NEGRO, Homo pelli nigrâ, is a name given to a variety of the human species, who are entirely black, and are found in the Torrid zone, especially in that part of Africa which lies within the tropics. In the complexion of negroes we meet with many various shades; but they likewise differ far from other men in all their features. Round cheeks, high cheek bones, a forehead somewhat elevated, a short, broad, flat nose, thick lips, small ears, ugliness, and irregularity of shape, characterise their external appearance. The negro women have the loins greatly depressed, and very large buttocks, which gives the back the shape of a saddle. Vices the most notorious that can disgrace human nature have been ascribed to this unhappy race. But by whom has this picture been drawn? By those persons chiefly who have been interested in representing them, because they treated them as worse than brutes.

The origin of the negroes, and the cause of their remarkable difference from the rest of the human species, has much perplexed naturalists. Mr. Boyle has observed that it cannot be produced by the heat of the climate: for, though the heat of the sun may darken the color of the skin, yet experience does not show that it is sufficient to produce a new blackness like that of the negroes. In Africa itself many nations of Ethiopia are not black; nor were there any blacks originally in the West Indies. In many parts of Asia, under the same parallel with the African region inhabited by the blacks, the people are but tawny. He adds that there are negroes in Africa beyond the southern tropic; and that a river sometimes parts nations, one of which is black, and the other only tawny. Lord Kames has contended that no physical cause is sufficient to change the color, and what we call the regular features of white men, to the dark hue and deformity of the woolly-headed negro. His arguments have been examined with much acuteness and ingenuity by Dr. Stanhope Smith of New Jersey, Dr. Hunter, and professor Zimmerman, who have made it in a high degree probable, that the action of the sun is the original and chief cause of the black color, as well as distorted features, of the negro. See AMERICANS and COM

PLEXION.

True negroes are certainly not found in any quarter of the globe where the heat of the climate is not very great. They exist no where but in the torrid zone, and only in three regions situated in that zone, to wit, in Senegal, in Guinea, and on the western shores of Africa, in Nubia, and the Papous land, or what is called New Guinea. In all these regions the atmosphere is scorching, and the heat excessive. The inhabitants of the north are whitest; and as we advance southwards

towards the line, and those countries on which the sun's rays fall more perpendicularly, the complexion gradually assumes a darker shade. And the same men, whose color has been rendered black by the powerful action of the sun, if they remove to the north, gradually become whiter at least their posterity), and lose their burnt color. Whites, when transported into the burning regions of the torrid zone, are at first subject to fever; the skin of the face, hands, and feet, becomes burnt, hardens, and falls off in scales. Hitherto the color of negroes appear to be only local, extrinsic, and accidental, and their short frizzled hair resembles fine wool. The varieties in the color of negroes, who always go naked, are also owing to the different temperature of their climates. During eight months of the year they have a continued drought, a sky constantly clear, no rain or storm of any kind, excessive heat, and a plentiful fall of dew after sunset. Their food and the exhalations from the surface of the earth may likewise contribute to the production of this phenomenon. It is evident, then, that the races of black and white men are not two different species, because the fruit of their connection has the faculty of re-producing beings like themselves, excepting the color. The young negroes at birth, and even negro fetuses, have a considerable resemblance to whites, excepting only that the scrotum and glans penis are black, and that they have a black or brown thread or circle on the extremity of the nails. These marks are a certain sign that the infant will be black; and negro fathers, who suspect the fidelity of their wives, consider the want of them as a sufficient reason for abandoning the offspring. Among the Indians the scrotum is gray, and in mulattoes of a pale red. The bodies of young negroes are whitish for the first eight days, but their natural color, though weak, is easily discernible; the skin begins to grow brown, then assumes a color inclining to that of bistre, and last of all becomes black. Some modern anatomists of great celebrity, who have enquired into the cause of this blackness, have found that the reticulum in negroes is really as black as ink, and that this mucous color shines through the whitish epidermis, which is thin and transparent. See Mem. de de l'Acad. des Sciences, part 30, art. 13. anno 1702. See also Traité de la couleur de la Peau Humaine, by M. le Cat. For the opinions of Blumenbach, and other able modern writers on this subject, see ALBINO.

The following is a table of the mixtures which produce a degradation of the black and white colors in the human species. 1. A white man with a negro woman, or a negro man with a white woman, produce a mulatto, half white and half black, or of a yellow-blackish color, with black, short, frizzled hair. 2. A white man with a mulatto woman, or a negro with a nulatto woman, produce a quarteron, three-fourths white and one-fourth black, or three-fourths black and one-fourth white, or of a lighter yellow than the former. In America they give the name of cabres to those who are descended from a black man and a mulatto woman, or a mulatto man and a black woman, who are three-fourths black

and one-fourth white, and who are not so black as a negro, but blacker than a mulatto. 3. A white man with a quarteron woman, or a negro man with a quarteron woman, produce a mestizo, seven-eighths white and one-eighth black, or seven-eighths black and one-eighth white. 4. A white man with a mestizo woman, or a negro with a mestizo woman, produce, the one almost a perfect white, the other almost a perfect black. In following generations, if a constant intermixture has taken place, and the white has been married in Europe, the black in Senegal, the complexion will gradually become fairer or darker, till the offspring is either entirely black or entirely white. Such is the progress of physical effects and causes in the degradation of the color of the human species. Crossing the breed for four generations is sufficient to render a negro white, and the same will make a white black. It is evident that the mixtures, a mulatto man with a quarteron or mestizo woman will produce other colors approaching to white or black, in proportion to the progression above stated. We have observed, under former articles, that the preservation and continuation of the particular species appears to proceed from that parent, who, in the act of procreation, has discovered most strength and vigor; and this is commonly the father. A young negro woman in Virginia, after having brought forth for the first time a black child, was delivered a second time of twins; one of them, a boy, was black, and the other, who was a girl, was a mulatto. As the boy grew up he retained his short hair, which was naturally frizzled, and had a resemblance to wool; other marks plainly showed that he was a true negro, and in every respect like the black father who had begotten him. The girl, on the other hand, was tolerably white; she had blue eyes, long black hair, without any natural curl; in short, she had a great resemblance to the overseer of the plantation, whom the negro husband suspected of cohabiting with his wife. Becoming pregnant a third time, she was delivered of three children, two of them mulattoes, and the other a perfect negro. Shall we ascribe this to the effect of imagination? Such an explanation is rejected by the philosopher as absurd, and contrary to every law of nature.

NEGRO, RIO, a large river of South America, rising in the eastern declivity of the Andes, in New Granada; and after a long course, during which it collects the tribute of numerous inferior streams, falling into the Amazons, in lat. 3° 16′ S. The fact of the communication of this river with the Cassiquiari, a tributary of the Orinoco, after being long doubted, was at length established by Humboldt, who, ascending the Orinoco, made his way into the Cassiquiari, and thence into the Rio Negro.

NEGRO, RIO, a large river of South America, which has its rise in the eastern declivity of the Chilian Andes, and running across the continent in a south-eastern direction, falls into the Atlantic Ocean, in lat. 41" S. 2. A river of the province of Buenos Ayres, which runs south-west and joins the Uruguay. 3. A river of New Granada,

in the province of Tunja, which enters the Magdalena. There is also another of the same name which enters the Lebrija. 4. A river of New Granada, in the province of Ubaque, which rises near Santa Fe, and enters the Meta, after a course of seventy-five miles. 5. A river of Terra Firma, in Veragua, which enters the Pacific Ocean. 6. A river of Buenos Ayres, in the province of Tucuman, which runs east and enters the Vermejo. 7. A river of the province of Maracaibo, which enters the lake of that name. 8. A river of Peru, in the province of Chachypoyas, which enters the Mayobamba. 9. A small river of Paraguay, which enters the Parana.

NEGRO LAKE, BANDEL D' AGOA, or NEGRO BAY, a bay on the east coast of Africa, in about lat. 10° N., is limited on the south by Morro Cobir Point (serpent's head), to which succeeds Cape Delgado, so high as to be seen twelve leagues. Hence to Cape d'Orfui the coast forms a great open bay.

NEGROES, ISLAND OF NEGROES, or BUGLAS, is one of the Philippine Islands, about 240 miles in circumference, abounding in rice: it supplies Seba, and other adjacent parts. It derives its name from the blacks who occupy the mountains. Their intestine wars are frequent and fatal, as they use poisoned arrows, headed with iron, flint, bone, or wood hardened in the fire. The mouths of the river are occupied by another tribe who seem to have no intercourse with the others. When the island is invaded by pirates, they defend it by their arms, and having accomplished this service, which they perform as the old lords of the island, they retire. The Bisays, who live on the plain and are most numerous on the west side, supply these blacks with rice, as an acknowledgment for permission to settle there. The island contains about 3000 persons, who pay tribute, and are governed by a corregidore and military commander. The cacao was first brought to the Philippines from New Spain: the rice is produced in the mountains without cultivation. N. lat. 10° 10′, E. long. 122° 30′.

NEGROES, WHITE. See ALBINO.

NEGROLAND, or NIGRITIA, is a name that has been given to an immense extent of country in the interior part of Africa, comprehending many large and populous kingdoms, and extending from W. long. 7° to E. long. 27° and from 10° to 25° N. lat., bounded on the north by Sahara and mountains that separate it from Barbary, on the east by Nubia and Abyssinia, on the south by Guinea and unknown countries, and on the west by Guinea. The Arabs call this country Soudân, and the natives Aasnou, both words denoting the land of the blacks;' some restrict these appellations to the empire of Cashna, north of the Niger; others extend it to the Negro states on the south of the river. Some parts, especially near the Niger, are represented as very fertile, others are no less sandy and desert; but the interior of this part of Africa is little known.

NEGROPONTE, or Egribos, the ancient Eubæa, a narrow island of Greece, with several good harbours lying on the east coast of Livadia, from which it is separated by a narrow channel, called the strait of Euripus, remarkable for its

irregular tides. But here is a bridge connecting it with the continent: and the island is one of the largest in Greece, containing a population of 60,000 souls. Its surface is mountainous, and in general barren, the tops of the ranges being covered with snow during a part of the year; but the valleys and plains are fertile in corn, wine, fruit, and oil. The pasturage has been in repute for ages. The chief mineral productions are marble and copper. Long. 23° 10′ to 24° 44′ E., lat 38° to 39° 10′ N.

NEGROPONTE, the ancient Chalcis, the capital of the island of this name, is a place of considerable size, on the west coast, and connected with the continent by the bridge above mentioned, the strait at this place being about 200 feet wide. Hence the name Euripoponte, pronounced Evriponte, and corrupted into Negroponte. It has a draw-bridge which can be opened for the passage of vessels. The town is fortified, and has on the south side a port, the ancient Aulis, and capable of containing several hundred vessels in perfect safety. The suburbs are separated from the town by a deep ditch. The inhabitants amount to about 16,000. The town was taken by the Turks by assault, in 1462, and besieged without success, by the Venetians, in 1638. The Capudan Pacha, to whose government the island lately belonged, had here a palace. Twentyeight miles north of Athens. Long. 23° 33′ E., lat. 38° 31' N.

NEHEMIAH, from Heb. 1, he rested, and ', the Lord, i, e. the Lord's rest, son of Hachaliah, was born at Babylon during the captivity (Neh. i. 1, 2, &c.) He was, according to some, of the race of the priests, but, others think, of the tribe of Judah and the royal family. The former support their opinion by a passage in Ezra (x. 10), where he is called a priest; but the latter argue, 1st, that Nehemiah having governed the republic of the Jews for a considerable time, there is great probability he was of that tribe of which the kings always were: 2dly, that the office of cup-bearer to the king of Persia, to which Nehemiah was promoted, is a proof that he was of an illustrious family; and 3dly, that hence Sanballat accused him of aiming at the royalty (Neh. vi. 6, 7). Scripture (Ezra i. 62, Neh. vii. 65) calls him & tirshatha, or cup-bearer; as he had this employment at the court of Artaxerxes Longimanus. He had a great affection for the country of his fathers, though he had never seen it; and fasted, and prayed that the Lord would favor the design he had of asking the king's permission to rebuild Jerusalem. The course of his attendance at court being come, he presented the cup to the king according to custom, but with a dejected countenance; which the king observing, Nehemiah told him the occasion of his disquiet, and Artaxerxes gave him leave to go to Jerusalem and repair it, ordered the governors beyond the Euphrates to furnish wood, and appointed him governor of Judea, A. M. 3550. His execution of this commission; his rebuilding the walls, towers, and gates of Jerusalem; the invidious attempts of Sanballat and Tobiah to discourage him, and obstruct the work; his solemn dedication of the walls, towers, &c., when completed, with the sacrifices and festivals

accompanying it; and his complete reformation of various abuses which had taken place among the Jews, are particularly recorded in the book which bears his name. This important reformation was accomplished A. M. 3554. In the second book of Maccabees (i. 19, 20, 21, &c.) it is said that Nehemiah sent to search for the holy fire, which before the captivity of Babylon the priests had hid in a dry and deep pit; but not finding any fire there, but instead thereof a thick and muddy water, he sprinkled this upon the altar, whereupon the wood which had been sprinkled with it took fire as soon as the sun began to appear; which miracle coming to the knowledge of the king of Persia, he caused the place to be encompassed with walls where the fire had been hid, and granted great favors and privileges to the priests. It is also said, 2 Mac. ii, 13, 14, that Nehemiah erected a library, wherein he placed whatever he could find of the books of the prophets, of David, and of such princes as had made presents to the temple. Lastly, he returned to Babylon (id, v. 14, and xiii. 6), according to the promise he had made to king Artaxerxes, about the thirty-second year of this prince, in the year 3563. From thence he returned again to Jerusalem, where he died in peace, about A. M. 3580, having governed the people of Judah about thirty years. It is doubted whether this Nehemiah be the same that is mentioned in Ezra (ii. 2, and Neh. vii. 7) among those who returned from the Babylonish captivity under Zerubbabel; since, from the first year of Cyrus to the twentieth of Artaxerxes Longimanus, there are no less than ninety-two years intervening; so that Nehemiah must at this time have been a very old man, upon the lowest computation 100, consequently incapable of being the king's cupbearer, of taking a journey from Shushan to Jerusalem, and of behaving there with all the courage and activity recorded of him. Upon this presumption, therefore, we may conclude that this was a different person, though of the same name, and that Tirshatha (the other name by which he is called, Ezra ii. 63, and Neh. vii. 65) denotes the title of his office, and both in the Persian and Chaldean tongues was the general name given to the king's deputies and

governors.

NEHEMIAH, a canonical book of the Old Testament, which records the above transactions, and is supposed to have been chiefly written by Nehemiah. This book, which in the English and Hebrew bibles, has the name of Nehemiah, in the Latin bible is called the book of Esdras. There are some things in it, however, which could not have been written by Nehemiah himself; for example, memorials are quoted (ch. xii. 22, 23) wherein were registered the names of the priests in the time of Jonathan, or Johanan, the son of Eliashib, and even to the times of the high priest Jaddua, who met Alexander the Great. Jews. These therefore must have been added

afterwards.

See

NEHRWALLA, called also Pattan, or the City, an ancient town of Hindostan, formerly the capital of Gujerat. It has two fortresses, one of stone, the other of brick; but both in ruins. There is not a tradition of the period

Sax. negebun; Goth. nabur; Teut. nachbur

NEIGHBOUR, n. s. & v. a. NEIGHBOURHOOD, N. S. NEIGHBOURLY, adj. & adv. of NIGH, and Goth. bua, to dwell. (Thomson.) One who lives near another; a familiar acquaintance, intimate, or confidant; any thing next or near another to neighbour is to adjoin or abut upon; to acquaint with or make approach to: neighbourhood, place or places adjoining or within communication; state of being near: neighbourly is befitting, or as a neighbour; kind; civil; social. He willinge to justifie himsilf seide to Jhesus, and who is my neighbore?

Wielif. Luk. x. These grow on the leisurely ascending hills that neighbour the shore. Sandys's Journey. Sins against men are injuries: hurts, losses, and damages, whereby our neighbour is in his dignity, life, chastity, wealth, good name, or any way justly offended, or by us hindred. Perkins.

Masters, my good friends, mine honest neighbours, Will you undo yourselves? Shakspeare. Macbeth. This man shall set me packing;

I'll lug the guts into the neighbour room. Shakspeare. The deep revolving witty Buckingham No more shall be the neighbour to my counsels. Id.

One in the neighbourhood mortally sick of the small-pox, desiring the doctor to come to him. Fell.

The gospel allows no such term as a stranger; makes every man my neighbour. Sprat's Sermons.

I could not bear To leave thee in the neighbourhood of death, But flew in all the haste of love to find thee. Addison. Things nigh equivalent and neighbouring value, Prior. By lot are parted.

He steals my customers; twelve he has under bonds never to return: judge if this be neighbourly dealing. Arbuthnot.

Consider several states in a neighbourhood; in order to preserve peace between these states, it is necessary they should be formed into a balance. Swift. You should always change and alter your intercessions, according as the needs and necessities of your neighbours or acquaintance seem to require.

Law.

A kid sometimes for festivals he slew, The choicer part was his sick neighbour's due. Harte.

How ill mean neighbourhood your genius suits, To live like Adam midst an herd of brutes! Id.

When chapman bullies leave the street
And drouthy neebors, neebors meet,
As market-days are wearing late,

Burns.

An' folk begin to tak the gate. NEIRA, one of the Banda islands, lying north of Great Banda, and separated from Gonong Apy on the west, by a narrow channel. This island is two and a quarter miles in length, and about three-quarters of a mile in extreme breadth. It is defended by the forts Narson and Belgica, the former a square, the latter a pentagon commanding it, and entered by a ladder to reach a door in one of the curtains. At the south extremity of the island is a town consisting of very neat houses of one story, on account of the earthquakes, which are frequent. The southwest extremity is inhabited by Chinese and other fishermen. Long. 130° E., lat. 4° 31′ S.

NEISSE, a principality of Prussian Silesia, long governed by the bishop of Breslau. Part of it is in Austrian Silesia, and has lately lost the name of Neisse, being incorporated into the circle of Troppau. The Prussian part is included in the government of Oppeln. Its area is 550 square miles; its. population 73,000. Neisse, the chief place of the principality, is one of the chief fortresses of Prussia, and possesses the means of laying its environs under water. It is a clean well-built town, containing a splendid episcopal mansion, a collegiate church, four other churches, with a monastery_and_convent belonging to the Catholics, and a Lutheran church and school. The king and bishop have separate officers for the collection of the revenue, and separate courts of justice. The chief employments are brewing, weaving, woollen, linen, ribands, and stockings, and a brisk traffic in yarn. In the neighbourhood are quarries of excellent stone. Neisse was taken by the Prussians under Frederick II. in 1741. Population 8000. Forty-six miles south by east of Breslau, and thirty west of Oppeln.

NEISSE, a river of East Germany, which rises in Bohemia, in the circle of Bunzlau, enters Lusatia above Zittau, becomes navigable at Guben, and afterwards falls into the Oder. It is joined in its course by the Black Neisse, a smaller stream. This is also the name of a rapid stream in Prussian Silesia, which rises on Mount Schomberg, in the Sudetic chain, near Glatz, and falls into the Oder.

NEITHER, conj. & pro. Sax. nader. Not either: a negative particle with which nor corresponds; used at the beginning, middle, and end of sentences, as below.

Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it. Gen. iii. 3. Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king. 1 Kings xxii. 31.

Which of them shall I take Both, one, or neither? neither can be enjoyed If both remain alive. Shakspeare. King Lear.

If it be thought that it is the greatness of distance, whereby the sound cannot be heard; we see that lightnings and corruscations, near at hand, yield no sound neither,

Bacon.

Men come not to the knowledge of ideas which are thought innate 'till they come to the use of reason, nor then neither.

Id.

Though few the numbers-theirs the strife, That neither spares nor speaks for life! Byron. NELEUS, in fabulous history, king of Pylos, the son of Neptune by Tyro, and the twin brother of Pelias. See PELIAS. He joined his brother in usurping the kingdom of Iolchos, but, after a short conjunct reign, Neleus was expelled, and fled to Aphareus, king of Messina, who received him kindly, and allowed him to build the city of Pylos. Neleus married Chloris, the daughter of Amphion, by whom he had a daughter named Pero, and twelve sons, who were all killed by Hercules, except Nestor. Neleus promised his daughter in marriage to the hero who should bring him the bulls of Iphiclus. Melampus accomplished this for his brother Bias. See MELAMPUS.

NELSON (Robert), F. R.S., the son of a Turkey merchant, was born in London in June, 1656. He was educated at St. Paul's, and Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1680 he was chosen F. R. S., and set out with his friend and school-fellow, Dr. Edmund Halley, on his travels, in December, 1680. At Rome he became acquainted with lady Theophila Lucy, widow of

Sir Kingsmill Lucy of Broxburne, bart., and second daughter of George earl of Berkely, whom he married after his arrival in England in 1682. He was ignorant that she had adopted the Roman Catholic religion; and, when he discovered it, he used every measure in his power to induce her return to the Protestant faith without effect. Tillotson laments her case on that account, and even was afraid of the influence she might have upon her husband. But Mr. Nelson's religion was too much the result of his reason to be shaken by his love, which was equally steady. Her change of religion made no change in his affection for her; and, when her ill health obliged her to go to the waters of Aix. he attended her thither in 1688: and took a second trip to Italy, with her, her son and daughter. He returned through Germany to the Hague, where he staid some time with lord Dursley, who was married to his wife's sister. He arrived in England in the end of 1691, where, being averse to the Revolution, he declared himself a nonjuror. Upon the death of archbishop Tillotson, who expired in his arms in 1694, Mr. Nelson was very instrumental in procuring his widow's pension from the crown to be increased from £400 to £600 per annum. Among his new nonjurant connexions was Mr. Kettlewell, who had resigned his living at Coleshill in Warwickshire, on account of the oaths, and resided in London. By his advice Mr. Nelson published many works of piety, which are deservedly esteemed; while Mr. Nelson encouraged Kettlewell to prosecute some works which otherwise would not have seen the light. At the same time he engaged zealously in every public scheme for promoting the honor and interest, as well as the faith and practice, of true Christianity, at home and abroad; besides schemes for building, repairing, and endowing churches and charity schools. Upon the death of Dr. William Lloyd, the deprived bishop of Norwich, in the end of 1709, he, by the advice of Dr. Kenn, returned to the communion of the church of England. Mr. Nelson's tutor, Dr. George Bull, bishop of St. David's, dying this year, he was prevailed upon by that prelate's son to draw up an account of his father's life and writings. It was published in 1713; and, as our author had long before labored under an asthma and dropsy in the breast, the distemper grew to such a height, that, for the benefit of the air, he retired at length to Kensington, where he expired on the 16th of January, 1715, aged fifty-nine. He published several works of piety, and left his whole estate to pious uses, particularly to charity schools.

NELSON (Horatio), lord viscount, was born in 1758 at Burnham Thorpe in Norfolk, of which parish his father Edmund was rector. He was educated at the school of North Walsham; but we know nothing particular of his boyish years, nor have we any detail of the nature and progress of his studies. He left school at the early age of twelve; and, having displayed a strong disposition for the sea service, he was rated a midshipman on board the Raisonnable of sixtyfour guns, commanded by his maternal uncle, captain Maurice Suckling. In April, 1773, in