N O R N O R 563 in the higher departments of art, as was indicated by Fuseli s caustic remark on examining the Angel opposing Balaam "Northcote, you are an angel at an ass, but an ass at an angel." The works of the artist number about two thousand. By unwearied diligence, combined with extreme frugality, he was enabled to accumulate, before his death on 13th July 1831, a fortune of 40,000. His works possess a certain dignity, and they tell their story clearly ; but they are marred by defective drawing and dull colour ing, and by the gross anachronisms and inconsistencies in costume common to the historical painters of the period. Northcote was emulous of fame as an author, and his first essays in literature were contributions to The Artist, edited by Mr Prince Hoare. In 1813 lie embodied his recollections of his old master in a Life of Reynolds. His Fables the first series published in 1828, the second posthu mously in 1833 were illustrated with woodcuts by Harvey from Northcote s own designs. In the production of his Life of Titian, his last work, which appeared in 1830, he was assisted by William Hazlitt, who previously, in 1826, had given to the public in the New Monthly Magazine his recollections of Northcote s pungent and cynical "conversations," the bitter personalities of which caused much trouble to the painter and his friends. NORTHFLEET, a village and urban sanitary district in the county of Kent, forming part of the parliamentary borough of Gravesend, is situated on the Thames and the North Kent Railway, 20 miles east of London and 2 west of Gravesend. The church of St Botolph, chiefly in the Later Decorated style, dates from the middle of the 13th century ; but the nave is of later date, and the old tower, having fallen down, was rebuilt in 1628. The church con tains a brass of the 14th century and other interesting monuments. The nave and chancel have undergone modern restoration. Huggens College, with residences for forty decayed gentry, was established in 1847. A factory club for the use of those engaged in the chemical works was opened in 1878. Besides chemical manufac tures there are chalk, lime, cement, and brick works, and a large shipbuilding yard. Rosherville pleasure-gardens are in the neighbourhood. The population of the urban sanitary district (3934 acres) in 1871 was 6515 and in 1881 it was 8790. NORTH SEA. The North Sea or German Ocean lies between Great Britain and the continent of Europe. It communicates with the North Atlantic by the Straits of Dover in the south, and by the Pentland Firth and the various openings between the Orkney and Shetland Islands in the north. Between the Shetlands and Nor way it passes by a wide opening into the sub-polar basin, now generally known as the NORWEGIAN SEA (q.v. of which indeed it may be regarded as a southern extension. It has communication with the Baltic by the Skagerrack and the Cattegat. The shores of the North Sea have from the earliest times been inhabited by brave and hardy races of men famous for their maritime exploits ; and at the present day it is surrounded by many of the most prosper ous and enterprising commercial nations, and is, in conse quence, one of the most important highways of the world. Its fisheries give employment to thousands of persons, and are the most valuable that exist. Lighthouses are situated on nearly every available point where they are required, and there are numerous light-ships along the coasts. The North Sea lies between the parallels of 51 and 61 N. lat. and 2 30 W. and 8 E. long., its greatest length being about 600 miles, its breadth (from St Abb s Head to the shores of Denmark) 360 miles, and its area about 140,000 square miles. It may be said to be without islands if we except the Orkneys, the Shetlands, and those islands which are situated along the coasts. Its coasts present considerable variety in appearance and geological formation. Scandinavia, composed of ancient rocks, is elevated, deeply indented by fjords, and skirted with num erous islands. The coasts of Britain are bold and rocky in the north, while towards the south they present a succes sion of low rocky or chalky cliffs and sandy beaches. Den mark, Germany, Holland, and Belgium have low shores, composed of recent formations, and deeply indented. Many parts of Holland and Belgium are indeed below the level of the sea, and are protected from inundation by artificial dykes and extensive natural sand dunes. The sea has repeatedly broken through these artificial and natural barriers and submerged large tracts of country. The Dollart Zee and the Zuyder Zee were formed in this way in 1277 and 1282. Some of the most important rivers of Europe enter the North Sea, as the Elbe, Weser, Ems, Rhine, Scheldt, Thames, Humber, Tyne, Tweed, Forth, and Tay. If we include the Baltic, which enters into it, we may regard the North Sea as receiving the drainage of about one-fourth of the European continent. Its greatest depth is in a deep gully following closely the trend of the southern portion of the Scandinavian pen insula, where soundings of 160, 200, 300, and 400 fathoms are common. It has been suggested that this deep gully, which extends into the Skagerrack, may have been the bed of a river at a time when the continent of Europe stood at a higher level, and that the Elbe and some of the other rivers now entering the Baltic and North Sea may have united and flowed into the Norwegian basin of the Atlantic through this depression. With the exception of this gully the depth of the North Sea is less than 100 fathoms. It is to be noticed, however, that the bottom of the whole basin is very irregular. The southern half is the shallower, and, generally speaking, the depths in this portion are greater on the eastern and western sides than in the centre, where the Dogger Bank is situated. On this bank the depth is from 8 to 16 fathoms, whereas in the " Silver Pit " immedi ately to the south there is a depth of 45 fathoms. Similar irregularities are met with in various other parts of this sea bed, and are called by the fishermen "pits" and "banks," with various distinguishing names. In the northern half the depth gradually increases towards the north, until a depth of 2000 fathoms is reached in the Norwegian Sea. It is probable that these irregularities met with in the bottom of the North Sea are chiefly due to the moraines and detrital matter left by the great glacier which filled it during the Glacial period. There are besides a great number of shoals and sandbanks lying along the coasts of Holland, Belgium, France, and Britain, which assume the form of ridges running in a direction nearly parallel to the shores, and consist of sand and detrital matter brought down by rivers and arranged apparently by tide streams. The deposits vary considerably in their composition. In the shallow parts a sand predominates, composed of frag ments of quartz, felspars, micas, hornblende, augite, mag netite, and calcareous fragments consisting of triturated pieces of mollusc shells, Echinoderms, Polyzoa, Alcyonarian spicules, calcareous Algae, and many Foraminif era. In the deeper water we generally find a mud or clay composed of the above-mentioned mineral and organic fragments, with the addition of fine argillaceous matter, very minute mineral particles, and Diatom frustules. In some places we have stones and gravel, and indeed stones may be met with in all the varieties of deposit. Fogs, mists, and rain occur at all seasons. The winds are variable, the moisture-laden winds from the south-west being the most prevalent, and storms are frequent. _The currents depend chiefly upon the direction of the winds, and the navigation is most difficult. The great tidal wave from the Atlantic on reaching the British Islands breaks into two portions, one passing through the Straits of Dover and the other round the north of Scotland into the North Sea. These two portions meeting produce nodal lines, where they partially neutralize each other, for instance in
