Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 2.djvu/122

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(bread flat and even upon the ground, and the two ends filftcned down with (lakes. At the lower part there is to be a long cord fixed to the upper edge of the net, by means of which it may be immediately railed, and pulled over. The fportfrnan is to hide himfelf behind fame natural or artificial (belter, at the extremity of this line, and fome cut grafs mull: be ftrewed all over the net as it lies on the ground, to hide it from the fowl ; and fome live bird, that has been taken before, fhould be flaked down before the net, by way of a ftall, to draw in the others.

As foon as a fufficicnt number of birds are within the compafs of the net, it is to be pulled fwiftly over them, and the fowler having taken thofe that are under it, may flake down two or three more live ones, and fpread the net, covering it with grafs as before. This fort of fport may be continued from as foon as it is light in the morning till an hour after fun-rife ; but after that time, the birds have done feeding ravenoufly, and the fport is over for that day.

Cmque-port Net, in fiflrery, a name given to a fort of fquare net, refembling a cage, and having five entrances into it, from whence it has the name,

It is a very fcrviccable net in any pond or river, and is equally good in fwift or ftanding water. In order to make this net, there muft be provided four large and ftrait poles, anfwerable in length to the depth of the water. The ends of thefe muft be fharpened in the man«er of flakes, and there muft be notches within a foot of thefharp part to fatten the net to, and at a convenient diftance, on the poles, there muft be another fet of notches, for the faftening trie other ends of the net. The bottom of this net is four-fquare, without any entrance. A boat muft be taken out with this net, to place it properly. The four poles muft be fixed in the bottom in fuch a manner, that each may anfwer to the other in a direct line ; and they muft ftand at fuch diflances, that the net may be drawn out as ftiff as poflible between them. If the net is to be fixed in a Handing water, this method alone will do very well; but if it be a fmooth ftream, fomething more isneceffary, otherwife the motion of the water will keep the net playing about, and this will frighten away the fifh. To prevent this, four ftrong

• flicks are in this cafe to be faftencd along the tops of the others, fo as to make a fort of frame, to ftreighten and ftrengthen the others, and keep all tight.

When the net is perfectly fixed, it reprefents a cage, and the fides, top, and bottom are kept fo firm, that the fifh do not regard them, but feem to take them for weeds ; but going in at the entrances, there is no returning, and in rich places great numbers are taken.

Clou) Net, in birding, a name given to a fort of net contrived for the catching of wild fowl in the winter feafon. This net may be ufed in the day-time, and is to be made of double thread, or of fine packthread, and the mefhes are to be two inches wide. The length of the whole fhould be about ten yards, and the depth aboutthree. It fhould be verged on the fides with a ftrong cord, and ftretched out in length very ftiff upon long poles, prepared for that purpofe. When this net is brought to the place where it is to be ufed, it muft be opened, and fpread at full length and breadth : then its lower end is to be faftened all along the whole length to the ground, fo that it only can be moved up arid down. The up- per end of the net muft ftand extended on the long cord, the farther end of it being firft ftaked to the earth by a ftrong cord, about five yards diftant from the net, and ftanding in an even line with the bottom of the net. The other end of the cord muft reach at leaft five and twenty yards, to fome natural or artificial fhelter, by means of which the fportfrnan is to lie , concealed from his prey. The net muft be placed in fuch ex- act order, that it will play upon the leafl jerk of the cord, and that muft always be given fuddenly, left the prey efcape. This net is principally ufed for crows and pigeons, on ncw-fown corn fields, and it may alio be ufed in ftubble fields, where the flubblc will hide the net from the fowl. If the mefhes are made fmaller, it may be ufed at barn-doors and the like for fmall birds, and a bait of chaff will bring them together un- der it. But the great ufe of the emu-net, is to fpread it in mornings and evenings where the haunts of wild fowl are, which in hard weather fly in great flocks to and from land, with and againft the wind, and then fly clofe to the ground, in open countries and low lands, where there are few hedges. When a whole covey of thefe are within the reach of the net it is to be let go over them, and they will be taken in <*reat numbers at one caft.

Tunnel Net. See the article Tunnel.

WfNir. See the article Wolf.

NET E, (Cyel.) in the antient mufic, was a general name for one of the extreme chords of a tetrachord. Some fay it was the liigheft, and others the loweft found. But perhaps the truth of the matter is, that it was the higheft or loweft found, ac cording as the afcending or defcending fcales were confidcred. Vid. Phil. Tranf. N»4«i. p. 269. SeeHvPATE. When the netc is faid to be one of the exiremes of a tetra- chord, it is to be underftood of a tetrachord confidered by it- felf: for, when tetrachords were combined, the nrfr fometimes took another name, as appears from the Greek fcale inferted

under the article Diagram. Vid. JVallh App. ad Ptol. Harm. p. 158.

NETHIN1M3, among the Jews, the poflerity of the Gibeonites, who were condemned by Jofhua to he hewers of wood and drawers of water for the houfe of God. Hofm. Lex. in voc. netbineei. Jof. ix. 22.

NETOPION, Nn-OTnor, a name given by the antients to a very fragrant and coftly ointment, confifting of a great number of thefineft fpicy ingredients. Hippocrates, in histreatife of the difeafcs of women, frequently prefcribes the netopien in difeafes of the uterus ; and in other places he fpeaks of its being pour- ed into the ears as a remedy for deafnefs, thefe competitions, by their attenuating qualities, dividing the vifcous and thick humors The word netophm is alfo fometimes ufed to exprefs the unguentum Mgyptiaeum, and fometimes fimply for oil of almonds.

NE n INGS, in a Ihip, are a fort of grates made with fmall ropes, and feized together with rope-yarn, and are laid in the wafte of a fliip, fometimes, to ferve inftead of gratings. See Gratings.

Netting-/^'/, in a Ihip. See thearticle Sail.

NETTLE, in botany. See thearticle Urtica.

Deael Nettle. See thearticle Lamium.

NETTLE-r?w. See the article Celtis.

NEURADE, in botany, a name given by Linnaeus to a genus of plants, called by Juffieu tribu'.aftrum. The charaflers are thefe : the perianthium is very fmall, and Hands upon the ger- men of the pillil : it is compofed of one leaf, divided into five fegments. The flower confifts of five equal petals, larger than the leaves of the cup : the ftamina are ten filaments,~of the length of the cup : the anthera arefimple : the germen of the piflil flands under the cup, and is of a gibbous figure : the ftiles are ten in number, and are of the length of the ftigmata : the ftigmata are fimple. The fruit is an orbicular capfule, of a depreffed figure on the furface, and convex underneath, and is every way furrounded with prickles. The inner part is di- vided into ten cells, in every one of which is lodged a fingle feed. Linnxi Gen. Plant, p. 1S5.

NEURIS, in the writings of the antients, the name given to a fpecies of marble, otherwife called elapkonefum, and proeamie- Jiutn. It was much ufed by the Roman ftatuaries, and was dug in a fmall ifland that lay between Paros and Cyzicus. It was of a dufky or blueifh white,' and was variegated with fine and (lender veins of black, often beautifully difpofed, and in the bodies of the naked ftatues refembling the courfe of the veins.

NEUROBATES, in antiquity, a rope-dancer. See the article Dance, Cyel.

NEUROPHYLLON, in natural hiftory, a name given by Mr. Lhuyd to a fpecies of foffile plant, remarkable for the ridoes on the leaf. Secfifi/e Plant.

NEUTHA, a name given by authors to a pellicle covering the eyes or the ears of a child in the birth, and fometimes" the whole face.

NEVEW, in botany, &c. See N;? pus.

NEWT, or Eft, in zoology. See the article Eft.

The land newt, or as naturalifls often call it, the Uni fataman- der, has fomething very remarkable in its outer coat. Its fkin often appears dry, like that of the lizard kind, but often alfo it appears wetted, and as if covered with a fine fhininu var- nifli : the change from one to the other of thefe ftates is ufually performed in aninftant, and it frequently becomes immediately wet all over on the touching it. It alio contains, under the fkin, a fort of milky liquor, which fpurts out to a diftance on preffing the body of the animal.

The paffages for this milk are a vaft number of pores or holes, many of which are plainly viflble to the naked eye; and very probably the firft-mentioned liquor, which covers tile (kin in, manner of a varnifh, may be the fame with this, its white colour not being diftinguifllable when it is fpread fo thin over the furface of the animal. 'I his milk refembles very much the milky juice which the tithymals, and many other of the fuc- culent plants, afford on being cut or broken. It is of an in- fupportably acrid and ftyptic tafte ; and tho' the tongue receives no injury from touching it, yet the fenfation is "fo violent, that one is apt to imagine there muft be a wound made in it'. This animal, when bruifed, yields alfo a very difagreeable fmcll.

It has generally been fuppofed, that this animal is of apoifon- ous nature ; and the famous falamander of the old writer! feems to be of the fame genus, if not the fame animal. Mr. Maupertuis, determined to inform the world ef the truth in regard to thefe remarkable particulars, caufed a large num- ber of thefe animals to be brought to him, which the country people, who had caught them about the bottoms of old walls, brought to him with as much caution as if they had been vipers.

T he firft experiment he made, was that of the incombuftible quality of this animal : to this purpofe he threw feveral of them into a common fire; mod of them perifhed immediately, but a few made fhift to crawl out ; but thefe could not get away on a fecond trial, but perifhed like the reft. It was ob- ferved, however, that the moment they were thrown into the

fire,