Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/468

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454: NILSSON NlMES made in September, 1870. During the ensuing winter she sang only in concerts, but in the autumn of 1871 appeared in opera, one of her chief r61es being that of Mignon in Thomas's opera of that name. In July, 1872, she was married in Westminster abbey, London, to Auguste Rouzaud, a merchant of Paris, and during the succeeding winter sang with im- mense success in St. Petersburg. In the au- tumn of 1873 she returned to the United States, and appeared in Wagner's Lohengrin during the winter of 1873-'4. The remarkable purity of her voice, its perfect evenness, its great range and flexibility, combined with her talent as an actress, have placed Nilsson among the foremost singers of her day. She is equally great in tragic as in comic opera, and her position as an oratorio singer is scarcely less distinguished than as a prima donna. NILSSON, Sven, a Swedish naturalist, born near Landskrona, March 8, 1787. He took his doctor's degree at Lund in 1811, and be- came professor of zoology and president of the zoological museum, of which he was the principal founder. From 1828 to 1831 he di- rected a similar institution in Stockholm, and subsequently resumed his functions at Lund until 1859, when he returned to Stockholm. His principal works are : Ornithologia Suecica (2 vols., Copenhagen, 1817-'21) ; Skandinavisk Fauna (10 vols., 1820-'53); and STcandinavislca, nordens urinvfynare, or " The Primitive Inhab- itants of Northern Scandinavia" (4 vols., 1838- '43), his most renowned publication, consist- ing of the " Stone Age " (2d ed., 1866), and the " Bronze Age " (2d ed., 1862-'6). NOIEGCEN, Nimwegen, or Nijmegen (anc. Nomo- magus), a fortified fron- tier town of the Neth- erlands, in Gelderland, on the left bank of the Waal, 10 m. S. by W. of Arnhem and 13 m. N. W. of Oleves, Prussia; pop. in ^ 1872, 22,785. It is built on several hills, on which in ancient times the Romans had formed a camp to guard their Batavian possessions against the Germans. The town is well built, though the streets are narrow. The most re- markable public building is the town hall, containing a few Romaa antiquities, the swords of Egmont and Horn, statues of German emperors, and portraits of the ambassadors connected with the treaty of peace signed there in 1678, between Spain, France, and Holland, followed in 1679 by that between the two former countries and Germany and Sweden. On the principal hill (Hoenderlerg} are the ruins of the castle of Falkenhof, said to have been built by Charle- magne; and not far from it is the fine cafe and promenade of the Belvedere, a lofty struc- ture, originally built under the direction of the duke of Alva. The harbor is protected by a wall from the floods and floating ice of the river. There are numerous breweries and flour mills, and manufactories of hardware, stoves, fire engines, cabinet work, painted glass, hats, and gold and silver work ; and there is a brisk trade in corn and wine. Nirneguen was formerly a Hanse town. After joining in 1579 the Utrecht league of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, it was taken by the Spaniards in 1585, and recovered by Maurice of Orange in 1591. In 1672 it was taken by Turenne; but in 1702 it resisted another attack of the French. NlMES, or Nismes (anc. Nemausus), a city of France, in Languedoc, capital of the depart- ment of Gard, 27 m. N. E. of Montpellier and 62 m. N. W. of Marseilles; pop. in 1872, 62,- 394. The city proper is small and irregular- ly laid out, with narrow streets and ill-built houses; but its three suburbs, one of which, called the Cours Neuf, is larger than the city itself, present a finer aspect, having wide, straight avenues, fine public walks, and hand- some buildings. No other town in France can compare with Nimes for its ancient Roman edifices. The maison carree, so called from its rectangular form, is a beautiful Corinthian temple nearly in the centre of the city. It suffered greatly during the middle ages, but Maison Carree, Nirnes since 1789 has been restored. In 1823 it was converted into a museum of paintings and an- tiquities, called the musee Marie Therese. The amphitheatre, or les ar&nes, is one of the most perfect structures of its kind extant. It has from 32 to 35 ranges of seats, and was capable of accommodating from 17,000 to 23,000 spec- tators. It was used as a fortress by the Visi-