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Asia, the common one in the United States being A. quinquefolia, often called the Virginia creeper. Japan ivy or Boston ivy is also a species of Ampelopsis (A. tricuspidata), being especially useful, since it covers walls very densely and its glossy leaves stand dust and smoke well. This probably is the favorite among the hardy vines in cities. The name of poison ivy is applied to various of Rhus (R. toxicodendron, also known as poison oak, being the chief one), a genus which belongs to the cashew family.

Ixcaquixtla (ēs-ka-kēs′-tla), an old town in Puebla, Mexico, with a population of 5,000. It is noted for a severe battle on Jan. 1, 1817, between the Spanish troops under La Madrid and Mexican rebels under General Mier. It is occupied by the Chuchan Indians and the remnants of a race of southern Mexico, who were conquered by the Aztecs and Mixtecas. Near the town are numerous mounds of earth or stone, now used by the Indians as altars for their offerings to Moctezuma.

Ixion (iks-ī′-on), according to Greek story, a Thessalian prince, king of the Lapithæ. When the father of his bride demanded the usual bridal gifts, Ixion invited him to a banquet and treacherously had him thrown into a fiery pit. No one would have anything to do with the murderer or purify him from his guilt; so Zeus took him up into heaven to be purified. But when Ixion dared to make love to the goddess Hera, he was bound hand and foot to a fiery wheel, which rolled forever in the sky.

Ixtapalapa (ēs′-tä-pä-lä′ pä), a town of Mexico, ten miles southeast of the capital, It has a population of about 3,000. When Mexico was conquered, it was a large and important city, noted for the beautiful gardens of the Aztec kings, and was the residence of a brother of the ill-fated Aztec emperor, Moctezuma.

Ixtlilxochitl (ēsht′ lĭl-shṓ′ chḗt’l), Fernando de Alba, a Mexican historian; born in Texcuco about 1568; a lineal descendant of the ancient emperors of Texcuco, who devoted himself to the collection and translation of hieroglyphic records concerning his ancestors. Comparatively little was known of his writings until their importance was announced by Clavigero and Humboldt. His history was divided into thirteen books, and covered the period from the earliest times to the destruction of the Mexican empire. Prescott, who made use of these works in his History of Mexico, calls the author the Livy of Anahuac. He died at Texcuco in 1648.

Izalco (ēs-äl′-kō), Mount, a remarkable volcano, 36 miles northwest of the city of San Salvador. It is near a group of extinct volcanoes, 6,000 feet high. Its first eruption occurred in 1770 during an earthquake. The eruptions are almost incessant and of unusual violence, and are visible far out at sea. Sailors call it the lighthouse of San Salvador. Izalco, with the exception of in Mexico, is the only known volcano that has arisen from the level of the plain in the memory of man. In 1798, after a series of earthquakes, dust and pebbles were seen rising from an opening in the plain. Soon after, lava was thrown up, and this, together with huge stones, slowly piled up around the opening till the vast cone, as it now stands, was formed.

Iz′ard, Ralph, an American statesman, was born near Charleston, S. C., in 1742, ard educated at Cambridge, England. He was a man of large wealth, and pledged his estate to aid in carrying on the war for independence against England. In 1776 congress appointed him a commissioner at the court of the grand duke of Tuscany, and in 1780 he returned to the United States. It is said that no one had the confidence of Washington to a higher degree than Izard and that he was largely instrumental in securing the appointment of General Greene to the southern army. In 1782–83 he was a delegate to the Continental congress, and from 1789 to 1795 was a United States senator from South Carolina. His Correspondence from 1774 to 1784 was published in 1844. He died at South Bay, near Charleston, May 30, 1804.

Iztaccihuatl (ēs-tȧk-sē′ hwȧt’l), a Mexican volcano, 16,705 feet in height, is situated not far from the volcano of Popocatepetl, near the city of Puebla. Its summit is almost always covered with snow, and its name means white woman from its fancied resemblance to a woman in a white dress. There are no eruptions now from Iztaccihuatl.