NOD 



507 



NOM 



is the offspring of military despotism: 

 that of England originated in the Norman 

 Conquest. 



NO'BLE. 1. In numismatics,* gold coin, 

 value 6s. 8d. It was struck in the reign 

 of Edward III., with the emblem of a 

 ship, commemorative of a famous victory 

 gained by him over the French at Slays 



in 1340. 2. In ichthyology, a name of 



the Aspidiphorus Europteus, Yarr. and 

 Cuv., called the armed bullhead, sea- 

 poacher, pogge, lyre, pluck, &c., &c. 



NOCTHOR'US. The generic name given 

 by Fred. Cuvier to the Douroucouli, a 

 quadrumanous mammifer, which differs 

 from the Sagouins in its greater nocturnal 

 eyes, and the ears, which are for the most 

 part hidden under the hair. It is a na- 

 tive of South America. 



NOCTILU'CA, Lat. nox, night, and luceo, 

 to shine. A name anciently given to 

 phosphorus. 



NOCTCR'NA. A family of Lepidopterous 

 insects formed by Cuvier, of the genus 

 Phaleena , Lin. , the species of which seldom 

 fly except at night or after sunset : hence 

 the name from nocturtius. 



NOCTUR'NJE. A family of Accipitrine 

 birds, comprehending the owls (Strix, 

 Lin.' , which are to be found abroad only 

 after sun-set. 



NOCTUR'NAL, Lat. nocturnws, pertaining 

 to night; from nox, night. 1. In astronomy, 

 a nocturnal arc is that part of the orbit of 

 a heavenly body described during the 

 night. The nocturnal semi-arc of the sun 

 is that portion of a circle which he passes 

 over, between the point of the horizon 

 wherein he sets, and the lower part of 



one meridian. 2. A nocturnal or noctur- 



labe is an instrument, chiefly used at sea, 

 to take the altitude or depression of some 

 stars about the pole, in order to find the 

 latitude and hour of the night. It con- 

 sists of two circles fitted to each other, 

 yet moveable together, with a moveable 

 index ; all three fixed together by a rivet, 

 which is pierced through the centre with 

 a small hole, through which the star is to 

 be viewed. 



NOD'D-X. 1. A bird (the Sterna stolida, 

 Lin.) celebrated for the blundering man- 

 ner in which it throws itself on vessels at 



sea. 2. A description of carriage, 



drawn usually by one horse. 



NODE, from nodus, a knot. In botany, a 

 joint which has only a small elevation, 

 as observed in the stems of some grasses. 

 In surgery, a hard circumscribed tumour, 

 proceeding from a bone, and caused by a 

 swelling of the periosteum. In astronomy, 

 a point in the orbit of a planet which in- 

 tersects the ecliptic. There arc two such 

 points in the orbit of every planet: that 

 when; the planet ascends northward, 

 above the plane of thp elliptic, is called 

 the ascending mule, or dragon's head ; 



and that where a planet descends to 

 the touth is called the descending node, 

 or dragon's tail. The first is marked 

 ^, and the latter ^. In dialling, a 

 small hole in the gnomon, which indi- 

 cates the hour by its light, as the gnomon 

 does by its shadow. 



NOD'ULAR. In the form of a nodule or 

 small lump. Nodular iron ore is a variety 

 of argillaceous oxide of iron , which occurs 

 in small masses, often spherical, oval, or 

 nearly reniforin, but sometimes in little 

 parallelepipeds, with the angles rounded 

 off. These nodules have beeu called 

 tetites and eagle-stones. 



NODULE. Lat. nodiilus. A small knot 

 or lump, from nodus, a knot. A rounded 

 but irregular-shaped mineral mass of 

 small si/e. 



NOE'TIANS. In ecclesiastical history, a 

 sect named from Noetus, an Ephesian, 

 who held that there was only one person 

 in the Deity. 



NOG'QING. In architecture, brick-work 

 carried up between upright pieces or 

 quarters. Nagging-pieces ,' the horizontal 

 timbers fitted between the quarters, to 

 steady them. 



NO'LI ME TAN'GERE. Touch-me-not. 1. 

 A species of malignant herpes, or lupus, 

 which affects the skin and cartilages of 

 the nose, and sometimes destroys the 



whole nose. 2. An annual species of 



the indigenous balsarn-plant. See IMPA- 

 TIENS. 



NOL'LE PRO'SEQUI, in law, is where a 

 plaintiff does not declare in a reasonable 

 time, which is regarded as a confession 

 that he has no real cause of action. 



NO'MA (Lat.) from niu^i, to eat. An 

 ulcer that attacks the skin, and often tho 

 cheek or ulva, of young girls. It appears, 

 at first, in somewhat livid spots, and in a 

 few days becomes gangrenous. 



NOM'ADES. Tribes who lead, a wander 

 ing and pastoral life. The term is from 

 the Greek vofActs, vofjux.'bos, living on pas- 

 turage. Nomadic tribes are still to be 

 found in the northern parts of Asia ; and 

 the Numidians, in Africa, are supposed 

 to have been so called from this practice. 



NO-MAN'S-LAND. Aspacein themiddleof 

 a ship, when she is stowed upon the booms. 



NOM DE GUE'RRB (French). A fictitious 

 name, or a name assumed for the time. 



NOM'BRIL. The centre of an escutcheon. 



NO'MEXCLATURE. A systematic classifi- 

 cation of the terms of a science, as the 

 nomenclature of botany, from nomen, a 

 name, and calo, to call. 



NOM'INALISTS. A sect of school-philo- 

 sophers of the fourteenth century, the 

 disciples of Ocham, or Occam, who main- 

 tained that names, and not things, are the 

 object of dialectics. They founded th 

 university of T.ciimg. 



