NEANDERTHAL MAN 



5666 



NEBULA 



Neanderthal Man. Palaeo- 

 lithic race inhabiting Europe dur- 

 ing the Mousterian period. It was 

 first revealed by the discovery of a 

 human burial in a grotto of the 

 Neanderthal ravine near Diissel- 

 dorf in 1856. Its fossil remains, 

 representing about 30 individuals 

 and industrial products, have since 

 been found in widely scattered 

 caves and summer-camp stations, 

 including the Ghar Dalam cave, 

 Malta, 1918. See Man ; Mousterian. 



Neapolis (Gr., new town). An- 

 cient seaport in Macedonia, near 

 the modern town of Kavala. It 

 was here that S. Paul landed during 

 his second missionary journey, with 

 Silas and Timothy (Acts 16). 



Neapolitan Sixth. In music, 

 an arbitrary name of doubtful ori- 

 gin for a chord occurring on the 

 subdominant of a minor key. It 

 consists of the subdominant and its 

 minor third and minor sixth. 



It was probably arrived at 

 through singers or string players 

 consciously or unintentionally flat- 

 tening the D to get a soft, pathetic 

 effect. The Neapolitan sixth is also 

 used in the major mode. See Har- 

 mony ; Interval; Major; Minor; 

 Sixth; Third. 



Neap Tides. Those tides which 

 reach the lowest high-water mark, 

 the highest tides being called 

 spring tides. Neap tides are those 

 immediately following the first and 

 third quarters of the moon, and 

 their range is usually only one-third 

 of the spring tides. See Tides. 



Nearchus. Greek navigator. 

 Born in Crete, he removed to 

 Amphipolis in Macedonia, where 

 he began a lifelong friendship with 

 Alexander, whom he accompanied 

 on his Indian campaign, 327 B.C. 

 Appointed commander of the 

 fleet built by Alexander on the 

 Hydaspes, he undertook to conduct 

 it from the mouth of the Indus 

 along the coast to the mouth of 

 the Euphrates. A further journey 

 round the African and Arabian 

 coasts was abandoned owing to 

 Alexander's death. Nearchus was 

 allowed by Antigonus to retain the 

 provinces of Lycia and Pamphylia, 

 which had been bestowed upon 

 him by Alexander, but nothing 

 further is known of him. A 

 summary of his Paraplous (coast- 

 ing voyage) is given in Arrian's 

 Indica. 



Neasden. District of Middlesex, 

 England, practically a suburb of 

 London. Neasden and Kingsbury 

 is a station on the Metropolitan 

 Ely., which has carriage works here. 

 The parish church is dedicated to 

 S. Andrew and is much restored. 



Neath. Mun. borough, market 

 town, and river port of Glamorgan- 

 shire, Wales. It stands near the 



Neath seal 



mouth of the river Neath, 8 m. from 

 Swansea and 183 from London, and 

 is served by the G.W. and local 

 rlys., including 

 the Neath ' and 

 Brecon, and also 

 two canals. There 

 is another station 

 at Neath Abbey, 

 2 m. away. The 

 buildings include 

 the restored 

 church of S. 

 Thomas.the modern one of S.David, 

 the town hall, and market house. 

 Gwyn Hall, dating from 1888, was 

 a gift to the town. The town lies in a 

 profitable mining district, and the 

 industries include copper smelting, 

 the oldest of all, tin-plate works, 

 steel works, chemical factories, 

 foundries, engineering works, etc. 

 There are good facilities for the 

 shipping of coal and other minerals. 

 In the 12th century an abbey and 

 castle were founded at Neath, and 

 there are remains of both. It be- 

 came a borough about the same 

 time and was long under the lords 

 of Glamorgan, who allowed the 

 citizens to hold an annual fair. 

 Market davs, Wed. and Sat. Pop. 

 18,900. 



Neat's Foot Oil. Lubricant for 

 fine machinery, also used in dress- 

 ing leather. It is obtained from 

 boiling the hoofs of cattle, for 

 which neat is an old term, and has 

 the advantage of not easily solidi- 

 fying or becoming rancid. 



Nebi Samwil (Hill of Samuel). 

 Name given to the highest peak of 

 a ridge of Palestine, 4| m. N.E. of 

 Kuryet-el-Enab. It is 2,953 ft. 

 above the sea and commands a 

 view of Jerusalem, which lies 5 m. 

 to the S.E. It is the supposed 

 burial-place of the prophet Samuel, 

 and here the Crusaders built a 

 church on the site of his tomb, sub- 

 sequently turned into a mosque. It 

 was prominent in the British opera- 

 tions leading up to the capture of 

 Jerusalem, the infantry capturing 

 the ridge on Nov. 21, 1917. See 

 Jerusalem, Capture of. 



Nebo. God of the ancient Baby- 

 lonians. The son and interpreter 

 of Merodach, he was regarded as 

 the writer of the first book and in- 

 structor of mankind in letters and 

 science. There was a temple to 

 him at Borsippa or Birs-Nimrud. 

 See Babylonia. 



Nebo OR ABARIM. Mountain in 

 Moab. It is near the N. end of the 

 Dead Sea. From its summit, Moses 

 viewed the promised land before 

 his death (Deut. 34). Its alterna- 

 tive name is Pisgah. The site is 

 uncertain. 



Nebraska. Tributary of the 

 Missouri river, better known as the 

 river Platte (q.v.). 



Nebraska. Central state of the 

 U.S.A. Its area is 77,500 sq. m. 

 The surface is an elevated plain 

 sloping from an alt. of 5,000 ft. in 

 the W! to about 1,000 ft. in the E. 

 Part of the N. and N. W. is occupied 

 by "bad lands" and sand-hills. 

 The Platte and Niobrara rivers 

 flow through the state to the Mis- 

 souri, the natural boundary on the 

 E. ; the Republican is the chief of 

 the other streams. On account of 

 the scanty rainfall, which does not 

 exceed 15 ins. annually on the W., 

 only the Missouri is navigable. 



Agriculture has been developed 

 by a state scheme of irrigation, and 

 large crops of maize, wheat, oats, 

 and potatoes are obtained. Stock- 

 raising is a flourishing industry, 

 but minerals are of little import- 

 ance ; slaughtering and meat- 

 packing are largely carried on. 

 Higher education is provided by a 

 state university and other institu- 

 tions, and transport facilities by 

 6,400 m. of rlys. Two senators and 

 six representatives are sent to Con- 

 gress. Lincoln is the capital, but 

 Omaha is the most populous centre. 

 Nebraska was admitted to the 

 Union in 1867. Pop. 1,296,000. 



Nebraska. City of Nebraska, 

 U.S.A., the co. seat of Otoe co. On 

 the Missouri river, 53 m. S. of 

 Omaha, it is served by the Missouri 

 Pacific and the Chicago, Burling- 

 ton and Quincy rlys. The indus- 

 trial establishments include fruit 

 canneries, flour and lumber mills, 

 foundries, starch, vinegar, and 

 cigar factories, stockyards, and 

 grain elevators. Nebraska City, 

 which occupies the site of old Fort 

 Kearney, became a city in 1871. 

 In 1921 it was proposed .to erect 

 a new capitol building in flat 

 prairie country, at a cost of about 

 1,000,000. Pop. 6,300. 



Nebuchadrezzar OR NEBUCH- 

 ADNEZZAR. Name of three kings of 

 Babylon. The most famous, 

 Nebuchadrezzar II, son of Nabo- 

 polassar, reigned 604-561 B.C., in- 

 vaded Judah thrice, taking Jeru- 

 salem and carrying many Jews 

 into captivity, 586 ; captured Tyre, 

 after a siege of 12 years, and in- 

 vaded Egypt. He restored many 

 temples and rebuilt Babylon, 

 where Koldewey's excavations, 

 1899-1911, revealed his palace, 

 temples, gates, walls, quays, and 

 canals. The spelling Nebuchad- 

 nezzar is that used in the A. V., but 

 Nebuchadrezzar is preferred by 

 modern authorities. See Babylon, 

 col. plate ; Borsippa ; Carchemish ; 

 Daniel ; Ziggurat. 



Nebula. In astronomy, a 

 celestial object which cannot be re- 

 solved by the telescope into a star, 

 or group of stars, as distinct from 

 comets. Nebulae were first cata- 



