'132 INS 
with the Romans was written on plates of brafs, which 
they Fent to Jerufalem, that the Jews might always have 
before their eyes a memorial of the contraft between them.” 
It is probable, that the Lacedemonian records were of 
fimilar materials. Tacitus alludes to the fame practice 
among the MeiTenians, where he relates the difputes be¬ 
tween them and the Spartans, concerning a temple of 
Diana. “The MefTenians,” fays he, “ produced- the an- 
. cient divifion of Peloponnefus made among the defcend- 
ants of Hercules,,and fhowed, that the field, where flood 
the temple,irr difpute, had efcheated to their king, that 
tire proof of it had been cut on ftone, and flill fubfifted 
in plates of brafs.” The original of Hefiod’s works was 
written or cut upon fheets of lead, which were kept with 
the utmoft care in the Temple of the Mufes in Bseotia. 
. Had not thefe metals formerly been the depoiitories of the 
laws, the judicious Sophocles would not have made Dejanira 
fay, “ I have performed every thing in its full extent;' an 
immutable law on tables of brafs was never more punc¬ 
tually oblbrved.” Thefe tables were faftened to pillars in 
public places; witnefs that mentioned by Andocidesto have 
been placed before the fenate-houfe, and which authorifed 
the killing of that magiftrate who fhould reign after the 
fubverfion of the commonwealth. Thefe inferiptions of¬ 
ten contain a part of the hiftory of Antes. Polycenus re¬ 
lates, that-Alexander found in the palace of the kings of 
Perfia a brafs column, on which were cut not only the 
laws made by Cyrus, but a regulation for the fumptuous 
table of his fucceffors. The Grecian conqueror had not 
probably at that time began to indulge in Aiiatic luxury ; 
.for, ordering the column to be removed, he faid to his 
friends, “ that documents of excefs and intemperance did 
not become the refidence of a king.” To thefe metallic 
inferiptions we owe the prefervation' of ieveral fafts re¬ 
corded by hiftorians ; the treaties of monarchs, the con¬ 
ventions of nations, and the alliances of citiqs. They 
have tranfmitted the genealogies and the epitaphs of great 
men. Through them we become acquainted with the 
prayers made to the Pagan deities for all kinds of calamity 
end diflrefs; their thankfgivings for miraculous cures 
and prefervations, favourable fealbns and victories in war; 
And innumerable other ancient cuftoms. Jn (horfc, in 
thefe monuments, the different alphabetical and numeri¬ 
cal letters of different times may alio be obferved. A fre¬ 
quent fubjeft of them are thofe votive tables, of which 
the title was always in verfe, as may be proved from that 
of Arininefhes, and the following lines of the 8th book 
of Ovid’s Metamorphofes : 
Dans munera templis 
Addunt et titulos; titulus breve carmen habebat. 
The Greeks and Romans were great dealers in inferip- 
tlons,. and were extremely fond of being mentioned in 
them ; and hence it is, that we find fo many in thofe 
countries of ancient learning, that large volumes have 
been compofed, as the collections of Jofeph Scaliger, Gru- 
sv. See, Sincb Gruter’s collection, Th. Reinefius has 
compiled another huge volume of infcriptiqns. M. Fa- 
bretty publifhed another volume at Rome in 1669, where- 
, in he has corrected abundance of errors which had efcaped 
Gruter, Reinefius, and other antiquaries. See. and added 
a great number of inferiptions omitted by them. Since 
all thefe, Grsevius has publifhed a complete collection of 
inferiptions, in 3 vols. folio. See ArOn-dehan Mar¬ 
bles, vol. ii. p. 445. and the article Egypt, yol. vii. p. 365. 
INSCRU'TABLE, adj [ injerutabiiis , Lat.] Unfearch- 
able; not to be traced out by enquiry or ftudy.—We 
fhould contemplate reverently the works of nature and 
grace, flie irjcrutabk ways of Providence, and all the won¬ 
derful methods of God’s dealing with men. Atterbury. 
O how injcrutable! his equity 
Twins with his power. - Sandys. 
INSCRU'TABLENESS, yC The ftate or quality of be¬ 
ing inlcrutable. 
r N s 
INSCRU'TABLY, adv. In a manner not to be found 
out. 
INSCU'A RIV'ER, laid down in fome maps as the 
north-weftern and main branch of St. Croix river, an eaft- 
ern water of the Mifliflippi, riling in the forty-eighth de¬ 
gree of north latitude. 
To INSCULP', v. a. [injeulpo , Lat.] To engrave ; to 
cut: 
A coin that bears the figure of an angel 
Stamped in gold, but that infculpl upon. Shakefpearc, 
INSCULP'PNG, f. The aft of engraving. 
INSCULP'TION, /. A11 infeuipture. Cole. 
INSCULP'TURE, f. Any thing engraved.—It was 
ufual to wear rings on either hand ; but, when precious 
gems and rich infculptures were added, the cuftoin of wear¬ 
ing them was tranflated unto the left. Brown. 
Timon is dead, 
Entomb’d upon the very hem o’ th’ fea; 
And on the grave-ftone this infculpture, which 
With wax I brought away. S/iakefpeare. 
IN'SE, a river of Pruffia, which runs into the Curifcli 
Haft: eleven miles fouth of Rufs. 
IN'SE, a town of Pruffia : twenty-two miles weft of 
Tilfit, and thirty-three fouth of Memel. 
To.INSE'AM, v. a. To imprefs or mark by a Team or 
cicatrix.—Deep o’er his knee infeamd remain’d the lcar. 
Pope. 
INSE'AMING, f. The aft of making a feam. 
INSEC'ABLE, adj. [fromzi?, Lat. contrary to, andyiro, 
to cut.] Incapable of being cut or divided. Not ufed. 
To INSECT', v.a. To cut; to cut into two parts. 
IN'SECT, f. [from the Lat. in, and feco, to cut; be- 
caufe the body appeals in fome as if divided in two, as 
the ants, wafps; and common flies; or becaufe the bodies 
of others are compofed of circles or rings, which are a fort 
of hicifura:.] An animal without bones, but covered with 
a hard (kin ; it has fix or more feet; and breathes through 
fpiracula or pores in the fide of the body. Jnfefts form 
the fifth clafs in Linnaeus’s Syftetna Naturae ; and for the 
orders, genera, and fpecies, fee the article Entomology, 
vol. v-i. p. 824-844. The word inleft is alfo ufed for any 
thing fmall or contemptible : 
In ancient times the facred plough employ’d 
The kings, and awful fathers of mankind ; 
And fome with whom compar’d, your infeEl tribes 
Are but the beings of a fummer’s day. Thomfont 
The hiftory of infefts, as to their generation, transfor¬ 
mations, &c. having been fully difeuffed in the article 
above quoted, we might further confider them as articles 
of food, as medicinal bodies, as either ufeful or detrimen¬ 
tal to mankind. The locuft is ufed in the eaft as food. 
It is faid to tafte like a pigeon, but more infipid, and is 
feldom eaten but when other food is fcarce. Its price is 
high only in times of famine. The wings'and feet, fome- 
times the inteftines, are feparated. The Bedouins of 
Egypt eat them roafted alive; the Arabians roaft and eat 
them with butter; or, when they wifh for a difh of pecu¬ 
liar delicacy, they parboil, and then fry them in butter. 
The inhabitants of Morocco dry them, and thofe of Bar¬ 
bary pickle them. Forfkal, however, tells us that they 
have very little flavour, and that they are far from nutri¬ 
tious, and occafion melancholy or cutaneous afreftions.. 
See Gryllus, vol. ix. p. 56, 57. In different parts of 
India and America the larvie'of coleopterous infects breed 
in the internal parts of trees, as the weevil, a fpecies of 
lucanus, the paflalus of Fabricius, the prionus cervicor- 
nIs, See. but thefe can only be procured with much trou¬ 
ble, and can never form an article of food. We have 
heard of the worms of Alberts being eaten as a delicacy, 
and faid to be rich, like marrow, with the tafte of the nut; 
and that the maggots of every fruit have its peculiar fla¬ 
vour. The Romans ufed to eat the larva of an infect 
1 which 
