(E. F. S. D.)
INGRESS (Lat. ingressus, going in), entrance as opposed to exit or egress; in astronomy, the apparent entrance of a smaller body upon the disk of a larger one, as it passes between the latter and the observer; in this sense it is applied especially to the beginning of a transit of a satellite of Jupiter over the disk of the planet.
INHAMBANE, a seaport of Portuguese East Africa in 23° 50′ S., 35° 25′ E. The town, which enjoys a reputation for healthiness, is finely situated on the bank of a river of the same name which empties into a bay also called Inhambane. Next to Mozambique Inhambane, which dates from the middle of the 16th century, is architecturally the most important town in Portuguese East Africa. The chief buildings are the fort, churches and mosque. The principal church is built with stone and marble brought from Portugal. The population, about 4000 in 1909, is of a motley character: Portuguese and other Europeans, Arabs, Banyans, half-castes and negroes. Its commerce was formerly mostly in ivory and slaves. In 1834 Inhambane was taken and all its inhabitants save ten killed by a Zulu horde under Manikusa (see [Gazaland]). It was not until towards the close of the 19th century that the trade of the town revived. The value of exports and imports in 1907 was about £150,000. The chief exports are wax, rubber, mafureira and other nuts, mealies and sugar. Cotton goods and cheap wines (for consumption by natives) are the principal imports. The harbour, about 9 m. long by 5 wide, accommodates vessels drawing 10 to 12 ft. of water. The depth of water over the bar varies from 17 to 28 ft., and large vessels discharge into and load from lighters. Inhambane is the natural port for the extensive and fertile district between the Limpopo and Sabi rivers. This region is the best recruiting ground for labourers in the Rand gold mines. Mineral oils have been found within a short distance of the port.
INHERITANCE. In English law, inheritance, heir and other kindred words have a meaning very different from that of the Latin haeres, from which they are derived. In Roman law the heir or heirs represented the entire legal personality of the deceased—his universum jus. In English law the heir is simply the person on whom the real property of the deceased devolves by operation of law if he dies intestate. He has nothing to do as heir with the personal property; he is not appointed by will; and except in the case of coparceners he is a single individual. The Roman haeres takes the whole estate; his appointment may or may not be by testament; and more persons than one may be associated together as heirs.
The devolution of an inheritance in England is now regulated by the rules of descent, as altered by the Inheritance Act 1833, amended by the Law of Property Amendment Act 1859.
1. The first rule is that inheritance shall descend to the issue of the last “purchaser.” A purchaser in law means one who acquires an estate otherwise than by descent, e.g. by will, by gratuitous gift, or by purchase in the ordinary meaning of the word. This rule is one of the changes introduced by the Inheritance Act, which further provides that “the person last entitled to the land shall be considered the purchaser thereof unless it be proved that he inherited the same.” Under the earlier law descent was traced from the last person who had “seisin” or feudal possession, and it was occasionally a troublesome question whether the heir or person entitled had ever, in fact, acquired such possession. Now the only inquiry is into title, and each person entitled is presumed to be in by purchase unless he is proved to be in by descent, so that the stock of descent is the last person entitled who cannot be shown to have inherited. 2. The male is admitted before the female. 3. Among males of equal degree in consanguinity to the purchaser, the elder excludes the younger; but females of the same degree take together as “coparceners.” 4. Lineal descendants take the place of their ancestor. Thus an eldest son dying and leaving issue would be represented by such issue, who would exclude their father’s brothers and sisters. 5. If there are no lineal descendants of the purchaser, the next to inherit is his nearest lineal ancestor. This is a rule introduced by the Inheritance Act. Under the former law inheritance never went to an ancestor—collaterals, however remote of the person last seized being preferred even to his father. Various explanations have been given of this seemingly anomalous rule—Bracton and Blackstone being content to say that it rests on the law of nature, by which heavy bodies gravitate downwards. Another explanation is that estates were granted to be descendible in the same way as an ancient inheritance, which having passed from father to son ex necessitate went to collaterals on failure of issue of the person last seized. 6. The sixth rule is thus expressed by Joshua Williams in his treatise on The Law of Real Property:—
“The father and all the male paternal ancestors of the purchaser and their descendants shall be admitted before any of the female paternal ancestors or their heirs; all the female paternal ancestors and their heirs before the mother or any of the maternal ancestors or her or their descendants; and the mother and all the male maternal ancestors and her and their descendants before any of the female maternal ancestors or their heirs.”