ICELAND MOSS 110 ICHNEUMO]>J Vegetation is confined within narrow limits. The most valuable crop is grass, on which considerable numbers of live stock (sheep, cattle, ponies) are fed. The reindeer, though not introduced be- fore 1770, form large herds in the in- terior. Wild fowl, including the eider duck, whose down forms an important article of commerce, are abundant; the streams are well supplied with salmon, and on the coasts valuable fisheries of cod and herrings are carried on. Manu- factures are entirely domestic, and con- sist chiefly of coarse woolens, mittens, stockings, etc. The exports are wool, oil, fish, horses, feathers, worsted stockings and mittens, sulphur, and Ice- land moss. The inhabitants are of Scandinavian origin. Iceland is a sovereign state, but the King of Denmark is also King of Iceland. Under the charter of May 18, 1920, the King is chief executive, acting through a cabinet, consisting of Minister of Justice, Minister of Trade and Com- munication, and Minister of Finance. The Althing, or Parliament, consists of: Upper House, 14 members; Lower, 28. Six members of the Upper House are chosen by proportional representation. The other 36 members of Parliament are elected by universal suffrage. From this number 8 are elected by the Althing to complete the Upper House. Some settlements of Irish monks had been made in Iceland about the end of the 8th century, but the island received the gi'eatest proportion of its population from Norway. In 870 Harold Haarfager had made himself supreme in Norway, and as he treated the landed proprietors oppressively, numbers left the country and went to Iceland. A settled govern- ment was established, a soi-t of aristo- cratic republic, which lasted for several centuries. Christianity was introduced in 981, and adopted by law in 1000. The Latin language and the literature and learning of the West, introduced by Christianity, were all the more warmly received. Previously to this time the Icelanders had discovered Greenland (983) and part of America (about 1000), and they were now led to make voyages and travels to Europe and the East. In 1264 Magnus VI. of Norway united Iceland with his own kingdom, with which it passed to Denmark in 1380, remaining with the latter in 1814, when Norway was joined to Sweden. The franchise was granted to women in July, 1915. The sale of liquors was prohibited by an act passed bv the Althing in January, 1915. Complete in- dependence is now (1920) being urged by a majority of the people. ICELAND MOSS, in botany, Cetraria islandica, formerly called Lichen islatid- ieus. It is found in small quantities on the ground in exposed places in Scot- land. It is slightly bitter as well as mucilaginous. An aqueous decoction of it, when cooled, makes a thick jelly. It is used as a tonic and nutrient. ICELAND SPAR, a transparent calc- spar, or calcite, CaCO^; it may be split along its cleavage-planes into an obtuse rhonibohedron and is doubly ref»«eting. ICE PLANT, in botany, Mesembryan- themnm crystaUinum. It is called ice plant from the many watery pustules covering its leaves and shining like ice. It grows on sandy seashores at the Cape of Good Hope, in the Canary Islands, and in Greece near Athens. There are two varieties, M. cfystalliniim and M. glaciale; the latter is that cultivated in gardens. The juice is said to be diuretic, and has been given in liver complaints. The burnt ashes are used by the Span- iards like barilla in glass works. Called from its luster also diamond plant. ICHANG (i-chang'), a walled town in the Chinese province of Hu-pei; on the Yang-tsze-Kiang, where it escapes from the limestone gorges and ravines of its middle course; 1,000 miles from Shang- hai. In 1877 it was declared open to foreign trade, but in consequence of the difficulties connected with the navigation of the river, the competition of the Chi- nese, and official jealousy it advanced but slowly. Pop. (1917) 55,000. ICHNEUMON (ik-nu'mon), a Lin- naean genus of insects, now constituting a family or tribe, Ichneumonidx, of the order Hymenoptera, section Terehrantia. They are extremely numerous in species. Many of them are minute, others are large insects; the species of Rhyssa are among the largest of insects. They have the abdomen united to the thorax by a pedicle, which is very often slender. The abdomen itself is slender, and the whole form attenuated. All the Ichneumonidse deposit their eggs either in or on — generally in — the bodies, eggs, or larvae of insects, or in spiders. Some of them deposit their eggs in aphides. They are thus extremely useful to the farmer and gardener. Particular spe- cies of Ichneumonidx are the natural enemies of particular kinds of other in- sects. Many caterpillars are infested by three or four species of ichneumons. ICHNEUMON, a genus of digitigrade carnivorous quadrupeds of the family Viverridse, having a much elongated body, small head, sharp muzzle, rounded
