NOT 



50.0 



N O V 



NOR'THERN LIGHTS are more commonly 

 termed Aurora Borealis. 



NOR'THERN SIGNS are Aries, Taurus, 

 Gemini, Cancer, Leo, and Virgo, which 

 are on the north side of the equinoctial. 



.NOR'THING. In navigation, the differ- 

 ence of latitude which a ship makes in 

 sailing towards the north. 



NORTH POLE, is that point of the heaven 

 which is 90 every way distant from the 

 equinoctial. Its place is pointed out 

 within 2i by the North Pole Star, in the 

 tail of Ursa Minor. 



NOR'WAY SPRUCE. A species of the Fir- 

 tree , the Pinus abies, which grows abund- 

 antly in Norway and other parts of the 

 north of Europe. 



NOSINGS OF STAIRS. The parts of the 

 tread boards of the steps which project 

 over the risers. 



NOSOG'RAFHY, from totro;, a disease, 

 and y|a57, description. Description of 

 diseases. 



NOSOI/OGT, from ye/res, a disease, and 

 Xy5, a discourse. A classification of 

 diseases, with names and definitions, ac- 

 cording to the distinctive character of 

 each class, order, genus, and species. 

 Cullen's system of nosology is that gene- 

 rally adopted in this country. 



Nos'TALGi-.Lat. nostalgia, from voa-ros, 

 a return, and oAyas, pain. A vehement 

 desire to return to one's native country, 

 attended with melancholy, loss of appe- 

 tite, and want of sleep. Mountaineers 

 are peculiarly liable to this affection. 



NOS'TOC. A vegetable jelly of a greenish 

 colour, regarded by Linn, as a crypto- 

 gamic plant, and hence placed by him in 

 the genus Iremella. It is frequent, espe- 

 cially in sandy soils, and immediately 

 after rain in summer, and is vernacularly 

 termed witches' butter, fallen stars, &c. 

 It is edible. 



NOS'TRUM. A Latin word which means 

 our own, and is applied to all quack 

 medicines, the composition of which is 

 kept secret. 



NO'TABLES. In French history, the 

 deputies of the states under the old 

 regime, appointed and convoked by the 

 king on certain occasions. 



NOT'ACANTHA. A family of dipterous 

 insects, so named from va/ra?, the back, 

 and cizctiiBos, a spine, because the scutcl- 

 lum is generally armed with teeth or 

 spines. The Notacantha are divided by 

 Latreille into three divisions, the 2Hy- 

 dasii, the Itecatoma, and the Stratiomydes. 



NOTA'RIAL ACTS, are those acts in the 

 civil law which require to be done under 

 the seal of a notary, and are admitted as 

 evidence in foreign courts. 



NOT'ART, Lat. notaries, from notus, 

 known. A legal officer, whose business 



it is to attest deeds and writings, protest 

 bills, enter and extend a ship's protests, 

 &c. He is usually styled a notary public 



NOTA'TION, from noto, to mark. The 

 method of expressing, by means of ap- 

 propriate characters, any proposed quan- 

 tity: thus 1. In arithmetic, we call the 

 method of expressing numbers by means 

 of the nine digits and cipher, notation ; 

 and we use the same term for the method 

 adopted in the higher analysis to express 

 an operation by means of appropriate 



symbols. 2. In music, the method of 



expressing or representing by characters 

 (notes'), all the different sounds and modi- 

 fications of the same. 



NOTCH-BOARD. A board which is grooved 

 or notched for the reception and support 

 of the ends of steps in a stair-case, &c. 



NOTCH'INQS. Hollows cut in the faces 

 of a piece of timber, &c., usually of a 

 rectangular form, for the reception and 

 support of the tread- boards of a stair, &c. 



NOTE, Lat. nota, from notus, known. 

 A mark, as, 1. In music, a character which 

 marks the pitch and time of a sound, as 

 a semibreve. 2. A minute, memoran- 

 dum, or short writing, intended to assist 

 the memory. 3. A short remark, or 

 passage of explanation, in the margin of 



a book, or at the bottom of a page. 4. 



A written or printed paper, acknowledg- 

 ing a debt and promising payment, as a 

 promissory note, a bank note. 5. An 

 official paper sent by one diplomatist to 

 another. 6. A billet. 



NOTONEC'TA. The Boat-fly. A genus of 

 Hemipterous insects established by Linn., 

 but now divided into Corixa and Noto- 

 necta proper. They compose the tribe 

 Notonectides of the family Hydrocoriste, 

 Cuv., and take their name from their 

 habit of swimming on the back. 



NOTTCR'NO. In mtwt'c,a composition in 

 which love and tenderness form the 

 theme. 



NO'TUS. A Latin name of the south 

 wind. 



NODN. A term altered from notnen, a 

 name : that sound, or combination of 

 sounds, by which a thing is called, whe- 

 ther material, as house, or immaterial, as 

 guile. 



NOVAC'ULITE. The hone-stone or Tur- 

 key-oil-stone. A variety of argillaceous 

 slate named from novactda, a razor. 



NOVA'TIANS. In ecclesiastical history, the 

 followers of Novatius, a heretic. 



NOV'EL, Lat. novellus, dim. of novus, 

 new. 1. Incivillatc, the novel constitutions, 

 or simply the novels, are those decrees or 

 constitutions which are supplementary 

 to the code and posterior in time to the 

 other books. These contain new decrees 

 of successive emperors. 2. In common law, 

 the assize of nm-i-i disseizin is an action 

 in which the demandant recites 9 com- 



