IBERIA IBIS. 



was made by the Infant ilon Gabriel, and is very rare, 

 m the prince distributed Uie whole edition among his 

 friends. Ibarra invented an ink, which, without do- 

 ing injury to its blackness, he could make thicker or 

 thinner at any moment. He also introduced into 

 Spain the art of smoothing the paper after it was 

 printed. As he never left his country, he invented 

 almost all the improvements which he introduce J. 



I HKIU.x, in ancient geography ; I. a very fertile 

 district in Asia, which consisted of a large plain, sur- 

 rounded on all sides with mountains, a part of the 

 present Russian Georgia. In ancient times, this 

 country probably belonged to the Persian monarchy; 

 ut least, this seems to be intimated by the name of 

 the river Cyrus. Alexander and his successors did 

 nut penetrate into Iberia. The Iberians, probably, 

 therefore, remained independent till Pompey and 

 Trajan reduced them to the Roman dominion, under 

 which they remained till after the time of the empe- 

 ror Julian. They were afterwards subject, sometimes 

 tu tin- Turks, sometimes to the Persians, or had their 

 own princes. 2. Spain was anciently called Iberia, 

 and the principal river, Iberus (Ebro). The Iberi or 

 1 I) jrians, probably the most ancient European nation, 

 driven towards the West, formed the basis of the 

 population of Italy, Gaul, Spain, and Liisitania. 

 Their language still lives in the Basque. The Celts, 

 who entered the country later, were intermingled 

 with them, and have been considered as the original 

 inhabitants of Spain. See Celts. 



IBERUS. See Ebro. 



IBEX (capra ibex). This animal is distinguished 

 by large knotted horns, reclining backwards ; a 

 small head ; large eyes ; a thick, short, strong body ; 

 strong legs ; very short hoofs ; and a short tail. Its 

 body is of a deep brown colour, with a mixture of 

 hoary hairs ; its belly is of a tawny white ; its legs 

 partly black, partly white ; the space under the tail, 

 in some individuals, is tawny, in others white. The 

 hair is harsh, and the male is furnished with a beard. 

 These animals are seldom found, except in the most 

 precipitous and inaccessible heights of lofty mountains, 

 where they assemble in flocks, sometimes consisting 

 of ten or fifteen individuals. During the night, they 

 feed in the highest woods, but, at sunrise, they again 

 ascend the mountains, till they have reached the 

 most perilous heights. They are remarkably swift, 

 and display amazing agility and dexterity in leaping. 

 They are objects of the chase, but, from the inacces- 

 sible nature of the places to which they generally 

 resort, their dexterity in leaping, and the danger 

 attendant on a pursuit of them, the ibex hunter must 

 have a head that can bear to look down from the 

 most tremendous precipices without terror, address 

 and sure-footedness in the most difficult passes, and 

 also much strength, vigour, and activity. Another 

 danger attendant on this chase is, that the ibex, when 

 close pressed, will sometimes turn on his pursuer, and 

 tumble him down the precipices, unless he has time 

 to lie down, and permit the animal to pass over him. 

 The ibex will mount an almost perpendicular rock of 

 fifteen feet, at three successive bounds, appearing 

 merely to touch it, to be repelled, like an elastic sub- 

 stance striking against a hard body. The fore legs be- 

 injif considerably shorter than the hinder, enables these 

 animals to ascend with more facility than to descend, 

 and hence, when pursued, they always attempt to 

 gain the summits of the mountains. They inhabit 

 the chain of mountains extending from mount Taurus, 

 li'1'.v..-n I a-;rni Tartary and Siberia. In Europe, they 

 are found on the Carpathian and Pyrenean chains, and 

 in the Orisons and other parts of the Alps. The season 

 for hunting them is during August and September, 

 when they are usually in good condition. The old 

 males haunt more elevated spots than the females 



and younger animals. Their voice is a sharp, short 

 whistle, not unlike that of the chamois, but of shorter 

 duration ; sometimes, and especially when irritated, 

 they make a snorting noise. The female seldom has 

 more than one young one at a time : to this site pays 

 great attention, defending it with courage and 

 obstinacy. As to the stories of their throwing them- 

 selves down the steepest precipices, and contriving 

 to fall on their horns, when closely pursued, or hang 

 ing by these appendages over gulfs by a projecting 

 tree till the danger be passed, we must confess that 

 they appear to us very problematical. 



IBIDEM (Latin) ; in the same place (generally 

 contracted, as ibid.) ; used for references. 



IBIS ; a genus of birds found in all parts of the 

 world except Australia, but more particularly in 

 warm climates. Generic characters : beak arched, 

 long, slender, thick at the base, and quadrangular, 

 rounded at the tip, which is obtuse ; nostrils linear, 

 extending from the root to the tip of the beak, and 

 dividing it into three portions, of which the upper is 

 the broadest, and flattened ; head and throat bare ; 

 legs longish and four-toed, the front webbed at their 

 base as far as the first joint, the hind toe very long, 

 all provided with claws ; that of the middle toe, in 

 some, smooth, in others, serrated on its inner edge. 

 The ibes perform a powerful and elevated flight, 

 extending their neck and legs, and uttering a hoarse 

 croak. The I. falcinellus (Tern.) is nearly two feet 

 in length, and varies much in its plumage at different 

 ages. This species builds in Asia, and is found on 

 the streams and lakes, in flocks of thirty or forty. 

 They migrate periodically to Egypt, and, arriving 

 there later than the white ibis, stay also later. In their 

 passage, they are numerous in Poland, Hungary, 

 Turkey, and the Greek Archipelago. They occa- 

 sionally visit the banks of the Danube, Switzerland, 

 and Italy, and, more rarely, England and Holland. 

 The white ibis (/. religiosa, Cuv.) arrives in Egypt 

 about the time that the inundation of the Nile com- 

 mences, its numbers increasing or diminishing with 

 the increase or diminution of the waters ; and it 

 migrates about the end of June, at which time it is 

 first noticed in Ethiopia. This species does not col- 

 lect in large flights : Savigny has observed not more 

 than eight or ten together. They are about the size 

 of a fowl; the head and neck bare ; the body white ; 

 the primaries of the wings tipped with shining, ashy 

 black, among which the white forms oblique notches; 

 the secondaries bright black, glossed with green and 

 violet ; the quill-feathers of the tail white. These 

 two species are the birds which were adored by the 

 ancient Egyptians, and of which numerous mummies 

 are found. It is remarkable that, with the excellent 

 description of the white ibis, given by Herodotus, 

 before their eyes, naturalists so long gave the name 

 of that bird to individuals which are totally different. 

 The bird described by Perrault as the ibis blanc, by 

 Brisson as the ibis Candida, and by Linnrcus as the 

 tantalus ibis, and considered by these naturalists to be 

 the present species, differs from it in size, and in hav- 

 ing the ridge of the beak rounded, its tip slightly 

 grooved on each side, and the nostrils at the root. 

 Consequently it is not an ibis ; for in this bird, the 

 beak is not grooved, and the nostrils extend nearly 

 from the base to the tip of the beak. The ibis feeds 

 upon insects, worms, testaceous animals, and some- 

 times on small fish, and not, as has been said, on 

 snakes. The scarlet ibis (/. rubra) is found in the 

 hottest parts of America in large flocks, and fre- 

 quently the old are separated from the young birds. 

 They fly rapidly, but rarely, except at morning and 

 evening, in search of food. The plumage is scarlet; 

 beak naked ; part of the cheeks, legs, and feet, pale 

 red. Before the scarlet ibis reaches iis full age, its 



