Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/644

NICOMEDIA. 550 NICOYA. thp destruction of Astaeus (on the opposite side of the bay) by Lysimachus. Nicomedes made it the capital of the l;ingdom, and it soon became one of the most magnificent and Uourisliing cities in the East. Some of the later Komau Emperors, as Diocletian and Constantine the Great, selected it for their temporary residence. It suffered greatly both from earthquakes and the attacks of the Goths. Constantine died at a royal villa in the immediate vicinity. Hannibal ' committed suicide in a castle close by. It was the birthplace of the historian Arrian. The small town of Isniid or Isnikmid now occupies its site, and con- tain< many relics of ancient Xicomedia. NICOP'OLIS (Lat., from Gk. N«6jroXi5. A ifcop- olis). A town in Epirus, where Paul, in writing to Titus, stated that he designed to pass the winter (Titus iii. 12). It was founded in the year n.c. 31 by the Emperor Augustus, w-ho named it the 'City of Victory,' in commemora- tion of the victory won by him at Actium. He decided to make a great city of Xicopolis. gath- ered a large population into it, and instituted games which drew throngs there every fourth year. The question of Paul's visit to Xicopolis is bound up with the authenticity of the pastoral Epistles (i.e. the two letters to Timothy and the one to Titus. qf|.v.). Those who hold these to be authentic believe that Paul reached Xicopolis from Rome, preached there, arid was there ar- rested for the second time and sent to Rome, where he was tried a secoml time and condemned. The original site of Xicopolis is now deserted. Remains of it are still to be found. Another city, Prevesa (Map: Balkan Peninsula, C 5), situated about five miles distant from the original loca- tion of Xicopolis, is the historical successor of the older .-ity. •NICOPOLIS. A town of Bulgaria. See X'iko- POLI. NICOSIA, nO'k'pse'a (more common than the forms I.EI'KOSIA and Levkosi.v, of which H is a corruption). The capital and largest city of the island of Cyprus (Map: Turkey in Asia. E 5). It is the se:it of the British High Commissioner and of an arehbisliop of the Greek Church. It is situated in a barren i)l;un, a little nurtlieast of the centre of the island, on the river Pedias, which is dry most of the year. Tlie water supply of the city comes by aqueduct from the hills not far away. From a distance the high walls built by the Venetians and the beautiful Gothic cathedral, now- a mosque, render Xicosia at- tractive: but the streets are narrow and labyrinthine, and most of the buildings insig- nificant. The manufactures are silks, leallier, and woolen stnirs. Population, in ISOl, 12.51 "i; in l!tOI, 14.7r)2. The city first appears in history in the time of Constantine, who fortified it with walls that lasted until the Venetians replaced them. It became the capital under the Lusignan kings, to the first of whom, Guy de Lusignan. the island was giv<'n in 110.3 by Richard Cn>ir de Lion. Consult Lcrkosia, the Capilitl of ('t/jinis (London. 1881 ). NICOSIA, nfkA-ze'i'i. A city in the Province of Cal:inia. Sicily, situated in a mountainous region, on the Salso, 2.5 miles northeast of Cal- tanisHctta (Map: Italy. .T 10). The town is media'val in appearance and customs. It is the see of a bishop. :inil has a Gothic cathedral, sev- eral ancient churches, and quaint houses. It carries on some trade in corn, wine, oil, and cat- tle. Xear it are beds of alum, a rich mine of rock salt, and springs of petroleum. Population (com- mune), in 1001, 16,004. ! NICOT, ne'ko'. Jean, Sieur de Villemain 1 (looO-lOUU). A French diplomat, born at Xlmes. ' He was appointed by Francis II. Ambassador f to Portugal in 1560. During his residence at } Lisbon he obtained from a Flemish trader some "i seeds of the tobacco ]ilant, which he took back -l^ with him to France, where the plant was named ': yicotidiia in his honor. He published a llistoria ' Fraiicanim (1506), and a Trisor de la langue ^ frani-aisc (1606), one of the earliest French dic-'J tionaries. NICOTERA, ne-ko'tu-ra, Giovanni (1828- 04). -u Italian statesman, born at San Biase ' (Cakibria). He took an active part in the i Revolution of 1848-40, fought in Calabria and I Rome, and was afterwards taken prisoner at i Sanza and condemned to death. Through the inlluence of England this sentence was com- / muted to imprisonment for life. In 1860 he was ; set at liberty again, and joined Garibaldi. He was concerned in all of the political movements < of the succeeding years, and was at all times a '• stipportcr of Victor Ennnanuel. After the estab- lishment of the Kingdom of Italy, he was Min- ■ ister of the Interior under Depretis (1876-77), " and asain during the Premiership of Rudini . (1S01-!I2>. " ,' NICOTIANA. See Tobacco. , NICOTINE (Fr. nicotine, Sp. nicotiana, fromf Fr. iiicolidiic, tobacco, named in honor of Jean* i yicot). CwIInX";. One of the vegetable alkaloids that contain no oxj-gcn: it constitutes the active principle of the tobacco plant, in the leaves, roots, and seeds of which it occurs in combination with malic and citric acids. The smoke of burning tobacco-leaves contains but a mere trace, if any, of nicotine; which does not prove, however, that tobacco smoke is harmless, for its other ingre- dients are probably more or less injurious to health. Xicotine is a colorless, intensely poison- ous liquid, of specific gravitv 1.027 at 60° F. ; it boils at 466° F. (241° C.). evolves a very irritating odor of tobacco, csf)ecially on the ap- plication of heat, is very inllammable, and burns widi a smoky flame. It is moderately soluble in water, but dissolves j-eadily in alcohol and ether. If exposed to the air. it absorbs oxygen and becimics brown and ultimately solid. The quan- tity of nicotine contained in tobacco varies from 2 to 8 per cent.: the coarser kinds containing : the larger quantity, while the best Havana cigars ( seldom contain more than 2 jier cent., and often l less. Turkish tobacco scarcely contains any | nicotine at all. i The principal physiological cfTccts of even I minute doses of nicotine arc as follows: intense gastro-intestinal irritation, among the symptoms of which are nausea and vomiting, accompanied by great muscular weakness, a rapid, feeble pulse, coldness of extremities, and extreme gen- eral collapse: the motor nerves iind the respira- tion are rapidly paralyzed, and death may ensue within three minutes after taking a dose of the poiMin. See also Alkaloids. NICOYA, n^-ko'vA. Gui.f of. An inlet of the Pacific f)eean, on the west coast of Costa Rica, formed by a peninsula ending in Cape Blanco