Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 06.djvu/566

NICKEL 462 NICODEMUS •wich and obtained his commission in the Royal Engineers. Served in India and the West Indies for nearly 30 years. In 1901 he was appointed Director-General of Mobilization and Intelligence in the War Office, in London, During the Rus- sian-Japanese War (1904-1905) he was military observer with the Japanese forces in Manchuria. Became Chief of Staff in 1908 and so remained till 1912. During the World War he was ap- pointed to inquire into the conduct of the campaigns in Gallipoli and Mesopotamia. Was promoted to rank of Field-Marshal and made a peer. NICKEL, in chemistry, symbol, Ni; at. wt., 58.7. A tetrad-metallic element, discovered by Cronstedt in 1751, in com- bination with arsenic, in the copper-col- ored mineral arsenide of nickel ; called by the miners kupfernickel. Its preparation is effected in various ways, the methods involving first the separation of the arsenic, copper, etc., with hydric-sulphide, and that of cobalt by chloride of lime or nitrite of potash. The solution of pure nickel is precipitated by potash, and the dry oxide mixed with oil or charcoal and exposed in a crucible to the heat of a blast furnace, whereby the metal is ob- tained as a fused mass. Nickel is silver- white, malleable and ductile, and as in- fusible as iron. Sp. gr., 8.28-8.66. It is magnetic at ordinary temperatures and dissolves in dilute sulphuric, nitric, and hydrochloric acids. Nickel forms several alloys, the most important being known as German-silver. Also, in the United States, a popular name for a small coin, consisting of nickel, value five cents. Nickel-ar senate = Annabergite, and Xan- ihiosite; nickel-arsenide = Chioanthite, Nickeline, and Rammelsbergite ; nickel- bismuth = Gifilnauite; nickel-carbonate and nickel-hydrate = Texasite; nickel- glance = Gersdorffite; nickel-green = Ammbergite; nickel-gymnite = Gen- thite; nickel-ocher, nickel-bloom = Anna- bergite; nickel-oxide = Bunsenite; nickel- P5T-ites = Millerite; nickel-silicate = Ahpite, Genthite, Noumeite, and Pime- Hte; nickel-sulphate = Morenosite; nick- el-sulphide = Millerite; nickel-stibine = Ulmannite; nickel- vitriol = More- nostte. NICKEL STEEL. Iron has a strong affinity for nickel, and alloys with it in all proportions very readilv. The fol- lowing IS the average composition of nickel steel as made in the United States : ^aj"^" 0.24-0.2S per cent. Sulphur 0.02-O.Q3 " ■' Manganese 0.60-0.70 " Phosphorus O.oi-O 03 " " Nickel 3.00-5.00 " Physical Properties. — Resistance to corrosion is its principal peculiarity. Numerous tests have been made, espe- cially in sea water, which is very de- structive to iron or steel, the results of which have demonstrated the fact that nickel steel when used alone would out- last the best of ordinary steels. This was proved by tests with propellei>6, tor- pedo netting, metal sheathing for vessel bottoms, etc. There iseems some doubt, however, as to its applicability to boil- ers, where its high elastic limit would permit much lighter construction. Some experiments indicate that nickel steel cor- rodes rapidly in pure water and in the presence of various boiler compounds, while on the other hand an English au- thority cites an experiment indicating a corrosion of but one-half to three-quar- ters that of ordinary steels. Nickel steel is a noble metal, for while it has a remarkable resistance to applied stresses, yet it is almost as easily worked as soft steel, is not brittle while hot or cold, is not much affected by tempering or annealing as compared with carbon steel, and is remarkably homogeneous. It is very common for tempered nickel steel to have a tensile strength of 200,- 000 pounds per square inch without be- ing brittle. If we compare this with the 60,000 pounds for low carbon steel, we see that there is still plenty of room at the top, for most of the steel used to- day is low in carbon. Commander Eaton, U. S. N,, says that the United States Government first bou,ght nickel to use in steel in 1890, that the first nickel steel plate was tested in 1893, in July, and for a time all armor for United States ves- sels was made of nickel steel. See Iron and Steel. NICOBAB ISLANDS, a group of islands in the Indian Ocean, forming with the Andamans, to the S. of which group they lie, an extension of the great island chain of which Java and Sumatra are the principal links; area 634 square miles; pop. about 10,000. Nineteen in number, 12 of which are inhabited, they consist of two divisions — the N. low and planted with cocoanut trees, and the S. mountainous (2,000 feet) and covered with timber. Malaria prevails nearly all the year round; the temperature seldom moves outside the limits 80°-85° F. The people are a variety of the Malay race. There is an extensive trade in copra and cocoanuts. The archipelago was occupied by Denmark, 1756-1856. In 1869 it was annexed by Great Britain. NICODEMTJS'. a member of the Jew- ish Sanhedrin. at first a Pharisee, and afterward a disciple of Jesus. He was early convinced that Christ Cfirn^ troXP;