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NOSTRILS, are two apertures or cavities of the nose, throughWhich the air passes, and which serve to convey odours, and tocarry off the piluitous matter separated in the sinus oi' the base olthe cranium. These apertures are divided from each other by acartilage : they are lined with a very sensible membrane, andanswer the conjoint purposes of smelling, respiration, ai.d speech.As the delicate membrane which lines the nostrils, is the commonintegument of the mouth, and other interior vessels, it will bereadily conceived, that its exposure to sudden changes ot' tem-perature, must be produc tive of injurious consequences. Hencethe necessity of guarding against cold, when hastily leaving thelire-sfde for encountering the frosty air of winter, or returningfrom the latter to a heated room. Although the frequent coldsand catarrhs are generally considered as trivial, and too oftenneglected, yet we are persuaded, that by far the greater num-ber of consumptive and asthmatic sufferers date the period oftheir declining health from such inattention. We therefore re-commend to those who are yet susceptible of advice, previously■Jo exposing themselves to a damp, cold, or sharp air, to spend atew minutes in a cool, temperate room, or to apply a handker-chief to the mouth, when suddenly coming in contact with theexternal air, till thev become gradually accustomed to its stimu-lus. Thus, we doubt not, many complaints of serious consequen-ces might be easily prevented.

NOS1RUM, denotes any medicine the composition of whichis supposed to be secret, ami confined to the knowledge of one ora few individuals.

NOT GUILTY, is the general issue or plea of the defendantin any criminal action or prosecution ; as also in an action of tres-pass, or upon the cast: for deceits and wrongs ; but not on a pro-mise or assumpsit. It is the usual defence where the party com-plains of a wrongful injury done to him.

NOTyE, signs used in writing, which ha'e the force of manyletters. This contrivance for expedition is of great antiquity. Itwas known to the Greeks, and from them derived to the Romans.11 v whom the invention was brought into Rome is not preciselyascertained; but the most general opinion is, that in matters ofimportance Tullv first made use of notes or short-hand-writing,when Cato made an oration in order to oppose Julius Cicsar re-lative to the conspiracy of Gatiline. Cicero , who was at that timeconsul, placed notarii, or expert short-hand-writers, in differentparts of the senate-house, to lake down the speech; and this wasthe first public occasion which we find recorded of employingshort-band writers among the Romans. lienee was derived theterm notary still in use. There were three kinds of notes for short-hand-writing used by the ancients, either for dispatch or secrecy.The first and most ancient was that of hieroglyphics, which arcrather images or representations of things than of words. SeeHieroglyphics. The Chinese characters are of this kind, andmay with greater propriety he called nota: than liter*. The se-cond species of notes were called singular!*, from their expressing'words by single letters. The third kind of notes were called not*Tironianx, from Tiro the freed-man of Cicero , who was excel-lently skilled in this art; and to him we are indebted for the pre-servation of Cicero ’s letters, of which a great part still remain, andone entire book of them written to Tiro himself.

NOTARII , persons employed by the ancient Romans to take,byjiotx, trials and pleadings'in their courts of judicature, or towrite as amanuenses from the mouth of an author. These notariiwere of servile condition. Under the reign of J ustinian, they wereformed into a college or corporate body. Notarii were also ap-pointed to attend the prefects, to transcribe for them.

NOTARY, usually a scrivener, who frames short draughts ofcontracts, obligations, charter-parties, or other writings. We callhim a notary public, who publicly attests deeds or writings, inorder to make them authentic in another nation ; but he is princi-pally employed in business concerning merchants ; as making pro-tests of bills of exchange, &c. And noting a bill is where he goesto take notice of a merchant’s refusal to accept or pay thesame.

NOTATION, in arithmetic and algebra the method of ex-pressing numbers or quantities by signs or characters appropriatedfor that purpose. See Algebra, and Arithmetic .

NOTCH CAPE, a promontory in the Straits, of Magellan,<tm the W. point of Goodluck Bay. Lon. 74. 34. W. Lat. 53. 33.S.

NOTCH ENCONG, a town of Hindostan, in Berar, 47 milesS. W. of Nagpour. Lon. 79. 17. E. Lat. 20. 32. N.

NOTCH \V ELI). See Atripi.kx.

NOTE, [nota, Lat.] is used for a character or abbreviature,serving to denote or express something in a little compass.

Notes, in music, characters which mark the sounds; i. e. theelevations and failings of (he voice, and (he swiftness and slownessot its motions. In general, under notes are comprehended all thesigns or characters used in music, though in propriety the woydonly implies the marks which denote the degrees of gravity andacuteness to be given to each sound. See Music-.

Note is likewise used for a mark made in a book or writingwdiere there occurs something remarkable and worthy of particularnotice: as also for an observation or explication of some passagein an author.added in the margin, at the bottom of the page, orelsewhere, by an editor, in which sense it stands contradistinguishedto (ext. The notes make the principal difference in the editionsof classic, &c. authors. We have V irgil, Horace, Terence, &c.with Dacier ’s notes, Dauphin's notes, not* variorum, Ac.

Note is also a minute, or short writing, containing some articleof business, in which sense we say, promissory note, note of hand,bank-note, Ac.

Note a Bill. See Notary, Protest, and Bill.

Note of a Tine, in law, an abstract of the fine or contract madeby the chirographer, before the same is engrossed.

NOTHING, [nihil, Lat.] The schoolmen distinguish betweennothing taken strictly, being that which is impossible, or impliesa contradiction ; and nothing taken more generally, being appliedboth to wluit is possible and impossible. Again, they distinguishnothing into negative, which is the absence of reality in any sub-ject ; and privative, whicb is the absence ot reality in a subject ca-pable thereof, or wherein it ought to be found.

NOTI1US, [»o8ar, Gr.] signifies spurious, or bastard ; whenceit is figuratively applied by physicians to such diseases as, thoughin respect of a similitude of symptoms, &c. they have the samedenomination as some others, yet are ot a different origin, seat, or.the like, from the same.

NOTICE, in law, is the making of something known that aman was or might be ignorant of before, and it produces diverseffects; for by it the party that gives the same shall have somebenefit, which otherw ise he should not have had : and. by ibismeans Ike party to whom the notice is given is made subject tosome action or charge, that otherwise he would not have been lia-ble to, and bis estate in danger of prejudice. Co. Lit. 309. Theplaintiff and deftridant are both bound at their peril to take noticeof the general rules of the practice of the court; but if there is aspecial particular rule of court made for the plaintiff, or for the de-fendant, he for whom the rule is made ought to give notice of thisrule to the other; or else he is not bound generally to take noticeof it, nor shall be in contempt of the court although he does notobey it. 2 L. P. R. 204.

NOTION, a word which in common language is considered asof the same import with idea. This, however, is improper. Ideais derived from ulur, to see; notion from nosco, navi, notum, toknow. In the original sense of the words, therefore notion ismuch more comprehensive than idea, because we know manythings which cannot be seen. We have a notion ot spirit, ofpower, of solidity; but of these things we can have no ideas.Ideas are relics of sensation; but there are objects of knowledgewhich fall under the cognizance of no sense ; of these objects,however, we may have very distinct notions either direct or rela-tive. Mr. Boswell records in bis Life of Johnson, that that greatlexicographer “ was particularly indignant against the almost uni-versal use of the word idea in the sense of notion or opinion, whenit is clear that idea can only signify something of which an imagemay be formed in the mind. We may have an idea or image ofa mountain, a tree, or a building ; but we cannot surely have anirlea or image of an argument or proposition. Yet we hear thesages of the law delivering their ideas upon the question underconsideration, and the first speakers in parliament entirely coin-ciding in the idea, so ably stated,” &c. See Logic , and Meta-physics.

NOTITIA, in literary history, a book that gives an account ofa particular country, city, or other place: such is the Nolitia Im-perii Romani, Notitia Horn* Antique, &c.

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