Isthmus.

columns, each rising from the backs of four lions in white marble. The pillars are inlaid with mirrors, and the walls and roof are profusely decorated with glass and gilding. The suburb Julfa, on the southern bank of the river, once a flourishing Armenian settlement of 30,000 inhabitants, is now little better than a mass of ruins. Ispahan, however, is still an important city, and the seat of extensive manufactures, including all sorts of woven fabrics, from rich gold brocades and figured velvets to common calicoes. Trinkets and ornamental goods a great variety, with fire-arms, sword-blades, glass and earthenware, are also manufactured. Many of its bazaars are still crowded daily, and its merchants are still influential enough to affect prices in India. Of late years, too, Ispahan has shown considerable signs of improvement; many of its edifices have been rebuilt; rice, an important article of commerce, is now largely cultivated in the neighborhood. Pop. estimated at 80,000.

Ispahan was a trading town of importance, and the capital of Irak, under the caliphs of Bagdad. It was taken by Timûr in 1387, when 70,000 of the inhabitants are said to have been massacred. During the 17th c., under Shah-Abbas the great, it became the capital of Persia, and reached the climax of its prosperity. Its walls were then 24 m. in circuit, and it is said to have had between 600,000 and 1,000,000 inhabitants. It was then the emporium of the Asiatic world; the merchandise of all nations enriched its bazaars, and ambassadors from Europe and the east crowded its court. In 1722 it was devastated by the Afghans, and some time afterwards the seat of government was transferred to Teheran (q.v.).

ISRAEL, KINGDOM OF. See JEWS.

ISRAEL. See JACOB, ante.

ISRAELITES. See JEws, ante.

IS RAFIL', one of the three angels who appeared before Abraham to announce the forthcoming fate of Sodom, and specially designated as the angel of music. According to the Koran, to Israfil is assigned the duty of sounding the last trump" on the day of resurrection.

ISSAQUÉNA, a western co. of Mississippi, having the Mississippi river on the w., and the Yazoo and Sunflower on the e.; 600 sq m.; pop. '70, 6,887. It is watered by the Yazoo and Sunflower rivers. The surface is level, covered with thick forests, and often inundated. The soil is fertile, and produces cotton, maize, and sweet potatoes. Capital, Mayerville.

ISSOIRE (anc. Issiodurum) a t. of France, in the department of Puy-de-Dôme, at the confluence of the Couze and Allier, 20 m. s.e. of Clermont. Pop.'76, 6,089.

ISSOUDUN, a manufacturing t. of France, in the department of Indre, is situated on the river Théolle, on the railway from Orleans to Limoges, 18 m. n.e. of Châteauroux. The principal manufactures are woolen cloth and yarn. Pop. '76, 11,293.

ISSUE, in law, means the point of fact in dispute which is submitted to a jury. ISSUE, in law (ante). The point in dispute between the parties to a suit may be one either of law or of fact. If the former, it is decided by the court without the intervention of a jury; if the latter, it is determined by a jury, or, in equity practice, by a judge. In some of the states of the union issues of both kinds may by consent of parties be tried by a referee. When a court of law or equity is sitting without a jury, it sometimes happens that a question of fact arises upon which the decision of a jury is desired. A fictitious suit is thereupon framed, involving the point in question, and brought to trial before a jury summoned for the purpose. The verdict rendered being returned to the court, is accepted as a settlement of the issue of fact, and the trial of the cause out of which that issue grew thereupon proceeds. In the state of New York a feigned issue in such cases is not required, the actual question as it arises being submitted to a jury by order of court.

ISSUS, anciently, a seaport on a gulf of the same name in Cilicia, Asia Minor, celebrated for a victory which Alexander the great obtained here over Darius (333 B. C.), by which the camp and family of Darius fell into his hands. Its exact site has not been ascertained.

ISTALIF', a t. of Afghanistan, situated 22 m. n.n. w. of Cabul, on a tributary of the Cabul river. In 1842 it was partially destroyed by the British. Previous to that event, it had 15,000 inhabitants, who were employed chiefly in spinning, weaving, and dyeing

cotton.

ISTER. See DANUBE, ante.

ISTHMUS (Gr.), in geography, a narrow neck of land joining two portions of land. The name isthmus was by the ancients often employed without any addition to designate the isthmus of Corinth, joining the Peloponnesus to continental Helias. Here there was a famous temple of Neptune, and here also were celebrated the ISTHMIAN GAMES (one of the four great national festivals of Greece), at first every third year, and afterwards every fifth year. They were said to have been originally instituted by Sisyphus, and afterwards restored by Theseus. The games, like those of Olympia, consisted of athletic exercises, with the addition of competitions in music and poetry. The victors were crowned with garlands of fir, and their statues were placed in the temple of Neptune.

Italic,

Down to the destruction of Corinth by the Roman gen. Mummius (146 B.C.), the manage ment of these games was in the hands of the rulers of that city, though the Athenians always enjoyed the seats of honor. The Romans added the coarser and more brutal amusements of gladiatorial exhibitions and fights with wild beasts. The spread of Christianity was fatal to their popularity, but we still read of them in the reigns of Constantine and Julian.

ISTIP, a t. of European Turkey, in Roumelia, on the Istip river; pop. 8,000. It is well built, and has a large trade. It contains some steel-works and the remains of an old castle.

IS TRIA, an Austrian margraviate, which, with the county of Görz and Gradiska, and the town and territory of Trieste, forms the Austrian crown-land of the coast-districts or Küstenland. It consists of a peninsula projecting into the n.e. corner of the Adriatic sea, together with the adjacent Quarnero islands.

ISTRIA (ante), anciently Histria, a peninsula of s. Austria, projecting into the n.e. part of the Adriatic sea, and including some islands; between lat. 40° 35′ and 45° 50′ n. and long. 13° 23' and 14° 40′ e.; 1908 sq.m.; pop. 254,905. The peninsula is 50 m. long, with an average breadth of 30 miles. A ridge of rocky mountains runs through its entire length, the highest point of which is Monte Maggiore, 4,200 ft. above the sea. The coast is rugged and rocky and has many excellent harbors. The soil is well adapted to vines, olives, and other fruits. In the mountains herds of cattle find pasture, and marble and freestone are quarried. The fisheries and salt-works furnish employment to many of the people. The Istrians belonged to the stock of Illyrians, and like them were pirates. The Romans subdued them first about the beginning of the 2d c. B.C., and reconquered them in the following century. Their independence was finally overthrown by C. Claudius, 177 B.C., their country, united to Italy, continuing subject to Rome till it fell into the hands of the Goths in the 6th century. The eastern emperors, drove out the Goths and retained the country till the 10th and 11th centuries, when it became subject to Carinthia and Dalmatia. The Venetians in the 13th c. seized the western part, and Austria the eastern, both of which on the overthrow of the Venetian republic, 1797, were by treaty made over to Austria. From the downfall of Napoleon in 1813 till 1849, Istria formed a part of the government of Trieste.

ISVORNIK'. See ZVORNIK.

ÍSWARA (from the Sanskrit is, to possess power, hence literally, lord) is an epithet applied to different Hindu divinities, but in mythological acceptation mostly designates SI VA (q.v.).

ITACOLUMITE, a peculiar, siliceous, metamorphic schistose rock, found accompanying talcose slates and schists, composed principally of quartz grains with hydrous mica, which latter mineral makes it flexible, whence it is called flexible sandstone. Its flexibility is peculiar, bending as though made of short joints. It is found in Brazil, the Ural mountains, Georgia, North and South Carolina, and elsewhere, particularly in sections of these regions where there is gold. It has been observed by Lieber that in South Carolina itacolumite passes gradually into sandstone and conglomerate, showing its sedimentary origin.

ITALIAN ARCHITECTURE. This term is usually limited to the style practiced by the Italian architects of the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries, and which has since been adopted in every country in Europe. This style originated in a revival of the ancient architecture of Rome. Although Gothic architecture had been practiced in Italy during the 13th and 14th centuries, it had never been thoroughly naturalized. The Italians always showed a preference for the round arch over the pointed northern form; and even in the buildings they erected in the pointed style, there is a certain simplicity and largeness of parts indicative of a classic feeling. As early as 1350, Giovanni Pisano, in the beautiful sculpture of the pulpit at Pisa, showed a return to the ancient models. Arnolpho di Lapo built the cathedral of Florence (1290-1300), and in his design proposed a great dome (a remarkably Roman feature) over the crossing of the nave and transept. This he did not live to complete; but he prepared the way for Brunelleschi, the chief aim of whose life was the accomplishment of the great dome of the cathedral. He went to Rome to study the ancient buildings there, at that time neglected and hardly known to the Italians themselves. After devoting a considerable time to exploring these monuments, he returned to Florence; and, after great opposition, succeeded in carrying out the construction of the dome as it now stands. From this time, the revival of Roman architecture went on rapidly. It was encouraged by the popes and other princes of Italy; and the invention of the printing-press soon spread a knowledge of the works of the Italian architects over Europe. At first, the Roman moldings and ornaments only were copied and applied to the existing forms. As the ancient style became better understood, its general principles were gradually adopted, until at length the

Italic.

modern Italian style was formed. This style may be defined as ancient Roman architecture applied to the forms and requirements of modern buildings. It has been admirably applied to domestic, but it has never been so successfully used in ecclesiastical, edifices. The domes of the Italian churches render the interiors of these buildings very impressive, and are a feature for the introduction of which into the w. of Europe we are indebted to this style; but the façades of the churches are broken up into stories, and want the unity of a Gothic front.

Italian architecture is divided into three styles or schools, according to the places where it was practiced-viz., the Florentine, Roman, and Venetian. The Florentine buildings are massive and grand in effect; they are indebted to ancient Roman art chiefly for details, the outlines being the same as those of the older buildings, formed to suit the requirements of the place. Florence being a turbulent city, every man who had anything to lose had literally to make his house his castle. Accordingly, the basement floor is massively built with large blocks of stone, and the windows are small and plain. The Roman school naturally resembles more closely the ancient Roman buildings so numerous in that city-pilasters, arcades, etc., being freely used. In Rome, the plan of including two or more stories in one order of columns or pilasters with their entablature, with an attic or low story above, first originated, and was afterwards extensively, but, as already explained, Lot successfully applied to churches.

The Venetian style is, as might be expected in a city long accustomed to elegant palaces, the most ornate and picturesque of the Italian schools. Venice is crowded with specimens of all kinds from the earliest to the latest renaissance, and retains its individuality of style from first to last. Each story is marked by a separate tier of columns or pilasters with their entablature; the windows are arched and ornamented with columns, and the spandrils commonly filled with figures. The outline is varied in form, and is usually finished with a balustrade, broken by pedestals, and crowned with sculptured figures. It is from this most picturesque of the styles of the Italian renaissance that the other countries of Europe derived their peculiar forms. Sec RENAISSANCE, ELIZABETHAN, CINQUECENTO.

ITALIAN WINES. The wines of Italy are not very highly valued in other countries, and almost the whole quantity produced is consumed at home. Those of the n. are for the most part disagreeably acid, and scarcely any one of them can be preserved beyond one year. The vines are grown not so much in vineyards as in the hedgerows― a system which doubtless injures the quality of the wine. In the southern parts, however, where the vines are grown in low vineyards as in France, the wines are of a more fiery quality, and though prepared with little care, they require only to be better known to be esteemed by foreigners. A great variety of wines is produced in Piedmont, and those of Asti and Chaumont have acquired a reputation. The so-called Malvasia wines of Sardinia are produced at Sorso, Posa, Alghiere, and Naxo. The Malvasias of Caunonas, Monai, and Garnaccia are exported. The best Italian wines, however, are produced in Tuscany, partly because the climate is most favorable, partly because the former government and many nobles paid great attention to the improvement of the vineyards. Of vines, the Aleatico, or red muscat, is most extensively grown, at Monte Pulciano, between Sienna and Rome; at Monte Catini, in the Val de Rievole, and at Ponte a Moriano. The wine is purple in color, sweet, and slightly astringent in taste. A good red wine is made at Chianti, near Sienna, from a peculiar grape. The wines of Artimino, a former grandducal estate, and of Carmignano, are also of good quality. At Arcetri, near Florence, was prepared the best Verdea, or green wine, so called from its color, and much esteemed by Frederick the great of Prussia. Another celebrated wine is the Trebbiano, a goldcolored syrup. From the Venetian plain the cultivation of the vine extends into many of the valleys of the Alps which open into it, particularly that of Udine, the valley of the Tagliamento, up to Tolmezzo, and the Piave. In many of these valleys viticulture might attain the highest perfection if it were directed to quality, and if selected vines we grown in closed vineyards with that care and attention which are bestowed upon this branch of production on the Rhine and in France. The former Papal states of central Italy produce the wines of Orvieto, and the muscats of Albano and Montefiascone. Lachrymæ Christi is produced from vines grown at the base of Mt. Vesuvius, and is reputed to be the strongest of the wines in the Naples district. The province of Puglia or Terra d'Otranto produces the wines of Gallipoli and Taranto. Of Sicilian wines only one variety is exported in large quantities, namely, the white or light amber or brown wine, which goes under the name of the exporting town of Marsala. In the neighborhood of Messina there is grown the Faro wine, reputed to be the strongest wine of n.e. Sicily. Near Mt. Etna is made the wine of Terre Forte, in the vineyards of the Benedictine monks.

ITAL'IC VERSION (Vetus Itala), the name given to a translation of the Scriptures into Latin, which preceded the Vulgate. Its origin is commonly supposed to date from the middle of the 2d century. The Italic version was in general use down to the time of Jerome, who, being dissatisfied with the imperfections which it exhibited, undertook to revise and amend it, but ultimately produced the new translation known as the Vulgate (q.v.) The Italic version of the Old Testament was made, not from the Hebrew, but from the Septuagint.

Italy.

ITALY. The geographical territory comprised under the name of Italy consists of a considerable stretch of peninsular mainland, closely resembling a boot in shape, besides several islands, situated in southern Europe, between lat. 36° 35′ and 47° n., and between long. 6° 35 and 18° 35′ east. From the southern extremity of Sicily to the Alps its maximum length is about 600 m., its utmost breadth being 300 miles.

Boundaries.-Its boundaries on the n. are Austria and Switzerland, on the s. the Mediterranean, on the w. France and the Mediterranean, and on the e. the Ionian and Adriatic seas; while its natural limits are strongly defined by the Alps and the sea.

Area. The kingdom of Italy-which comprises the whole peninsula, with the small exception of the republic of San Marino-has an area of about 110,000 sq.m., and was estimated to have in 1875 a pop. of 27,482,174. At the census of 1871 the figures were as follows:

Italy.

Population in 1871.

Physical Aspect.-The physical aspect presented by the surface of Italy is diversified in the extreme. Northern Italy is, for the most part, composed of one great plain-the basin of the Po, comprising all Lombardy and a considerable portion of Piedmont and Venice, bounded on the n.w. and partly on the s. by different Alpine ranges. Throughout central Italy, the great Apennine chain gives a picturesque irregularity to the physical configuration of the country, which in the southern extremity of Italy assumes still wilder forms. In the highland districts of Naples, in which the Apennine ridge reaches its maximum elevation (10,000 ft.), the scenery exhibits a savage grandeur. Along the extensive coast-plains, as well as in the sub-Apennine valleys, the rural charms of this portion of Italy are extreme, while the brilliant flora and vegetation impart to it a novel character of beauty. The chief mountain-system of Italy is the frontier ridge of the Alps (q.v.), and its noble continuation the Apennines (q. v.).

Volcanic Zone,-Italy likewise comprises a considerable stretch of volcanic zone, which traverses the peninsula from the center to the s. parallel with the Apenines, and of which the most remarkable active summits are Vesuvius, near Naples; Etna in Sicily; and Stromboli in the Lipari isles.

Pains-The great plains of Italy are those of Lombardy, which stretch from the Mincio to the Ticino and the Po; of Piedmont; the Venetian plains; the plain of the Roman legations; the plain of the Campo Felice, on which stands Vesuvius; the Apulian plain; the long, narrow Neapolitan plain of the Basilicata, 100 m. in length and 24 m. in breadth, stretching along the gulf of Tarento.

Rivers.-The great majority of the rivers of Italy are only navigable for small coasting boats or barges. By far the most important is the Po (q.v.), which rises on the borders of France, and flows into the Adriatic. It has numerous tributaries. Among the others may be mentioned the Adige, Brenta, Piave, Tagliamento, Aterno, Sangro, Metauro, Ofanto, Bradano, also belonging to the Adriatic basin; the Arno, the Tiber, the Ombrone, the Garigliano, and the Volturno, which belong to the Mediterranean basin. The classical and historical associations of many of the Italian streams, even when mere rivulets, invest them with perennial interest.

Canal System.The canal system of Italy is most extensive in the north. Nine principal canals in Lombardy administer to the irrigation of the plains, and to the purposes of commercial communication, contributing in no small degree to the prosperity of the district. The Naviglio Grande or Ticinello is the finest hydraulic construction in Italy; it communicates between the Ticino and Milan, and has a course of 28 m. navigable for vessels of large size. It was begun in 1179. The Naviglio Martesana, 38 m. long, unites Concesa on the Adda with Milan; the Naviglio di Pavia is 18 m. in length; the bifurcated Naviglio d'Ostiglia unites the Po with the Adige. Two hundred and fifty-three canals intersect Piedmont, extending over a length of 1932 kilometers. Venice comprises 203 navigable and 40 minor canals. Numerous canals have been constructed for the drainage of the Pontine Marshes. This system of water-communication was early carried to a high degree of efficiency in Italy, and is of incalculable service in the agricultural districts.

Lakes-The mountain lakes of Italy are famed for their picturesque beauty. They are mostly in the northern provinces of Lombardy and Venetia. The principal are Maggiore, Lugano, Como, Iseo, and Garda. The Roman lakes of Perugia, Bolseno, and Bracciano, that of Castiglione in Tuscany, and Celano in Naples, also deserve mention.

Springs.-The mineral and thermal springs of Italy are innumerable, and possess a great variety of curative and sanitary properties,

Climate. In the northern provinces, the climate is temperate, salubrious, and frequently severe in winter; in the center, it assumes a more genial and sunny character,