[Indus], a great river of India, 1800 m. long; rises in Thibet, on the N. of the Himalayas, flows NW. through Cashmere, then SW. through the Punjab and Sind to the sea; its upper course is through great gorges and very rapid, but after the entrance of the Kabul River its way lies through arid plains, and it is navigable; after receiving the Panjnad its volume decreases through evaporation and the sinking of some of the many streams into which it divides in the sand; on one of the branches of the delta stands the thriving port of Kurrachee.
[Inertia], that property of bodies by which they remain in a state of rest or of motion in a straight line till disturbed by a force moving them in the one case or arresting them in the other.
[Inez de Castro]. See [Castro].
[Infallibility], freedom from all error in the past and from all possibility of error in the future as claimed by the Church of Rome. This claim extends to all matters of faith, morals, and discipline in the Church, and is based on an interpretation of Matt. xvi. 18, xxviii. 19; Eph. iv. 11-16, and other passages. It is held that the Church is incapable of embracing any false doctrine from whatever quarter suggested, and that she is guided by the Divine Spirit in actively opposing heresy, in teaching all necessary truth, and in deciding all relative matters of controversy. Infallibility is not claimed in connection with matters of fact, science, or general opinion. The seat of infallibility has been much disputed even in the Roman Catholic Church itself, and the infallibility of the Pope was only decreed so recently as the Vatican Council in 1870. It was always agreed that where the Pope and Bishops were unanimous they were infallible, and their unanimity might be expressed either in a general council, or in a decree of a local council tacitly accepted by the Pope and the rest of the Church, or even in a decree of the Pope alone if the bishops either expressly or tacitly affirmed it. But the Vatican Council decided "that when the Roman Pontiff speaks ex cathedrâ—that is, when he, using his office as pastor and doctor of all Christians, in virtue of his apostolic office, defines a doctrine of faith and morals to be held by the whole Church—he by the Divine assistance, promised to him by the blessed Peter, possesses that infallibility with which the Divine Redeemer was pleased to invest His Church in the definition of doctrine in faith or morals, and that therefore such definitions of the Roman Pontiff are irreformable in their own nature and not because of the consent of the Church." The Greek Church puts forward a moderate claim to inerrancy, holding that as a matter of fact those councils which she regards as oecumenical have not erred in their decrees affecting faith and morals.
[Infante, Infanta], the titles given respectively to the royal princes and princesses of Spain and Portugal.
[Inferi], the name given by the Latins to the nether world and the gods of it.
[Inferno], the hell of Dante, represented as included in nine circles, of which the first six, constituting the uppermost hell, are occupied by those who cannot govern themselves yet have no mind to harm any one else, of which the seventh, constituting the mid-hell, is occupied by those who cannot govern their thoughts, and of which the eighth and ninth, constituting the nether hell, are occupied by those who have wilfully done harm to other people, those in the eighth in hot blood and those in the ninth or lowest in cold blood, the former in passion and the latter without passion, far down below the freezing-point. See Ruskin's "Fors Clavigera," more fully, and by way of authority for this.
[Inflection], the name given to the changes in the end of words to indicate relations, not so common in English—being usually expressed among us by prepositions—as in Latin, Greek, and other languages, but occurring in English as king's, mine, ours, to indicate possession; inflection in nouns is called declension, and in verbs conjugation.
[Influenza], an epidemic disease, closely resembles, but is quite distinct from, cold in the head. It is characterised by early and marked debility and depression; though usually of short duration, attacks must not be disregarded; fatal results often ensue on carelessness. Convalescence is slow, and complications may ensue. The cause of the malady is obscure; sporadic cases always occur, but from time to time great epidemics of this disease have travelled westward over the world. Their movement seems to depend on atmospheric conditions, but is independent of the season of the year and often contrary to the direction of the wind. Visitations occurred in Britain in 1837-38, 1847-48, and 1889-91.
[Infralapsarians], those Calvinists who believe that election and predestination are subsequent to the Fall, while the Supralapsarians believe that these ordinations are as old as eternity.