1851.] Literary Intelligence. 281 



I. N. It. I., meaning Iesus Nazarenus Bex Judceorum the words which 

 were written over the cross of our Saviour in three languages, are fre- 

 quently used, sometimes as an ornament, sometimes as a charm, &c. 

 Should these Arabic letters have the same import ? viz. ^^xJ\ ^j^xc 

 eHy«*j«yi &&*- I need hardly to mention that in Arabic the most 

 striking or conspicuous letter or letters of a word are used in abbrevia- 

 tions but seldom the first, thus^t is expressed by £ in L/l. Travellers 

 in the Levant might inquire what the Christians in Syria, or in the 

 'Iraq, or in Upper Egypt write instead of our I. N. It. I. 

 We usually write, 

 I.N. 

 B.I. 

 In this way good Roman Catholics write it every morning on the 

 foreheads of their children with their thumb dipped into holy water, 

 and I dare say the Arabic letters were originally written, 



^4 i. e. It. I. 



U^ i. e. I. N. 



and read from below as legends in coins are read. 



Literary Intelligence. 



Sir Henry Elliot has extended the plan of his " Indian Historians" 

 to ten volumes which are to embody, besides bibliographical and bio- 

 graphical notices, a complete history of the Mohammadan power in 

 India. To this end he intends to give extracts from the authors 

 whose works he notices, selecting from every one that portion which 

 contains the fullest and most faithful account of a given period and illus- 

 trating it by the observations of other Historians. By following this 

 original but most laborious plan, he will give us a more trustworthy 

 history of India than we have of any other country. The book will 

 offer all the advantages of a collection like the Monumenta Boica or 

 Muratori, but the materials are fully digested, and illustrated with eru- 

 dite notes ; and the valuable biographical and bibliographical details 

 which form the ground-work, enable the reader to form a correct judg- 

 ment on the merits and veracity of the authors. 



