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NANTES, EDICT OF 369 NAPHTHALENE NANTES, EDICT OF. See EDICT OP Nantes. NANTICOKE, a borough in Luzerne CO., Pa.; on the Susquehanna river, and on the Lackawanna, the Central of New Jersey and the Pennsylvania railroads; 8 miles S. W. of Wilkes-Barre. It has daily and weekly newspapers, silk mills, canning factory, and several coal mines. Pop. (1910) 18,877; (1920) 22,614. NANTUCKET, an island, county, town, and county-seat of Massachusetts; off the coast of Cape Cod, 30 miles from the mainland. The island is about 15 miles long by 3 to 4 miles wide; is triangular in shape; and with several small adjacent islands has an area of about 60 square miles. The most popu- lous part of the town is on the N. shore of the island, about 56 miles E. of New Bedford. It contains the Nan- tucket Athenaeum Library, a high school, Coffin's Manual Training School, water- works. National and savings banks, gas and electric lights, and weekly news- papers. In summer a daily line of steamboats connects the island with New Bedford, Martha's Vineyard, and Wood's Hole. The equable climate and dry soil of the island make it very healthful, and a favorite summer resort. Pop. (1910) 2,962; (1920) 2,797. NANTWICH, a markefc-town of Cheshire, England, on the Weaver, 4 miles S. W. of Crewe. It has some quaint old timber houses; a fine cruci- form parish church, with a central octagonal tower, 110 feet high; a Gothic town hall (1858) ; a market hall (1867) ; a grammar school (1611) ; and brine baths (1883). Boot and shoe mak- ing and the manufacture of clothing, cotton goods and iron ware are the prin- cipal industries. A great fire (1583), and its siege by the royalists under Lord Byron (1644) are the chief events in the history of Nantwich. Pop. about 3,000. NAON, ROMULO S., Argentine Am- bassador to the United States. Born in Buenos Aires 1875; graduated from the University of Buenos Aires and later was a member of the faculty of that institu- tion. In 1902 he was elected a repre- sentative to the Congress of Argentina and in 1908 accepted the post of Min- ister of Justice and Public Instruction. In 1911 he was sent as envoy to the United States, and when the legation be- came an embassy in 1914 he was the first ambassador. In 1914, when the difficulties between Mexico and the iJnited States seemed likely to produce war between the two countries, Naon along with the Brazilian and Chilean ambassadors offered their mediation which was accepted and the Niagara Falls Conference resulted. The Con- gress of the United States passed a vote of thanks to Naon for his services as mediator. He has been prominent in the work of the Pan-American Union and is the author of works on political science and constitutional law. NAPA, a city of California, the county- seat of the county of the same name. It is situated on the Napa river and on the Southern Pacific railroad, about 46 miles N. E. of San Francisco. It is the site of the State Hospital for the In- sane and in the vicinity are the Napa Redwoods, several hot springs, and a petrified forest. The city has a pub- lic library, an excellent high school build- ing. Its chief industries are fruit grow- ing, and the manufacture of leather, shoes, shirts, olive oil, etc. Pop. (1910) 5,791; (1920) 6,757. NAPHTALI (Hebrew==my wrestling), the 6th son of Jacob and the head of one of the 12 tribes. The tribe had its full share in repelling the incursions of the Canaanites during the first centuries of the conquest, but disappears from history when Tiglath-pileser overran the N. of Israel and bore away the whole of the population to Assyria. Under the title of Galilee the district occupied by the tribe became in New Testament times more famous than it had ever been be- fore. NAPHTHA, a word derived from the Persian word nafata, "to exude," and originally applied to liquid hydrocarbons which exude from the ground in the neighborhood of the Caspian Sea. It was applied also to the natural oils found more or less plentifully in nearly all countries of the world, and to the oil distilled from Boghead mineral in Scot- land. But the inconvenience and danger of classing all these oils indiscriminately as naphthas became apparent after the Scotch paraffin and the American petro- leum refined oils began to be used for domestic illumination. The word naphtha is properly applied to the lighter oils which pass off first in the distillation of petroleum, vdth gravity ranging from 90 to 62° Beaume. NAPHTHALENE, in chemistry, CioH8= CioHtH, naphthalin, or naphthaline. A frequent product of the dry distillation of organic substances, occurring to a considerable extent in that portion of coal-tar distilling between 180° and 220°, from which it crystallizes on cool- ing. It forms colorless shining, leafy crystals of peculiar odor and burning