Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/377

* NECTANEBO. 329 NEEDFIRE. EBO II. (Egj'ptian yal:ht-}uhof), the ytKrave- ji6! (XcclaiuboK) of ihiiictlio. leijoied f'""i "^^■ 31 tu 343. Ho was a yicat builder. For a Ion',' time lie repulsed the attempts of the Persians to eoiupicr Kgypt, but they linally made themselves masters of the Delta, and Neetanebo lied to Ethiopia. He was the last native King of Kgypt. After his flight, Egypt was subject to Persian rule until B.C. 33-2, when it came into the possession of Alexander the Great. Consult: Wiedemann, Oeschichtc Acgyptens con Psaiii- nictich I. bis aiif Alexander den, Grossen (Leip- zig, 1880) ; Budge, A Uistorij of Egypt (New York, 10(12). NECTAR (Lat., from Gk. viKrap, nchlar) . In Greek mythology-, the drink of the gods, as and)rosia is 'their food. In the Iliad only nectar is mentioned as the nourishment of the gods, and originally botJi words seem to have been used without "distinction. Consult Roscher, ydctar find Ambrosia (Leipzig. 1883), though his identi- fication of them with honey is open to grave donl)ts. NECTAR. The sweet secretion formed by glands located on various parts of a plant, but especially in the flower. Sometimes it is called honey, but honey is nectar after partial digestion in the crop of insects, such as bees or wasps. See Nectary; Gland. NECTARINE. A smooth-skinned stone fruit. See Peach and Colored Plate of Drupes. NECTARY. A surface gland which secretes nectar (q.v.). The name is also applied to abor- tive floral organs (see below). Nectaries are most common in the flowers of seed plants, but are found also in regions remote from the flower (Fi". 1). Extra-floral nectaries are found on Fig. 1. EXTRA-r-LORAL NECTAHY OF THE BRACKEN FERN. (J, diagram shinviiig location of gland in the axil of a leaflet; b, section showing the secreting cells beneath a stoma. (After Lloyd. ) the leafstalks and at the base of the leaf-blade, upon stipules and other portions of the leaf-base, and more rarely upon the blade itself. The forms of nectaries are very various. The secreting surface frequently covers a more or less pronounced swelling or cushion of tissue, which may develop on the base of the flower leaves, or on the axis of the flower between them. Some- times a nectary stands in the place where in other related flowers well-formed and functional floral organs stand. This fact has led to the application of the term nectary to abortive floral organs FlO. 2. SEPTAL- NECTART FItOM FUUIT OF DAY-LILY. The columnar cells lin- inj^ the tube are the se- creting cells. even when they do not sccri'te nectar. Sometimes the nectar ghind forms a cimlinuous ring about the base of the pistil. In other cases the nectar gland lines the concave surface of depressions in the floral organs or the floral axis. When these pits deepen they con- stitute efliicient receptacles for the secreted nectar. Thus, spurred petals and sepals are often furnished with nectar glands on the inner side or at the ba.se of the spur, and the whole cavity may become filled with their secretion. Nec- tar glands sometimes line deep and narrow i>its of small capacity, opening at the surface by a pore or cleft from which the nec- tar oozes. These passages may be branched, so that a complex gland is formed, such as is found in the pistils of some lilies (Fig. 2). Nectar varies greatly in composition in difl'ei'ent plants. The greater part of it is water, which withdrawn from the gland cells by the osmotic action of the sugar. (See 8ecretio>'.) In addition to sugars (glucose and saccharo.se) small amounts of proteids and various other carbon compounds give the peculiar odor and flavor to the nectar. Nectar is eaten by bees, wasps, butterflies, and other insects, which in their search for it are utilized as unconsciou.s carriers of pollen. See Pollination. NEDJED, nej"d, or NEJD. A region of Arabia, lying between latitudes 24° and 27° N., and bounded by El-Hasa on the east and Hedjaz on the west (Map: Asia, D 6). It has a hilly surface, intersected by many streams, which dry u]) during the summer. The climate is healthful. Politically Nedjed is a dependency of Jebel-Sham- mar. The inhabitants are Wahabis. NEEDFIRE. In folk-custom, a Are kindled by the friction of two sticks of wood or of a rope on a wooden stake to ward ofl' demons of dis- ease. Among the many customs and beliefs con- nected with fire one of the most important is that of ritual purification. This idea arose at an early stage of man's acquaintance with fire from a simple observation of the eft'ects of flame, the most mysterious phenmnenon which he knew. Later, fire was difl'erentiated into a number of varieties partly good and partly evil with regard to position and use, thus implying that all (lame was not equal in ellicacy. Still further it was thought that by age or contamination fire be- came inellcctive" and must be renewed, hence the kindling of new fire, which was an aceonipani- nient of w-idcly ditl'used cults, as that of Thor in Scandinavia and of nature gods in ancient Mex- ico. The new fire is snpjiosed to regenerate, as fire sacrifice is designed to sustain, the in- visible beings. Needfire is a practice usually of shepherd peoples to ward ofT disease attacking the flocks. In historic times the sparks for kindling the needfire were sometimes obtained by twirling a wooden peg around in a wooden