Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 05.djvu/158

LEFT IMPBOPRIATION 130 INCEST and order of a court of record, or by lawful warrant, IMPROPRIATION, in the English Church, the transfer of a benefice to the possession of a layman, the annexing of benefices to ecclesiastical corporations being called "appropriation," though thej'^ are sometimes identical. IMPROVISATORE (im-pro-vez-a- tor-a), one who composes and recites or sings extemporaneous or impromptu verses upon any given subject without premeditation. The Italians particularly excel in this species of composition, ow- ing, no doubt, in great measure, to the richness and flexibility of their language. INA, or INE (e'na), a King of the West Saxons in the 7th and 8th centuries. He succeeded Ceadwalla about 689, and after having obtained advantages over the people of Kent in 694 he turned his arms against the Britons, from whom he wrested Somersetshire and other parts of the west of England. He then made war on the Mercians; but the contest was terminated, without much advantage to either party, by a bloody battle in 715. He resigned his crown and went as a pilgTim to Rome (728), where he passed the rest of his days in devotion. He was one of the principal legislators of the Anglo-Saxons. His laws are the oldest known to us among the Anglo-Saxon kings, except those of the kings of Kent, and served as the foundation of the code formed by Alfred the Great. INACHUS (in'a-kus), in Greek my- thology, a river god. He was father of lo and hence ancestor of many ancient royal families. INACTOSE, (in-ak'tos), a true sugar found in the leaves of certain plants previous to flowering. Some of the tobacco family contain as much as 12 per cent. It is less sweet than cane sugar. INAJA PALM, a tree growing in South America, common to the countries near the Amazon; sometimes called the jagua palm. The great woody spathes are sometimes used as cooking utensils and will not burn if filled with water. The fruit grows in clusters and has a tough skin, a soft pulp, and a hard, stony seed. The Indians eat it and monkeys and birds are fond of it. INCA (in'ka), a Peruvian or rather Quichua title, signifying chief, applied to the imperial head of the Peruvian empire, and also to the governing caste or race from v.iiich he sprung. The empire of the Incas, founded according to tradition, in the 11th century, by the celebrated Manco Capac, extended over the table-land of the Andes, from Pasto to the neighborhood of Chile, as well as the low lands on the coast. It was destroyed by the Spaniards under Pizarro and Almagi-o. The blood royal of the Incas is preserved, or believed to be so, among Indians of the present day. INCANDESCENCE. See Electric Light. INCANTATION, a formula, either said or sung, supposed to add force to magical ceremonies. Incantations in classic times were employed: (1) To control the powers of Nature; (2) to compel the attendance and assistance of supernatural beings; (3) as love spells. In the Authorized Version incantations among the Jews are called enchantments. Those who practiced them are coupled with dreamers. INCARNATION, the usual theologi- cal term for the union of the divine nature with the human in the divine person of Christ. The word incarnatio first occurs in the Latin version of Irenteus, and in the Greek fathers we find its equivalent sarkosis and enan- thropesis. INCENSE, a perfumed vapor usually of smoky appearance. Sir G. Birdwood considers that religious censing of per- sons and things grew out of purificatory fumigation. The marbles of Nineveh furnish examples of offering incense to the Sungod; and the Hindus employed it from the remotest antiquity. Jewish. — Qetoreth, qetorah. This is sometimes confounded with leboiiah, frankincense, which is the name of a plant. Incense was compounded of stacte, onycha, galbanum, and pure frankincense, an equal part of each by weight. Any one making a similar com- position was to be cut off" from the people of God (Exod. XXX : 34-38). Incense was to be burnt every morning and evening on the "altar of incense." (Exod. XXX : 7, 8). Christian. — In the Roman and Greek Churches it is used in all the solemn offices. It is mentioned in the first Ordo Romanus, probably of the 7th century. It is also used in the Catholic and Apos- tolic Church. In the Anglican Church the use of incense was gradually aban- doned after the reign of Edward VI. till the ritualistic revival of the present day;^ but it has never been formally Jjrohibited. INCEST, the crime of sexual inter- course between persons related within