NAVEL, Starting of. To remedy this, take a slice of cork about the circumference of a shilling, and a little thicker; and having covered the projecting navel with a small circular piece of clean, soft linen, place the cork on the linen, strapping it into position by means of cross strips of white sticking plaster (simple lead plaster) over which the usual roller is to be adjusted. Be careful to have the plaster of sufficient length, and to see that it adheres tightly to the skin.
NEC′TAR. The fabled drink of the mythological deities. The name was formerly given to wine dulcified with honey; it is now occasionally applied to other sweet and pleasant beverages of a stimulating character. The following LIQUEURS are so called:—
Prep. 1. Chopped raisins, 2 lbs.; loaf sugar, 4 lbs.; boiling water, 2 galls.; mix, and stir frequently until cold, then add 2 lemons, sliced; proof spirit (brandy or rum), 3 pints; macerate in a covered vessel for 6 or 7 days, occasionally shaking, next strain with pressure, and let the strained liquid stand in a cold place for a week to clear; lastly, decant the clear portion, and bottle it.
2. Red ratafia, 3 gall.; oils of cassia and caraway, of each 25 drops (dissolved in); brandy, 1⁄2 pint; orange wine, 1 gall.; sliced oranges, 6 in no.; lump sugar, 2 lbs.; macerate for a week, decant and bottle. See Arrack (Factitious.)
NE′GUS. A well-known beverage, so named after its originator and patron, Colonel Negus. It is made of either port or sherry wine, mixed with about twice its bulk of hot water, sweetened with lump sugar, and flavoured with a little lemon juice and grated nutmeg, and a small fragment only of the yellow peel of the lemon. The addition of about 1 drop of essence of ambergris, or 8 or 10 drops of essence of vanilla, distributed between about a dozen glasses, improves it.
NEPEN′THE. A drink calculated to banish the remembrance of grief. In the “Odyssey” Homer describes Helen as administering it to Telemachus. Nothing is known respecting the composition of the ancient nepenthe. The name is applied to a preparation of opium by many old writers, and is now employed by a
Bristol firm to designate a preparation resembling in all essential points Battley’s ‘LIQUOR OPII SEDATIVUS,’
NER′VOUSNESS. The indescribable derangement of health, and the complication of disagreeable sensations which are popularly described under this name, quite as much deserve the serious attention of both patient and physician as any other affection to which the human frame is liable. Although, in itself, not a definite disease, it is indicative of the vital system being out of order, that its energies are failing or overtasked, and that the functions of some of its organs are languidly or imperfectly performed. This condition, if not removed, may gradually lead to the development of actual disease, and imperil life if the conditions whereon it is dependent be not detected and subdued.
The treatment of nervousness consists mainly in restoring the healthy action of the stomach and bowels, and in the use of proper exercise, especially in the open air. The stomach should not be overloaded with indigestible food, and the bowels should be occasionally relieved by the use of some mild aperient. Mental as well as bodily relaxation should be sought, and the pleasures without the vices of society should be indulged in as discretion and inclination may direct. Abernethy’s injunction to a nervous and dyspeptic lady, “Dismiss your servants, madam, and make your own beds,” should be recollected by all, and may be taken as a proof of the importance that eminent surgeon attached to exercise; his advice to the indolent and nervous dyspeptic should not be forgotten, “Live on sixpence a day—and earn it.” See Exercise, Flatulence, Hypochondriasis, Hysteria, Indigestion, &c.
NESSLER’S TEST for ammonia, &c. This, the most delicate test for ammonia, was devised by Nessler. It is prepared by saturating a solution of iodide of potassium with the biniodide of mercury, and then adding a weak solution of hydrate of sodium. The addition of a few drops of this solution, to one containing ammonia, produces a yellowish tint when only a trace of ammonia is present, but a dark brown precipitate when the ammonia is present in larger quantity. The composition of the precipitate may be represented thus:—NHg2I. A modification of this test is applied to the detection of wood spirit in common alcohol. A dilute solution of the iodides in question in pure alcohol is formed, in the proportion of 2 or 3 gr. of the salts to 100 c.c. of alcohol. About 4 c.c. of the suspected alcohol are taken, to which are added 2 or 3 drops of the test solution, a few drops of alcoholic ammonia, and, lastly, a little alcoholic potash; if wood spirit be present, the solution will remain clear, but if the alcohol be pure, the characteristic reddish brown precipitate will appear. The precipitate is soluble in acetone, which is always present in wood spirit.