Sturla’s power lies in his faithfulness to nature, minute observance of detail and purity of style. The great extent of his subject, and the difficulty of dealing with it in the saga form, are most skilfully overcome; nor does he allow prejudice or favour to stand in the way of the truth. He ranks below Ari in value and below Snorri in power; but no one else can dispute his place in the first rank of Icelandic writers.
Of the ecclesiastical biographers, an anonymous Skalholt clerk is the best. He wroteHungrvaka, lives of the first five bishops of Skalholt, and biographies of his patron Bishop Paul (Pálssaga) and also of St Thorlak (Thorlakssaga). They are full of interesting notices of social and church life. Thorlak was a learned man, and had studied at Paris and Lincoln, which he left in 1161. These lives cover the years 1056-1193. The life of St John, a great reformer, a contemporary of Thorodd, whom he employed to build a church for him, is by another author (1052-1121). The life of Gudmund (Gudmundar Saga Goda), as priest, recounts the early life of this Icelandic Becket till his election as bishop (1160-1202); his after career must be sought out inIslendinga. It is written by a friend and contemporary. A later life by Arngrim, abbot of Thingore, writtenc.1350, as evidence of his subject’s sanctity, tells a good deal about Icelandic life, &c. The lives of Bishops Arni and Lawrence bring down our knowledge of Icelandic history into the 14th century. The former work,Arna Saga Biskups, is imperfect; it is the record of the struggles of church and state over patronage rights and glebes, writtenc.1315; it now covers only the years 1269-1291; a great many documents are given in it, after the modern fashion. The latter,Laurentius Saga Biskups, by his disciple, priest Einar Haflidason, is a charming biography of a good and pious man, whose chequered career in Norway and Iceland is picturesquely told (1324-1331). It is the last of the sagas.Bishop Jon’s Table-Talk(1325-1339) is also worth noticing; it contains many popular stories which the good bishop, who had studied at Bologna and Paris, was wont to tell to his friends.
Annals.—TheAnnalsare now almost the sole material for Icelandic history; they had begun earlier, but after 1331 they got fuller and richer, till they end in 1430. The best areAnnales Regii, ending 1306,Einar Haflidason’s Annals, known as “Lawman’s Annals,” reaching to 1392, and preserved with others inFlatey-book, and theNew Annals, last of all. TheDiplomatarium Islandicum, edited by Jon Sigurdsson, contains what remains of deeds, inventories, letters, &c., from the old days, completing our scanty material for this dark period of the island’s history.
Literature of Foreign Origin.—After the union with Norway and change of law genuine tradition died out with the great houses. The ordinary medieval literature reached Iceland through Norway, and every one began to put it into a vernacular dress, so neglecting their own classics that but for a few collectors like Lawman Hauk they would have perished entirely.
The Norwegian kings, Haakon Haakonson (c.1225), and Haakon V. (c.1305), employed Icelanders at their courts in translating the French romances of the Alexander, Arthur and Charlemagne cycles. Some forty or fifty of theseRiddara-Sögur(Romances of Chivalry) remain. They reached Iceland and were eagerly read, many Rimur being founded on them. Norse versions ofMary of Brittany’s Lays, the stories ofBrutusand ofTroy, and part of thePharsaliatranslated are also found. TheSpeculum Regale, with its interesting geographical and social information, is also Norse, writtenc.1240, by a Halogalander. The computistic and arithmetical treatises of Stiorn-Odd, Biarni the Number-skilled (d. 1173), and Hauk Erlendsson the Lawman (d. 1334), and the geography of Ivar Bardsson, a Norwegian (c.1340), are of course of foreign origin. A few tracts on geography, &c., in Hauk’s book, and aGuide to the Holy Land, by Nicholas, abbot of Thwera (d. 1158), complete the list of scientific works.
The stories which contain the last lees of the old mythology and pre-history seem to be also non-Icelandic, but amplified by Icelandic editors, who probably got the plots from the Western Islands.Völsunga SagaandHervarar Sagacontain quotations and paraphrases of lays by the Helgi poet, andHalf’s,Ragnar’sandAsmund Kappabana’s Sagasall have bits of Western poetry in them.Hrolf Kraki’s Sagaparaphrases part ofBiarkamal;Hromund Gripsson’sgives the story of Helgi and Kara (the lost third of the Helgi trilogy);Gautrek’s Arrow Odd’s,Frithiof’s Sagas, &c., contain shreds of true tradition amidst a mass of later fictitious matter of no worth. With theRiddara-Sögurthey enjoyed great popularity in the 15th century, and gave matter for many Rimur.Thidrek’s Saga, a late version of the Völsung story, is of Norse composition (c.1230), from North German sources.
The medieval religious literature of Western Europe also influenced Iceland, and theHomilies(like theLaws) were, according to Thorodd, the earliest books written in the vernacular, antedating even Ari’s histories. The lives of theVirgin, theApostlesand theSaintsfill many MSS. (edited in four large volumes by Professor Unger), and are the works of many authors, chiefly of the 13th and 14th centuries; amongst them are the lives ofSS. Edward the Confessor,Oswald of Northumbria,DunstanandThomas of Canterbury. Of the authors we know Priest Berg Gunsteinsson (d. 1211); Kygri-Biorn, bishop-elect (d. 1237); Bishop Brand (d. 1264); Abbot Runolf (d. 1307); Bishop Lawrence’s son Arni (c.1330); Abbot Berg (c.1340), &c. A paraphrase of the historical books of the Bible was made by Bishop Brand (d. 1264), calledGydinga Sögur. About 1310 King Haakon V. ordered a commentary on the Bible to be made, which was completed down to Exodus xix. To this Brand’s work was afterwards affixed, and the whole is known asStiorn. The Norse version of the famousBarlaam and Josaphat, made for Prince Haakon (c.1240), must not be forgotten.
Post-classical Literature.—The post-classical literature falls chiefly under three heads—religious, literary and scientific. Under the first comes foremost the noble translation of the New Testament by Odd Gottskalksson, son of the bishop of Hólar. Brought up in Norway, he travelled in Denmark and Germany, and took upon him the new faith before he returned to Iceland, where he became secretary to Bishop Ogmund of Skalholt. Here he began by translating the Gospel of Matthew into his mother-tongue in secret. Having finished the remainder of the New Testament at his own house at Olves, he took it to Denmark, where it was printed at Roskild in 1540. Odd afterwards translated the Psalms, and several devotional works of the day, Corvinus’sEpistles, &c. He was made lawman of the north and west, and died from a fall in the Laxa in Kios, June 1556. Three years after his death the first press was set up in Iceland by John Matthewson, at Breidabolstad, in Hunafloe, and aGospel and Epistle Book, according to Odd’s version, issued from it in 1562. In 1584 Bishop Gudbrand, who had brought over a splendid fount of type from Denmark in 1575 (which he completed with his own hands), printed a translation of the whole Bible at Hólar, incorporating Odd’s versions and some books (Proverbs and the Son of Sirach, 1580) translated by Bishop Gizar, but supplying most of the Old Testament himself. This fine volume was the basis of every Bible issued for Iceland till 1826, when it was replaced by a bad modern version. For beauty of language and faithful simplicity of style the finer parts of this version, especially the New Testament, have never been surpassed.
The most notable theological work Iceland ever produced is thePostill-Bookof Bishop John Vidalin (1666-1720), whose bold homely style and stirring eloquence made “John’s Book,” as it is lovingly called, a favourite in every household, till in the 19th century it was replaced for the worse by the more sentimental and polished Danish tracts and sermons. Theological literature is very popular, and many works on this subject, chiefly translations, will be found in the lists of Icelandic bibliographers.
The first modern scientific work is theIter per patriamof Eggert Olafsson and Biarni Paulsson, which gives an account of the physical peculiarities—fauna, flora, &c.—of the island as far as could be done at the date of its appearance, 1772. The island was first made known to “the world” by this book and by the sketch of Unno von Troil, a Swede, who accompanied Sir Joseph Banks to Iceland in 1772, and afterwards wrote a series of “letters” on the land and its literature, &c. This tour was the forerunner of an endless series of “travels,” of which those of Sir W. J. Hooker, Sir G. S. Mackenzie (1810), Ebenezer Henderson (1818), Joseph Paul Gaimard (1838-1843), Paijkull (1867) and, lastly, that of Sir Richard Burton, an excellent account of the land and people, crammed with information of every kind (1875), are the best.
Iceland is emphatically a land of proverbs, while of folk-tales, those other keys to thepeople’sheart, there is plentiful store. Early work in this direction was done by Jon Gudmundsson, Olaf the Old and John Olafsson in the 17th century, who all put traditions on paper, and their labours were completed by the magnificent collection of Jon Arnason (1862-1864), who was inspired by the example of the Grimms. Many tales are but weak echoes of the sagas; many were family legends, many are old fairy tales in a garb suited to their new northern home; but, besides all these, there are a number of traditions and superstitions of indigenous origin.
The Renaissance of Iceland dates from the beginning of the 17th century, when a school of antiquaries arose. Arngrim Jonsson’sBrevis Commentarius(1593), andCrymogaea(1609), were the first-fruits of this movement, of which Bishops Odd, Thorlak and Bryniulf (worthy parallels to Parker and Laud) were the wise and earnest supporters. The first (d. 1630) collected much material for church history. The second (d. 1656) savedSturlungaand theBishops’ Lives, encouraged John Egilsson to write hisNew Hungerwaker, lives of the bishops of the Dark Ages and Reformation, and helped Biorn of Skardsa (d. 1655), a bold and patriotic antiquary (whoseAnnalscontinue Einar’s), in his researches. The last (d. 1675) collected a fine library of MSS., and employed the famous copyist John Erlendsson, to whom and the bishop’s brother, John Gizurarsson (d. 1648), we are indebted for transcripts of many lost MSS.
Torfaeus (1636-1719) and Bartholin, a Dane (d. 1690), roused the taste for northern literature in Europe, a taste which has never since flagged; and soon after them Arni Magnusson (1663-1730) transferred all that remained of vellum and good paper MSS. in Iceland to Denmark, and laid the foundations of the famous library and bequest, for which all Icelandic students are so much beholden. For over forty years Arni stuck to his task, rescuing every scrap he could lay hands on from the risks of the Icelandic climate and carelessness, and when he died only one good MSS. remained in the island. Besides his magnificent collection, there are a few MSS. of great value atUpsala, at Stockholm, and in the old royal collection at Copenhagen. Those in the university library in the latter city perished in the fire of 1728. Sagas were printed at Upsala and Copenhagen in the 17th century, and the Arna-Magnaean fund has been working since 1772. In that year appeared also the first volume of Bishop Finn Jonsson’sHistoria Ecclesiastica Islandiae, a work of high value and much erudition, containing not only ecclesiastical but civil and literary history, illustrated by a well-chosen mass of documents, 870-1740. It has been continued by Bishop P. Peterson to modern times, 1740-1840. The results, however, of modern observers and scholars must be sought for in the periodicals,Safn,Felagsrit,Ny Felagsritand others. John Espolin’sArbækris very good up to its date, 1821.
A brilliant sketch of Icelandic classic literature is given by Dr Gudbrandr Vigfusson in the Prolegomena toSturlunga Saga(Oxford, 1879). It replaces much earlier work, especially theSciagraphiaof Halfdan Einarsson (1777), and theSaga-Bibliotekof Müller. The numerous editions of the classics by the Icelandic societies, the Danish Société des Antiquités, Nordiske Litteratur Samfund, and the new Gammel Nordisk Litteratur Samfund, the splendid Norwegian editions of Unger, the labours of the Icelanders Sigurdsson and Gislason, and of those foreign scholars in Scandinavia and Germany who have thrown themselves into the work of illustrating, publishing and editing the sagas and poems (men like P. A. Munch, S. Bugge, F. W. Bergmann, Th. Möbius and K. von Maurer, to name only a few), can only be referred to here. See also Finnur Jónsson,Den Oldnorske og Oldislanske Litteraturs Historie(Copenhagen, 1893-1900); R. B. Anderson’s translation (Chicago, 1884) of Winkel Horn’sHistory of the Literature of the Scandinavian North; and W. Morris and E. Magnusson’sSaga Library.
A brilliant sketch of Icelandic classic literature is given by Dr Gudbrandr Vigfusson in the Prolegomena toSturlunga Saga(Oxford, 1879). It replaces much earlier work, especially theSciagraphiaof Halfdan Einarsson (1777), and theSaga-Bibliotekof Müller. The numerous editions of the classics by the Icelandic societies, the Danish Société des Antiquités, Nordiske Litteratur Samfund, and the new Gammel Nordisk Litteratur Samfund, the splendid Norwegian editions of Unger, the labours of the Icelanders Sigurdsson and Gislason, and of those foreign scholars in Scandinavia and Germany who have thrown themselves into the work of illustrating, publishing and editing the sagas and poems (men like P. A. Munch, S. Bugge, F. W. Bergmann, Th. Möbius and K. von Maurer, to name only a few), can only be referred to here. See also Finnur Jónsson,Den Oldnorske og Oldislanske Litteraturs Historie(Copenhagen, 1893-1900); R. B. Anderson’s translation (Chicago, 1884) of Winkel Horn’sHistory of the Literature of the Scandinavian North; and W. Morris and E. Magnusson’sSaga Library.
(F. Y. P.)
Recent Literature
The recent literature of Iceland has been in a more flourishing state than ever before since the 13th century. Lyrical poetry is by far the largest and the most interesting portion of it. The great influence of Jónas Hallgrímsson (1807-1845) is still felt, and his school was the reigning one up to the end of the 19th century, although then a change seemed to be in sight. The most successful poet of this school is Steingrímr Thorsteinsson (b. 1830). He is specially famous for his splendid descriptions of scenery (The Song of Gilsbakki), his love-songs and his sarcastic epigrams. As a translator he has enriched the literature withThe Arabian Nights,Sakuntala,King Learand several other masterpieces of foreign literature. Equal in fame is Matthías Jochumsson (b. 1835), who, following another of Jónas Hallgrímsson’s many ways, has successfully revived the old metres of the classical Icelandic poets, whom he resembles in his majestic, but sometimes too gorgeous, language. He is as an artist inferior to Steingrímr Thorsteinsson, but surpasses him in bold flight of imagination. He has successfully treated subjects from Icelandic historyGrettisljóð, a series of poems about the famous outlaw Grettir. His chief fault is a certain carelessness in writing; he can never write a bad poem, but rarely a poem absolutely flawless. He has translated Tegnér’sFrithiofs Saga, several plays of Shakespeare and some other foreign masterpieces. The great religious poet of Iceland, Hallgrímr Pétursson, has found a worthy successor in Valdemar Briem (b. 1848), whoseSongs of the Bibleare deservedly popular. He is like Matthías Jochumsson in the copious flow of his rhetoric; some of his poems are perfect both as regards form and contents, but he sometimes neglects the latter while polishing the former. An interesting position is occupied by Benedict Gröndal (b. 1826), whose travesties of the old romantic stories,7and his Aristophanic dramaGandreiðin(“The Magic Ride”) about contemporary events, are among the best satirical and humorous productions of Icelandic literature.
Influenced by Jónas Hallgrímsson with regard to language and poetic diction, but keeping unbroken the traditions of Icelandic medieval poetry maintained by Sigurðr Breiðfjörð (1798-1846), is another school of poets, very unlike the first. In the middle of the 19th century this school was best represented by Hjálmar Jónsson from Bóla (1796-1875), a poor farmer with little education, but endowed with great poetical talents, and the author of satirical verses not inferior to those of Juvenal both in force and coarseness. In the last decades of the 19th century this school produced two poets of a very high order, both distinctly original and Icelandic. One is Páll Olafsson (b. 1827). His songs are mostly written in the medieval quatrains (ferskeytla), and are generally of a humorous and satirical character; his convivial songs are known by heart by every modern Icelander; and although some of the poets of the present day are more admired, there is none who is more loved by the people. The other is Þorsteinn Erlingsson (b. 1858). His exquisite satirical songs, in an easy and elegant but still manly and splendid language, have raised much discussion. Of his poems may be mentionedThe Oath, a series of most beautiful ballads, with a tragical love-story of the 17th century as their base, but with many and happy satirical allusions to modern life;Jörundr, a long poem about the convict king, the Danish pirate Jörgensen, who nearly succeeded in making himself the master of Iceland, andThe Fate of the GodsandThe Men of the West(the Americans), two poems which, with their anti-clerical and half-socialistic tendencies, have caused strong protests from orthodox Lutheran clergy. Near to this school, but still standing apart, is Grímur Thomsen (b. 1820).
In the beginning of the ’eighties a new school arose—having its origin in the colony of Icelandic students at the University of Copenhagen. They had all attended the lectures of Georg Brandes, the great reformer of Scandinavian literature, and, influenced by his literary theories, they chose their models in the realistic school. This school is very dissimilar from the half-romantic school of Jónas Hallgrímsson; it is nearer the national Icelandic school represented by Páll Olafsson and Þorsteinn Erlingsson, but differs from those writers by introducing foreign elements hitherto unknown in Icelandic literature, and—especially in the case of the prose-writers—by imitating closely the style and manner of some of the great Norwegian novelists. Their influence brought the Icelandic literature into new roads, and it is interesting to see how the tough Icelandic element gradually assimilates the foreign. Of the lyrical poets, Hannes Hafsteinn (b. 1861) is by far the most important. In his splendid ballad,The Death of Skarphedinn, and in his beautiful series of songs describing a voyage through some of the most picturesque parts of Iceland, he is entirely original; but in his love-songs, beautiful as many of them are, a strong foreign influence can be observed. Among the innovations of this poet we may note a predilection for new metres, sometimes adopted from foreign languages, sometimes invented by himself, a thing practised rarely and generally with small success by the Icelandic poets.
No Icelandic novelist has as yet equalled Jón Thóroddsen (1819-1868). The influence of the realistic school has of late been predominant. The most distinguished writer of that school has been Gestur Pálsson (1852-1891), whose short stories with their sharp and biting satire have produced many imitations in Iceland. The best areA Home of LoveandCaptain Sigurd. Jónas Jónasson (b. 1856), a clergyman of northern Iceland, has, in a series of novels and short stories, given accurate, but somewhat dry, descriptions of the more gloomy sides of Icelandic country life. His best novel isRandiðr from Hvassafell, an historical novel of the middle ages. Besides these we may mention Torfhildur Hólm, one of the few women who have distinguished themselves in Icelandic literature. Her novels are mostly historical. The last decade of the 19th century saw the establishment of a permanent theatre at Reykjavik. The poet Matthías Jochumsson has written several dramas, but their chief merits are lyrical. The most successful of Icelandic dramatists as yet is Indrði Einarsson, whose plays, chiefly historical, in spite of excessive rhetoric, are very interesting and possess a true dramatic spirit.
In geography and geology Þorvaldr Thoroddsen has acquired a European fame for his researches and travels in Iceland, especially in the rarely-visited interior. Of his numerous writings in Icelandic, Danish and German, theHistory ofIcelandic Geographyis a monumental work. In history Páll Melsteð’s (b. 1812) chief work, the largeHistory of the World, belongs to this period, and its pure style has had a beneficial influence upon modern Icelandic prose.
Of the younger historians we may mention Þorkell Bjarnason (History of the Reformation in Iceland). Jón Þorkelsson (b. 1822), inspector of the archives of Iceland, has rendered great services to the study of Icelandic history and literature by his editions of theDiplomatarium IslandicumandObituarium Islandicum, and by hisIcelandic Poetry in the 15th and 16th Century, written in Danish, an indispensable work for any student of that period. A leading position among Icelandic lexicographers is occupied by Jón Þorkelsson, formerly head of the Latin school at Reykjavik, whoseSupplement til islandske Ordbøger, an Icelandic-Danish vocabulary (three separate collections), has hardly been equalled in learning and accuracy. Other distinguished philologists are his successor as head of the Latin school, Bjôrn Magnússon Olsen (Researches on Sturlunga,Ari the Wise,The Runes in the Old Icelandic Literature—the last two works in Danish); Finnur Jónsson, professor at the University of Copenhagen (History of the Old Norwegian and Icelandic Literature, in Danish, and excellent editions of many old Icelandic classical works); and Valtýr Guðmundsson, lecturer at the University of Copenhagen (several works on the old architecture of Scandinavia) and editor of the influential Icelandic literary and political review,Eimreiðin(“The Locomotive”).
See J. C. Poestion,Islandische Dichter der Neuzeit(Leipzig, 1897); C. Küchler,Geschichte der isländischen Dichtung der Neuzeit(Leipzig, 1896); Ph. Schweitzer,Island; Land und Leute(Leipzig, 1885); Alexander Baumgartner,Island und die Faroer(Freiburg im Breisgau, 1889).
See J. C. Poestion,Islandische Dichter der Neuzeit(Leipzig, 1897); C. Küchler,Geschichte der isländischen Dichtung der Neuzeit(Leipzig, 1896); Ph. Schweitzer,Island; Land und Leute(Leipzig, 1885); Alexander Baumgartner,Island und die Faroer(Freiburg im Breisgau, 1889).
(S. Bl.)
1Jökull, pluraljöklar, Icel. snowfield, glacier.2Flói, bay;fjörðr, fjord.3Vatn, lake.4See Th. Thoroddsen, “Explorations in Iceland during the years 1881-1898,”Geographical Journal, vol. xiii. (1899), pp. 251-274, 480-513, with map.5For the periods succeeding the union, Danish state papers and theHistoryof Finn Jonsson are the best authority.6Many of these poems were Englished in prose by the translator of Mallet, by B. Thorpe in hisSæmund’s Edda, and two or three by Messrs Morris and Magnussen, as appendices to their translation ofVolsunga Saga. Earlier translations in verse are those in Dryden’sMiscellany(vol. vi), A. Cottle’sEdda, Mathias’sTranslations, and W. Herbert’sOld Icelandic Poetry. Gray’s versions ofDarradar-liodandVegtamskviðaare well known.7E.g. “The Battle of the Plains of Death,” a burlesque on the battle of Solferino.
1Jökull, pluraljöklar, Icel. snowfield, glacier.
2Flói, bay;fjörðr, fjord.
3Vatn, lake.
4See Th. Thoroddsen, “Explorations in Iceland during the years 1881-1898,”Geographical Journal, vol. xiii. (1899), pp. 251-274, 480-513, with map.
5For the periods succeeding the union, Danish state papers and theHistoryof Finn Jonsson are the best authority.
6Many of these poems were Englished in prose by the translator of Mallet, by B. Thorpe in hisSæmund’s Edda, and two or three by Messrs Morris and Magnussen, as appendices to their translation ofVolsunga Saga. Earlier translations in verse are those in Dryden’sMiscellany(vol. vi), A. Cottle’sEdda, Mathias’sTranslations, and W. Herbert’sOld Icelandic Poetry. Gray’s versions ofDarradar-liodandVegtamskviðaare well known.
7E.g. “The Battle of the Plains of Death,” a burlesque on the battle of Solferino.
ICELAND MOSS,a lichen (Cetraria islandica) whose erect or ascending foliaceous habit gives it something of the appearance of a moss, whence probably the name. It is often of a pale chestnut colour, but varies considerably, being sometimes almost entirely greyish white; and grows to a height of from 3 to 4 in., the branches being channelled or rolled into tubes, which terminate in flattened lobes with fringed edges. It grows abundantly in the mountainous regions of northern countries, and it is specially characteristic of the lava slopes and plains of the west and north of Iceland. It is found on the mountains of north Wales, north England, Scotland and south-west Ireland. As met with in commerce it is a light-grey harsh cartilaginous body, almost destitute of colour, and having a slightly bitter taste. It contains about 70% of lichenin or lichen-starch, a body isomeric with common starch, but wanting any appearance of structure. It also yields a peculiar modification of chlorophyll, called thallochlor, fumaric acid, licheno-stearic acid and cetraric acid, to which last it owes its bitter taste. It forms a nutritious and easily digested amylaceous food, being used in place of starch in some preparations of cocoa. It is not, however, in great request, and even in Iceland it is only habitually resorted to in seasons of scarcity. Cetraric acid or cetrarin, a white micro-crystalline powder with a bitter taste, is readily soluble in alcohol, and slightly soluble in water and ether. It has been recommended for medicinal use, in doses of 2 to 4 grains, as a bitter tonic and aperient.
ICE-PLANT,the popular name forMesembryanthemum crystallinum, a hardy annual most effective for rockwork. It is a low-growing spreading herbaceous plant with the fleshy stem and leaves covered with large glittering papillae which give it the appearance of being coated with ice. It is a dry-country plant, a native of Greece and other parts of the Mediterranean region, the Canary Islands, South Africa and California.Mesembryanthemumis a large genus (containing about 300 species) of erect or prostrate fleshy herbs or low shrubs, mostly natives of South Africa, and rarely hardy in the British Isles where they are mostly grown as greenhouse plants. They bear conspicuous white, yellow or red flowers with many petals inserted in the calyx-tube. The thick fleshy leaves are very variable in shape, and often have spiny rigid hairs on the margin. They are essentially sun-loving plants. The best-known member of the genus isM. cordifolium, var. variegatum, with heart-shaped green and silvery leaves and bright rosy-purple flowers. It is extensively used for edging flower-beds and borders during the summer months.
ICE-YACHTING,the sport of sailing and racing ice-boats. It is practised in Great Britain, Norway and Sweden, to some extent, and is very popular in Holland and on the Gulf of Finland, but its highest development is in the United States and Canada. The Dutch ice-yacht is a flat-bottomed boat resting crossways upon a planking about three feet wide and sixteen long, to which are affixed four steel runners, one each at bow, stern and each end of the planking. The rudder is a fifth runner fixed to a tiller. Heavy mainsails and jibs are generally used and the boat is built more for safety than for speed. The ice-boat of the Gulf of Finland is aV-shaped frame with a heavy plank running from bow to stern, in which the mast is stepped. The stern or steering runner is worked by a tiller or wheel. The sail is a large lug and the boom and gaff are attached to the mast by travellers. The passengers sit upon planks or rope netting. The Russian boats are faster than the Dutch.
In 1790 ice-yachting was in vogue on the Hudson river, its headquarters being at Poughkeepsie, New York. The type was a square box on three runners, the two forward ones being nailed to the box and the third acting as a rudder operated by a tiller. The sail was a flatheaded sprit. This primitive style generally obtained until 1853, when triangular frames with “boxes” for the crew aft and jib and mainsail rig were introduced. A heavy, hard-riding type soon developed, with short gaffs, low sails, large jibs and booms extending far over the stern. It was over-canvassed and the mast was stepped directly over the runner-plank, bringing the centre of sail-balance so far aft that the boats were apt to run away, and the over-canvassing frequently caused the windward runner to swing up into the air to a dangerous height. The largest and fastest example of this type, which prevailed until 1879, was Commodore J. A. Roosevelt’s first “Icicle,” which measured 69 ft. over all and carried 1070 sq. ft. of canvas. In 1879 Mr H. Relyea built the “Robert Scott,” which had a single backbone and wire guy-ropes, and it became the model for all Hudson river ice-yachts. Masts were now stepped farther forward, jibs were shortened, booms cut down, and the centre of sail-balance was brought more inboard and higher up, causing the centres of effort and resistance to come more in harmony. The shallow steering-box became elliptical. In 1881 occurred the first race for the American Challenge Pennant, which represents the championship of the Hudson river, the clubs competing including the Hudson river, North Shrewsbury, Orange lake, Newburgh and Carthage Ice-Yacht Clubs. The races are usually sailed five times round a triangle of which each leg measures one mile, at least two of the legs being to windward. Ice-yachts are divided into four classes, carrying respectively 600 sq. ft. of canvas or more, between 450 and 600, between 300 and 450, and less than 300 sq. ft. Ice-yachting is very popular on the Great Lakes, both in the United States and Canada, the Kingston (Ontario) Club having a fleet of over 25 sail. Other important centres of the sport are Lakes Minnetonka and White Bear in Minnesota, Lakes Winnebago and Pepin in Wisconsin, Bar Harbor lake in Maine, the St Lawrence river, Quinte Bay and Lake Champlain.
A modern ice-yacht is made of a single-piece backbone the entire length of the boat, and a runner-plank upon which it rests at right angles, the two forming a kite-shaped frame. The best woods for these pieces are basswood, butternut and pine. They are cut from the log in such a way that the heart of the timber expands, giving the planks a permanent curve, which, in the finished boat, is turned upward. The two forward runners, usually made of soft cast iron and about 2 ft. 7 in. long and 2½ in. high, are set into oak frames a little over 5 ft. long and 5 in. high. The runners have a cutting edge of 90%, though aV-shaped edge is often preferred for racing. The rudder is a runner about 3 ft. 7 in. long, worked by a tiller, sometimes made very long, 7½ ft. not being uncommon. This enables the helmsman to lie in the box at full length and steer with his feet, leaving his hands free to tend the sheet. Masts and spars aregenerally made hollow for racing-yachts and the rigging is pliable steel wire. The sails are of 10-oz. duck for a boat carrying 400 sq. ft. of canvas. They have very high peaks, short hoists and long booms. The mainsail and jib rig is general, but a double-masted lateen rig has been found advantageous. The foremost ice-yacht builder of America is G. E. Buckhout of Poughkeepsie.
An ice-yacht about 40 ft. in length will carry 6 or 7 passengers or crew, who are distributed in such a manner as to preserve the balance of the boat. In a good breeze the crew lie out on the windward side of the runner-plank to balance the boat and reduce the pressure on the leeward runner. A course of 20 m. with many turns has been sailed on the Hudson in less than 48 minutes, the record for a measured mile with flying start being at the rate of about 72 m. an hour. In a high wind, however, ice-yachts often move at the rate of 85 and even 90 m. an hour.
Several of the laws of ice navigation seem marvellous to the uninitiated. Commodore Irving Grinnell, who has made a scientific study of the sport, says: “The two marked peculiarities of ice-yachting which cause it to differ materially from yachting on the sea are: (1) Sailing faster than the wind. (2) Sheets flat aft under all circumstances.” Mr H. A. Buck, in the “Badminton Library,”Skating, Curling, Tobogganing, &c., thus explains these paradoxes. An ice-boat sails faster than the wind because she invariably sails at some angle to it. The momentum is increased by every puff of wind striking the sails obliquely, until it is finally equalled by the increase of friction engendered. Thus the continued bursts of wind against the sails cause a greater accumulation of speed in the ice-yacht than is possessed by the wind itself. When the boat sails directly before the wind she is, like a balloon, at its mercy, and thus does not sail faster than the wind. The ice-yacht always sails with its sheets flat aft, because the greater speed of the boat changes the angle at which the wind strikes the sail from that at which it would strike if the yacht were stationary to such a degree that, in whatever direction the yacht is sailing, the result is always the same as if the yacht were close-hauled to the wind. It follows that the yacht is actually overhauling the wind, and her canvas shivers as if in the wind’s eye. When eased off her momentum becomes less and less until it drops to the velocity of the wind, when she can readily be stopped by being spun round and brought head to the wind. The latter method is one way of “coming to,” instead of luffing up in the usual way from a beam wind. In beating to windward an ice-boat is handled like a water yacht, though she points more closely.
On the bays near New York a peculiar kind of ice-boat has developed, calledscooter, which may be described as a toboggan with a sail. A typical scooter is about 15 ft. long with an extreme beam of 5 ft., perfectly oval in form and flat. It has mainsail and jib carried on a mast 9 or 10 ft. long and set well aft, and is provided with two long parallel metal runners. There is no rudder, the scooter being steered entirely by trimming the sails, particularly the jib. As the craft is flat and buoyant it sails well in water, and can thus be used on very thin ice without danger. A speed of 50 m. an hour has been attained by a scooter (seeOutingfor March 1905).
SeeIce Sports, in the “Isthmian Library”;Skating, Curling, Tobogganing, &c.in the “Badminton Library.”
SeeIce Sports, in the “Isthmian Library”;Skating, Curling, Tobogganing, &c.in the “Badminton Library.”
I-CH‘ANG(Yi-ch‘ang, anciently known asYi-ling), a town of China in the province of Hu-peh, one of the four ports opened to foreign trade by treaty in 1877. It is situated in 30° 42′ N. and (approximately) 111° 20′ E., on the Yangtsze-Kiang, 1000 m. from Shanghai. Built on the left bank of the river where it escapes from the ravines and gorges which for 350 m. have imprisoned its channel, I-ch’ang is exposed to considerable risk of floods; in 1870 the waters rose 20 ft. in one day, and the town had many of its houses and about half of its wall swept away. The first English vessels to ascend the river as far as I-ch’ang were those of Admiral Sir James Hope’s expedition in 1861. All cargo to or from Szech’uen is here transhipped from steamer to junk, orvice versâ. About 10 m. above I-ch’ang the famed scenery of the Yangtsze gorges begins. Through these the great river runs in a series of rapids, which make navigation by vessels of any size extremely difficult. A very large trade, nevertheless, is carried on by this route between Chungk’ing andI-ch’ang. As a local centre of distribution this port is of no great consequence, the transhipment trade with Szech’uen being almost its sole business. The population is estimated at 35,000. The number of foreign residents is very small, trade being carried on by Chinese agents. Before the anti-opium campaign of 1906 (seeChina) opium was much grown. The trade of the port amounted in 1899 to £531,229, and in 1904 to £424,442, the principal import being cotton yarn and the principal export opium.
ICHNEUMON(Gr.ἰχνεύμων, fromἰχνεύειν, to track out), the common name of the North African representative of a number of small weasel-shaped mammals belonging to the carnivorous familyViverridae; the Indian representatives of the group being known as mongooses. A large number of species of the type genus are known, and range over southern Asia and all Africa, the typicalHerpestes ichneumonalso occurring in the south of Spain. The latter is an inhabitant of Egypt and the north of Africa, where it is known to foreign residents as “Pharaoh’s rat.” It is covered with long harsh fur of a tawny-grey colour, darker on the head and along the middle of the back, its legs reddish and its feet and tail black. It lives largely on rats and mice, birds and reptiles, and for this reason it is domesticated. It is, however, fond of poultry and their eggs, and its depredations among fowls detract from its merits as a vermin-killer. During the inundations of the Nile it is said to approach the habitations of man, but at other seasons it keeps to the fields and to the banks of the river. The Indian mongoose (H. mungo) is considerably smaller than the Egyptian animal, with fur of a pale-grey colour, the hairs being largely white-ringed, while the cheeks and throat are more or less reddish. Like the former it is frequently domesticated. It is especially serviceable in India as a serpent-killer, destroying not only the eggs and young of these creatures, but killing the most venomous adult snakes. The fact that it survives those encounters has led to the belief that it either enjoys immunity from the effects of snake poison, or that after being bitten it has recourse, as the Hindus maintain, to the root of a plant as an antidote. It has been found, however, that when actually bitten it falls a victim to the poison as rapidly as other mammals, while there is no evidence of its seeking a vegetable antidote. The truth seems to be that the mongoose, by its exceeding agility and quickness of eye, avoids the fangs of the snake while fixing its own teeth in the back of the reptile’s neck. Moreover, when excited, the mongoose erects its long stiff hair, and it must be very difficult for a snake to drive its fangs through this and the thick skin which all the members of the genus possess. The mongoose never hesitates to attack a snake; the moment he sees his enemy, “his whole nature,” writes a spectator of one of those fights, “appears to be changed. His fur stands on end, and he presents the incarnation of intense rage. The snake invariably attempts to escape, but, finding it impossible to evade the rapid onslaught of the mongoose, raises his crest and lashes out fiercely at his little persecutor, who seems to delight in dodging out of the way just in time. This goes on until the mongoose sees his opportunity, when like lightning he rushes in and seizes the snake with his teeth by the back of the neck close to the head, shaking him as a terrier does a rat. These tactics are repeated until the snake is killed.” The mongoose is equally dexterous in killing rats and other four-footed vermin.
ICHNEUMON-FLY,a general name applied to parasitic insects of the sectionIchneumonoidea(orEntomophaga), orderHymenoptera, from the typical genusIchneumon, belonging to the chief family of that section—itself fancifully so called after the Egyptian mammal (Herpestes). The species of the families (Ichneumonidae,Braconidae,Evaniidae,Proctotrypidae, andChalcididae) are often indiscriminately called “Ichneumons,” but the “super-family” of the Ichneumonoidea in the classification of W. H. Ashmead contains only theEvaniidae, theStephanidae, and the large assemblage of insects usually included in the two families of theIchneumonidaeand theBraconidae, which are respectively equivalent to theIchneumones genuiniandI. adscitiof older naturalists, chiefly differing in the former having two recurrent nerves to the anterior wing, whilst the latter has only one such nerve. TheIchneumonidaeproper are one of the most extensive groups of insects. Gravenhorst described some 1650 European species, to which considerable subsequent additions have been made. There are 6 sub-families of theIchneumonidae, viz. theIchneumoninae,Cryptinae,Agriotypinae,Ophioninae,TryphoninaeandPimplinae, differing considerably in size and facies, but united in the common attribute of being, in their earlier stages, parasitic upon other insects. They have all long narrow bodies; a small free head with long filiform or setaceous antennae, which are never elbowed, and have always more than sixteen joints; the abdomen attached to the thorax at its hinder extremity between the base of the posterior coxae, and provided in the female with a straight ovipositor often exserted and very long; and the wings veined, with perfect cells on the disk of the front pair. Ashmead proposes to separate theAgriotypidae(which are remarkable for their aquatic habit, being parasitic on caddis-worms) from theIchneumonidaeon account of their firm ventral abdominal segments and spined scutellum. He also separates from theBraconidaetheAlysiidaeas a distinct family; they have peculiar mandibles with out-turned tips.
Their parasitic habits render these flies of great importance in the economy of nature, as they serve to check any inordinate increase in the numbers of injurious insects. Without their aid it would in many cases be impossible for the agriculturist to hold his own against the ravages of his minute insect foes, whose habits are not sufficiently known to render artificial checks or destroying agents available. The females of all the species are constantly on the alert to discover the proper living food for their own larvae, which are hatched from the eggs they deposit in or on the eggs, larvae or pupae of other insects of all orders, chieflyLepidoptera, the caterpillars of butterflies and moths being specially attacked (as also are spiders). Any one who has watched insect life during the summer can hardly have failed to notice the busy way in which the parent ichneumon, a small four-winged fly, with constantly vibrating antennae, searches for her prey; and the clusters of minute cocoons round the remains of some cabbage-butterfly caterpillar must also have been observed by many. This is the work ofApanteles(orMicrogaster)glomeratus, one of theBraconidae, which in days past was a source of disquietude to naturalists, who believed that the life of the one defunct larva hadtransmigratedinto the numerous smaller flies reared from it. Ichneumon-flies which attack external feeders have a short ovipositor, but those attached to wood-feeding insects have that organ of great length, for the purpose of reaching the haunts of their concealed prey. Thus a species from Japan (Bracon penetrator) has its ovipositor nine times the length of the body; and the large species ofRhyssaandEphialtes, parasitic onSirexand large wood-boring beetles in temperate Europe, have very long instruments (with which when handled they will endeavour to sting, sometimes penetrating the skin), in order to get at their secreted victims. A common reddish-coloured species ofOphion(O. obscurum), with a sabre-shaped abdomen, is noteworthy from the fact of its eggs being attached by stalks outside the body of the caterpillar of the puss-moth (Cerura vinula). Lepidopterists wishing to breed the latter cut off the eggs of the parasite with scissors.
The larvae of the ichneumon-flies are white, fleshy, cylindrical, footless grubs; the majority of them spin silk cocoons before pupating, often in a mass (sometimes almost geometrically), and sometimes in layers of different colours and texture.
Authorities.—Among the older works on Ichneumonoidea may be specially mentioned J. L. K. Gravenhorst,Ichneumonologia Europaea(Breslau, 1829); A. H. Haliday (Entom. Mag.i.-v., 1833-1838), and A. Förster (Verhandl. Naturhist. Ver. Rheinl. u. Westph.xix., xxv., 1862, 1868). Full reference to the systematic literature of the group will be found in C. G. de Dalla Torre’sCatalogus hymenopterorum, vols, iii., iv. (Leipzig, 1898-1902), and a comprehensive summary in W. H. Ashmead’s recent memoir (Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus.xxiii., 1901). For the British species consult C. Morley,Ichneumons of Great Britain(Plymouth, 1903), and T. A. Marshall (Trans. Entom. Soc., 1885-1899).
Authorities.—Among the older works on Ichneumonoidea may be specially mentioned J. L. K. Gravenhorst,Ichneumonologia Europaea(Breslau, 1829); A. H. Haliday (Entom. Mag.i.-v., 1833-1838), and A. Förster (Verhandl. Naturhist. Ver. Rheinl. u. Westph.xix., xxv., 1862, 1868). Full reference to the systematic literature of the group will be found in C. G. de Dalla Torre’sCatalogus hymenopterorum, vols, iii., iv. (Leipzig, 1898-1902), and a comprehensive summary in W. H. Ashmead’s recent memoir (Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus.xxiii., 1901). For the British species consult C. Morley,Ichneumons of Great Britain(Plymouth, 1903), and T. A. Marshall (Trans. Entom. Soc., 1885-1899).
(G. H. C.)
ICHNOGRAPHY(Gr.ἴχνος, a trace, andγραφή, description), in architecture, a term defined by Vitruvius (i.2) as “the ground-plan of the work,”i.e.the geometrical projection or horizontal section representing the plan of any building, taken at such a level as to show the outer walls, with the doorways, windows, fireplaces, &c., and the correct thickness of the walls; the position of piers, columns or pilasters, courtyards and other features which constitute the design.