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IGNATIUS IGNIS FATUUS 177 IGNATIFS, Saint, of Antioch, surnamed Theo- phorus, one of the primitive fathers of the church, died Dec. 20, 107 or 115, at Rome ac- cording to some, but most probably at Antioch, as others have it. He is reckoned one of the apostolic fathers. Eusebius says that he was appointed bishop of Antioch in 69. Baronius and Natalis Alexander make him bishop of the gentile Christians residing in that city, Evo- dius being at the same time bishop of the Jew- ish converts. The Martyrium Ignatii, which professes to have been written by an eye-wit- ness of his martyrdom, affirms that he was a disciple of St. John, and ordained by the apos- tles themselves. After having watched over the steadfastness of his flock during the per- secution of Domitian, he was condemned by Trajan to be thrown to the wild beasts in the Koman amphitheatre, where, according to the Martyrium, he suffered. The Greeks celebrate his feast on Dec. 20, and the Latins on Feb. 1. During his journey to Eome Ignatius wrote seven epistles enumerated by Ensebius and Je- rome. They are addressed to the Romans, to Polycarp, and to various Asiatic churches. At present there are fifteen letters extant ascribed to Ignatius. The seven mentioned by Eusebius, according to the shorter Greek recension, are generally accepted as genuine by Roman Cath- olic theologians; the others are considered spurious. But a warm controversy has long existed between the learned of various Protes- tant denominations regarding the genuineness of all or some of the first seven. A Syriac version of the epistles to the Ephesians, Ro- mans, and Polycarp was brought from a con- vent in the Nitrian desert to the British mu- seum in 1843, and edited in 1845 by Cureton. It was maintained by the editor that these are the only genuine epistles of Ignatius ; and this conclusion was adopted by Dr. R. A. Lipsius, Bnnsen, and some eminent Presbyterian au- thorities. Episcopal writers for the most part contend that all of the seven epistles are genu- ine. The best editions of the Ignatian writings are in Cautelier's Patres jEm Apostolici (2 vols., Paris, 1672; 2d and more complete ed., Amsterdam, 1724), those by Jacobson (Oxford, 1838) and Petermann (Leipsic, 1849), and Cure- ton's Corpus Ignatianum (London, 1849). IGNATIl'S, Saint, patriarch of Constantinople, born about 798, died Oct. 23, 878. He was the youngest son of the emperor Michael I., and his original name was Nicetas ; but on the de- position of his father by Leo the Armenian, he was made a eunuch by Leo and entered a mon- astery, assuming the name of Ignatius. He was raised to the patriarchate in 846. He was an enemy of the iconoclasts, and would not suffer Gregorius Asbestus, bishop of Syracuse, to be present at his consecration, because of his heterodoxy. In 857 he refused to admit Bardas, brother of the empress Theodora, as a communicant, on account of his reported im- morality, whereupon the offender caused him to be deposed, and Photius to be elected patri- arch in his place. After his deposition he was treated with the greatest cruelty, and banished to Mitylene ; but when Basil the Macedonian ascended the throne in 867, he was recalled. IGNATIUS BEAN. See STRYCHNIA. IGNIS FATCUS, a flickering light seen at night over the surface of marshy grounds or grave- yards. Sometimes it moves quietly along, re- sembling the light of a lantern carried in the hand ; and again it appears not alone, but two or three together dancing merrily together up and down. In the night mists it seems like the light from some neighboring house; and many a traveller has been led by it into dan- gerous bogs, from which he found no escape till the appearance of the morning light. It is not strange that a character of mystery should have attached to this luminous appearance, and that the ignorant should have ascribed it to some evil spirit. They called it " Will o' the wisp" and "Jack with a lantern," and this imaginary person is often alluded to by the old English poets. It is commonly believed that the light retires before one who pursues it ; this notion is confirmed by the statement8 - of some observers, and disproved by those of others. In Milner's "Gallery of Nature," p. 544, is recorded a statement of Mr. Blesson, who carefully investigated the phenomena in the forest of Gorbitz, in Brandenburg. On a marshy spot he observed bluish purple flames at night, where bubbles of air issued during the day. These flames retired as he approach- ed, in consequence, he supposed, of the air be- ing agitated by his movement. When he stood perfectly still they soon appeared within reach ; and then, carefully guarding against disturbing the air by his breath, he succeeded in singeing a piece of paper, which became covered with a viscous moisture. At last a narrow slip of pa- per took fire. By disturbing the air over the spot he caused the flames to disappear entirely, but in a few minutes after quiet was restored they appeared again over the air bubbles, ap- parently without having communication with any known source of flame. On suddenly in- troducing a torch after extinguishing the flame, a kind of explosion was heard, and a red light was seen over 8 or 9 sq. ft. of the marsh, which diminished to a small blue flame from 2 to 3 ft. high. He concluded that the cause of the ignis fatuus was the evolution of inflammable gas from the marsh, and that the flames existed by day as well as at night, though not then visi- ble. The lights seen occasionally over church- yards are of similar appearance to those de- scribed. These meteors are supposed to be the result of the spontaneous combustion of in- flammable gases generated by the decomposi- tion of vegetable or animal bodies. Phosphu- retted hydrogen, it is well known, bursts into flame as it is allowed to escape into the air from the vessels in which it is prepared. It is produced by the decay of animal matters, and, if thinly diffused here and there over the sur- face of a marsh, may present the changing,