I S E 



from mount Cenis, in a mountain called '• Iferan," in the 

 duchy of Savoy, and, after entering France, paffes by 

 Grenoble, &c. and joins the Rhone, about 3 miles above 

 Valence ; nangable for boats as lar as Montmelian. 



IsERK, formerly Grafivaitdan and Viamois, one of the 1 1 

 departments of the eallern region of France, fo called from 

 the river Ifere, which crofTes it ; iituatcd in N. lat. 45' 50 , 

 W. of Mont Blanc : containing 452 fqnare leagues, and 

 441,208 inhabitants, and divided uito four diftricls, -o'tz. 

 Vienne, including 104,689 inli.ibitants ; Tour-du-Pin, havin^r 

 99,053; Grenoble, 169,623; and St. Marcellin, 67,843 

 inhabitants. Its number of cantons is 44, and that of 

 communes JjS. The annual contributions amount to 

 3,546,809 francs, and the expences charged upon it to 

 338,804 francs 37 cents. This department confifts of 

 barren and marfliy plains, deep vallies, and high mountains 

 partially wooded. The chief products are grain, hemp, 

 roots, fome good wine, and excellent pallures. It has 

 mines of iron, copper, lead, coal, quarries, and m.ineral fprings. 

 Its capital is Grenoble. 



ISERINE, in Mh'.ernlo-y. S<-e TITA^•IU^r. 



ISERLOrIN, orLoils, in Geography, a town of Ger- 

 many, in the county of Mark, inhabited by Lutherans, Cal- 

 vinifts, and Roman Catholics, who are ailovv-ed their feparate 

 worfliip. Its mauufaclures are confiderable in iron, tin, rib- 

 bons, velvets, fdks, (luffs, &c. ; 32 miles N.E. of Cologne. 

 N. lat. Jl' 18'. E. long. 7- 40', 



LSERNI.-^, a town of Naples, in the Mohfe, lituated at 

 the foot of the Apennines, t lie fee of a bifhop ; 12 miles 

 \V S.W. of Molife. N. lat. 41 ' 38'. E. long. 41^ 2'. 



ISERTIA, m Botany, was fo named in honour of Mr. 

 Ifert, a German botanill, and furgeon in the Danifh fervice, 

 on the coaft of Guinea. — Schreb. 234. Willd. Sp. PL v. 2. 

 2iD. Mart. Mill. Dia. V. 2. V.-..hl. Eclog. p. 2. 27. Lamarck 

 Illu.lr. t. 259. (Guettarda ; Julf. 207. Aubl. Guian. v. i. 

 3i7.t Clafs and order, Hcxandna Monogynia. Nat. Ord. 

 R'lbiacee, Jaff. 



Gen. Ch. CaL Perianth of one leaf, fuperior, C'.)Iourod, 

 four or fix-toothed, prrmancnt. C:r. of one petal, r.innel- 

 (haped ; tube long, cylindrical, flightly curved ; limb di- 

 vided into tix, fubovate, rather ere£V, villofe fegments. 

 Stam. Filaments fi,^, very ftiort, within the throat of the 

 corolla ; anthers lineiir, aSxed to the b-ick, ercd. P'ljl. 

 Germcn inferior, roundiih ; ftyie thread-lhaped, fiirrounded 

 by a glandule at the bafe ; ftigma fis-ckft. Perk. Fruit 

 pulpy, fomewhat globular, ero'VHod by the calyx, iix- 

 celled ; the cafes of the cells brittle. Seeds numerous, 

 fmall, anguldtcd, roagh. 



■ E.T. Ch. Calyx fuperior, fix-toothed. Corolla funnel- 

 fnaped, fix-cleft. Stigma fix-cltft. Fruit fix-celled, many- 

 feeded. 



1. \. cocc'inea. Willd. n. i. (Guettarda coccinea ; Aubl. 

 Guian. V. 3. t. 1 23) — Leaves lanceolate-elliptical, clothed 

 with hoary pubeLence, acum.inate, acute at each end. 

 Flower-ftalks branched, bifid. A native of v.-oods in Gui- 

 ana, floA-eri.ig and bearing fruit at ail feafons. — This tree 

 rifes to the height of ten or twelve feet, is f imiihed with 

 ereft, knotty, fquare branches. Leaves oppofite, large, 

 ovate, acute, green above, downy beneath, dark-coloured, 

 with reddifh nerves. St'ipulas long, broad, acute, deciduous. 

 Flo-jjers racemofe, creft, terminal ; their partial-ftalks op- 

 pofite, furnilhed with tv/o little fcaks. Cdlyx purplifh. 

 Tube yellew. FruU red. 



2. I. parviflora. Willd. n. 2. — " Leaves oblong, the 

 lower ones fomewhat heart-fliaped at the bafc. Bunch of 



flowers ovate."— Found in the ifland of Trinidad Leaves 



generally fmooth, fomeliraes rather villofe beneath. 



I S I 



rSETSK, in Geography, a town of RuJTia, in thegovertr- 

 ment of Tobollk, on the Ifet, which runs into the Tobol, 

 near Yalutorovfli ; 44 miles W.S.W. of Yalutorovfl<. 



ISGAARD, a town of Denmark, in North Jutland, 

 fituated on a pcninfula in the Baltic ; feven miles E N.E. of 

 Aarhuus. 



ISGAUR, Isf;URIAli, or IJkur'ia, anciently called " Di- 

 ofcurias," and " Sebaftopolis," a town of Mingrelia, on the 

 E. coaft of the Black fea, with a road for (hips, which in 

 fummer is tolerably good. In 1672 it was burned dov.n by 

 the Abhkas, who were invited by the prince of Mingn-lia to 

 alfiil him againll the Turks, N. lat. 43' iS'. li. long. 



ISHMAELITES, in Anchnt Geography iniHi/fory, the 

 defcendants of Idimael, the fon of Abraham by Ilagar, hiiJ 

 Egyptian bond-maid. Ilhmael was born in the year B C- 

 1910, and his name, founded on a circr.milance whicli afTordid 

 relief to his mother, when (he was wandering from her maf- 

 ter's houfe towards Egypt, her native country, is derived 

 from the Hebrew "^J^y^fi?', formed of ];^'y,Jr:he:mah, to 

 hear, and ^^, el, GocT, and denoting " the Lord hath 

 hearkened !" The heavenly mcflVnger who appeared to 

 Hagar in the wildcrnefs, and inflructed her by what nam.e 

 to call her future fon, predi.'tcd alio that he and his pofterity 

 would prove fierce and w.irlike, engaged in repeated holli- 

 litics, and yet able to maintain their independence. Hagar, 

 deriving encouragement from this circumllance, returned to 

 the houfe of Abraham, and was foon delivered of lier pro- 

 mifed fon. The father regarded Ifhmael as the heir of his 

 wealth, till Sarnh had the promifc of her fon Ifaac. .Vfter 

 the birth of Ifaac, Abraham wai perfuaded by his wife to 

 difmifs Hagar arrJ Ii- ■ .".jh ; and the patriarch p'robably pro- 

 vided for their : ,: ij:i,e diftant fituation, where 

 they could not . ■ nutrimony of Ifaac. Hav- 

 ing wandered f r : . - i!ie wildernefs of Beerflieba, 

 they proceeded farther t!) the wildernefs of P:!ran, which 

 bordered on Arabia, and here lihmael arrived at maturity, 

 a:;d became an expert archer, or a l.unter and warrior. In 

 procefs of time his mothcr.procured for him a wife out of 

 Egypt, by v.'hom lie had tv/elve fons, who eventually e'.ta- 

 biiihed tiieinfelves as the heads of fo many diltinct Arabian 

 tribes. Accordi::gly the defcendants of Ifnmael are mcU' 

 tioncd in hiltory, under the general name of Arabians and 

 lllimaclites. Of Ilhmael's perfonal hillory, wc merely 

 leani from the facred writings, that he joined with his bro- 

 ther Ifaac in paying the lalt tribute of refpcct to the rc- 

 niai! s of tlv.ir father; and that he died, at the age of 137 

 years (B.C. 1773.) Gen. xxv. 9- iS. His dclcendants, 

 ac -ording to the fcripture account, fpread themfelves " frortv 

 Havilah to Siuir, that is before Egypt, as thou goeft into 

 A'.fyria." From this brief ijatement, we may conjettm-e 

 hov/ far their territory extended ; fi.T Haviiah, according to 

 the generality of writers, was lituated near the confluence 

 of the Tigris and Euphrates, and Shur, on the ifthmu,'? 

 which feparates Arabia from Egypt, now called the iilh- 

 mus of S'-'.e/.. From thence we may we'l imagine, that 

 they fpread themfelves on both fides fo far as to have taken 

 poliefiion of the greatell part of Arabia ; and, indeed, 

 Jofephus (Antiq. 1. i c. IJ.) does not fcruple to ftyle 

 their progenitor the founder of the Arabian nation. See 

 Arable. 



IS I, in Hindoo Mythology, is a r.rvme of the goddefs 

 Parvati, confort of Siva, in h:s form of IJa ; which fee. 



ISIA, \^uu, fealls and faerilices anciently folemnized ia 

 honour of the goddefs Ifis. 



The Ifia were full of the moil abominable impurities ; 



and for ttiat rcafon, tbofe who were initiated into them 



5 were 



