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460 NIPHON NISARD and vegetables, and the public gardens are among the finest in France. NIPHON. See NIPPON. NIPIGON, or Nepigon, a lake of Ontario, Canada, intersected by the 50th parallel and the 88th meridian. It is elliptical in shape, being about TO m. long from N. to S. and 50 m. from E. to W., though the shores are much indented by bays and the coast line measures 580 m. It is thickly studded with islands, is very deep, and abounds in fish. Its surface is 813 ft. above that of Lake Superior. It receives numerous streams, and discharges through Ni- pigon river (40 m. long) into Nipigon bay, the most northerly point of Lake Superior. The river contains falls and rapids, and expands in its course into four small lakes. NIPISSING, a judicial district in the N. part of Ontario, Canada, lying along the W. bank of the Ottawa river ; area, 14,650 sq. m. ; pop. in 1871, 1,791. It contains Nipissing and various other lakes, and is watered by numerous streams. NIPISSING, or Nepissing, a lake of Ontario, Canada, nearly midway between Lake Huron and the Ottawa river. It is about 50 m. long from E. to W. and 15 m. in greatest breadth, and discharges through French river (55 m. long) into Georgian bay. This river contains numerous islands and rapids. The lake re- ceives several streams, the largest of which is Sturgeon river from the north. NIPISSINGS, one of the Algonquin tribes of Canada, who came down with the Hurons to trade soon after the first French settlers arrived. They were then on Lake Nipissing and quite numerous; they were industrious, raising a little corn, catching and drying fish, and tra- ding it with northern tribes for furs, becoming rich and comfortable. They were called sor- cerers by the French from the number and in- fluence of the medicine men. Europeans in- troduced diseases which thinned their numbers, and the Iroquois after destroying the Hurons compelled the Nipissings to take flight. They retired to Lake Alimipegon, which empties into Lake Superior from the north. Missions had been begun among them by Pijart, Me- nard, and Garreau at Lake Nipissing, and were revived by Allouez after their removal. As peace was restored they moved east, and most of the survivors finally joined the Iroquois and Algonquin mission formed by the Sulpi- cians at the lake of the Two Mountains, where a remnant still reside, the three tribes at the mission numbering 515 in 1873. The Nipissings had a feast of the dead, with curious rites, dif- fering somewhat from that of the Hurons. NIPPON, or Niphon, the name improperly given by Europeans to the principal island of the Japanese empire. The Japanese call the whole empire Dai Nippon, but had no separate name for the main island till 1873, when in a military geography published by the war de- partment it was called Hondo. So long as Japan was an isolated country, the govern- ment dual, the land divided into hundreds of principalities, her best ship a junk, and travel uncommon, there was no need to make the discriminations which modern geography de- mands. Nippon extends from lat. 33 26' to 41 35' N., and is separated on the north from the island of Yezo or Yesso by the strait of Tsugaru ; on the south and southeast from the islands of Kiushiu and Shikoku by narrow straits ; and on the southwest from Corea by the Corea strait, 120 m. wide. It stretches from N. E. to S. W. in a curved form, being about 800 m. long, with an average breadth of 100 m., the greatest breadth being 250 m. ; the total area is about 80,000 sq. m. ; pop. 25,000,000. It is divided into 53 provinces, and, besides several other large cities, contains Tokio (formerly Yedo), the present capital, Kioto, the former capital, Ozaka, and Nagoya. The coasts are deeply indented, have many good harbors, on which are the large cities, and are bordered by numerous islets and detached rocks. There are no large rivers. The moun- tain ranges have a general trend from N. to S., usually presenting a steep face to the east, and sloping on the W. side. The principal peak is the volcanic cone of Fusiyama. (See JAPAN.) NISARD. I. Jean Marie Napoleon Desire, a French author, born in Chatillon-sur-Seine, March 20, 1806. At the age of 20 he became a regular contributor to the Journal des Debats, but af- ter the revolution of 1830 he broke off his connection with it and wrote literary articles for the National. He opposed the new school of literature, and in his first publication, Les poetes latins de la decadence (1834), drew criti- cal parallels between the minor Latin poets of the imperial period and the new French poets. His Manifeste centre la litterature facile was answered by Jules Janin, and the contro- versy became one of the chief literary events in Louis Philippe's reign. In 1835 Nisard was appointed by M. Guizot maitre de conferences on French literature in the normal school ; in 1836 chief secretary to the minister of public instruction and master of requests in the coun- cil of state; and finally in 1837 chief of the department of science and literature. In 1842 he was elected to the. chamber of deputies, and attached himself to the conservative party. ID 1843 he became professor of Latin eloquence in the college de France. In 1850 he was elected to the French academy. In 1852 he was appointed general inspector of superior instruction, and succeeded Villemain in the chair of French eloquence at the Sorbonne. Here M. Nisard was at first coldly received, and in 1855 he was hissed from his chair by the students; but with the assistance of the police he continued his lectures. In 1857 he became director of the high normal school, his appointment being made the occasion of a re- organization of the school. He retired from this post in 1867, when he was made a sena- tor, and he was also a member of the impe- rial council of public instruction. Besides the works above alluded to, he has published His-