41 



NODDY. 



NUCIFRAGA. 



43 



NODDY. [BOOBY.] 



NOLA'NA (so named by Linnseue, from 'nola,' a little bell, on 

 account of the bell-shaped form of the corolla), a genua of Plants 

 belonging to the natural order Nolanacece. It has a 5-cleft calyx ; 

 a campanulate 5-lobed 5-plicate corolla ; 5 stamens adhering to the 

 tube of the corolla, nearly equal ; the anthers are 2-celled, dehiscing 

 lengthwise. The seeds are roundish, with a membranous testa, and 

 fleshy copious albumen. The species are herbs ; natives of Peru and 

 Chili; usually annual Leaves alternate, quite entire. The flowers 

 are solitary, pedunculate, and of a showy blue colour. 



A", ftroitrata, Prostrate Nolana, has a prostrate stem ; ovate-oblong 

 leaves ; a pyramidal calyx, with triangularly sagittate segments, fur- 

 nished with spur-like processes at the base. It is a native of Peru, 

 but grows freely in this country in the open air. In France poultry 

 are fed upon it, and are so fond of it that Persoon proposed to call it 

 A', gallinacea. 



iV. pmadoxa. has prostrate hairy stems ; ovate-obtuse pilose leaves ; 

 the segments of the calyx triangular ; the corolla campanulately 

 funnel-shaped ; the drupes cumulated, 1 -seeded. It is a native of 

 Chili, on the sea-shore about Concepcion. The flowers are blue. 



The species of Nolana are only valuable as ornamental plants ; they 

 are showy when in blossom, and are much like some of the trailing 

 species of Convolvulus. The seeds should be sown in a gentle hot-bed 

 in the spring, and the plants when of sufficient size, or about the 

 middle of May, should be finally transplanted to the open ground, 

 where they will Sower and ripen seed ; or the seeds may be sown at 

 once in the open border in a warm sheltered situation. 



(Don, IHchlamydeou* Plant*; Burnett, Outline* of Botany.) 



NOLANACE.A:, Nolanada, a natural order of Plants, having erect 

 or prostrate stems ; alternate leaves without stipules. Flowers usually 

 showy ; calyx 5-parted, valvate in aestivation ; corolla monopetalous, 

 with a plaited aestivation usually thickened in the tube ; stamens 5, 

 equal, inserted into the tube, alternate with the segments of the 

 corolla ; anthers oblong, 2-celled, bursting longitudinally ; pistil com- 

 posed of several carpels, either distinct with a single style, or partially 

 combined into several sets, with a single style seated on a succulent 

 disc; stigma somewhat capitate. Fruit inclosed in the permanent 

 calyx, constructed like the pistil ; pericarp woody, often a little succu- 

 lent ; seeds ascending, solitary ; embryo curved with either straight 

 or double cotyledons in the midst of a small quantity of albumen ; 

 radicle next the hilum. This little order is remarkable for the various 

 modes in which its carpels are disposed without ever being con- 

 solidated. In one genua there are but 5, and they are distinct; in 

 another there are 20 combined in fours, in a third the combination is 

 irregular though the number remains 20, and in others they are all 

 wholly distinct. The species are all South American, and chiefly from 

 Chili. Their uses are unknown. There are 6 genera and 35 species. 



(Lindlcy, Vegetable Kingdom.) 



NONATE'LLIA, a genus of Plants belonging to the natural order 

 Rubiacea, the tribe Guetlardea;, the sub-tribe Morindece. It has a 

 culjx with an ovate tube, and a 5-toothed permanent limb ; a tubular 

 funnel-shaped corolla, with the tube as if it were gibbous, and a 

 6-lobed limb; the stamens 5, almost inclosed; the stigmas (2?) 

 obtuse ; the fruit a globose drupe, furrowed, containing 5 coriaceous 

 1 -seeded pyreme; the albumen horny. The species are shrubs or 

 small trees with glabrous downy oval-oblong leaves, and the stipules 

 combined together more or less, or free. The flowers are white and 

 arranged in a panicle-formed or corymbose thyrse. 



A". officinrUit, Asthma Bush, has ovate acute glabrous leaves, the 

 stipules combined into a 4-toothed sheath, the panicles corymbose; 

 the involucrum small, 3-leaved under each flower. It is a native of 

 Guyana, in forests and sterile places. All the parts of this plant, when 

 bruised or dried, give out a slight aromatic odour. The Creoles in 

 Guyana call this plant Azier a L'Asthme, and it is said to have a 

 powerful influence in subduing attacks of asthma. 



There are several other species of Nonatellia, all natives of America, 

 but none are used in the arts or as medicines. 



(Lindley, Flora ifedica; Burnett, Outline! of Eotany). 



NONIONI'NA, a genus of Fossil Poraminifera. 



NONTRONITE, a Mineral consisting of Silicate of Iron. This 

 mineral occurs in small nodules imbedded in an ore of manganese. 

 Ita colour is pale or greenish-yellow. Fracture earthy. Dull. Opaque. 

 Unctuous to the touch, and very tender. It is found in the depart- 

 ment of Dordogne in France, in the arrondisaement of Nontron. The 

 following in an analysis by Berthier : 



Silica 44'0 



Peroxide of Iron 29'0 



Alumina 3'6 



Magnesia 21 



Clay 1-2 



Water 187 



93-6 



NORFOLK ISLAND PINE. [ARACCABIA.] 



NOROPS. IIM'ANIDA] 



NOSE is one of the external apertures of the respiratory system 

 and the organ for the sense of smell. The portion of the nose by 

 which odours are perceived lies deep back in the cavity to which the 



external apertures of the nostrils lead ; the portion which is prominent 

 upon the face serves merely as the apparatus for inhaling the air 

 which is impregnated with the odour. The most essential parts of 

 the organ are the olfactory nerves, which come off from the olfactory 

 bulbs of the brain [BRAIN], and passing through numerous holes in 

 the ethmoid bone, which is situated between the orbits and above 

 and behind the nostrils, ramify on the extended surfaces of that bone 

 and the turbinated bones which form on each side the chambers of 

 the nose. The sensitive terminations of the nerves are placed on the 

 surface of a delicate and very vascular membrane which lines the 

 whole cavity of the nose, and which is constantly kept moist bjk the 

 secretion of a small quantity of mucus, in which the odoriferous 

 particles are caught and for a time retained. 



The sense of smull varies considerably, both in degree and in kind, 

 in different animals. It is evidently possessed by insects and many 

 others of the lower animals, but the organs by which they exercise 

 it are unknown. In the higher animals its degree of acuteness is in 

 general marked by the extent of surface of the ethmoid and turbi- 

 uated bones, over which the olfactory nerves are distributed. In man 

 this surface is proportionally smaller than in other animals, in most of 

 which, besides occupying the greater part of the interior of the face, 

 it is increased by peculiar branchings and convolutions of the thin 

 layers of the bones. Each species hoa also a sense of smell in some 

 degree peculiar to itself; thus herbivorous animals, though possessing 

 the most delicate power of discerning the differences of vegetable 

 odours, have no evident faculty of discriminating those of most animal 

 substances ; while the carnivore, on the other hand, can scarcely 

 distinguish any others than the last. Each species has a fine sensibility 

 for those substances which are of the greatest importance to its own 

 existence, and thus obtains at once a knowledge of their presence in 

 places concealed from all the other senses. Man possesses the sense 

 of smell for a very large number of substances, but not in a very acute 

 degree for any of them. The difference appears the greater between 

 him and other animals in consequence of the neglect of the exercise 

 of this sense which is common (except for particular purposes) in 

 civilised society ; but the American Indians and some of the northern 

 Asiatic tribes, by their constant practice in hunting, are said to have 

 acquired a power of scent scarcely inferior to that of the dog. 



The olfactory nerve is appropriated exclusively to the sense of smell, 

 and is incapable of perceiving pain or any other sensation. Of the pecu- 

 liarities by which in different animals it is capable of perceiving only 

 certain odours, we know no more than of the nature of those odours 

 themselves, of whose existence we 1 have no other evidence than that 

 of the sense which they affect. 



The sense of smell serves as an adjunct to that of taste, and is sub- 

 servient in moat instances to the same purpose, of providing proper 

 and avoiding injurious food for the sustenance of the body. By it 

 many animals seek out their food, and all select from that which they 

 obtain ; and much of that compound sensation which we regard aa 

 taste is really due to the smell, as for instance the sensation of the 

 flavour of aromatic substances, which is completely lost by closing the 

 nostrils while we are eating them. 



For the full perception of odoura it is necessary that the particles 

 charged with them should be drawn with some force into the nose, 

 and we may stand for some time in a very strongly-smelling atmosphere 

 without perceiving it if we breathe only through the mouth. The 

 most acute sensation is obtained by the sudden inhalation of a large 

 quantity, or by a succession of short and quick inspirations. [BRAIN; 

 NERTOUS SYSTEM.] 



NOSEAN, a Mineral identical with Haiiyne. [HAUYNE.] 



NOSTOCACE/E. [A.IMJB.] 



NOTACANTHA, a family of Insects belonging to the order 

 IHptera. 



NOTACANTHUS, a little-known genua of Arctic Fishes belonging 

 to the section Acant/topteryyii and to the family Scombmda. 



NOTAMIA. [CELLAIU.KA ; POLYZOA.] 



NOTHOSO'MUS. [Fi8H.l 



NOTI'DANUS. [FiSH.] 



NOTONECTA, a genus of Insects belonging to the family Hydro- 

 coriscc, of the order Ifemiptera. N. glauca, the Water-Boatman, is 

 one of our commonest insects. It is about half an inch long and 

 swims upon its back in order the better to seize its prey. 



NOTOPTERUS, a genua of Fishes belonging to the family 

 Clupeidif. 



NOVACOLI'NA. [SOLENIM.] 



NOVACULITE, a name for a kind of Clay-Slate. [SLATE.] 



NOWD. [THIGLA.J 



NUCIFRAQA, a genus of Birds known by the name of Nutcracker. 

 One species is a native of Britain. Its classification is difficult. Some 

 of its habits, and the worn appearance of the tail-feathera from climb- 

 ing about the branches of trees, together with the nesting in hollows 

 of trees, indicate a relationship to the Picida:. Its manners, which 

 are said to resemble those of the Jay, and other circumstances, con- 

 nected with its food and organisation, bring it into alliance with the 

 Crows, to which family it la generally referred by ornithologists, and 

 BO placed aa to approximate either to the Woodpeckers or Starlings. 

 Mr. Vigors considers it as assimilating to the latter family, and 

 especially to the genera Catsicus and Sarita. Mr. Swaiuson makes It 



