NIC 



505 



NIS 



as the Brazil and Japan woods, and which 

 grows principally in the vicinity of the 

 lake of Nicaragua. It is used as a dye- 

 wood for the same purposes as Brazil 

 wood, but is much inferior. The best 

 bring*, including duty, 201. per ton in 

 London. 



NI'CEXE CREED. A particular creed, 

 drawn up by the ecclesiastics of the 

 Council of Nice, and since adopted by the 

 Church of England. 



NICK'EL. A metal of a silver white 

 colour, very hard and difficultly fusi- 

 ble, but malleable, and may be drawn 

 into wire of j^ of an inch, and rolled into 

 plates r-j-Q of an inch thick. It is an in- 

 gredient in all meteoric iron , and is found 

 in Bohemia, associated with arsenic, in 

 the mineral termed Kupfernickel (base 

 copper: ; in the Hartz combined with co- 

 balt, iron, and copper, in arsenic-nickel; 

 as a sulphuret of nickel in Haarkies ; as 

 a sulphuret and arseniate in nickel-glance ; 

 and with sulphur and antimony in nickle- 

 spiess. All the ores of nickel are coppery 

 coloured, generally covered more or less 

 with a greenish-grey efflorescence, and 

 all its solutions in acid are nearly grass- 

 green. It forms ductile alloys with sil- 

 ver and iron, and combines with copper 

 and zinc to form German silver. Sp. gr. 

 of nickel, 8-93. 



NICOLAI'TANS. A sect in the ancient 

 Christian church, so named from Nico- 

 las, a deacon of the Church of Jerusa- 

 lem. The most distinguishing tenet was 

 that all married women should be in 

 common, to prevent jealousy. Rev. ii. 



NICOTIA'XA. Tobacco. An extensive 

 genus of herbaceous plants. Pmtandria 

 Monogynia. Named after Nicot, who 

 first brought it to Europe (1560). The N. 

 tabacum, an annual plant, of which there 

 are seven or eight varieties, is that used 

 for smoking. It is a native of Virginia, 

 in North America. It is narcotic, emetic, 

 purgative, diuretic, and sternutatory. 

 These properties depend on the nicotine 

 which it contains. 



NIC'OTINE. A peculiar principle ob- 

 tained from the leaves and seeds of the 

 tobacco (Xicotiana tabacum}, by Vauque- 

 lin. It is colourless, has an "acrimoni- 

 ous taste, a pungent smell ; mixes in all 

 proportions with water and alcohol, and 

 is highly poisonous. It combines with 

 acids, and forms salts acrid and pungent 

 like itself. 



NIC'TITATING MEMBRANE (the) of birds 

 and fishes, is a thin membrane which 

 covers the eyes, and thereby protects 

 them from the injurious effects of too 

 intense light, particles of dust, &c., with- 

 out entirely obstructing the sight, being 

 o pellucid that it is quite pervious to 

 light. 



NIDDIN. A species of minor excommu- 

 nication among the Hebrews, which 

 lasted a month. 



NID'GED ASH'LAR. Ashlar squared by 

 means of a cuvil or pointed hammer. 



NID'ULATE, Lat. nidulans, from nidulor, 

 to place in a nest. An epithet for the 

 seeds of some fruits which nestle as it 

 were, or are embedded on their surface, 

 as in the strawberry. 



NIE'LLO (It.) A method of plate en- 

 graving. 



NIGEL'LA. Fennel-flower. A genus of 

 annual plants. PolyandriaPentagynia. 

 Name Quasi nigrella, in allusion to its 

 black seed. The love-in-a mist, and the 

 devil-in-a-bush are species. 



NIGHT-FIRE. Ignis fatuus or will-o'- 

 the-wisp. 



NIGHT'INGALE. A bird ; the Motacilla 

 luscinia, Lin., a well-known songster of 

 the night. It builds on trees, and does 

 not begin to sing till the young ones are 

 hatched. 



NIGHT'SHADE. In botany, the deadly 

 nightshade is a British perennial plant, 

 the Atropa belladonna. The American 

 nightshade is a species of Phytolacca. The 

 woody nightshade is a species of Solatium, 

 the bitter-sweet. The Palestine night- 

 shade belongs to the same genus. ThefefM- 

 tard nightshade belongs to the genus Ki- 

 vina ; the enchanter's nightshade to the 

 genus Circeea ; the Malabar nightshade to 

 the genus Basella; and the three-leaved 

 nightshade to the genus Trillium. 



NI'HIL AL'BUM. White nothing. Flowers 

 or oxide of zinc. 



NILOM'ETEK, ) A contrivance, among the 



NIL'OSCOPE. ) ancient Egyptians, to 

 measure the height of the water in the 

 river Nile in its overflowings. 



NIM'BCS. 1. A circle representing lu- 

 minous rays, on certain ancient medals, 

 round the heads of emperors and demi- 

 gods, answering to the areolce or circles 

 of light painted round the heads of saints. 



2. The rain-cloud, a shape assumed 



by a cloud previous to its ultimate reso- 

 lution and fall in rain. 



NINTH. In music, one of the dissonant 

 intervals. 



NIP'PERS. 1. Small pincers. 2. The 



fore-teeth of a horse. 3. In a ship, cer- 

 tain pieces of cordage used to fasten the 

 cable to the messenger or royal, when 

 the former is drawn into the ship by the 

 application of some mechanical contriv- 

 ance to the latter. Nipper men. are those 

 employed to bind the nippers about the 

 cable and royal. 



NI'SI PRI'US. A judicial writ -which 

 lies in a case where the inquest is pa- 

 ncllrd, and returned before the justices 

 of the bench, .one party making petition 

 to have this writ for the ease of the conn- 

 try, that the case may be tried before th* 



