NISH 



8731 



NITRIC ACID 



150 m. N.W., to Sofia-Con 



ih.pl.- v. it li (ho line to Salonica, and 

 has extensive rly. works. It was 

 the birthplace of Constantino tho 

 On tho outbreak of the 

 \Var, the Serbians made it 

 th.-ir tcniponiry capital. It was 

 ruptured l>y tin- I'.uli/.irians Nov. 5, 

 I'.'l.".. but recaptured by the Serba 

 <>n <),t, 12, 1018. Pop. in 1914, 

 nb. .ut 25,000. 



Nish. BATTLE OF. Fought be- 

 (\\een tin- I'.uk'aii.nis and tho Ser- 

 Nov. 2 :.. l-.'l.V In 1. !.. KM.-.. 

 I'-iiL-arii ji.ini'cl (li- Ausi: 



In tlicir invasion of Serbia, 

 and on Oct. 11, three days before 

 she declared war, she was moving 

 in force against NLsh, on the N. 

 toward^ Kniashcvatz ontheTimok, 

 and on the S. towards Pirot in the 

 rei..n of the Nishava, both opera- 

 tion, l>eing directed by General 

 heff. In tho district of 

 Pirot the Serbians, under Stepano- 

 vitch, after gallant efforts, \\m- 

 compelled, on Oct. 26-27, to aban- 

 don the commanding Drenova 

 Glava height. After a fierce en- 

 -iit, Stepanovitch had to 

 evacuate Pirot next day, and Knia- 

 shevatz fell the day afterwards. 

 By Nov. 2 Bogatcheff, a<lvancing 

 from Pirot and Kniashevatz, was 

 within a short distance of Nish. 

 From Nov. 2-5 the Serbians held 

 up the Bulgarians in front of Nish, 

 but on Nov. 5 they abandoned it 

 to their foes. 



Nishapur. Town of Persia, 

 famous as the birthplace and burial 

 place of Omar Khayyam (q.v.). 

 It is in the prov. of Khorassan, 

 about 50 m. S.W. of Meshed, and 

 trades in cotton and woollen goods 

 and fruits, particularly almonds. 

 Some 30 m. N. of it are turquoise 

 mines. Pop. 15,000. 



Nisibis. Ancient city of Meso- 

 potamia, also called Antiochia 

 Mvudoniac. It is the modern 

 Ni-il'in. It changed hands several 

 times in the many wars between 

 the Romans and the Parthians 

 and Persians, but finally 

 into the dominion of the last, t txr 

 tho disastrous expedition of Julian 

 the Apostate, A.D. 363. Nisibin was 

 included by the Turks in the 

 vilayet of I)iarbekir. During the 

 Great War it was the E. terminus 

 of the Bagdad rly., and a place of 

 military importance. Pop. 10.000. 

 > Mesopotamia. 



Nisi Prius (I^at., unless before). 

 English law term. By Magna 

 Carta, it was ordered that 

 writs of assize should be tried 

 before justices who should be sent 

 into every county at least once a 

 year. At a \<T\ early date it be- 

 came customary to try other actions 

 before tho judges of assize. Jurors 

 used to be summoned, by writ of 



to the court* -at West- 

 r on such and Mich a day, 

 unleM before that day tho king's 

 juatioM should come into their 

 county. A trial of a civil cause 

 before a judge of as*ize was there- 

 fore called a trial at nwi pritu ; 

 and tho term in still adhered to, and 

 recognized by statute. A justice of 

 assize sits by virtue of a commiwion 

 of assize, gaol delivery, and niti 

 priu* to this day. 



Nith. River of Scotland. I 

 in the W. of Ayrshire, it flows 55 m. 

 Sll. through Dumfriesshire to the 

 Solway Firth, l.'l m. below Dum- 

 fries. The district through which it 

 flows is known at .Nithsdale. 



Nithsdale, WII.MKM M \X\VELL, 

 5ra EARL OF (1676-1744). Jacobite 

 leader. Son of Robert, 4th carl, in 

 1715 he joined Dorwent water in 

 the rebellion, and with other 

 Jacobite leaders was captured at 

 Preston and sentenced to death. 

 Nithsdale was saved by his if.-, 

 who, after pleading vainly with the 

 king, paid a farewell visit to her 

 husband in the Tower, disguised 

 him in a hood and cloak, and got 

 him safely away. Nithsdale 

 escaped to Calais. His wife was 

 arrested, but later was permitted 

 to join him. His estates were for- 

 feited, but restored to his son on 

 the earl's death on March 20, 1744. 

 The title, however, was forfeited. 



Nitra. Town in the Slovakia 

 division of the Czecho-Slovak re- 

 public, also known as Nyitra (q.v.). 



Nitrates. In chemistry, name 

 given to the salts or compounds of 

 nitric acid, i.e. those formed by the 

 substitution of metals for the 

 hydrogen of nitric acid (q.v.). 



Nitrator. Chemical apparatus 

 in which the operation of nitration 

 is conducted. The essential features 

 are a container usually constructed 

 of iron or lead, but sometimes of 

 earthenware, fitted with means 

 for heating or cooling the con- 

 tents, either by a jacket or 

 internal coils for steam or water 

 circulation, pipes for the admission 

 of raw materials and acids, pro- 

 vision for the removal of fumes, 

 and means of agitating the con* 

 tents. For nitro-glycerin a lead 

 vessel is generally used, and owing 

 to the sensitive nature of the ex- 

 plosive compressed air is injected 

 for agitation. A drowning pit is also 

 arranged below, into which the 

 contents may be quickly dumped 

 if any dangerous action com- 

 mences. Nitro-aromatic com- 

 pounds are dealt with in large iron 

 nit rutors fitted with mechanical 

 aui tutors of many types. These 

 frequently have a capacity of 1.<HX) 

 gallons, producing about 4 tons of 

 explosive at each operation. $* 



Nitre. Popular name given to 

 potassium nitrau -r salt- 



petre (q.v.). He* PoUesfcun. 



Nitre-cake. By-product in the 

 manufacture of nitric acid from 

 -..In in nitrate and nulphurie acid. 

 ( 'hemically it is known M acid 

 MMlnim sulphate or biralphate of 

 soda (NaHSO,). Very large quan- 

 titifls were produced daring the 

 Great War in the manufa- 

 nitric acid for explosives. Nitre- 

 cake is used as an acid flux in the 

 decomposition of minerals and in 

 the dyeing industry. 



Nitric Add OB AQCA FOBTU 

 ( I ! N i , ). Powerful acid compound 

 of hydr'.."-n, nitrogen, and oxygen. 

 Glauber seems to have been the 

 first to prepare it by the modern 

 process of heating together nitro 

 and sulphuric acid Lavoisier and 

 Cavendish first proved its exact 

 composition. Nitric acid is made 

 on a large scale by heating Chile 

 nitre with sulphuric acid in cast- 

 iron retorts. The newer method 

 of making nitric acid is by the 

 direct combination of the nitrogen 

 and oxygen of the tt nosphere by 

 moans of an electric arc. The pro- 

 cess is carried out on a large scale 

 by the Birkeland and Eyde furnace 

 at Notodden in Norway. Nitrogen 

 peroxide is tho chief gas formed, 

 and this, absorbed by water, yields 

 nitric and nitrous acids, the last 

 named acid being subsequently 

 converted into nitric acid. Nitric 

 acid is also made by electrical 

 processes. 



Nitric acid is largely used for the 

 manufacture of explosives nitro- 

 glycerin, gun - cotton, trinitroto- 

 luene ("T.N.T."), etc. and for 

 making aniline dyes. It forms a 

 series of salts known as nitrates, 

 some of which are largely employed 

 in the industries. Silver nitrate is 

 valuable in photography, lead 

 nitrate, iron nitrate, and alumi- 

 nium nitrate in dyeing and calico- 

 printing, and barium and stron- 

 tium nitrates in the manufacture 

 of fireworks. 



I'"is,iMXi: I:Y Nnr.i<- Ann. Two 

 drachms of c>nrrnt rated nitric 

 acid have proved fatal. As soon as 

 the acid is taken, violent pain is 

 felt in the mouth, gullet, and 

 stomach, followed by severe vomit- 

 ing. Tho lips and teeth are stained 

 yellow, and tho mucous membrane 

 is excoriated. The tongue be- 

 comes swollen, symptoms of col- 

 lapse supervene, the pulse becomes 

 weak, the skin cold and clammy. 

 Eventually, death occurs from ex- 

 LniMMn, usually in from 18 to 24 

 hours. If death does not occur 

 from shock, bronchitis, congestion 

 f the hui'js. and pneumonia may 

 follow. Inhalation of the fumes 

 alone may be fatal. Treatment 



