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in the experiment, 40 pounds in the roots out of a total of 103 pounds. A low estimate of the market value of nitrogen is between 15 and 20 cents a pound. See Moore’s Soil Inoculation with Legumes and Wood’s Inoculation of Soil with Nitrogen-Fixing Bacteria, both bulletins of the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.

Ni′troglyc′erin, a powerful explosive, is formed by dissolving glycerin in equal parts of nitric and sulphuric acids and pouring into water. The process was discovered in 1846 by an Italian chemist named Sobrero, but it was not used for blasting purposes until Nobel, a Swedish engineer, used it in 1861. The danger of explosion was so great in handling it that its mixtures with powdered substances, especially dynamite, are now chiefly used. If lighted in the open air, it will burn usually slowly without an explosion, but if given a hard blow or brought into contact with a red-hot iron it will explode. It begins to decompose at 150° to 180° F., and explodes at 450°, also if allowed to become solid at from 40° to 45° F.; a breaking of the crystals in this form may cause an explosion. It has thirteen times the power of the same bulk of gunpowder and eight times the power of the same weight. It is also used in solution for treating some diseases of the heart and stomach.

No′bel Fund, The, is a fund of $9,200,000 which was founded by Alfred Bernard Nobel, the famous Swedish inventor, for the purpose of providing five annual prizes. Nobel took out the first patent for the manufacture of nitroglycerine in 1863, and in 1867 he invented one of the most useful of explosives, dynamite. The objects for which his prizes are given are these: the most important discovery in physics, the most important discovery in chemistry, the most important discovery in medical science, the work of best literary genius and the best contribution to universal peace. The first awards were made in 1901. The peace-prize was awarded in 1907 to President Roosevelt of the United States of America.

Node, the distinct joint formed by stems from which the leaves and branches arise. The portions of the stem between the nodes are known as internodes.

Nogi, General Ki-Teu, a Japanese soldier or samurai, born in Choshu in 1851. He served in the Satsuma Rebellion and, later, was made governor-general of. He received the rank of general on June 6th, 1904; commanded the third army in in the Russo-Japanese war, rendering valuable service in the Battle of Mukden; and led the forces that captured. He bore the reputation of being a model soldier according to the most rigorous and ancient standards. This is considered the more remarkable, as Choshu men generally are credited not so much with courage as sagacity. Following an ancient Japanese custom, General Nogi and his wife committed suicide at their home, Sept. 13, 1912, just as the body of their late emperor, Mutsuhito, was being taken from for burial.

Nome, the chief town of, is a large and flourishing port on , at the mouth of Snake River. The richest known gold-fields in Alaska lie within the Cape Nome district near Nome. The city sprang up like a mushroom; for in 1899 there were as yet no wooden dwellings; while in 1907 a water supply, sewage, an electric lighting plant, a railroad and the telephone indicated that the stage of mining camp had gone forever. Population about 2,600.

Nor′dau, Max Simon, a Hungarian physician and author, the most ardent of Zionists, was born at, July 29, 1849, of Jewish ancestry. He came into public notice by his work entitled Degeneration, published in 1895, in which he argued powerfully in defense of the proposition that the occidental nations are degenerating, morally, mentally and physically. He held that in politics, society and faith the age is thoroughly decadent. The work evoked many replies, which kept it continually before the public. He had been writing for almost twenty years before, but only a few of his volumes had been translated into English. The best known of his works are Paradoxes and The Malady of the Century. Since the publication of Degeneration, he has issued The Comedy of Sentiment, The Right to Love, The Drones must Die and others of limited circulation.

Nordenskjöld (nô′ rden-shẽl′), Nils Adolf Erik, Baron, an arctic explorer, was born at Helsingfors,, Nov. 18, 1832. He was naturalized in in 1857, and in 1858 was made head of the mineralogical department of the royal museum at. He mapped the south of, and after two trips to the mouth of the he completed the navigation of the northeast passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from June, 1878, to September, 1879, in the Vega.  On the last of his two voyages to , in 1883, he traveled 140 miles from the east coast. He was made a baron in 1880, and has written Voyage of the Vega round Asia and Europe, Scientific Results of the Vega Expedition, and

Image: BARON NORDENSKJÖLD