Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/458

NETS. 406 NETTLE. purpose of inclosing spaeus within wliiuli tlii-y iirir, but sometimes also lor throwinj; upon them to eonl'usc and entangle them. Nets are used by gardeners to protect crops from birds; also to protect the blossoms of trees from frost. Other fabrics for various uses, with wide, open meshes are also called nets, as liair-iivls. mosquito nets, etc. See also L.CE; Bobbixet; Brussels Xet; K.nittixg. NETSCHER, net'sher, Iv-vspAR (U;30-S4). A Dutch ;;c'nre and portrait painter, burn at Heidel- berg. He was the pujjil of K(i>Ier at Arnheini, but belongs to the school of Tcrburg and Mctsu. On a proposed journey to Italy he got as far as ]!ordeau., and although he paid a second visit to France, he afterwards lived at The Hague, and was free of the guild in lGt)3. His best work is in portraiture on a small scale, and in small genre subjects. His earlier and middle works are superior to his later jjainting. in which his colors are often liarsh and un|)leasing. In his best period, Xetscher is disiinguishcd for the elegance and grace of his tigures. especially of children — his nielhiw. golden tone, and his fond- ness for and skill in treating draperies and ac- cessories. The Dresden Gallery is rich in good pictures by him. They include: "(Jentlcman with Guitar" (IGOS) , "Lady with a Sjianicl," "Lady at the Piano." and "Woman Singing," and two portraits of Madame de ilontespan. The Na- tional (iallery. London, has his "Lady at a Spin- ning Wheel"" and "Children Blowing Bubiiles;" the Louvre, his "Singing Lesson" and "'iolon- cello Lesson:" the Jletropolitan Museum. New York City, the "Portrait of a Dutch Lady:" and the Historical Society. "Madame de Montespan as Saint Cecilia." Several of his best works are in private collections in England. He also painted historical subjects, but with less success. His son and pupil Co.xst.xtyx (1G6S1722), born at The Hague, was a genre and portrait painter in the same style. Another son. TiiEo- Douis ( lfiril-173-2) , born at Bordeaiix. also a portrait and genre painter, lived in Kngland for some tinic. and was esteemed there for his por- traits. NETSTJKE, ni't's'-ka' (from .Ta]!. ?!<•. wood, root + Isiihr, to suspend). A button of wood, crystal, or ])orcelain. but usually of ivorj-, by wliieli the .Japanese smoker suspends his outfit of tobacco. Hint and steel, pipe. etc.. from his girdle. Often the netsukO is elaborately carved, and is among the most characteristic products of native skill. The best specimens, which have en- graved on them the mark of the carver, are very costly, and are valued by both native and foreign collectors, as objects of art. NETTEMENT, net'miiN', .i.FREn FRANrois Mf'O.'i-iiiM. A French journalist and historian, burn in Paris. He early began to contribute to the m.igazincs, and was a consistent Catholic in religion and legitimist in politics. In IS48 he founded the review h'Ophiion PiiMiiiur. and in it expressed his own opinions so forcibly that, after the coup ilY-tat of 1S51. the paper was sup- pressed and Xettement imprisoned. .Vmong his works are: llistoirr ilr In f'rriiliilinii ilr jiiHIrt ( 18.1.T) ; llistoirr (1r In lilti'riilurr fraii^aisr sous la livstnurntirin (18.^21; llistoirr <lr la litt/rn- turr frnut^nisr sous la roiiaut^ dr juillrt (18.T4) ; llistoirr <lr In ttcstnuration (ISfiOtiS); Eluflrs critiques sur le feuilletan romnn (1845-46) ; and FiV lie madame hi nuirquisc dc la ItwhcjacqucUn (ISoS). NET'TEB, Thom.s, also called Waldexsis, frcim his birthplace. Sallron Waldcn, Kssex (c.1375-1430) . An English Carmelite monk. He studied at Oxford, and rose to eminence as a man of learning and business capacity. He was elected provincial prior of the English Car- melites in 1414. and was confessor to Henry V. and to Henry VL He died at Kouen. France, Xovember 2, 1430. He threw himself with great ardor into the lists against the Lollards, and so won the sobriciuct of 'Prince of Controversial- ists.' His chief writings against them are Doc- triniile Fidei Ecclesiw Vatholirw contra Wiclevis- tas rt Hussitas, and. especially valuable for its document.s. Fasciculi Zizaniorum Jolmnnis Wyclif (ed. by Shirley, London, 1858). NETTLE (AS. netele, netle, OHG. nezxila, iiczila, diminutive of nnzza, nettle, Ger. yrssel, Ir. Heiiairf, nettle, probahly connected with OPrus. noatis, Lith. iiotrrr. Lett, mitres. Gk. dSfxi;. adikC; nettle). A common name of Urtica, a genus of plants of the natural order Urticacea; having unisexual Hnwers. The species are annual or peremiial herbs with occasionally shrubby bases, many of them covered with stinging hairs, which emit an acid juice and pierce the skin when touched, often causing nuicli inllammation and pain: when grasped in such a way as to press the hairs to the stem, no stinging ensues. The 'spe- cies of a number of distinct genera were formerly included in the genus, especially those having stinging hairs,as Laportea.Pipturus, and Pouzol- zia. Some of these are shrubs or even trees, the giant nettle tree of Australia attaining great size. The sting of East Indian species is nuich more severe than that of European and American si>ecies. i'rtira crenuhita or Lufiorlca crruulata is said to produce a sensation similar to the con- tinual application of a hot iron, and even after the lapse of several days this may return upon the application of cold water, a .sensation more or less pronounced with other species. The roots of nettles, boiled in alum, afford a yellow dye: and the juice of the stalk and leaves has been used to dye woolen stufi's a beautiful and permanent green. The small nettle (Z'rtica ureus) and the great nettle I I'rtica dioica), introduced EurojH'an species, are abundant in America. Whatever gives nettles flieir stinging power is dissipated by boiling. The high value of nettles as food for swine, poul- try, and particularly for turkeys, is well known to the peasantry of many countries: the great nettle is cultivated in Sweden for fodder. The seeds are nutritious to poultry, and it is claimed are given to horses by jockeys, in order to make them lively when they are to be olTcred for sale. The stalks and leaves of nettles are empliiyed in some parts of England for the manufacture of a light kind of beer, called nettle beer. The bast lilire if nettles is used for textile purposes. Yarn and cloth, both of the coarsest and linest de- scriptions, can he made of it. The (ilue of I'rtica dioirn. used by the ancient Egyptians, is still employed in Piedmont and other cmmtries. When wanted for tilirc. the plant is cut in mid- summer, and treated like hemp. The names nettle yarn and nettle cloth are, lunvevi^r. now coin- miinly given in most parts of Europe to particular linen and cotton fabrics. The fibre of Vrlira