“According to the use of Sarum (and Bangor) the priest, after being himself censed by the deacon, censed the altar before the Introit began. The York rubric directed him to do it immediately alter the first saying of the Introit, which in England was thrice said. The Hereford missal gives no direction for censing the altar at that time. The middle of the altar was censed, according to Sarum, Bangor and Hereford, before the reading of the Gospel. According to Sarum and Bangor, the thurible, as well as the lights, attended the Gospel to the lectern. Perhaps the York rubric implies that this was done when it orders (which the others do not) the thurible to be carried round the choir with the Gospel while the Creed was being sung. In the Sarum and Bangor, the priest censed the oblations after offering them; then the space between himself and the altar. He was then, at Sarum, censed by the deacon, and an acolyte censed the choir; at Bangor theSinistrum Cornuof the altar and the relics were censed instead. York and Hereford ordered no censing at the offertory. There is reason to think that, notwithstanding the order for the use of incense at every celebration, it was in practice burnt only on high festivals, and then only in rich churches, down to the period of the Reformation. In most parishes its costliness alone would preclude its daily use, while the want of an assistant minister would be a very common reason for omitting the rite almost everywhere. Incense was not burnt in private masses, so that the clergy were accustomed to celebrations without it, and would naturally forego it on any plausible ground.â€
“According to the use of Sarum (and Bangor) the priest, after being himself censed by the deacon, censed the altar before the Introit began. The York rubric directed him to do it immediately alter the first saying of the Introit, which in England was thrice said. The Hereford missal gives no direction for censing the altar at that time. The middle of the altar was censed, according to Sarum, Bangor and Hereford, before the reading of the Gospel. According to Sarum and Bangor, the thurible, as well as the lights, attended the Gospel to the lectern. Perhaps the York rubric implies that this was done when it orders (which the others do not) the thurible to be carried round the choir with the Gospel while the Creed was being sung. In the Sarum and Bangor, the priest censed the oblations after offering them; then the space between himself and the altar. He was then, at Sarum, censed by the deacon, and an acolyte censed the choir; at Bangor theSinistrum Cornuof the altar and the relics were censed instead. York and Hereford ordered no censing at the offertory. There is reason to think that, notwithstanding the order for the use of incense at every celebration, it was in practice burnt only on high festivals, and then only in rich churches, down to the period of the Reformation. In most parishes its costliness alone would preclude its daily use, while the want of an assistant minister would be a very common reason for omitting the rite almost everywhere. Incense was not burnt in private masses, so that the clergy were accustomed to celebrations without it, and would naturally forego it on any plausible ground.â€
The ritual of the mass remained unchanged until the death of Henry VIII. (Jan. 28, 1547). In March 1548 theOrder of the Communionwas published and commanded to be used by royal proclamation in the name of Edward VI. It was the precursor of the Prayer Book, and supplemented the accustomed Latin service by additions in English to provide for the communion of the people in both kinds. But it was expressly stated in a rubric that the old service of the mass was to proceed without variation of any rite or ceremony until after the priest had received the sacrament, that is, until long after the last of the three occasions for the use of incense explained above. But on Whitsunday 1549 the first Prayer Book of Edward VI. came into use under an Act of Parliament (2 and 3 Ed. VI. ch. 1, the first Act of Uniformity) which required its exclusive use in public worship so as to supersede all other forms of service. Another Act, 3 and 4 Ed. VI. ch. 10, required the old service books to be delivered up to be destroyed. The first Prayer Book does not contain any direction to use or any mention of incense. It has been and still is a keenly controverted question whether incense did or did not continue to be in ceremonial use under the first Prayer Book or during the rest of Edward VI.’s reign. No evidence has hitherto been discovered which justifies us in answering this question in the affirmative. The second Prayer Book of Edward VI. (1552), published under the authority of the second Act of Uniformity (5 and 6 Ed. VI. ch. 1), contains no reference to incense. Edward VI. died on the 6th July 1553. Queen Mary by statute (1 Mary, sess. 2, ch. 2) abolished the Prayer Book, repealed the Acts of Uniformity and restored “divine service and administration of sacraments as were most commonly used in England in the last year of Henry VIII.†The ceremonial use of incense thus became again an undoubted part of the communion service in the Church of England. A proclamation issued (December 6, 1553) directed the churchwardens to obtain the proper ornaments for the churches; and the bishops (at any rate Bishop Bonner, seeVisitation Articles 1554, Cardwell’sDoc. Ann.i. 149-153) in their visitations inquired whether censers had been furnished for use. Mary died on the 17th of November 1558. On the 24th of June 1559 the second Prayer Book of Edward VI. (with a few alterations having no reference to incense) was again established, under the authority of the third Act of Uniformity (1 Eliz. ch. 2), as the exclusive service book for public service. There is no evidence of the ceremonial use of incense under Elizabeth’s Prayer Book, or under the present Prayer Book of 1662 (established by the fourth Act of Uniformity, 13 and 14 Charles II. ch. 4) until the middle of the 19th century; and there is no doubt that as a ceremony of divine worship, whether at the Holy Communion or at other services, it was entirely disused. There are, however, a good many instances recorded of what has been called a fumigatory use of frankincense in churches, by which it was sought to purify the air, in times of public sickness, or to dispel the foulness caused by large congregations, or poisonous gases arising from ill-constructed vaults under the church floor. It seems also to have been used for the purpose of creating an agreeable perfume on great occasions,e.g.the great ecclesiastical feasts. But this use of incense must be carefully distinguished from its ceremonial use. It was utilitarian and not symbolical, and from the nature of the purpose in view must have taken place before, rather than during, service. Of the same character is the use of incense carried in a perfuming pan before the sovereign at his coronation in the procession from Westminster Hall to the Abbey. This observance was maintained from James II.’s coronation to that of George III. In the general revival of church ceremonial which accompanied and followed the Oxford Movement incense was not forgotten, and its ceremonial use in the pre-Reformation method has been adopted in a few extreme churches since 1850. Its use has been condemned as an illegal ceremony by the ecclesiastical courts. In 1868 Sir Robert Phillimore (Dean of the Arches) pronounced the ceremonial use of incense to be illegal in the suit ofMartinv.Mackonochie(2 A. and E.L.R. 116). The case was carried to the Privy Council on appeal, but there was no appeal on the question of incense. Again, in 1870, the ceremonial use of incense was condemned by Sir Robert Phillimore in the suit ofSumnerv.Wix(3 A. and E. L.R. 58).
Notwithstanding these decisions, it was insisted by those who defended the revival of the ceremonial use of incense that it was a legal custom of the Church of England. The question was once more elaborately argued in May 1899 before an informal tribunal consisting of the archbishop of Canterbury (Dr. Temple) and the archbishop of York (Dr. Maclagan), at Lambeth Palace. On the 31st of July 1899 the archbishops decided that the liturgical use of incense was illegal. The Lambeth “opinion,†as it was called, failed to convince the clergy against whom it was directed any better than the judgments of the ecclesiastical courts, but at first a considerable degree of obedience to the archbishops’ view was shown. Various expedients were adopted, as,e.g., the use of incense just before the beginning of service, by which it was sought to retain incense without infringing the law as laid down by the archbishops. There remained, nevertheless, a tendency on the part of the clergy who used incense, or desired to do so, to revert to the position they occupied before the Lambeth hearing—that is, to insist on the ceremonial use of incense as a part of the Catholic practice of the Church of England which it is the duty of the clergy to maintain, notwithstanding the decisions of ecclesiastical judges or the opinions or archbishops to the contrary.
(L. T. D.)
Manufacture.—For the manufacture of the incense now used in the Christian churches of Europe there is no fixed rule. The books of ritual are agreed that Ex. xxx. 34 should be taken as a guide as much as possible. It is recommended that frankincense should enter as largely as possible into its composition, and that if inferior materials be employed at all they should not be allowed to preponderate. In Rome olibanum alone is employed; in other places benzoin, storax, lign, aloes, cascarilla bark, cinnamon, cloves and musk are all said to be occasionally used. In the Russian Church, benzoin is chiefly employed. The Armenian liturgy, in its benediction of the incense, speaks of “this perfume prepared from myrrh and cinnamon.â€
The preparation of pastils of incense has probably come down in a continuous tradition from ancient Egypt, Babylonia and Phoenicia. Cyprus was for centuries famous for their manufacture, and they were still known in the middle ages by the names of pastils or osselets of Cyprus.
Maimonides, in hisMore Nevochim, states that the use of incense in the worship of the Jews originated as a corrective of the disagreeable odours arising from the slaughter and burning of the animals offered in sacrifice. There can be no doubt that its use throughout the East is based on sanitary considerations; and in Europe even, in the time when the dead were buried in the churches, it was recognized that the burning of incense served essentially to preserve their salubrity. But evidently the idea that the odour of a burnt-offering (cf. theκνίσης ἡδὺς ἀυτμήofOdyss.xii. 369) is grateful to the deity, being indeed the most essential part of the sacrifice, or at least the vehicle by which alone it can successfully be conveyed to its destination, is also a very early one, if not absolutely primitive; and survivals of it are possibly to be met with even among the most highly cultured peoples where the purely symbolical nature of all religious ritual is most clearly understood and maintained. Some such idea plainly underlies the familiar phrase “a sweet savour,†more literally “a savour of satisfaction,†whereby an acceptable offering by fire is so often denoted in the Bible (Gen. viii. 21; Lev. i. 9,et passim; cf. Eph. v. 2). It is easy to imagine how, as men grew in sensuous appreciation of pleasant perfumes, and in empirical knowledge of the sources from which these could be derived, this advance would naturally express itself, not only in their domestic habits, but also in the details of their religious ceremonial, so that the custom of adding some kind of incense to their animal sacrifices, and at length that of offering it pure and simple, would inevitably arise. Ultimately, with the development of the spiritual discernment of men, the “offering of incense†became a mere symbolical phrase for prayer (see Rev. v. 8, viii. 3, 4). Clement of Alexandria expresses this in his well-known words: “The true altar of incense is the just soul, and the perfume from it is holy prayer.†(So also Origen,Cont. Cels.viii. 17, 20.) The ancients were familiar with the sanitary efficacy of fumigations. The energy with which Ulysses, after the slaughter of the suitors, calls to Euryclea for “fire and sulphur†to purge (literally “fumigateâ€) the dining-hall from the pollution of their blood (Od.xxii. 481, 482) would startle those who imagine that sanitation is a peculiarly modern science. There is not the slightest doubt that the censing of things and persons was first practised as an act of purification, and thus became symbolical of consecration, and finally of the sanctification of the soul. The Egyptians understood the use of incense as symbolical of the purification of the soul by prayer. Catholic writers generally treat it as typifying contrition, the preaching of the Gospel, the prayers of the faithful and the virtues of the saints.
(G. B.)
1Incensum(orincensum thuris) fromincendere; Ital. and Port.incenso; Span.incienso; Fr.encens. The substantive occurs in an inscription of the Arvalian brotherhood (Marini,Gli Atti e Monumenti de’ fratelli Arvali, p. 639), but is frequent only in ecclesiastical Latin. Compare the classicalsuffimentumandsuffitusfromsuffio. For “incense†Ulfila (Luke i. 10, 11) has retained the Greekθυμίαμα(thymiama); all the Teutonic names (Ger.Weihrauch; Old SaxonWîrôc; Icel.Reykelsi; Dan.Rögelse) seem to belong to the Christian period (Grimm,Deutsche Mythologie, i. 50).2The etymological affinities ofθÏω, θÏος,thus,fuffio,funus, and the Sans.dhumaare well known. See Max Müller,Chips, i. 99.3Classical Latin has but one word (thusortus) for all sorts of incense.Libanus, for frankincense, occurs only in the Vulgate. Even the “ground frankincense†or “ground pine†(Ajuga chamaepitys) was known to the Romans asTus terrae(Pliny), although they called some plant, from its smelling like frankincense,Libanotis, and a kind of Thasian wine, also from its fragrance,Libanios. The Latino-barbaric wordOlibanum(quasiOleum Libani), the common name for frankincense in modern commerce, is used in a bull of Pope Benedict IX. (1033). It may here be remarked that the name “European frankincense†is applied toPinus Taeda, and to the resinous exudation (“Burgundy pitchâ€) of the Norwegian spruce firs (Abies excelsa). The “incense tree†of America is theIcica guianensis, and the “incense wood†of the same continentI. heptaphylla.4Brugsch,Egypt under the Pharaohs, i. 77-81, 414-419.5Plutarch,De Iside et Osiride, c. 52. In Parthey’s edition (Berlin, 1850) other recipes for the manufacture ofkuphi, by Galen and Dioscorides, are given; also some results of the editor’s own experiments.6Wilkinson,Ancient Egyptians, i. 493; ii. 49, 398-400, 414-416.7Brugsch,Egypt under the Pharaohs, i. 303-312.8See Lane,Mod. Egyptians, pp. 34, 41, 139, 187, 438 (ed. 1860).9See Wellhausen,Gesch. Israels, i. 70 sqq., who from philological and other data infers the late date of the introduction of incense into the Jewish ritual.10According to Philo (Opera, i. 504, ed. Mangey), they symbolized respectively water, earth, air and fire.11Other accounts of its composition, drawn from Rabbinical sources, will be found in various works on Jewish antiquities; see, for example, Reland,Antiq. Sacr. vet. Hebr.pp. 39-41 (1712).12This guarded statement still holds good. Compare Duchesne,Christian Worship(Eng. trans., 1904), ch. ii., “The Mass in the East,†v. “The Books of the Latin Rite,†and xii. “The Dedication of Churches.â€
1Incensum(orincensum thuris) fromincendere; Ital. and Port.incenso; Span.incienso; Fr.encens. The substantive occurs in an inscription of the Arvalian brotherhood (Marini,Gli Atti e Monumenti de’ fratelli Arvali, p. 639), but is frequent only in ecclesiastical Latin. Compare the classicalsuffimentumandsuffitusfromsuffio. For “incense†Ulfila (Luke i. 10, 11) has retained the Greekθυμίαμα(thymiama); all the Teutonic names (Ger.Weihrauch; Old SaxonWîrôc; Icel.Reykelsi; Dan.Rögelse) seem to belong to the Christian period (Grimm,Deutsche Mythologie, i. 50).
2The etymological affinities ofθÏω, θÏος,thus,fuffio,funus, and the Sans.dhumaare well known. See Max Müller,Chips, i. 99.
3Classical Latin has but one word (thusortus) for all sorts of incense.Libanus, for frankincense, occurs only in the Vulgate. Even the “ground frankincense†or “ground pine†(Ajuga chamaepitys) was known to the Romans asTus terrae(Pliny), although they called some plant, from its smelling like frankincense,Libanotis, and a kind of Thasian wine, also from its fragrance,Libanios. The Latino-barbaric wordOlibanum(quasiOleum Libani), the common name for frankincense in modern commerce, is used in a bull of Pope Benedict IX. (1033). It may here be remarked that the name “European frankincense†is applied toPinus Taeda, and to the resinous exudation (“Burgundy pitchâ€) of the Norwegian spruce firs (Abies excelsa). The “incense tree†of America is theIcica guianensis, and the “incense wood†of the same continentI. heptaphylla.
4Brugsch,Egypt under the Pharaohs, i. 77-81, 414-419.
5Plutarch,De Iside et Osiride, c. 52. In Parthey’s edition (Berlin, 1850) other recipes for the manufacture ofkuphi, by Galen and Dioscorides, are given; also some results of the editor’s own experiments.
6Wilkinson,Ancient Egyptians, i. 493; ii. 49, 398-400, 414-416.
7Brugsch,Egypt under the Pharaohs, i. 303-312.
8See Lane,Mod. Egyptians, pp. 34, 41, 139, 187, 438 (ed. 1860).
9See Wellhausen,Gesch. Israels, i. 70 sqq., who from philological and other data infers the late date of the introduction of incense into the Jewish ritual.
10According to Philo (Opera, i. 504, ed. Mangey), they symbolized respectively water, earth, air and fire.
11Other accounts of its composition, drawn from Rabbinical sources, will be found in various works on Jewish antiquities; see, for example, Reland,Antiq. Sacr. vet. Hebr.pp. 39-41 (1712).
12This guarded statement still holds good. Compare Duchesne,Christian Worship(Eng. trans., 1904), ch. ii., “The Mass in the East,†v. “The Books of the Latin Rite,†and xii. “The Dedication of Churches.â€
INCEST(Lat.incestus, unchaste), sexual intercourse between persons so related by kindred or affinity that legal marriage cannot take place between them (seeMarriage, especially the sectionCanon Law). In England incest formerly was not generally treated as a crime, although, along with other offences against morals, it was made punishable by death in 1650. Since the Restoration it had, to use Blackstone’s phrase, been left to the “feeble coercion of the spiritual courts,†but bills to make it a criminal offence have at various times been unsuccessfully introduced in Parliament. In 1908 however, an act (The Punishment of Incest Act 1908) was passed, under which sexual intercourse of a male with his grand-daughter, daughter, sister or mother is made punishable with penal servitude for not less than 3 or more than 7 years, or with imprisonment for not more than two years with or without hard labour. It is immaterial that the sexual intercourse was had with the consent of the female; indeed, by s. 2 a female who consents is on conviction liable to the same punishment as the male. The act also makes an attempt to commit the offence of incest a misdemeanour, punishable by imprisonment for not more than two years with or without hard labour. The terms “brother†and “sister†include half-brother and half-sister, whether the relationship is or is not traced through lawful wedlock. All proceedings under the act are heldin camera(s. 5). The act does not apply to Scotland, incest being punishable in Scots law. Under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1857, s. 27, incestuous adultery isper sesufficient ground to entitle a wife to divorce her husband. The Deceased Wife’s Sister’s Marriage Act 1907, s. 3, retained wives’ sisters in the class of persons with whom adultery is incestuous. In the law of Scotland, it was, until the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1887, a crime nominally punishable with death, but the penalty usually inflicted was penal servitude for life. This sentence was actually pronounced on a man in 1855. In the United States incest is not an indictable offence at common law, but, generally speaking, it has been made punishable by fine and imprisonment by state legislation. It is also a punishable offence in some European countries, notably Germany, Austria and Italy.
INCH(O. Eng.yncefrom Lat.uncia, a twelfth part; cf. “ounce,†and see As), the twelfth part of a linear foot. As a measure of rainfall an “inch of rain†is equivalent to a fall of a gallon of water spread over a surface of about 2 sq. ft., or 100 tons to an acre.
INCHBALD, MRS ELIZABETH(1753-1821), English novelist, playwright and actress, was born on the 15th of October 1753 at Standingfield, Suffolk, the daughter of John Simpson, a farmer. Her father died when she was eight years old. She and her sisters never enjoyed the advantages of school or of any regular supervision in their studies, but they seem to have acquired refined and literary tastes at an early age. Ambitious to become an actress, a career for which an impediment in her speech hardly seemed to qualify her, she applied in vain for an engagement; and finally, in 1772, she abruptly left home to seek her fortune in London. Here she married Joseph Inchbald (d. 1779), an actor, and on the 4th of September made her début in Bristol as Cordelia, to his Lear. For several years she continued to act with him in the provinces. Her rôles included Anne Boleyn, Jane Shore, Calista, Calpurnia, Lady Anne inRichard III., Lady Percy, Lady Elizabeth Grey, Fanny inThe Clandestine Marriage, Desdemona, Aspasia inTamerlane, Juliet and Imogen; but notwithstanding her great beauty and her natural aptitude for acting, her inability to acquire rapid and easy utterance prevented her from attaining to more than very moderate success. After the death of her husband she continued for some time on the stage; making her first London appearance at Covent Garden as Bellario inPhilasteron the 3rd of October 1780. Her success, however, as an author led her to retire in 1789. She died at Kensington House on the 1st of August 1821.
Mrs. Inchbald wrote or adapted nineteen plays, and some of them, especiallyWives as They Were and Maids as They Are(1797), were for a time very successful. Among the others may be mentionedI’ll tell you What(translated into German, Leipzig, 1798);Such Things Are(1788);The Married Man;The Wedding Day;The Midnight Hour;Everyone has his Fault; andLover’s Vows. She also edited a collection of theBritish Theatre, with biographical and critical remarks (25 vols., 1806-1809); aCollection of Farces(7 vols., 1809); andThe Modern Theatre(10 vols., 1809). Her fame, however, rests chiefly on her two novels:A Simple Story(1791), andNature and Art(1796). These works possess many minor faults and inaccuracies, but on the whole their style is easy, natural and graceful; and if they are tainted in some degree by a morbid and exaggerated sentiment, and display none of that faculty of creation possessed by the best writers of fiction, the pathetic situations, and the deep and pure feeling pervading them, secured for them a wide popularity.
Mrs Inchbald destroyed an autobiography for which she had been offered £1000 by Phillips the publisher; but herMemoirs, compiled by J. Boaden, chiefly from her private journal, appeared in 1833 in two volumes. An interesting account of Mrs Inchbald is contained inRecords of a Girlhood, by Frances Ann Kemble (1878). Her portrait was painted by Sir Thomas Lawrence.
Mrs Inchbald destroyed an autobiography for which she had been offered £1000 by Phillips the publisher; but herMemoirs, compiled by J. Boaden, chiefly from her private journal, appeared in 1833 in two volumes. An interesting account of Mrs Inchbald is contained inRecords of a Girlhood, by Frances Ann Kemble (1878). Her portrait was painted by Sir Thomas Lawrence.
INCHIQUIN, MURROUGH O’BRIEN,1st Earl of(c.1614-1674), Irish soldier and statesman, was the son of Dermod O’Brien, 5th Baron Inchiquin (d. 1624). He belonged to a great family which traced its descent to Brian Boroimhe, king of Ireland, and members of which were always to the forefront in Irish public life. The first baron of Inchiquin was another Murrough O’Brien (d. 1551) who, after having made his submission to Henry VIII., was created baron of Inchiquin and earl of Thomond in 1543. When Murrough died in November 1551 by a curious arrangement his earldom passed to his nephew Donogh, son of Conor O’Brien (d. 1539), the last independent prince of Thomond (see Thomond, Earls of), leaving only his barony to be inherited by his son Dermod (d. 1557), the ancestor of the later barons of Inchiquin.
Murrough O’Brien, who became 6th baron of Inchiquin in 1624, gained some military experience in Italy, and then in 1640 was appointed vice-president of Munster. He took an active and leading part in suppressing the great Irish rebellion which broke out in the following year, and during the Civil War the English parliament made him president of Munster. Early in 1648, however, he declared, for his former master Charles I., and for about two years he sought to uphold the royalist cause in Ireland. In 1654 Charles II. made him an earl. His later years were partly spent in France and in Spain, but he had returned to Ireland when he died on the 9th of September 1674.
His son William, the 2nd earl (c.1638-1692), served under his father in France and Spain, and for six years was governor of Tangier. He was a partisan of William III. in Ireland, and in 1690 he became governor of Jamaica where he died in January 1692. In 1800 his descendant Murrough, the 5th earl (d. 1808), was created marquess of Thomond, but on the death of James, the 3rd marquess, in July 1855 both the marquessate and the earldom became extinct. The barony of Inchiquin, however, passed to a kinsman, Sir Lucius O’Brien, Bart. (1800-1872), a descendant of the first baron and a brother of William Smith O’Brien (q.v.).
INCLEDON, CHARLES BENJAMIN(1763-1826), English singer, son of a doctor in Cornwall, began as a choir-boy at Exeter, but then went into the navy. His fine tenor voice, however, attracted general attention, and in 1783 he determined to seek his fortune on the stage. After various provincial appearances he made a great success in 1790 at Covent Garden, and thenceforth was the principal English tenor of his day. He sang both in opera and in oratorio, but his chief popularity lay in his delivery of ballads, such as “Sally in our Alley,†“Black-eyed Susan,†“The Arethusa,†and anything of a bold and manly type. He toured in America in 1817; and on retiring in 1822 from the operatic stage, he travelled through the provinces with an entertainment called “The Wandering Melodist.†He died of paralysis at Worcester on the 11th of February 1826.
INCLINOMETER(Dip Circle). Two distinct classes of instruments are used for measuring the dip (seeMagnetism, Terrestrial) or inclination of the earth’s magnetic field to the horizontal, namely (1) dip circles, and (2) induction inclinometers or earth inductors.
Dip Circles.—In the case of the dip circle the direction of the earth’s magnetic field is obtained by observing the position of the axis of a magnetized needle so supported as to be free to turn about a horizontal axis passing through its centre of gravity. The needles now used consist of flat lozenge-shaped pieces of steel about 9 cm. long and 0.1 cm. thick, and weigh about 4.1 grams. The axle, which is made of hard steel, projects on either side of the needle and has a diameter of about 0.05 cm. Needles considerably larger than the above have been used, but experience showed that the values for the dip observed with needles 23 cm. long, was about 1’ less than with the 9 cm. needles, and A. Schuster (Phil. Mag., 1891 [5], 31, p. 275) has shown that the difference is due to the appreciable bending of the longer needles owing to their weight.
When in use the dip needle is supported on two agate knife-edges, so that its axle is on the axis of a vertical divided circle, on which the positions of the ends of the needle are either directly observed by means of two reading lenses, in which case the circle is generally divided into thirds of a degree so that it can by estimation be read to about two minutes, or a cross arm carries two small microscopes and two verniers, the cross wires of each microscope being adjusted so as to bisect the image of the corresponding end of the needle. TwoV-shaped lifters actuated by a handle serve to raise the needle from the agates, and when lowered assure the axle being at the centre of the vertical circle.The supports for the needle, and a box to protect the needle from draughts, as well as the vertical circle, can be rotated about a vertical axis, and their azimuth read off on a horizontal divided circle. There are also two adjustable stops which can be set in any position, and allow the upper part of the instrument to be rotated through exactly 180° without the necessity of reading the horizontal circle.
When making a determination of the dip with the dip circle, a number of separate readings have to be made in order to eliminate various instrumental defects. Thus, that side of the needle on which the number is engraved being called the face of the needle, and that side of the protecting box next the vertical circle the face of the instrument, both ends of the needle are observed in the following relative positions, the instrument being in every case so adjusted in azimuth that the axle of the needle points magnetic east and west:—
i. Face of instrument east and face of needle next to face of instrument;ii. Face of instrument west and face of needle next to face of instrument;iii. Face of instrument west and face of needle away from face of instrument;iv. Face of instrument east and face of needle away from face of instrument.
i. Face of instrument east and face of needle next to face of instrument;
ii. Face of instrument west and face of needle next to face of instrument;
iii. Face of instrument west and face of needle away from face of instrument;
iv. Face of instrument east and face of needle away from face of instrument.
Next the direction of magnetization of the needle is reversed by stroking it a number of times with two strong permanent magnets, when the other end of the needle dips and the above four sets of readings are repeated. The object in reading both ends of the needle is to avoid error if the prolongation of the axle of the needle does not pass through the centre of the vertical circle, as also to avoid error due to the eccentricity of the arm which carries the reading microscopes and verniers. The reversal of the instrument between (i.) and (ii.) and between (iii.) and (iv.) is to eliminate errors due to (a) the line joining the zeros of the vertical circle not being exactly horizontal, and (b) the agate knife-edges which support the needle not being exactly horizontal. The reversal of the needle between (ii.) and (iii.) is to eliminate errors due to (a) the magnetic axis of the needle not coinciding with the line joining the two points of the needle, and (b) to the centre of gravity of the needle being displaced from the centre of the axle in a direction at right angles to the length of the needle. The reversal of the poles of the needle is to counteract any error produced by the centre of gravity of the needle being displaced from the centre of the axle in a direction parallel to the length of the needle.
For use at sea the dip circle was modified, by Robert Were Fox (Annals of Electricity, 1839, 3, p. 288), who used a needle having pointed axles, the points resting in jewelled holes carried by two uprights, so that the movement of the ship does not cause the axle of the needle to change its position with reference to the vertical divided circle. To counteract the tendency of the axle to stick in the bearings, the instrument is fitted with a knob on the top of the box protecting the needle, and when a reading is being taken this knob is rubbed with an ivory or horn disk, the surface of which is corrugated. In this way a tremor is caused which is found to assist the needle in overcoming the effects of friction, so that it takes up its true position. In the Creak modification of the Fox dip circle, the upper halves of the jewels which form the bearings are cut away so that the needle can be easily removed, and thus the reversals necessary when making a complete observation can be performed (see alsoMagneto-Meter).
Induction Inclinometers.—The principle on which induction inclinometers depend is that if a coil of insulated wire is spun about a diameter there will be an alternating current induced in the coil, unless the axis about which it turns is parallel to the lines of force of the earth’s field. Hence if the axis about which such a coil spins is adjusted till a sensitive galvanometer connected to the coil through a commutator, by which the alternating current is converted into a direct current, is undeflected, then the axis must be parallel to the lines of force of the earth’s field, and hence the inclination of the axis to the horizontal is the dip. The introduction and perfection of this type of inclinometer is almost entirely due to H. Wild. His form of instrument for field observations1consists of a coil 10 cm. in diameter, containing about 1000 turns of silk-covered copper wire, the resistance being about 40 ohms, which is pivoted inside a metal ring. This ring can itself rotate about a horizontal axle in its own plane, this axle being at right angles to that about which the coil can rotate. Attached to the axle of the ring is a divided circle, by means of which and two reading microscopes the inclination of the axis of rotation of the coil to the horizontal can be read. The bearings which support the horizontal axle of the ring are mounted on a horizontal annulus which can be rotated in a groove attached to the base of the instrument, as so to allow the azimuth of the axle of the ring, and hence also that of the plane in which the axis of the coil can move, to be adjusted. The coil is rotated by means of a flexible shaft worked by a small cranked handle and a train of gear wheels. The terminals of the coil are taken to a two-part commutator of the ordinary pattern on which rest two copper brushes which are connected by flexible leads to a sensitive galvanometer. The inclination of the axis of the coil can be roughly adjusted by hand by rotating the supporting ring. The final adjustment is made by means of a micrometer screw attached to an arm which is clamped on the axle of the ring.
When making a measurement the azimuth circle is first set horizontal, a striding level placed on the trunnions which carry the ring being used to indicate when the adjustment is complete. The striding level is then placed on the axle which carries the coil, and when the bubble is at the centre of the scale the microscopes are adjusted to the zeros of the vertical circle. A box containing a long compass needle and having two feet with inverted V’s is placed to rest on the axle of the coil, and the instrument is turned in azimuth till the compass needle points to a lubber line on the box. By this means the axis of the coil is brought into the magnetic meridian. The commutator being connected to a sensitive galvanometer, the coil is rotated, and the ring adjusted till the galvanometer is undeflected. The reading on the vertical circle then gives the dip. By a system of reversals slight faults in the adjustment of the instrument can be eliminated as in the case of the dip circle. With such an instrument it is claimed that readings of dip can be made accurate to ±0.1 minutes of arc.
The form of Wild inductor for use in a fixed observatory differs from the above in that the coil consists of a drum-wound armature, but without iron, of which the length is about three times the diameter. This armature has its axle mounted in a frame attached to the sloping side of a stone pillar, so that the axis of rotation is approximately parallel to the lines of force of the earth’s field. By means of two micrometer screws the inclination of the axis to the magnetic meridian and to the horizontal can be adjusted. The armature is fitted with a commutator and a system of gear wheels by means of which it can be rapidly rotated. The upper end of the axle carries a plane mirror, the normal to which is adjusted parallel to the axis of rotation of the armature. A theodolite is placed on the top of the pillar and the telescope is turned so that the image of the cross-wires, seen by reflection in the mirror, coincides with the wires themselves. In this way the axis of the theodolite telescope is placed parallel to the axis of the armature, and hence the dip can be read off on the altitude circle of the theodolite.
Authorities.—In addition to the references already given the following papers may be consulted: (1)Admiralty Manual of Scientific Inquiry, which contains directions for making observations with a dip circle; (2) Stewart and Gee,Elementary Practical Physics, which contains a full description of the dip circle and instructions for making a set of observations; (3) L. A. Bauer,Terrestrial Magnetism(1901), 6, p. 31, a memoir which contains the results of a comparison of the values for the dip obtained with a number of different circles; (4) E. Leyst,Repertorium für Meteorologie der kaiserl. Akad. der Wiss.(St Petersburg, 1887), 10, No. 5, containing a discussion of the errors of dip circles; (5) H. Wild,Bull. de l’Acad. Imp. des Sci. de St Pétersbourg(March 1895), a paper which considers the accuracy obtainable with the earth inductor.
Authorities.—In addition to the references already given the following papers may be consulted: (1)Admiralty Manual of Scientific Inquiry, which contains directions for making observations with a dip circle; (2) Stewart and Gee,Elementary Practical Physics, which contains a full description of the dip circle and instructions for making a set of observations; (3) L. A. Bauer,Terrestrial Magnetism(1901), 6, p. 31, a memoir which contains the results of a comparison of the values for the dip obtained with a number of different circles; (4) E. Leyst,Repertorium für Meteorologie der kaiserl. Akad. der Wiss.(St Petersburg, 1887), 10, No. 5, containing a discussion of the errors of dip circles; (5) H. Wild,Bull. de l’Acad. Imp. des Sci. de St Pétersbourg(March 1895), a paper which considers the accuracy obtainable with the earth inductor.
(W. Wn.)
1Repertorium für Meteorologie der kaiserl. Akad. der Wissensch.(St Petersburg, 1892), 16, No. 2, orMeteorolog. Zeits.(1895), 12, p. 41.
1Repertorium für Meteorologie der kaiserl. Akad. der Wissensch.(St Petersburg, 1892), 16, No. 2, orMeteorolog. Zeits.(1895), 12, p. 41.
INCLOSURE,orEnclosure, in law, the fencing in of waste or common lands by the lord of the manor for the purpose of cultivation. For the history of the inclosure of such lands, and the legislation, dating from 1235, which deals with it, see COMMONS.
IN COENA DOMINI,a papal bull, so called from its opening words, formerly issued annually on Holy Thursday (in Holy Week), or later on Easter Monday. Its first publication was in 1363. It was a statement of ecclesiastical censure against heresies, schisms, sacrilege, infringement of papal and ecclesiastical privileges, attacks on person and property, piracy, forgery and other crimes. For two or three hundred years it was varied from time to time, receiving its final form from Pope Urban VIII. in 1627. Owing to the opposition of the sovereigns of Europe both Protestant and Catholic, who regarded the bull as an infringement of their rights, its publication was discontinued by Pope Clement XIV. in 1770.
INCOME TAX,in the United Kingdom a general tax on income derived from every source. Although a graduated tax on income from certain fixed sources was levied in 1435 and again in 1450, it may be said that the income tax in its present form dates in England from its introduction by W. Pitt in 1798 “granting to His Majesty an aid and contribution for the prosecution of the war.†This act of 1798 merely increased the duties of certain assessed taxes, which were regulated by the amount of income of the person assessed, provided his income amounted to £60 or upwards. These duties were repealed by an act of 1799 (39 Geo. III. c. 13), which imposed a duty of 10% on all incomes from whatever sources derived, incomes under £60 a year being exempt, and reduced rates charged on incomes between that amount and £200 a year. The produce of this tax was £6,046,624 for the first year, as compared with £1,855,996, the produce of the earlier tax. This income tax was repealed after the peace of Amiens, but the renewal of the war in 1803 caused its revival. At the same time was introduced the principle of “collection at the source†(i.e.collection before the income reaches the person to whom it belongs), which is still retained in the English Revenue system, and which, it has been said, is mainly responsible for the present development of income tax and the ease with which it is collected. The act of 1803 (43 Geo. III. c. 122) distributed the various descriptions of income under different schedules, known as A, B, C, D and E. A rate of 5% was imposed on all incomes of £150 a year and over, with graduation on incomes between £60 and £150. This income tax of 5% collected at the source yielded almost as much as the previous tax of 10% collected direct from each taxpayer. The tax was continued from year to year with the principle unchanged but with variations in the rate until the close of the war in 1815, when it was repealed. It was, during its first imposition, regarded as essentially a war tax, and in later days, when it was reimposed, it was always considered as an emergency tax, to be levied only to relieve considerable financial strain, but it has now taken its place as a permanent source of national income, and is the most productive single tax in the British financial system. The income tax was revived in 1842 by Sir R. Peel, not as a war tax, but to enable him to effect important financial reforms (seeTaxation). Variations both in the rate levied and the amount of income exempted have taken place from time to time, the most important, probably, being found in the Finance Acts of 1894, 1897, 1898, 1907 and 1909-1910.
It will be useful to review the income tax as it existed before the important changes introduced in 1909. It was, speaking broadly, a tax levied on all incomes derived from sources within the United Kingdom, or received by residents in the United Kingdom from other sources. Incomes under £160 were exempt; an abatement allowed of £160 on those between £160 and £400; of £150 on those between £400 and £500; of £120 on those between £500 and £600, and of £70 on those between £600 and £700. An abatement was also allowed on account of any premiums paid for life insurance, provided they did not exceed one-sixth of the total income. The limit of total exemption was fixed in 1894, when it was raised from £150; and the scale of abatements was revised in 1898 by admitting incomes between £500 and £700; the Finance Act 1907 distinguished between “earned†and “unearned†income, granting relief to the former over the latter by 3d. in the pound, where the income from all sources did not exceed £2000. The tax was assessed as mentioned above, under five different schedules, known as A, B, C, D and E. Under schedule A was charged the income derived from landed property, including houses, the annual value or rent being the basis of the assessment. The owner is the person taxed, whether he is or is not in occupation. In England the tax under this schedule is obtained from the occupier, who, if he is not the owner, recovers from the latter by deducting the tax from the rent. In Scotland this tax is usually paid by the owner as a matter of convenience, but in Ireland it is by law chargeable to him. All real property is subject to the tax, with certain exceptions:—(a) crown property, such as public offices, prisons, &c.; (b) certain properties belonging to charitable and educational bodies, as hospitals, public schools, colleges, almshouses, &c.; (c) public parks or recreation grounds; (d) certain realities of companies such as mines, quarries, canals, &c., from which no profit is derived beyond the general profit of the concern to which they belong. Under schedule B were charged the profits arising from the occupation of land, the amount of such profits being assumed to be one-third of the annual value of the land as fixed for the purposes of schedule A. This applies principally to farmers who might, if they chose, be assessed on schedule D on their actual profits. Schedule C included income derived from interest, &c., payable out of the public funds of the United Kingdom or any other country. Schedule D, the most important branch of the income tax and the most difficult to assess, included profits arising from trade, from professional or other employment, and from foreign property, the assessment in most cases being made on an average of the receipts for three years. Schedule E covered the salaries and pensions of persons in the employment of the state or of public bodies, and of the officials of public companies, &c. The method of assessment and collection of the tax is uniformly the same. Under schedules A, B and D it is in the hands of local authorities known as the General or District Commissioners of Taxes. They are appointed by the Land Tax Commissioners out of their own body, and, as regards assessment, are not in any way controlled by the executive government. They appoint a clerk, who is their principal officer and legal adviser, assessors for each parish and collectors. There is an appeal from their decisions to the High Court of Justice on points of law, but not on questions of fact. Assessments under schedules A and B are usually made every five years, and under schedule D every year. The interests of the revenue are looked after by officers of the Board of Inland Revenue, styled surveyors of taxes, who are stationed in different parts of the country. They are in constant communication with the Board, and with the public on all matters relating to the assessment and collection of the tax; they attend the meetings of the local commissioners, examine the assessments and the taxpayers’ returns, and watch the progress of the collection. There are also certain officers, known as special commissioners, who are appointed by the crown, and receive fixed salaries from public funds. For the purpose of schedule D, any taxpayer may elect to be assessed by them instead of by the local commissioners; and those who object to their affairs being disclosed to persons in their own neighbourhood may thus have their assessments made without any risk of publicity. The special commissioners also assess the profits of railway companies under schedule D, and profits arising from foreign or colonial sources under schedules C and D. The greater part of the incomes under schedule E is assessed by the commissioners for public offices, appointed by the several departments of the government.
It will be useful to review the income tax as it existed before the important changes introduced in 1909. It was, speaking broadly, a tax levied on all incomes derived from sources within the United Kingdom, or received by residents in the United Kingdom from other sources. Incomes under £160 were exempt; an abatement allowed of £160 on those between £160 and £400; of £150 on those between £400 and £500; of £120 on those between £500 and £600, and of £70 on those between £600 and £700. An abatement was also allowed on account of any premiums paid for life insurance, provided they did not exceed one-sixth of the total income. The limit of total exemption was fixed in 1894, when it was raised from £150; and the scale of abatements was revised in 1898 by admitting incomes between £500 and £700; the Finance Act 1907 distinguished between “earned†and “unearned†income, granting relief to the former over the latter by 3d. in the pound, where the income from all sources did not exceed £2000. The tax was assessed as mentioned above, under five different schedules, known as A, B, C, D and E. Under schedule A was charged the income derived from landed property, including houses, the annual value or rent being the basis of the assessment. The owner is the person taxed, whether he is or is not in occupation. In England the tax under this schedule is obtained from the occupier, who, if he is not the owner, recovers from the latter by deducting the tax from the rent. In Scotland this tax is usually paid by the owner as a matter of convenience, but in Ireland it is by law chargeable to him. All real property is subject to the tax, with certain exceptions:—(a) crown property, such as public offices, prisons, &c.; (b) certain properties belonging to charitable and educational bodies, as hospitals, public schools, colleges, almshouses, &c.; (c) public parks or recreation grounds; (d) certain realities of companies such as mines, quarries, canals, &c., from which no profit is derived beyond the general profit of the concern to which they belong. Under schedule B were charged the profits arising from the occupation of land, the amount of such profits being assumed to be one-third of the annual value of the land as fixed for the purposes of schedule A. This applies principally to farmers who might, if they chose, be assessed on schedule D on their actual profits. Schedule C included income derived from interest, &c., payable out of the public funds of the United Kingdom or any other country. Schedule D, the most important branch of the income tax and the most difficult to assess, included profits arising from trade, from professional or other employment, and from foreign property, the assessment in most cases being made on an average of the receipts for three years. Schedule E covered the salaries and pensions of persons in the employment of the state or of public bodies, and of the officials of public companies, &c. The method of assessment and collection of the tax is uniformly the same. Under schedules A, B and D it is in the hands of local authorities known as the General or District Commissioners of Taxes. They are appointed by the Land Tax Commissioners out of their own body, and, as regards assessment, are not in any way controlled by the executive government. They appoint a clerk, who is their principal officer and legal adviser, assessors for each parish and collectors. There is an appeal from their decisions to the High Court of Justice on points of law, but not on questions of fact. Assessments under schedules A and B are usually made every five years, and under schedule D every year. The interests of the revenue are looked after by officers of the Board of Inland Revenue, styled surveyors of taxes, who are stationed in different parts of the country. They are in constant communication with the Board, and with the public on all matters relating to the assessment and collection of the tax; they attend the meetings of the local commissioners, examine the assessments and the taxpayers’ returns, and watch the progress of the collection. There are also certain officers, known as special commissioners, who are appointed by the crown, and receive fixed salaries from public funds. For the purpose of schedule D, any taxpayer may elect to be assessed by them instead of by the local commissioners; and those who object to their affairs being disclosed to persons in their own neighbourhood may thus have their assessments made without any risk of publicity. The special commissioners also assess the profits of railway companies under schedule D, and profits arising from foreign or colonial sources under schedules C and D. The greater part of the incomes under schedule E is assessed by the commissioners for public offices, appointed by the several departments of the government.
Previously to 1909 the rate of income tax has been as high as 16d. (in 1855-1857), and as low as 2d. (in 1874-1876). Each penny of the tax was estimated to produce in 1906-1907 a revenue of £2,666,867.1
It had long been felt that there were certain inequalities in the income tax which could be adjusted without any considerable difficulty, and from time to time committees have met and reported upon the subject. Select committees reported in 1851-1852 and in 1861, and a Departmental Committee in 1905. In 1906 a select committee was appointed to inquire into and report upon the practicability of graduating the income tax, and of differentiating, for the purpose of the tax, between permanent and precarious incomes. The summary of the conclusions contained in theirReport(365 of 1906) was:—
1. Graduation of the income tax by an extension of the existing system of abatements is practicable. But it could not be applied to all incomes from the highest to the lowest, with satisfactory results. The limits of prudent extension would be reached when a large increase in the rate of tax to be collected at the source was necessitated, and the total amount which was collected in excess of what was ultimately retained became so large as to cause serious inconvenience to trade and commerce and to individual taxpayers. Those limitswould not be exceeded by raising the amount of income on which an abatement would be allowed to £1000 or even more.2. Graduation by a super-tax is practicable. If it be desired to levy a much higher rate of tax upon large incomes (say of £5000 and upwards) than has hitherto been charged, a super-tax based on personal declaration would be a practicable method.3. Abandonment of the system of “collection at the source†and adoption of the principle of direct personal assessment of the whole of each person’s income would be inexpedient.4. Differentiation between earned and unearned incomes is practicable, especially if it be limited to earned incomes not exceeding £3000 a year, and effect be given to it by charging a lower rate of tax upon them.5. A compulsory personal declaration from each individual of total net income in respect of which tax is payable is expedient, and would do much to prevent the evasion and avoidance of income tax which at present prevail.
1. Graduation of the income tax by an extension of the existing system of abatements is practicable. But it could not be applied to all incomes from the highest to the lowest, with satisfactory results. The limits of prudent extension would be reached when a large increase in the rate of tax to be collected at the source was necessitated, and the total amount which was collected in excess of what was ultimately retained became so large as to cause serious inconvenience to trade and commerce and to individual taxpayers. Those limitswould not be exceeded by raising the amount of income on which an abatement would be allowed to £1000 or even more.
2. Graduation by a super-tax is practicable. If it be desired to levy a much higher rate of tax upon large incomes (say of £5000 and upwards) than has hitherto been charged, a super-tax based on personal declaration would be a practicable method.
3. Abandonment of the system of “collection at the source†and adoption of the principle of direct personal assessment of the whole of each person’s income would be inexpedient.
4. Differentiation between earned and unearned incomes is practicable, especially if it be limited to earned incomes not exceeding £3000 a year, and effect be given to it by charging a lower rate of tax upon them.
5. A compulsory personal declaration from each individual of total net income in respect of which tax is payable is expedient, and would do much to prevent the evasion and avoidance of income tax which at present prevail.
Acting upon the report of this committee the Finance Bill of 1909 was framed to give effect to the principles of graduation and differentiation. The rate upon the earned portion of incomes of persons whose total income did not exceed £3000 was left unchanged, viz. 9d. in the pound up to £2000, and 1s. in the pound between £2000 and £3000. But the rate of 1s. in the pound on all unearned incomes and on the earned portion of incomes over £2000 from all sources was raised to 1s. 2d. In addition to the ordinary tax of 1s. 2d. in the pound, a super-tax of 6d. in the pound was levied on all incomes exceeding £5000 a year, the super-tax being paid upon the amount by which the incomes exceed £3000 a year. A special abatement of £10 a child for every child under the age of sixteen was allowed upon all incomes under £500 a year. No abatements or exemptions were allowed to persons not resident in the United Kingdom, except in the case of crown servants and persons residing abroad on account of their health. Certain abatements for improvements were also allowed to the owners of land or houses.