  We discuss dust properties in the interstellar medium (ISM) of nearby normal
galaxies, by comparing observations in the ultraviolet (UV) with simulations by
a radiative transfer model. The observed UV colours of nearby galaxies show a
reddening relative to their expected intrinsic colours. Some authors argued
that the Milky Way dust cannot reproduce the reddening because of the prominent
2175 \AA absorption bump. Other authors proposed a reduction mechanism of the
bump strength in an {\it attenuation law} derived from the ratio of the
observed intensity to the intrinsic one through an age-selective attenuation
(i.e., young stars are more attenuated selectively). We newly find that the
wavelength dependence of the scattering albedo also has a strong effect on the
UV colour; an albedo decreasing toward shorter wavelengths (except for the
absorption bump range) produces a significant UV reddening. After comparing the
observed UV colours of nearby normal galaxies with those expected from
radiative transfer simulations assumed several dust models, we find two sorts
of dust suitable for these galaxies: (1) dust with a bump and a smaller albedo
for a shorter wavelength (except for the bump range), and (2) dust without any
bump but with an almost constant albedo. If very small carbonaceous grains
responsible for the common unidentified infrared emission band are also the
bump carrier, the former dust is favorable. Finally, we derive mean attenuation
laws of various dust models as a function of the UV attenuation, and derive
some relations between the UV attenuation and observable/theoretical
quantities.
