Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/130

 122 N brown above and whitish below ; the length is from 6 to 15 in. Linnaeus placed this animal among worms, regarding the two lateral parts of the tongue as transverse jaws, which do not occur in vertebrates. It is the lowest of verte- brates, except the lancelet. The specific name is derived from the great quantity of viscid mucus secreted by the cutaneous glands whose pores open along the under surface of the body ; the spinal column is a soft and flexible cartilaginous tube, with no division into rudi- mentary vertebrae. It is called borer from its habit of eating into the bodies of other fish which have been caught on hooks, entering the mouth or other part of the surface, and in this way is often annoying to fishermen during spring and summer. It is found along the NABLUS coasts of Great Britain and in the northern seas, on the N. E. coast of North America, and the S. coast of South America. In the genus heptatrema (Dum.) or bdellostoma (Mtill.) there are six or seven branchiae on each side, each with an external spiracle; the eyes are very small, conspicuous through the skin. It re- sembles the preceding genus in internal struc- ture, and attains a larger size ; it is found in the southern seas, preferring rocky bottoms, where it lies in wait for fishes; it is active, and has remarkable powers of emitting mucus from the skin. The species described as bdel- lostoma Forsteri by Miiller and as B. cirrha- tum by Giinther is roasted and eaten by the natives of New Zealand. MYZOKTS. See MYXINOIDS. N NTHE 14th letter and the llth conso- nant of the English alphabet, corre- sponding to the 14th letter of the Phoanician alphabet, the nun, the name of which in the Semitic languages signifies fish. The usual sound of the English N, or that which it naturally has when not affected by the neigh- boring consonants, is that of a lingual nasal. This is in the English language an original sound, derived without change from the earlier languages. There is an epenthetic n in bring (comp. brought), think (comp. thought)-, also in some words of Latin origin, as frangible (comp. fracture), tangent (comp. tact). The letter n final, after I or m, is silent in English, as condemn, kiln, column, hymn; but this n was originally sounded. The omission of an n is sometimes indicated merely by the length- ening of the preceding vowel, as goose (Ger. Gam), tooth (Lat. dens, genit. dentis ; Moeso- Gothic, tunthus), tithe (comp. tenth). The English n, when it comes immediately before a palatal mute, as c, ch (when pronounced like k), g, k, q, or x, is a palatal nasal, or has the sound of ng final. In ng final, the palatal sound has arisen in the same way, although the sound of g has been dropped in English. But the suffix ing appears to have arisen from the infinitive termination an in the earlier language. The Anglo-Saxon and Latin have the same two nasal sounds of n as the English. The Moeso-Gothic and the Greek have the two nasal sounds, but express the palatal nasal by g. The Latin of the earliest authors had some- times g and sometimes n for the palatal nasal. The Sanskrit language has a great variety of n sounds. In numeration, the Greek N signified 50. Among the Romans, according to some authors, N signified 90 ; according to others 900, and with a horizontal line above it, 90,000. NABATHEANS. See EDOM. NABIS, a Spartan tyrant who raised himself to supreme power on the death of Machanidas in 207 B. 0. He caused the young son of the deceased king Lycurgus to be assassinated ; the most influential citizens were put to death or banished; the wealthy were subjected to incessant exactions enforced by torture, and one of the tyrant's favorite engines of punish- ment was the figure of a woman which he called after his wife Apega, and which being made to embrace the victim pierced him with spikes projecting from its breast and arms. The money thus obtained enabled him to sup- port a mercenary force to crush the spirit of Sparta, attempt the restoration of the Lacedae- monian ascendancy in the Peloponnesus, and seize the city of Messene. He was forced^ to withdraw by the Megalopolitan general Philo- poamen, but in the next year he returned and reduced the territory of Megalopolis to great distress. On the conclusion of the first Mace- donian war, Flamininus, the Roman consul, invaded Laconia with a powerful force, and laid siege to Sparta. Nabis made an obstinate defence, but was ultimately constrained to pur- chase peace (195). In 192, having again in- volved himself in hostilities with the Achaeans, he applied to the JEtolians for succor. They sent a small force, ostensibly to assist but in reality to overthrow him, and he was soon as- sassinated by their general Alexamenus. NABLUS, or Nabulns, a town of Palestine, 30 m. N. of Jerusalem; pop. estimated at from 10,000 to 20,000, among whom are about 1,000 Christians and 200 Samaritans. It is situated in a valley at the base of Mt. Gerizim, and is supposed to occupy the site of the ancient She- chem. When restored by the Romans in the reign of Vespasian, it received the name of Neapolis, of which its modern name is a cor- ruption. In the Samaritan synagogue are sev- eral valuable manuscripts, the most important of which is the copy of the Pentateuch known as the Samaritan codex. Nablus has important manufactures, especially of soap.