INNS OF CHANCEBY. 640 INOCEBAMUS. of Chancery, which were formerly called hos- pilia minora, were subortliiiate to the liiiis of Court (q.v.), from the lifteeiith or si.xteeiilli century to the eighteenth; l)Ut they now liin'e no jiublic'funetion, thoiifjh several of them still exist as societies, with corporate property. The Cliam- liers are occupied by solicitors and others. The principal Inns of Chancery arc Clilford's Inn, Xew Inn, an<l Kurnivall's Inn. INNS OF COUBT. The four sets of build- ings in London (the Inner Temple, the Middle Templt, 1-ineoln's Inn. and (iray's Inn) belong- ing to the four legal societies which have the e.xdusivc right of admitting persons to practice at the bar. hence the societies themselves. The origin of the inns traces back to the media>val inns of law. the origin of which is lost in an- tiquity, and their present importance is but a dim shadow of their former greatness. In the later Middle Ages they became tlie seat of great schools of law, to which students resorted from all parts of England, and in which scholars, statesmen, and men of affairs, as well as the leaders of the bench and bar, were trained. To- day they are little more than clubs of lawyers, which maintain a few lectures for law students, and guard their admission to the bar. The dis- tmction of the four principal inns of law (i.e. houses where law was taught), as Inns of Court, was filly established in the fifteenth century; but in earlier times, and sometimes later, the name Inns of C(jurt. or its equivalent, seems to have included both the hospitia majora of the early period and the ho.viiitia minora, or lesser inns", to whieh^the Inns of Chancery (q.v.) be- longed. The four inns are each governed by a com- mittee or board, called the benchers, who are generally king's counsel or senior counsel, .self- chosen, i.e. each new bencher is chosen by the existing benchers. Each inn is self-governing, and i|uite distinct from the others, all. however, possessing equal privileges; but latterly they have joined in im])osing certain educational tests for the admission of students. It is entirely in the discretion of an inn of court to admit any particular person as a member, for no member of the public has an absolute right to be called to the bar, there being no mode of compelling the inn to state its reasons for refusal. Hut. practi- cally, no objection is ever made to the admission of any person of good character. Each inn has also the power of disbarring its members, that is, of withdrawing from them the right of practic- ing as counsel. This right has been rarely ex- ercised, but of late years there have been ex- amples of persons abusing their profession, and indulging in dishonest practices; in such cases, the inn has its own mode of inquiring into the facts affecting the character of a member, and is not bound to make the investigation public. By this high controlling power over its members, a higher character is supposed to l)e given to the bar as a body, than if each individual was left to his own devices, unchecked, except by the law. (See Barri.ster.) The buildings of each inn con- sist of a large tract of houses or chambers, which are. in general, occupied exclvisively by barristers, and sometimes by attorneys, and are a source of great wealth. The btiildings of the four inns are not marked by any general plan or uniformity in grouping or style of architecture, but repre- .seiit the growth of succeeding centuries. The Inner Temple has a fine hall of the time of Eliza- beth, with an open-timbered roof (jf much beauty; the .Middli' Temple has a library which is a nine- teentlicentury building with a roof studied from that of Wist minster Hall. Se«' LKii.l, Edix'a- TIO.N. INNUENDO (Lat., hinting). In law. a clause in a declaration for slander or libel, in which the relation or application of the alleged slanderous or libelous words to the plaintilf is pointed out and explained. This clause is neces- sary only if their meaning or application is am- biguous. The term is used only in jurisdictions where common-law pleading prevails. See Dec- LARATIO.N ; DkI AMATION ; LiBEL; SLANDER. INNUIT, in'nft-it. A name sometimes applied to the American Eskimo. See Eskimo. I'NO (Lat., from Gk. 'Icii), or Leucotiiea. In (.ireek legend the daughter of Cadmus and Ilarmonia, and wife of Athamas, who reigneil in I'hthiotis. or Bieotia. He had previously wedded the goddess Ncphele, who bore him I'hrixus and Helle (q.v.). Ino also bore two sons, Learchus and Melicertes (q.v.), and in her jealousy plotted the destruction of her stepchildren, who were rescued by their mother. As Ino had cared for the infant Dionysus, son of her sister Semele and Zeus. Hera visited .Xthamas with madness, and in his frenzy he killed his son lycarehus. Ino. fleeing with .Melicertes in her arms, and jiursued by her husband, leai)cd into the sea. and was received by Poseidon and the iiyini)hs as a new goddess under the name of Leucothea. The wor- ship of Ino-Leucothea and her son Melicertes- Palffmon was widespread. She appeared to aid the shipwrecked Odysseus, and was in general regarded as the special helper of tho.se in extreme distress and peril at sea. The story of Ino is used with many variations by Sophocles and other Greek dramatists. IN'OCABTUS (Neo-Lat. from Gk. if. is, fibre + »i/)"i5f, harpos. fniit). Vnocarpus edulis. The South Sea or Tahiti chestnut, an impor- tant tree to the inhabitants of the South Sea Islands for its fruit, a nut, which, while green, is gathered and ma-shed to su|)ply a considerabh' part of their food. The tree is of stately growth and fine foliage; the leaves evergreen, of delicate texture, oblong, six or eight inches in length. In- stead of increasing uniiformly in thickness, the trees throw out buttresses to supjMirt the trunk. Small projections fir^t appear, which later be- come two or three inches thick, and extend some- times four feet from the tnmk at the bottom in nearly straight lines from the root to the branches. They look like plank buttresses cov- ered with bark. The central stem may continiK' for many years only six or seven inches in diam etcr. These natural planks are used for paddh- of canoes and for other purposes. This tree !i:is lie<-n extensively planted throughout the tropic-. At Calcutta ten-y<«r-old trees were 2r> to 30 fe<'t in height. IN'OCEB'AMUS (Neo-Lat.. from ic. i.f. fibre + Klpa/inr, Iceramos, tile). A characteristic fos- sil lamellibranch (pelecypod) of the .Turassic and Cretaceous rocks. The valves have rounded out- lines, with the surfaces broken by concentric folds, beaks low, and hinge-line without teeth. These shells are very abundant in the .Jurassic and Cretaceous rocks of the Western States, some
