of the Nile, is five or six feet long. It is said to devour the eggs of the crocodile. It is often represented on the Egyptian monuments. The old genus Monitor is now often sub-divided, M. niloticus, M. albogularis , M. dracæna being transferred to Varanus (q. v.), M. bivittatus being named Varanus or Hydros a urus salvator , and M. arena rius, Psammosaurus arenarius. monitor-car, s. Rail .: A car having a central longitudinal raised portion in the roof, on the sides of which portion are openings for ventilation and panes for light.