N U M 
whatever price they chofe to demand ; but thefe, per¬ 
ceiving the fraud, retaliated on the Muffulmen, by offer¬ 
ing them under the name of Mecca /tens. They are found 
wild in the ifles of France and Bourbon, where they were 
introduced at a late period, but have multiplied extreme¬ 
ly. They are known at Madagafcar by the name of 
acanques, and at Congo by that of quetele ; they are very 
common in Guinea, on the Gold Coaft, where they are 
kept tame only in the diftriCl of Acra; at Sierra Leone, 
at Senegal, in the ifland of Goree, in the Cape de Verd 
iflands, in Barbary, in Egypt, in Arabia, and Syria. 
Gentil tells us, that he faw pintados at Java; but it is 
uncertain if they were tame or wild. We fhould rather 
fuppofe that they were domeftic, and carried from Africa 
to Afia, as they have been tranfported from Europe to 
America. But, as thefe birds were accuftomed to a hot 
climate, they could not fupport the intenfe cold that 
reigns on the frozen (bores of the Baltic. Linnaeus never 
mentions them in his Fauna Siiecica'; and we are inform¬ 
ed that, at the beginning of the laft century, they were 
very rare, even in England. Mr. Pennant, however, 
makes it appear that the pintados had been early intro¬ 
duced into Britain ; at lead prior to the year 1277. But, 
they feem to have been much negledted, on account of 
the difficulty of rearing them; for they occur not in our 
ancient bills of fare. 
e. Numidia mitrata, the mitred pintado : a longitudi¬ 
nal fold at the throat. This fpecies is nearly of the fame 
fee as the Guinea-fowl ; the head is alfo crowned with 
an helmet, but fmaller than in the preceding : the whole 
crown, and about the bill, is of a full red colour; on 
each fide of the gape is a longiffi linear portion of fleffi, 
pointed at the end ; longed in the male, and of a red 
colour at the tip ; under the throat is a kind of wattle, 
of a longitudinal form, in which it feems fomewhat allied 
to the turkey : the upper part of the neck is bluiffi and 
naked ; body black ; the feathers on the lower part of the 
neck tranfverfely undulated with white, and the body 
fpotted all over with the fame; but the ground-colour is 
darker, and the fpots larger. This fpecies inhabits Ma¬ 
dagafcar and Guinea. Dr. Pallas feems to think that it 
may be the bird mentioned by Columella as didering 
from the common one; and will account for Pliny’s 
having thought the Numidia and Meleagris to be diffe¬ 
rent birds. This is a very rare and delicate fowl. 
3. Numidia criftata, the crefted pintado : no caruncle, 
but on each fide the gape a longitudinal fold. This is the 
mod beautiful of the genus, though fmaller than the 
two preceding fpecies. The bill is furniffied at the 
bafe with a kind of fpurious cere, in which the noftrils 
are placed: it has no wattles, but at the angles of the 
mouth is a kind of membranous fold. The head and 
neck, beyond the middle, are naked, of a dull blue, befet 
only with a few fcattered hairs ; the fpaces round the 
ears are mod covered ; the forepart, from the throat, fan- 
guineous; on the head is a large cred, compofed of 
thick-fet dender black feathers ; the great-eft part turns 
backwards, but the fore part of it falls gracefully for¬ 
wards over the bill: the whole ground-plumage is black ; 
the neck, and fore parts of the body, arededitute of fpots; 
but every other part is covered with delicate bluiffi fpots, 
of the fee of millet-feed; on fome feathers there are 
four, 3 nd on others three, on each web: the prime quills 
are blackiffi-brown ; feeondaries the fame, with four 
fpots on each fide the (hafts; two or three of thofe on the 
outer margins are broad and white; tail eroded with 
tranfverfe undulated lines- See fig. 2. This bird like- 
wife inhabits Africa. Perhaps it may have fome relation 
to the creded fort which Marcgrave mentions to have 
feen, and which came from Sierra Leone. This had a 
kind of membranous collar about the neck, of a bluiffi 
affi-colour, and a large roundiffi black cred. 
4. Numidia Egyptiaca, the Egyptian pintado: black, 
fpotted with bluiffi; crown eroded ; head and neck ru- 
Vol.XVXI. No. ijSj. 
NUN 8311 
fous. Bill reddidi ; legs bluidi-black ; head and neck 
with a few hairs ; cheeks and caruncles each fide the jaws 
bluidi. This is added by Dr. Turton. 
NUMID'IAN, f. An inhabitant or native of Numidia. 
NUMID'IAN, adj. Belonging to Numidia; brought 
from Numidia. 
NUMISM AT'ICS, f. pi. [immifmatiqnc, Fr. from numif- 
mata, Lat.] The fcience of coins and medals. See the ar¬ 
ticle Medal, vol. xiv. 
NU'MITOR, the fon of Procas, king of Alba, and the 
brotherof Amulius. Procas, before his death, made him 
and Amulius joint heirs to the crown, on condition of 
their reigning annually by turns; but Amulius, on get¬ 
ting pod’effion of the throne, excluded Numitor, whofe 
fon, Laufus, he ordered to be put to death, and obliged 
Rhea Sylvia, Numitor’s only daughter, to become a vel- 
tal. This princefs, having become pregnant, declared 
that (lie was with child by the god Mars, and after¬ 
wards brought forth twins, named Remus and Romulus, 
who at length killed Amulius, and reftored Numitor 
to the throne. This circumftance occurred in the year 
75+ B.C. 
NUM'MARY, adj. [from nummvs, Lat.] Relating to 
money.—The money drachma in procefs of time de- 
creafed; but all the while the ponderal drachma conti¬ 
nued the (ame, juft as our pouderal libra remains as it 
w'as, though the nummary hath much decreafed. Arbuth~ 
not on Coins. 
NUM'MIS, a town of Sweden, in the province of Ny- 
land : twenty miles north of Helfingborg. 
NUM'MULAR, adj. Relating to money. 
NUMMULA'RIA, f. in botany. See Anagallis, Lin- 
N7 Ea, and Lysimachia. 
NUMMULA'RIUS, J~. Among the Romans, was ufed to 
fignify a banker, or perfon who deals in money. It like- 
wife denoted an affayer, or one who eftimated the good- 
nefs and value of money, as to its weight and finenels of. 
metal. 
NUM'MUS, or Nu'mus, J’. Among the Romans, a par¬ 
ticular piece of money, otherwife called fejtertius , or fef- 
terce. It was fometimes called nummusfejtertius ; fo that 
decern millia numum , & decern milliu fejlertiuw , were Roman- 
fums which amounted to the fame. 
NUMPS, /. [probably from numb, dull, infenfible.] A 
cant expreffion for a weak foolifh perfon..—Thefe are vil- 
lanous engines indeed; but take heart, numps! here is 
not a word of the (locks ; and you need never (land in awe 
of any more honourable correction. Bp. Parker's Repr.of 
Rehear f. Tranjpr. 1673. — There is a certain creature 
called a grave hobbyhorfe, a kind of a (h e-numps, that 
pretendeth to be pulled to a play, and mult needs go to 
Bartholomew fair to look after the young folks. Ld. 
Halifax. 
NUMPS, the common nick-name for Humphry : 
The village was jovial, the month was May, 
The birds were fweetly finging; 
Of Numps and Madge ’twas the wedding-day. 
The bells were merrily ringing. Dibdin . 
NUM'SKULL, f. [probably from numb, dull, torpid, 
infenfible, and JwUf A dullard; a dunce; a dolt; a 
blockhead.—They have talked like numjkulls. Arbuthnot 
and Pope. —The head, in burlefque: 
Or toes and fingers in this cafe,. 
Of numjkull's Leif ffiould take the. place. Prior. 
NUM'SKULLED, adj. Dull; (tupid ; doltiffi.—Hocus 
has faved that clod-pated numjkulled ninnyhammer of 
yours from ruin, and all his family. Arbuthnot. 
NUN, [Heb. pofterity.] A man’s name. The fon of 
Eliffiamah and father of Joffiua, of the tribe of Ephraim. 
This man is known in lacred hiftory only by being the 
father of Joffiua. 
NUN, f. [nunne. Sax. nonne, Fr. Our word was an- 
4.Q. eiently 
