NOTKER NOUN. 



269 



motions, and write the notes with a rapidity equal to 

 that of his performance. The first idea of such a 

 machine was given in the Philosophical Transactions, 

 in 1747 (No. 483), as the invention of an English 

 clergyman of the name of Creed ; yet the practica- 

 bility of this idea was n6t sufficiently shown. In 

 1748, a Mr linger, burgomaster of Eimbeck, had the 

 same idea without knowing of Creed's communica- 

 tion ; and, in 1752, the academy of sciences at Ber- 

 lin approved of his suggestions ; but nothing was 

 done until a member of the academy, Mr Sulzer, 

 induced a mechanic, Hohlfeld, to construct such a 

 machine from an imperfect description of Unger's 

 plan. In the Nouveaux Memoires de F Academic 

 royale des Sciences et des Belles- Lettres d Berlin, of 

 1771, is a description of this machine. It consists of 

 two cylinders, from one of which paper rolls off, 

 whilst it is rolled round the other, during which time 

 the keys move corresponding pencils, which write 

 the note on the paper. Not much use, however, has 

 been made of the machine. 



NOTKER, surnamed Labeo ; a learned monk of 

 St Gall, who died about 1022, and left a translation 

 of the Psalms, with notes, in High German, one of 

 the most important monuments of the oldest German 

 prose. The manuscript is at St Gall. The work is 

 printed in Schiller's Thesaurus. 



NOTRE ANDRE, LE. See Lenotre, Andre. 



NOTRE DAME ; the old French expression for 

 the Virgin Mary, similar to the English expression 

 Our Lady, and the German expression Unsere Hebe 

 Frau ; hence it is the name of many churches, &c. , 

 in France, dedicated to the holy Virgin, and particu- 

 larly of the great cathedral at Paris, whose two high 

 square towers, without spires, are celebrated for their 

 great bells, and also for the splendid prospect to be 

 seen from them. The church itself contains four 

 rows of pillars, fifty-four chapels, an excellent choir, 

 and a great number of celebrated monuments and 

 admirable paintings. 



NOTTINGHAM ; a large and populous town of 

 England, situated 124 miles N.N.W. from London, 

 at a short distance to the northward of the banks of 

 the Trent. The little river Lene runs close to the 

 town on the south side, and joins the Trent at about 

 one mile distant from it. The situation of the town 

 is extremely beautiful, the streets being ranged like 

 terraces on the acclivity of a hill, which overlooks an 

 extensive tract of country, exhibiting a diversity of 

 romantic and picturesque scenery. At the top of 

 this eminence, westward of the town, stood the 

 modern castle, the front of which consisted of a rus- 

 tic basement, supporting a Corinthian portico, with a 

 flight of steps on each side leading to the principal 

 entrance. This edifice was the property of the duke 

 of Newcastle, but the apartments were divided, and 

 let for the residence of different families. It was 

 burned to the ground during the tumults occasioned 

 by the debates on the reform bill, in 1831. Several 

 of the streets of this town are wide, airy, and well- 

 paved, considerable modern improvements having 

 taken place here ; and within these few years some 

 handsome streets have been built in that part of the 

 town called Standard hill. The staple manufacture 

 of Nottingham is that of stockings, chiefly the finer 

 kinds, as those of silk and cotton. The twist net is 

 also made to a considerable extent, and the number 

 of frames and machines cannot amount to less than 

 15,000. Several large mills have been erected in 

 the town and its vicinity, for the spinning of cotton 

 and preparing of silk. There are also manufactures 

 of lace for veils, shawls, &c., the working of which 

 gives employment,and is a source of profitable industry, 

 to females. Nottingham has derived great benefit 

 from the extension of inland navigation, having be- 



come a depot of goods for the adjacent country. 

 Population, in 1821, 40,415 ; in 1831, 50,680. 



NOTTINGHAM, EAKL OF; lord chancellor. See 

 Finch. 



NOTTINGHAM, EARL OF ; a naval commander. 

 See Howard, Charles. 



NOTTINGHAMSHIRE; an inland county of 

 England, taking its name from the county town, is 

 bounded, N. by Yorkshire, W. by Derbyshire, E. by 

 Lincolnshire, and S. by Leicestershire. It is about 

 fifty miles in length and twenty-six in breadth. 

 Owing to its situation between the mountainous 

 region of Derbyshire on the west, and the levels of 

 Lincolnshire on the east, this county enjoys so favour- 

 able an aspect and climate as to be one of the most 

 pleasant and fertile districts in the kingdom, an evi- 

 dence of which appears in the unusual number of 

 seats of the nobility and gentry included in it. The at- 

 mosphere is remarkable for its dryness, but experience 

 shows that this circumstance does not detract from 

 the fruitfulness of the soil. Almost the whole of the 

 central and western part of the county was anciently 

 occupied by the forest of Sherwood, famed throughout 

 the kingdom as the grand theatre of the romantic 

 exploits of the outlaw Robin Hood, who, according' 

 to the historians, Major and Fordun, lived in tlie 

 reigns of Richard I. and John. This forest is still 

 the property of the crown, but the greater part of 

 the land it contained has been inclosed, and within 

 its original boundaries are flourishing towns, large 

 villages, and noble parks, for the sites of which royal 

 grants have been obtained. The soil of this tract is 

 principally sand and gravel ; towards the north, on 

 the borders of the Trent, clay prevails ; and in the 

 southern part of the county is the rich and beautiful 

 vale of Belvoir, extending into Leicestershire, includ- 

 ing both arable and pasture land in a high state of 

 cultivation. 



Nottinghamshire is, through almost its whole 

 extent, watered by that noble river the Trent. 

 The Idle is formed by the union of several streams 

 from the central and north-western parts of the 

 county ; and after passing East Retford and Bawtry, 

 it joins the Trent at West Stockwith. The Erwash, 

 which rises in Derbyshire, skirts the western border 

 of this county, and falls into the Trent near Atten- 

 borough. 



Nottinghamshire is more distinguished for its ' 

 manufactures than its agriculture. The former con- 

 sist principally of hosiery, thread-lace, cotton-twist, 

 and silk. The chief towns of the county are Not- 

 tingham, Newark, East Retford, Mansfield, Worksop, 

 and Southwell. The population, according to the 

 census of 1831, was 225,400, being an increase of 20 

 per cent, on the number ascertained in 1821. 



NOUN (from the Latin nomen, name), in gram- 

 mar ; the name of a thing, or, more accurately, the 

 name of a conception, whether general or particular. 

 As we may have conceptions of substance or of 

 attribute, nouns are either substantive or adjective. 

 Again, as we have particular conceptions, or concep- 

 tions of individuals, and general conceptions, or con- 

 ceptions of classes of individuals, nouns are either 

 proper or common. In order to express unity or 

 plurality of conception (number), the terminations of 

 nouns undergo certain modifications of form ; in some 

 languages two, in some only one. Thus, in English, 

 the form man expresses one individual, the form 

 men, two or several ; the former is said to be in the 

 singular, the latter in the plural number ; but in some 

 languages, a peculiar modification is used to express 

 the conception of two objects, and this is called the 

 dual number. Verbs have also a corresponding 

 modification of form, although they do not convey 

 any idea of one or more objects. (See Verbs) To 



