INSIGNIA 



3003 



INSULATOR 



INSIGNIA, insig'nia. See UNIFORMS AND 

 INSIGNIA. 



INSOM'NIA, or SLEEPLESSNESS, is 

 inability to sleep. It is a condition caused by 

 undue excitement, mental and physical ex- 

 haustion, worry, alcoholic excesses, indigestion 

 and other causes mentally or physically dis- 

 turbing. The rational treatment consists in 

 the removal of the cause, supplemented by hot 

 baths, gentle massage, fresh air, etc. The use 

 of drugs to effect a cure cannot be too strongly 

 discouraged. Persistent insomnia tends to add 

 other ills for the victim to bear in addition to 

 those causing sleeplessness, for it weakens the 

 constitution and makes it easier for serious ail- 

 ments to attack the body. Cases are on record 

 in which absolute insomnia lasted for weeks, 

 interrupted only by a few moments of sleep. 

 Physicians declare that a person who has al- 

 ways a good appetite and can sleep soundly 

 every night the requisite number of hours is in 

 a state of practically perfect health. The 

 "many-sided Franklin" gave good advice in his 

 essay entitled On the Art of Procuring Pleasant 

 Dreams. W.A.E. 



INSTINCT, in'stingkt, in animals, including 

 man, is the power which enables an individual 

 to perform an act without previous experience 

 or observation of the act or its effects. In- 

 stinct causes a chick to scratch the ground, a 

 bird to build its nest, a wasp to feed its larvae 

 (young), or a baby to cry. The word is not 

 exactly defined, for psychologists and biologists 

 hold differing opinions regarding it. In general, 

 however, scientists distinguish instinct from 

 unconscious reflex action (see REFLEX ACTION), 

 such as is produced in the lowest animal forms 

 by changes of temperature, and from intelli- 

 gence, which '.includes the ability to profit by 

 experience, and implies the capacity of dealing 

 with ideas as well as objects. 



An act is instinctive, speaking generally, only 

 the first time it is performed. Afterwards 

 experience is to some extent a factor in 

 prompting the act and in altering the method 

 of performing. Thus intelligent behavior is 

 characteristic of the individual, instinctive be- 

 havior of the species. Each spider weaves its 

 web much as any other of the same species, 

 the similarities being due to instinct, the dif- 

 ferences to individual experience. Sometimes, 

 therefore, instinct induces an action which in- 

 telligence would condemn. We have all seen 

 a startled rabbit "freeze" and remain motion- 

 less until it thinks all danger is past. This it 

 does by instinct, for as a rule rabbits attract 



less attention when still. But in individual 

 cases the rabbit may be endangered instead of 

 protected by obeying this instinct, as, for ex- 

 ample, when a white rabbit stops in front of 

 a dark background. 



Truly instinctive acts are observed in the 

 insects which live but one season. The solitary 

 wasp, before sealing the cell in which it has 

 laid an egg, puts in food for the larva. It 

 then deserts the cell ; the wasp which originates 

 in the egg will certainly not be profiting by 

 experience or observation when it repeats the 

 process in the next generation. The solitary 

 wasp, too, builds a hexagonal cell, just as do 

 social wasps and honeybees. A round cell 

 would appear to serve the purpose, but instinct 

 preserves the hexagonal form. 



IN'STITUTE OF FRANCE, the name given 

 to a group of societies united into one body 

 under the patronage of the French govern- 

 ment; its history covers, to a certain degree, 

 the intellectual and social development of the 

 French people. In its present organization the 

 Institute embraces five Academies: 



(1) The French Academy, organized by Riche- 

 lieu in 1635, devoted to the French language and 

 to criticism of literary works. Its members are 

 often called the Forty Immortals. The public 

 has in fancy created a "forty-first chair" in 

 which Moliere, Rousseau, Dumas, Balzac, Daudet 

 and Zola have been seated. To be elected a mem- 

 ber of the French Academy is one of the highest 

 literary honors France can bestow. 



(2) The Academy of Inscriptions and Belles 

 Lettres, nicknamed the "little Academy," founded 

 in 1663, devoted to the study of antiquities, in- 

 scriptions and ancient and Oriental languages. 



(3) The Academy of Sciences, founded in 1666, 

 for the promotion of mathematics, physics, as- 

 tronomy ; in fact, the entire scientific field. 



(4) The Academy of Fine Arts, founded in 

 1648, devoted to music, painting, sculpture and 

 architecture. It has brought out many valuable 

 art works. 



(5) The Academy of Moral and Political Sci- 

 ence, founded in 1795, suppressed in 1803, but 

 restored in 1832, given to the discussion of phi- 

 losophy, psychology, history, finance, law and po- 

 litical economy. 



The Institute of France gives over $20,000 

 annually in prizes for the best work accom- 

 plished in its various departments. The mem- 

 bers receive a small salary. Each academy has 

 its own officers and funds, although the col- 

 lections and libraries are held in common. The 

 general fund is in charge of a committee of 

 two from each academy, which acts with the 

 minister of public education, its chairman. 



IN'SULATOR, a substance used to prevent 

 the passage of electricity, heat or sound; in 



