N A N 



i. Candleberi-y-myrtle, the Myrica ceri- 

 fera, the North American plant which 

 affords the myrtle-wax. See MYRICA. 



MVR'TI-S. Myrtle. A genus of trees. ^Jro- 

 tniidi-ia 3Ionvgynia. Name from puppet, 

 myrrh, because of its smell, or Myrrha, a 

 virgin fabled to have been turned into 

 this tree. The species are natives of 

 warm climates : only one is found in 

 Europe, and that in the warmest parts. 

 The tree which affords the clove-bark, 

 and that which bears the Jamaica pep- 

 per, (the allspice or pimenta), are re- 

 ferred to the genus by some. See CARY- 

 OPHYLLIS and PIMENTA. 



MYS'TERIES. A kind of dramatic spec- 

 tacles in vogue during the early part of 

 the middle ages ; so called because they 

 taught the mysterious doctrines of Chris- 

 tianity, and represented the miracles 

 attributed to saints and martyrs. They 

 preceded the Moralities. 



MYS'TICS. A religious sect, professing 

 to have direct intercourse with the Spirit 

 of God. 



MYS'TICISM. In religion, applied to en- 

 thusiastic ideas of more direct communica- 

 tion with God than is given in revelation. 



MTTHOL'OOY. from /Av6os, a fable, and 

 Asyes, discourse. A system of fables re- 

 specting the deities which heathen nations 

 have supposed to preside over the world 

 and its affairs. 



MYT'ILUS. A genus of bivalve shell : 

 animal, an ascidia. The trite JHytili, or 

 Sea Muscles, have a close shell, with equal, 

 convex, and triangular valves : the an- 

 terior and longest side of the shell allow- 

 ing passage to the byssus. The muscle is 

 a littoral shell, moored to rocks, stones, 

 crustaceans, &c. ; and the M. edulis, Lin., 

 or common muscle, is very common on 

 most European shores. 



MYX'INE. The Hag. A genus of chon- 

 dropterygeous fishes, placed among the 

 Cyclostomi by Dumeril. The body is cy- 

 lindrical, and the animal has no vestige 

 of eyes ; the tongue acts like a piston, and 

 the spine of the back is in the form of a 

 rord. Name from u,v%*., mucus, in allu- 

 sion to the vast supply of mucus which 

 the animal pours out through the pores 

 of its lateral line, to such an extent 

 that the water of the vases in which they 

 re kept seems to be converted in to a jelly. 

 llioy attack and pierce other fishes, like 

 the lampreys. 



N, the fourteenth letter of the English 

 alphabet, was used by the ancients as a 

 numeral signifying 900, and. with a dash 

 over it, for 9000. In medical prescrip- 

 tions, N stands for numero, in camber ; as 

 N. xij, twelve in number. 



NA'B"B. A title in India, which in It* 

 origin signified a deputy, and was first 

 assumed by subordinate officers, who ruled 

 over districts under the soubah. In the 

 declension of the power of the Mogul, 

 many of the Nabobs obtained independent 

 sovereignty. 



N A'CARAT. A fine linen fabric, dyed fu- 

 gitively of a pale red colour, which ladies 

 rub upon their face to give them a delicate 

 roseate hue. From Spanish nacar, the 

 lustre of mother-of-pearl. 



NA'CRE iFrench). 1. Mother-of-pearl, 



or any substance resembling it. 2. Of& 



pearly lustre. 



NA'CIIEOUS : applied to a surface which 

 reflects iridescent light. 



NA'DAB. The high-priest of the Persians, 

 whose office and dignity are very similar 

 to that of the mufti of Turkey. 



NA'DIR. The point of the heaven im- 

 mediately opposite to the zenith. The 

 term is Arabic. 



Nx'xi A. In Roman antiquities, a funeral 

 dirge sung to the music of flutes. 



NJE'VUS. A natural mark upon children 

 at birth. 



NA'IADS. NawaSj? . "Water nymphs : my- 

 thological deities, who presided over 

 brooks and fountains. 



NA'IANT, swimming, from vetea, to swim. 

 An epithet applied to fishes borne across 

 the escutcheon as if swimming. 



NAIL. A word originally applied to a 

 claw or talon (Sax. naegel or ncegl, from a 

 root signifying to catch). 1. The fingers 

 and toes of man are provided with nails ; 

 but the nails on the feet of birds and in- 

 ferior animals are usually termed claws. 

 2. In joinery, &c., the small spikes of iron, 

 &c. used to fasten parts together are cailed, 

 nails. These are of various kinds: as 

 buck nails, with flat shanks; clasp nails, 

 or brads, with flat heads; clench nails, 

 used by boat-builders ; dog nails, used to 

 fasten hinges; rose nails, with square 

 shanks ; scupper nails, for nailing canvass, 

 &c. to wood ; square nails, for hard wood ; 

 tacks, for fixing paper, &c. on wood. There 

 arc also deck nails, port nails, &c., used by 

 ship-builders ; clout nails, with flat heads, 

 for fixing iron work, clouts to axles, &c. 



3. Nail is also the name of a measure 



of length equal to the 1-sixteenth of a 

 yard. 



NA'IVETE', Fr. naivete. Native sim- 

 plicity; unaffected ingenuousness 



NA'KED, not covered. Naked flowers are 

 such as are furnished with a corolla, but 

 have no calyx. Naked seeds are seeds not 

 inclosed in any pod or case. Naked floor- 

 ing, the framing of one or more rows of 

 equidistant beams of timber (joists) for 

 supporting the boarding. 



NANKEE'N, or NAXKIX. A species of 

 cctton cloth, manufactured chletlj La tli 



2*2 



