[Numbers, Book of], the fourth book of the Pentateuch, and so called from the two numberings of the people, one at the beginning and the other at the close of the period it embraces; it embraces a period of 38 years, and continues the narrative from the departure of the camp of Israel out of the wilderness of Sinai to its arrival on the borders of Canaan, and relates an account of the preparations for the march, of the march itself, and of the preparations for the conquest.
[Numidia] (i. e. land of Nomads), ancient country in North Africa, nearly co-extensive with Algiers, the inhabitants of which were of the Berber race, were brave but treacherous, and excelled in horsemanship; sided at first with the Carthaginians in the [Punic Wars] (q. v.), and finally with Rome, till the country itself was reduced by Cæsar to a Roman province.
[Numismatics], the name given to the study and science of coins and medals.
[Numitor], a legendary king of Alba Longa, in Italy, and the grandfather of Romulus and Remus.
[Nuneaton] (12), a thriving market-town of Warwickshire, on the river Anker and the Coventry Canal, 22 m. E. of Birmingham; has a Gothic church; cotton, woollen, and worsted spinning is the chief industry; was the scene of George Eliot's education.
[Nur ed-Din, Mahmoud], sultan of Syria, born at Damascus; the extension of his empire over Syria led to the Second Crusade, preached by St. Bernard; compelled the Crusaders to raise the siege of Damascus, which he made his capital; called to interfere in the affairs of Egypt, he conquered it, and made it his own, a sovereignty which [Saladin] (q. v.) disputed, and which Nur ed-Din was preparing to reassert when he died (1117-1178).
[Nüremberg] (143), an interesting old Bavarian town on the Pegnitz, 95 m. N. of Münich, is full of quaint and picturesque mediæval architecture in fine preservation; has valuable art collections, a fine library, and a museum; is noted for the production of watches, toys, wood, metal, bone carvings, beer, and chemicals, and exports large quantities of hops; was made a free imperial city in 1219, and retained independence up to 1806.
[Nutation], name given to a slight oscillatory movement noticeable in the celestial pole of the earth, due to the latter not being a perfect sphere.
[Nyanza, Albert]. See [Albert Nyanza].
[Nyanza, Victoria], a large lake of Central Africa, in the Nile basin, at the sources of the river, and S. of the preceding, equal in extent to the area of Scotland, at an elevation of 3890 ft.; discovered by Captain Speke in 1858, and sailed round by Stanley in 1875.