NEEDLEWORK 



Needlework. Specifically, work 

 done with a needle. The art of the 

 needle is one of the oldest of the 

 crafts, and has developed in 

 delicacy and fineness with the 

 fabrics submitted to the needle. 

 Great skill in design and execution 

 was shown by the Egyptians, and 

 indeed under all the Mediterranean 

 civilizations, at an early age. 



The stitches used in needle- 

 work are practically the same all 

 the world over, but the designs are 

 very different. Oriental stitchery 

 is perhaps the finest of all, and the 

 designs are those of the artist with 

 the brush; the weaver and the 

 embroiderer worked together, and 

 in some cases the embroidery is 

 actually done on the warp. The 

 art has developed in the East on 

 religious lines, so that character- 

 istic designs have persisted through 

 the centuries. 



In Europe, Byzantine design was 

 grafted on the Greek and Christian 

 needlework of the Mediterranean, 

 and much of this design is still 

 followed in the peasant needle- 

 work of the European countries 

 east of the Danube. The West was 

 strongly influenced by Italian 

 design, itself indebted to Saracen 

 art; and much of the beautiful 

 work executed in England during 

 the 17th century, called Jacobean, 

 is hardly distinguishable from con- 

 temporary Italian work. 



Since about 1890 there has been 

 a considerable revival of needle- 

 Graft, encouraged by the establish- 

 ment of the royal school of art 

 needlework at South Kensington. 

 Plain needlework is an obligatory 

 subject in elementary schools for 

 girls. See Dressmaking ; Embroid- 

 ery ; consult also Dictionary of 

 Needlework, S. F. A. Caulfeild and 

 B. C. Saward, 2nd ed. 1896 ; Art in 

 Needlework, L. F. Day and 

 M. Buckle, 3rd. ed. 1907. 



Need wood. Forest in Stafford- 

 shire, England. A royal hunting 

 ground, it lay between Stafford, 

 Burton, and Lichfield, and is 

 estimated to have covered about 

 70.000 acres. It was largely 

 stocked with deer and wild cattle, 

 and was divided into five wards, 

 Barton, Marchington, Uttoxeter, 

 Yoxall, and Tutbury. Its area was 

 reduced greatly in the 17th cen- 

 tury, and in 1801 the rest was 

 disafforested. Most of it is now 

 under cultivation, but a little still 

 remains forest. The name is still 

 used for the district, and much of 

 the land belongs to the duchy of 

 Lancaster. 



Negapatam. Port of Madras, 

 India, in the delta of the river 

 Cauvery. One of the earliest 

 settlements of the Portuguese, it 

 was captured by the Dutch in 1660, 



567O 



and has been British since 1781. 

 It is the port for steamers for 

 Rangoon and the Straits Settle- 

 ments, and for this reason a port 

 of embarkation for Madrasi coolie 

 emigrants. Here are rly. work- 

 shops. Pop. 60,200. 



Negative. In photography, the 

 record of an object on a sensitive 

 plate or film, produced by the 

 action of light, and representing 

 light as dark and vice versa, since 

 the effect of light, followed by 

 development, is to produce a 

 dark deposit. 



A negative lens is one which 

 causes parallel rays of light to 

 diverge, or convergent rays to be 

 less convergent. Added to a 

 positive lens, a negative thus 

 increases the focal length, pro- 

 ducing a larger image. See Lens ; 

 Photography. 



Negligence. In law, the want 

 of reasonable care or diligence in 

 the performance of a duty. In 

 order to found an action for 

 damages for negligence, the plain- 

 tiff must show that the defendant 

 owed some duty not to be negli- 

 gent, and that, in consequence of 

 his breach of that duty, actual 

 damage has resulted to the plain- 

 tiff or his property. 



The duty may be a contractual 

 one, as where a solicitor is negli- 

 gent in the conduct of an action 

 for a client ; or it may be a duty 

 which the defendant owes to all the 

 world, as where an action is 

 brought in respect of personal in- 

 juries caused by the negligent 

 driving of the driver of a vehicle 

 in the street. How important the 

 question of duty is may be seen 

 from a simple illustration. A digs 

 a hole in his private field, and 

 leaves it unfenced and unguarded. 

 B, wandering in the night, falls 

 into the hole. A is under no re- 

 sponsibility, because he owes no 

 duty to anyone not to leave un- 

 fenced holes in his field. On the 

 other hand, if A digs a hole in his 

 own unfenced land by the road 

 side, he owes a duty to all way- 

 farers to keep it fenced, or to 

 warn the public of the hole's 

 existence. 



' In certain cases, want of skill is 

 negligence. This happens when a 

 man professes to possess skill, 

 and either does not possess it or 

 does not use it ; e.g. a medical 

 practitioner is negligent, if he fails 

 to treat a patient with ordinary 

 skill and knowledge. Error of 

 judgement is not negligence. A 

 barrister is not liable for negligence 

 in giving advice or in the conduct 

 of a case. If a man, confronted 

 by a sudden danger, loses his pre- 

 sence of mind, and takes the 

 wrong step, it is not negligence. 



NEGOTIN 



An action for negligence will lie 

 against a person who takes or 

 brings on his land a thing in itself 

 dangerous, if that thing does 

 harm, although the defendant has 

 taken every precaution that science 

 or reason can devise. 



Negoi. Highest mt. in Transyl- 

 vania, Rumania. Its alt. is 8,320 ft. 

 It is a peak in the Foagaras Mts., a 

 central section of the Transylvan- 

 ian Alps, and rises E. of the 

 Rotenturm Pass between Transyl- 

 vania and Rumania proper. 



Negombo. Coast town of Ceylon. 

 It is on the W. coast 23 m. N. of 

 Colombo, with which it is con- 

 nected by the coast rly. It stands 

 in a fertile area planted with 

 coconut palms. There is a fishing 

 industry, and a trade in cinnamon. 

 Pop. 13,000. 



Negotiable Instrument. In 

 English law, a document by de- 

 livery of which the legal right to 

 the property which it secures may 

 be conveyed. The distinction is 

 between negotiability and assign - 

 ability. All contracts, except for 

 personal services andthelike,andall 

 property, can be assigned or trans- 

 ferred, but the person who receives 

 them takes no better title than the 

 assignor had ; and, further, takes 

 subject to equities and rights as 

 between the transferor and the 

 debtor. 



If A draws a bill of exchange, 

 which is a negotiable instrument, 

 in favour of B, and B negotiates 

 it to C,'C can sue A for the full 

 amount of the bill, without regard 

 to any claim which A may have 

 against B. Again, if a nego- 

 tiable instrument is lost or stolen, 

 and is negotiated to A, who takes 

 it in good faith and for value, A 

 has a good title to it. Instruments 

 are negotiable by the custom of 

 merchants, and any instrument 

 may be made negotiable by uni- 

 versal usage. Bills of exchange, 

 promissory notes, and cheques are 

 the most usual negotiable instru- 

 ments ; but bonds to bearer, divi- 

 dend coupons, bills of lading, dock 

 warrants, wharfingers' certificates, 

 have by statute and custom ac- 

 quired most of the incidents of 

 negotiability. See Bill of Ex- 

 change. 



Negotin. Town of Yugo-SIavia, 

 in N.E. Serbia. It lies near the 

 Danube, which here is the boun- 

 dary between Serbia and Bulgaria, 

 about 20 m. S. of Orsova, and 110 

 m. E.S.E. of Belgrade, with which 

 it has railway connexions. In 1915 

 it was a flourishing town, but in 

 Oct. of that year it was greatly 

 damaged when the Bulgars in- 

 vaded E. Serbia. The town was 

 occupied by the Bulgars till the 

 end of Sept., 1918, and was then 



