NYC 
but, by its obliquity, becomes narrow beneath : the mar¬ 
gin, or divifional line, has a pectinated appearance un¬ 
der the microlcope, fimilar to that obferved in the com¬ 
mon flea : the pofterior joint is fmalieft, and is terminated 
with two Jong fiefliy papilla: furnifhed with four bridles 
regularly radiating: upon the upper part of the thorax, 
clofe to the anterior end, is a cylindrical ereft appendage 
befet with bridles: this appears tubular, and feems to be 
the probofcis or trunk by which the animal takes its nou- 
rifhment: (hould this be the cafe, and of which there 
feems no doubt, its manner of feeding mud be curious, 
as it mud turn on its back to apply this mouth to the (kin 
of the bat. So flrange and contradictory to experience is 
the formation of this infeCt, that, were it not for the 
Ik u ft u re of the legs, no one could doubt that the upper 
was aCtually the under part of the body, as well from the 
fltuation of the legs as from that of the probofcis: the 
joints of the legs, however, demondrate otherwile ; and 
the living animal, examined in motion, puts it beyond all 
doubt : the legs have four joints, independent of the 
foot, to which two remarkably-hooked claws are fixed, 
and at their bale a fpongy l'ubdance : at the end of the 
tibia next to the tarfus are a few annulations, like im- 
perfeft joints. Total length, one eighth of an inch ; the 
legs not quite double that of the body. 
In ‘another fpecimen examined, the body or abdomen 
appeared to have four joints, was more ovate, tumid, and 
deditute of the poderior appendages; the thorax, and all 
the other parts, fimilar to the firfi. This was fufpeCted to 
be the female ; and the fexual didinftion feems to be fur¬ 
ther exemplified by the poderior end of the former being 
bilobated vertically; and, when examined fideways, it 
was obvious the dellate appendages iflued from the lower 
lobe. 
The very fingular drufture of this infeft, which at fird 
appears to" be a drange deformity of nature, and excites 
our afionilhment, will, like all other creatures condruCted 
by the fame Omnipotent hand, be found to be mod admi¬ 
rably contrived for all the purpofes of its creation ; and 
the fcrutinizing naturalid will foon difcover this unufual 
conformation to be the character which at once damps its 
habits and ceconomy. The motion of this inleft is lo ex¬ 
tremely quick, that it furpafles every fpecies hitherto no¬ 
ticed : it trartfports itfelf with fuch celerity from one part 
of the animal it inhabits to the oppofite and molt didant, 
although obdrufted by the extreme thicknefs of the fur, 
that it is not readily taken. When it applies the probof¬ 
cis to the (kin of the bat, it reclines on its back, and by 
this means it holds mod fecurely by its claws to the larger 
hairs. When two or three were put into a fmall phial, their 
agility appeared inconceivably great; for, as their feet are 
incapable of fixing upon fo fmooth a body, their whole 
exertion was employed in laying hold of each other; 
in this mod curious ltruggle, they appeared to be actu¬ 
ally flying in circles; and, when the bottle was reclined, 
they would frequently pafs from one end to the other 
with adonilhing velocity, accompanied by the fame gyra¬ 
tions : if by accident they efcaped each other, they very 
loon became motionlefs; and as quickly were the whole 
put into motion again by the lead touch of the bottle, or 
the movement of an individual. In this fituation they 
furvived two or three days. 
NYCTHEM'ERON, f. [Greek.] The whole natural 
day, or day and night, confiding of 24 hours, or 24 equal 
parts. This way of confidering the day W'as particularly 
adopted by the Jews ; and feems to owe its origin to that 
expreflion of Moles, in the fird chapter of Genefis, The 
evening and the morning were the JirJl day. Before the 
Jews had introduced the Greek language into their dif- 
courfe, they ufed to fignify this fpace of time by the fim- 
ple expreflion of a night and a day. It is proper here to 
obferve, that all the eafiern countries reckoned any part 
of a day of twenty-four hours for a whole day ; and fay 
a thing that was done on the third or feventh day, &c. 
Vo 1. XVII. No. 1181. 
N Y E 345 
from that lad mentioned, was done after three or feveu 
days. And the Hebrews, having no word which exactly 
anfwers to the Greek fignifying “ a natural 
day of 24 hours,” life night and day, or day and night, for 
it. So that to fay a thing happened after three days and 
three nights, was, with them, the fame as to fay it hap¬ 
pened after three days, or on the third day. 
NYCTIC'ORAX, J'. [Gr. right-raven.] See Ardea 
nycticorax, vol. ii. p. 132. 
NYCTOSTRAT'EGI, f. [Greek.] Among the an¬ 
cients, were officers appointed to prevent fires in the night, 
or to give alarm and call aflidance when a fire broke out. 
At Rome they had the command of the watch ; and were 
called noSiurni triumviri, from their office and number. 
Chambers. 
NYD, a river of Norway, which runs into the North 
Sea in the Bay of Drontheim. 
NYDA'LA, a town of Sweden, in the province of 
Smaland : twenty-fix miles fouth of Jonkioping. 
NYDAU', a town of Swifierland, in the territory of 
Bienne, on the north-ead extremity of the lake of Bi¬ 
enne, oh the fouth fide of the Tiel canal, oppofite 
Bienne. 
NYE (Philip), an eminent Englilh nonconformifl di¬ 
vine, who didinguilhed himfelf by his zeal and afti- 
vity in fupport of the parliament againd king Charles I. 
and during the difcuflions in the alfembly of divines at 
Wedminder, was defcended from a good family in Suf- 
fex, and born about the year 1596. Having laid a proper 
foundation of grammar-learning, in the year 1615 he was 
entered a commoner of Brazen-nofe college, Oxford; 
but he foon afterwards removed to Magdalen-hall, for 
the fake of placing himfelf under the inltruftions of a 
tutor of the puritan party, to which he was inclined. 
Here he purified his Audies with great afliduity, and 
was admitted to the degree of B. A. in 1619, and to that 
of M. A. in 1622. Before he took the degree lad men¬ 
tioned, he had entered into holyorders ; and, in the year 
1630, was appointed to officiate at St. Michael’s church, 
in Cornhill, London. In this fituation he continued, till 
he became obnoxious to the cenfures of the epilcopal 
court, by his non-compliance with the impoiitions of 
archbilhop Laud. To efcape perfecution, in the year 
1633 he fled into Holland, and continued abroad, chiefly, 
at Arnheim in Guelderland, till the latter end of the 
year 1640. The change of affairs which had then taken 
place in England, where the parliament was beginning to 
prevail over the king, encouraged him to return to his 
native country ; and foon afterwards, by the patronage 
of the earl of Mancheder, he became minider of Kim- 
bolton in Huntingdonlhire. 
In the year 1643, he was appointed, together with Mr. 
Stephen Marfhal, whole daughter he had married, to ac¬ 
company the commiflioners who were lent by the parlia¬ 
ment into Scotland, for the purpofe of procuring the 
aflidance of the Scots, that the taking of the J'olemn 
league and covenant, for which he was a Arenuous advo¬ 
cate, might be expedited ; and, after his return, he fat 
as a member in the famous aflembly of divines at Wed¬ 
minder, in the leleftion of whom he had a confiderable 
influence. When the refolution for taking the Covenant 
had palled the aflembly and both houfes of parliament, 
Mr. Nye was one of the perfons appointed to officiate be¬ 
fore thofe bodies on that occalion. He was alfo one of 
the committee who drew up the preface to the Dire&ory, 
which was ordered to be fubdituted in the room of the 
Common-Prayer Book ; but, when the majority of the 
aflembly determined on eflabliffiirig and enforcing the 
Prelbyterian difcipline of church-government, he was in 
the number of the diflenting brethren, and with great 
ability and boldnefs contended for the fcheme of in depen¬ 
dency ; viz. “ that every particular congregation of Chrif- 
tians has an entire and complete power of jurifdiftion 
over its members, to be exercifed by the elders thereof 
3.X within 
