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netration, in order that we may enjoy the greater happiness? Common sense revolts from such an idea.

NECHO, king of Egypt, began his reign 690 B. C. and was killed eight years after by Sabacon, king of Ethiopia. Psammeticus his son succeeded him, and was the father, as Herodotus informs us, of Necho II. who reigned in the 616 B. C. This Necho II. is celebrated in history for attempting, though in vain, to cut a canal from the Nile to the Arabian gulf. He carried his arms as far as the Euphrates, and conquered the city of Carchemish. This prince is not only known in scripture under the name of Necho, but also in profane history. He no sooner succeeded to the crown than he raised great land armies, and fitted out vast fleets, as well upon the Mediterranean as upon the Red sea: he gave battle to the Syrians near the city of Migdol; routed them, and made himself master of the city of Cadytis. The learned, however, are not agreed about this city of Cadytis. Some will have it to be Cades in Arabia Petræa, others Jerusalem; and others say it is the city of Cedes, or Kedesh, in Galilee, in the tribe of Naphtali. The scriptures acquaint us with the whole expedition of Necho in all its particulars; 2 Kings xxiii. 29, &c. and 2 Chr. XXXV. 20, 21, &c.

NECK. s. (hneca, Saxon; neck, Dutch). 1. The part between the head and body (Addion). 2. A long narrow part (Bacon). 3. On the neck; immediately after (Shakspeare). 4. To break the neck of an affair; to hinder any thing being done; or, to do more than half. NECK. (collum.) In anatomy. The parts which form the neck are divided into external and internal. The external parts are the common integuments, several muscles, eight pair of cervical nerves, the eighth pair of nerves of the cerebrum, and the great intercostal nerve, the two carotid arteries, the two external jugular veins, and the two internal, the glands of the neck, viz. the jugular, submaxillary, cervical, and thyroid. The internal parts are the fauces, pharynx, œsophagus, larynx, and trachea. The bones of the neck are the seven cervical vertebræ.

NECK. (collum). In botany, the upper part of the tube in a corol of one petal.

NECK, in music, that part of a violin, guitar, &c. which extends from the head to the body, and on which the finger-board is fixed.

NECK (John Van), a Dutch painter, born at Naarden in 1635. He excelled in designing naked figures; but his capital performance is a picture representing Simeon with Christ in his arms, in a church at Amsterdam. He died in 1714.

NECKARS-GEMUND, a town of Germany, in the palatinate of the Rhine, seated on the Neckar, 42 miles N. of Stutgard. Lon. 9. 55 E. Lat. 49. 26 N.

NECKARS-ULM, a town of Germany, in the circle of Franconia, seated on the Neckar. It belongs to the grand-master of the Teutonic order. Lon. 9. 5 E, Lat, 49, 52 N.

NECKBEEF. s. (neck and beef.) The coarse flesh of the neck of cattle (Swift). NECKCLOTH. s. (neck and cloth.) That which men wear on their neck (Gay).

NECKERA, in botany, a genus of the class cryptogamia, order musci. Capsule oblong; fringe double; outer of sixteen acute teeth; inner of sixteen filiform teeth, distinct, alternating with the outer ones; flowers lateral. Fourteen species; of which five are indigenous to our own country.

NECKERCHIEF. NE'CKATEE. s. A gorget; handkerchief for a woman's neck.

NECKLACE. s. (neck and lace.) An orna. mental string of beads or precious stones, worn by women on their neck (Arbuthnot). NECKWEED. s. (neck and weed.) Hemp: in ridicule.

NECROLOGY. (necrologium, formed of expos, dead, and λoyos, discourse or remuneration). A book anciently kept in churches and monasteries; wherein were registered the benefactors to the same, the time of their deaths, and the days of their commemoration; as also the deaths of the priors, abbots, religious, canons, &c.

This was otherwise called calendar and obituary.

NECROMANCER. 8. (vixges and paris.) One who by charms can converse with the ghosts of the dead; a conjurer (Swift).

or act of

NECROMANCY. (necrologium, formed from vexpos, dead, and arcu, inchantment or divination.) The art communicating with devils, and doing surprising feats by their assistance; particularly of calling up the dead, and extorting asswers from them. See MAGIC, DIVINATION, &c.

NECROPOLIS, a suburb of Alexandria in Egypt. It signifies "the City of the Dead;" wherein there were temples, gardens, and superb mausoleums. Here Cleopatra is said to have applied the aspic to her breast, to prevent being led in triumph by Augustus, who endeavoured to save her,

NECROSIS. (necrosis, vixqwis, from v to destroy). The dry gangrene. A species of mortification, in which the parts become dry, insensible, and black, without any previous inflammation.

NECTANEBUS and NECTANABIS, a king of Egypt, who defended his country against the Persians, and was succeeded by Tachos, B. C. 363. His grandson, of the same name, made an alliance with Agesilaus, king of Sparta, and with his assistance he quelled a rebellion of his subjects. Sometime afterward he was joined by the Sidonians, Phoenicians, and inhabitants of Cyprus, who had revolted from the king of Persia. This powerful confede racy was soon attacked by Darius, the king of Persia, who marched at the head of his troops. Nectanebus, to defend his frontiers, levied 20,000 mercenary soldiers in Greece, the same number in Libya, and 60,000 were furnished in Egypt. This numerous body was not equal to the Persian forces, and Nectanebus, defeated

In a battle, fled into Ethiopia, B. C. 350. Egypt became from that time tributary to the king of Persia.

NECTAR, among ancient poets, the drink of the fabulous deities of the heathens; in contradistinction from their solid food, which was called ambrosia.

NECTARED. a. (from nectar.) Tinged with nectar; mingled with nectar (Millon). NECTA'REOUS. a. (nectareus, Latin.) Resembling nectar; sweet as nectar (Pope). NECTARINE. a. (from Rectar.) Sweet as nectar (Milton).

NECTARINE, in botany. See AMYGDA

LUS.

NECTARIUM, or NECTARY, the melliferous part of a vegetable, peculiar to the flower. It commonly makes a part of the corol, but is sometimes entirely distinct from it, and is then called a proper nectary. It is frequently in form of a horn or spur: sometimes it takes the shape of a cup, whence this part is named in English by some the honey cup.

NECTRIS, in botany, a genus of the class hexandria, order digynia. Calyx six-parted, the three inner divisions less and obtuse; corolless; capsules two, somewhat fleshy, crowned with the styles, one-celled, many-seeded. One species, a native of Guiana and Cayenne, with leaves opposite in many capillary divisions, and yellow flowers.

NECYDALIS. Carrion-eater. In zoology, a genus of the class insecta, order coleoptera. Antennas setaceous, or filiform; feelers four, filiform; shells less than the wings, and either narrower or shorter than the abdomen; tail simple. Thirty-nine species, chiefly natives of Europe; a few of Australasia; one or two of Africa, and of America: seven common to our own country. They may be thus subdivided.

A. Antennas setaceous; shells shorter than the wings and abdomen: four species, comprising the molorchus tribe of Fabricius.

B. Antennas filiform; shells subulate, as long as the body. Thirty-five species, comprising the necydalis tribe of Fabricius

This genus is generally found in the woods, in the perfect form; but the residence and character of the larves are unknown. In some individuals the thorax is black, in others yellow; the clytra or wing-sheaths are generally black, and lighter towards the middle, which contains a lemon-coloured spot.

NEED. s. (neod, Saxon; neod, Dutch.) 1. Exigency; pressing difficulty; necessity. 2. Want; distressful poverty (Shakspeare). 3. Want; lack of any thing for use (Baker).

To NEED. v. a. To want; to lack, to be in want of; to require (Locke).

To NEED. v. n. 1. To be wanted; to be necessary (Spenser). 2. To have necessity of any thing; to be in want of any thing (Locke). NEE'DER. s. (from need.) One that wants any thing (Shakspeare).

NEEDFUL. a. (need and full.) Necessary; indispensably requisite (Addison).

NEEDFULLY. ud. Necessarily (Ben Jonson).

NEE DFULNESS. s. Necessity.

NEEDHAM (Marchamont), a satirical English writer, was born ot Benford in Ox fordshire in 1620, and educated at All Souls college, Oxford. He afterwards became a lawyer's clerk in London, and at length turned physician. In the civil war he distinguished himself by his political writings, first against the parliament, and afterwards against monar chy. At the restoration he obtained his pardon with difficulty, after which he exercised physic among the dissenters. He died in 1678. His principal performances were a kind of news papers called Mercuries, as the Mercurius Bri tannicus, Mercurius Pragmatius, and Mercu rius Politicus.

NEEDHAM (John Tuberville), a Roman catholic divine, was born at London in 1713, and educated at Donay, where he entered into orders. His superiors appointed him professor of philosophy in the English college at Lisbon. He afterwards became travelling tutor to a nobleman; and, finally, settled in London, where he was chosen fellow of the Royal So ciety. He died in 1781. He wrote several papers on experimental philosophy in the Philosophical Transactions.

NEEDHAM, a town in Suffolk, with a market on Wednesday. It has some trade in Suffolk-blues, and cloths; and women are employed in spinning and weaving bonelace. It is seated on the Orwell, 10 niles N.W. of Ipswich, and 73 N.E. of London. Lon. 1.23 E. Lat. 52. 15 N. NEE DILY. ad. (from needy.) In poverty; poorly.

NEE'DINESS. s. (from needy.) Want; poverty (Bacon).

NEEDLE. ́A name given to various small instruments in the useful arts. The most common acceptation of the word is to denote the common sewing-needle, which is so well known as to require no description: beside this there is the knitting-needle; the netting-needle; the glovers needle, with a triangular point; the tambour-needle, which is made like a hook and fixed in a handle; the hook being thrust through the cloth, the thread is caught under the hook, and the needle is drawn back, taking the thread with it. Needle is a name given to a part of the stocking-frame, lace machine, and many other machines in the manufactures.

Manufacture of sewing needles.-The immense demand for these small articles, rather than any difficulty there is in making them, has introduced a system in their manufacture by which they can be produced at an exceeding low price, considering the number of processes it is requisite for a needle to pass through before it can be finished. Needles are made from steelwire; formerly German steel was used, as it is still for common articles, but for finer kinds cast steel is employed. German steel is made by cutting a bar of common steel (in the state it comes from the steel furnace) into pieces, which are laid together, to form what is called a faggot, and these pieces are welded to gether under a tilt hammer. This kind, which is also called

shear steel, is very tough, and rather of a fibrous texture, the parts being well incorporated together by the process of welding. Cast steel is made by melting common steel and casting it into ingots, which are hammered out into bars, under the tilt hammer: this kind of steel, which has been generally introduced of late years, is so perfectly homogenous, in consequence of the melting, that it is much better adapted for bearing the fine point requisite for a needle. The steel is formed into wire by repeatedly drawing it through holes in a piece of steel plate; every time it is drawn it is reduced in a small degree, until it is of the size to form the needles required: the wire-drawing is a distinct trade from the needle-making, and is now performed by machinery. The wire when drawn to the proper size, which is ascertained by gages, is made up into coils for package; these coils of wire are heated to a dull red in a furnace, and suffered to cool gradually, to soften and anneal it, with a view to facilitate the working of the steel, which commences by cutting the wire into lengths: it is done by a pair of shears in the manner shewn at fig. 1. of plate 121. The workman being seated before a bench upon which the shears are fixed, takes a great number of pieces of wire for fine needles, as many as 100, and introducing their ends between the blades a, b, which he opens with his right hand, he presses the ends of the wire up against the gage c, which regulates them to be all of one length; then cutting them all off, they drop down into the tin pan d placed on a sinall shelf in front of the bench: the ends of the wire are now pressed against the gage, and cut off again. In this manner the wire is with surprising expedition cut into lengths proper for making needles.

The second operation is flatting the end intended to become the eye of the needle, and piercing it. This is done as represented in fig. 2, by a workman taking three or four between his finger and thumb; holding them rather diverging, he places them successively on a small anvil, A, and striking one blow upon each, expands the end sufficiently to receive the point of the punch which pierces the eye: this the same person does (before he lays them down) by a small instrument B, fixed on the same block as the anvil: it is shewn (enlarged) in fig. 3, to consist of an iron frame b, which has sockets fixed to it to guide a square sliding bar d, having the punch fixed into the lower end of it, and is struck upon the upper end by the hammer. The end of the needle is placed in a small notch in the bed e of the instrument, and is then put exactly beneath the punch, and a slight stroke of the hammer punches the eye, and at the same time forms the semicircular groove near the eye of the needle to bury the thread. This groove is shewn in the magnified figure of a needle at x fig. 4, and the form of the punch is shewn at y; the point y is for piercing out the eye, and the edge z for sinking the groove above mentioned, which may be readily discerned in a needle by a magnifying glass, or in a large needle by the naked eye. The notch

which receives the needle is made in a piece of steel, shewn enlarged at z, which fits into a dovetailed notch in the bed of the instrument, so that it can be changed for a larger or smaller, correspondent to the size of the needles to be pierced. The workman holds the needles in the same manner as he did for flatting; and placing them one by one successively in the notch in the bed-piece, pierces them, by striking a single blow of his hammer on the end of the slider d: the slider is immediately returned by a spring g. He now places the next needle under the punch, and when they are all pierced in this manner, he rolls them over by moving his thumb, so as to turn them all half round, and bring upwards the opposite side to that which was pierced: this being done he repeats the punching on the other side with a view to finish, and clear the eye, and to form the groove before described on both sides.

The needles are now rounded at the eye-end, to take off the roughness; it is done by applying them for an instant against a grindstone.

The next process is hardening and tempering, upon which a great part of the perfection of the needle depends. Hardening is done by placing a great number together upon a piece of iron, bent up at the ends and sides that they may not roll off, and introducing them into a small furnace: when they become of a fair red heat they are taken out, and suddenly plunged into a vessel of cold water; this renders them hard: some manufacturers, instead of water, use oil to cool them, or tallow mixed with oil, and various other ingredients, which are supposed to improve the process. The needles thus hardened are returned to the furnace with the oil upon them, and remain there till the oil flames, when they are withdrawn, and again cooled in cold water. This second process tempers them: at first they were quite hard, and so brittle as to break with the slightest touch; the tempering takes off this brittleness, but leaves them sufficiently hard to take a good point. When they are hardened in water, according to the old method, the heat for tempering can only be estimated; but the flaming of the oil is a much more certain method.

The needles are now examined, and many are found crooked by the process of hardening; these are discovered by rolling them over as they lay in rows on a board, and such are selected and straightened by a slight blow, laying them in a notch in an anvil. Being thus straightened they require to be pointed, which is done by large grindstones turned by mills, either water or steam, as the convenience of the manufactory admits; a mill of this kind is explained under our articleBLADE-MILL. The grindstone, a, fig. 5, is from 2 ft. to 4 ft. in diameter, and from 4 to 6 inches broad: the workman is seated astride before the stone, on a block B, shaped like a saddle; he takes up 20 or 30 needles (see fig. 6.), laid side by side across a small wooden ruler a, covered with soft leather; another similar ruler b is laid over the needles to confine them: the workman

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