Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/214

 206 NECTAR NEDJED crosis is external, from periostitis, or internal, from endostitis. (See OSTEO-MYELITIS.) Ne- crosis usually attacks the laminated structure of the shaft rather than the cancellated or spongy portion, this being more liable to ca- ries. (See CAEIES.) By avoiding the articu- lar extremities, therefore, necrosis is not apt to be complicated with synovial inflammation, but it occasionally attacks the head .of the tibia. Its progress may be divided into two stages, the inflammatory stage and the stage of sep- aration, the latter taking place when the in- flammation reaches the point of suppuration. When the necrosis is external to the shaft, the periosteum, when not destroyed, generally se- cretes a shell of bone outside of the dead part, and through holes in this the pus passes out. When the inflammation is in the membrane of the canal, or endosteum, and is followed by necrosis, the sequestrum will be surrounded by a shell of the true shaft. The symptoms of necrosis are those of inflammation of bone in general, attended by other distinguishing phys- ical signs, such as whiteness of the exposed bone, resonance on being struck, and absence of haemorrhage if scratched. If, however, the bone retains its vitality, the color is brown, it is covered with a secretion of its own, and it bleeds when scratched. The treatment is both expectant and active. Time, pain, and much suffering may be saved by an early and free incision into the diseased part. The detach- ment of the sequestrum must be left entirely to nature, or assisted only by constitutional treatment, such as leeches, fomentations, and other local antiphlogistic, but often general tonic treatment, great attention being paid to supporting the strength. When the sequestrum has become wholly detached from the living bone, nature should be assisted in its removal by art. There is error in waiting too long, as the irritation of the dead part may induce too much structural change ; but there is greater danger in interfering too soon, before the piece of bone becomes loose. When a careful ex- amination has indicated the proper time, an incision is made through the superficial soft parts ; then, through the cloacae in the exterior shell of bone formed by the periosteum, the form and position of the sequestrum may be ascertained with a probe. If necessary the exterior shell must be divided by cutting pliers, and an opening sufficiently large made to ad- mit of extraction by the forceps, which must be carefully and gently done. Amputation is sometimes required. NECTAR, in Greek and Roman mythology, the beverage of the gods, imparting health, vigor, youth, and beauty to all who drank it. It is described as a red wine, which like that of mortals was drunk mixed with water. It was served at the banquets of the immortals by Hebe or Ganymede. According to a few ancient writers it was the same as ambrosia, being not the drink but the food of the gods. In the Iliad, Thetis is represented as preserving the body of Patroclus from decay by anointing it with both ambrosia and nectar. NECTARINE (Ital. nettarino). When the nec- tarine was introduced into cultivation, or whether it was known to the ancients, is not ascertained. It is simply a peach with a smooth skin (see PEACH), and nectarines have been raised from peach stones and vice versa. As early as 1741 Peter Collinson, in his corre- spondence with Linnaeus, cited the case of a peach tree producing nectarines, an occurrence which has frequently been noticed in this coun- try as well as in Europe ; and one instance is recorded in which a nectarine tree at first bore fruit half nectarine and half peach, and sub- sequently bore a perfect peach. The Boston nectarine, one of the esteemed varieties, is known to have been raised from a peach stone. As with peaches, there are free-stone and cling-stone nectarines. In quality the nectarine is not so rich as the best peaches, but its flavor is distinct, and frequently strongly marked with the bitter-almond or prussic-acid flavor; but no fruit exceeds it in beauty, the wax-like skin being often of the richest shades of yellow and carmine. Something over 30 varieties are in the fruit catalogues, differing in size, color, time of ripening, &c. The Elruge and Violette Hative are the varieties most generally cul- tivated, the popularity of the latter being shown by its having about 15 synonymes. So far as climate is concerned, the nectarine will succeed wherever the peach will, but it is much less seen in our gardens than formerly on ac- count of the destruction of the fruit by the curculio ; its smooth shining skin seems to offer an especially tempting place for the female curculio to deposit her eggs; by systematic jarring of the trees, as practised with the plum, a good share of the fruit might be saved. Under glass the nectarine reaches great per- fection, and there are few finer sights in hor- ticulture than a nectarine house in full bearing, at the time the fruit is ripening. NECTARY (nectarium), the term applied by Linnaeus to the parts of the flower in which nectar or honey is secreted. It was afterward used for any anomalous appendage to the flow- er, or for any unusual development of its parts, such as the spurs of the calyx in columbine and the curiously modified petals of the aco- nites ; it was also given to the cup which sur- rounds the stamens in narcissus, to various disks and glands of the flower, and in fact to all parts of the flower not properly referred to calyx, corolla, stamens, and pistils. Having become such an indefinite term, being applied to bodies of widely different nature and with- out regard to whether they secreted honey or not, it has of late years been dropped by the best authors, and may be regarded as obsolete. NEDJED, or Ncjd, a country of central Arabia, the dominion of the sultan of the Wahabees, between lat. 19 20' and 29 30' N., and Ion. 40 10' and 50 20' E., bounded K by Shomer, E. by the Persian gulf, W. by Hedjaz, and S.