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 NICOL— NIGHTINGALE.

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NICOL, Ebskinjb, A.E.A., was bom at Leith, Scotland, in 1825, and received his art-education in the Trustees' Academy, Edinburgh, under Sir William Allan and Mr. Thomas Duncan. In 1846 he went to reside in Ireland, where he re- mained three or four years. It was this residence in the sister isle which decided the painter's choice of his peculiar field of representa- tion, for most of his subsequent mctures have been Irish in subject. f*rom Ireland he returned to Edin- burgh, and after exhibiting for some time, he was ultimately elected a member of the Eoyal Scottish Academy. In 1862 he settled in London, and since that date he has oontiibuted regularly to the exhi- bitions of the Eoyal Academy, of which body he was elected an Asso- ciate in June, 1866. His principal pictures are " Notice to Quit," 1862 ; " Renewal of the Lease Befused," 1863 J Among the Old Masters," and *' Waiting for the Train," 1864 j "A Deputation," 1865; Both Puzzled," " Paying the Eent," and "Missed It," 1866; "A Country Bookinff-Office," and "Kiss an' make it up," 1867; "A China Merchant," and "Waiting at the Cross-roads," 1868 ; "A Disputed Boundary," 1869; "How it was she was delayed," "On the Look Out," "The Fisher's Knot," and "The Children's Fairing," 1871; " His B&-bees," " The Play Hour," and "Bothered," 1872 ; " Pro Bono PubHco," " Steady, Johnnie," and "Past Work," 1873; "A Dander after the Eain," and "When there's nothing else to do," 1874; "The New Vintage," "Always Tell the Truth," and "The Sabbath Day," 1875 ; "A Storm at Sea," and " Look- ing out for a Safe Investment," 1876; "His Legal Adviser," and ''Unwillingly to School,*' 1877; "A Colorado Beetle," "The Lonely Tenant of the Glen," "Under a Cloud," and " The Missing Boat," 1878; and "Interviewing their Member," 1879.

NIGER TEEEITORY, Bishop OP. (See Cbowthbb, Db.)

NIGHTINGALE, Flobbnce, a lady whose name has been rendered illustrious by her philanthropic efforts to alleviate the sufferings of our wounded soldiers in the Crimean War, is younger daughter and co- heiress of Mr. William E. Nightin- gale, of Embley Park, Hampshire, and Lea Hurst, Derbyshire, and was born at Florence in May, 1820. She enjoyed all the advantages which f aU to the lot of the children of the affluent and refined, and at- tained remarkable efficiency in some branches of female education. It was not long before her philan- thropic instincts, previously re- stricted in their exercise to casual ministrations among the poorer neighbours of her English home, led her to the systematic study of the ameliorative treatment of phy- sical and moral distress. Not satis- fied with the investigation of the actual working of English schools, hospitals, and reformatory institu- tions, she conducted on the Con- tinent inquiries in the same spirit, and in 1851 took up her abode in an institution of Protestant Sisters of Mercy established at Kaisers- werth, on the Rhine. Nor was it long before an opportunity pre- sented itself for applying the prac- tical lessons she there learned, for having heard that the Governesses' Sanatorium, in Harley Street, lan- guished for the want of supervision and pecuniary support, she gene- rously devoted both her personal energies and private means to its restoration and its thorough organ- ization. This work had scarcely been accomplished, when, before Miss Nightingale had time to re- cover her over-taxed strength, new demands were made upon her spirit of self-sacrifice. The inefficiency and mismanagement of our military hospitals in uie Crimea led to such severe condemnation, that various plans were suggested for their re- form, the most popular of which