NEC 
ture was his eyes; they were quick and lively; and his 
look all together, though indicative neither of opennefs 
nor concealment, was that of a man of fpirit and obfer- 
vation. His body was large and unwieldy; his manner 
was ungraceful; and it was waggiflily remarked, that he 
was accuftomed to eredl and throw back his head in pro¬ 
portion to the degree of favour which he enjoyed at court. 
His converfation, without being marked by eafe or by 
feeling, received a degree of intereft from the aftive (late 
of his mind. He was one of thofe men who never feern 
to be at reft, nor to find adequate refources within them- 
felves. Either the defire of fomething new, or the regret 
of (omething that was paft, feemed perpetually to agitate 
him. As a minifter, his great advantage lay in obtaining 
credit for government among men of capital. Nobody 
was more fuccefsful in infpiring confidence; and, in one 
of his loans, it was remarked that nearly a third of the 
amount was fubfcribed by foreigners. His loans, like- 
wife, bore a premium ; a very rare thing in France ; and, 
though the fums borrowed were large, the rate of in¬ 
tereft was moderate. Thefe advantages were evidently 
the refult of his long experience and dexterity in banking 
bufinefs. 
The daughter of M. Necker, who married the baron de 
Stael, the ambafl'ador from Sweden to France, made her- 
felf well known to the literary world by leveral ingenious 
publications. Among thefe are “ Memoirs of the Cha¬ 
racter and private Life of her Father,” written in a ftrain 
of high fentimentand elaborate panegyric, or rather ado¬ 
ration : for never does a parent feem to have been more 
idolized by a child. She died at Paris, July 15,1817, aged 
53. See Stael-Holstein. This article is collected from 
her Memoirs of the Life of her Father; and Particulars 
refpeding the mojl celebrated Finance-Mini/lers of France, 
Paris, 1812. 
NECKER’s I'SLAND, one of the fmaller Virgin 
Iflands, near the north coaft of Virgin Gorda. 
NECKER I'SLANDS, a clufter of nine fmall iflands, 
in the North Pacific Ocean, near the weft coaft of Ame¬ 
rica, about three miles from Cape Blanco. Lat. 42. 50. N. 
NECKER I'SLE, a fmall ifland in the Pacific Ocean, 
confifting of an almoft barren rock about 500 toifes in 
length and 60 in height, without a fingle tree, but having 
on the fummit a good deal of grafs. M. la Peroufe points 
it out to navigators, that they may avoid the danger of 
approaching it: within a fpace of ten miles from it, no 
other ground was found befides coral and broken (hells. 
Lat. 23. 31. N. Ion. 164. 32. W. 
■ NECK'ERA, f [received its name from Hedwig, “ in 
the memory of the mod eminent oppofer of the doCIrine 
of the fexual propagation of mofles, to whom neverthelefs 
botany is not a little indebted.” This was Dr. N. Jofeph 
Necker, mentioned p. 662.] In botany, a genus of the 
clafs cryptogamia, order mufci.— EjJ'cntial CharaBer. 
Capfule oblong, from a lateral fcaly flieath ; outer fringe 
of fixteen acute teeth ; inner of as many intermediate 
thread-Ihaped teeth ; veil fmooth. 
The habit of Neckera is like that of Hypnum, under 
which genus fome of its fpecies have been defcribed by 
Linnaeus; but ftill nearer to Fontinalis in the (hortnefs 
of the fruit-ftalk. Accordingly feveral of the fpecies, 
more recently difcovered, have been referred to the latter 
genus. (See Hypnum and Fontinalis.) Neckera dif¬ 
fers, in efiential character, from both in its inner fringe, 
which confifts of diftfnCl and feparate teeth or briftles; 
not combined by a membranous bafe, as in the former ; 
n‘or connected by tranfverfe lattice-work, as in the latter. 
Sixteen fpecies are defcribed in the Species Mufcorum of 
Hedwig, five of which are Britilh. They are difpofed in 
two feCtions, and thefe are each fubdivided into two more, 
according as the leaves are two-ranked or fcattered. We 
(hall feieft a few fpeeimens, including the new fpecies 
•from the Linnaean TranfaCtions. Indeed the old fpecies 
.are defcribed under fuch various names, that we hardly 
.know where to place them. 
VOi. XVI. No. 1144. 
NEC 665 
I. Fruit-ftalk (hotter than the capfule; leaves fcattered. 
1. Neckera heteromalla, or lateral neckera: ftem branch¬ 
ed, diffufe; leaves ovate, concave, imbricated every way j 
capfules turned to one fide. Native of England and Ire¬ 
land, but, as far as has hitherto been obferved, of no other 
country. Sberard firft found it at Badminton, Gloucefter- 
ftiire. It grows in tufts clofely prefled to the trunks of 
trees, and is not uncommon in Norfolk. The (terns are 
about i£ inch long, diffufe, rigid, with pinnate branches, 
thickly clothed with fmall dull-green acute (ingle-ribbed 
leaves. 
II. Fruit-ftalk longer than the capfule. 
2. Neckera pumila, or fmall feathery neckera : branches 
pinnate; leaves two-ranked, ovate, obliquely pointed, 
tranfverfely corrugated ; fruit-ftalk fcarcely longer than 
the (heath. Native of trunks of trees in-Weftmoreland, 
Suflex, and Scotland, nor has it been obferved in any 
other country. Firft difcovered in the Cummer of 1782, 
on trees near Amblefide, as indicated in the Flora Angl. 
but without capfules; thefe Mr. Dickfon met with in 
Suflex. 
3. Neckera crifpa, or crifped neckera: branches pin¬ 
nate ; leaves two-ranked, oblong, tranfverfely corrugated ; 
fruit-ftalk twice the length of the flieath. Native of 
chalky or limeftone countries, in dry woods, very abun¬ 
dant, producing capfules in April. The great fize of this 
fpecies; its regular femilunar plaits ; the contrail: of 
fliining green and brown in its foliage; all together 
render it one of the handfomeft Britiih modes. The 
branched Items, leafy throughout, lie over each other in 
thick elaftic horizontal mafles, and are excellent for 
package. 
4. Neckera curtipendula, or pendulous neckera: ftem 
branched, diffufe; leaves ovate-lanceolate, pointed, even, 
fpreading ; capfules on longifli (talks, drooping. Native 
of rocks and trees, in various parts of Europe, but not 
common in England. Mr. Menzies gathered it on the 
weft coaft of North America. The Items are long, and 
either proftrate or pendulous, their principal divifions 
pinnate with numerous fliort tapering branches. Leaves 
imbricated, fpreading every way, of a yellowifn fliining 
green, ovate, pointed, fingle-ribbed, (lightly concave, 
without any tranfverfe plaits. 
5. Neckera viticulofa, or cylindrical neckera: ftem 
creeping; branches ereft, cylindrical; leaves lanceolate, 
imbricated, fpreading, (lightly turned to one fide ; cap¬ 
fules ereft. Found about the roots of trees, in old dry- 
woods, throughout Europe, bearing fruit plentifully in 
the fpring. The wiry creeping- Items throw up numerous, 
erefit, crowded, level-topped. Ample or divided, branches, 
thickly clothed with dark-green or yellowifh leaves, 
which, though imbricated every way, are curved toward 
one fide. Fruit-ftalks an inch or more in length, from 
very (hort (heaths. 
Three new fpecies have been added by Mr. W. Hooker, 
in his paper (Linn. Tranf. vol. ix.) on the Mofles found 
by Dr. Buchanan in Nepaul. Thefe are, 
6. Neckera fphaerocarpa: ftem pinnate, with fliort 
branches ; leaves ovate, pointed, (ingle-ribbed at the 
bafe; capfules nearly feflile, almoft globular, turned one 
way. Found on trees at Kargoo in Nepaul, bearing fruit 
in March. Nearly a-kin to N. heteromalla, next to which 
it ought to be inferted ; but the more lax and fpreading 
habit, and efpecially the fpherical capfule, unlike every 
other known Neckera, diftinguilh it. 
7. Neckera flavefcens: ftem ere6t, pinnate; branches 
moftly Ample ; leaves ovate, riblefs ; capfule cylindrical, 
erect; lid awl-(haped. Gathered at Narain-hetty. This 
forms filky tufts of a tawny yellow. It belongs to the 
laft fe< 5 tion of the genus, along with N. curtipendula and 
viticulofa ; but differs widely from both in its fine 
crowded branches; from the former in its long capillary 
fruit-ftalks; from the latter in its ftill more (lender cap¬ 
fules, and leaves not turned to one fide. 
S G 
S. Neckera 
