-830 I G N 
Polycarp, bifhop of Smyrna, colle&ed together his Epif- 
tles, and fent them to the Chriftians at Philippi, as ap¬ 
peal’s from the teftimony of Eufebius, St. Jerome, Photius, 
and of Irenasus, the difciple of Polycarp. Among the 
pieces of this kind, ftill extant, which have been attri¬ 
buted to Ignatius, there are feveral which are now almoft 
Univerfally allowed by the learned to be fpurious ; indeed 
fome critics have gone fo far, as to pronounce this ver- 
dift on all the remains of antiquity which have been 
ublifhed in his name. The moft weighty arguments, 
owever, are in favour of the genuinenefs of the feven Epif- 
tles afcribed to him, which were addrelfed to the churches 
at Ephefus,Magnefia, Trallium, Rome, Philadelphia, Smyr¬ 
na, and to Polycarp. The principal value of thefe Epiftles 
confifts in the abundant evidence which they afford of 
the authenticity of the books of the New Teftament. The 
bell edition of them is that publifhed after Le Clerc, in 
his impredion of Cotelerius's collection SS. Pat. Apoitol. 
•with the notes of Uflier, Voflius, Cotelerius, &c. printed 
at Amfterdam, In 1724, in 2 vols. folio. 
IGNA'TIUS LOYOLA. See Loyola. 
IGNA'TIUS’s BEANS. See Ignatia, p. 828. 
IG'NEOUS, adj. \_igncus, Lat.J Fiery; containing fire; 
emitting fire ; having the nature of fire. That the fire 
burns by heat, leaves us ftill ignorant of the immediate 
way of igneous folutions. Glanville. 
IGNIFTRQUS, adj. [from ignis, Lat. fire, and fero , to 
bring.] Producing fire ; bringing fire. 
IG NI FLU O US, adj. [from ignis, Lat. fire, and jluo, to 
flow.] Flowing with fire. Scott. 
IGNIGE'NA, a furname of Bacchus. 
IGNIG'ENOUS, adj. [from ignis, Lat. fire, and gigno, 
to beget.] Ingendered in the fire, produced by fire. Scott. 
IGNIP'OTENCE, f. [from ignis, Lat. fire, and poten- 
iia, power.] Efficacy againft fire ; power over fire. 
IGNIP'OTENT, adj. [ignis and potens, Lat.] Prefid- 
ing over fire.—Vulcan is call'd the pow’r ignipotent. Pope. 
IG'NIS,yi..[Latin.] Fire. 
IG'NIS FAT'UUS,yi That luminous appearance which 
goes by the name of ignis fatuus, to which the credulous 
vulgar afcribe very extraordinary and mifchievous powers, 
is molt frequently obferved in boggy places and near ri¬ 
vers, though fometimes alfo in dry places. By its ap¬ 
pearance benighted travellers are faid to have been ftome- 
times milled into marfhy places, taking the light which 
they faw before them for a candle at a diftance ; from 
which leemingly-mifchievous property it has been thought 
by the vulgar to be a lpirit of a malignant nature, and 
been named accordingly Will with a Whifp, or Jack with 
a Lantern; for the fame reafon alfo it probably had its 
Latin name ignis fatuus. 
This kind of light is often feen about burying-places 
and upon dunghills. Some particular countries are alfo 
remarkable for it, as about Bologna in Italy, and fome 
parts of Spain and Ethiopia. Its forms are fo uncertain 
and variable, that they can fcarcely be defcribed, efpecially 
as few philofophical obfervers ever had the good fortune 
to meet with it. Dr. Derham, however, happened one 
night to perceive one of them, and got fo near that he 
could have a very advantageous view of it. This is by 
no means eafy to be obtained ; for, among other finguht. 
rities of the ignis fatuus, it is obferved to avoid the ap¬ 
proach of any perfon, and fly from place to place as if it 
were animated. That which Dr. Derham obferved W'as 
in fome boggy ground betwixt two rocky hills; and the 
night was dark and calm ; by which means, probably, he 
was enabled to advance within two or three yards of it. 
It appeared like a complete body of light without any 
divifion, fo that he was fare it could not be occafioned 
by infeCts, as fome have fuppofed ; the feparate lights of 
which he could not have failed to diitinguifli, had it been 
occafioned by them. The light kept dancing about a 
dead thiftle, till a very flight motion of theair, occafioned, 
as he fuppofed, by his near approach to it, made it jpmp 
to another place; after which it kept flying before him 
as he advanced. M. Beccari endeavoured to procure all 
I G N 
the intelligence he could concerning the phenomenon;; 
by inquiring of all his-acquaintance who might have had 
an opportunity of obferving it. Thus he obtained infor¬ 
mation that two of thefe lights appeared in the plains 
about Bologna, the one to the north, and the other to the 
fouth, of that city, and were to be feen almoft every dark 
night, efpecially that to the ealtward, giving a light equal 
to an ordinary faggot. The latter appeared to a gentle¬ 
man of his acquaintance as he was travelling; moved 
conftantly before him for about a mile ; and gave a better 
light than a torch which was carried before him. Both , 
thefe appearances gave a very ltrong light, and were con¬ 
ftantly in motion, though this was various and uncertain* 
Sometimes they would rife, fometimes fink; but com-, 
monly they would hover about fix feet from the ground 3 
they would alfo frequently difappear on a fudden, and 
appear again in fome other place. They differed alfo in 
fize and figure, fometimes fpreadingpretty wide, and then 
contracting themfelves ; fometimes breaking into two J; 
and then joining again. Sometimes they would appear- 
like waves, at others they would feem to drop fparks of 
fire: they were but little affeCted by the wind ; and, in 
wet and rainy weather, were frequently obferved to call a 
ftronger light than in dry weather; they were alfo ob¬ 
ferved more frequently when fnow lay upon the- ground,, 
than in the hotteft fummer; but he was allured that there 
was not a dark night throughout the whole year in which 
they were not to be feen. The ground to the eaftwarcS 
of Bologna, where the largeil of thefe appearances was 
obferved, is a hard chalky foil mixed with clay, which • 
will retain the moilture for a long time, but breajcs and 
cracks in hot weather. On the mountains, where the foil 
is of a loofer texture, and lefs capable of retaining moif» 
ture, the ignes fatui were lefs.. 
From.the bell information which M.'Beccari was able 
to procure, he found that thefe lights were very frequent 
about rivers and brooks._ He concludes his narrative 
with the following Angular account: “An intelligent: 
gentleman travelling in the evening, between eight and'" 
nine, in a mountainous road about ten miles fouth of 
Bologna, perceived a light which Ihone very ftrangely 
upon fome Hones which lay on the banks of the river..Riod 
verde. It feemed to be about two feet above the Itones,,.. 
and not far from the water. In fize and figure it had 
the appearance of a parallelopiped, foraewh.at more than x - . 
foot in length, and half a foot high, the longeft fide be¬ 
ing parallel to the horizon. Its light was fo ftrong, that 
he could plainly difcern by it . part of a neighbouring 
hedge and the water of the river; only in the eall corner 
of it the light was rather faint, and the fquare figure lefs 
perfeCt, as if it were cut off or darkened by thefegment of / 
a circle. On examining it a little nearer, he was fur- 
prifed to find that it changed gradually from a bright red 3 ,, 
firft to a yellowilh, and then to a pale, colour, in propor¬ 
tion as he drew nearer; and, when he came to the place 
itfelf, it quite vanilhed. Upon this he Hepped back, and 
not only faw it again, but found that the farther he 
went from it, the ftronger and brighter it grew. When, 
he examined the place of this luminous appearance, he 
could perceive no linell nor any other'mark of fire.” This 
account was confirmed by another gentleman, who in¬ 
formed M. Beccari, that he had feen the fame light five - 
or fix different times in fpring and autumn; and that it 
always appeared of the fame lliape, and in the very fame 
place. One night in particular, he obferved it come out 
of a neighbouring field to fettle in the ufual place. 
A very remarkable account of an ignis fatuus is given by 
Dr. Shaw in his Travels to the Holy Land. It appeared . 
in the valleys of mount Ephraim, and attended him and 
his company for more than an hour. Sometimes it would 
appear globular, or in the lhape of the flame of a candle; at 
others it would fpread to fuch a degree as to involve the 
whole company in a pale inoffenfive light, then contract 
itfelf, and fuddenly difappear ; but in lefs than a minute 
would appear again; fometimes, running fwiftly along, it 
would expand itfelf at certain intervals over more than 
/ tw© 
