Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/639

* NICHOLSON. 543 NICKEL. tistical and historical discussion instead of the abstract reasoning from simple assumption which characterizes Jlill's works. His other important works on econoiiiie subjects are: KlJccIa (if .1/(1- chifieiii on Wiiycs (1S78); Trnaiil's (Iriiit Xot Landlurd's Loss (1SS3); The tin.i;er, lietter known by her professional name. Louise Xikita (q.v.). NICHOLSON, WiLLi.M (1872—). An Eng- lish painter and wood engraver, born at New- ark-U!ion-Trent. He studied with Herkonier and under Bouguereau and Constant in Paris, but these masters had little influence ujion him. After his return to London, he and his brotherin- law, James Pryde, began to design posters under the name of the Beggarstaflf Brothers. The tech- nical skill shown in these works, their originality and boldness, attracted considerable attention. They are done in black and white with usually a dash of color. His publications include: An Alphabet (1898) : An Almanac of Twelve Sports (with Rudyard Kipling. 1808) : London Tiipes (with W. E. Henley, 1808) ; and Characters of Romance (1000). In portraiture he is par- ticularly successful. His best cuts are Queen Victoria, Whistler, Bernhardt, Kipling, and Earl Pvolicrts. NICIAS, nishl-as (Lat., from Gk. N«/a?, 'Nikias). A famous Athenian statesman and general during the Peloponnesian War. He was the son of Xiccratus, a very wealthy citizen, who had acquired liis fortune by working the silver mines at Laurium. Nicias belonged to the aris- tocratic party, and after the death of Pericles presented himself as the opponent of Cleon, the great popular or demagogic leader. The opposite in character to Alcibiades, he was wary, cautious, obstinate, and irresolute. He was generally sue- •cessful in his enterprises against the Spartans and their allies. In n.c. 427 he captured the island of ^linoa: in the following year he ravaged the island of TnIcIos and the coasts of Locris; and in B.C. 424 he captured the island of Cythcra and ravaged the coast of Laconia. After the death of Cleon he brought aboiit a peace between the Spartans and Athenians. B.C. 421. called the Peace of Nicias. Six years afterwards the Athenians, at the instigation of Alcibiades, re- solved on n great naval expedition against Sicily. Nicias was appointed one of the commanders, although he had strongly protested against the imdcrtaking. In the autumn of B.C. 41.'5 he laid siege to Syracuse, and was at first successful, but subsequently experienced a series of disasters; his licet was destroyed, and his troops began a retreat toard the interior of Sicily. They were speedily forced to surrender, and Nicias was put to death, B.C. 413. Consult the Histories of Greece by Grote, Curtius, Holm. Beloch, and Edunrd Sleyer; also Plutarch's "Life of Nicias." NICKEL (Swed. nickel, connected perhaps with tier. Tiickcl, devil, cf. the etymologs' of co- balt : according to others connected with Iccl. hnikill. ball. lump). A metallic element dis- covered by Cronstedt in 1751. It was first men- tioned in 1G04 by Hiarni, who called it koppar- nickcl, signifying false copper, because, while ifs ores resembled those of copper, that metal could not be extracted from them. Cronstedt success- fully isolated the metal, but it was not until Bergman in 1774 corroborated liis investigations that its distinct nature was recognized. Nickel is a constituent of all meteoric irons, and it has been detected spectroscopically in the at- mosphere of the sun. On the earth it occurs, usually associated with cobalt, in niccolite, gersdorffite, millerite, garnierite, and certain other minerals. The wide distribution of the sulpharsenide ores led to their extensive work- ing in Saxony, Norway, Sweden, Austria. Spain, Russia. Great Britain, and the I'nitcd St.ates. but since the discovery of garnierite in New- Caledonia in 1873, and the development of the nickeliferous pyrrhotite in Sudbury, Ontario, Can., subsequent to 1887, these two localities have become the principal sources of nickel. Nickel (s,nnbol, Ni ; atomic weight, .58.09) is a silver-white lustrous metal that is magnetic at ordinary temperatures, is ductile, hard, and tenacious, has a specific gravity of from 8.07 to 0.20, and a melting-point of about 14.50° C. Next to manganese it is the hanlest of the metals, and it is capable of taking a fine polish. Fleitman has found that on adding a small quantity of magnesium to fused nickel the latter can be rolled into very thin sheets and welded on to sheet iron or steel so as to permit its use for the manufacture of culinary or other utensils. Nickel thus treated may be drawn into wire and also east or forged. The chief use of nickel is in the manufacture of allovs. including German silver. There is an important alloy of nickel and steel which is used for armor plate and other hea-y forgings. Nickel is also employed as a material for making coins in Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, the United States, and other countries. Nickel combines with oxygen to form two oxides. The niono.xide, NiO, is a grayish- gi-«en substance found native as bunsenite. It may be made by strongly heating the hydroxide, carbonate, or nitrate. The sesquioxide of nickel. NiPa, is a black substance obtained by heating the nitrate or carbonate in the air. The most important commercial salt of nickel is am- monium-nickel sulphate, which is obtained by dissolving either metallic nickel or its protoxide in sulphuric acid and adding ammonium sulphate to the concentrated acid solution, which is then evaporated to crystallization. The crystals, which are of a bright green color, may be further purified by recrystallization an<l find their chief use in nickel plating. The carbonate may also be used for electro-plating. Nickel salts, when hydrated or in solution, have a fine emerald gieen color, but arc yellow when anhyilrous. In 1880, 2.52,003 pounds of nickel, valued at .$1.51.- 508, were produced from ores mined in the United States. In 1002 there was no nickel mined, the ore smelted being derived entirely from Canada and New Caledonia. Met.vlu'Bgy. When nickeliferous ores of lead, cobalt, copper, or silver containing arsenic are smelted, the nickel combines with the arsenic to form speiss : should arsenic not be present, the nickel enters the various intermediate products of the smelting process, such as matte, blister cop- per, tough pitch copper, and dyes. From all these