MYTH AND MYTHOLOGY. this work they have given birth to a large mass of ingenious nonsense and brilliant guess-work, there has not been wanting among them abundance of sober judgment and sound sense to counteract such extravagances. It may be noticed however, as characteristic of their over-speculative intellect, that they have a tendency to bring the sway of theological and physical symbols down into a region of what appears to be plain historical fact; so that Achilles becomes a water-god, Peleus a mud-god, and the whole of the Iliad, according to Forchhammer, a poetical geology of Thessaly and the Troad! Going to the opposite extreme from Euhemerus, they have denied the existence even of deified heroes; all the heroes of Greek tradition, according to Uschold, are only degraded gods; and generally in German writers, a preference of transcendental to simple and obvious explanations of myths is noticeable. Creuzer, some of whose views had been anticipated by Blackwell, in Scotland, is especially remarkable for the high ground of religious and philosophical conception on which he has placed the interpretation of myths; and he was also the first who directed attention to the oriental element in Greek mythology-not, indeed, with sufficient discrimination in many cases, but to the great enrichment of mythological material, and the enlargement of philosophical survey. In the most 646 recent times, by uniting the excursive method of Creuzer with the correction supplied by the more critical method of O. Müller and his successors, the science of comparative mythology has been launched into existence; and specially the comparison of the earliest Greek mythology with the sacred legends of the Hindus, has been ably advocated by Max Müller in the Oxford Essays (1856). In France, the views of Euhemerus were propounded by Banier (1739); and generally the French scholars, such as Raoul Rochette and Petit Radel shew a distinct national tendency to recognise as much of the historical element as possible in mythology. By the British scholars, mythology is a field that has been very scantily cultivated. Besides those already named, Payne Knight, Mackay, Grote in the first volumes of his history, and Keightley are the only names of any note, and their works can in nowise compete in originality, extent of research, in discriminating criticism, or in largeness of view, with the productions of the German school. The best for common purposes is Keightley; the most original, Payne Knight. On the special mythologies of India, Rome, Greece, &c., information will be found under the heads of the respective countries to which they belong. The more important mythological personages are noticed under their own names; see BACCHUS, JUPITER, HERCULES, &C. N of Vespasian), anciently called SHECHEM or SICH EM, in the New Testament (John iv. 5), SYCHAR; is a town of Palestine, possessing, it is said, 'the only beautiful site from Dan to Beersheba.' It lies between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, on the south side of the valley of Erd-Mukhna, and has a population variously estimated at from 8000 to 14,000, of whom about 500 are Christians, 150 Samaritans, and 50 Jews; the rest are Mohammedans, fierce, turbulent, and fanatical. The houses are pretty good, but the streets (as usual in the East) are narrow, gloomy, and filthy. The chief productions are soap, cotton, and oil-the soap-manufactories are large, and the oil is considered the best in Syria.-See Porter's Handbook for Syria and Palestine, and Stanley's Palestine. NACRE. See MOTHER OF PEARL THE fourteenth letter of the English alphabet, is one of the nasal liquids of the lingual class. See LETTERS. Its Hebrew (and Phoenician) name, Nun, signified a fish, which its original form was probably meant to represent. N is interchangeable with L (q. v.) and M, as in collect, commingle, confer; and in Ger. boden, compared with Eng. bottom. In Latin, this letter had a faint, uncertain sound at the end of words and in some other positions, especially before 8. This accounts for words in on having lost the in the nominative case, though retaining it in the oblique cases, as homo, hominis; and for Greek names like Platon being written without the final n in Latin. The dull, muffled pronunciation of n, which is indicated by such words as consul, censor, testamento, being frequently spelled cosul, cesor, testameto, was the first stage of the modern French nasal n. Before a guttural letter, n naturally assumes the sound of ng, as bank. NAAS, a market and assize town of Kildare County, Ireland, 20 miles south-west of Dublin. The population in 1861 was 2959, of whom 2655 were Catholics, 276 Protestants of the Established Church, and the rest Protestants of other denominations. The number of inhabited houses was 529. Having been anciently the seat of the kings of Leinster, N. was early occupied by the English. A the service of the governor of Khorassan, and parliament was held in it in 1419, and it obtained charters successively from Henry V., Elizabeth, and James I. At present, N. is a place of little trade, and is almost entirely without manufactures. It returned two members to the Irish parliament, but was disfranchised at the Union. It is the seat of a diocesan school, and of three national schools (one of which is attached to the Roman Catholic convent), containing (1861) 732 pupils, of whom 359 are boys, and 373 girls. NA'BOB, or NABAB, a corruption of the word Nawab (deputy), was the title belonging to the administrators, under the Mogul empire, of the separate provinces into which the district of a Subahdar (q. v.) was divided. The title was continued under the British rule, but it gradually came to be applied generally to natives who were men of wealth and consideration. In Europe, and especially in Britain, it is applied derisively to those who, having made great fortunes in the Indies, return to their native country, where they live in oriental splendour. of Babylonian chronology, and was adopted by the NABONA'SSAR, ERA OF, was the starting-point Greeks of Alexandria, Berosus and others. It began with the accession of Nabonassar to the throne-an event calculated (from certain astronomical phenomena recorded by Ptolemy) to have taken place 26th February 747 B. C. NABULU'S, or NABLU'S (a corruption of the Gr. Neapolis, New City, the name given to it in the reign NA'DIR, an Arabic word signifying that point in the heavens which is diametrically opposite to the zenith, so that the zenith, nadir, and centre of the earth are in one straight line. The zenith and nadir form the poles of the Horizon (q. v.). See ZENITH. NADIR SHAH, of Persia, belonged to the Afshars, a Turkish tribe, and was born near Kelat, in the centre of Khorassan, Persia, in 1688. When 17 years old, he was taken prisoner by the Usbeks, but escaped after four years of captivity; entered soon obtained high promotion. Having, however, NÆVIUS-NAGARJUNA. his sovereign having in his absence engaged unsuccessfully the same enemy, N. caused him to be put in prison, and elevated his infant son, Abbas III., to the throne in 1732. The death of this puppet, in 1736, opened the way for the elevation of N. himself, who was crowned as Nadir Shah, February 26, 1736. He resumed the war with the Turks; and though totally defeated in the first two battles by the Grand Vizier Asman, turned the tide of fortune in the subsequent campaign, and granted peace to the Turks on condition of receiving Georgia. He also conquered Afghanistan, and drove back the invading Usbeks. His ambassador to the Great Mogul having been murdered along with all his suite at Jelalabad, and satisfaction having been refused, N. in revenge ravaged the North-west Provinces, and took Delhi, which he was, by the insane behaviour of the inhabitants, reduced to the neces sity of pillaging. With booty to the amount of £20,000,000, including the Koh-i-nûr (q. v.) diamond, he returned to the west bank of the Indus. He next reduced Bokhara and Khaurezm, restoring to Persia her limits under the golden reign of the Sassanides. From this period, his character underwent a sudden change: he was formerly openhearted, liberal, and tolerant; he now became suspicious, avaricious, and tyrannical. The empire groaned under his extortions, and he was finally assassinated on the 20th June 1747. His only surviving son was carried to Constantinople, and thence to Vienna, where he was brought up as a Catholic, under the surveillance of the Empress Maria Theresa, and died a major in the Austrian service, under the title of Baron Semlin. N.'s tyranny has now been forgotten; and at the present day, he is regarded with pride and gratitude as the Wallace' of Persia NÆ'VIUS, CN., one of the earliest Latin poets, was born, probably in Campania, in the first half of the 3d c. B. C. In his youth, he served in the first Punic war; but about the year 235 B. C., he made his appearance at Rome as a dramatic writer. Of his life, we know little; but of his character, rather more. He was very decidedly attached to the plebeian party; and in his plays, satirised and lampooned the Roman nobles with all the virulence and indiscretion of a hot-blooded impetuous Campanian-that Gascon of ancient Italy! His rashness ultimately caused his banishment to Utica in Africa, where he died, 204 or 202 B. C. Besides his dramatic writings, comprising both tragedies and comedies, he wrote an epic poem, De Bello Punico, in the old Saturnian metre. Of these, only a few very unimportant fragments are extant, which may be found in Bothe's Poetarum Latinorum Scenicorum Fragmenta (Halberstadt, 1824); or Klunmann's collection of the same (Jena, 1843), enriched by a life of N., and an essay on his poetry. See also Sellars's Poets of the Roman Republic (Edin. 1863). NÆVUS (known popularly as mother-spot or mole) is a congenital mark or growth on a part of the skin. Sometimes it is merely a dark discoloration of the surface as described in the article MACULÆ, in which case it is termed a mole and is perfectly harmless; but often it consists of a dense network of dilated blood-vessels, forming a reddish or livid tumour, more or less elevated above the surface of the surrounding skin. The most frequent situations of these vascular nævi are the skin and subcutaneous cellular tissue of the head; but they may occur elsewhere. The popular belief is, that they are caused by the longing of the mother during her pregnancy for a lobster, or strawberry or raspberry, or some other red-coloured article of food, and that the influence of her mind has impressed upon the fœtus a more or less vivid image of the thing she longed for; and hence the name of mother-spot. Sometimes these tumours waste away spontaneously, and give no trouble; but frequently they increase rapidly, invade the adjacent tissues, and ulcerate or slough, and thus become dangerous to life by hæmorrhage. When these tumours do not shew a tendency to increase, no treatment is necessary. When they are obviously increasing in size, the continual application of cold (by means of freezing mixtures), with moderately firm pressure, is sometimes of service; but a more certain method is to employ means to produce such an amount of inflammation as to obliterate the vessels; for this purpose, the seton, the application of nitric acid, and vaccination of the tumour, have been successfully applied. The injection of strong astringents, with the view of coagulating the blood, has sometimes effected a cure. If all those means fail, extirpation, either with the ligature or knife, must be resorted to; the ligature being regarded as the safest and best method. For the various methods of applying the ligature, the reader is referred to any standard work on operative surgery. If the tumour is in an inaccessible spot, as in the orbit of the eye, and is increasing rapidly, the only course is to tie the large vascular trunk supplying it. The common carotid artery has in several instances been tied with success for vascular nævus in the orbit. of Glarus, and five miles north of the town of that NÄ'FELS, a village of Switzerland, in the canton name, in a deep valley, is one of the most famous battle-fields in the country. Pop. 2000. Here, in 1388, 1500 men of Glarus, under Matthias am Buhl, overthrew an Austrian force of from 6000 to 8000 men. The event is still celebrated yearly. deified serpents, which are represented as the sons NAGA is, in Hindu Mythology, the name of of the Muni Kas'yapa and his wife Kadro, whence they are also called Kadraveyas. Their king is S'esha (q. v.), the sacred serpent of Vishnu. NAGAPATNA'M, a seaport of British India, on the Coromandel coast, in the province of Tanjur, 15 miles south of Karikal. It was taken by the Dutch in 1660, but fell into the hands of the English in 1781. Its site is an open sandy plain, elevated only three or four feet above sea-level. The port is visited by small vessels, and carries on some trade with Ceylon. Pop. 10,000, many of whom are of Dutch descent. of one of the most celebrated Buddhistic teachers or NAGARJUNA, or NAGASENA, is the name patriarchs-the thirteenth-who, according to some, lived about 400 years, according to others, about 500 years, after the death of the Buddha Sakyamuni (i. e., 143 or 43 B. C.). He was the founder of the Madhyamika school, and his principal disciples were Aryadeva and Budhapalita. According to the tradition of the Buddhas, he was born in the south of India, in a Brahmanical family. Even as a child, he studied all the four Vedas; later, he travelled through various countries, and became proficient in astronomy, geography, and magical arts. By means of the last, he had several amorous adventures, which ended in the death of three companions of his, but in his own repentance, and, with the assistance of a Buddhist mendicant, in his conversion to Buddhism. Many miracles are, of course, attributed to his career as propagator of this doctrine, especially in the south of India, and his life is said to have lasted 300 years.-See E. Burnouf, Introduction à l'Histoire du Buddhisme Indien (Paris, 1844); Spence Hardy, A Manual of Buddhism (Lond. 1853); W. Wassiljew, Der NAGASAKI-NAGY ENYED. Buddhismus, seine Dogmen, Geschichte und Literatur (St Petersburg, 1860). NAGASAKI, or NANGASIKI, a city and port of Japan, opened to foreign commerce by the treaty of 1858, on the 1st July 1859, is situated in 32° 44 N. lat, and 129° 51′ E. long., at the western extremity of the peninsula of Fizen, which forms the northwest portion of the island of Kiusiu. Previously to 1859, it was the only port in Japan open to foreigners. The harbour, which is one of the most beautiful in the world, is about six miles in width, and three or four in length. To a person inside, it appears completely land-locked, and it is surrounded by hills of about 1500 feet in height. These are broken into long ridges and deep valleys; while the more fertile spots are terraced and under cultivation. The town of N., which is about a mile in length, and three-quarters of a mile in width, lies on the north side of the bay; its population is estimated at 70,000. On the opposite side of the bay, the Japanese have a steam-factory, under the direction of Dutch officers. The climate of N. is genial. Towards the end of June, the thermometer ranges from 62° to 78°. Observations extending over the three hottest months of the year, from June 13 to September 13, 1859, shew that the thermometer ranged from 70° to 96° in the shade. During these three months, there were twenty-four days of constant rain, which was most excessive from the 24th of June to the end of July. The water at N. is bad, and there is more disease than at Hakodadi, where water is both good and plentiful. Cholera and typhus fever are sometimes virulent. At the end of the third year from the opening of the port, the foreign community consisted of thirty-nine persons. The trade of N. is inferior to that of Kanagawa. Sea-weed, salt-fish, and other articles are exported to China. The exports to Europe are mainly tea, vegetable wax, and copper. The total value of imports in the year 1861 amounted to 669,261 dollars, and the exports to 1,000,317 dollars, or about £140,000 and £203,000.-See Alcock's Three Years' Residence in Japan, vol. ii. p. 387 (Lond. 1862); Yedo and Peking, by Robert Fortune (Lond. 1863); Hodgson's Residence at Nagasaki, &c., in 1859-1860 (Lond. 1861). NA'GELFLUE, the provincial name for a bed of conglomerate belonging to the Mollasse (q. v.), which forms a considerable portion of the strata in the central region of Switzerland, between the Alps and the Jura. It is said to attain the enormous thickness of 6000 and 8000 feet in the Rhigi near Lucerne, and in the Speer near Wesen. NAGKESUR, the name under which the blossoms of the Mesua ferrea are sold in the bazaars of India. See GUTTIFERA. NAGPU'R, a city of British India, capital of the province of the same name, and situated near its north-west extremity, in an unhealthy swampy hollow, 430 miles in a direct line east-north-east of Bombay. Inclusive of its extensive suburbs, it is seven miles in circumference. It contains no important edifices. The great body of the inhabitants live in thatched mud-tents, interspersed with trees, which prevent the circulation of air, and secrete moisture, thus rendering the town unneces sarily unhealthy. The mean temperature of N. is estimated at about 80° F. Cotton cloths, coarse and fine chintzes, turbans, silks, brocades, blankets, woollens, tent-cloths, and articles in copper and brass, are manufactured. Here, on the 26th and 27th November 1817, a small British force of 1350 men, commanded by Colonel Scott, defeated a native army of 18,000 men. Pop. 115,000. 78° 3'-83° 10′. NAGPUR, an extensive inland province of British India, belonging in its civil administration to the Bengal, and in its military to the Madras Presidency, extends immediately north-east of the Nizam's Dominions, in lat. 17° 15-23° 5' N.; long. Area, 76,432 square miles; pop. 4,650,000. The north part of the province is mountainous in character, being traversed by spurs of the great Vindhya range; the general slope of the surface is from north-west to south-east, and the Bay of Bengal receives the drainage of the country chiefly through the rivers Mahanadi and Wain Gangá-the latter a tributary of the Godávarí. The climate is not healthy, and is especially insalubrious in the extensive tracts of low marshy land which abound in the province. The Gonds (see INDIA), supposed to be the aborigines, are the most remarkable class of the inhabitants. They rear fowls, swine, and buffaloes; but their country, forming the southcovered with a dense jungle, swarming with tigers. eastern tracts-about one-third of the whole-is In the more favoured districts, where the inhabi tants are more industrious, rice, maize, oil, and other seeds, and vegetables are extensively cultivated. The rajahs of N., sometimes called the rajahs of Berar, ruled over a state formed out of a part of the great Mahratta kingdom. The dynasty, however, died out in 1853, and the territory came into the possession of the British. The province has five divisions-capital, Nágpur. NAG'S HEAD CONSECRATION. This story, which was first circulated by the Roman Catholics forty years after the event, with respect to Archbishop Parker's consecration, was to the following effect. On the passing of the first Act of Uniformity in the first year of Queen Elizabeth, fourteen bishops vacated their sees, and all the other sees excepting that of Llandaff being vacant, there was a difficulty in maintaining the hitherto unbroken succession of bishops from apostolical times. Kitchin of Llandaff refused to officiate at Parker's consecration, and consequently the Protestant divines procured the help of Scory, a deprived bishop of the reign of Edward VI., and all having met at the Nag's Head Tavern in Cheapside, they knelt before Scory, who laid a Bible on their heads or shoulders, saying: Take thou authority to preach the word of God sincerely;' and they rose up bishops of the New Church of England! The story is discredited by the Roman Catholic historian Lingard, and is carefully refuted by Strype in his life of Parker. The facts of the case are, that the election took place in the chapter-house at Canterbury, the confirmation at St Mary le Bow's Church in Cheapside, and the consecration in the chapel of Lambeth Palace. Scory, then elected to the see of Hereford; Barlow, formerly Bishop of Wells, then elected to Chichester; Coverdale, formerly of Exeter, and never reappointed to any see; and Hodgkin, suffragan of Hereford, officiated at the consecration. The Nag's Head story probably arose from the company having possibly gone from Bow Church, after the confirmation, to take a dinner together at the tavern hard by, according to the prevailing custom. The due succession of bishops in the English Church has never been broken. NAHUM-NAILS. It contains a famous Calvinistic college. Pop. the portion of nail corresponding to this part is of a under 6000. 6 NA'HUM, one of the twelve minor prophets, was a native either of Elkosh, in Galilee, or the son of a man named Elkosh. The identification of his birthplace with Capernaum (Nahum's Village) or a place called Elkosh, on the east side of the Tigris, not far from Nineveh, is the result of vague speculation. He was probably a contemporary of Isaiah, and flourished about 713-711 B. C. The burden of his vision' (in 3d chap.) is the destruction of Nineveh and the downfall of the Assyrian king. dom. His style is full of animation, fancy, and originality, and at the same time clear and rounded. His language throughout is classical, and in the purest Hebrew, belonging to the second half of Hezekiah's reign, or to the time immediately following the defeat of Sennacherib before Jerusalem (2 Kings xix. 35, &c.). A commentary on N., with special reference to the Assyrian monuments lately discovered, has been written by O. Strauss (Berlin, 1853). NA'IA. See ASP and COBRA. whiter colour; from its form, this portion is termed the lunula. It is by the successive growth of new cells at the root and under the body of the nail that it advances forwards, and maintains a due thickness, direction is insured. The chemical composition of whilst at the same time its growth in a proper the nails is given in the article HORNY TISSUES, to which class of structures they belong. According to the observation of Beau, the finger-nails grow at the rate of about two-fifths of a line in a week, while the toe-nails only grow with about one-fourth of that rapidity. When a nail has been removed by Violence, or has been thrown off in consequence of the formation of matter (pus) beneath it, a new nail is speedily formed, provided the matrix has not been seriously injured. There is a very common and troublesome affection popularly known as ingrowing nail. Its most usual seat is by the side of the great toe. It does not in reality arise from any alteration of the nail, but from the adjacent soft parts being constantly pressed by the use of tight shoes against its edge. These parts become swollen and inflamed; suppuration NA'IADES, NAIADA'CEÆ, or POTAMEÆ, ensues, and an intensely sensitive ulcer is formed, a natural order of endogenous plants, divided by should at once be resorted to in these cases, as in which the nail is embedded. Surgical advice some botanists into several orders (Juncaginea, Zosteraceæ, &c.), containing in all not quite 100 there is no probability that the ulcer will heal sponknown species, all aquatic plants, some of them taneously, especially if the patient continue to move inhabiting the ocean, some found in lakes and about, and thus keep up irritation. In obstinate ponds, some in streams. They are all of very cel-cases, it is not unfrequently necessary to remove a lular structure; the leaves have parallel veins, and portion of the nail, an operation attended with much the flowers are inconspicuous. To this order belongs pain, although quickly performed. the Pondweed (Potamogeton), of which a number of species abound in the still waters of Britain, and of which some are found as far north as Iceland. To this order also belongs the GRASSWRACK (q. v.) of our shores, used for stuffing mattresses. The Lattice-leaf (q. v.) of Madagascar is one of the most interesting species, and one of the few which attract notice as in any way beautiful. NA'IADS, in Grecian Mythology, the nymphs of fresh-water lakes, rivers, and fountains. They were believed to possess the power of inspiration; hence, soothsayers and others are sometimes called nympho leptoi (seized by the nymph). They were represented as half-clothed maidens, and not unfrequently as companions of Pan, of Hercules, the patron of warm springs, or of the Sileni and the Satyrs, in whose jovial dances they join. Naiant. NA'IANT, or NATANT (Lat. natare, to swim), a heraldic term applied to a fish when borne horizontally across the shield in a swimming position. NAIGUE, or NAIK, a native subaltern officer among Indian and Anglo-Asiatic troops, whose functions are somewhat analogous to those performed among European troops by the drill-sergeant. NAILS are flattened, elastic, horny plates, which are placed as protective coverings on the dorsal surface of the terminal phalanges of the fingers and toes. Each nail consists of a root, or part concealed within a fold of the skin; a body, or exposed part attached to the surface of the skin; and a free anterior extremity called the edge. The skin below the root and body of the nail is termed the matrix, from its being the part from which the nail is produced. This is thick, and covered with highly vascular papillæ, and its colour is seen through the transparent horny tissue. Near the root, the papillæ are smaller and less vascular; hence NAILS, pointed pieces of metal, usually with flattened or rounded heads, used for driving into wood-work, for the purpose of holding the pieces together. A variety, in which the head is very large, and the spike portion small, used by shoemakers for protecting the soles of boots and shoes from wear, is called the hob-nail; another, which is made by cutting thin plate-iron into thin pointed pieces of various lengths, is called brads; these sometimes are without heads, but are usually made with a slight projection by way of a head. When made small, with flat heads, for attaching cloth or hangings in upholstery-work, they are called tacks; and when very large for heavy carpentry, spikes. Nail-making. Formerly, all nails were handmade, by forging on an anvil; and in Britain and the north of Europe, vast quantities are still made in this manner, being preferable, for many kinds of carpenters' work, to those made by machinery. In France, the greater part of the nails used for light carpentry-work are made of soft iron wire, pointed with the hammer; and in order to head them, they are pinched in a toothed vice, which leaves the portion for the head projecting, and makes below it three or four grooves in the nail, which increase its hold on the wood when driven home. The head is beaten into a countersinking on the vice, which regulates the size. The iron used for hand nail-making in Britain is sold in bundles, and is called nail-rods; it is either prepared by rolling the malleable iron into rods or small bars of the required thickness--which process is only employed for very fine qualities--or by cutting plate-iron into strips by means of rollingshears: these shears consist of two powerful revolving shafts (a, a, fig.), upon which are fixed discs of hard steel with squared edges (b, b, fig.). The discs of one shaft alternate with those of the other; they are of the thickness of the plate to be cut, and the shafts are so placed, that a small portion of one set of the discs are inserted between those of the other set. When the shafts are revolving, a plate of iron is |