INSCRIPTIONS 164 INSECTA doubts that it is due to disorder of func- tion of a certain portion of the brain — viz., that part of the cortex which is the vehicle of all mental function. The ex- act pathology of many forms of insanity has not as yet been ascertained; but in 80 or 90 per cent, of the cases that die some abnormality can be found in the brain. Treatment of Insanity. — The general principles of modern treatment may be divided into bodily and mental or moral. The bodily treatment may be generally said to be to put all the organs and functions right if wrong; to get up the strength and fat of the body; to restore the tone and right working of the nerv- ous system; to restore the sleep; to in- vigorate and soothe by life in the open air; and to let off undue and morbid nervous energy by much exercise, gym- nastics, and massage in some cases, and to secure complete brain and body rest for others. The mental treatment con- sists chiefly in careful observation, com- panionship, control, distraction of the mind from morbid thought and feeling, by suitable occupations and amusements, and guarding against the dangers of sui- cide, homicide, and self-neglect. All the States and many of the larger cities in the United States are equipped with hospital facilities for the insane. In 1918 there were reported in the en- tire United States 239,820 insane per- sons. Of these 125,919 were males and 113,901 females. In the State hospitals were 109,994 insane males and 97,711 insane females. INSCRIPTIONS, the name given to records, not of the nature of a book, which are engraved or inscribed on stone, metal, clay, and similar matei-ials. Since ancient documents committed to such de- structible matei'ial as papyrus, parch- ment, or paper have largely perished, in- scriptions on harder materials are in many cases the sole sources of our knowledge of ancient history and of early languages; and, even when MSS. have been preserved by copyists, inscrip- tions, Avhich preserve the original forms of the letters, are of supreme pal^o- graphical importance. All the books of the Phoenicians, Sabjeans, Etruscans, Babylonians, Assyrians, Numidians, and Iberians have perished, and hence a con- siderable portion of our knowledge of early Oriental history is derived solely from inscriptions. A very large num- ber of inscriptions are mortuary epi- taphs. Others, usually the most impor- tant, are records of the events in the reigns of kings. Others are dedications of altars, temples, or aqueducts. Many are of a religious character, recording donations to temples or in honor of the gods. Others are commercial contracts, banking records, receipts for taxes scratched on potsherds, or on walls, imprecations, and inscriptions on seals, gems, or vases. The chief classes are Semitic, Greek, Latin, Runic, Cuneiform, Egyptian, and Indian. American Inscriptions. — In Greenland, on the shores of Baffin Bay and Davis Strait, a few genuine Runic inscriptions have been discovered. They probably date from the 11th and 12th centuries, and were doubtless executed by Icelandic colonists or explorers. There are nu- merous inscriptions on the walls of the palaces and temples in the ruined cities of Yucatan, Honduras, Mexico, and Gua- temala. They are written in unknown characters, which appear to constitute a system of hieroglyphic or pictorial writ- ing, akin probably to that of the Aztec MSS., which as yet have been only im- perfectly deciphered. INSECTA, insects; a class of Annu- losa, division Arthropoda. Formerly it was made to include, among other ani- mals, the centipedes and spiders. Now these are made distinct classes, and the Insecta confined to those arthropodous animals which have three pairs of legs; these are affixed to the thorax which is distinctly separated from the head and the abdomen. There are compound and simple eyes. In the highest ordei? there are four wings; in another order, Dip- tera, but two; and in several more the wings are rudimentary or totally absent. There is one pair of antennae. The res- piration is by tracheje. Of the 13 seg- ments, of which a typical insect consists, one constitutes the head, three the thorax, and nine the abdomen. The cu- taneous skeleton is composed of chitine. There is generally a more or less com- plete metamorphosis. Insects exist in all countries. The species existing may be half a million, those known more than 200,000. Most of them are confined to particular regions; some insects, how- ever, like the Painted Lady Butterfly {Cynthia card id) , are widely diffused over the world. Insects exert a power- ful influence in fertilizing plants. The classification now commonly adopted di- vides insects thus: Sub-class I., Ame- tabola: (1) Anoplura, (2) Mallophaga, (3) Collembola, (4) Thysanura. Sub- class II., Hemimetabola : (1) Hemip- tera or Rhynchota, (2) Orthoptera, (3) Neuroptera. Sub-class III., Holometa- bola: (1) Aphaniptera, (2) Diptera, (3) Lepidoptera, (4) Hymenoptera, (5) Strepsiptera, (6) Coleoptera. The old-
