Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 10.djvu/742

INSCRIPTIONS. 656 INSECT. Tlifodor Moinnisen and Wilhclm Hcnzen. Since then the work has steadily oontiniied, thouph it is still incomplete, and from the nature of the case is always likely to be in need of supple- ments. UiBLloGBAPiiY. Handbooks for the student are not numerous. In English the best is Eg- bert's Introduction to the Study of Latin Inscrip- tions (New York, 1890). See also Rushforth, Latin Historical Inscriptions (Oxford, 1803). Better than these is Cnprnat. Cours flcmcntnire d'fpifiraphic Iritinc (."id ed., Paris, 18!»8). Hiib- ner, in jhiller's llandhuch der hliissischcn .liter- iumsicissenschaft, vol. i. (2d ed., Munich, 1892), provides only a brief outline. Useful is Ricci, Epigrafta Latina (Milan. 18'J8). For the alpha- bet, see Hdbner, Fxcmpla Scripturce Lalinw Epi- graphicr ( Berlin. 1885) . The great Corpus Inscrip- tionum Latinaruin is to be complete in fifteen volumes, many of which are in several parts, and provided from time to time with supplements; vol. i. Inscriptioncs Latince AnliquifJiimw ad Ccesaris Mortem (2d ed.. partes 1, 2, Berlin, 1893, 1895); ii.. Inscr. Hispaniw (18(i9), Supplemcnta (1892, 1897); iii., Inscr. .isiw, Provinciarum Europw Grcecarum. Illi/rici (1873), Supplementa (1888, 1891, 1893) ; iv., Inscr. Parietariw Pom- pcianw, Ilcrculancnses, Stabiw (1871), Supplc- vicntum, i. (1898); v., Inscr. Gallia: Cisnlpinw (1872, 1877) ; vi., Inscr. Urbis Itoinw. partes 1-5 (1870-85); vii.. Inscr. Britannice (1873); viii., Inscr. .ifricw (1881), Supplementa (1891. 1894) ; ix.. Inscr. Calabriw, Apulia', Samnii, Sabi- iiorum, Piccni (1883); X., Inscr. lirultiorum, Lucnniw, Cantpaniw. Siciliw, Sardinia- (1883); xi., Inscr. .Emiliw, Etruricc, Umbriw, i. (1888) ; xii., Inscr. Gallia- arbonensis (1888); xiii., Inscr. Trium Galliarum, Duarum Gcrmaniarum, i. 1 (1899); xiv., In.icr. Lalii Antiqni (1887); XV., Inscr. Inslrumcnti Domcstici I'rbis Romcc, i.. ii.. 1 (1891. 1899). With vol. i. was pub- lished Tabulw Lithotjraphw Prisca- Latinitatis .Monumenta, ed. Kr. Ritschl (Berlin, 1802). Additional material is published in the Ephemc- ris Epigraphica (Berlin. 1872 seq.). Lesser collections of value to the student are the older works of Orelli-Henzen, Inscriptionum Lalinarum Amplissima Collcctio (3 vols., Zurich, 1828, 1850), and Wilmanns, Exempla Inscrip- tionum Latinnrum (Berlin, 1873) , but especially the work of Dessau. Insaiptiones Latinw Selectee, i.. ii. 1 (Berlin. 1892. 1902). See also W. M. Lindsay, Handbool: of Latin Inscriptioyis (Lon- don and Boston. 1S97). The metrical inscrip- tions are collected by Biicheler, Anthologia Latina (Leipzig, 1897). For the inscriptions in various Italian dialects, consult: Fabretti, Cor- pus Inscriptionum Italicarum Antiquioris .'Eti (Turin, 1807, 1872-77) ; Biicheler,, C7m6rieo (Bonn. 1883); ZvctaiefT, Sylloge Inscriptionum Oscarum (Saint Petersburg. 1878) ; Inscriptioncs Italice Media- Dialcclicw (I>eipzig. 1884); Inscr. Itnlia; Inferioris Dialectiew (Moscow. 1886) ; Schneider. Dialecticorum Italicorum .Eii ^'etu- stioris Exempla Sclecta, i. 1 (Iveipzig, 1886) ; Pauli. Corpus Inscriptionum Etruscarum (Leip- zig. 1893 seqq.). under authority of the Berlin Academy and the Leipzig Scientific Society. The Christian inscriptions of Rome are collected in de Rossi. Inscriptioncs Christiance Urbis Romce (Rome, 18.57. 1888): of Oaul in I^ Blant. In- .icriptions ChrHicnnes de In Gaule (Paris, 1855- 65) ; of Spain in Hiibner, Inscriptioncs HispanicB Christiana: (Berlin, 1871) ; of Britain in Hflb- ner, Inscriptioncs Britannia: Christiana- (Berlin, 1870) ; of the Rhein in Kraus, Oi'e allrhristlichen Insrhriflin drr Ithi inlande ( Kreiliurg, i. Br. 1890-94) ; and of Switzerland in Egli. Die christ- lichen Insehriften der Schtreiz (Zurich, 1895). INSECT (Lat. insectum, insect, from insecare, to cut in, from in, in + secure, to cut). In its strict sense, a member of a group of six-legged arthropods known as the class Insecta or llexa- podu. Vulgarly, the term is applied to almost any small crawling creature: and even among naturalists until comparatively recent years it was applied to the spiders and their relatives (Arachnida) and to the centipedes and thousand- legs (Myriapoda). Insects constitute by far the largest group of living creatures, and in fact form much the larger i)art of the land animals of the world. In number of species they are more numerous than all of the other groups of land animals together, while in numlx-r of individuals they are countless. The most conservative esti- mate places the number of si)ecies of insects in existence at five millions, while the estimate of Riley, the famous entomologist, was ten millions. They are extremely variable in their habits. Food. The great majority feed upon vegeta- tion of one kind or another, and practically every part of every living plant is liable to' insec't attack. They feed not only upon living vegeta- tion, but also upon dead plant tissue in every stage of decay, and even upon soil mold wherever it occurs, and are largely instrumental in the rapid disappearance of dead vegetation. Thou- sands of species also prey upon animals of dilTer- ent groups, from the warm-blooded vertebrates down to creatures of their own class and the other lower forms of animal life. They feed not only upon living animals, as parasites and predatory enemies, but also upon dead animal matter of all kin<ls, including excrcmentitious substances, as well as upon fabrics and other things composed of animal material. Although predominating so enormously on land, insects lose their prepon- derance in water, yet very many species are .aquatic during the whole or some portion of their lives. Relations to Man. The economic status of the group is dillicult to decide. The damage which they do to human beings in one or another of very many direct ami indirect ways is enor- mous, yet they are also beneficial to man in many other ways. Perhaps the most pronounced benefit derived from insects is in the cross-fer- tilization (q.v.) of cultivated crops. Without their agency in this direction the cultivation of n)anv useful plants would practically be impossi- ble, while in others the results obtained at present would be impracticable. The benefits derived from individual species — such as commercial silk from the silkworm, honey from the honey-bee, shellac from the lacinsect. cochineal from an- other scale-insect — are well known, and the functions of insects as soil-makers, and of thou- sands of the parasitic forms as destroyers of noxious insects, are most beneficial to the human species. It is as destroyers of cultivated crops, however, that insects are most commonly known, and it has been estimated that in the United States agriculture and horticulture suffer an annual loss of .$300,000,000 from their work. Almost every cultivated crop has not only its J