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Nil′sson, Christine, a Swedish prima donna and operatic singer, was born near Wexio, Sweden, Aug. 3, 1843. A magistrate was impressed by her singing at a fair in 1857, and sent her to Stockholm and Paris for a musical education. She appeared first in Paris in La Traviata in 1864 and in London in 1867, and was soon ranked among the foremost singers on the modern stage. In 1872 she married M. Rouzaud, and in 1887 the Count di Miranda.

Nîmes (nēm), the capital of Gard, a French department, lies in the valley of the Cevennes. It has narrow, crooked streets, and its principal interest lies in the Roman remains; there being the Corinthian Maison Carrée, now a museum; an amphitheatre seating 20,000; a mausoleum, baths and two gates. The city is the seat of large manufactories of silk, cotton, carpets, shawls, wine, brandy etc. Nimes was settled from and became one of the great cities of Gaul. It was in the hands of the Visigoths (465), Franks (507) and Saracens (725); then it belonged to Aragon; but finally it came into the possession of France in 1259 by the treaty of Corbeil. Population 80,605.

Nin′eveh, the famous capital of the Assyrian empire, called Ninâ on the monuments, now a mass of ruins called Kuyúnjik. Though the city appears to have been entirely destroyed in the fall of the empire, the name of Nineveh continued, even in the middle ages, to be applied to a site opposite Mosul, on the east bank of the Tigris, where artificial mounds and traces of an ancient city wall gave evidence of fallen greatness. The most elaborate defenses, such as outworks and moats, can still be traced on the southern half of the east side; for this part of the city was most open to attack. It was not until the excavations of Botta in 1842 and of Layard in 1845, that anything definite was learned of the life and history of Assyria from its monuments and library. Not only have the magnificent remains of Assyrian architecture and sculpture been laid bare, but accompanying cuneiform inscriptions throw much light on the history of the city and its buildings. Nineveh proper was only one of a group of cities and royal residences whose ruins still mark the plain between the Tigris, the Great Záb and the Kházir. Nineveh proper appears to have been the chief seat of empire. But when the book of Jonah speaks of Nineveh as a city of three days’ journey, it is plain that the name is applied to the whole group of cities between the Tigris and the Záb. See works of Layard, Botta, Flandin, Schrader and Keilinsch. See also Assyrian Discoveries by George Smith.

Ning′-Po′ (City of the Hospitable Waves), a treaty port of the province of Che-Kiang in China, lies 16 miles from the mouth of the Ning-Po River; is surrounded by a wall 25 feet in height and 16 in thickness. It is a free port, exporting sedge hats, green tea, mats, cuttlefish, silk goods and raw cotton, and importing opium, cotton and woolen goods, tin and iron, kerosene oil, sugar, tobacco and indigo. Population estimated at 400,000.

Niobe (nī′ ṓ-bē), according to Homer’s story of mythology, was the daughter of Tantalus and wife of Amphion, king of Thebes, to whom she bore six sons and six daughters. She was proud of her children, and despised Latona, who had only two. For this, Latona caused her children to slay all Niobe’s with arrows, and Niobe herself was turned into stone on Mount Sipylus from which tears flowed all summer. A statue of Niobe and her children was discovered in Rome in 1583.

Nip′igon, a lake and also a river and a bay, in northwestern Ontario, Canada, through which river and bay the waters of the lake flow to Lake Superior from the north. The lake lies about 25 miles north of the northernmost part of Lake Superior. It is 70 miles long from north to south and 45 miles wide from east to west. It is surrounded by lofty shores, abrupt and precipitous in many places. Its shores being indented by many bays measure, it is estimated, nearly 600 miles in extent. It lies about 800 feet above the level of Lake Superior. Its waters are fed by many mountain streams, and being very deep and cold it is celebrated for the excellence of its fish. Being thickly studded with islands, it has become a favorite resort for sportsmen and others from the northern United States. It is said to have in January a mean temperature of but seven degrees above zero, or that of Godthaab in Greenland, and in July the mean temperature of San Francisco. By some authorities the name is spelled Nepigon.

Nippur′, a city of Babylonia, situated between the and the, in the neighborhood of 100 miles southeast from  and about 50 miles from the site of ancient. The mound which covers the ruins of the ancient city was first made the object of study by Sir Austen Layard in 1851. The expedition sent out by the University of Pennsylvania began work upon this mound in February, 1889. The excavations so carried on revealed the site of a city of great importance, one of the chief commercial and military centers of the ancient east. The University of Pennsylvania possesses a large and important collection of relics brought from this site.

Ni′ter.  See.

Ni′tric Acid (HNO3), is one of the most important acids. It was formerly, and sometimes is still, called aqua fortis. It is prepared by distilling a mixture of saltpeter, usually the cheaper Chile variety (sodium nitrate), with sulphuric acid. The strongest nitric acid is about half again as heavy as