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it his business to get all the information which he could concerning them, he was soon convinced that the pretended facts were deceptions or exaggerations, and that no method had been discovered, by means of which the power of medicine could by electricity be made to insinuate itself into the human body. But these wonders were not the only objects which engaged our Abbé's attention in this visit to Italy; for his inquiries were extended to all the branches of natural philosophy, the arts, agriculture, &c. On his return to France, through Turin, the king of Sardinia made him an offer of the order of St. Maurice, which he thought it his duty to decline, not having the permission of his own sovereign for accepting it. In the year 1753, the king established a professorship of experimental philosophy at the Royal College at Navarre, and nominated the Abbé Nollet to fill that post. In the year 1757, the King bestowed on him the brevet of master of natural philosophy and natural history to the younger branches of the royal family of France; and in the same year appointed him professor of natural philosophy to the schools of artillery and engineers. Soon after this last preferment, he was received a pensionary of the Royal Academy of Sciences. This celebrated and laborious natural philosopher died in 1770, in the seventieth year of his age, regretted by the enlightened public, as well as the numerous friends, whose attachment he had secured by the amiableness of his manners and the goodness of his heart; and more especially regretted by his poor relations, to whose relief and comfort he always paid the most affectionate attention. Besides the Royal Society of London, and the Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris, he was a member of the Institute of Bologna, the Academy of Sciences at Erfurt, and other philosophical societies and academies.

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In addition to a multitude of papers inserted in the different volumes of the "Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences," from the year 1740 to the year 1767, both inclusive, the Abbé Nollet was the author of "Lessons on Experimental Philosophy," in six volumes 12mo. A Collection of Letters on Electricity," 1753, in three volumes, 12mo. Enquiries into the particular Causes of Electric Phenomena," 12mo. and "The Art of making Philosophical Experiments," in three volumes, 12mo. From the articles just enumerated, as well as an anecdote already related in his life, it appears that Abbé VOL, IX.

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Nollet paid particular attention to the study of electricity; and it must be acknowledged, notwithstanding the mistakes which he fell into upon the subject, that his indefatigable industry and curious experiments contributed materially to the improvement of that science. The theory of Affluences and Effluence of this philosopher, which gained considerable attention in his time, may be seen in Priestley's Electricity.

NO-man's land, a space in midships, between the after-part of the belfry and the fore-part of a boat, when she is stowed upon the booms, as in a deep waisted vessel. These booms are laid upon the forecastle nearly to the quarter-deck, where their after-ends are usually sustained by a frame, called the gallows, which consists of two strong posts, about six feet high, with a cross piece reaching from one to the other thwart ships, and serving to support the ends of those booms, masts, and yards, which lie in reserve, to supply the place of others carried away, &c. The above-named space is used to contain any blocks, ropes, tackles, &c. which may be necessary on the forecastle, and probably derives the name of noman's land from its situation, as being neither on the starboard nor larboard side of the ship, nor in the waist nor forecastle, but being situated in the middle, partakes equally of all those places.

NOMENCLATURE, a catalogue of several of the most useful words in any language, with their significations, compiled in order to facilitate the use of such words to those, who are to learn the tongue : such are our Latin, Greek, French, &c. nomenclatures.

NOMINATIVE, in grammar, the first case of nouns which are declinable. The simple position or laying down of a noun, or name, is called the nominative case; yet it is not so properly a case, as the matter or ground whence the other cases are to be formed, by the several changes and inflections given to this first termination. Its chief use is to be placed in discourse before all verbs, as the subject of the proposition or affirmation.

NONAGISMAL, in astronomy, the 90th degree of the ecliptic, reckoned from the eastern term or point. The altitude of the nonagesimal is equal to the angle of the east, and, if continued, passes through the poles of the ecliptic; whence the altitude of the nonagesimal at a given time, under a given elevation of the pole, is easily found If the altitude of the nonagesimal be subtracted from 90°, the

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remainder is the distance of the nonagesimal from the vertex.

NONAGON, in mathematics, a figure having nine sides and angles. In a regu lar nonagon, or that the sides and angles of which are equal, if each side be 1, its 4 area will be 6.182, nearly= of the tangent of 70° to the radius.

NON claim, in law, where a person has a demand upon another, and does not enforce his claim within a reasonable time, he is precluded by law from bringing his action to enforce it: and where a creditor neglects to make his claim upon a bankrupt's estate within a certain period, he will not be let in afterwards, so as to disturb the dividend, and may lose his estate. Non-claim is generally applied to the period of five years, after which a party is barred by a fine. See LIMITATION.

NON est factum, is a plea where an action is brought upon a bond, or any other deed, and the defendant denies it to be his deed whereon he is impleaded. In every case where the bond is void, the defendant may plead non est factum; but where a bond is voidable only, he must show the special matter.

NON pros, if the plaintiff in an action at law neglect to deliver a declaration for two terms after the defendant appears, or is guilty of other delays or defaults, against the rules of law, in any subsequent stage of the action, he is adjudged not to pursue his remedy as he ought, and thereupon a non-suit, or non prosequitur, is entered, and he is then said to be non prosed.

NON residence, is applied to those spiritual persons who are not resident, but absent themselves for the space of one month together, or two months at several times in one year, from their dignities or benefices, which is liable to the penalties by the statute against non-residence, 21 Henry VIII. c. 13. But chaplains to the King, or other great persons mentioned in this statute, may be non-resident on their livings; for they are excused from residence whilst they attend those who retain them.

NON suit, where a person has commenced an action, and at the trial fails in his evidence to support it, or has brought a wrong action. There is this advantage attending a non-suit, that the plaintiff, though he pays costs, may afterwards bring another action for the same cause; which he cannot do after a verdict against him.

NONCONFORMISTS, the same with dissenters. See DISSENTERS.

NONES, in the Roman calendar, the fifth day of the months January, February, April, June, August, September, November, and December; and the seventh of March, May, July, and October. March, May, July, and October, had six days in their nones; because these alone, in the ancient constitution of the year by Numa, had thirty-one days a-piece, the rest hav ing only twenty-nine, and February thirty: but when Cæsar reformed the year, and made other months contain thirty-one days, he did not allot them six days of

nones.

NORMAL, in geometry, signifies the same with a perpendicular, and is used for a line or plane that intersects another perpendicularly.

NORROY, that is North Roy, Northern King, in heraldry, the title of the third of the three kings arms, or provincial heralds. His jurisdiction lies on the north side of the Trent, whence his name; as Clarencieux, on the south.

NOSE, the primary organ of smelling. See ANATOMY.

NOSTOCK, the name of a vegetable substance, which seems to differ from al

most all others of the same kind. It is of a greenish colour, partly transparent, and of a very irregular figure. It trembles at the touch, like jelly, but does not melt like that. It is found in all sorts of soils, but most frequently in sandy ones, sometimes on the gravel of garden walks, usually after rain in the summer months.

NOSTRILS, in anatomy, the two apertures or cavities of the nose through which the air passes, and which serve to convey odours, and to carry off the pituita separated in the sinuses of the base of the cranium.

NOT guilty, is the general issue or plea of the defendant in any criminal action or prosecution; as also in an action of trespass, or upon the case for deceits and wrongs; but not on a promise or assumpsit. It is the usual defence, where the party complains of a wrongful injury done to him.

NOTARY, is a person duly appointed to attest deeds and writings; he also protests and notes foreign and inland bills of exchange, and promissory notes, translates languages, and attests the same, enters and extends ship's protests, &c.

NOTATION, in arithmetic and algebra, the method of expressing numbers or quantities by signs or characters, appro

priated for that purpose. See ARITHME

TIC.

There is one thing which deserves particular notice, in regard to this subject, and that is, the great advantage, that may redound to science by a happy notation, or expression of our thoughts. It is owing entirely to this, and the method of denoting the several combinations of numbers, by figures standing indifferent places,that the most complicated operations in arithmetic are managed with so much ease and dispatch. Nor is it less apparent that the discoveries made by algebra are wholly to be imputed to that symbolical language made use of in it; for by this means we are enabled to represent things in the form of equations; and by variously proceeding with these equations, to trace out, step by step, the several particulars we want to know. Add to all this, that by such a notation, the eyes and imagination are also made subservient to the discovery of truth'; for the thoughts of the mind rise up and disappear, according as we set ourselves to call them into view; and, therefore, without some particular method of fixing and ascertaining them as they occur, the retrieving them when out of sight would be no less painful, than the very first exercise of deducing them one from another. As, therefore, we have frequent occasion to look back upon the discoveries already made, could these be no otherwise brought into view than by the same course of thinking in which they were first traced, so many different attentions at once must needs greatly distract the mind, and be attended with infinite trouble and fatigue. But now, the method of fixing and ascertaining our thoughts by a happy and well chosen notation entirely removes all those obstacles; for thus, when we have occasion to turn to any former discovery, as care is taken all along to delineate them in proper characters, we need only cast our eye on that part of the process where they stand expressed, which will lay them at once open to the mind in their true and genuine form. By this means we can take, at any time, a quick and ready survey of our progress, and running over the several conclusions already gained, see more distinctly what helps they furnish towards obtaining those others we are still in pursuit of. Nay, further, as the amount of every step of the investigation lies before us, by comparing them variously among themselves, and adjusting them one to another, we come at length to discern the result of the whole,

and are enabled to form our several discoveries into an uniform and well connected system of truths, which is the end and aim of all our inquiries.

NOTES, in music, characters which mark the sounds; i. e. the elevations and fallings of the voice, and the swiftness and slowness of its motions. In general, under notes are comprehended all the signs or characters used in music, though, in propriety, the word only implies the marks which denote the degrees of gravity and acuteness to be given to each sound.

NOTONECTA, in natural history, boatfly, a genus of insects of the order Hemiptera. Snout inflected; antennæ shorter than the thorax; four wings folded crosswise, coriaceous on the upper half; hindlegs hairy, formed for swimming. There are seventeen species, in two divisions, viz. A. Lip elongated, conic. B. Conic, spinous at the sides. N. Americana, grey, behind black; scutel deep black, with a yellow dot each side at the base; snout greenish at the base; margin and tip of the upper wings black; under wings black. It inhabits North Armerica.

NOTOXUS, in natural history, a genus of insects of the order Coleoptera. Antennæ filiform; four feelers, hatchet-shaped; jaw one-toothed; thorax a little narrowed behind. There are about thirteen species. N. monodon, thorax projecting over the head like a horn; testaceous; elytra with a black band and spots. It inhabits North America, and very much resembles N. monoceros of Europe.

NOVEL, in the civil law, a term used for the constitutions of several emperors, as of Justin, Tiberius, Leo, and more particularly those of Justinian. The constitutions of Justinian were called novels, either from their producing a great alteration in the face of the ancient law, or because they were made on new cases, and, after the revisal of the ancient code, compiled by order of that emperor. Thus the constitutions of the emperors Theodosius, Valentinian, Marcian, &c. were also called novels, on account of their being published after the Theodosian code.

NOVEL assignment, or new assignment, a term in law pleadings, which it is difficult to explain to those unacquainted with practical pleading. It occurs in actions of trespass, where, the form of the declaration being very general, the defendant pleads in bar a common justification; to which the plaintiff replies, by stating that he brought his action as well for a certain other trespass, which he states

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NUISANCE, signifies generally any thing that does hurt, inconvenience, or damage, to the property or person of another. Nuisances are of two kinds, public and private, and either affect the public or the individual. The remedy for a private nuisance is by action on the case for damages, and for a public nuisance by indictment. Amongst the nuisances which most commonly occur are, the erecting of noxious manufac. tures in towns, and in the vicinity of ancient houses; such as the erecting a vitriol manufactory, to the annoyance of the neighbours in general. Disorderly houses, bawdy houses, stage booths, lot. teries, and common scolds, are also public nuisances. Where the injury is merely to an individual, and not to the public, the individual only has an action; but not in the case of a public nuisance, where the private injury is merged, or lost, in that of the public, but where an individual receives a particular injury by a public nuisance. And any one aggrieved may abate, that is, pull down and remove a nuisance, after which he can have no action; but this is a dangerous attempt to take the law into one's own hands. It must be done without riot, if at all. Every continuance of a nuisance is a fresh nuisance, and a fresh action will lie.

NUL tiel record, no such record in law, is the replication which the plaintiff makes to the defendant, when the latter pleads a matter of record in bar to the action, and it is necessary to deny the existence of such record, and to join issue on that fact.

NUMBER, a collection of several units, or of several things of the same kind, as 2, 3, 4, &c. Number is unlimited in respect of increase, because we can never conceive a number so great but still there

is a greater. However, in respect of decrease it is limited; unity being the first and least number, below which therefore it cannot descend.

NUMBERS, kinds and distinctions of. Mathematicians, considering number under a great many relations, have established the following distinctions Broken numbers are the same with fractions. See ARITHMETIC. Cardinal numbers are those which express the quantity of units, as 1, 2, 3, 4, &c.; whereas ordinal num. bers are those which express order, as 1st, 2d, 3d, &c. Compound number, one divisible by some other number, besides unity; as 12, which is divisible by 2, 3, 4, and 6. Numbers, as 12 and 15, which have some common measure besides unity, are said to be compound numbers among themselves. Cubic number, is the product of a square number by its root: such as 27, as being the product of the square number 9, by its root 3. All cubic numbers whose root is less than 6, being divided by 6, the remainder is the root itself: thus 276 leaves the remainder 3, its root; 216, the cube of 6, being divided by 6, leaves no remainder; 343, the cube of 7, leaves a remainder 1, which, added to 6, is the cube root; and 512, the cube of 8, divided by 6, leaves a remainder 2, which, added to 6, is the cube root. Hence the remainders of the divisions of the cubes above 216, divided by 6, being added to 6, always give the root of the cube so divided, till that remainder be 5, and consequently 11, the cube root of the number divided. But the cubic numbers above this being divided by 6, there remains nothing, the cube root being 12. Thus the remainders of the higher cubes are to be added to 12, and not to 6, till you come to 18, when the remainder of the division must be added to 18; and so on ad infinitum. From considering this property of the number 6, with regard to cubic numbers, it has been found that all other numbers, raised to any power whatever, had each their divisor, which had the same effect with regard to them that 6 has with regard to cubes. The general rule is this: "If the exponent of the power of a number be even, that is, if that number be raised to the 2d, 4th, 6th, &c. power, it must be divided by 2; then the remainder added to 2, or to a multiple of 2, gives the root of the number corresponding to its power, that is the 2d, 4th, and root. But if the exponent of the power of the number be uneven,

the Sd, 5th, 7th power, the double of that exponent is the divisor that has the property required.

Determinate number, is that referred to some given unit, as a ternary or three; whereas an indeterminate one is that referred to unity in general, and is called quantity. Homogeneal numbers, are those referred to the same unit; as those referred to different units are termed heterogeneal. Whole numbers are otherwise called integers. Rational number, is one commensurable with unity; as a number, incommensurable with unity, is termed irrational, or a surd. See SURD. In the same manner a rational whole number is that whereof unity is an aliquot part; a rational broken number, that equal to some aliquot part of unity; and a rational mixed number, that consisting of a whole number and a broken one. Even number, that which may be divided into two equal parts without any fraction, as 6, 12, &c. The sum, difference, and product of any number of even numbers, is always an even number. An evenly even number, is that which may be measured, or divided, without any remainder, by another even number, as 4 by 2. An unevenly even number, when a number may be equally divided by an uneven number, as 20 by 5. Uneven number, that which exceeds an even number, at least by unity, or which cannot be divided into two equal parts, as 3, 5, &c. The sum or difference of two uneven numbers makes an even number; but the factum of two uneven ones makes an uneven number. If an even number be added to an uneven one, or if the one be subtracted from the other, in the former case the sum, in the latter the difference, is an uneven number; but the factum of an even and uneven number is even. The sum of any even number of uneven numbers is an even number; and the sum of any uneven number of uneven numbers is an uneven number. Primitive, or prime numbers, are those only divisible by unity, as 5, 7, &c. And prime numbers among themselves, are those which have no common measure besides unity, as 12 and 19. Perfect number, that whose ali

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quot parts added together make the whole number as 6, 28; the aliquot parts of 6 being 3, 2, and 1, = 6; and those of 28 being 14, 7, 4, 2, 1, 28. Imperfect numbers, those whose aliquot parts, added together, make either more or less than the whole. And these are distinguished into abundant and defective; an instance in the former case is 12, whose aliquot parts 6, 4, 3, 2, 1, make 16; and in the latter case 16, whose aliquot parts 8, 4, 2, and 1, make but 15. Plain number, that arising from the multiplication of two numbers, as 6, which is the product of 3 by 2; and these numbers are called the sides of the plane. Square number, is the product of any number multiplied by itself: thus 4, which is the factum of 2 by 2, is a square number. Every square number added to its root makes an even number. Polygonal, or polygonous numbers, the sums of arithmetical progressions beginning with unity: these, where the common difference is 1, are called triangular numbers; where 2, square numbers; where 3, pentagonal numbers; where 4, hexagonal numbers; where 5, heptagonal numbers,

&c.

See POLYGONAL. Pyramidal numbers: the sums of polygonous numbers, collected after the same manner as the polygons themselves, and not gathered out of arithmetical progressions, are called first pyramidal numbers: the sums of the first pyramidals are called second pyramidals, &c. If they arise out of triangular numbers, they are called triangular pyramidal numbers; if out of pentagons, first pentagonal pyramidals. From the manner of summing up polygonal numbers, it is easy to conceive how the prime pyramidal numbers are found, viz. (a-2) n3+3 n2 — (a — 5) n

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the prime pyramidals.

expresses all

NUMBER of direction, in chronology, some one of the 35 numbers between the Easter limits, or between the earliest and latest day on which it can fall; i. e. between the 22d of March and the 25th of April. Thus, if Easter Sunday fall as in the first line below, the number of direction will be as on the lower line.

March.

April.

Easter day 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31. 1, 2, 3, &c. Number of direction 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, &c.

and so on, till the number of direction and the sum will be so many days in March for the Easter-day; if the sum exceed 31, the excess will be the day of April. To find the number of direc

tion: enter the following table with the dominical letter on the left hand, and the golden number at top; then where the columns meet is the number of direction for that year.

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