NILES, a city of Trumbull county, Ohio, U.S.A., on the Mahoning river, at the mouth of the Meander and Mosquito creeks, about 55 m. E.S.E. of Cleveland. Pop. (1890) 4289; (1900) 7468 (2104 foreign-born); (1910) 8361. It is served by the Baltimore & Ohio, the Erie and the Pennsylvania railways, and by an interurban electric system. Coal and iron-ore are abundant in the vicinity, and the city’s principal manufactures are sheet steel, sheet iron, tin, metal lath, boilers and railway cars. The municipality owns and operates its waterworks and electric-lighting plant. Niles was settled in 1832, laid out in 1834, incorporated as a village in 1865 and chartered as a city in 1895. It was named (1834) in honour of Hezekiah Niles (1777–1839), the founder and editor of the weekly Niles’s Register (1811–1849).
NILGAI, or Nylghau (“blue bull”), the largest antelope
(Boselaphus tragocamelus) found in India, where it represents
the kudu and eland group of Agrica. Only the bulls have
horns, and these are short and insignificant. The general
colour of the old bulls is bluish grey, but younger bulls and
cows are browner. The nilgai is about the size of a mule (see
Antelope).
NILGIRIS, THE, or Neelgherries (Blue Mountains), a
range of hills in southern India. which gives its name to a district
of the Madras Presidency. The Nilgiris are really a plateau
rather than a range, rising abruptly from the plains on most
sides, with a general elevation of about 6500 ft. above the sea.
The District of the Nilgiris is the smallest administrative district in Madras. It formerly consisted exclusively of a mountain plateau lying at an average elevation of 6500 ft., with an area of about 725 sq. m. In 1873 this was increased by the addition of the Ochterlony valley in the south-east Wynaad, and again, in 1877, by other portions of the Wynaad, making a total area of 958 sq. m. The administrative headquarters is at Ootacamund, which is also the summer capital of the government of Madras. The summit of the Nilgiri hills is an undulating plateau, frequently breaking into lofty ridges and steep rocky eminences. The descent to the plains is sudden and abrupt, the average fall from the crest to the general level below being about 6000 ft., save on the north, where the base of the mountains rests upon the elevated land of Wynaad and Mysore, standing between 2000 and 3000 ft. above sea-level. The Ochterlony valley and Wynaad country consist of a series of broken valleys, once forest-clad throughout, but now studded with tea and coffee-gardens. The highest mountain peaks are—Dodabetta, 8760 ft.; Kudiakad, 8502; Bevoibetta, 8488; Makurti, 8402; Davarsolabetta, 8380; Kunda, 8353; Kundamoge, 7816; Ootacamund, 7361; Tambrabetta, 7292; Hokabetta, 7267. There are six well-known passes or ghats by which the district communicates with the neighbouring plains, three of which are practicable to wheeled traffic. The chief rivers are the Moyar, Paikara and Calicut, none of which are navigable. The forests consist of fine timber trees, such as sál (Shorea robusta), kino (Pterocarpus Marsupium), jack (Artocarpus integrifolia), blackwood (Dalbergia latifolia) and teak. Eucalyptus and Australian wattle have been extensively planted in the higher grounds of the Wynaad. The hills were first explored by British officers in 1814, and in 1821 the first English house was built on the plateau. The hill tribes include the Todas, the Badagas, the Kotas, the Kurumbas and the Irulas (q.v.). The total population of the district in 1901 was 111,437, showing an increase of 11·7% in the decade. The commercially important products are coffee, tea and cinchona. Coffee cultivation was introduced about 1844. One of its chief seats is the Ochterlony valley. The Madras government commenced the experimental cultivation of cinchona on the Nilgiris in 1860, and several private cinchona gardens were laid out, owing to the success of the government experiment. The climate of the Nilgiri hills is almost unrivalled for equability of temperature. The average is 58° F. The approach from the plains is by the branch of the Madras railway from Podanur to Mettapolliem, whence a metre-gauge line on the rack principle has been constructed to Coonoor, with an extension to Ootacamund. The chief educational institution is the Lawrence Asylum at Ootacamund maintained by government. The military quarters are at Wellington.
See Nilgiris District Gazetteer (Madras, 1908).
NILSSON, CHRISTINE (1843–), Swedish singer, was born
at Wederslöff, near Wexiö, Sweden, on the 20th of August 1843.
Her father was a poor working man, and she used as a girl to
sing and perform on the violin at popular gatherings. In 1857
a wealthy man, M. Tornérhjelm, perceiving the unusual beauty
of her voice while she was performing at a fair in Ljungby,
provided the means for giving her a proper musical education,
and in 1860 she was heard in the concert halls in Stockholm and
Upsala, and then went to Paris, where, after four years’ study,
she made her début in the role of Violetta at the Théâtre Lyrique
on the 27th of October 1864. Between that date and 1872, when
she married M. Auguste Rouzaud, she was the leading prima
donna. Her first appearance in London was in 1867. A year
later, on the 9th of March, she made her first appearance in the
Paris Opera House as Ophélie in Hamlet; and she visited the
United States in 1870. She sang in St Petersburg in 1872;
in America in 1873–1874 and in 1882; in Germany and
Austria between 1876 and 1877; and in the next few years in
Spain and Scandinavia; but after her marriage her appearances
in public were rare. M. Rouzaud died in 1882, and five years
afterwards Madame Nilsson married Count A. de Casa Miranda,
and finally retired from the stage.
NIMAR, a district of British India, in the Nerbudda division
of the Central Provinces. The administrative headquarters are
at Khandwa; but the capital in Mahommedan times was
Burhanpur. Area, 4273 sq. m. Pop. (1901) 329,615, showing
an increase of 14·2% in the decade. The district consists of two
portions of the Nerbudda and Tapti valleys, separated by a
section of the Satpura range, about 15 m. in breadth. On the
highest peak, about 850 ft. above the plain and 1800 above
sea-level, stands the fortress of Asirgarh, commanding a pass
which has for centuries been the chief highway between Upper
India and the Deccan. The district contains extensive forests,
but the only tract reserved by government is the Punasa forest,
which extends for about 120 m. along the south bank of the
Nerbudda, and contains young teak, besides sáj (Terminalia
tomentosa) and anjan (Hardwickia binata). The staple crops are
cotton and millet; ganja or Indian hemp is also allowed to be
grown under government supervision. The Great Indian Peninsula
railway runs through the district, and a branch of the
Rajputana line from Indore joins it at Khandwa. There are
factories for ginning and pressing cotton at Khandwa, and
manufacture of gold-embroidered cloth at Burhanpur.
The name Nimar, derived from that of the ancient province, is also applied to a district in the state of Indore, lying W. of the British district on both banks of the Nerbudda. Area, 3871 sq. m.; pop. (1901) 257,110. From 1823 onwards this tract, then belonging to Sindhia, was under British management; in 1861 it was ceded in full sovereignty to the British, but in 1867 it passed to Holkar as the result of an exchange of territory.
See Nimar District Gazetteer (Allahabad, 1908).
NÎMES, a city of southern France, capital of the department of Gard, 174 m. S. by W. of Lyons on the Paris-Lyon railway, between Avignon and Montpellier. Pop. (1906) 70,708. Nîmes, important alike for its industries and for its archaeological treasures, lies at the foot of the Garrigues, a range of stony and barren hills which limit it on the north and west. The most prominent of these is the Mont Cavalier, the summit of which is crowned by the Tour Magne, a ruined Roman tower commanding a fine view of the town and its surroundings. To the south and east the town overlooks the monotonous plain traversed by the Vistre, and for the most part given over to the cultivation of the vine. Nîmes covers a large area, owing to the fact that its population is housed in low buildings, not in the lofty tenements which are found in most of the industrial towns of France. The central and oldest part is encircled by shady boulevards, which occupy the site of the old fortifications. Here are to be found the majority of the Roman remains for which Nîmes is remarkable. The most celebrated is the amphitheatre, the best preserved
