NIT 



84 

 14 



2 



100 



Oxide of menachine 

 Oxide of iron .... 

 Oxide of manganese 



NILOMETER, sometimes called 

 scope, an instrument used among the an- 

 cients to measure the height of the water 

 in the river Nile, in its periodical oveflow- 

 ings. It was first set up, it has been as- 

 serted, by Joseph, during his government 

 in Egypt. The measure of it was sixteen 

 cubits, this being the height to which it 

 must rise in order to insure the fruitful- 

 ness of the country. 



NINTH, in music, an interval contain- 

 ing an octave and a tone ; also a name 

 given to the chord consisting of a com- 

 mon chord with the eighth advanced one 

 note. 



NIPA, in botany, a genus of the Ap- 

 pendix Palmje class. Natural order of 

 Palmae or Palms. Essential character : 

 male, spathe ; corolla six-petalled : fe- 

 male, spathe ; corolla, none ; drupes an- 

 gular. There is but one species, viz. 

 N. fruticans, the young palm, is without 

 the trunk ; but in the adult state, it is 

 some feet in height ; leaves pinnate ; pin- 

 nastriated, margined, and smooth; flowers 

 male and female on the same palm ; but 

 distinct on different peduncles : males 

 several, lateral, inferior, on clichotomous 

 peduncles, in spikes : females terminat- 

 ing, aggregate in a globular head, sessile. 

 It is a native of Java and other islands in 

 the East Indies, where the leaves are used 

 for covering houses and making mats. 

 The fruit is eaten both raw and preserv- 

 ed. 



NIPPLES, in anatomy. See MAMMARY 

 gland. 



NISI PRIUS, a commission directed to 

 the judges of assize, empowering them 

 to try all questions of fact issuing out of 

 the courts at Westminster, that are then 

 ready for trial by jury. The original of 

 which name is this : all causes commenced 

 in the courts of Westminster-hall, are, by 

 course of the courts, appointed to be tried 

 on a day fixed in some Easter or Michael- 

 mas term, by a jury retnrned from the 

 county where the cause of action arises ; 

 but with this provisoes* fnins justiciarii 

 a d assisas capiendas venerint : that is, un- 

 less before the day prefixed, the judges 

 of assize came into the county in ques- 

 tion, which they always do in the vaca- 

 tion preceding each Easter and Michael- 

 mas term, and there try the cause ; and 

 then, upon tire return of the verdict giv^n 



by the jury to the court above, the judges 

 there give judgment for the party for 

 whom the verdict is found. All trials at 

 law, in the civil courts, and at the assizes, 

 are tried by this process, and are called 

 trials at nisi prius. 



NISSOLIA, in botany, so named in ho- 

 nour of Guill. Nissole, M. D. of Montpel- 

 lier ; a genus of the Diadelphia Decan- 

 dria class and order. Natural order of 

 Papilionacese, or Leguminosx. Essential 

 character : calyx five-toothed ; capsule 

 one-seeded, ending in a ligulate wing. 

 There are two species, viz. N. arborea, 

 tree nissolia; and N. fruticosa, shrub- 

 by nissolia; both natives of Carthagena, 

 in woods and coppices. 



NIT1DULA, in natural hi story, a genus 

 of insects of the order Coleoptera. An- 

 tennx clavate, the club solid, and nearly 

 orbicular ; shells margined ; head pro- 

 minent ; thorax flattened, margined. 

 There are about forty-two species enu- 

 merated by Gmelin, separated into sec- 

 tions according to the form of the lip. A. 

 Lip cylindrical. B. Lip square. N. bi- 

 pustulata, is oval, black ; shells with a 

 red dot. It inhabits Europe and Ameri- 

 ca, and lives on carcases, meat, bacon, 

 &c. 



NITRARIA, in botany, a genus of the 

 Dodecandria Monogynia class and order. 

 Natural order of Ficoideae, Jussieu. Es- 

 sential character : calyx five-cleft ; corol- 

 la five-petalled, with the petals arched at 

 top ; stamina fifteen or more ; drupe one- 

 seeded. There is but one species, viz. 

 N. schoberi. Thick-leaved Nitraria. 



NITRATES, in chemistry, salts formed 

 of the nitric acid, and alkalies', earths, 

 &c. They possess the following proper- 

 ties : soluble in water, and capable of 

 crystallizing by cooling; when heated to 

 redness with combustible bodies, a vio- 

 lent combustion and detonation is pro- 

 duced : sulphuric acid disengages from 

 them fumes which have the odour of ni- 

 tric acid: when heated with muriatic 

 acid, oxymuriatic acid is driven oft' : they 

 are decomposed by heat, and yield at first 

 oxygen gas. There are twelve nitrates, 

 of which the most important is the ni- 

 trate of potash, or nitre : this salt, 

 known also by the name of salt-petre, is 

 produced naturally in considerable quan- 

 tities, particularly in Egypt, and has been 

 known from time immemorial. Roger 

 Bacon mentions it under the name of ni- 

 tre, in the thirteenth century. The im- 

 portance of this substance for the pur- 

 poses of war, has led chemists to seek 

 the best means of preparing 1 it, especial- 



