NEW 



[314] 



KIT 



a red colour, but most frequently 

 variegated on the upper parts. 



NEWEB PLIOCENE PEKTOD. The term 

 "Newer Pliocene" has been sup- 

 planted by that of Pleistocene, but 

 as many readers may find in works 

 on geology, written only a few years 

 since, the term " Newer Pliocene," 

 I have retained it in this edition. 

 Lyell refers the European tertiary 

 strata to four successive periods, 

 each characterized by containing a 

 very different proportion of fossil 

 shells of recent species. These 

 four periods he termed Newer Plio- 

 cene, Older Pliocene, Miocene and 

 Eocene ; the etymology of these 

 terms will be fully explained under 

 the several words. The Newer 

 Pliocene period is the latest of the 

 four periods, and immediately pre- 

 cedes the recent era. Nevertheless, 

 the antiquity of some Newer Plio- 

 cene strata, as contrasted with our 

 most remote historical eras, must 

 be very great, embracing perhaps 

 myriads of years. Out of 226 

 fossil species brought from the 

 Sicilian beds, M. Deshayes found 

 that no fewer than 216 were of 

 species still living. 



NI'CZEL. (nickel, Germ.) A metal 

 of considerable hardness, nearly 

 equal to that of iron, of a colour 

 intermediate between silver and 

 platina. When polished, it has a 

 high lustre. Specific gravity 8*93. 

 It is both ductile and malleable, 

 and may be hammered into very 

 thin plates. It is difficult to be 

 purified. In common with iron, 

 it is magnetic, capable of acquiring 

 polarity, and may be formed into 

 permanent magnetic needles ; this 

 property is destroyed by an alloy 

 with arsenic. Nickel unites in 

 alloys with gold, copper, tin, and 

 arsenic, which metal it renders 

 brittle. With silver and iron its 

 alloys are ductile. 



Nickel was discovered as a dis- 

 tinct metal by Cronstadt, in 1751. 



Its solution in nitric acid is nearly 

 grass green. Nickel is found in all 

 meteoric stones. 



NI'GETNE. (from niger, Lat. black.) 

 A variety of ferruginous oxide of 

 titanium, occurring in grains, or 

 rolled pieces. Colour black, or 

 brownish black. It consists of 

 titanium 84, oxide of iron 14, 

 oxide of manganese 2. 



NIO'BIUM. One of the sixty simple 

 or elementary bodies, its symbol 

 being N B. 



NIPADI'TES. The name given by Mr. 

 Bowerbank to a group of fossil 

 fruits of the London clay. Brong- 

 niart had named them Pandano- 

 carpum, but Mr. Bowerbank ob- 

 serves " the resemblance existing 

 between the whole of the species of 

 Nipadites, both as regards their 

 external form and their internal 

 structure, with those of Nipa, is so 

 close as to leave scarcely a doubt 

 of their being members of the same 

 genus. I have therefore thought 

 it advisable to reject M. Adolphe 

 Brongniart's name of Pandano- 

 carpum, and to apply that of 

 Nipadites, as more expressive of 

 their true relation to their recent 

 analogue." These fossil fruits are 

 found in great abundance in the 

 Isle of Sheppey, and are known, 

 by the women and children who 

 collect them, by the name of figs. 

 Many species have been distin- 

 guished. 



NI'TRATE. A compound of nitric acid 

 with a salifiable base. 



NI'TRE. (vlvpov, Gr.) Nitrate of 

 potash ; saltpetre. The potasse 

 nitratee of Haiiy ; natiirlicher sal- 

 peter of Werner. Nitre, or nitrate 

 of potash, is found native in all 

 countries, where there are circum- 

 stances favourable to its production. 

 It frequently effloresces on the soil ; 

 but never exists at a greater depth 

 than that of a few yards beneath 

 the surface. It occurs, naturally, 

 either in masses, or in thin ir- 



