# The Nuttall Encyclopædia/I

I
Iachimo, an arch-villain in Shakespeare's “Cymbeline,” who attempts to violate the chastity of Imogen.
Iachus, the son of Zeus and Demeter, and the solemn name of Bacchus in the Eleusinian Mysteries.
Iago, a cool, selfish, malignant, subtle, evil-scheming knave in “Othello,” his “ancient” or ensign, who poisoned his mind against Desdemona.
Iamblichus, a Neo-Platonic philosopher of the 4th century, in the time of Constantine, struggled, as it proved, in vain for the revival of Greek philosophy, in the hope of thereby stemming the advance of Christianity.
Iambus, a metrical foot, consisting of two syllables, of which the first is short and the second long, or in which the stress is on the second.
Iapetos, in the Greek mythology a Titan, father of Atlas, Prometheus, and Epimetheus, as the Greeks fabled the ancestor of the human race.
Iberia, the ancient and still poetic name of Spain; anciently also a territory inhabited by an agricultural population between the Black Sea and the Caspian, now called Georgia.
Ibis, the Nile bird, regarded as an avatar of deity, and held sacred by the Egyptians; it did not breed in Egypt, and was supposed to be of mystic origin; it arrives in Egypt when the Nile begins to rise.
Ibrahim Bey, chief of the Mamelukes of Egypt at the time of Bonaparte's expedition to Egypt in 1798 (1789-1816).
Ibrahim Pasha, viceroy of Egypt, son and successor of Mehemet-Ali; appointed generalissimo of the Egyptian army, remodelled it after the French fashion; was leader of the Turks against the Greeks; gained several victories over them in 1828, but was obliged to retire; overran and conquered Syria from the Sultan, but was forced by the Powers to surrender his conquest and restore it; he was Viceroy of Egypt only for a single year, and died at Cairo (1789-1848).
Ibsen, Henrik, Norwegian dramatist and poet, born at Skein, in Norway; bred to medicine; is author of a succession of plays of a new type, commencing with “Catalina,” a poor attempt, followed by “Doll's House,” “Ghosts,” “Pillars of Society,” and “Brand,” deemed his masterpiece, besides others; his characters are vividly drawn as if from life; he is a psychologist, and his productions have all more or less a social bearing; b. 1828.
Ibycus, a Greek lyric poet, who was murdered by robbers, and who appealed to a flock of cranes that flew past before he died to avenge his death, and that proved the means of the discovery of the murderers.
Icarus, son of Dædalus (q. v.), who, flying with his father from Crete on wax-fastened wings, soared so high that the sun melted the wax and he dropped into the sea, giving name to that part of it.
Ice blink, the name given to a white light seen on the horizon, due to reflection from a field of ice immediately beyond.
Iceland (71), a volcanic island larger by a third than Scotland, lying just S. of the polar circle, between Greenland and Norway, distant 250 m. from the former and 500 from the latter; consists of a plateau 2000 ft. high, sometimes sloping to the sea, sometimes ending in sheer precipices, from which rise numerous snow-clad volcanoes, some, like Hecla, still active. “A wild land of barrenness and lava,” Carlyle characterises it, “swallowed up many months of the year in black tempests, yet with a wild gleaming beauty in summer time, towering up there stern and grim, with its snow jokuls and roaring geysers, and horrid volcanic chasms, like the waste chaotic battlefield of frost and fire.” The interior comprises lava and sand tracts, and ice-fields, but outside these are river valleys and lake districts affording pasturage, and arable land capable of producing root crops. The climate is changeable, mild for the latitude, but somewhat colder than Scotland. There are few trees, and these small; cranberries grow among the heather, and Iceland moss is a plentiful article of food. The island exports sheep and ponies; the fisheries are important, including cod, seals, and whales; sulphur and coal are found; the hot springs are famous, especially the Great Geyser, near Hecla. Discovered by Irishmen and colonised by Norwegians in the 9th century, Iceland passed over to the Danes in 1388, who granted it home rule in 1893. The religion has been Protestant since 1550; its elementary education is excellent. Reykjavik (3) is the capital; two towns have 500 inhabitants each; the rest of the population is scattered in isolated farms; stock-raising and fishing are the principal industries, and the manufacture of homespun for their own use.
Ich dien (I serve), the motto of the Black Prince, adopted from John of Bohemia, and since then that of the English Prince of Wales.
Ichneumon, an animal of the weasel tribe, worshipped in Egypt from its destroying the eggs of noxious reptiles, and of the crocodile in particular.
Ichor, an ethereal fluid presumed to supply the place of blood in the veins of the Greek gods.
Ichthyosaurus (lit. a fish-reptile), an extinct marine reptile in the shape of a fish, its limbs paddles, and with a long lizard-like tail.
Iconium, the capital of Lycaonia, in Asia Minor, a flourishing city in St. Paul's time, who planted a church there, and of importance in the time of the Crusades; is now named Konieh.
Iconoclasts (i. e. breakers of images), the name given to a sect who, in the 8th century, opposed to the presence of images in churches and the worship paid to them, set about the demolition of them as savouring of idolatry, and even in 730 obtained a papal decree or condemnation of the practice; the enthusiasm died out in the next century, but the effect of it was felt in a controversy, which led to the separation of the Church of the East from that of the West.
Ictinus, great Greek architect of the 5th century B.C., a contemporary of Pericles, designer of temples at Bussæ and Eleusis, and joint-designer with Callicrates of the world's one perfect building, the Parthenon, at Athens (437 B.C.).
Ida, the name of two mountains in the East, one in Crete, on which Zeus was brought up in a cave near it, and one in Asia Minor, near Troy, “Woody Ida,” the scene of the rape of Ganymedes and of the judgment of Paris, also a seat of Cybele worship.
Idaho (88), one of the north-western States of the American Union, surrounded by Washington and Oregon in the W., Nevada and Utah in the S., Wyoming in the E., and Montana, from which it is separated by a branch of the Rocky Mountains, in the NE., the short northern boundary touches Canada; the country is traversed by lofty mountain ranges cut up into deep river valleys and cañons, is extremely rugged in its northern parts, and chiefly useful for cattle-raising; there is a plateau in the centre, some arid prairie land in the S., and lake districts in the N. and in the SE.; grain farming is restricted to fringes along the river banks; the Snake River flows through the whole S.; silver, lead, gold, and copper mines are wrought successfully, and coal is found; the State was admitted to the Union in 1890; a fifth of the population are Mormons; there are still 4000 Indians. Boisé City (2) is the capital.
Iddesleigh, Earl Of, Sir Stafford Northcote, Conservative financier and statesman, born in London of old Devonshire stock; educated at Oxford; became private secretary to Mr. Gladstone in 1842, and five years later was called to the bar; entering Parliament in 1885, he sat in succession for Dudley, for Stamford, and for North Devon; under Lord Derby he was Financial Secretary to the Treasury in 1859, and President of the Board of Trade in 1866; under Disraeli he was at the India Office in 1868, and Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1874; he succeeded Disraeli in the leadership of the Commons, and was raised to the peerage in 1885; was successively First Lord of the Treasury and Foreign Secretary under Lord Salisbury; in 1871 Mr. Gladstone appointed him Commissioner in the settlement of the Alabama claim, and he was elected Lord Hector of Edinburgh University in 1883; resigning from the Foreign Office in January 1887, he died suddenly a few days later at the Prime Minister's residence (1818-1887).
Idealism, that view of the universe which, in opposition to Materialism (q. v.), refers everything to and derives everything from a spiritual root; is Subjective if traced no further back than the ego, and Objective if traced back to the non-ego likewise, its counterpart, or other, in the objective world. Idealism in art is art more or less at work in the region of the ideal in comparative disregard of the actual.
Ideler, Christian Ludwig, a German astronomer, born in Prussia; an authority on chronology, on which he wrote a handbook, as also a work on the reckoning of time among the Chinese (1766-1846).
Identical Note, a term in diplomacy to denote terms agreed upon by two Powers to coerce a third.
Ides, the name given in the Roman calendar to certain days that divide the month; in March, May, July, and October they fall on the 15th, in the rest on the 13th.
Idolatry, worship paid to a mere symbol of the divine while the heart is dead to all sense of that which it symbolises; a species of offence against the Most High, of which many are flagrantly guilty who affect to regard with pity the worshipper of idols of wood or stone. “Idolatry,” says Buskin, apropos of Carlyle's well-known doctrine, “is summed up in the one broad wickedness of refusing to worship Force and resolving to worship No-Force; denying the Almighty, and bowing down to four-and-twopence with a stamp on it.”
Idomeneus, king of Crete, grandson of Minos, and a hero of the Greeks in the war with Troy.
Idris, a giant, prince, and astronomer of Welsh tradition, whose rock-hewn chair on the summit of Cader Idris was supposed to mete out to the bard who spent a night upon it death, madness, or poetic inspiration.
Idumæa. See Edom.
Iduna, a Scandinavian goddess who kept a box of golden apples which the gods tasted when they wished to renew their youth; she was carried off one day, but being sent for by the gods, came back changed into a falcon.
Idyll, a poem in celebration of everyday life or life in everyday costume amid natural, often pastoral and even romantic, and at times tragic surroundings.
If, an islet in the Gulf of Marseilles, with a castle built by Francis I., and afterwards used as a State prison.
Iggdrasil the Tree of Existence, as conceived of by the Norse, and reflecting the Norse idea of the universe, “has its roots deep down in the kingdoms of Hela, or Death; its trunk reaches up heaven-high, and spreads its boughs over the whole universe. At the foot of it, in the Death-Kingdom, sit the Three Nornas (q. v.) watering its roots from the sacred Well.”
Ignatieff, Nicholas, Russian general and diplomatist, born at St. Petersburg; was ambassador at Pekin in 1859, and at Constantinople in 1864, and secured at both posts important concessions to Russia; he is a zealous Panslavist and Anti-Semite, too much so to carry with him the support of the country; b. 1832.
Ignatius, Father, the name by which the Rev. Joseph Lyne is known, born in London, educated at St. Paul's School and Glenalmond; commenced a movement to introduce monasticism into the Church of England, and built a monastery for monks and nuns near Llanthony Abbey, the members of which follow the rule and wear the garb of the Order of St. Benedict; b. 1837.
Ignatius, St., surnamed Theophoros, an Apostolic Father of the Church, Bishop of Antioch; died a martyr at Rome about 115, by exposure to wild beasts, in the amphitheatre; is represented in Christian art as accompanied by lions, or exposed to them chained; left epistles which, if genuine as we have them, establish prelacy as the order of government in the primitive Church, and lay especial stress on the twofold nature of Christ.
Ignatius Loyola. See Loyola.
Ignorantines, a Jesuit association in the Roman Catholic Church founded in 1724, who give instruction to poor children gratis, with the object of winning them over to the Catholic faith.
Ihre, Johan, a learned Swedish philologist, born at Lund, of Scotch descent; was 40 years professor of Rhetoric and Political Economy at Upsala, and was the founder of Swedish philology (1707-1780).
Ile de France, the province of France of which Paris is the capital; was also formerly the name of Mauritius.
Ile du Diable, an island off the coast of French Guiana, where Captain Dreyfus was confined.
Ilfracombe, a popular watering-place on the coast of N. Devon, in the Bristol Channel; once a considerable place.
Iliad, the great epic poem of Homer, consisting of 24 books, the subject of which is the “wrath of Achilles” (q. v.), and the events which followed during the last year of the ten years' Trojan War, so called from Ilion, one of the names of Troy. See Ilium.
Ilithyia, the Greek goddess who presided over the travail of woman at childbirth, promoting or retarding the birth as the Fates might ordain.
Ilium, Troy (q. v.), so called from Ilus, the son of Tros, who founded the city.
Illinois (3,826), an American State as large as England and Wales; has the Mississippi for its western, the Ohio for its southern boundary, with Wisconsin and Lake Michigan in the N. and Indiana on the E.; fourth in population, seventeenth in area; “the Prairie State” is level, well watered, and extremely fertile; has a climate subject to extremes, but, except in the swamps, healthy. It produces enormous quantities of wheat, besides other cereals, of tobacco and temperate fruits. Flour-milling, pork-packing, and distilling are the chief industries. The most extensive coal-deposits in America are in this State; with navigable rivers on its borders, and traversing it Lake Michigan, a great canal, and the largest railway system in the Union, it is admirably situated for commercial development; originally acquired by Britain from the French, who entered it from Canada; it was ceded to the Americans in 1783, and admitted to the Union 1818; the State spends $12,000,000 annually on education, which is compulsory, and has a large and wealthy scientific and agricultural university at Urbana. Springfield (25) is the capital; but Chicago (1,100) is the largest city.
Illuminated Doctor, a title bestowed on Raymond Lully (q. v.).
Illuminati, a class or fraternity of people who affect superior enlightenment, particularly on religious and social matters, tending of late in the one to Deism, and in the other to Republicanism, in France forming a body of materialists, and in Germany a body of idealists; the former to the disparagement of ideas, and the latter to the disparagement of reason, and both hostile to the Church.
Illumination, The, the name given to the “advanced” thinking class who pride themselves in their emancipation from all authority in spiritual matters, the assumption of which they regard as an outrage not only against the right of private judgment, but the very constitution of man, which, they argue, is violated when respect is not before all paid to individual conviction. See Aufklärung.
Illyria, the name anciently given to a broad stretch of mountainous country of varying extent lying E. of the Adriatic Sea. The Illyrians were the last Balkan people to be civilised; becoming a Roman province 35 B.C., Illyria furnished several emperors, among them the notorious Diocletian. Constantine extended the province to include all the country S. of the Danube; at the division of the empire, Greece and Macedonia went to the East, the rest to the West; the name was revived by Napoleon, but has since been dropped.
Ilus, a legendary king of Troy, the grandson of Dardanus, and the founder of Ilium.
Image Worship in the Christian Church is reverence, as distinct from the supreme adoration of the Deity, paid to the crucifix and to pictures, images, or statues of saints and martyrs, and understood really as offered through these to the personages whom they represent. The practice, unknown in apostolic or sub-apostolic times, was prevalent in the 4th century, provoked by its excesses a severe reaction in the 8th century, but carefully defined by the second Council of Nice (787), has continued since both in the Greek and Roman communion; there is still controversy as to its propriety in the Anglican Church; the Lutherans still use the crucifix freely, but other Protestant Churches have entirely repudiated the practice. See Iconoclasts.
Imaginary Conversations, a remarkable work by Landor, in 6 vols., much appreciated by many.
Imagination, the name appropriate to the highest faculty of man, and defined by Ruskin as “mental creation,” in the exercise of which the human being discharges his highest function as a responsible being, “the defect of which on common minds it is the main use,” says Ruskin, “of works of fiction, and of the drama, as far as possible, to supply.”
Imâm is the title of the officer who leads the devotions in Mohammedan mosques, and in Turkey conducts marriage and funeral services, as well as performs the ceremonies connected with circumcision; the office was filled and the title borne by Mahomet, hence it sometimes signifies head of the faith, and is so applied to the Sultan of Turkey; good Mohammedans believe in the future advent of an Imâm—the hidden Imâm—who shall be greater than the Prophet himself.
Imaus, a name the ancients gave to any large mountain chain in Asia, more particularly one bordering on India, or looking down upon it, as the home of the Aryans.
Imitation of Christ, a book of pious reflections, unique in its kind, and much esteemed by piously thoughtful people; ascribed to Thomas à Kempis (q. v.).
Immaculate Conception, the doctrine held by the Roman Catholic Church that the Virgin Mary was conceived and born without taint of sin; first distinctly propounded in the 12th century, at which time a festival was introduced in celebration of it, and which became matter of dispute in the 14th century, and it was only in 1854 that it became by a bull an article of the Catholic faith.
Immanence, the idea that the creative intelligence which made, with the regulative intelligence which governs, the universe, is inherent in it and pervades it.
Immensities, Centre of, an expression of Carlyle's to signify that wherever any one is, he is in touch with the whole universe of being, and is, if he knew it, as near the heart of it there as anywhere else he can be.
Immensity, The Temple of, the universe as felt to be in every corner of it a temple consecrated to worship in with wonder and awe.
Immermann, Karl Leberecht, German novelist and dramatist, born at Magdeburg; fought at Waterloo; entered the public service of Prussia and obtained an appointment at Düsseldorf, where he died; his fame rests upon his miscellaneous tales and satirical novels, such as “Münchausen”; his dramas consisted of both tragedies and comedies (1796-1840).
Immortality, the doctrine of the continued existence of the soul of each individual after death, a doctrine the belief of which is, in one form or another, common to most religious systems; even to those which contemplate absorption in the Deity as the final goal of existence, as is evident from the prevalence in them of the doctrine of transmigration or reincarnation.
Immortals, a regiment of 10,000 foot soldiers who formed the bodyguard of the ancient Persian kings; the name given to the 40 members of the French Academy.
Imogen, the daughter of Cymbeline, in Shakespeare's play of the name, a perfect female character, pronounced “the most tender and the most artless of all Shakespeare's women.”
Imo`la (12), a town in Italy, 10 m. N. of Faenza, with some fine palaces; manufactures leather, glass, silk, &c.
Impanation, a name employed to denote the union of the body of Christ with the bread of the Eucharist.
Impenetrability, the name given to that quality of matter whereby two bodies cannot occupy the same space at the same time.
Imperative, The Categorical. See Categorical.
Imperial Federation, name given to a scheme for uniting more closely together the several interests of the British Empire.
Imperial Institute, South Kensington, founded by the exertions of the Prince of Wales in 1887 to commemorate Queen Victoria's jubilee, was opened by her in 1893; was intended to include a complete collection of the products of the British Empire, a grand commercial intelligence bureau, and a school of modern Oriental languages; the government to be carried on by a chartered body, whose form of constitution was granted by a royal warrant of date April 21, 1891; the idea is for the present abandoned, and the premises appropriated as henceforth the seat of the London University.
Imperialism, the name given by English politicians to the policy which aims at the consolidation into one empire of all the colonies and dependencies along with the mother-country.
Impetigo, a cutaneous eruption, generally in clusters, of yellow-scaled pustules, which grow thicker and larger; common among children ill fed and ill cared for.
Impey, Sir Elijah, Indian judge, born at Hammersmith; educated at Cambridge, and called to the bar in 1756; was sent out to Bengal as first Chief-Justice in 1774; he supported Warren Hastings's administration, and presided over the court which sentenced Nuncomar to death for forgery; in the quarrel over Hastings's alleged resignation he decided in favour of the governor; was recalled and impeached for his conduct of the Nuncomar trial in 1783, but was honourably acquitted; resigning in 1789, he sat in Parliament for New Romney till 1796 (1732-1809).
Imponderables, the name given to light, heat, and electricity when they were supposed to be material substances, but without weight.
Impressionism, a term in painting that denotes the principle of a new school originating in France before 1870, and introduced into this country some 10 years later; it is a revolt against traditionalism in art, and aims at reproducing on canvas not what the mind knows or by close study observes is in nature, but the “impression” which eye and mind gather. The influence of the movement has been strong, and promises to be lasting both here and in Germany, and not the least interesting work of the kind has of late years issued from the “Glasgow School” and the “London Impressionists.”
Impressment, legalised enforcement of service in the British navy, which has for years been in abeyance, and is not likely to be ever again revived.
Impropriation, the transference of the revenues of a benefice to a layman or lay body to be devoted to spiritual uses.
Imputation, the theological dogma of the transference of guilt or merit from one to another who is descended naturally or spiritually from the same stock as the former, as of Adam's guilt to us by nature or Christ's righteousness to us by faith; although in Scripture the term generally, if not always, denotes the reckoning to a man of the merit or the demerit involved in, not another's doings, but his own, as in a single act of faith or a single act of unbelief, the one viewed as allying him with all that is good, or as a proof of his essential goodness, and the other as allying him with all that is evil, or as a proof of his essential wickedness.
In Cæna Domini (i. e. in the Supper of the Lord), a papal bull promulgated in the Middle Ages, denouncing excommunication against all who dispute the claims of the Church, and the promulgation of which was felt on all hands to be intolerable; the promulgation has been discontinued since 1773.
Inachos, in Greek legend the first king of Argos, son of Oceanus and Tethys.
In-and-in, a term applied to the breeding of animals from the same parentage.
Inca, a king or royal prince of the ancient original people of Peru.
Incandescent Light, or Electric Light, a light produced by a thin strip of a non-conducting body, such as carbon, in a vacuum raised to intense heat by an electric current.
Incarnation, the humanisation of the Divine in the person of Christ, a doctrine vehemently opposed in the early times of the Church by both Jews and Gnostics, by the former as inconsistent with the greatness of God, and by the latter as inconsistent with the inbred depravity of man.
Incense, a fragrance which arises from the burning of certain gums and burnt in connection with sundry religious observances, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church, as an expression of praise presumably well pleasing to God; a practice which Protestants repudiate as without warrant in Scripture.
Inchbald, Elizabeth, actress, dramatist, and novelist, daughter of John Simpson, a Suffolk farmer; came to London at the age of 18, seeking a theatrical engagement; after some adventures she met Joseph Inchbald, an actor of no note, to whom she was married in 1772; shortly afterwards she made her début as Cordelia at Bristol; after seven years in the provinces and nine in London, during which she failed to rise high in her profession, she turned to literature; she wrote and adapted many plays, but the works by which she is remembered are two novels, “A Simple Story” and “Nature and Art” (1753-1821).
Inchcolm, an island in the Firth of Forth, near Aberdour, on the Fife coast, so called as the residence of St. Columba when engaged in the conversion of the Northern Picts; has the remains of an abbey founded by Alexander I.
Inchkeith, an island in the Firth of Forth, in the county of Fife, 2½m. N. of Leith, and about ½ m. long, has a lighthouse with a revolving light, and fortifications to protect the Forth.
Incitatus, the horse of Caligula (q. v.); had a house and a servant to itself, was fed from vessels of gold, admitted to the priesthood, and created a consul of Rome.
Incledon, Charles Benjamin, a celebrated ballad-singer with a fine tenor voice, born in Cornwall (1763-1826).
Incorruptible, The, Robespierre (q. v.), a man not to be seduced to betray his principles or party.
Increment, Unearned, an expression denoting increase in the value of landed property due to increased demand and without any expenditure on the part of the proprietor.
Independence, Declaration of, a declaration made July 4, 1776, by the North American States declaring their independence of Great Britain.
Independence, The War of, the name given to the struggle which the North American colonists maintained against the mother country.
Independence Day, a holiday observed throughout the United States annually on the 4th of July in celebration of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 that day.
Independents or Congregationalists are a Protestant sect deriving both names from their principle of government; repudiating both Episcopacy and Presbyterianism, they hold that every congregation should manage its own affairs, and elect its own officers independent of all authority save that of Christ; they profess to derive all rules of faith and practice from the Scriptures, and are closely akin to Presbyterians in doctrine. Numerous as early as Queen Elizabeth's time, they suffered persecution then; many fled or were banished to Holland, whence the Mayflower conveyed the Pilgrim Fathers to New England in 1620. Regaining ascendency under Cromwell, they again suffered at the Restoration; but political disabilities then imposed have gradually been removed, and now they are the most vigorous Dissenting body in England. The congregations in the English Union (a union for common purposes and mutual help) number 4700, those in the Scottish Union 100.
Index Expurgatorius, a list of books issued by the Church of Rome, which, as hostile to her teaching, are placed under her ban, and are under penalties forbidden to be read. The first list published was by Pope Paul IV. in 1557, and in 1562 the Council of Trent appointed a committee whose special business it should be to draw up a complete list of obnoxious writings, a work which it fell to Paul IV. to finish after the sittings of the Council came to a close in an index issued in 1564.
India (287,223), British dependency, consisting of the great peninsula in the S. of Asia, which has the Bay of Bengal on the E. and the Arabian Sea on the W., and is separated from the mainland by the Hindu-Kush and the Himalaya Mountains; politically the name includes besides the Punjab in the N. and Burma in the E.; the centre of the peninsula is a great plateau called the Deccan, between which and the snow-clad Himalaya stretch the great fertile basins of the Ganges, the Thar Desert, and the arid wastes of the Indus Valley; great varieties of climate are of course met with, but the temperature is prevailingly high, and the monsoons of the Indian Ocean determine the regularity of the rainy season, which occurs from June to October; the country generally is insalubrious; the vegetation is correspondingly varied, but largely tropical; rice, cereal crops, sugar, and tobacco are generally grown; cotton in Bombay and the Central Provinces, opium in the Ganges Valley, jute in Eastern Bengal, and indigo in Behar; coffee and tea are raised by Europeans in the hill country on virgin soil; the chief mineral deposits are extensive coal-fields between the Ganges and the Godavari, the most valuable salt deposits in the world in the Punjab, and deposits of iron, the purest found anywhere, in many parts of the country, which, however, are wrought only by native methods; native manufactures are being largely superseded by European methods, and the young cotton-weaving industry flourishes well; the country is well populated on the whole, with a relative scarcity of big towns; the people belong to many different races, and speak languages representing four distinct stocks; the vast bulk of them are Brahmanists or Hindus; there are many Mohammedans, Buddhists (in Burma), and Parsees (in Bombay); 2¼ millions are Christians, and there are other religions; India has been subject to many conquests; the Aryan, Greek, and Mussulman invasions swept from the NW.; the Portuguese obtained a footing on the SW. coast in the 15th century; the victories of Plassey 1757, and Seringapatam 1799, established British rule throughout the whole peninsula, and the principle that native princes where they retained their thrones were vassals; Sind was won in 1843 and the Punjab in 1849, and the powers of the East India Company transferred to the Queen in 1857, who was proclaimed Empress in 1877; the government is vested in a governor-general aided by an executive and a legislative council, under control, however, of a Secretary of State for India and council at home; there are governors and lieutenant-governors of the presidencies of Madras and Bombay, and of the various provinces; native States are all attached to and subject to the supervision of the government of a province; there is a native army of 146,000 men, and 74,000 European troops are maintained in the country; British rule has developed the resources of the country, advanced its civilisation, and contributed to the welfare of the people; Indian finance is not yet satisfactory; the currency is based on silver, the steady depreciation of which metal has never ceased to hamper the national funds.
India, (1) The Imperial Order of the Crown of, founded in 1878, includes the Queen and certain royal princes, English and Indian, female relatives of the Viceroy, of the governors of Bombay and Madras, and others in high places in India; (2) The Most Exalted Order of the Star of, founded in 1861 and since enlarged, with the sovereign for head and the viceroy as grand-master, and three different grades of knights, designed severally G.C.S.I., K.C.S.I, and C.S.I., a blue ribbon with white stripes being the badge; and (3) The Most Eminent Order of the Empire of, founded in 1878 and enlarged in 1887, with queen and empress at the head, and a knighthood similar to the preceding, their motto, “Imperatricis auspiciis.”
Indian Civil Service, a service which, besides embracing the ordinary departments of civil administration, includes judicial, medical, territorial, and even military staff appointments, appointments dependent on the possession of regulated, more or less academic, qualifications.
Indian Mutiny, a wide-spread rebellion on the part chiefly of the Sepoys against British authority in 1857, and which was suppressed by a strong force under Sir Colin Campbell in 1858.
Indian Ocean is that stretch of sea between Africa on the W. and Australia, Java, and Sumatra on the E., which separates in the N. into the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal; the monsoons, or trade-winds, blow here with great regularity; from April to October they are strong from the SW., from October to April more gentle in the opposite direction; there are many islands and reefs of coral formation, such as the Maldive group; St. Paul's and Mauritius are volcanic, while Madagascar and Ceylon are typical continental islands.
Indian Territory (186), a stretch of country in the basin of the Arkansas, Canadian, and Red Rivers, with Kansas on the N., Arkansas on the E., Oklahoma Territory on the W., and separated by the Red River from Texas on the S., set apart for the occupation of the Indian tribes of the western prairies; formerly double its present size, it has been reduced by the purchase in 1890 of Oklahoma.; in the centre and east are fertile plains and great forests of walnut and maple, in which deer and bears abound; the west is a treeless prairie supporting vast herds of cattle; mineral resources are probably rich, but are undeveloped; the principal tribes have their own organisations and civilised institutions, churches, schools, banks, and newspapers; the towns are small, Tahlequah, Lehigh, and M'Alister are the chief.
Indiana (2,192), one of the smaller but most populous States of the American Union, lies between Lake Michigan and the Ohio River, with Ohio on the E. and Illinois on the W.; the climate is marked by extremes of heat and cold; the country is somewhat hilly in the S., is mostly level, well watered, and very fertile; agriculture is the chief industry, cereals, potatoes, and tobacco forming the chief crops; there is great mineral wealth, with extensive and varied industries, embracing iron, glass, and textile manufactures, waggon-building, and furniture-making; petroleum wells are abundant, and in one part of the territory natural gas is found in great quantities. First occupied by the French, Indiana was acquired by Britain in 1763, ceded to America 1783, and admitted to the Union in 1816; education in the State university and schools is free; besides Indianapolis, the capital, the largest towns are Evansville (50), Fort Wayne (30), and Terre Haute (30).
Indianapolis (169), capital of Indiana, on the White Ford River, in the centre of the State; a fine city, with wide, tree-lined streets, large iron, brass, and textile manufactures, and canned-meat industry; is a great railroad centre.
Indians, American, the aborigines of America, and now gradually dying out; these aborigines were called Indians by Columbus, because when he discovered America he thought it was India. See American Indians.
India-rubber, Caoutchouc, or Gum Elastic, is a product of the milky juices of several tropical and sub-tropical plants found in the West Indies, Central and South America, West Africa, and India; there is evidence that its properties were partially known to the Spaniards in the West Indies early in the 17th century; but its first introduction to this country was about 1770, when it was employed by artists for erasing black-lead pencil marks, hence its familiar name; it is collected by making incisions in the tree trunk and gathering the slowly exuding juice, which is first solidified by drying, then purified by boiling and washing; it is flexible and elastic, insoluble in water, and impenetrable to gases and fluids, and these qualities give it great commercial importance; the use of pure rubber has been greatly superseded by that of “vulcanised” rubber; mixed with from 1/40 to ½ of its weight of sulphur and combined by heat, the rubber acquires greater elasticity, is not hardened by cold or rendered viscid by heat, and is insoluble in many of the solvents of pure rubber; its usefulness is thus largely increased and greatly extended of late; the demand for rubber is in excess of the supply, but no substitute has been found effective; in recent years care has been bestowed on its economical collection and on its scientific culture.
Indiction, a cycle of 15 years instituted by Constantine the Great, and which began on the 24th September 812, the day of his victory over Maxentius; to find the indiction of any year add 1 and divide by 15.
Indium, a metallic elementary body of rare occurrence, and first discovered in zinc-blende in 1863.
Individualism, the name given to a social system which has respect to the rights of the individual as sovereign, and is strictly opposed to Socialism.
Indo-China, called also the Eastern Peninsula or Farther India, the name given to the large peninsular territory which lies between the Bay of Bengal and the Chinese Sea, lying almost wholly within the Torrid Zone, and embracing the empires of Burma and Annam and the kingdom of Cambodia and Siam, as well as territories under Britain and France, all now mostly divided between the latter two and Siam; it is sparsely peopled owing to its mountainous character and the swampy lands, and the natives are mainly of the Mongolian type.
Indo-European, an epithet applied to a family of the human race with the languages of its several members descended from the Aryans, and found dispersed over an area including the better part of India and Europe.
Indo-Germanic, a term at one time employed especially among German writers, synonymous with Aryan.
Indore, 1, a native principality (1,094), in Central India, somewhat larger than Wales, embraces the Vindbya and Satpura Mountains, and is traversed by the Nerbudda River; there are great forests on the mountains; the valley of the river is fertile; wheat, sugar, cotton, tobacco, and large quantities of opium are raised; the climate is sultry, and at certain seasons unhealthy; the natives are chiefly Mahratta Hindus; among the hills are Bhils and Gonds, the wildest tribes of India; the State is governed by a Maharajah styled Holkar, under supervision of an agent of the Governor-General; education is progressing. Indore, 2, on the Kuthi River, the capital (92), is a poor city of brick and mud; the palace and the British residency, however, are fine buildings; it is connected by rail with Bombay, distant 400 m. SW., and with Ajmere; it was the scene of a British massacre in 1857.
Indra, the king of heaven and national god of the Aryans; gives victory to his people, and is always ready to aid them; he is pre-eminently a warlike god, and as he stands on his war-chariot, drawn by five fawn-coloured horses, he is in a sort the type of an Aryan chieftain; he is sometimes assisted by other gods, but he more frequently fights alone; he is the dispenser, moreover, of all good gifts, and the author and preserver of all living; his power extends over the heavens, and he holds the earth in the hollow of his hand.
Induction, the name given to the logical process by which from a study of particular instances we arrive at a general principle or law. The term is also applied to an electric or magnetic effect produced without direct contact and equal to the cause, being essentially its reproduction.
Indulgence, remission by Church authority of the guilt of a sin on the penitent confession of the sinner to a priest, which, according to Roman Catholic theology, the Church is enabled to dispense out of the inexhaustible treasury in reserve of the merits of Christ.
Indus, a great river of India, 1800 m. long; rises in Thibet, on the N. of the Himalayas, flows NW. through Cashmere, then SW. through the Punjab and Sind to the sea; its upper course is through great gorges and very rapid, but after the entrance of the Kabul River its way lies through arid plains, and it is navigable; after receiving the Panjnad its volume decreases through evaporation and the sinking of some of the many streams into which it divides in the sand; on one of the branches of the delta stands the thriving port of Kurrachee.
Inertia, that property of bodies by which they remain in a state of rest or of motion in a straight line till disturbed by a force moving them in the one case or arresting them in the other.
Inez de Castro. See Castro.
Infallibility, freedom from all error in the past and from all possibility of error in the future as claimed by the Church of Rome. This claim extends to all matters of faith, morals, and discipline in the Church, and is based on an interpretation of Matt. xvi. 18, xxviii. 19; Eph. iv. 11-16, and other passages. It is held that the Church is incapable of embracing any false doctrine from whatever quarter suggested, and that she is guided by the Divine Spirit in actively opposing heresy, in teaching all necessary truth, and in deciding all relative matters of controversy. Infallibility is not claimed in connection with matters of fact, science, or general opinion. The seat of infallibility has been much disputed even in the Roman Catholic Church itself, and the infallibility of the Pope was only decreed so recently as the Vatican Council in 1870. It was always agreed that where the Pope and Bishops were unanimous they were infallible, and their unanimity might be expressed either in a general council, or in a decree of a local council tacitly accepted by the Pope and the rest of the Church, or even in a decree of the Pope alone if the bishops either expressly or tacitly affirmed it. But the Vatican Council decided “that when the Roman Pontiff speaks ex cathedrâ—that is, when he, using his office as pastor and doctor of all Christians, in virtue of his apostolic office, defines a doctrine of faith and morals to be held by the whole Church—he by the Divine assistance, promised to him by the blessed Peter, possesses that infallibility with which the Divine Redeemer was pleased to invest His Church in the definition of doctrine in faith or morals, and that therefore such definitions of the Roman Pontiff are irreformable in their own nature and not because of the consent of the Church.” The Greek Church puts forward a moderate claim to inerrancy, holding that as a matter of fact those councils which she regards as oecumenical have not erred in their decrees affecting faith and morals.
Infante, Infanta, the titles given respectively to the royal princes and princesses of Spain and Portugal.
Inferi, the name given by the Latins to the nether world and the gods of it.
Inferno, the hell of Dante, represented as included in nine circles, of which the first six, constituting the uppermost hell, are occupied by those who cannot govern themselves yet have no mind to harm any one else, of which the seventh, constituting the mid-hell, is occupied by those who cannot govern their thoughts, and of which the eighth and ninth, constituting the nether hell, are occupied by those who have wilfully done harm to other people, those in the eighth in hot blood and those in the ninth or lowest in cold blood, the former in passion and the latter without passion, far down below the freezing-point. See Ruskin's “Fors Clavigera,” more fully, and by way of authority for this.
Inflection, the name given to the changes in the end of words to indicate relations, not so common in English—being usually expressed among us by prepositions—as in Latin, Greek, and other languages, but occurring in English as king's, mine, ours, to indicate possession; inflection in nouns is called declension, and in verbs conjugation.
Influenza, an epidemic disease, closely resembles, but is quite distinct from, cold in the head. It is characterised by early and marked debility and depression; though usually of short duration, attacks must not be disregarded; fatal results often ensue on carelessness. Convalescence is slow, and complications may ensue. The cause of the malady is obscure; sporadic cases always occur, but from time to time great epidemics of this disease have travelled westward over the world. Their movement seems to depend on atmospheric conditions, but is independent of the season of the year and often contrary to the direction of the wind. Visitations occurred in Britain in 1837-38, 1847-48, and 1889-91.
Infralapsarians, those Calvinists who believe that election and predestination are subsequent to the Fall, while the Supralapsarians believe that these ordinations are as old as eternity.
Infusoria, a name given to certain classes of animalculæ engendered in stagnant water infused with decaying organic matter.
Ingelow, Jean, poetess and novelist, born at Boston, Lincolnshire, died at Kensington; her earliest work appeared anonymously, but a volume of verses under her name was successful in 1863; her poetry is chiefly religious and devotional; later she wrote for children; subsequently she turned to novels, and produced besides several others “Off the Skelligs” in 1872; she will be remembered for her ballad “High Tide on the Coast of Lincolnshire,” and a song “Supper at the Mill” (1820-1897).
Ingemann, Bernhard Severin, a Danish poet and novelist; in the latter regard took Scott for his model, his subjects being historical; was a man of varied literary ability (1789-1862).
Ingleby, Clement Mansfield, Shakespearian scholar, born near Birmingham, passed from Cambridge, where he graduated in 1847, to practise as a solicitor, but abandoned law for literature in 1859; his early works were of a philosophical nature, but he is best known as the author of a long series of works on Shakespearian subjects, of which “The Shakespeare Fabrications” was the first and “Shakespeare: the Man and the Book” the chief; he was a Vice-President of the Royal Society of Literature (1823-1886).
Inglesant, John, a celebrated romance by J. H. Shorthouse.
Inglis, Sir James, a Fifeshire gentleman, who in the reign of James IV. distinguished himself against the English and was knighted; author of “Complaint of Scotland”; d. 1554.
Inglis, Sir John, English general; entered the army at 19, served in Canada in 1837; was sent to India, and distinguished himself in the Punjab in 1848; at the outbreak of the Mutiny was stationed at Lucknow, where he heroically defended the residency for 87 days till the relief of the city by Havelock and Outram (1814-1862).
Inglis, Sir Robert Harry, Conservative statesman, opposed every Liberal measure of the period, from that of Catholic Emancipation to the Abolition of the Corn Laws (1786-1855).
Ingoldsby, Thomas, the pseudonym of Rev. Richard Barham (q. v.), author of “Ingoldsby Legends,” a collection of humorous tales in verse.
Ingolstadt (16), a Bavarian town and fortress on the Danube, 50 m. N. of Münich, has many ancient associations; once the seat of a university; its manufactures now are beer, cannon, gunpowder; salt is mined in the vicinity.
Ingraham, Joseph Holt, author of “The Prince of the House of David,” born at Portland, Maine; after some years spent at sea, became a teacher of languages in Mississippi, and was ordained Episcopal clergyman in 1855; prior to his ordination he wrote stories of adventure, “Captain Kyd,” &c., but subsequently confined himself to biblical subjects (1809-1860).
Ingres, Jean Dominique Auguste, a great French painter, born at Montauban; studied in Paris; in 1806 went to Rome, and 14 years after to Florence, but became professor of Fine Arts at the Academy in Paris in 1824; wounded by hostile criticisms he left Paris for Rome again in 1834, where he became Director of the French Academy in Rome; in 1841 he returned to Paris, where he died; he followed his master David in his choice of classical subjects, but his work met with varied reception, now favourable, now the reverse; the “Portrait of Cherubini,” and other pictures, however, won for him great admiration in his later days; he was made a Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour (1781-1867).
Ingulph, abbot of Croyland, long credited with the authorship of a history of the monastery, which has since been proved to be a fabrication of a later date, of probably the 13th or 14th century; he was appointed abbot in 1080; d. 1109.
Inkermann, a small Tartar village E. of Sebastopol harbour; the scene of a battle between the Russians and allied forces, to the defeat of the former after a prolonged struggle on 5th November 1854.
Inner Temple. See Inns of Court.
Innes, Cosmo, lawyer and antiquary, born at Durris, of an old Scotch family; professor of History in Edinburgh University; author of “Scotland in the Middle Ages,” “Lectures on Scotch Legal Antiquities,” and “Sketches of Early Scotch History” (1798-1874).
Innes, Thomas (Father Innes) Scotch historian, born in Aberdeenshire, educated at Paris; became a priest in 1692; after three years' service in Banffshire he returned to Paris, where he held a scholastic appointment till his death; in politics a Jacobite, in religious matters he had leanings to the Jansenist heresy; a diligent student of Scottish history, he produced the earliest scientific Scoto-historical works; his “Critical Essay on the Ancient Inhabitants of Scotland” and “Civil and Ecclesiastical History of Scotland” (unfinished), display honesty and penetration (1662-1744).
Innisfail, an ancient name of Ireland.
Innocent, the name of 13 Popes: Innocent I., Pope from 402 to 417; Innocent II., Pope from 1130 to 1143; Innocent III., Pope from 1198 to 1216; Innocent IV., Pope from 1243 to 1254; Innocent V., Pope in 1276; Innocent VI., Pope from 1352 to 1362, resided at Avignon; Innocent VII., Pope from 1404 to 1406; Innocent VIII., Pope from 1484 to 1492; Innocent IX., Pope in 1591; Innocent X., Pope from 1644 to 1655, condemned Jansenism; Innocent XI., Pope from 1676 to 1689; Innocent XII., Pope from 1691 to 1700; Innocent XIII., Pope from 1721 to 1724; of these there were two of note.
Innocent III., the greatest of the name, born in Arragon; succeeded Celestine III.; extended the territorial power of the Church, and made nearly all Christendom subject to its sway; essayed the recovery of Palestine, and promoted a crusade against the Albigenses; excommunicated Otto IV., emperor of Germany; put England under an interdict, and deposed King John; was zealous for the purity as well as supremacy of the Church, and countenanced every movement that contributed to enhance its influence and stereotype its beliefs as well as its forms of worship, transubstantiation among the one and auricular confession among the other; though harsh, and even cruel, to those whom he conceived to be the enemies of the faith, he was personally a man of blameless life, and did much to reform the morals of the clergy.
Innocent XI., succeeded Clement X., is celebrated for his contest with Louis XIV., and as giving occasion thereby to a protest of the Gallican clergy, and a declaration on their part of what is known as the Gallican Liberties (q. v.), and for a further contest he had with Louis in regard to certain immunities claimed, to the scandal of the Church, by foreign ambassadors residing in Rome, an interference which Louis resented on behalf of his representatives among them, but, as it happened in vain.
Innocents, The Holy, Feast of, a festival celebrated in the Western Church on the 28th December and in the Eastern on the 29th, to commemorate the slaughter by Herod of the children at Bethlehem from two years old and under, and who have from the earliest times been included among the holy martyrs of the Church.
Inns of Court, are four voluntary societies—Lincoln's Inn, the Inner and the Middle Temple, and Gray's Inn—with whom rests the exclusive right to call men to the English bar; they provide lectures and hold examinations in law, and they have discretionary powers to refuse admission to the bar or to expel and disqualify persons of unsuitable character from it; each Inn possesses considerable property, a dining hall, library, and chapel, and is subject to the jurisdiction of an irresponsible, self-elective body of Benchers, who are usually judges or senior counsel; these societies originated in the 13th century, when the practice of law passed out of the hands of the clergy.
Innsbruck (23), on the Inn, at the head of the Brenner Pass, 100 m. S. of Münich; is the capital of the Austrian Tyrol, an ancient and beautiful town, rich in art treasures, with a university and manufactures of woollen cloth, glass ware, and stained glass.
Ino, the daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia, the wife of Athamas, king of Thebes, who was changed into a sea-deity as she fled for refuge from her husband, who had gone raving mad and sought her life.
Inoculation is the introduction of disease germs into the system, usually by puncture of the skin or hypodermic injection; many diseases so introduced assume a mild form, and render the subject not liable to the severe form. Inoculation for smallpox, the virus being taken from actual smallpox pustules, was practised by the ancient Brahmans and by the Chinese 600 years before Christ, and its practice continued in the East. It was introduced to this country from Turkey in 1717, and extensively practised until superseded by Jenner's discovery of vaccination at the end of the century, and finally prohibited by law in 1840. Inoculation has been found successful in the prevention of other diseases, notably anthrax, hydrophobia, and recently malaria.
Inquisition, an ecclesiastical tribunal established in 1248 under Pope Innocent IV., and set up successively in Italy, Spain, Germany, and the S. of France, for the trial and punishment of heretics, of which that established in Spain achieved the greatest notoriety from the number of victims it sacrificed, and the remorseless tortures to which they were subjected, both when under examination to extort confession and after conviction. The rigour of its action began to abate in the 17th century, but it was not till 1835, after frequent attempts to limit its power and suppress it, that it was abolished in Spain. Napoleon suppressed it in France in 1808, and after an attempted revival from 1814 to 1820, its operations there came to an end. St. Dominic (q. v.) has the credit of having invented the institution by the zeal which animated him for the orthodoxy of the Church.
Insanity. See Inspiration.
Inspiration, an earnest, divinely-awakened, soul-subduing sense and perception of the presence of the invisible in the visible, of the infinite in the finite, of the ideal in the real, of the divine in the human, and, in ecstatic moments, of very God in man, accompanied with a burning desire to impart to others the vision revealed; distinguished as “seraphic” from insanity as “demonic” by this, that the inspired man sees an invisible which is there, and the insane an invisible which is not there, states of mind so like otherwise that the one may be, and often is, mistaken for the other, the inspired man taken for an insane, and the insane man for an inspired.
Inspiration of the Scriptures. According to one view the Scriptures are throughout verbally inspired, and every word in them dictated by the Spirit of God; according to another, though they are not verbally inspired, they contain a record of divine things written under divine inspiration; according to a third, though not written under divine inspiration in any part, they contain a faithful record of a divine revelation; and according to a fourth, they contain a record merely of what a succession of God-fearing men in sympathy with each other and their race saw and felt to be the clear purpose of God in His providence of the world.
Inspired Idiot, Horace Walpole's name for Oliver Goldsmith.
Institute of France was established by the Directory in 1795, to take the place of the four academies suppressed by the Convention two years previously. In 1816 Louis XVIII. gave back the old names to its four sections, viz. L'Académie Française, L'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres, L'Académie des Sciences, and L'Académie des Beaux Arts. In 1832 was added L'Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques. Each academy has its own separate organisation and work, and participates besides in the advantages of the common library, archives, and funds. Election, which is in every case subject to government confirmation, is by ballot, and every member receives an annual salary of at least 1500 francs. Government votes a sum of money annually to the Institute. Members of the French Academy have special duties and privileges, and in some cases special remuneration. They allot every year prizes for eloquence and poetry; a prize “to the poor Frenchman who has done the most virtuous action throughout the year,” and one to the Frenchman “who has written and published the book most conducive to good morals.” Membership in the Académie Française is strictly limited to 40 Frenchmen. The others have, besides, from 40 to 70 members each, also Associate, foreign and corresponding, members. The Institute centralises the pursuit of all branches of knowledge and art, and has been the model of similar national institutes in Madrid, Lisbon, Stockholm, and St. Petersburg.
Institutes of the Christian Religion, a celebrated work of Calvin's, in exposition of the doctrines of the French Protestants, hence called Calvinists in France. See Calvin.
Intaglio, name given to a gem with a design incised in the surface.
Intellect, the faculty of clear and decisive intelligence, or of instant and sure perception.
Interlaken (2), a small town, a pretty place, on the Aar, in Switzerland, “between the lakes” Thun and Brienz; it is near to some of the finest Swiss scenery, and is a famous health resort, and visited annually by 25,000 tourists.
International, The, a secret socialistic organisation, the outcome of the teaching of Karl Marx, which, though it has changed its name, has wide-spread ramifications throughout Europe, the object of which appears to be the emancipation of labour, and the assertion everywhere of the sovereign rights of the working-man, to the extinction of all merely national and class interests.
Intuition, a name given to immediate knowledge, as distinct from mediate or inferential knowledge, and which is matter of consciousness or direct perception.
Intus-susception, a displacement of the bowel, in which a higher portion becomes folded or telescoped into a lower; is a frequent cause of obstruction, and a serious, though not always fatal, condition; the term is also applied to the process by which nutriment is absorbed and becomes part of the system.
Invalides, Hôtel des, an institution in Paris, founded by Louis XIV. in 1674, for retired court servants and invalided soldiers; the church, the nave of which is adorned with military trophies, is surmounted by a majestic dome, under which the remains of Napoleon were deposited in 1840.
Inveraray, county town of Argyllshire, on the NW. shore of Loch Fyne, close to which is the castle, the residence of the Duke of Argyll.
Inverness (21), county town of Inverness-shire and capital of the Northern Highlands, is situated on the Ness, near the Moray Firth, amid picturesque surroundings, is rich in interesting memories; has several public institutions, several manufactures, and a considerable trade; the inhabitants are distinguished for the purity of their English.
Inverness-shire (90), the largest county in Scotland, stretches from the Moray Firth to the Atlantic, and includes many islands, Skye, the Outer Hebrides (except Lewis), and others; it embraces a large part of the Highlands, is very mountainous, has many glens and lochs, but little fertile land; there are large deer forests, grouse moors, and sheep runs; Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the British Isles (4406 ft.), is in this county.
Invisible, The, He who or that which cannot be seen, felt, handled, or even conceived of, and yet who or which is, and alone is, as no one, as nothing else can be.
Io, in the Greek mythology a daughter of Inachos (q. v.), beloved by Zeus, whom Hera out of jealousy changed into a heifer and set the hundred-eyed Argus to watch, but when Zeus had by Hermes slain the watcher, Hera sent a gadfly to goad over the world, over which she ranged distractedly till she reached Egypt, where Osiris married her, and was in connection with him worshipped as Isis.
Iodine, a non-metallic element originally obtained from kelp, but now found in South America in combination with sodium, used largely both free and in combination in medicine and surgery, in photography, and in making aniline dyes.
Iodoform, a crystalline substance similar to chloroform in composition, only in it iodine takes the place of chlorine; it is used in surgery as an antiseptic.
Iolcus, a town in Thessaly, the port from which the Argonauts sailed in quest of the Golden Fleece.
Ion, in the Greek mythology son of Apollo by Creusa, and exposed by her in the cave where she bore him, but who was conveyed by the god to Delphi and educated by a priestess, and was afterwards owned by his mother, and became the ancestor of the Ionians, her husband, Xuthus, being kept throughout in the dark.
Iona, a fertile little island 1½ m. W. of Mull, where St. Columba landed from Ireland A.D. 563, and built a monastery which was for centuries the centre of ecclesiastical life and missionary enterprise among the Scots of Scotland and Ireland and the Angles of the N. of England. It is 3½ m. long and 1½ broad.
Ionia, ancient name of the western districts of Asia Minor between the Hermus and the Mæander, with adjacent islands; was colonised by Greeks 1050 B.C., and its chief cities, including Miletus, Ephesus, Samos, Chios, and later Smyrna, formed the Ionian League; the Ionians were noted for wealth, art, and luxury; coming under Persian yoke in 557 B.C. they deserted to Greece 479 B.C., in the great war, and became again independent; from 387 B.C. they were again under Persia till Alexander the Great took them and merged their history in that of the surrounding peoples.
Ionian Islands (250), a chain of forty mountainous islands lying off the W. coast of Greece, the largest being Corfu (78), Santa Maura (25), Cephalonia (80), and Zante (44). The climate is good, and there is much fertile soil in the valleys except in Cephalonia; corn, grapes, and currants are grown; sulphur and coal are found in Corfu; their history has been very chequered; after belonging at different times to Venice, France and Turkey, they were seized by Britain and constituted a dependency in 1815; never satisfied with British rule, they were a source of constant friction which Mr. Gladstone's mission in 1858 was insufficient to allay, and were handed over to Greece in 1863.
Ionic Order, an order of Grecian architecture, characterised by the volute of its capital in the form of a ram's horn, and in which the cornice is dentated, the shaft fluted, and the entablature plain or embellished.
Ionic School, the name of the earliest of the schools of philosophy in Greece, the prominent members of which were natives of Ionia, one and all of whom traced the beginning or basis of things back to the action of some physical agent, such as water, air, fire, &c., and among whom are reckoned such men as Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, and Heraclitus.
Iowa (1,754), one of the United States, on the right bank of the Mississippi River, with Minnesota to the N. and Missouri to the S., and the Missouri River on its western border; is well watered, very fertile, and, though liable to extremes of temperature, very healthy; agriculture flourishes, the country being an undulating plain and most of the soil being arable; cereals and root crops are raised, cattle fed; there are poultry and dairy farms; coal, gypsum, and lead are mined; manufactures include mill products, canned meats, and agricultural implements; general education in the State is advanced, State policy in this respect being liberal; Iowa was admitted to the Union, 1846; Des Moines (32) is the capital; Iowa (7) is the seat of the State University and of some flour-mills and factories.
Iphicrates, a famous Athenian general, the son of a shoemaker, celebrated throughout Greece for his defeat of the Spartans in 392, as well as for other great military exploits, for which he was rewarded by his countrymen with almost unprecedented honours; d. 348 B.C.
Iphigenia, the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra; her father having killed a favourite deer belonging to Artemis in Aulis as he was setting out for Troy, the goddess was offended, and Calchas (q. v.), when consulted, told him she could only be appeased by the sacrifice of his daughter; this he proceeded to do, but as he was preparing to offer her up the goddess descended in a cloud, carried her off to Tauris, and made her a priestess in her temple. The story has been dramatised by Euripides, Racine, and Geothe.
Ipsus, a small town in Phrygia, the scene of a great contest between the generals of Alexander for succession to the empire.
Ipswich (57), a town in Suffolk, on the Orwell, 12 m. from the sea; is an old town, and has a number of interesting, as well as some old-fashioned, buildings; is well provided with churches and educational establishments, and was the birthplace of Cardinal Wolsey; manufactures agricultural implements, and exports besides these leather, oil, coke and agricultural produce.
Iquique (16), important seaport in the N. of Chili; exports nitrates, iodine, and silver.
Irak-Arabi, ancient Babylonia watered by the Euphrates and the Tigris.
Iran, the ancient name or plateau of Asia, extending N. and S. between the Hindu Kush and the Persian Gulf, and E. and W. between the Indus and Kurdistan; inhabited by the Aryans; is the official name for Persia.
Iranians, the inhabitants of Iran, a people constituting an important branch of the Indo-European family, including the Persians, Medes, &c.
Irawadi, a river, navigable throughout its whole course, formed by the union of two streams from the mountains of Thibet; flows S. through Burma 700 miles, passing Mandalay, and falling into the Bay of Bengal in a delta, on one branch of which stands Rangoon.
Ireland (5,175), an island rather more than half the size of and lying to the west of England and Wales, from which it is divided by the North Channel (13 m. wide), the Irish Sea (140 m.), and the St. George's Channel (50 m.). It consists of a large undulating plain in the centre, containing extensive bogs, several large loughs—Neagh, the Erne, Allen, Derg, drained by the rivers Shannon, Barrow, Liffey, and Boyne, and surrounded on almost all sides by maritime highlands, of which those on the SW., NW., and E. are the highest. The N. and W. coasts are rugged and much indented. The climate is milder, more equable, and somewhat more rainy than that of England; but the cereal and green crops are the same. Flax is grown in the N. The tendency is to revert to pasturage however, agriculture being generally in a backward state. Unfavourable land-laws, small holdings, and want of capital have told heavily against the Irish peasantry. Fisheries are declining. The chief manufacture is linen in Belfast and other Ulster towns. Irish exports consist of dairy produce, cattle, and linen, and are chiefly to Great Britain. Primary education is largely supported by government grants; there are many excellent schools and colleges; the chief universities are Dublin and the Royal (an examining body only). In Ulster the Protestants slightly outnumber the Roman Catholics, in all other parts the Roman Catholics are in a vast majority. Ireland was occupied by Iberian peoples in prehistoric times; these were conquered and absorbed by Celtic tribes; many kingdoms were set up, and strife and confusion prevailed. There was Christianity in the island before St. Patrick crossed from Strathclyde in the 5th century. Invasions by Danes, 8th to 10th centuries, and conquest by Normans under Henry II. 1162-1172, fomented the national disquiet. Under Tudor and Stuart rule the history of the country is a long story of faction and feud among the chiefs and nobles, of rebellions, expeditions, massacres, and confiscations. Sympathy with the Stuarts brought on it the scourge of Cromwell (1649) and the invasion by William III. Thereafter the penal laws excluded Roman Catholics from Parliament. The union of the Irish with the British Parliament took place in 1801. Catholic disabilities were removed 1829. An agitation for the repeal of the Union was begun in 1842 by Daniel O'Connell, and carried on by the Fenian movement of 1867 and the Home Rule movement led by Charles Parnell. A Home Rule bill was lost in the Commons in 1886, and another in the Lords in 1893. The Church of Ireland (Protestant Episcopal) was disestablished in 1871. Since the Union the executive has been in the hands of a lord-lieutenant, secretary, and council appointed by the Crown. Ireland is far behind Great Britain in wealth, and its population has been steadily declining.
Ireland, Samuel William Henry, a notorious forger of Shakespearian relics, born in London, son of a dealer in old books and prints; imposed on his father and a number of lovers of the antique, till he was exposed by Malone; he published a confession of his forgeries, and died in obscurity and poverty (1777-1835).
Irenæus, one of the Fathers of the Church; was bishop of Lyons, and suffered martyrdom about 202; had been a disciple of Polycarp; wrote against the Gnostics in a work in Greek, which all to a few fragments in Latin is lost.
Ire`ne, the daughter of Zeus and Themis, the Greek goddess of peace; she was an object of worship both in Athens and Rome, is represented as holding in her left arm a cornucopia, and in her right hand an olive branch.
Irene, empress of Constantinople, born in Athens, a poor orphan girl, famous for her beauty, her talents, and her crimes; was banished to Lesbos, where she maintained herself by spinning; has been canonised by the Greek Church for her zeal in image worship (752-803).
Ireton, Henry, born at Altenborough, Notts; graduated at Cambridge 1629, and studied law; on outbreak of Civil War he joined the Parliamentarian party, and marrying Cromwell's daughter acquired great influence; took a leading part in the prosecution of the king, was one of his judges, and signed the warrant for his execution; kept by Cromwell in Ireland in 1650, he proved a stern deputy, and died of the plague before Limerick; he was a man of great vigour of character, whose zeal for justice made him almost cruel (1611-1651).
Iridium, a metallic elementary body of rare occurrence, and found in the ores of platinum.
Iris, the daughter of Thaumus (i. e. wonder) and of the ocean nymph Electra (i. e. splendour); was the goddess of the rainbow, and as such the messenger of the gods, particularly of Zeus and Hera, the appearance of the rainbow being regarded as a sign that communications of good omen were passing between heaven and earth, as it was to Noah that they would continue to be kept up; she is represented as dressed in a long wide tunic, over which hangs a light upper garment, and with golden wings on her shoulders.
Irkutsk (421), a central Siberian province, separated from China by the Sayan Mountains; it has Lake Baikal on the E., Yenisei and Yakutsk on the W. and N.; a rich pastoral country, watered by the navigable rivers Angara and the Lena, agriculture, cattle rearing are prosperous industries; there are gold, iron, and salt mines; one-third of the population are forced colonists; the capital, Irkutsk (45), is the seat of government for Eastern Siberia, an ecclesiastical centre, and the chief emporium of commerce; it is the finest city in Siberia.
Irmin, a Teutonic tribal deity; was honoured by wooden pillars with his image on the top, greatly reverenced by the people; the constellation “The Plough” was known as “Irmin's Chariot.”
Iron Age, the last of the three stages, stone, bronze, iron, which mark the prehistoric development of most now civilised peoples; these, of course, occurred at different periods, and were of different duration in different cases; they are named from the material employed in making cutting instruments and weapons; the forms of instruments are freer than in the bronze period, and rectilineal gives places to free curvilineal decoration; this age is marked, too, by the introduction of writing and the beginning of literary and historic records. See Ages.
Iron City, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, from its numerous iron-works.
Iron Crown, the crown of the ancient Lombard kings, a golden circlet studded with jewels, and so called as enclosing a ring of iron said to have been one of the nails of the cross, beaten out; Napoleon had it brought from Monza, and crowned himself with it as king of Italy. It is now in Vienna.
Iron Duke, Duke of Wellington, from his iron will, it is surmised.
Iron Gate, the name given to dangerous rapids in the Danube at Orsova, as it issues out of Hungary.
Iron Hand, Goetz von Berlichingen (q. v.).
Iron Mask, Man with the, a prisoner who in the reign of Louis XIV. wore, when he was transferred from prison to prison, what seemed an iron mask to prevent any one discovering and revealing his identity, over which to this day there hangs an impenetrable veil; he is reported to have been young and of noble form, and the conclusion is that he was a man of distinction.
Ironclads were originally wooden vessels protected by iron plates; they were used at the siege of Gibraltar in 1782; the French had them in the Crimean War, and in 1858 built four iron-plated line-of-battle ships; in 1860 England built the Warrior, an iron steam battleship with 4½-inch plates; since then new types have succeeded each other very quickly; the modern ironclad is built of steel and armed with steel plates sometimes 2 feet thick; the term is now loosely applied to all armoured vessels, whether battleships, or cruisers, or gunboats, and whether of iron or steel.
Ironsides, Cromwell's troopers, a thousand strong, and raised by him in the Eastern counties of England, so called at first from the invincibility displayed by them at Marston Moor; were selected by Cromwell “as men,” he says, “that had the fear of God before them, and made conscience of what they did.... They were never beaten,” he adds, “and wherever they were engaged against the enemy, they beat continually.”
Irony is a subtle figure of speech in which, while one thing is said, some indication serves to show that quite the opposite is meant; thus apparent praise becomes severe condemnation or ridicule; practical irony is evinced in ostensibly furthering some one's hopes and wishes while really leading him to his overthrow. Life and history are full of irony in the contrast between ambitions and their realisation.
Irony, Socratic, the name given to a practice of Socrates with pretentious people; “affecting ignorance and pretending to solicit information, he was in the habit of turning round upon the sciolist and confounding his presumption, both by the unlooked-for consequences he educed by his incessant questions and by the glaring contradictions the other was in the end landed by his admissions.”
Iroquois, one of the most intelligent branches of the North American Indians, comprised a confederation of five, afterwards six, tribes, among whom the leading place was taken by the Mohawks; their territory lay inland in what is now New York State and the basin of the St. Lawrence. Numbering some 25,000, they maintained their own against the hereditary foes by whom they were surrounded; they took kindly to English and Dutch settlers, but were hostile to the French, and in the wars of the 18th century were allies of England against the French; their descendants, about 12,000, in reservations in Canada and New York are a peaceful people, have accepted English religion and culture, and have proved themselves skilful and industrious agriculturists.
Irreducible Case, name given to a cubic equation which cannot be solved by the rule of Cardan (q. v.).
Irtish, an enormous river of Western Siberia and chief tributary of the Obi; its course from the Altai Mountains runs NW. through the Siberian plains for 1200 m.; it is navigable almost all the way in summer, and in winter it is a highway for sledge traffic; on its banks stand Semipalatinsk, Omsk, and Tobolsk.
Irving, Edward, a great pulpit orator, born in Annan, Dumfriesshire; bred for the Scotch Church, became in 1819 assistant to Dr. Chalmers in Glasgow, and removed in 1822 to the Caledonian Church, London, where he attracted to his preaching the world of fashion as well as intellect in the city, who soon grew tired of him and left him, after which he took to extravagances which did not draw them back, and drew around him instead a set of people more fanatical than himself, and whose influence over him, to which he weakly yielded, infatuated him still more; the result was that he was deposed from the ministry of the Church that sent him forth, and became for a time the centre of an organisation which still exists, in a modified form, and bears his name; he was the bosom friend in his early days of Thomas Carlyle, and no one mourned more over his aberration than he, for he loved him to the end. “But for Irving,” he says, “I had never known what the communion of man with man means. His was the freest, brotherliest, bravest human soul mine ever came in contact with; I call him on the whole the best man I have ever, after trial enough, found in this world, or now hope to find. Scotland sent him forth,” he says, “a herculean man, but our mad Babylon wore him and wasted him with all her engines, and it took her 12 years”; he died in Glasgow, aged 42, “hoary as with extreme age,” and lies buried in a crypt of the cathedral there (1792-1834).
Irving, Sir Henry (John Henry Brodribb), born near Glastonbury; was at first a clerk in London, appeared on the Sunderland stage in 1856, spent three years in Edinburgh, and gradually worked his way at Glasgow and Manchester, till he was invited to London ten years afterwards; his performance of Hamlet at the Lyceum in 1874 established his reputation as a tragedian; since then he has remained at the head of his profession, and both in this country and in America secured many triumphs in Macbeth, Shylock, and other Shakespearian characters, and in roles like those of Matthias in “The Bells,” “Mephistopheles in Faust,” &c.; he has contributed to the literature of Acting, and received knighthood in 1895: b. 1838.
Irving, Washington, popular American essayist and historian, born of British parentage in New York, was delicate in early life; his education suffered accordingly, and he travelled in Europe, 1804-6, visiting Italy, France, and England; returning to New York he was called to the bar, put he devoted himself to a literary career, only interrupted by one period of commercial life, and occasional short terms of diplomatic service; he first won fame by his “History of New York, by Diedrich Knickerbocker,” 1809, a good-natured satire on the Dutch settlers; the years 1815-32 he spent in Europe studying and writing; his “Sketch-Book,” 1819-20, was very successful, as were “Bracebridge Hall,” “Tales of a Traveller,” and other volumes which followed it; going to Spain in 1826 he began his researches in Spanish history which resulted in “The Life of Columbus,” “The Conquest of Granada,” and other works which introduced English readers to the Spain of the 15th and 16th centuries; on his return to America he was treated with great respect by his countrymen; declining the honours they would have given him had he turned aside to politics, he continued to write; among his latest works were “Mahomet and his Successors” and a “Life of Washington”; much courted in society, he was kind and generous in disposition; his writings are marked by humour, observation, and descriptive power; these qualities with an excellent style place him in the foremost rank of American authors; he died, unmarried, at Tarrytown, New York (1783-1859).
Irvingites, the name given to the Catholic Apostolic Church as founded by Edward Irving, which is repudiated by them, as disclaiming all earthly leadership; their ministry is after the Apostolic order, includes prophets, evangelists, and pastors, and they employ material symbols in their worship besides those of water in baptism and wine in communion, such as incense; the Eucharist they regard as a sacrifice, and they believe in the permanency of the spiritual gifts of the primitive Church.
Isaac, a Hebrew patriarch, son of Abraham, born to him when he was old; a mild man with no great force of character, and a contrast to Ishmael, his half-brother; lived to a great age.
Issac I., Comnenus, Emperor of the East from 1057 to 1059; raised to the throne by the army; ruled well, but falling ill and fearing he had not long to live. He retired and spent his two remaining years in a monastery; he was a student and annotator of Homer.
Issac II., Angelus, Emperor of the East; a good man, but weak; became emperor in 1185, was dethroned by his brother Alexis in 1195; reinstated by the Crusaders in 1203, but overthrown six months after in 1204.
Isac of York, the father of Rebecca in “Ivanhoe.”
Isabella, queen of Castile; her marriage with Ferdinand of Aragon led to the union under one sceptre of the crowns of Aragon and Castile, which was followed 10 years after by their united occupancy of the throne of all Spain; she was an able woman, and associated with her husband in every affair of State (1451-1504). See Ferdinand V.
Isabella II., ex-queen of Spain, daughter of Ferdinand VII.; succeeded him in 1833; was forced to leave the country in 1868; took refuge in France, and in 1870 abdicated in favour of her son.
Isabey Jean Baptiste, French portrait-painter, born at Nancy; painted many of the notabilities of France in his day (1767-1855).
Isæus, an Attic orator, and the teacher of Demosthenes; wrote 64 orations, of which only 10 are extant, and these not on political issues but forensic, and particularly the law of inheritance.
Isaiah, one of the great Hebrew prophets, the son of one Amoz; was a citizen of Jerusalem, evidently of some standing, and who flourished between 750 and 700 B.C.; like Amos (q. v.), he foresaw the judgment that was coming on the nation for its unfaithfulness, but felt assured that God would not altogether forsake His people, and that “a remnant,” God's elect among them, would be saved—that though the casket would be shattered in pieces, the jewel it contained would be preserved. See Hebrew Prophecy.
Isaiah, The Ascension of, an apocryphal book giving an incoherent account of the martyrdom of Isaiah, and a vision he had under the reign of Hezekiah, apparently the origin of the tradition in Heb. xi. 37, about the prophet having been “sawn asunder.”
Isaiah, The Prophecies of, consist of two divisions, the first extending from chap. i. to chap. xxxix., and the second from chap. xl. to the end; these two divisions were for long believed to be throughout the work of Isaiah the son of Amoz, but modern criticism assigns them in the main to different authors, the one living 150 years after the other; and the reasons for this conclusion are that the author of the latter belonged to a different period of Jewish history from that of the former, is not of the same temper, and has much deeper spiritual insight, while his hopes and expectations are built on a more spiritual view of the method of salvation, the Messiah of the former, for instance, being a conquering king, and that of the latter a suffering Redeemer, who to save the nation has to bear the burden of its sins, and the brunt of them, and so bearing, bear them away.
Isambert, François André, a noteworthy French lawyer, politician, and historian, born at Aunay; began to practise in Paris at the age of twenty-six; becoming known in politics, he gained considerable renown by certain works on French law and by his advocacy of the claims of the liberated slaves in the French West Indies; entering the Chamber of Deputies after the Revolution of July 1830, he set himself to oppose the Jesuits and to further freedom; “The Religious Conditions of France and Europe” and a “History of Jerusalem” were among his later works; he died at Paris (1792-1857).
Isandula, place 110 m. NW. of Durban, where a force of British troops was encamped in January 22, 1879, and was set upon and almost annihilated by a body of Zulus.
Isauria, in ancient times this name was given to the northern slopes of the Taurus in Asia Minor, what is now Karamania; the Isaurians were a wild, savage people; from the 1st to the 4th centuries they were the terror of neighbouring States, and gave Rome herself considerable trouble; but from the 5th century they disappear from history.
Ischia (22), a beautiful volcanic island 6 m. off the Bay of Naples; its scenery, climate, and mineral springs make it a health resort; it produces excellent fruits and wines; it is liable to severe earthquakes; in the last (1883), 4000 persons perished. The chief town (3) bears the same name.
Ischl, a town in Upper Austria, picturesquely situated on the river Traun, 33 m. SE. of Salzburg; famous for its saline baths; has salt-works, where 8000 tons of salt are annually manufactured.
Isengrin, the wolf, typifying the feudal baron in the epic tale of Reynard the Fox, as the fox does the Church. See Reynard.
Iser, a German river, which rises in the Tyrol N. of Innsbruck, passes through Münich, and falls into the Danube after a course of 180 m.
Isère, a river in the SE. of France, which gives name to a dep. (572), and which, after a course of 180 m. falls into the Rhône near Valence.
Iserlohn (22), a town in Prussian Westphalia, 14 m. SE. of Dortmund; is picturesquely situated, and is engaged in iron-ware manufacture.
Ishmael, the son of Abraham and the handmaid Hagar, cast out of Abraham's household at 15; he became skilful with the bow, and founded a great nation, the Arabs; for the offering of Isaac on Moriah the Arabs substitute the offering of Ishmael on Arafat, near Mecca; Mahomet claimed descent from him; he gives name in modern life to a social outcast driven into antagonism to social arrangements.
Isidore, St., Bishop of Seville, born at Carthagena, a distinguished man and ecclesiastic, who exercised great influence on Latin Christianity, and on both civil and ecclesiastical matters in Spain, and left a large number of writings of varied interest; he was animated at once by a severe sense of duty and by an admirable Christian spirit (570-638). Festival, April 4.
Isinglass, a gelatine substance prepared from the sounds or air-bladders of certain fresh-water fishes, the sturgeon in particular; it is imported from Russia, Brazil, and the Hudson Bay Territory.
Isis, an Egyptian divinity, the wife and sister of Osiris and mother of Horus, the three together forming a trinity, which is characteristically Egyptian, and such as often repeats itself in Egyptian mythology, and typifying the life of the sun, Osiris representing that luminary slain at night and sorrowed over by his sister Isis, reviving in the morning in his son Horus, and wedded anew to his sister Isis as his wife; passed into the mythology of the Greeks, Isis became identified first with Demeter and then with the Moon, while in that of Rome she figures as the Universe-mother.
Isla, José Francisco de, a Spanish Jesuit, celebrated as a preacher and a humorist and satirist of the stamp of Cervantes; his principal work “Friar Gerund,” a satire on the charlatanism and bombast of the popular preaching friars of the day, as Don Quixote was on the false chivalry; the friars he satirised were too strong for him, and he was expelled from Spain, retired to Italy, and died at Bologna in extreme poverty (1703-1781).
Islam or Islamism, the religion of Mahomet, “that we must submit to God; that our whole strength lies in resigned submission to Him, whatsoever He do to us, for this world and the other; this is the soul of Islam; it is properly the soul of Christianity; Christianity also commands us, before all, to be resigned to God. This is yet the highest wisdom that Heaven has revealed to our earth.” See “Heroes and Hero-Worship.”
Island of Saints, a name given to Ireland in the Middle Ages.
Islands of the Blessed, fabled islands of the far west of the ocean, where the favoured of the gods after death are conceived to dwell in everlasting blessedness.
Islay (7), a large mountainous Island 13 m. W. of Kintyre, Scotland; much of it is cultivated; dairy produce, cattle, and sheep are exported; there are lead, copper, and manganese mines, marble quarries, and salmon fisheries; the distilleries produce 400,000 gallons of whisky annually.
Islington (319), a district of London, 2½ m. N. of St. Paul's; contains the division of Holloway, Highbury, Barnsbury, and part of Kingsland.
Ismail Pasha, khedive of Egypt from 1863, who was obliged by the Powers to abdicate in 1879.
Ismailia, a small town on Suez Canal; was the head-quarters of the work during the construction of the Canal.
Ismaîlis, one of the Mohammedan sects which support the claim of the house of Ali, Mahomet's cousin, to supremacy among the faithful; originating about A.D. 770, they rose to importance in the 10th century under Abdallah, a Persian, who introduced Zoroastrian ideas into their creed and prophesied the appearance of a Madhi or Messiah who should be greater than the Prophet himself; becoming latterly extremely rationalistic the sect lost its influence in the 13th century, and its representatives in Syria and Persia are now comparatively obscure; in Turkey and Egypt, however, several Madhis have arisen, of whom the last, Mohammed Ahmed, b. 1843, gained possession of the Soudan, defeated the Egyptian army in 1883, two years later captured Khartoum, but died at Omdurman shortly afterwards.
Ismenë, the sister of Antigone, who requested, as her accomplice, to be promoted to be sharer in her fate.
Isocrates, an Athenian rhetorician, of a school that was an offshoot of the Sophists (q. v.), and the whole merit of whose oratory depended upon style or literary finish and display; he is said to have starved himself to death after the battle of Cheronea at the age of 98 because he could not brook to outlive the humiliation of Greece by Philip of Macedon and the destruction of its freedom (436-338 B.C.).
Isodorian Decretals, a body of ecclesiastical decretals imposed upon the Church under the name of Isodore of Seville (q. v.).
Isolde, the wife of King Mark of Cornwall, who, under the potency of some philter which she had inadvertently taken, conceived an illicit passion for Sir Tristram, her husband's nephew, the story of which is celebrated in mediæval romance.
Ispahân (60), the ancient capital of Persia, 226 m. S. of Teheran, on the river Zenderud, which, as its greatest glory, is spanned by a noble bridge of 34 arches; it stands in a fertile plain abounding in groves and orchards, amid ruins of its former grandeur, and is a centre of Mohammedan learning; the inhabitants are said to have at one time numbered a million; it produces rich brocades and velvets, firearms, sword-blades, and much ornamental ware; there are many fine buildings, and signs of returning prosperity.
Israel, Kingdom of, the name given to the northern kingdom of the 10 tribes of the Israelites which revolted from the kingdom of Judah after the death of Solomon.
Isräels, Josef, a Dutch oil and water-colour artist and etcher, born in Gröningen; studied in Amsterdam and Paris; devoting himself to genre subjects, he has depicted the pathetic side of the life of the Dutch fisher-folks with great sympathy and power; he won a grand prix at the Paris Exhibition of 1889; b. 1824.
Israfeel, in the Mohammedan mythology an angel whose office it will be to sound the trumpet on the resurrection morning.
Issus, a river in Cilicia, Asia Minor, where Alexander the Great defeated Darius, 333 B.C.
Issy (12), a village ½ m. SW. of Paris, where Davout was defeated by Blücher on 3rd July 1815, and which suffered severely during the siege of Paris by the Germans in 1870-71.
Istamboul, the Turkish name for Constantinople.
Isthmian Games, one of the four Pan-Hellenic festivals; they were periodically celebrated in honour of Poseidon or Neptune at the isthmus of Corinth, in Greece, whence the name.
Istria (299), a mountainous territory of Austria, in the NE. corner of the Adriatic; yields olive-oil, figs, and vines, though often swept by sirocco and bora winds.
Isumbras, St., a hero of mediæval romance, a proud man subdued by God's justice into a penitent and a humble.
Italian Architecture. The style of architecture called Italian was first developed by Filippo Bruneschelli, and flourished during the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries; it was an adaptation of classical circular-arch form to modern requirements. In Rome it conformed most to ancient types; in Venice it assumed its most graceful form. It was more suitable to domestic than to ecclesiastical work; but the dome is an impressive feature, and St. Peter's a noble church.
Italic School, the name given to the school of Pythagoras (q. v.) who taught philosophy in Italy.
Italic Version, The, a version of the Scriptures into Latin on the basis of the Septuagint, executed in N. Italy under episcopal authority from other versions in circulation; being of mixed quality and far from satisfactory, Jerome (q. v.) undertook its revision with the view of a new translation into Latin known as the Vulgate direct from the Hebrew and Greek originals.
Italy (30,536), the central one of three peninsulas stretching into the Mediterranean Sea, in the S. of Europe, has the Adriatic and Tyrrhenian Seas respectively on the E. and W., and is separated from France, Switzerland, and Austria in the N. by the various ranges of the Alps. Between the Alps and the Apennines lies the extensive, fertile plain of Lombardy, watered by the river Po, and containing several large lakes, such as Garda, Como, and Maggiore. The Apennines form a very picturesque chain of mountains 5000 ft. high down the centre of the country. The climate varies in different districts, but is mostly warm. Malaria curses many parts in autumn. Agriculture is extensive, but primitive in manner, and the peasantry are very poor. The most important crops are cereals, including rice and maize, grapes, olives, and chestnuts, and in the S. oranges and lemons. Italian wines are of indifferent quality. Coal and iron are scarce; sulphur is produced in large quantities in Sicily. There are large quarries of marble and alabaster. The most important industries are silk, glass, and porcelain. There is an extensive foreign trade, chiefly with France and Great Britain; the exports consist of silk, sulphur, marble, fruit, and wine; the imports of coal, iron, and textile goods. The religion is Roman Catholic; education is now compulsory. The Gothic kingdom of Italy was founded on the ruins of the Roman Empire, A.D. 489. In succession the country was conquered by the forces of the Byzantine Empire, by the Lombards, and by the Franks. From the 11th century onwards its history has been one of constant internal strife and confusion. The presence of the papal power in Rome, the rise of such rich trading republics as the cities of Milan, Florence, Naples, Genoa, and Venice, the pretensions of French kings and German emperors, and factions like those of the Guelphs and Ghibellines, produced endless complications and ruinous wars. In the 16th century the influence of the Austro-Spanish house of Charles V. became dominant; his son, Philip II., was king of Milan and Naples. In more recent times the small states of Italy were continually involved in the wars which devastated Europe, and passed in alliance or in subordination into the hands of Austria, France, and Spain alternately. The last 50 years have seen the unification of the kingdom. After the abortive movement of Mazzini came Cavour and Garibaldi, who, after severe struggles against the Austrians in the North and the despots of Southern Italy, proclaimed Victor Emmanuel king of Italy in 1861. By various steps the whole of the peninsula, with the islands of Sardinia and Sicily, have been brought into the kingdom. The temporal power of the Pope ceased in 1870. The Government is a constitutional monarchy. Franchise is exercised by every citizen who can read and write. Conscription is in force for army and navy. These are both strong, the navy one of the best in Europe. Finances are bad; the debt amounts to £520,000,000, and taxation is ruinous.
Ithaca (10), one of the Ionian Islands, and one of the smallest, known now under the name Thiaki; it was the home of Ulysses, and his domain as king when he set out for the Trojan War, and which he did not see again till his return after twenty years. Also a town (11) in New York State, U.S., seat of Cornell University (q. v.).
Ithuriel, an angel whom Milton represents as sent by Gabriel to search for Satan in Paradise, who had found entrance by eluding the vigilance of the guard; he was armed with a spear, the touch of which could unmask any disguise, and by means of which he discovered Satan lurking in the garden in the form of a toad.
Itinerary, a name given among the Romans to an account or a map of the principal routes through the empire and the stations along them.
Iturbide, Augustine de, a Mexican general, emancipated Mexico from the yoke of Spain; seized the crown and was proclaimed emperor in 1822, was obliged to abdicate next year and leave the country, but returning, was immediately arrested, and shot (1783-1824).
Ivan (i. e. John), the name of two grand-dukes and four czars of Russia; the two grand-dukes were Ivan I., grand-duke from 1328 to 1340, and Ivan II., his son, grand-duke from 1353 to 1359.
Ivan III., surnamed The Threatening, sought to free Russia from the yoke of the Tartars who had held it tributary for two centuries; gained victories over the Tartars and the Poles, and was the first to receive at Moscow ambassadors from other Powers of Europe; reigned from 1462 to 1505.
Ivan IV., surnamed The Terrible, grandson of the preceding, assumed the sovereignty at 14, had himself crowned in 1545, and took the title of Czar; his first great ambition was to destroy the Tartar power, which he did at Kasan and Astrakhan, receiving homage thereafter from almost all the Tartar chiefs; on the death of his wife in 1563 he lost all self-restraint, and by the ferocity of his wars provoked hostility which the Pope, who had been appealed to, interposed to appease; in a fit of passion he killed his eldest son, whom he loved, remorse for which embittered his last days and hastened his end (1530-1584).
Ivanhoe, the hero of Sir Walter Scott's novel of the name, the disinherited son of Cedric of Rotherwood, who falls in love with Rowena, a ward of his father, but by the exhibition of his prowess as a knight is at the intercession of King Richard, reconciled to his father, with the result that he marries Rowena.
Ivanova (32), a Russian town in Vladimir, 210 m. NE. of Moscow, engaged in the manufacture of cotton, and known as the “Manchester of Russia.”
Ivanovitch, Ivan, a lazy, good-natured impersonation of the typical Russian, as John Bull is of the Englishman, and Brother Jonathan of the American.
Ives, St., a town on the Ouse, in Huntingdonshire, 50 m. N. of London, where Oliver Cromwell resided from 1631 to 1635; the chief industries are malting and brewing.
Iviza (22), the most westerly of the Balearic Isles, is hilly and well wooded, with fertile valleys and important fisheries.
Ivory Coast, a territory on the N. of the Gulf of Guinea, belonging partly to Liberia and partly to France and Britain.
Ivory Gate, the gate spoken of in Virgil through which dreams pass that do not turn out true. See Horn Gate.
Ivry, a village in the dep. of Eure, NE. of Dreux, famous for the victory of Henry of Navarre over the Leaguers in 1590.
Ixion, the king of the Lapithæ (q. v.), who being admitted to heaven attempted to do violence to Hera, and whom Zeus deluded to embrace a phantom image of her instead, whereby he became the father of the Centaurs, and whom Zeus thereafter punished by fastening him hands and feet to an eternally revolving wheel in hell.
Izalio, a volcano in the republic of San Salvador, which first announced its existence by a fissure opening in 1798 on the plain that now surrounds it, from which there vomited lava and cinders, accompanied with earthquake.