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QOB

IBIS

I (eye), the ninth letter, is a vowel. Its original sound was.0 in mete. The principal sounds are a long sound, as in pine, and a short one, as in pin. It also has the long and the short sound of e, as in machine and thirst. When it precedes another vowel, it is a consonantal y, as in Christian. The dot over i came in the i3th century. Originally / represented / too, J originating by lengthening / below the line. Until recently, even after / got into English dictionaries, words beginning with J were grouped with those beginning with /. The Romans used it as a numeral (i) as well as a letter,

Ibe'rian Peninsula. The westernmost of the three peninsulas that project southwards from Europe into the Mediterranean. It is named for the ancient inhabitants, whom the Greeks and Romans called Iberi. Owing to the Pyrenees Mountains and the general position of the peninsula it has been somewhat shut out from the life of the rest of Europe.

Iberviile (de bd'rvel'), Pierre le Moyne, Sieur d% a French-Canadian explorer, was born at Montreal, July 16, 1661, and entered the French navy as midshipman while still a lad. He took part in the French expedition of 1690 to northern New York. He captured Fort Nelson from the British in 1694, took part of Newfoundland in 1696, and defeated them in the naval battles of 1697. In 1699 he entered the Mississippi River, and founded the first French settlement in Louisiana, at the head of Biloxi Bay. Returning from a visit to Prance in 1701, he transferred the Biloxi settlement to Mobile. In 1706 he captured the island of Nevis from the English. He died at Havana, Cuba, July 9, 1706.

I'bex, a mountain goat found wild in the Alps, Pyrenees, Caucasus and Himalayas. The family is divided into ibexes and goats proper. The ibexes have large horns crossed on the front surface by ridges and furrows. There are two kinds, the ibex of the Alps and that of the Pyrenees and Himalayas. The Alpine ibex (see illustration) or stein-bok is about two and one half feet high at the shoulders, and may reach a weight of 200 pounds. It has become rare in the Alps, and is protected by law. The hair »s reddish-gray in summer, turning to dead-gray m winter. The horns are large; they diverge backward and the points turn downward. In the male they reach a length of two

or two and one half feet. The ibex lives above the snow-line during the day and descends at night to feed. The males for the most part live alone, higher than the females,

HEAD OP ALPINE IBEX

but join their mates in January. The ibex of the Pyrenees has more divergent horns, with the tips pointing inward, and the transverse ridges are less prominent. Hunting the ibex is very difficult.

I'bis, any one of a family of wading birds related to storks and herons. It has a heavy, rounded, curved bill and feeds chiefly on reptiles, fish etc. Ibises are sociable birds, nesting together in colonies. Like herons and egrets, they have been slaught-

THE SACRED  IBIS

ered for their plumes, large numbers being sacrificed. .The sacred ibis of the ancient Egyptians had white feathers, except the plumes over the hind quarters, which were