nymph EGERIA (q. v.), who lived
close by in a grotto, and to whom he had ever and anon recourse for
consultation; he was long revered in the Roman memory as the organiser of
the State and its civil and sacred institutions, and his reign was long
and peaceful.

NUMANTIA, an ancient Spanish town on a steep height on the Douro,
celebrated for the heroic defence maintained by its inhabitants against
the Romans, till from the thinning of its defenders by starvation and the
sword it was taken and destroyed by Scipio Africanus in 134 B.C.

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 Caesar 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).

NUeREMBERG (143), an interesting old Bavarian town on the Pegnitz, 95
m. N. of Muenich, is full of quaint and picturesque mediaeval architecture
in fine preservation; has valuable art collections, a fine lib