NEPAL 



4116 



NEPOTISM 



NEPAL, or NEPAUL, nepawl', an inde- 

 pendent kingdom in Northern India on the 

 southern slope of the Himalaya Mountains, 

 lying south of Tibet and north of British 

 India. Its area, about 54,000 square miles, ex- 

 ceeds that of 

 England. The 

 northern part of 

 the country is a 

 lofty highland 

 which contains 

 some of the high- 

 est mountains in 

 the world, among 

 them mounts Ev- 

 erest and Dha- LOCATION MAP 



walaghiri, but the Nepal is the long, nearly 



. east to west strip shown in 



southern part is solid black between India and 



a broad, fertile China ' 



plain watered by 'the Karnali, Gandak and Kosi 

 rivers, where thousands of small, intensively- 

 cultivated farms produce rice, tea, sugar cane, 

 tobacco and cotton. 



Among the mountain ranges of the north, 

 where there is small opportunity for farming, 

 every foot of land in the narrow valleys is 

 used; the hillsides are terraced, and the moun- 

 tain streams utilized for irrigating, and there 

 are grown in this region the hardier crops, such 

 as barley, corn, wheat, buckwheat and pulse. 

 Though pastures are scarce, the few sheep raised 

 are noted for their fine wool. There are mines, 

 too, containing rich deposits of iron, lignite, 

 copper, lead and zinc; these, however, are but 

 little worked. The great forests on the moun- 

 tain sides are another almost untouched source 

 of wealth. In the cities of the lowland, chief 

 among which are Khatmandu, Patan and Bhat- 

 gaon, coarse cotton cloth, bells and other metal 

 ware, pottery and a very strong, heavy paper 

 are manufactured. 



The people of Nepal are of many tribes and 

 races. Before the fourteenth century the land 

 was inhabited mostly by scattered, half-savage 

 tribes of Chinese origin, but in the fourteenth 

 century the Hindus began coming in from the 

 south. They settled in the fertile lowlands, 

 intermarried with the natives, founded cities, 

 built temples to the Hindu gods, developed the 

 fields and organized many petty kingdoms. 

 They came to be called Newars and their coun- 

 try Nepal. The Newars, who constitute the 

 largest division of the population, are a rather 

 small, robust people, with the flat face, yellow 

 complexion and oblique eyes of their relations, 

 the Chinese. 



The ruling class in Nepal consists of a Hindu 

 race known as the Gurkhas, who invaded tin- 

 country in the twelfth century and perma- 

 nently settled there late in the eighteenth cen- 

 tury. They are a brave, warlike people, who, 

 since their war with the British in 1814, have 

 remained on friendly terms with England. The 

 latter country has established a British resi- 

 dency at Khatmandu, the Nepalese capital. 

 The Gurkhas form twenty battalions of the 

 native army of the Indian Empire, and in the 

 War of the Nations they rendered valued serv- 

 ice to the British government. The total popu- 

 lation of the country is estimated to be about 

 4,500,000. 



NEPHRITE, net 'rite, a term sometimes used 

 for jade (which see). 



NEPHRITIS, nejri'tis, the general name for 

 any inflammation of the kidneys. The disorder 

 may be sudden, transitory and easily relieved, 

 or slow, gradual and incurable. A common 

 form of nephritis, known as Bright 's disease, is 

 discussed under that title in these volumes. 

 A serious complication of nephritis is poisoning 

 from reabsorption of the waste material which 

 the kidneys have failed to carry off; this 

 malady, known as uraemia, or uracmic poison- 

 ing, has as its characteristic symptoms drow- 

 siness, stupor and convulsions. Nephritis may 

 be either the result or the cause of heart dis- 

 ease, and any of its forms should have the 

 prompt attention of a physician. See KIDNEYS. 



NEP'IGON. See NIPIGON. 



NE'POS, CORNELIUS, a Roman historian 

 who lived in the first century B.C. Nothing is 

 known of his life except that he was probably 

 born at Verona and was a friend of Cicero and 

 Catullus. Only one of his works survives, and 

 some scholars question the authenticity of it. 

 It is a series of biographies, twenty-five in 

 number, of illustrious men of various nations. 

 The facts of these lives as given are not always 

 trustworthy, but the language is so clear and 

 concise that the work has been much used as 

 a textbook in Latin, and many excellent edi- 

 tions of it have been issued. 



NEPOTISM, nep'otis'm, the name given to 

 a practice whereby rulers grant official favors 

 to members of their families. In Latin it 

 means, literally, nephew-ism. The word was 

 coined to describe the practice of certain Popes, 

 especially those who reigned during the two 

 centuries before the election of Alexander VII 

 in 1655. During this period nearly every Pope 

 appointed his nephews and other relatives to 

 positions of importance, no matter what the 



