NURSING 



58O6 



NUX VOM1CA 



Nursing, COLLEGE OF. British 

 association, founded in 1918 to 

 provide a central organization to 



Nutcracker. Specimen of the species 

 of crow 



promote the interests of the nursing 

 profession. It has local centres and 

 branches in Scotland and Ireland. 

 In 1920 its membership was over 

 19,000, and about 50,000 had been 

 raised for endowment and other 

 purposes. In Oct., 1920, Viscount, 

 and Viscountess Cowdray pre- 

 sented the house, 20, Cavendish 

 Square, London, W.C., for the 

 headquarters of the college. 



N.U.T. Abbreviation for 

 National Union of Teachers (q.v.). 



Nut. Strictly speaking, the dry 

 fruit developed from the carpels of 

 the flower. The carpel contains 

 two or more ovules, but as a rule 

 only one develops into a seed the 

 kernel of the nut. This is invested 

 by a shell of hard or leathery 

 tissue, which does not split until 

 the seed germinates. The term as 

 used commercially or popularly 

 does not always coincide with the 

 botanical meaning ; thus, an acorn 

 is a true nut ; a ground-nut is not 

 a nut, but a pod ; walnut is the 

 " stone " of a fruit formed like a 

 plum or cherry (drupe) ; and earth- 

 nut, or pig-nut, is a tuber. Types 

 of true nuts are found in hazel, 

 beech mast, and sweet chestnut. 

 See Brazil Nut ; Cob-nut ; Fruit. 



Nut. In engineering, a short, 

 concave screw. It usually consists 

 of a small block of metal with a 

 central hole cut in a screw thread, 

 and is used for holding bolts firm, 

 etc., and parts of machinery. The 

 block of metal is usually hexagonal 

 in shape, or corrugated in some 

 way to enable a firm grip to be 

 obtained for tightening or loosen- 

 ing. Castellated nuts have grooves 

 in the head for holding firm with 

 split pins, etc. 



Nutation. In astronomy, the 

 oscillatory movement produced in 

 the earth's axis by the attraction 

 of the moon on the equatorial pro- 

 tuberance of the earth. The line of 

 the earth's axis cuts the heavens at 

 a point known as the celestial pole, 

 which describes a circle round the 

 pole of the ecliptic, and this circle 

 is in itself subject to a small dis- 



turbance, making the circle a 

 wavy one instead of uniform. This 

 disturbance is called nutation. 

 See Precession. 



Nutcracker (Nucifraga caryoca- 

 tactes). Bird belonging to the crow 

 family. Widely distributed over 

 Europe and Asia, it is an occasional 

 visitor to Great Britain. The crow is 

 rather smaller than a jackdaw, and 

 has brown plumage spotted with 

 white, except the wings and tail, 

 which are black. It occurs in 

 woods, where it feeds mainly on 

 seeds of conifers and insects. The 

 word is also used for a metal im- 

 plement used to crack nuts. 



Nuthatch (Sitta). Genus of 

 birds of the family Sittidae. The 

 common nuthatch, S. caesia, is a 



small bird, 



fairly common 

 in the S. and 

 Midland cjoun- 

 ties of Eng- 

 land, rare in 

 Scotland, and 

 not found in 

 Ireland. It is 

 about 5 ins. 

 long; and the 

 plumage is 

 bluish grey 

 on the upper 

 parts, with 

 white throat, 

 buff under- 

 parts, and grey 

 and black tail. 

 It has the 

 habit of run- 

 ning upwards 

 or downwards over the branches 

 and trunk of a tree like a mouse. 

 It nests in a hole in a tree ; and if 

 the hole is large, stops it up with 

 clay, leaving an opening only large 

 enough to pass through. It feeds 

 upon the insects and grubs that it 

 finds in crevices in the bark, in 

 search of which it taps the tree 

 like a woodpecker. In the autumn 

 it takes partly to a diet of nuts, 

 which it fixes in a crevice in the 

 bark, and splits with its beak. 

 There are several American species 

 of the bird, and other species in 

 Asia and Africa. 



Nutmeg (Myristica fragrans). 

 Seed of a tree of the natural order 

 Myristicaceae, native of Malaya. 

 The tree attains a height of about 

 30 ft., has large, aromatic, leathery, 

 alternate, evergreen leaves, and 

 small, pale yellow flowers. The 

 small fruits are pear-shaped, con- 

 taming a single seed (nutmeg), 

 which is invested first with a crim- 

 son fibrous network (mace), and ex- 

 ternally by a thick, fleshy coat. 

 The tree begins to bear fruit when 

 eight years old, attains its maxi- 

 mum at twenty-five, and continues 

 profitable for another 35 years or so. 



Nuthatch searching 



a tree trunk for 



insects 



Nutmeg. 1. Fruit beginning to 

 open. 2. Nutmeg coveted with 

 mace. 3. After removal of mace 



Nutmeg and mace are used in 

 cookery as a flavouring for custards 

 and puddings ; and in medicine as 

 an aromatic, stimulant, and car- 

 minative, but chiefly to disguise 

 the taste of less pleasant drugs, such 

 as rhubarb. 



Nutrition. Nourishing or main- 

 taining of an organ or individual 

 in a state of good health by the 

 assimilation of food. Adequate 

 nutrition demands not only the 

 taking in of new materials, but 

 also the removal from the tissues of 

 waste products. In a child the 

 process of building up exceeds that 

 of breaking down. In the adult 

 the two processes are balanced, 

 and in old age the removal of ma- 

 terial is in excess. Besides supply 

 of sufficient food, adequate nu- 

 trition also demands exercise of 

 functions. Hence the necessity of 

 regular exercise of muscles, without 

 which wasting will occur, as seen 

 in the limbs of persons suffering 

 from some forms of paralysis. See 

 Diet ; Food ; Metabolism. 



Nux Vomica. Seeds of a small 



"tree, Strychnos nux-vomica, of the 



natural order Loganiaceae. A 



native of India and N. Australia, 



it has strongly veined, oval, 



Nux Vomica. Spray of foliage and 



flowers. Inset, above, single flower : 



below, fruit and seed 



