1061 



NEPETA. 



NEREIS. 



1082 



Its great disagreement consists in its indefinite seeds and peculiar 

 woody structure, which is however in some respects without example." 

 (' Vegetable Kingdom.') The water found in an unopened pitcher was 

 found to emit while boiling an odour like baked apples, and to yield 

 minute crystals of superoxalate of potash. There are about six species 

 of Nej>cntkes. 



1 2 3 



J epenllies ditti/latoria. 



1, a male flower; 2, a female flower ; 3, a vertical section of the lipc capsule; 

 4 a vertical section of a seed yery much magnified ; 5, the seeds. 



NE'PETA (a name used by Pliny from 'nepa,' scorpion, being 

 supposed to be efficacious agaiust the bite of a scorpion, or from Nepe, 

 or Nepete, a town in Tuscany), a genus of Plants belonging to the 

 natural order Labiates, and the tribe Nepetea. It has diverging anther- 

 cells ; a ringent corolla, the upper lip flat, straight, emarginate, or 

 bifid ; the calyx is 5-toothed. 



If. Cataria, Catmint, has stalked cordate acute leaves, deeply cre- 

 nated, and clothed with a whitish pubescence beneath ; dense many- 

 flowered whorls ; smooth and glabrous nuts. The stem is from 2 to 

 3 feet in height, downy or mealy. It is a native throughout the whole 

 of Europe and Middle Asia, and is plentiful in Britain. The corollas 

 are white, with a tinge of red spotted with purple. The whole plant 

 has a strong smell between mint and pennyroyal. Cats are said to 

 be fond of it, and hence it derives its name ; they roll themselves on 

 it, and tear it to pieces apparently with much pleasure. Ray noticed 

 that the plants he removed from the field into his garden were always 

 destroyed by cats unless he protected them with thorns until they 

 had come into flower, but they never meddled with plants raised from 

 seed ; hence the old saying, " If you set it the cats will eat it ; if you 

 sow it the cats won't know it." , Kay accounts for this from the fact 

 that by transplanting the leaves become bruised, and the powerful 

 odour is exhaled which attracts the cats to it. It appears to act as a 

 real aphrodisiac upon cats. Sheep are said to eat it, but all other 

 domestic animals refuse it. 



If. Glechoma (GUchoma litderacca, Smith) Ground-Ivy, has uniform 

 cordate crenate leaves, axillary stalked whorls, ovate aristate teeth, 

 and oblong nuts with impressed dots ; the corolla is a light bluish- 

 gray, three times as long as the calyx. It is a native of Europe and 

 the north of Asia, in hedges and ditches, in woods and waste places, 

 and is plentiful in Britain. The leaves of the Ground-Ivy were for- 

 merly thrown into the vat with ale to clarify it and give it a flavour : 

 this was called Gill-Ale, Ground-Ivy being named Gill, or Gell, and 

 Creep-by-Ground, in some places. From this use of the plant, and 

 the form of the leaf, it has also the names of Ale-Hoof and Tun-Hoof; 

 but it has gradually grown into disuse since the introduction of hops. 



N. Nepetella, Small Catmint, is an erect pubescent plant, clothed 

 with hoary tomentum ; the leaves lanceolate, crenate, rounded or 

 cordate at the base, clothed with hoary tomentum or pubescence on 

 both surfaces ; the racemes many-flowered, nearly simple ; the bracts 

 scarcely longer than the pedicels ; the calyx tububar, incurved with 

 an oblique mouth ; the corolla twice as long as the calyx. It is a 

 native of the south of Europe, and is found in Spain, Provence, 

 Switzerland, and Italy. It is a very variable plant, especially in 

 gardens. Many varieties have been described. 



There are about 70 species of Nepeta known to botanists. Some 

 of them have pretty blossoms, and may be cultivated in the garden. 

 They grow well in any garden soil, especially when light and dry. 

 They may be propagated by dividing the root or by sowing the seeds. 



(Koch, Flora Germanica ; Babington, Manual of British Botany ; 

 Don, Dichlainydeoiis Plants.) 



NEPHELINE, or Sommite, is a Mineral which occurs in attached 

 hexagonal prisms. Its primary form is a rhomboid. It gives indi- 

 cations of cleavage parallel to the planes of the prism. The fracture is 

 conchoidal, shining. It scratches glass. Colour -white ; streak the 



ne. Lustre vitreous. Transparent, translucent. Specific gravity, 

 2'360. When a transparent fragment is put into cold nitric acid it 

 becomes cloudy, and afterwards gelatinises. Before the blow-pipe the 

 edges are rounded ; with borax it slowly melts into a colourless trans- 

 parent glass. It occurs on Monte Somma, Vesuvius ; and in the lava 

 of Capo di Bore, near Rome. The following is an analysis by 

 Arfwedson of a specimen from Vesuvius : 



Silica . 44-11 



Alumina . . * 3373 



Soda 20-46 



98-30 



Elteolite is the name given to dingy oily-looking masses. It is found 

 in Norway and Siberia. 



Gieecelcite is a name for crystals from Greenland. 

 Citncrinite is a bluish variety. 

 NEPHELIS, a genus of Annelida. 



NEPHRITE Jade or Axe-Stone a. Mineral which occurs in masses. 

 The structure is compact. Its fracture is coarse, splintery. Hardness 

 7'0. It is very tough. Colour dark-green and green of other shades. 

 Translucent on the edges. Specific gravity 2'9 to 3. Before the blow- 

 pipe it whitens, but does not fuse, but with borax it forms a transparent 

 glass. The following is an analysis by Kiistner : 



Silica . 50-50 



Alumina lO'OO 



Magnesia 31'00 



Oxide of Iron 5 '50 



Oxide of Chromium 0'05 



Water 2-75 



99-80 



It is carved into images and worn as a charm. It was supposed to 

 be good in diseases of the kidney hence its name. It is found in 

 New Zealand, China, and Western America. 

 NEPHROPS. [HoMAitus.] 

 NEPT^EA, a genus of Zoophytes. 



NE'REIS, Cuvier's name for a genus of Dorsibranchiate Annelida, 

 comprehending the genus Lycoris of Savigny. Tentacles equal in 

 number are attached to the sides of the base of the head ; a lii.de 

 more forward are two other biarticulated ones, and between them 

 two simple ones : they have only one pair of jaws in their proboscis 

 (trompe). The bi-anchite only form small lamina; on which a net-work 



Nereis (SylUs] fkoffkoFHUM, 



a, the animal (l-3rd Inch focus) ; b, head of the same (1.12th inch focus). 

 Garner. 



