Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/643

* NICOLLS. 540 NICOMEDIA. tember 8, 1664), and was appointed a member of llie Governor's Council. He drew up, under the supervision of Governor Nicolls, a code from tile Knglisli. the liomanDutch, and the local laws of New Kngland, which was promulgated at llcmpstead in October, 1004, and was later known as the 'DuUe's Laws.' In the Court of Assizes provided in this code, he was the pre- siding justice, and in 1005 was appointed judge of the Admiralty Court. He also served as cap- tain of the militia and led some expeditions against the Indians. Though deposed as secre- tary when the Dutch recaplui'ed the province in 1673, he was reappointed by Andros in 1074, and was elected mayor of the city as well. In 1080 he resigned all his oliiccs and went to Knglaiul. Upon his return he was appointed one of the two judges of the Court of Oyer and Terminer in 1083. During that year and the next he was Speaker of the First Assemblies of the Province. He bought and entered much land in Queens Comty. and died on his estate, Plandome. NICOLLS, Richard (1624-72). A British soldier and colonial Governor. During the Civil War he connnanded a troop of horse on the Roy- alist side. He followed the Stuarts into exile and served with the Duke of York under ilarshal Turenne. After the Restoration, he was groom of the bedchamber for the Duke of York. In 1004 Charles II. appointed a commission, consisting of Colonel Richard Xicolls, Sir Robert Carr, Sir George Cartwright. and Samuel Maverick, to in- vestigate complaints against the New England colonies, and reduce the Dutch in New Nether- land, which had been granted to the Duke of York. Colonel Nicolls's presence was to be neces- sary for a quorum, and he was commissioned as Deputy Governor of the territory to be captured. After touching at Boston, he appeared before New Amsterdam, August 2.5. 1604, and on Sep- tember 8th Governor Stuyvesant was forced to surrender. Governor Nicolls assumed authority over New York and New Jersey. He made no radical changes, was firm, yet conciliatory, and soon won the respect and confidence of the people and the good-will of the Indians. In March. 166.'), he pulilished the 'Duke's Laws,' which had been drawn up under his supervision (see Nic- OLL.s, ilATiiTA.s ), and which served for a time as a constitution. On .June 12, 1665. he established the English form of raimicipal government for the city of New Y'ork. The French and Indian troubles of 1606 were settled with credit, but he complaine<l that he had spent much money from his private purse to maintain the establishment. He asked several times to be relieved, and in 1667 his petition was granted, but he remained imtil Governor Lovelace arrived, in August, 1608. His time had been so fully occupied with afTairs in New York that he largely left the management of New England to the other commissioners. When war broke out between the English and the Dutch, he served on shipboard and was killed at Solcbay. NICOL PRISM. A prism formed from a crystal of calcitc devised by Nicol in 1828 to polarize light. The Nicol prism, which has under- gone various modifications, is a most convenient source for obtaining polarized light. and is largely employed in many forms of polariscope. The ac- compnnving diagrams will show its construction. In Fig.l AGBFDECisa rhomb of calcite, a, material which is doublv refracting (see Light, paragraph on Polarization), while Fig. 2 shows diagi'ammatically ii section of a Nicol prism in the plane A B C D. In the natural crystal the angle B A D is 71°, but in the prism this is made 08°, and * the two halves of the crystal forming the prism are cemented together with Canada bal- sam along the line B D, which makes an angle of 90° with B A. The plane of the bal- C Fifi. 1. RHOMB OF CALCITE. Fig. 2. NICOL PRISM. sara is perpendicular to the end of the face of the prism. Lender these conditions the ray of light falling upon the prism at H is broken by double refraction into two rays — the extraordi- nary, which travels to J and passes out of the prism and is available for experimentation, and the ordinary, which strikes the balsam at an angle of incidence so great that it is totally re- fleeted at I and lost on the side of the prism. The plane of the polarization of the extraordi- nary ray is perpendicular to the plane of the diagram, while that of the ordinary ray is paral- lel to it. See Polariscope; Light. NICOMACHUS, ni-kom'a-kiis (Lat.. from Gk. Nixi^axos, Xikoinacbos). A celebrated painter of the fourth century B.C., a son .and scholar of Arie- tides. The references to him praise his mastery in technique, and rapid but eflfective execution. The notices, however, throw but little light upon his style. His works are known only from a particular list in Pliny {Hist. Kat., xxxv., 108, cf. 145). Among them were: "The Rape of Proserpine," in the temple of Minerva, on the Capitol ; "Victory Conducting a Four-Horse Chariot on High," also in the Capitol: "Apollo and Diana," "Cybele on a Lion." "Bacchantes Approached by Satyrs," and "Scylla." NICOMACHtrS (c. 100 a.d.). A Neo-Pytha- gorean philosopher and mathematician, born at Gcrasa. probably in .ludani. He wrote an arith- metic in two books, of whidi the best edition is that of Iloche (Leipzig. 1800). In this he fully treated the theory of figurate numbers, and it is interesting as containing the first known mul- tiplication table. Commentaries on this work were written by lamblichiis (q.v. ). Philoponus, Soterichus. and others, and it was translated into Latin by Boethius and Apuloius. He also wrote a Hannoiiiccs Manualr (published in 1652; French trans. 1880). of which the first book is still extant; the so-called second book, consisting of two fragments which probably did not belong to the original, was published in .Jans's Mnsici (,'raci ( Leipzig. 1 805 ). NIC'OME'DIA (Lat.. from Gk. Nikomi)5«o, yikoynedeia) . The capital of ancient Bithynia. situated at the northeastern angle of the Gulf of Astacus. in the Propontis. now called the Bay of Ismid ; founded in B.C. 264 by Nicomedes I. after