NODDY. 592 NODIER. diffused in both hemispheres, and familiar to sailors, as it not infrequently aliglits on vessels, and sutlers itself to be taken by the hand. At its breeding-places also, where not accustomed to the visits of man, it scarcely gets out of the way, and the female sits undisturbed on the nest; hence it commonly shares with the booby the reputation of unusual stupidity. The noddy is rare in the North Atlantic, but very abundant in warmer latitudes, and on some of the keys of the West Indies breeds in immense numbers, and the eggs are collected as food. NODE (from Fr. node, from Lat. nodus, knot). A small, circumscribed swelling which occurs upon the surfaces of the bones of the head and extremities. Nodes are nearly always due to syphilis. Another variety of node occurs in one form of arthritis deformans, and is called Heberden's nodosities. These bony tul)ercles appear upon the dorsal and lateral surfaces of the terminal jiha- langes of the fingers, and are incurable. They are most common in women and neurotic persons. NODE. An astrououiical term tised in con- ne<tion with planetary orbits. If we disregard certain small perturbations (q.v. ) of planetary motion, we may say that each planet moves in an elliptic curve, having the sun in one of its foci. This curve lies in a plane called the plane of the orbit ; and in the case of the earth this orbital plane is called the plane of the eclip- tic. Now, if these orbital planes are imag- ined extended to the celestial sjjhere, they will cut out upon it great circles, one correspond- ing to each orbital plane. Such a great cir- cle cut out by the plane of the earth's orbit is called the ecliptic (q.v.}. If we consider the ecliptic and the corresponding great circle belonging to any other planet, we shall find that they intersect at two points on opposite sides of the celestial sphere. These two points, in the case of any planet other than the earth, are called the tindcs of its orbit. Thus all the planetary nodes lie on the ecliptic circle; and the position of any node is given by stating its celestial longitude. (See L.titi'de AND LoNGiTiDE. ) This longitude of the node is one of the elements (q.v.) of a (danet's orbit. Since the two nodes are directly opposite one another, their longitides must ditl'er by exactly 180°, so that the longitude of the one being given, that of the other is known also. By com- 7non consent, astronomers select that one of the nodes whose longitude is to be given as an element of the orbit as the ascrnditiri node. This is the node corresponding to the |ia«sage of the planet from the south side of the ecliiitlc to the north side in the course of its orbital revolution around the sun. The other node is called the (/<- xrindiiifi node. The effect of planetary perturbations (q.v.) is to cause the nodes to move backward on the ecliptic. The rate of motion is very slow, the most rapid being in the ease of I'ranus, whose node will travel once around the ecliptic in .37.000 years, while that of ATercury will consume IGO,- 000 years in a single revolution. NODE, Noi).r, Points. When a string or metallic cord, under strong tension, is made to vi- brate, there are heard hc-ides the principal sound secondary and shriller sounds, which nre denomi- nated overtones or harmonic sounds, and arc pro- duced by a certain portion of the cord vibrating independently. Investigation shows that every vibrating string is divided into a number of seg- ments vibrating independently, and that the points which separate these portions from each other are at rest. These points are known as nodal points, and their situation may be found by placing small pieces of pa])er on a stretched string, and causing it to vibrate. When a string vibrating to its fimdamental note, that is as a unit, is touched at its middle point with a feath- er, it will immediately resolve itself into seg- ments of equal length vibrating twice as rapidly. The point where the string is touched with the feather being at rest would accordingly form a node, while the vibrating portions would be known as ventral segments. C'hladni discovered that if a plate of glass or metal be clamped at the centre and then be touched by tlic finger at some middle point on one of the sides, and a well- resined fiddle bow be drawn across the edge, par- ticles of fine dust or sand previously placed on the plate will arrange themselves in lines, show- ing that along these lines no vibration has taken place ; these lines are noditl lines, and are found in most cases to grovip themselves together into geometrical figures, and occasionally to jiresent the most beautiful designs. (See Culadni Kig- UBES.) The arrangement of the nodal lines de- pends on the point at which the plate is touched, and on the form of the plate itself. Similarly, a colunui of air vibrating in an open or closed organ pijie will divide itself into portions each in a state of vibration, and separated from one another by transver.se sectional portions in which the air is'at rest; these latter sections are known as nodal sections. In the open pipe the node is at the centre of the pipe, while in the closed pipe the node is at the end. See Acoustics. NO'DIAK (Papuan name). The Papuan spiny unt-cater. See Echidna. NODIER. n.Vdya'. Chabi.es (1780-1844). A I"n iich ]ihilo]ogist. novelist, ])oet, and critic, born at Hesangon. April 29, 1780. He studied at Strassburg. In 1802 he published Stella ou les proscrits, a novel after the manner of Rous- seau, and in 1803 Le peintrc de Sal ::hourg,. inspired by Goethe's Werthei: In 1804 appeared Essais d'un jeune baade : in 1815 the Histoire des sori<'le^ .<<eeretes de I'arniec. TriUip on le Latin dWrfinil came out in 1822. and the Ro- mantic School liegan to gather about Nodier in the salon of the Arsenal toward 182.3. Nodier, like most of the romantic writers, is in love with the sensational, exotic, and fantastic, and is fond of turning history into romance. In 1830 he put forth the ftoi de Bohfme el se.t sept elu'itcnuT, and in 1832 La ffe aux niiettes. a fairy tale. In 1S34 he became an .cademician. ten years after he had been made director of the Lilirary of the' .rscnal. He died in Paris. .January 20. 1844. Nodier outgrew his scntimentalism. and became through his./rn/i Shnijar (1818). Rutircn (1820), Smarra (1821). and Trilhii. the herald of roman- tic fiction in France. liertram oa le eln'iteau de .'^aint-Aldehriind. a tragedy, shows English in- llucncc. particularly that of Sir Walter Scott. His versatility is shown by his publication in ISOS of a Dietininmire rni.tnnni'- de.i onomatupfei (2d ed. 1828) and hy hH Diet ionnnire nnii-ersel de la Unique frnnenise (1823). .
edition in twelve
volumes of his CEuvrcs appeared in 1832-34. Con-
