Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/412

* NEPTUNE. 362 NERETJS. motion, which is from east to xvcjt in a plane iiii'lint'd at an anjile of 35° to that of the ecliptic. Its period of revolution is 5 days 21 hours, and its distance from the planet somewhat less than that of our moon from the earth. i"or a complete account of the discovery of Neptune, consult C'lerke, History of Astronomy During the Xine- leeiith Century (London, 1890). See Pla>'ej'S; Soi^vK System. NEPTUNE, Temple of. (1) A remarkably prcMMViil and majestic Doric temple at Picstiuii, originally called Posidonia. in hucania. The tem- ple is a perii)teral he.xastylc, and measures 120 hy 8.5 feet. The cella is surrounded by a passageway, and has two columns in anlis-.at front and rear. The temple stands on a platform of three steps. (i) A temple forming part of a group of buildings erected on the Campus ^Martins at Rome, in B.C. 20, bv Agrippa in commemoration of the victories at Mysa:, Naulochus, and Actium. It stood in the midst of a great square sur- rounded by a colonnade, the Portico of the Argo- nauts, which was decorated with naval paintings. The whole group was called the Xeptuniuni. and was the seat of the Admiralty. It was destroyed in the great fire of a.d. 80, and was restored by Hadrian. Eleven colunnis of the temple, with a part of the cella and decorated ceiling, are still preserved. The substructure, now buried, bore under each column the figure of a Roman province, with tro|)hies between the columns, of which there were thirty-six. corresponding to the number of Roman provinces at the time of Hadrian. A number of the figures have been re- covered, but are dispersed in various collections. The cornice is mistakenly restored with a copy of 1lie cornice of tlic Temple of Concord. NEPTU'NIAN ( from Lat. Xeptunius, rela- ting to Xeptiinc, marine, from Lat. yeptunus, name of the Roman sea -god). A term formerly applied to the geologists who maintained the aqueous as against the igneous theory of the origin of rocks. The discussions between the two schools were long and bitter. NERAC, nii'nik'. The capita! of an arron- dissemcnt in the Department of Lotet-Garonne, France, on the Haise, 1(! miles southwest of Agen (Map: France, G 7). The old town on the right bank of the river is united by bridges to the modern industrial quarter rm the left bank. The ruins of its former imposing royal castle, now numbered among French historical monuments, and its park of l,a Garenne, are the chief objects of interest, and there is a small but interesting museum containing numerous remains, indicating the presence of an unknown city of Roman days on the site of Xerac. Corks, machines, coaches, and cloth are manufactured, and there is a gen- eral trade in wine, grain, and hemp. Here Henry I'.. to whom there is a monument, sjient his youth. Population, in 1000. 04.35. NERBUDDA, ner bud'dA, more correctly NARBADA ( Skt. .V«ir»io(/-i ) . . river of India. It ri-is in tlic Maikal Range in the northern part of the Central Provinces, and flows south- we.stward for 800 miles, emptying into the Gulf of Cnmbay through an estuary beginning at Broach, 200 miles north of Hunibay (Map: India. C 4). In the upper half of il'> course, below .Tabalpur. it (lows throuL'h a great depression between the Vindhya ^[nuntnins on the north and the Satpura range on the south, and is broken by numerous falls and rapids. In this valley, near Hoshanga- bad, are important deposits of coal and iron ore. In its lower course the river is broad, and be- comes a tidal stream 50 miles from its mouth. Sea-going vessels ascend the estuary to Broach, and the river is navigable 82 miles for large boats, while smaller ones can ascend 28 miles farther. The Xerbudda is to the Hindus one of the most sacred streams of India. NEREID (nO're-id) MONUMENT. The name given to a sculptured luioi'in at Xanthus in Lycia, dating from the fouvlli century B.C., and discovered in 1838 by Sir Charles Fellows. The sculptures from the monument, jireserved in the British Museum, show ten female figures with dripping g:irments, which, with the shells and sea- weed rcpre-cnted, gave the monument its name. NEREIDS (Gk. ^vpV'S(s, Nij/xfact, Xerei- dcs). Sea-nymphs, daughters of Xereus and Doris, daughter of Oceanus. Their number is variously given, though fifty seems to have been the popular belief. We have, however, in the various lists some seventy-seven dilTerent names. Few of them appear as individuals, and of these Thetis, mother of Achilles. Aniphitrite. the wife of Poseidon, and Galatea, beloved by the Cyclops Polyphemus, are alone conspicuous. In art they appear frequently as spectators in scenes in- volving sea-deities, as at the contest between X'ereus and Hercules, or the capture of Thetis by Peleus. while a favorite scene represents them as bringing to Achilles the armor made by Hephsstus. In the later art they appear riding on various sea-monsters, sporting with Tritons, or attending on Poseidon and Aniphitrite. The name has continued in the popular belief of the Greeks of to-day, but the Xcreids are no longer sea-maidens, but have become nym])hs of the land. The stories arc in part such as correspond with the ancient ideas, but in many tales they appear as dangerous and vindictive spirits, carrying away children, or, vampire like, sucking human blotxl. In summer they are supposed to be es- Ijccially dangerous at mid-day, seizing their vic- tims by a sudden stroke or destroying their senses. The old ludief that whoso s:iw a nymph might be smitten with madness reappears in the modern popular superstition, and it is thought dangerous to haunt their caves, and still more to be caught in the whirlwinds of dust raised in their dances. NEREIS. . genus of annelids (family ycrei- (J(V) having a long slender body, a distinct head, with tentacles and eyes, the whole body covered with tubercles, and the gills lobed and tufteil. They arc all marine, and generally hide under rocks or in the sand. They swim actively by rapid and undulating inilcctions of the boily. and by the aid of numerous 'oars' (sct.T) arranged along the sides. The proboscis is thick, strong, and nrnied with two jaws. NEREITES, ne'ri^-Vtez (X"'eo-I,at.. from Lat. TCereis, Xereid). A peculiar fossil frail found in many of the Cambrian rocks of .merif:i and Europe, and supposed to have been made by a crawling worm, NEREUS, m"V-i1s or nv'rHTIs (Gk. Ni)p«!j In (Ireek le^'cnd, an ancient sea-divinity, son of Pont us (sea) and Gjpa (earth), and father, by Doris, of the Nereids. He seems to have been worshiped at Gythium. and probably elsewhere: but his cult was never prominent, and in legend