Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/289

* NARBONNE. 247 NARCOTICS. at the time one of llie leading ports of the ilcdilenancan, and well known for its beauty and attractions as a city. It was tlie capital of the I'rovincia Koniana. and later of Gallia Nar- bouensis. In the fifth century it passed under llie sway of the Visigoths. Alioul 720 it fell into the hands of the Saracens, from whom it [jasseJ into the possession of the Franks in 7.59. The Viscounts of Xarbonne became hereditary feuda- tories of the French Crown in 1080. In 1447 Viscount William III. sold Xarbonne to the House of Foix. and UO years later the fief was united with the French Crown. Late in the Jliddle Ages the harbor of Xarbonne became practically filled up and the town began to de- cline. NARBROtTGH, Sir John (1G40-88). An English admiral and explorer. In 1G70 he made a notable voyage through the Strait of Magel- lan and up the Chilean coast. He was knighted and made lear-admiral in 1673, and the following year he .sailed to the Mediter- ranean, where he distinguished himself by scat- tering the pirates of Tripoli and Algiers. In 1087 he sailed to the West Indies in command of a squadron, and he died there of fever while superintending the investigation of a sunken treasure ship, and was buried at sea off Santo Domingo. NARCIS'SUS fLat., from Gk. Nd/3/>i<r<ros, ar- kissos, from vipKij, narkr. torpor). According to Ovid, the son of the river-god Cephissus and of the nymph Liriope of Thespi.-e, in Boeotia. He was a youth of extraordinary beauty, but refused all suitors. They prayed to Xemesis for ven- geance, and she caused Xarcissus to see his own image in a forest spring. Enamored of this, he pined away ip hopeless love beside the stream. From his body sprang the flower Xarcissus. The story, which seems to be of Alexandrian origin, is told with variations by other late Greek and Roman writers. The bronze statuette in Xaples, commonly called Xarcissus, really repre.sents the youthful Dionysus. NARCISSUS. A genus of beautiful bulbous plants of the natural order Amaryllidacea>, with narrow leas and usvially white or yellow flow- ers. The species are natives of Southern Europe, Xorthern Africa, and the temperate parts of Asia. JIany are cultivated in gardens for the sake of their beautiful and often fragrant flow- ers, which in general appear early in the season. Some of them are known by the names of daffodil and jonquil. The dif- ferent species are naturally separated into two divisions, those bearing but one flower on a scape and those bearing more than one. The poet's narcissus ( Vomssiis poetious) is perhaps the best known and most popular species. It is a hardy plant and bears white fragrant flowers. The jonquil (ytircissiix ./oiuivilln) bears from two to five very fragrant golden yellow blossoms on a scape. This species is employed in the manufacture of perfumes. J^^nrcissiis Tazetta is the narcissus of the ancient Greeks and Romans, and is now largely grown as a forcing-house plant. There are numerous varieties of this species with white, j-ellow. single, and double flowers. Narcisatix Pfifiido-Nnrrissux is common- ly called daffodil or trumpet daffodil. The plants are ordinarily propagated by offset bulbs which arc produced on the bulb. These usually flower the second year after planting. See Colored Plate of Amakyllid.^ce.e. poet's narcissus {Xarcissus poeticus). NARCOT'ICS (Gk. vapK0TiK6s, narkotikos. benumbing, from vapKovv, nurkoiin, to benumb, from vdpKTi, narke, torpor; connected with OHG. snerhan, to draw together, AS. snear, Eng. suai'e) . Remedies which, in moderate doses, lessen the action of the nervous system. Their full opera- tion is sleep or coma. Opium is the type front which mo.st descriptions of this class of medicines have been drawn; but although most narcotics more or less resemble opium in their action, al- most ever3" one presents some peculiarity in the wa.v in which it afl'ects the system. These medi- cines are primarily stimulating, especially when given in small or moderate doses; but this stage of their action is com])aratively short, and when the dose is large the excitement is scareel.v per- ceptible. Their power of inducing sleep has pro- cured for them the names of hypnotics and soporifics; while many of them are termed ano- dynes, from their pos.sessing the property of alleviating pain. Xext to opium and the general ana'sthetics, hyoscyamus, Indian hemp, and chloral may be regarded as the most important narcotics. Of late years a number of coal-tar derivatives have been introduced, such as sulphonal, trional. acetanilid, and phenacetine, which are taking the place, to some extent, of the older remedies. It has been already mentioned that there are differences in the mode of operation of the differ- ent members of this class. Alcohol, for example, in suflScient doses produces intoxication; bella- donna, delirium; opium contracts the pupil of the eye: hyoscyamus dilates it. Each drug af- fects the organism in its own peculiar way. and it is impossible to give a general description of their minor actions. Xareoties are usually administered with the view either of inducing sleep or of alleviating pain or spasm. As, however, their action is much