index 
Where are the Somerset County records kept? Have 
they been imii s*'<t und calendared; or are they still in ut- 
ter confusion 1 X. and Q., 7th ser., II. B9. 
index-correction (hi'deks-ko-rek'shgn), . In 
astron,, the correction that has to be applied to 
an observation taken with an instrument that 
has an index-error. 
index-digit (iu'deks-dij' it), n. The forefinger ; 
the index-finger; also, that digit in other ani- 
mals which represents the human index. 
index-error (in'deks-er'or), n. The reading of 
the graduated limb of an astronomical or other 
instrument in the position of the telescope in 
which the reading ought to be zero. 
index-finger (in'deks-fing'ger), n. The fore- 
finger : so called from its being used in pointing. 
index-gage (in'deks-gaj), n. A measuring in- 
strument with a pointer and dial, or some other 
means of indicating the distance between its 
jaws. The object to be measured is placed be- 
tween the jaws, and the scale gives the mea- 
surement. 
index-glass (in'deks-glas), n. In reflecting as- 
tronomical instruments, a plane speculum, or 
mirror of quicksilvered glass, which moves with 
the index, and is designed to reflect the image 
of the sun or other object upon the horizon- 
glass, whence it is again reflected to the eye of 
the observer. See sextant. 
indexical (in-dek'si-kal), a. [< index + -ic-al] 
Having the form of an index ; pertaining to an 
index. 
Besides lists of Indexes and imltxical works. 
The American, VLH. 287. 
indexically (in-dek'si-kal-i), adv. In the man- 
ner of an index. 
I would have the names of those scribblers printed t'n- 
dexically at the beginning or end of the poem, with an 
account of their works for the reader. Swift. 
index-law(iu'deks-la),. In math. See index, 7. 
indexless (in'deks-les), a. [< index + -less.] 
Destitute of an index. 
My bewildering indexlest state. Carlyle, In Froude. 
indexlessness (in'deks-les-nes), n. The state 
of being without an index. [Rare.] 
Certainly no reader of the last year's volume of the Ga- 
zette can complain, in Carlylean phrase, of its imlexlt'sgnex*. 
Amer. Saturaliit, XXII. 174. 
index-machine (in'deks-ma-shen''), n. In weav- 
ing, a modification of the Jacquard loom me- 
chanism, in which the cards of the original 
Jacquard device are replaced by a shedding 
motion, effecting the same results as the cards 
so far as the pattern is concerned, but afford- 
ing some advantages not obtainable in the prim- 
itive device ; a dobby. In one form of Index-ma- 
chine pins arranged In accordance with the prescribed 
pattern are inserted in the bars or slats of a lath-work, the 
bars corresponding to the cards of the older device. In all 
kinds of index-machines the devices employed have for 
their object to throw in or out of action a series of hooks 
or bars which actuate the healds to form a shed for the 
passage of the shuttle according to a previously conceived 
system. The attachment is sometimes placed at the top 
and sometimes at the end of the loom. In Eccles's im- 
provement a device is added for throwing the shedding 
motion out of action, and to penult the weaving of plain 
borders for handkerchiefs, etc. 
indexterity (in-deks-ter'i-ti), n. [= F. index- 
ti'ritf; as M- 3 + dexterity.] Lack of dexterity, 
skill, or readiness in any respect ; clumsiness ; 
awkwardness; unskilfulness. 
The indexterity of our consumptlon-curers demonstrates 
their dimness in beholding its causes. 
Harvey, Consumptions. 
iudflne (ind'fin), n. [Ir., < ind, head, + fine, 
tribe , family. ] One of the groups int o which the 
ancient Irish clans were divided. See geilfine. 
The eldest member of the larflne moved into the Ind- 
ftne; and the eldest member of the Jndfine passed out of 
the organization altogether. 
Maine, Early Hist, of Institutions, p. 209. 
India (in'di-a). [< L. India, < Or. 'Iviia, India: 
see Indian.] In an attributive use: Indian; 
pertaining to India or the East Indies ; made in, 
named from, or connected with India : as, In- 
dia goods; the India trade. In English law or 
usage India generally means "all territories and places 
within her Majesty's dominions which nre subject to the 
tn'veiiinr (ieneral of India," The principal territories 
under British administration are Bengal, Madras, Bom- 
bay, Northwestern Provinces, Central Provinces, Panjab, 
Assam, and Burma. Many native states are under British 
protection. East India Company, a company formed 
for carrying on commerce in India and the East Indies. 
Various companies were organized under this name about 
the seventeenth century, as the Dutch, Swedish, Danish. 
Fnnoh, etc., East India Companies. The most famous was 
the English East India Company, chartered in 1600; it 
founded many factories in India in the seventeenth cen- 
tury, and in the eighteenth acquired extensive political 
power over a large part of the country. It was governed 
by a court of directors, chosen from the wealthiest stock- 
holders. A joint share in the government was in 1784 given 
3057 
to a board of control in London, and in 1834 the property 
of the company was vested in the crown and administered 
for it by the company ; but in consequence of the Indian 
mutiny of 1857 - 58 all power was in Ib5 transferred to the 
crown. India cotton, a heavy kind of figured chintz, 
used for upholstering.- India docks, in London, exten- 
sive docks and warehouses for the accommodation of the 
shipping engaged in the East and West India trade. 
India Ink, or China Ink, or Chinese Ink, a black pig- 
ment made originally and principally in ' hi na and Japan 
(though inferior imitations are made elsewhere). It is 
Erobably made from a carefully prepared lampblack, which 
formed into a paste with a solution of gum In water and 
pressed into ana dried In molds, forming sticks of vari- 
ous shapes. Also Indian ink. India matting, a kind of 
grass matting made in India, usually from Pawnta coryin- 
'"-"-. India mull, a thin, soft muslin made In India, 
and used for dresses and trimmings. See mull. India 
myrrh. See myrrh. India opium. See opium In- 
dia paper, a thin, soft, absorbent paper, usually of a pale- 
hurt tint, made in China and Japan, and imitated in Europe 
and the Inked States, where it is used for the first or 
finest Impressions of engravings, called India proofi. 
India proof, an early and choice impression taken from 
an engraved plate or block on India paper. India rub- 
ber. See india-rubber. India senna. Seeaenno. In- 
dia shawl, a Cashmere shawl. See Canhittere. 
indiadem (in-di'a-dem), v. t. [< in-2 + diadem.] 
To place or set in a diadem, as a gem. [Rare.] 
Whereto shall that be likened? to what gem 
Indiademed) Southey. 
Indiaman (in'di-&-man),n.; pl.Indiamen (-men). 
In general, a ship engaged in the India trade ; 
specifically and strictly, a ship of large ton- 
nage, formerly officered and armed by the East 
India Company for that trade. 
Indian (in'di-an), a. and . [Also in U. 8. col- 
loq. or dial, use Injin, Injun; = F. Indien = Sp. 
Pg. It. Indiana (cf . D. Indiaansch = G. Indian- 
ich = Dan. Sw. Indiansk, a.), < LL. Indianus, 
< L. India, Gr. 'IvSia, India, L. Indus, Gr. 'Iv66f, 
an Indian, < L. Indus, Gr. 'Ivi6f, the river so 
called, OPers. Hindu, Zend Hindu, Pers. Hind. 
Hind, < Skt. gindhu, a river.] I. o. 1. Of, per- 
taining, or relating to India or to the Indies 
(now specifically called the East Indies in dis- 
tinction from the West Indies), or to the lan- 
guages of India. 
The springs 
Of Gauges or Hydaspes, Indian streams. 
Milton, F. L., UL 486. 
Ere yet the morn 
Breaks hither over Indian seas. 
Tennyson, In Memoriam, xxvl. 
2. Pertaining or relating (a) originally to the 
West Indies or their inhabitants ; (6) now, in an 
extended sense, to the whole race of American 
Indians or aborigines: as, Indian arrows; an 
Indian blanket; an Indian name. 
Then smote the Indian tomahawk 
On crashing door and shattering lock. 
Whittier, Pentucket. 
Listen to this Indian Legend, 
To this Song of Hiawatha I 
Longfellow, Hiawatha, 1'rol. 
3. Made of maize or Indian corn: as, Indian 
meal ; Indian bread. 
If I don't make a johnny-cake every day, Kier says, " Ma, 
why don't you make some Indian bread?" 
Mri. Whitcher, Widow Bedott, p. 70. 
Commissioner of Indian Affairs, an officer of the Inte- 
rior Department of the United states government charged 
with the management of the Indian tribes and of the 
transactions of the government with them. East Indian 
cork-tree. Seerort-(w. Indian aconite. Sameas.lv>- 
rxil aconite (which see, under aconite). Indian agency. 
See agency, 4. Indian apple, the May apple, Po3ophi.il- 
lum peltatum. Indian architecture, the architecture 
peculiar to India or Hindustan. It comprehends a great 
variety of styles, which have been classified as the Bud- 
dhist styles, as exemplified not only in the Buddhist 
works within the borders of Hindustan, but also In those 
of Burma, Ceylon, Java, China, and Tibet (see Buddhist); 
the Jain style, developed from preexisting styles after 
A. D. 450 ; the Dravidian or Tamul style of southern In- 
dia (see Tainuf)', the Northern Hindu, Indo-Aryan, or 
Sanskrit style, a cognate style occurring In the valley of 
the Ganges and its tributaries (see Sanalcrit); the Cha- 
lukyan style, prevailing In the Intermediate region be- 
tween the last two ; the Modern Hindu, Indian-Saracenic, 
or Mohammedan, comprehending the forms assumed by 
Indian architecture under the Influence of Mohamme- 
dan ideas and traditions ; and the local developments pe- 
culiar to Cashmere and some other districta. No stone 
architecture existed in India before 250 & c. The earliest 
stone buildings reproduce closely the details and construc- 
tive forms of the elaborately framed and decorated wooden 
architecture previously practised, forms more proper to 
construction in stone being gradually developed. The 
buildings of the first five or six centuries of stone archi- 
tecture are Muddhist. Among the most remarkable of 
the works of Indian architecture are the rock -cut temples 
and halls, such as those at Ellora, where series of courts, 
pillared chambers, porches, cells, and cloisters extend 
for miles, all excavated from the solid rock, and covered 
with elaborate carving. Lofty towers and pagodas, and 
the conical pseudo-domes of the Jains, built in horizon- 
tal courses, are also characteristic. A system of horizon- 
tal architraves is consistently applied: and many of the 
piers and columns in the later works display capitals re- 
sembling closely those of some medieval styles of Europe. 
Unt no regular order appears, like those of the classical 
styles : nor can the development of an arched style be con- 
Indian 
secutlvely traced, in spite of many patent resemblances 
to European art, as in the palace of Madura. The carved 
decoration is usually exceedingly rich and varied, intro- 
iliieini.' freely tinman ami animal forms, aii'i "ft. n ,,,\ 
Indian Architecture, Dravidian style. 
Detail of Horse Court, Temple of Madura. 
ering piers, arches, and flat surfaces, both without and 
within. Sculpture was at its best in the fourth and fifth 
centuries A. D., but shows the Oriental characteristic of 
decline almost from the beginning. Animals and botani- 
cal details are well done ; the human figure, though life- 
like, is conventionalized and not beautiful. Indian archi- 
tecture has been very thoroughly and Intelligently treated 
by native writers. Indian balm, the purple trilllum or 
birthroot, a native of North America. See Trillium. 
Indian bark, bay, bean, bee-king. See the nouns. In- 
dian berry, Anamirta paniculata, a climbing shrub of 
the natural order Menitpcrmacftr, a native of India and 
the Malay islands. It bears panicles of flowers 1 to H feet 
long. The fruit, when dried, is known as Cocculut Inaicus. 
See Cocculvs. Indian blue. Same as indigo. Indian 
bread. Seedef. 8. Indian chickweed. Seechietweed. 
Indian chocolate. See Of u m. Indian club, a heavy 
club shaped somewhat like a large bottle, used In gym- 
nastic exercises to develop the muscles of the arms, chest, 
etc. Indian copal. Same as whitr dammar-resin (which 
see, under dammar-resin). Indian corn, a native Amer- 
ican plant, Zea May*, otherwise called maize, and Its fruit. 
See maize. 
The Summers [in New England] are commonly hot and 
dry, there being seldom any Rain, yet are the Harvests 
good, the Indian Corn requiring more heat than wet to 
ripen It. S. Clarke, Plantations of the English In 
[America (1670), p. 28. 
Indian couch-grass, a name sometimes given to the 
Bermuda grass, Cynodon Dactylon. See Bermuda yratt, 
under grans. Indian Councils Act. See council. In- 
dian country, a term which has varied in application 
with the changes In Indian occupation of lands within the 
territory of the United States. It Is now understood as 
meaning all the country to which the Indian title has not 
been extinguished, whether within a reservation or not, 
except, perhaps, the regions occupied by Indians in Alaska, 
whose title to the soil, or right of occupancy, is disputed. 
Indian cress. See crets. Indian crocus, a name for 
some of the species of the genus Crelogitiie (Pleione\ of 
the Orchidea. They are dwarf epiphytal plant* with 
large, handsomely colored Bowers, and are natives of the 
alpine regions of northern India. Indian cucumber. 
Same as cucumber-root. Indian currant. SeecwmanfS. 
-Indian dart or dart-iron, a peculiar harpoon used 
In killing swordflsh. Indian drug*, a name for tobacco. 
JVare*. 
His breath compounded of strong English beere 
And th' Indian drug would suffer none come neere. 
John Taylor, Works (1680). 
Indian elm, the slippery elm, Ulmun/vlva. Indian fan- 
palm, fig. See the nouns.- Indian file. SeeJUe3. 
The party . . . moved up the pathway In single or In- 
dian fie. Scott, Waverley, xxxvlu. 
Indian fire, a pyrotechnic composition, used as a signal - 
light, consisting of sulphur, realgar, and niter. It burns 
with a brilliant white name. Indian fort. See mound- 
ImUder. Indian geranium, see geranium. Indian 
ginger. Same as \cild ginger. See ptngwrl. Indian 
giver, one who takes back a gift after having bestowed It 
upon another : in allusion to the fact that an Indian expects 
an equivalent for his gift, or its return. [Colloq., 1. 8.1 
Indian grass. See millet, Indian, greenfinch. Same 
as yellow finch (which see, under Jincni). TnrHaTi ha- 
zelnuts. Same as bonduc-needs. Indian heliotrope, 
hemp, indigo. See the noons. Indian hen, the Ameri- 
can bittern. Botanrv* mugitan* or B. lentvjinona. See hit- 
ternt. Indian ink. See India ink, under India. In- 
dian ipecac. Ivy, jalap, lake, etc. See the nouns. 
Indian meal, meal made from maize or Indian corn. 
Indian millet, see nor^ihum. Indian mound. See 
m*m nd-builder. Indian myrobalan. Same as hara-nut. 
Indian oak, the teak-tree, Tectana irrandii. See teak. 
Indian ocher. Same as Indian red (which see, under 
red). Indian ox, the brahminy hull. Indian physic. 
'.ilia. Indian pipe. See Indian-pipe. Indian 
plague. See plague. Indian plan tain. SeeCacalia. 
Indian pudding, (o) Same as hanty-pudding, t [Rare.] 
He was making his breakfast from a prodigious earthen 
dish, filled with milk and Indian puddin>r. 
Irrimj, Knickerbocker, p. 152. 
