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'that Is, the fucceffors of Seth, had intercourfe"'with the 
daughters of men, i. e. with thofe who defcended from 
Cain ; and from this intercourse proceeded the Nephilim, 
who fell into the grofi'eft enormities, as their name imports. 
The Centaurs were alfo called Nephilim. 
NE'PHIN, a mountain of Ireland, in the county of 
Mayo : ten miles north of Caftlebar. 
NEPHR AL'GIA, J'. [from the Gr. vsppot, the kidneys, 
and aXyo;, pain.] Any painful affe&ion of the kidneys, 
except that which is connefted with inflammation of 
thefe glands, the prefence of which is indicated by a 
Symptomatic fever, and conftitutes nephritis. The ab¬ 
sence of fever, therefore, diftinguiihes nephralgia from 
nephritis. 
The mod frequent caufe of nephralgia, or pain in the 
kidneys, is the prefence of fmall ftones, or concretions, in 
the pelvis of the kidney, or in the ureters leading to the 
bladder, or of the Tandy or gravelly matter irritating the 
fame parts. For the nature of thefe fubftances, the fymp- 
toms by which their prefence is indicated, the diagnofis 
between them, and the fymptoms of other painful dbor¬ 
ders affefting the loins, and the proper remedies to be ad- 
miniftered for their cure, fee the article Pathology. 
NEPHRIT'IC, or Nephritical, ad). [vetpgllix.®/, Gr.‘ 
from rEipco;, the kidney.] Belonging to the organs of urine. 
-—Mr. Harrifon hath been of late fomewhat more than 
heretofore troubled with certain nephritical fits ; but they 
are tranfient and light. Wotton to Sir E. Bacon. —A very 
valuable medicine, and of great account in divers cafes, 
particularly afthmas, nephritiek pains, nervous colicks, and 
obftruftions. Bp. Berkeley's Siris. — Troubled with the 
(tone.—The diet of mphritick perfons ought to be oppo¬ 
site to the alkalefceat nature of the falts in their blood. 
Arhuthnot. 
Nephritic Stone, in mineralogy, a kind of precious 
ftone, fo called from its luppofed virtues againft the flone 
and gravel in the kidneys. It is perhaps the Serpentinus 
nephriticus, or nephrite.—The nephritieh Jione is com¬ 
monly of an uniform duficy green j but fome famples I 
have feen of it that are variegated with white, black, and 
fometimes yellow. Woodward. 
Nephritic Wood, in botany. See Hyferanthera. 
NEPHRIT'ICS, f. Medicines proper for the relief of 
the difeafes of the kidneys, and efpecially, therefore, of 
the (lone and gravel. See Lithontriptic, vol. xii. 
NEPHRI'TIS, /.’ [from rs<ppo^, Gr. the kidney, with 
the termination itis.] Inflammation of the kidneys. 
The local fymptoms, which denote the prefence of in¬ 
flammation in the kidneys, do not differ very materially 
from thofe which belong to nephralgia, and which are 
principally the refult of the irritation of calculus, or fandy 
concretions, formed in the urinary paffages. For, in fa£f, 
inflammation of the kidneys is not very common as an 
idiopathic diforder, originating from the ordinary caufes 
of inflammatory affe&ions ; but is ufually an effect cf the 
irritation of calculi in the fame paffages, when long con¬ 
tinued, or particularly fevere in degree : in other words, 
nephralgia is liable to terminate in nephritis. See Ne¬ 
phralgia. 
The right diftin&ion of this difeafe from the lumbago, 
from the mere fpalinodic nephralgia arifingfrom the paf- 
fage of a calculus along the ureter, and from inflamma¬ 
tion of other vifcera contiguous to the kidneys, is of 
more importance in nephritis than in the more chronic 
nephritic complaints ; becaufe the treatment required for 
its cure muff be materially different. Thus, with refpefl: 
to the fpafmodic pain accompanying the irritation of a 
calculus impaired in the ureter, a large dofe of .opium 
will fometimes at once relax the fpafm, and allow the 
concretion to pafs into the bladder, producing inftanta- 
neous relief; but, if actual nephritis were prefent, the 
opium would confer no benefit; on the contrary, it would 
tend to augment the inflammation, and to carry it on to 
.fuppuration. From lumbago, then, the nephritis may be 
Vol. XVI. No. 114.9. 
N E P 
diftinguifned by the prefence of acute fever; by the pain 
being little increaled by moving the mufcles of the back, 
but confiderably aggravated by (baking or jolting motion, 
efpecially when a calculus is prefent; and by the con¬ 
comitant licknefs. From fpafm, excited by calculous ir¬ 
ritation, it is diftinguifhed by the prefence of fever; and 
from colic, and inflammation of the inteftines, which are 
fometimes accompanied, more particularly the laid, by 
ficknefs and vomiting, and the laid always by fever, it is 
diftinguiflied by the numbnefs of the thigh, and the pain 
and retraftion of thetefticle in male patients. 
A predifpofition to nephritis is obvioufly attached to 
peculiar eonftitutions, efpecially to thofe which have a 
gouty tendency, or a difpoiition to calculous complaints; 
and thefe two maladies are fo far connefred, that they 
fometimes alternate with each other, and fome individuals 
of a gouty parentage have been obferved to be afteiSled 
with gout, while others have fuffered from calculous 
complaints. Corpulency leems alfo to predifpofe to thefe 
affeftions of the kidneys; or the predifpofition maybe 
produced, in cafes of this nature, from the conftant fti- 
mulus given to the urinary paffages by the ufe of much 
high-feafoned food and fermented liquors. For the cure, 
lee the article Pathology. 
Sometimes, though very rarely, nephritic inflammation 
is Paid to have terminated in gangrene, and fometimes in 
feirrhus ; but this lad afte&ion, by which (Jae kidney is 
fometimes enlarged to an enormous bulk, is perhaps more 
commonly the refult of a chronic than of an acute inflam¬ 
mation of the kidneys, and is fcarcely within the influ¬ 
ence of medicine. Cullen's Firjl Lines, chap. xi. Baillie's 
Morbid Anatom//. 
NEPHRO'DIUM, f. in botany. See Polypodium. 
NEPHROME'TRfE, A name given by fome authors 
to the mufcles of the loins, called by the generality of 
medical authors pfoep. 
NEPHROT'OMY, f. [from the Gr. vtt ppo?, kidney, and 
Tipw, to cut.] The operation of extracting a.Hone from 
the kidney. 
There are not many inftances of nephrotomy being 
done when the kidney was fuppofed to be entire, nor are 
thefe well authenticated. The only example of the ope¬ 
ration of nephrotomy deferving notice, is that recorded 
in the Philofophical Tranfa£Hons for 1696. It is there- 
Rated, that Mr. Hobfon, the Englifti conful at Venice, 
having been a long while afflifted with pain, in the kid¬ 
neys, in confequence of a calculus being lodged in one 
of thofe organs, went to Padua, for the purpofe of con- 
fulting Marchettis, a very experienced phyfician, wh® 
told him that he knew of no other mode of relieving him, 
except that of making an incifion, through which the ex¬ 
traneous fubltance that annoyed him might be extradled. 
There was no external fign by which the prefence of the 
ftone could be afeertained; and Marchettis did not con¬ 
ceal from the patient the difficulty and the danger of the 
operation. Mr. Hobfon, however, fliowed fo much refo- 
lution, and fo ftrong a defire to fubmit to any means of 
cure, that Marchettis could not decline the attempt. 
The parts were divided with a ftraight biftoury. The 
hemorrhage was fo profufe, that the extradlion of the 
ftone was unavoidably deferred to the next day. In fhort, 
two or three calculi were then taken out, and the wound 
dreffed. The fubfequent fymptoms were not ferious; and 
Mr. Hobfon was foon well enough to return to Venice, 
although his wound was not completely healed, as a fmall 
fiftula (till continued, from which pus and urine were dis¬ 
charged. Some time afterwards, another ftone prefented 
itfelf, and was eafily taken our. The patient at length 
experienced a radical cure. Ten years had elapfed, when 
Mr. Hobfon related his cafe to Dr. Bernard, who after¬ 
wards communicated it to the Royal Society. 
This Angle inftance, wherein an incifion appears to 
have been made into one of the kidneys and feveral ftones 
taken thereout, ought not to embolden other furgeons to 
8 X venture 
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