Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 10.djvu/651

* INDIAN EMPEROR. 569 INDIAN MUSIC. by Dryden, successfully produced in 1605. It forms a sequel to the Indian Queen. INDIAN FIG. See Pricki-y Peak. INDIAN FIRE. A bright white signal fire, consisting uf a mixture of potassium nitrate 24 parts, sulpiiur 7 parts, :ind arsenic disulphide 2 parts. INDIAN HEAD. The highest point of the Palisades oi llie Hudson, opposite Hastings, so called from its resemblance to the features of a liuman being. INDIAN HEMP. A very strong bast fibre obtaiiR'd fruiii llu' [lerennial herb Apocynuni can- nabinum, and used liy the American Indians for weaving and for cards and nets. It is also some- times called Canada hemp. INDIAN LANGUAGES. Tlie languages of India are both numerous and important. Cust in his book on the Modern Languages of the East Indies (London, 1878) enumerates nearly two hundred and fifty Indian languages, and some three hiondred dialects. Of Ihese languages divi- sions are : First, the gioup of Arsan tongues spoken throughout the entire northern half and central portion of India ; second, the imrelated Dravidian group (q.v.) in the south; third, the Kolarian languages scattered here and there in Central Hindustan ; fourth, the Tiljeto-Burmese family of non-Aryan tongues, distributed over the vast area which the name implies ; fifth, the Khari, an isolated language near Bhutafi. To these may be added likewise two Indo-Chinese spoken families, namely, the Thai, under which comes the Siamese, and the Mon-Annam family, which takes in the Cambodian and Annamite. It may furthermore be stated, for completeness, that the languages of the great Malayan family spoken in Sumatra. Java. Borneo, and the Celebes, and even in the Philippines, have certain Indian affinities or show the influence of the various tongues of India. The Aryan group of languages in India has preeminence alike for the number and the char- acter of the people that speak those dialects, and for the genius of the languages themselves, as well as for the long historical development of this branch, and for the literature attached to it. In point of time the Aryan division of Indian tongues covers a period of culture extending from at least a thousand years before the Christmn Era down to the present time. Broadly viewed, these periods may be recognized in the historj- of this division of dialects: (1) Old Indian, com- prising the earliest Vedic dialect and the historic form of the speech known as Sanskrit (q.v.) ; (2) Middle Indian, which embraces Prakrit (q.v.) and Pali (q.v.). both of which are de- scended rather from the Vedic dialect, or its kin, than from the classical Sanskrit: (.3) Xcir In- dian, including the modern vernaculars of the more cultivated peoples of Hindustan. The gen- fral characteristics of the Vedic idiom, together with certain peculiarities of the epic speech, and the classical development of the language, will be found in the article on S.>"SKKIT L. - GUAGE. Under the Middle Indian or Prakrit group are comprised the Maharashtri dialect, or Prakrit par excellence, with its .Taina varieties, likewise the Magadhi or Ardha-Magadhi, the Sau- raseni. which is found in the dramas, the Apa- bhraniia and the Paiiaci. The New India group, geographically arranged, 4akes in the vernaculars of Assam, Xepal, and Kashmir (the latter called Elasmiri), also Uriya, Bengali, Behari, Hindi, the dialects of the Punjab and of Sindh, likewise Gujarati, Marathi, the Singhalese of Ceylon, Maldive, and Gypsy. BiBLlOGEAPUY. The standard work on the Arj'an languages of India is Grierson, Linguistic Survey of India (Calcutta, 1898). Consult also: Beames, Comparative Grammar of the Mod- ern Languages of India (.3 vols., London, 1872- 79) ; Cust, Modern Languages of the East Indies (London, 1878) ; and for the phonologj'. Gray, Indo-Iranian Phonology, ivith special reference to the Middle and New Indo-Iranian Languages (New York, 1902). INDIAN MADDER. See Chat Root. INDIAN-MEAL MOTH. One of the most familiar niotlis {Plodia interpunclella) that in- fest the cereals, Indian meal, dried yeast-cakes, and dried fruits, nuts, etc. The motli has wings which are reddish brown on the outer two-thirds and dirty whitish gray on the inner third. It has a wing expanse of rather more than lialf an inch. The larva is white, brownish-headed, and worm-like. It spins silken tubes through the substance on which it is feeding, and its excre- ment and portions of the food adhere to this web. INDIAN MILLET. A term applied to cer- tain non-saccharine sorghums. See Mu-LET. INDIAN MUSIC. The music of the aborigi- nes of Xorth America, although never reduced by them to a written science, is nevertheless marked by distinct racial characteristics. Of the greatest importance to the Indian musician was the emotion to l>e expressed; to this everything was subordinated. As .a result the Indian songs can be divided into certain stereotyped classes (such as burial, love, war-songs), in each of which the similarity of the different melodies is most marked. This monotonous character of their tunes is an outgrowth of the very elements «hich among civilized peoples have been skillfully blended to produce original and unusual effects; for preeminent in Indian music are complicated rhythms (many of them as intricate as those of Schumann and Chopin) and a frequent use of syncopation. When it is remembered that they had no strict forms to restrain them, it will be seen how these two strong elements came in time to dominate and confine their whole musical sys- tem. The strictly technical side of Indian music is of less interest. Their scale, like the Chinese, Hindu, etc., consisted of five tones, and was. for the most part, major; their melodies generally ran from the top of the scale to the bottom ; their conception of time was very exact ; but they had no part-singing; no way of determining pitch, and consequently no vniiversal key. Of most interest to the cultured musician are the wonderful transitions which we find ever>^vhere throughout the native songs. The smoothness and rapidity of their changes from key to key are unsurpassed even in European music. The Indians had a sense of harmony, but. owing to the crudity of their musical science, it was never developed. Only by the use of wooden drums, toned to different pitches, did they get a sort of crude bass. Besides the drums their instru- ments consisted merely of a flute (with a scale of seven notes), a whistle (with a scale of five