La Charité-sur-Loire. He displayed great loyalty to Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette, was one of the most active agents in the ‘emigration’ from France, took part in the Royalist uprising of 1796, and after the 18th Brumaire attempted to persuade Bonaparte to recall the Bourbons. Being accused of having taken a part in the plot of the ‘infernal machine,’ he fled to Switzerland, and later went to the United States. Upon the restoration of the Bourbons, he returned to France, was Minister to the United States from 1816 to 1821, and was then Minister to Portugal. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 1822 to 1830, and held the portfolio of the Marine in the Ministry of Martignac. After the Revolution of July, 1830, he withdrew into private life. His Mémoires were published in 1888.
NEUWIED, noi′vḗt. The capital of a circle in the Rhine Province, Prussia, on the Rhine, seven miles northwest of Coblenz (Map: Prussia, B 3). The castle, residence of the Prince of Wied, stands in a beautiful park, and has collections of Roman antiquities. The town has many educational institutions, including a gymnasium and two seminaries for teachers. Wool and cotton goods, soap, tobacco, starch, chicory, and ironware are manufactured. Population, in 1900, 11,003. Neuwied was founded in 1653 by the Prince of Wied, as a refuge for religious exiles, and many religious denominations are represented by its present inhabitants.
NEVA, nē′vȧ, Russ. pron. nyĕ-vä′. The outlet of Lake Ladoga (q.v.) in Northwestern Russia (Map: Russia, D 2). It leaves the lake at its southwestern end and flows westward for 45 miles, emptying through several mouths into the Gulf of Finland. The city of Saint Petersburg is built on the islands of its delta. It is the last link in the great waterway which through the Volga River and the Ladoga Canal system connects the Caspian Sea with the Baltic. Though the volume of water flowing through the Neva is very great, and the river is in places more than half a mile wide, its navigation has been made possible only by extensive engineering works, and an artificial channel, running through the shallow Bay of Neva, connects its mouth with the harbor of Kronstadt. During continued west winds the waters of the bay are piled up in the delta of the river, causing destructive inundations.
NEVADA, nḗ-vä′dȧ, popularly the ‘Sagebrush State.’ A Western State of the United States. The 42d parallel of north latitude separates it from Oregon and Idaho on the north, the 114th meridian west of Greenwich from Utah and Arizona on the east, the Arizona boundary being continued on the southeast by the Colorado River as far as the 35th parallel, while a straight line running from the latter point northwest to Lake Tahoe in latitude 39° N., and thence along the 120th meridian, separates Nevada from California on the southwest and west. Nevada ranks fourth in size among the States of the Union. It has an extreme length from north to south of 483 miles, and an extreme breadth of 320 miles. Its area is 110,700 square miles, of which 960 square miles consist of water.
Topography. The greater part of Nevada lies in the Great American Basin included between the Sierra Nevada on the west and the Wahsatch Mountains on the east, and bounded by cross ranges on the southwest and, less definitely, on the north. Neither of the main boundary ranges comes within this State, the crest of the Sierra lying wholly in California, and the Wahsatch running through the centre of Utah. This great basin forms a plateau whose floor lies 4000 to 6000 feet above the sea, though in the extreme southwest it is somewhat lower. From this floor rise a uniform series of parallel ranges from 10 to 25 miles apart, and running north and south through the length of the State, but broken here and there by passes and branch valleys. In the southwestern portion they are almost worn away, leaving isolated knobs scattered over the plain. Some of these ranges rise above 9000 feet, while most of them are over 7000 feet high. The highest point in the State is Wheeler Peak, near the centre of the eastern boundary, with an altitude of 13,058 feet.
Hydrography. Since the surface of Nevada is a basin surrounded by mountains, a very small part of it drains into the ocean. In the extreme north rises the Uwyhee, a tributary of the Columbia River system, and the extreme southeastern portion drains into the Colorado, which flows on the southeastern boundary. A large part of the State, especially the south-central and southwestern portion, is without any rivers at all, the small streams running down the mountain slopes during the wet season being lost in the plains where the water evaporates. The principal river is the Humboldt, which rises in the northeastern corner and flows across the State to Humboldt Lake or Sink. Several rivers rise in the Sierra Nevada and flow into lakes and sinks in the west-central part of the State. Among these are Walker River, flowing into Walker Lake, Carson River, disappearing in Carson Sink, and the Truckee River, flowing from Lake Tahoe into Pyramid Lake. The last is the largest lake in the State and measures 35 miles in length by 10 miles in width. Lake Tahoe lies on the western boundary at an altitude of over 6000 feet. It is 21 miles long and 11 miles wide and of great depth. In the rainy season some of the level plains are covered for hundreds of square miles with water from a few inches to two feet deep, leaving in the dry season hardened mud flats sometimes covered with a coating of alkaline salts.
Climate. The climate is very dry and in general pleasant and healthful. The winters are not severe, and snow is confined chiefly to the mountains, where in some places it remains throughout the year. The mean temperature for January is 28°, and for July 71°. The maximum may rise above 110° and the minimum is about 30° below zero, though in the valleys it seldom falls more than 10° below. The winters are generally calm: violent winds are rare at any season. The average annual rainfall is about ten inches. This is very unevenly distributed both in regard to season and locality. Five-sixths of the total precipitation falls from December to May, and the greater part of it falls in high altitudes, the mountainous parts of Washoe County receiving 23 inches, while some valley districts are absolutely rainless.
For Flora and Fauna, see paragraphs on these topics under Rocky Mountains and United States.
Geology. The mountains of Nevada are originally due to extensive foldings and faultings of
