238 



NIOBli NITROGEN. 



sul. His son was Ninyns. His kingdom is consid- 

 ered as having been founded between 2000 and 2100 

 years B. C. 



NIOBE, daughter of Tantalus (king of Lydia) and 

 of Dione, or Euryanassa, was the wife of Amphion, 

 who, in common with Zethus, governed Thebes, 

 which they had built. According to the common 

 accounts, she had seven sons and seven daughters, 

 and, proud of her blooming offspring, she so far for- 

 got herself as to exalt herself above Latona, the 

 mother of only two children Apollo and Diana ; and 

 in punishment of her presumption, she had to witness 

 the destruction of her children by the arrows of the 

 twin deities. Anguish and despair transformed the 

 wretched mother, after long wanderings, into a stone, 

 which was shown on mount Sipylus, in the kingdom 

 of her father. Amphion and Zethus also fell, pierced 

 by the arrows of Apollo, when, full of wrath, they 

 penetrated into the sanctuary of the god. This is the 

 most common account of the fate of Niobe, in the 

 circumstances of which poets frequently differ, who 

 have taken this story for a subject as often as artists. 

 The origin of the fable seems to lie in the ancient 

 figure of speech, by which it was said of young peo- 

 ple who died suddenly, that they had been struck with 

 the arrows of Apollo or Diana ; and, in almost all 

 languages, petrifaction is the natural image of the 

 highest degree of torpid despair. One of the most 

 beautiful exhibitions of ancient art is contained in the 

 group of Niobe. The statues forming this group 

 were dug up in 1583, near the Porta Lateranensis, in 

 Rome, were purchased by the cardinal Ferdinand de' 

 Medici, who caused them to be placed in the villa 

 Medici, and, in 1772, were conveyed to Florence by 

 the grand-duke Leopold, where, in 1777, they were 

 placed in the Rotunda la Tribuna, after their restora- 

 tion by Vincenzo Spinazzi. The group consists of 

 fourteen statues, and is considered to be the one de- 

 scribed by Pliny. Respecting its author nothing cer- 

 tain was, even in his time, known ; some, with Pliny, 

 attributed it to Scopas ; others, to Praxiteles: Wink- 

 elmann declared himself for Scopas. Equally igno- 

 rant are we respecting the original combination of the 

 single figures. It has hitherto been the more difficult 

 to form an opinion, inasmuch as several of them, the 

 " two wrestlers," as they are termed, the pedagogue 

 (whom Fabroni takes for king Amphion), and one of 

 the daughters (whom Goethe thinks an Erato), have 

 been pronounced by the best connoisseurs not to be- 

 long to this group, although they were all found in 

 one place and at the same time. The British archi- 

 tect Cockerell, in an essay, in 1816, proposed the 

 conjecture that these celebrated statues were arranged 

 on a line pyramidally, and constituted the ornaments 

 of the front of some ancient temple ; and it is well 

 known that the Greek architects were fond of deco- 

 rating the fronts of their temples in such a manner. 

 The supposition is corroborated by the examinations 

 which the British artist himself made of the single 

 statues. Their heights, diminishing on both sides so 

 as to form the sides of a triangle ; their attitudes, 

 perfectly adapted to such a situation ; all of them 

 pressing towards the centre, formed by the mother as 

 the highest statue ; and then the remarkable neglect, 

 and even intentionally imperfect workmanship of the 

 back of most of these statues, which evidently shows 

 that the artist had thought only of the effect pro- 

 duced by a front view of his work, destined for exhi- 

 bition on a wall ; all these considerations make it 

 probable that this group was designed for such an 

 architectural embellishment. Cockerell has illus- 

 trated this arrangement by a sketch, etched by him- 

 self on stone. 



NIPHON. See Japan. 



NISBET, CHARLES, D. D., first president of Dick- 



inson college, Pennsylvania, was born in 1736, at 

 Haddington, Scotland, and received his education in 

 Edinburgh. For several years he officiated as mini- 

 ster of Montrose, and, in 1783, when the college in 

 Carlisle was instituted, was invited to become its 

 president. In 1785, he entered upon the duties of 

 that station, and continued to fulfil them until his 

 death, January 17, 1804, in the sixtieth year of his 

 age. The learning of doctor Nisbet was very exten- 

 sive. He was an admirable classical scholar, and 

 particularly conversant with Greek. At one time he 

 could repeat the whole of the jEneid and of Young's 

 Night Thoughts; indeed, his power of quotation 

 generally was inexhaustible. He was endowed with 

 genuine wit, and was sometimes inclined to be sar- 

 castic. His sermons were impressive and powerful. 

 In disposition, he was sincere, benevolent, and hu- 

 mane. 



NISI PRIUS. Trial at nisi prius is a name often 

 given in England to trial by jury, in the superior 

 courts. The term originated, in the English courts, 

 in the following way : Questions of fact, in all causes 

 commenced in the courts of Westminster hall, are, 

 by course of the courts, appointed to be tried on a 

 day fixed in some Easter or Michaelmas term, by a 

 jury returned from the county wherein the cause of 

 action arises ; but with this proviso, Nisi prius jus- 

 ticiarii ad assisas capiendas venerint ; that is, unless 

 before the day fixed, the judges of assize come into 

 the county in question, which they always do in the 

 vacation preceding each Easter and Michaelmas 

 term, and there try the cause ; and then, upon return 

 of the verdict given by the jury to the court above, 

 the judges there give judgment for the party for 

 whom the verdict is found. The commission under 

 which these judges of assize act is called a " commis- 

 sion of nisi prius," and, as the jury trials take place 

 before them, while the judges in Westminster hall 

 settle questions of law, these jury trials are called 

 " trials at nisi prius." 



NISMES. SeeNimes. 



NITRATE OF SILVER. See Silver. 



NITRE ; the common name of nitrate of potash. 

 See Potash. 



NITRIC ACID. See Acid, and Nitrogen. 



NITROGEN; the. name of an elastic fluid, dis- 

 covered by doctor Rutherford, in 1772. It derives 

 its name from its forming the basis of nitric acid. 

 Lavoisier discovered, in 1775, that it is a constituent 

 part of the atmosphere a discovery which was also 

 made, at about the same time, by Scheele. It is 

 most easily procured by burning phosphorus in atmo- 

 spheric air, which abstracts the oxygen ; and the 

 residual gas, after agitation with water, or solution 

 of potash, is pure nitrogen. By exposing air to the 

 liquor formed by boiling sulphur and lime with water, 

 we obtain, in the course of a few days, very pure 

 nitrogen ; also, if a few pieces of flesh or muscular 

 fibre be put into a retort, and nitric acid, diluted 

 with four or five parts of water, be added, and a 

 moderate heat applied, nitrogen gas will be disen- 

 gaged, not, however, in a state of complete purity 

 This gas has been known by various names, as cor- 

 rupted air, mephitic air, phlogisticated air, and azote, 

 the latter application having been derived from 

 privative, &>, life, in allusion to its unfitness for 

 respiration a character, however, common to many 

 gases. Nitrogen gas is invisible, insipid, and inodor- 

 ous. It is lighter than atmospheric air, its specific 

 gravity being to that of the latter as -9722 to 1. 

 The weight of 100 cubic inches is 296527 grains. 

 It is principally characterized by certain negative 

 qualities, and by the nature of the compounds which 

 it forms. It is uninflammable, and incapable of sup- 

 porting combustion, a burning body immersed in it 



