Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 11.djvu/16

ISLA. its burlesque cliaractcr becoming; known he was cc nipelled to leave the city. His most important satire was the Uistoria del famoso predicador Fray Oerundio de Canipaxas (1758), in whose adventure he held up to i>ul)lic contempt the ignorance and audacity of the itinerant triars of the time, and ridicuU'd unmcii'ifnlly their dcl)ascj pulpit oratory. It was condemned in ITtiO by the Inquisition on the clamor of the lower clergy, i.nt his pojiiihirity .saved him from personal per- secution. Of Isla's otiier productions, may be mentioned: /,'/ Ciceron, which pui'ports to be a life of Cicero, but is really a satirical presenta- tion of the vices and absurdities of the time (this work was linislied in Italy, whither the author Hent in ITliT when the expulsion of his Order from Spain doomed him to expatriation, and still remains unedited); the Jurciitud triunfantc (1727), his earliest work, and one in which the satirical aim is most cunningly bidden; the Cartas de Juan de la Ihuiiia (17.S4). which iissails the charlatanry of fSpaiiish physicians; liis Cartas familiares (2d ed. 171)0); the »S'cr- inones (1792), not so attractive as his satirical treatment of the conventional sermon of the time would lead one to expect. Apart from the publi- cation of the Frai/ (Irruiidio, Isla owes bis chief lame to bis translation of the ])icaresque novel of I-e Sage, the (HI lllan. Consult De Calas, Vida tJc J. F. dc Ixia (Madrid, 1803); selections from his works in liil>liolcca dc autorcs cspai'iolrx, vol. XV. (Madrid, 1850); Goudeau, Lcs prMieur>i hur- lesfjuen oi EKjjapiie (Paris, 1891); I.intilhae, Le Sage (Paris, hsnS).

ISLA DE LEON, es'la da lA-on'. An island in the P.ay of (Mdiz. See Sax Feunando.

ISLAM, iz'lom, Ar. pron. is-liim' (Ar.. sub- mission, from salima, to be safe). The name used by Moliammedans as the designation for their religion. It may be traced back to Mo- hammed. Literally, it means a causing to be sound or safe, or that which makes safe, but is eommonly interpreted to mean complete and en- tire submission of body and soul to God (.llah), His will anil His service, as set forth in the jirticles of faith, the commands and ordinances believed to liave been revealed by God to His Prophet Mohammed. The more usual designa- tion of the religion among Western peoples is Mohammedanism (q.v.) ISLAMABAD, Is-lii'ma-biid'. A city of Brit- ish India. See Ciiittaoong.

ISLAND (AS. tfllond. eplond. leel. eijland, Ger. Eiland. from AS. Ififi ep, Icel. ey, OHG. ouwa, Ger. Am. island; connected with AS. ca, Goth. ahua. OHG. aha. Lat. aqua, water + AS., Icel. land. OHG. lant, Ger. Lund, land: connected with Ir. laiut. land, Welsh llan, land, OChurch Slav. Icndina. waste land. OPrnss. liiidaii. valley; influenced by popular etymology with the unre- lated isle). A relatively small body of land en- tirely surrounded by water. Primarily it difTers from a continent only in size, although continents have a physical and biological individuality which islands do not possess. Islands are formed in 'arious ways. Those of continental character are separated by short stretches of usually shallow •water from the mainland with which they have a geological similarity. They may be formed either by marine erosion, or by subsidence of the coast beneath ocean level. The small islands off Norway, Scotland, Maine, and Patagonia are to be regarded as the remnants of hills and mountains, of which the basal portions and inter- vening valleys have been "drowned' by a general subsidence. The liritish Isles. Sicily, and .lapaii represent larger land masses, whose former union with the mainland is indicated by submarine banks; Madagascar, on the other hand, is sepa- rated by a deep channel from the African coast. Another type of continental islands owes its origin to the construclive work of rivers, such as the islands at the mouth of the Nile and the Mississippi (see Delta), or to ocean currents, such as the sandbars along the Atlantic coast of the United States. Islands of coral formation are usually low and limited to the warmer re- gions of the oceans. (See Coral Island and CoR.VL Keef. ) Volcanic islands, consisting of active or extinct lava-cones, occur in great num- bers in the Pacific and Indian oceans, while in the .tlantic they are represented by Saint Helena. Ascension, and the Azores, Submarine erujitions leading to the construction of cones above sea-level have taken place in recent times. The island of Johanna Bogoslava, in Alaska, ap- peared in 1790, and four years later had grown to a height of:iOOO feet. Another noted in- stance is Graham Island (Ferdinandea) in the Jlediterrancan. which was thrown up in 1831, reaching a height of 200 fc<'t. and with a cir- cumference of three miles. This island soon dis- appeared. Oceanic islands — i.e. those situated far from continental lands — with but few excep- tions, are of volcanic or coral growth.

Islands are subject to changes of form and contour by various physical agencies. They may be gradually consumed, owing to the erosive ac- tion of waves and currents, until their former existence is made known only by a submarine platform. Helgoland, in the North Sea. has suflered thus for man}- centuries; and the eastern coast of England is wasting at a rapid rate. Volcanic islands are liable to destruction by violent explosions, sueh as that occurring at Krakatoa in 1SS3. Under certain conditions, islands lying near the coasts of continents may be united to the latter; the peninsula of Shan- tung, once insulated, has been connected with the mainland by the growth of the Hoang-ho delta. Island Flora. The floras of isolated oceanic islands, such as the Hawaiian Islands and (!ala- pagos Islands, are very difTcrent from the floras of the continents. These diflerences in most ca.ses affect not only species, but also genera, and in one or two eases there are even distinct families which are confined to oceanic islands; in fact, island floras are the most endemic (see Kndemism) of all floras. Tlic reason for these phc7iomena is doubtless that islands have long been isolated from continents, and the progress of evolution has been ]>eculiar to the various islands themselves and uninterrupted by outside invasions. Not only do islands show peculiar lloristic types, as has been shown, b>it they are also rich in certain plant families, among which the ferns have a predominant importance. It is almost certain that the abundance of ferns on oceanic islands is due to the much greater ease of migration (hat ferns possess as compared with seed-plants, by reason of the light spores that can i)e carried for long distances in the wind. Islands also have a large number of plants whose seeds are scattered by birds, by water currents, or by man.