NEGUNDO the characteristics of those tribes in which the peculiar negro features are found most developed. But without drawing any conclusions as to their inferiority merely from their configuration and appearance, it may be remarked that while most of the European and Asiatic nations have attained to a high state of civilisation, they continue, with few exceptions, in nearly primeval barbarism. It is scarcely enough to reply that this is the result of the unfavourable circumstances under which they have been placed. An intelligent enterprising people will contend against unfavourable circumstances, and make them become favourable; but the Africans, with the questionable exception of the ancient inhabitants of the valley of the Nile, have never displayed any considerable degree of enterprise or invention. For an able summary of the physical and mental characters, as well as the history of the negro races, see Campbell's Negromania, 8vo. Philadelphia 1855; Pruner Bey's Mémoire sur les Nègres, 8vo. Paris 1861. Negundo. A genus of Aceracea comprising an ornamental hardy tree of small stature, sometimes introduced with good effect into shrubberies. A variegated-leaved variety, in which the leaves are very conspicuously marked with white, is one of the most attractive of deciduous trees, if well placed in planting. The only species is called Ñ. fraxinifolium. Nehallenia. The name of an ancient Dutch and Flemish divinity who presided over commerce and navigation. Her origin and general character are unknown, and even the name suggests only forced and unsatisfactory associations; the sixteen altars bearing her image and name found in the island of Walcheren in 1647 are taken as evidence of her former influence. (Grimm's Deutsche Mythologie.) Neil's Parabola. [PARABOLA; SEMICUBICAL.] Neith. An Egyptian deity, who was regarded as an incarnation of nature, and as the patroness of all the arts. Her most celebrated temple was at Sais, where stood the famous veiled image. NEOCOMIAN Nematoideans (Gr. vnuarwdns, filiform). The name of an order of Cælelmintha, or cavitary intestinal worms, comprehending those which are dioecious, and have a round, filiform, elongated body. Nematoneura (Gr. vñua, and veûpov, nerve). A name proposed for that division of the Radiata of Cuvier, including animals in which nervous filaments are distinctly traceable, and the alimentary canal floats loosely in a distinct abdominal cavity. Nemean Games. One of the four great national festivals of Greece, in which all the states participated. [GAMES.] They were celebrated at Nemea, a village in the northeastern part of Argolis. By some they are said to have been established by the Epigoni, children of the warriors who besieged Thebes; but other versions of the myth relate that they were first instituted by Hercules after his victory over the Nemean lion. They were held every third year, under the presidency of citizens chosen by lot from the states of Argos, Corinth, and Cleonæ. The games were the same as those of Olympia. The victorious combatants were crowned with parsley. Nemesis (Gr. distribution). This word, which in the Iliad is used only to express any cause of anger or righteous indignation, becomes in the Hesiodic Theogony the name of a daughter of Nyx, the night (or, according to another version, of Erebus). Starting with the notion of mere apportionment whether of good or evil, the idea of the goddess assumed afterwards a harsh and forbidding character, and she became especially the punisher of those on whom Fortune, Túxn, had bestowed her favours too lavishly. This idea of Nemesis suggests a comparison with the later notions of ATÊ, and ERINYS. Nemesis had a celebrated temple at Rhamnus in Attica; and her earlier statues are said to have resembled those of Aphrodite. She is generally represented as a virgin deity; but there was a legend that from an egg born of Nemesis sprang Helen and the Dioscuri, Castor and Polydeukes. [POLLUX.] Nemocera (Gr. vñμa, a thread, and répas, horn). The name of a family of Dipterous insects, including those which have long filiform antennæ. Nemoglossata (Gr. νῆμα, and γλώσσα, α tongue). The name of a tribe of Hymenopterous insects, including those which have a long filiform tongue, as the bee tribe. Nelumbiaceae (Nelumbium, one of the genera). In Botany, the name of a natural order of aquatic plants of great beauty, belonging to the Nymphal alliance, distinguished principally by its distinct carpels and large honeycombed torus. The only genus is Nelumbium, which comprises two or three very handsome species. One of them, N. speciosum, is believed to be the Sacred Lotus, or Pytha-gardeners, from their free-flowering habit and gorean Bean. The nuts of all the species are wholesome and edible, and the rootstock is also sometimes eaten. Nem. Con. A contraction for (Lat.) nemine contradicente, signifying no one contradicting; nem. diss., contracted for (Lat.) nemine dissentiente, signifies no one dissenting. Nemalite (Gr. véμos, wood; Xíeos, stone). A fibrous variety of Brucite. Nemophila (a name coined from Gr. véuos, a grove, and piλéw, I love). A genus of beautiful annual flowers very popular amongst amateur brilliant colours. It belongs to the order Hydrophyllacea, and in N. insignis, which has blue flowers with a white centre, yields perhaps one of the gayest of flower-garden ornaments. Neocomian. The rocks of the lower division of the Cretaceous period, including part of the Wealden, bear this name on the continent of Europe. They form an extensive and important series of deposits in the neighbourhood NEOCORUS of Neufchâtel in Switzerland. There are two divisions. The Lower Neocomian represents the greater part of the Lower Greensand and some Upper Wealden beds. The Upper Neocomian is the uppermost division of the Lower Greensand much more largely developed than in England. The Neocomian beds in Switzerland and elsewhere on the Continent are well supplied with characteristic fossils, which agree on the whole with those of the corresponding beds in England. Neocorus (Gr. vewкópos, literally a temple sweeper). In Grecian Antiquities, the title of officers employed as guardians of temples and their treasures. Neolite (Gr. véos, new, and xíeos, stone). A massive variety of Talc in which part of the silica is replaced by alumina. It is found at the Aslak iron mines, near Arendal in Norway. Neologism (Gr. véos, and λóyos). The introduction of a new phrase or word into a language, or any innovation on ordinary modes of expression. Most European tongues have their classical diction fixed by precedent and authority; and words introduced by bold or careless writers, since this standard was established, go by the name of neologisms until usage has added them at last to the received national vocabulary. Neology. In the last century, this name was given by orthodox divines in Germany to the novel system of interpretation which then began to be applied by many to the records of the Old and New Testaments. [RATIONALIST.] Neomenia (Gr. the time of the new moon). The name given by the Greeks to the beginning of the month of the lunar calendar. Neophyte (Gr. veópurus, newly planted). In the primitive church, newly converted Christians were so termed; and the same appellation is still given in the Roman church, to converts made by missionaries among the heathen, to any person entering on the priestly office, and to those persons newly received into the communion of the church. Neoplase (Gr. véos, new; λdois, formation). A native sulphate of iron found at Fahlun, in Sweden. [BOTRYOGENE.] · Neoplatonists. In Ancient Literature, the mystical philosophers of the school of Ammonius Saccas and Plotinus are commonly so called, who mixed some tenets of ancient Platonism with others derived from a variety of sources, and particularly from the demonology of the East. They flourished in the fourth and fifth centuries of the Christian era. Some, however, have contended that this title is more properly applicable to the eclectic Platonists, or school of Antiochus and Philo. [PLATONISTS; ECLECTICS.] For a singular view of the doctrines and tendency of the Neoplatonists, the reader may consult the Quarterly Review, July 1840. Neotokite (Gr. véos; Tókos, a birth). An amorphous mineral of a black or brownish NEPHELIUM black colour found at Gäsböle in Finland. It is, probably, an altered form of Rhodonite, produced by the weathering of other minerals. Neotype (Gr. véos, and Túños, a form). A variety of Natrocalcite containing Barytes. Nepenthaceae (Nepenthes, one of the genera). A natural order of subshrubby climbing plants referred by Lindley to his Euphorbial alliance, and distinguished by some technical points in the structure of the seeds. They are, however, to be recognised with ease and certainty by their external characters. The leaves, for instance, are more or less elongated, and their midrib is extended beyond the apex in the form of a tendril, which in the perfect condition of the plant supports a pitcher-like body provided with a jointed lid. They afford some of the most curious objects to be met with amongst plants. Nepenthes is the only genus, but there are many species known, several of which are to be found in the hothouses of the curious. Nepenthe (Gr. vynevoýs, removing sorrow). A magic potion, mentioned by the Greeks and Romans, which was supposed to obliterate pain and sorrow from the memory of those who partook of it. The mixture given under this name by Helen to the guests of Menelaus is said to have been obtained from the Egyptian Thebes; hence the term Thebaic tincture, applied to tincture of opium, or laudanum. The word is now used figuratively to express any remedy which gives rest and consolation to an afflicted mind. Nepeta (Ital. nepatella, cat-mint). The genus of the Catmint, a common wayside weed of the labiate order, particularly attractive to cats. This catmint is N. cataria, sometimes called Nep. Nephalia (Gr. vnodλios, sober). Certain Grecian sacrifices in honour of various deities, so called because no wine was offered during their celebration. Nephelê (Gr. vepéλn, a cloud). In Greek Mythology, the wife of Athamas, and mother of PHRIXUS and HELLÊ, who are thus literally the children of the mist. Nepheline (Gr. vepéλn). A double silicate of alumina and soda found at Capo di Bove, near Rome, and on Monte Somma, near Vesuvius, in fine white crystals lining cavities in the older lavas, with Idocrase, Mica, Hornblende, &c. Transparent fragments immersed in nitric acid assume a clouded appearance (whence the name). It is also known by the name of Sommite. Nephelium (Gr. vepéλn). This genus, which belongs to the order Sapindacea, contains three celebrated exotic fruits, the Litchi or Leechee of China, the Longan of China, and the Rambutan of Malaya. The Litchi produces nearly round fruit, an inch and a half in diameter, containing a sweet jelly-like pulp; the Longan is smaller, and possesses an agreeable subacid flavour; and the Rambutan, which is of an oblong form and about two inches long, is esteemed for its pleasant acidulous NEPHRALGIA pulp. All these are small trees with pinnated leaves. Nephralgia (Gr. veopós, the kidney; &λyos, pain). Pain in the kidney. NEREIDANS the sun. The existence of this planet was predicted, and its place in the heavens announced within one degree of the truth, independently by two astronomers-Professor Adams and Nephrite (Gr. veppós). A hard tough M. Leverrier-before it was discovered by mineral occurring in compact masses of a leek- the telescope. This triumph of mathematigreen colour, passing into grey and greenish- cal skill marks an epoch in astronomy, white, on the western coast of New Zealand. and sets a seal on the theory of universal The name more commonly given to Nephrite gravitation which formed the basis of the me is Jade, of which there are two kinds: White or Oriental Jade; and Green Jade, the Jadéite of Damour. Both these varieties are silicates of alumina, and of other bases, as lime, magnesia, soda, protoxide of iron, &c., and both are only broken, or cut and polished, with great difficulty. Oriental Jade is the wellknown material of a pale greenish-white colour, which is brought to this country from the eastern parts of Asia, carved into various articles with a beautiful polish, a manufacture for which the Chinese are very celebrated. Green Jade is more rare than the Oriental kind, and valuable in proportion. The colour, which varies from apple-green (like that of Chrysoprase) to a sort of emerald-green, is probably due to oxide of nickel. The name Nephrite probably originated in the circumstance of small plates of the mineral having been formerly worn suspended from the neck for the cure of diseases of the kidneys. thod of prediction. Its existence was first suspected in consequence of irregularities in the moyement of the planet Uranus, which baffled all attempts to attribute them to perturbation caused by known bodies. As far back as 1841 Mr. Adams determined to investigate the problem, and by September 1846 the new planet had fairly been grappled. On July 29 in that year the equatorial of the Cambridge Observatory was first employed in the search after the planet, the probable place having been stated by Mr. Adams. M. Leverrier, who had been working independently at the same problem, published his researches on August 31; and in a letter to the Berlin astronomers, which reached them on September 23, he assigned the place where he expected it would be found. This place was not one degree from that assigned to it by Mr. Adams. On the same evening, thanks to the Berlin star maps, which had not reached England, the planet was discovered. Nephritis (Gr. from veppós). Inflam- As Neptune's nearest approach to us is mation of the kidney. This disease is at- 2,629,360,000 miles, it is invisible to the naked tended by pain in the affected part, extending eye. Its diameter is 4.72 greater than that of along the ureter, and increased on walking, or the earth. Its revolution round the sun is in the upright posture: nausea and vomiting accomplished in 60126-72 days.. Neptune is are common attendants, and the appearance accompanied by a satellite, the distance of of the urine is generally far from healthy. which from the primary is nearly equal to that Bleeding, warm baths, sudorifics, and aperients, of our moon-220,000 miles; it accomplishes with opiates and diluents, are the principal remedies resorted to. Nephrodium (Gr. veppós, and eldos, likeness). A genus of Ferns, closely allied to Lastrea, belonging like it to the Aspidiaceous group, and like it also having the sori covered by reniform indusia; but in Nephrodium the veins of the pinnule-like segments anastomose in a connivent manner with those of adjoining segments for a greater or less distance from the rachis of the pinna, as the segments are more or less united. They are for the most part tropical plants. Nephrotomy (Gr. veopós; Téμvw, I cut). The operation of extracting a stone from the kidney. Nepidæ. [HYDROCORISE.] Nepotism (Lat. nepos). A word invented to express a peculiar characteristic of many high ecclesiastics in Roman Catholic countries, and more particularly of popes: a propensity, namely, to aggrandise their family by exorbitant grants and favours conferred on members of it; literally, on nephews (nepotes). Many of the highest and wealthiest families of the Roman nobility owe their elevation entirely to this species of patronage. Neptune (Lat. Neptunus). In Astronomy, the planet of our system the most distant from its rotation in 5 days 21 hours 8 minutes. Of the physical constitution of the planet we know nothing except its mass and density; these, as compared with the mass and density of the earth, are 16.761 and 0.17 respectively. NEPTUNE. In Mythology. [POSEIDON.] Neptunian. A name formerly given to a school of geologists which taught (with Werner) that all the great deposits and accumulations of rock had taken place in the presence of water, and from solution or suspension in water. That a very large proportion of all rocks have been so formed, is now placed beyond a doubt by evidence derived from the fossils which they contain; and that many more, generally thought plutonic, have been originally formed in contact with water and with water as an essential element, is also certain. Still there is no doubt that certain rocks, such as lavas at present and basalts anciently, are distinctly igneous, and that many of the plutonic rocks have been formed at great depths, at high temperature and under enormous pressure, although probably not without the presence of liquid water. The discussions concerning the Vulcanists and Neptunists are now only interesting as connected with the early history of geology. Nereidans. The name of the family of NEREIDES dorsibranchiate Anellidans of which the genus Nereis is the type. The characters are, an even number of tentacula attached to the sides of the base of the head, and a little farther forwards two others which are biarticulate, between which are two simple ones. Their branchiæ consist of small lamina, between which is spread a network of vessels; each foot is also furnished with two tubercles, two packets of bristles, one cirrus above and another beneath. Nereides (Gr. Nnpnides). The daughters of Nereus, and nymphs of the sea. They were originally conceived to be of a beautiful form, but later fictions degraded them to the idea of a mermaid. Among the most famous of these nymphs were Amphitrite, Galatea, Thetis, &c. [NYMPHS.] Nereus (Gr.). A sea-god, son of Ocean and Earth, standing to Poseidon in the same relation in which Gæa stands to Dêmêtêr, or Helios to Phœbus. Nerita (Lat., the name of a shell-fish in Pliny). This term was applied by Linnæus to a genus of his Vermes Testacea, characterised by having a shell with the columella in a straight line, which renders the aperture of a semicircular form: this aperture is always closed by an operculum. The genus is ranked by Cuvier amongst his Pectinibranchiate Gastropods, and is subdivided into the subgenera Natica, Lam., Nerita, Voluta, and Neritina, Lam. Nerita proper is a marine shell, while Neritina is an inhabitant of fresh waters. Examples of both genera are found fossil in the strata of the Paris basin. NERVOUS SYSTEM often so interwoven as to form a kind of network or plexus; and some of them have what are termed ganglia, or rounded masses of nervous matter, not fibrous, but apparently composed of globules disseminated through a vascular network. There are two distinct systems of nerves; one of which is connected with the brain and with the spinal chord. These, being media of sensation and of voluntary motion, are termed the nerves of animal life, or the cerebro-spinal nerves. The other system is in communication with the brain and spinal chord, or with the cerebro-spinal nerves, only by very small filaments, and they have numerous ganglions throughout their course; they preside over the nutritive functions, upon which the mind has no direct influence: these are the nerves of organic life, or ganglionic or great sympathetic nerves. The cerebro-spinal nerves convey impressions from their extremities to the brain, and they also convey the influence of the will from the brain to the voluntary muscles; these passing and repassing, or receptive and emissive, influences, are conveyed by distinct sets of nervous filaments, which, however, are generally enclosed in the same sheath, and therefore appear to form a single nerve: the terms centripetal and centrifugal filaments have been distinctively applied to them. The history of the nervous system in all its details forms an extended and complicated, but a highly important part of anatomy and physiology, and the investigations connected with them have led to many useful practical results, which, however, have thrown but little light Nerium (Gr. vnpás, humid). To this genus of Apocynaceae belongs the well-known Olean-upon the cause of the phenomena, or the ulder, a shrubby plant, with long willow-like leathery leaves, and terminal clusters of large rose-coloured flowers. It is very ornamental, but like many others of its order is furnished with a poisonous juice. Neroli. The name given by perfumers to the essential oil of orange flowers. It is procured by distillation with water in the same way as the other volatile oils. The oil of the leaf of the orange-tree (essence de petit grain) is sometimes substituted for it. Nervation. In Botany, the manner in which the veins of the leaves &c. are arranged. Nerves (Lat. nervus, Gr. veûpov). In Botany, the ribs or principal veins of the leaf. Nervous Fever. This term was formerly used to indicate a condition now recognised as a variety in typhoid fever, in which nervous symptoms, or sensorial debility, are especially prominent. The treatment consists in allaying irritation and supporting the strength. Nervous System. In Physiology. The nerves are fibrous chords in direct or indirect connection with the brain, and extending their ramifications into every part of the body. Their ultimate structure is filamentous, and they consist of a peculiar grey substance, their size depending upon the number of filaments enclosed in the common sheath. They are timate nature of the nervous influence. The works of Sir Charles Bell, Dr. Marshall Hall, and Dr. Wilson Philip must be consulted in reference to the functions of the different classes of nerves; there is a good general account of the subject in Baly's translation of Müller's Physiologie. NERVOUS SYSTEM. In Comparative Anatomy. In some of the lowest-organised animals the nervous system has been detected in the form of simple filaments; these are afterwards found connected with a nervous ring surrounding the œsophagus. As organisation advances, nervous matter begins to be accumulated upon the ring, forming a brain; and upon different parts of the radiating filaments, forming ganglions. When the principal gangliated filaments are not parallel, or not symmetrical in their course, they are associated with the type of organisation which characterises the molluscous or heterogangliate division of animals. When the gangliated filaments are two in number, symmetrical, and run parallel with each other along the ventral aspect of the body, they are associated with and bespeak the type of organisation characteristic of the articulate or homogangliate division. When the brain ceases to present the form of a ring, and sends down the back a prolongation of its sub NERVURES stance, called the spinal marrow, the rest of its Nervures. In Entomology, corneous tubes In Botany, nervures are the veins of leaves. [NERVES.] Nesodon (Gr. vñoos, island, and dooús, tooth). A genus of fossil Toxodont Mammalia from the pliocene strata of Port St. Julian, Patagonia. The Nesodon ovinus was as large as a sheep; the Nesodon imbricatus the size of a llama. Ness. The termination of several names of places in Great Britain where there is a headland or promontory, as Inverness, Sheerness. The word is probably akin to the Fr. nez, the Ger. nase, Lat. nasus, nose. by swallows, peculiar to the Indian islands, NEURAL ARCH and much esteemed in China and other parts of the world. These nests resemble in form those of other swallows; they are formed of a viscid substance, and in external appearance as well as consistence are not unlike frbrate illcipally found in Java, in caverns usually situated concocted isinglass. Esculent nests are prinon the sea-coast. Nothing satisfactory is known as to the substance of which these nests are composed. (Commercial Dictionary, art. ‘Birds' Nests.') meshes, for catching fish and other purposes. Net (Ger.netz). A textile fabric of knotted incapable of enlargement or diminution. The Each mesh should be so secured as to be French government offered in 1802 a prize of 10,000 francs to the person who should invent a machine for making nets upon automatic principles, and adjudged it to M. Buron, who Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers. It does not presented his mechanical invention to the appear, however, that this machine has accomplished the object in view; for no establishment was ever mounted to carry it into execu and their families during periods of leisure. tion. Nets are usually made by the fishermen lowest and meanest offices about the temples. They are termed the hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of God,' an office to which the descendants of the Gibeonites are stated to have been condemned by Joshua. Nestorians. The followers of Nestorius, patriarch of Constantinople, in the first half of the fifth century. This prelate agitated the shining: Wedgwood). In Commerce, someNet or Neat (Fr. net, from Lat. nitidus, Christian world, after the Arian controversy thing pure and unadulterated with any foreign had been settled, by the introduction of certain mixture. Thus, wines are said to be net when subtle disputations concerning the divine and not falsified; and coffee, rice, &c. to be so, human natures in Christ, between which he when the filth and ordures are separated from affected to distinguish with peculiar precision; them. The word net is also used for what and, in guarding against the propensity which remains after the tare has been taken out of he discovered in the Christians of his own any merchandise; i.e. when it is weighed clear day to confuse the two and look upon them of all package. [TARE.] Net produce (Ital. as absorbed into one compound substance, netto proceduto) is used in mercantile language he forbade men to entertain any combined to express what any commodity has yielded, notion at all, and kept constantly before after all tare and charges have been deducted. their eyes both the God and the man. insisted, for instance, that the Virgin should of the priests and Levites, employed in the He Nethinims. Among the Jews, the servants not be entitled Mother of God, but Mother of Christ, or of Man, the human nature being essentially distinct from and only inhabited by the divine, as a temple by its divinity. Nestorius was condemned by the third general council held at Ephesus, in the year 431: his principal adversary being the president of the assembly, Cyril, patriarch of Alexandria. After his deposition, he was banished by the emperor to an oasis in Upper Egypt, where he died. His opinions, however, spread throughout Asia, and appear to have been carried along, with the advancing stream of Christianity, to the farthest parts of India and China. In the more Western regions, they were soon afterwards counteracted by the spread of the opposite theories of Eutyches. [EUTYCHIANS; MONOPHYSITES; MONOTHELITES.] Besides the well-known authorities, the reader may consult Doucin, Histoire du Nestorianisme, 1698; Assemann's Bibliothèque Orientalis; Grant's Residence among the Nestorian Christians, 8vo. 1841; Milman's Latin Christianity, book ii. ch. iii. [THREE CHAPTERS.] Nests, Esculent. A species of nests built 664 ship for various purposes, as stowage, or de- The common much resembling that produced by the sting of Neukirchen in Alsace, forming a coating on Anatomy, the arch of the vertebra or primary |