NICARAGUA NICKEL. 



229 



NICARAGUA, LAKE; a large fresh water lake 

 in the state of the same name, 120 miles in length by 

 41 in breadth, of great depth, and navigable for the 

 largest vessels. It enters the Caribbean sea by the 

 river S. Juan, which is sixty-four miles long, and 

 receives the waters of lake Leon, which is ten miles 

 to the north-west, by a navigable river. The Leon 

 is but thirteen miles from the Pacific, and but five 

 from the river Tosta, which enters that ocean. A 

 union of the two oceans by means of these channels 

 is contemplated. 



NICARAGUA WOOD, a kind of dyewood, of a 

 bright red colour, brought from the state of Nicara- 

 gua, is thought to be a species of the Caesalpina, and 

 resembles Brazil wood (Casalpina echinata) in its 

 properties, but yields a smaller amount of colouring 

 matter. 



NICE, or NIZZA ; principal town of the county 

 of the same name, belonging to the duchy of Pied- 

 mont (1378 square miles, 125,000 inhabitants), situ- 

 ated at the foot of mount Montalbuno, not far from 

 the entrance of the Poglione into the Mediterranean. 

 The town has a fortified port, and 19,700 inhabi- 

 tants, who prepare tobacco, silk thread, liqueurs, 

 perfumery, and essences. The buildings and streets 

 of the new town are fine, whilst the old town has 

 dark, crooked, dirty streets, and dark, misshapen 

 houses. The town and the environs, where also the 

 ruins of a Roman amphitheatre are to be seen, are 

 celebrated for a pure, healthy air, and great mildness 

 of climate, even in the middle of winter, which mild- 

 ness proceeds from the situation of the northern 

 mountains. These are connected with the Alps, 

 and protect the country from storms. For this 

 reason it is resorted to ; the air is so clear, that in 

 good weather the mountains of Corsica are visible. 

 The town has a considerable commerce, particularly 

 in raw spun silk, some oil, and flowers, which, in 

 winter, are sent to Paris, and even to London. 



NICE (Nicced), formerly a considerable city of 

 Bithynia, in Asia Minor, of which some ruins yet 

 remain. A part of its former site is now occupied by 

 tlie small village of Isnik. Nice is celebrated for 

 two ecclesiastical councils held there. The first was 

 convoked by Constantine (q. v.) the Great, in 325, 

 chiefly with the purpose of settling the Arian contro- 

 versies. His personal influence, and the eloquence of 

 Athanasius (q. v.), obtained the condemnation of 

 Arianism by 318 bishops. (See Arians.) Among 

 the twenty canons of this council, the most important 

 is the confession, hence called the Nicene creed, based 

 on the Apostles' creed, and, with the Athanasian 

 creed, still received by the larger part of the Chris- 

 tian world. (See Creed.) The celebration of Easter 

 on the same day throughout Christendom, and some 

 points of church government, &c., were also regu- 

 lated by the same council. The proposition to en- 

 force the celibacy of the clergy was rejected, and 

 permission was granted to married clergymen to re- 

 tain their wives. The second council was convened 

 by the empress Irene in 787, and, in opposition to 

 the iconoclasts (q. v.), determined, that although 

 divine honours were not to be paid to images, they 

 were to be honoured by kissing, genuflexions, in- 

 cense, and burning of lights. The preservation of 

 relics in the churches was also ordained. 



NICENE CREED. See Creed, and Nice. 



NICHE (Italian nicchia, a shell) ; a cavity or hol- 

 low place in the thickness of a wall, to place a figure 

 or statue in. Niches are made of all segments under 

 a semicircle ; they are sometimes also square. Care 

 must be taken to proportion the niches to the figures, 

 and the pedestals of the figures to the niches. 



NICHOLAS, ST, bishop of Myra, in Lycia, was 

 born at Patara, and raised to u bishopric by Constan- 



tine the Great. He was remarkable for his piety 

 and charity. He was also considered the patron of 

 virgins and of seafaring men. The Dominicans 

 adopted him as their tutelar saint, and the Russians 

 hold his memory in great veneration. He died about 

 392. Gadshill, in the first part of Henry IV., ust-s 

 the term St Nicholas's clerks, as a cant phrase for 

 highwaymen. Warburton remarks upon this expres- 

 sion, that St Nicholas is the patron of scholars, who 

 are thence called St Nicholas's clerks, and as Nicholas, 

 or Old Nick, is a cant name for the devil, Gadshill 

 equivocally calls robbers clerks of St Nicholas. See 

 also his note, to the same effect, on a passage in the 

 Two Gentlemen of Verona (act iii. sc. 1). Grey 

 further remarks, that robbers are called St Nicholas's 

 knights. 



NICHOLS, JOHN, fellow of the antiquarian socie- 

 ties of London, Edinburgh, and Perth, and for nearly 

 half a century editor of the Gentleman's Magazine, 

 was born at Islington, 1744, and, having received a 

 liberal education, he became at an early age an ap- 

 prentice to Bowyer, the learned printer. He was 

 subsequently admitted into partnership with his mas- 

 ter, on whose death he succeeded to the management 

 of one of the first typographical establishments in 

 London. In 1778 he became coadjutor with David 

 Henry, in the publication of the Gentleman's Maga- 

 zine ; and, on the decease of that gentleman, the 

 duties of editor devolved on Mr Nichols. Among 

 his numerous publications may be mentioned, Anec- 

 dotes, literary and biographical, of William. Bowyer 

 (1778, 8vo), which formed the basis of his Literary 

 Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century (9 vols. 8vo) , 

 Illustrations of the Literature of the Eighteenth Cen- 

 tury (6 vols. 8vo), supplementary to the preceding 

 work ; and the History and Antiquities of Leicester- 

 shire (folio). He died in 1826. 



NICHOLSON, WILLIAM, an ingenious writer on 

 mathematics, natural philosophy, and chemistry, was 

 born in London in 1758, and went to India, when 

 young, in the maritime service. In 1776 he became 

 agent on the continent for Mr Wedgewood, and after- 

 wards settled in the metropolis as a mathematical 

 teacher. He took out patents for various inventions, 

 and published a Journal of Natural Philosophy, Che- 

 mistry, and the Arts, which was continued for several 

 years. His works are principally compilations, but 

 executed with judgment. Among them are an In- 

 troduction to Natural Philosophy (1782, 2 vols., 8vo), 

 Dictionary of Chemistry, &c. Mr Joyce (died 1816) 

 is said to have been the principal editor of the Ency- 

 clopaedia published under the name of Nicholson, who 

 is understood to have had but little concern in the 

 work, except as an occasional contributor. 



NICKEL ; a metal whose distinct character was 

 suspected by Cronstedt in 1751, and fully ascertained 

 by Bergman in 1775. The ore in which it was first 

 found, and from which it is principally obtained at 

 present, is the Kupfer nickel, or sulphuret of nickel, 

 mixed also with arsenic, iron, and cobalt. The pure 

 metal and its preparations are obtained from this 

 mineral, or from the artificial arseniuret called speiss, 

 a metallurgic production derived from the roasted 

 ores of cobalt. The most convenient method for 

 obtaining the metal is that in which the speiss is 

 employed, and was suggested by doctor Wollaston. 

 Sulphuric acid is added to the pulverized speiss, and 

 nitric acid, also, at intervals, in the proportion of 

 about one-fourth part ; a green solution is formed, 

 and after a subsidence of several hours, the green, 

 supernatant liquid is decanted and evaporated until 

 crystals of sulphate of nickel are deposited : a fur- 

 ther evaporation gives a crust of arstniate and sul- 

 phate, which is dissolved in water, and agitated by a 

 current of sulphurated hydrogen until precipitation 



