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INSECTS...IRELAND.

ors. It was the custom of the inquisition to array those who were to be burnt, in flame coloured clothes, on which was their own picture, surrounded with figures. of devils. In the year 1480 (in the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, on whom the Pope had conferred the title of their Catholic Majesties) the ecclesiastical tribunal, called the court of inquisition, was established in Spain: and six thousand persons were burnt, or expired on the rack, by order of this bloody tribunal, within four years after the appointment of the first inquisitor-general, and upwards of one hundred thousand felt its fury. The unhappy wretch who falls under suspicion of heresy, is brought bound from his dungeon. He knows not his accusors, nor is permitted either defence or appeal. In vain he pleads for mercy. The rack is prepared; the wheels are driven round; the bloody whip and hissing pincers tear the quivering flesh from the bones; the pullies raise him to the roof; the sinews crack; the joints are torn asunder; the pavement swims in blood. the unfeeling inquisitor, who calls himself a minister and servant of Christ, views the scene with no other emotion but that of joy and exultation !-It is a matter of great joy, that the horrible court of inquisition has been lately abolished in Spain: where it had been maintained in all its terrors, during several ages and centuries.... Burgh, et cet. See GoA.

INSECTS, a species of animal, so called because their bodies seem as it were cut in two, and joined together only by a small ligature, or membrane. Before the time of Linnæus, scarcely more than two hundred species of insects were known. In the last editions of his works he described about three thousand and there are now known more than twenty thousand species.... Miller.

IRELAND, an island in the Atlantic Ocean; lying to the west of Great Britain, from which it is separated by St. George's Channel; situated between the fiftyfirst and fifty-sixth degrees of north latitude; and extending about three hundred miles in length, and one hundred and fifty miles in medial breadth. The air is mild and temperate; the soil is fertile, and well water

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ed with lakes and rivers; it is a country exceedingly well situated for foreign trade, and has many secure and commodious bays, creeks and harbors, especially on the west coast. The name Ireland (it has also been called Erin) is said to be derived from the word Eir, in the Celtic language signifying west. Christianity was first introduced into Ireland, about the middle of the fifth century, by Patricius, called St. Patrick, a Scotchman by birth. He was first a soldier, and then a priest; he landed in Wicklow in 441, converted the Irish, became bishop of Armagh, and died in the hundred and twentieth year of his age. The first invasion of Ireland, from England, was in the year 1171; when Fitz-Stephen and Fitz-Gerald crossed the sea from Wales with about three hundred men, and were soon followed by earl Strongbow with twelve hundred more, The pretence for this invasion was, that O'Dermot, an Irish chief, being deposed for having carried off the wife of O'Rourk, another chieftain, he (O'Dermot) fled to England, and solicited the assistance of Henry II, to recover his dominions. The English having obtained foothold in Ireland, continued from age to age to project new expeditions against it, till at last James I, possessed the entire dominion of that island. The union lately formed between Great Britain and Ireland, it is thought will meliorate the condition of the latter.... Douglas.

IRON, a well known metal. Though litgher than all other metals, except tin, yet considerably the hardest; when pure, malleable, but in a less degree than gold, silver, lead or copper. It is more liable to rust than other metals, and requires the strongest fire to melt it. Most other metals are brittle while they are hot; but this is the most malleable the nearer it approaches to fusion: it is the only known substance attracted by the loadstone. The benefits to mankind from this singular substance are immense. "To any reflecting person, (says the immortal Locke) it will appear past doubt, that the ignorance of savages in useful arts, and their want of the greater part of the conveniences of life, in countries which abound with all sorts of natural plenty," may be attributed to their ignorance of the manufac

186

IRON WOOD....IROQUOIS.

ture and use of iron; and that, were the use of iron lost among the most learned and polished nations in the world, they would in a few ages be unavoidably reduced to the wants and ignorance of savages; so that he who first made known the use of that one mineral, may be truly styled the father of arts, and the author of plenty." As iron is the most useful, so it is the most common and plentiful metal; the ore being found in great bundance in various parts of the world.

IRON WOOD, a peculiar kind of wood in China. The tree rises to the height of a large oak; but it differs both in the size of its trunk and in the shape of its leaves. Its wood is so exceedingly hard and heavy, that it sinks in water: it is said that the anchors of the Chinese ships are made of it.... Winterbotham.

IROQUOIS, a confederacy of Indian nations; formerly called the Five Nations, five only being then joined in the confederacy; but they afterwards consisted of six nations. These are the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Senecas, Cayugas, and Tuscaroras; the latter having joined the alliance, about the year 1720. Each na

tion of the Iroquois was divided into three families of different ranks, bearing for their arms, and being distinguished by the names of the Tortoise, the Bear, and the Wolf. Their instruments of conveyances were signed by signatures, which they made with a pen, representing the figures of those animals. Hence there appears to have been three orders of state among them. When the Dutch begun the settlement of New-York, all the Indians, on Long-Island and the northern shore of the Sound, on the banks of Connecticut river, Hudson's, Delaware and Susquehannah rivers, were in subjection to the Five Nations, and acknowledged it by paying annual tribute. In the war with Great Britain, these nations (inhabiting the northern and western parts of New-York) were allies of that power; and, in 1779, they were entirely defeated by the American troops, and their towns all destroyed. The Mohawks and the greater part of the Cayugas have removed into Canada. The residue now live on grounds called the State Re

1

ISINGLASS....ITALY.

187

servations; the state of New-York having taken these Indians under its protection.... W. Smith, Morse.

ISINGLASS, a preparation from different species of the fish, called sturgeon: it may also be produced from the air-bladders of the cod, as well as from those of other fish inhabiting the fresh waters. H. Jackson informs us, in his Essay on British Isinglass, published about the year 1765, that its yearly consumption in the brewery was then calculated at twenty-five tons weight, and that forty thousand pounds annually were paid for this article to the Russians. There is also a transparent substance, called isinglass, that is found adhering to rocks, and lying in sheets like paper: most of it is white, some is yellow, and some has a purple hue. It is found in plenty in a mountain in the state of NewHampshire, about twenty miles eastward of Dartmouth college. During the American revolutionary war, it was used instead of window-glass, which at that time was very scarce, This substance is particularly valuable for the windows of ships, as it is not brittle, but elastic, and will stand the explosion of cannon, It is also used to cover miniature paintings, and to preserve minute objects for the microscope: for lanterns it is preferable to glass....Domestic Encyclopædia, Winterbot

ham.

ITALY, one of the finest countries in Europe; bounded by Swisserland and Germany, the Mediterranean Sea, and France. The cities of Italy seem to have been the first in Europe which were raised by commerce to any considerable degree of opulence. Italy lay in the centre of what was at that time the improved and civilized part of the world. The crusades too, though by the great waste of stock and destruction of inhabitants which they occasioned, they must necessarily have retarded the progress of the greater part of Europe, were extremely favorable to that of some Italian cities. The great armies which marched from all parts to the conquest of the Holy Land, gave extraordinary encouragement to the shipping of Venice, Genoa, and Pisa, sometimes in transporting them thither, and always in supplying them with provisions. They were

188

JACKALL....JAMAICA.

the commissaries, if one may so say, of those armies; and the most destructive phrensy that ever befel the European nations, was a source of opulence to those republics. Such Italy was, some centuries ago; the first nation of Europe, in civilization, in arts, in agriculture, in commerce, and in wealth. How fallen!....Adam Smith.

J.

JACKALL, a wild and ferocious animal of the dog

kind. It is said to be of the size of a middling dog, resembling the fox in the hinder parts, particularly the tail; and the wolf in the fore parts, especially the nose; its colour is a bright yellow. The species of the jackall is diffused all over Asia, and is found also in most parts of Africa. Its cry is a howl, mixed with barking, and a lamentation resembling that of human distress. The jackall never goes alone, but always in a pack of forty or fifty together. These unite regularly every day to form a combination against the rest of the forest; and nothing then can escape them. They not only attack the living but the dead. They scratch up with their feet the new-made graves, and devour the corpse, how putrid soever; and while they are at this dreary work, they exhort each other with a most mournful cry, resembling that of children under chastisement. The li on, less swift than the jackall, attends to its call, and follows it in silence at some distance behind; and, coming up, robs it of its prey: hence the jackall is said to hunt for the lion.... Goldsmith.

JAMAICA, one of the West-India islands, bèlonging to Great Britain, and being prodigiously fertile and productive; situated in the Atlantic Ocean, about four thousand miles south-west of England: having the island of Hispaniola, or St. Domingo, at the distance of thirty leagues, to the east, and the island of Cuba, about the same distance, to the north; extending one hundred and fifty miles in length, and about forty miles in

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