Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/545

 NUDIBRANCHIATES a ventral fin, sucker, and terminal fin. Though they are regarded as the most highly organized of the gasteropods, their form and mode of progression are very different from the type of their class. They are rapid swimmers, found at the surface in mid ocean, moving by their fin-shaped foot and tail, and attaching them- selves to seaweed by the sucker. The abdom- inal portion is small, the anterior parts being greatly developed ; the proboscis is large and cylindrical, and the tongue armed with spines ; from their transparency, the irregular circula- tion can be plainly seen. Some have no spe- cial breathing organs ; the sexes are separate ; the nervous centres are widely separated ; the eyes and auditory vesicles are well developed. In hzf,rolidcB the body is large and the shell small or absent ; in the atlantidce, the animal can retire within the shell. In carinaria, a good specimen of the group, the gills and heart are protected by a small shell ; it swims, back downward, by means of its vertically flattened ventral fin ; it feeds on minute pteropods and jelly fishes. .Many species are found fossil, and the Maclurea, one of the oldest and largest of the Silurian forms, belongs in this order. NIDIBRANCHIATES. See MOLLUSOA. NIECES, a S. county of Texas, bordering on the gulf of Mexico, and bounded N. by the Nueces river; area, 3,450 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 3,975, of whom 332 were colored. Between the mainland and the Isla del Padre, a narrow strip of land extending along the coast, is the Laguna del lifadre. Corpus Ohristi bay is on the N. E. corner, and the county is indented by other bays and lagoons. These waters fur- nish excellent fish and oysters in abundance. It has an undulating but nearly level surface, and the soil is a rich sandy loam, and very fertile. The seasons, however, are too dry for agriculture. The county is well adapted to the raising of sheep. In 1870 it produced 3,600 bushels of Indian corn, and 199,650 Ibs. of wool, and contained 18,304 horses, 675 mules and asses, 1,911 milch cows, 177,270 other cattle, 82,368 sheep, and 1,783 swine. Capital, Corpus Christi. NUEVA GUATEMALA. See GUATEMALA. NTEVA SPARTA, or Margarita, an island in the Caribbean sea, off the coast of Venezuela, of which it is a province ; length about 45 m., breadth from 5 to 20 m. ; area, 441 sq. m. ; pop. about 21,000. It consists of two por- tions, connected with each other by a low and narrow isthmus. The surface is rocky and mountainous, especially toward the west, where it attains an elevation of 3,000 ft. above the sea. The coast is rugged and precipitous, but is indented with excellent harbors, the chief of which, Pampatar, on the S. E. coast, is a spacious basin, deep and well sheltered. The interior is fertile, producing maize, bananas, sugar, coffee, and cacao. It was formerly celebrated for its pearl fishery ; but the pearls are now less abundant, smaller, and of inferior quality. It was discovered by Columbus in NUISANCE 531 1498, and in 1816 was the scene of a sanguinary struggle between the patriots and the Spanish troops, which resulted in the defeat of the lat- ter. Capital, Asuncion. NUEVO LEON, an inland state of Mexico, bordering on Coahuila, Tamaulipas, and San Luis Potosi ; area, 14,363 sq. m. ; pop. in 1869, 174,000, but reported by the governor in 1872 at 178,871. The surface is very irregular, being traversed by several branches of the Sierra Madre ; and about one fourth belongs to the great central table land of Mexico. Ex- tensive valleys, divided between forest, pasture land, and cultivated fields, lie between the mountains, and are intersected by numerous rivers. Most of these have precipitous courses, and none are navigable. Among the more considerable are the Salado, separating the state from Coahuila, the Sabinas, Salinas, Santa Catalina, San Juan, Ramos, Pilon, Linares, and Blanco ; besides which there are numberless mountain torrents, and several small lakes. The mineral productions com- prise gold, silver, copper, lead, iron, and cin- nabar ; sulphur, nitrate of potash, several varieties of sulphate of lime, alabaster, and marble are found ; and salt is very abundant, but not yet worked to much extent. Sulphur and thermal springs are common, particular- ly in the vicinity of Monterey and Morelos. The climate is hot, humid, and insalubrious in the lowlands and some of the valleys, where malignant and intermittent fevers prevail; temperate in the elevated regions ; and varied in the hill country of the centre. The soil is in general fertile, but suffers from want of irrigation. The principal productions are maize, usually yielding three crops annually, and the sugar cane, with some beans (frijoles), and a little wheat and barley. Mining is car- ried on to a limited extent ; and cotton -cloths, hats, furniture, leather, and boots and shoes, all of excellent quality, are extensively manu- factured. In the weaving establishments, some of which have steam power, about 5,000 workers are employed. The annual value of the sugar manufactured is about $300,000. Cattle rearing, once an important industry, is comparatively neglected. In 1873 there were in the state 104 public schools, 85 of which were for males, with an attendance of 5,222, and 19 for females, with 1,220 pupils; 106 private schools, 75 being for males and 31 for females, the former with 2,408 pupils, and the latter with 982 ; and a civil college, a semi- nary, and a college for females, with 312, 63, and 65 pupils respectively. Nuevo Leon, in colonial times called the kingdom of Nuevo Leon, is divided into nine partidos or districts : Monterey, Cadereita, Villaldama, Salinas, Vic- toria, Doctor Arroyo, Garcia, Morelos, Cerral- vo, and Linares. The capital is Monterey ; other chief towns are Cadereita, Linares, and Morelos. NUISANCE (formerly written nusance ; law Fr. nosuunce, noysaunce, from noier, modern Fr. nuire, to injure; Lat. nocumentum, from