Chapter III: THE SOUTHERN ZONE.--Characterized by absence of Cyprinidae and (6)

ILCHESTER, a market town in the southern parliamentary division of Somersetshire, England, in the valley of the river Ivel or Yeo, 5 m. N.W. of Yeovil. It is connected by a stone bridge with the village of Northover on the other side of the river. Ilchester has lost the importance it once possessed, and had in 1901 a population of only 564, but its historical interest is considerable. The parish church of St Mary is Early English and Perpendicular, with a small octagonal tower, but has been largely restored in modern times. The town possesses almshouses founded in 1426, a picturesque cross, and a curious ancient mace of the former corporation.

Ilchester (_Cair Pensavelcoit_, _Ischalis_, _Ivelcestre_, _Yevelchester_) was a fortified British settlement, and subsequently a military station of the Romans, whose Fosse Way passed through it. Its importance continued in Saxon times, and in 1086 it was a royal borough with 107 burgesses. In 1180 a gild merchant was established, and the county gaol was completed in 1188. Henry II. granted a charter, confirmed by John in 1203, which gave Ilchester the same liberties as Winchester, with freedom from tolls and from being impleaded without the walls, the fee farm being fixed at £26, 10s. 0d. The bailiffs of Ilchester are mentioned before 1230. The borough was incorporated in 1556, the fee farm being reduced to £8. Ilchester was the centre of the county administration from the reign of Edward III. until the 19th century, when the change from road to rail travelling completed the decay of the town. Its place has been taken by Taunton. The corporation was abolished in 1886. Parliamentary representation began in 1298, and the town continued to return two members until 1832. A fair on the 29th of August was granted by the charter of 1203. Other fairs on the 27th of December, the 21st of July, and the Monday before Palm Sunday, were held under a charter of 1289. The latter, fixed as the 25th of March, was still held at the end of the 18th century, but there is now no fair. The Wednesday market dates from before the Conquest. The manufacture of thread lace was replaced by silk weaving about 1750, but this has decayed.

ÎLE-DE-FRANCE, an old district of France, forming a kind of island, bounded by the Seine, the Marne, the Beuvronne, the Thève and the Oise. In this sense the name is not found in written documents before 1429; but in the second half of the 15th century it designated a wide military province of government, bounded N. by Picardy, W. by Normandy, S. by Orléanais and Nivernais, and E. by Champagne. Its capital was Paris. From the territory of Île-de-France were formed under the Revolution the department of the Seine, together with the greater part of Seine-et-Oise, Seine-et-Marne, Oise and Aisne, and a small part of Loiret and Nièvre. (The term Île-de-France is also used for Mauritius, q.v.).

See A. Longnon, "L'Île-de-France, son origine, ses limites, ses
gouverneurs," in the _Mémoires de la Société de l'histoire de Paris et
de l'Île-de-France_, vol. i. (1875).

ILETSK, formerly _Fort Iletskaya Zashchita_, a town of Russia, in the government of Orenburg, 48 m. S. of the town of Orenburg by the railway to Tashkent, near the Ilek river, a tributary of the Ural. Pop. 11,802 in 1897. A thick bed of excellent rock-salt is worked here to the extent of about 100,000 tons annually. The place is resorted to for its salt, mud and brine baths, and its koumiss cures.

ILFELD, a town in Germany, in the Prussian province of Hanover, situated at the south foot of the Harz, at the entrance to the Bährethal, 8 m. N. from Nordhausen by the railway to Wernigerode. Pop. 1600. It contains an Evangelical church, a celebrated gymnasium, once a monasterial school, with a fine library, and manufactures of parquet-flooring, paper and plaster of Paris, while another industry in the town is brewing. It is also of some repute as a health resort.

Ilfeld, as a town, dates from the 14th century, when it sprang up round a Benedictine monastery. Founded about 1190 this latter was reformed in 1545, and a year later converted into the school mentioned above, which under the rectorship of Michael Neander (1525-1595) enjoyed a reputation for scholarship which it has maintained until to-day.

See Förstemann, _Monumenta rerum Ilfeldensium_ (Nordhausen, 1843); M.
Neander, _Bericht vom Kloster Ilfeld_, edited by Bouterwek (Göttingen,
1873); and K. Meyer, _Geschichte des Klosters Ilfeld_ (Leipzig, 1897).

ILFORD [GREAT ILFORD], an urban district in the Romford parliamentary division of Essex, England, on the Roding, 7 m. E.N.E. of London by the Great Eastern railway. Pop. (1891) 10,913, (1901) 41,234. A portion of Hainault Forest lies within the parish. The hospital of St Mary and St Thomas, founded in the 12th century as a leper hospital, now contains almshouses and a chapel, and belongs to the marquess of Salisbury, who as "Master" is required to maintain a chaplain and six aged inmates. The chapel appears to be of the date of this foundation. Claybury Hall is a lunatic asylum (1893) of the London County Council. There are large photographic material works and paper mills. LITTLE ILFORD is a parish on the opposite (west) side of the Roding. The church of St Mary retains Norman portions, and has a curious monumental brass commemorating a boy in school-going clothes (1517). Pop. (1901) 17,915.

ILFRACOMBE, a seaport and watering-place in the Barnstaple parliamentary division of Devonshire, England, on the Bristol Channel, 225 m. W. by S. of London by the London & South-Western railway. Pop. of urban district (1901) 8557. The picturesque old town, built on the cliffs above its harbour, consists of one street stretching for about a mile through a network of lanes. Behind it rise the terraces of a more modern town, commanding a fine view across the Channel. With its beautiful scenery and temperate climate, Ilfracombe is frequented by visitors both in summer and winter. Grand rugged cliffs line the coast; while, inland, the country is celebrated for the rich colouring of its woods and glens. Wooded heights form a semicircle round the town, which is protected from sea winds by Capstone Hill. Along the inner face of this rock has been cut the Victoria Promenade, a long walk roofed with glass and used for concerts. The restored church of Holy Trinity dates originally from the 12th century. Sea-bathing is insecure, and is confined to a few small coves, approached by tunnels hewn through the rock. The harbour, a natural recess among the cliffs, is sheltered on the east by Hilsborough Head, where there are some alleged Celtic remains; on the west by Lantern Hill, where the ancient chapel of St Nicholas has been transformed into a lighthouse. In summer, passenger steamers run to and from Ilfracombe pier; but the shipping trade generally has declined, though herring fisheries are carried on with success. In the latter part of the 13th century Ilfracombe obtained a grant for holding a fair and market, and in the reign of Edward III. it was a place of such importance as to supply him with six ships and ninety-six men for his armament against Calais. During the Civil War, being garrisoned for the Roundheads, it was in 1644 captured by the Royalists, but in 1646 it fell into the hands of Fairfax.

ILHAVO, a seaport in the district of Aveiro, formerly included in the province of Beira, Portugal, 3 m. S.W. of Aveiro (q.v.), on the lagoon of Aveiro, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean. Pop. (1900) 12,617. Ilhavo is inhabited chiefly by fishermen, but has a celebrated manufactory of glass and porcelain, the Vista-Alegre, at which the art of glass-cutting has reached a high degree of perfection. Salt is largely exported. Ilhavo is celebrated for the beauty of its women. It is said to have been founded by Greek colonists about 400 B.C., but this tradition is of doubtful validity.

ILI, one of the principal rivers of Central Asia, in the Russian province of Semiryechensk. The head-stream, called the Tekez, rises at an altitude of 11,600 ft. E. of Lake Issyk-kul, in 82° 25´ E. and 43° 23´ N., on the W. slopes of mount Kash-katur. At first it flows eastward and north-eastward, until, after emerging from the mountains, it meets the Kungez, and then, assuming the name of Ili, it turns westwards and flows between the Trans-Ili Ala-tau mountains on the south and the Boro-khoro and Talki ranges on the north for about 300 m. to Iliysk. The valley between 79° 30´ and 82° E. is 50 m. wide, and the portion above the town of Kulja (Old Kulja) is fertile and populous, Taranchi villages following each other in rapid succession, and the pastures being well stocked with sheep and cattle and horses. At Iliysk the river turns north-west, and after traversing a region of desert and marsh falls by at least seven mouths into the Balkash Lake, the first bifurcation of the delta taking place about 115 m. up the river. But it is only the southern arm of the delta that permanently carries water. The total length of the river is over 900 m. From Old Kulja to New Kulja the Ili is navigable for at most only two and a half months in the year, and even then considerable difficulty is occasioned by the shoals and sandbanks. From New Kulja to Iliysk (280 m.) navigation is easy when the water is high, and practicable even at its lowest for small boats. At Iliysk there is a ferry on the road from Kopal to Vyernyi. The principal tributaries of the Ili are the Kash, Chilik and Charyn. A vast number of streams flow towards it from the mountains on both sides, but most of them are used up by the irrigation canals and never reach their goal. The wealth of coal in the valley is said to be great, and when the Chinese owned the country they worked gold and silver with profit. Fort Ili or Iliysk, a modern Russian establishment, must not be confounded with Ili, the old capital of the Chinese province of the same name. The latter, otherwise known as Hoi-yuan-chen, New Kulja (Gulja), or Manchu Kulja, was formerly a city of 70,000 inhabitants, but now lies completely deserted. Old Kulja, Tatar Kulja or Nin-yuan, is now the principal town of the district. The Chinese district of Ili formerly included the whole of the valley of the Ili river as far as Issyk-kul, but now only its upper part. Its present area is about 27,000 sq. m. and its population probably 70,000. It belongs administratively to the province of Sin-kiang or East Turkestan. (See KULJA.)

ILION, a village of Herkimer county, New York, U.S.A., about 12 m. S.E. of Utica, on the S. bank of the Mohawk river. Pop. (1890) 4057; (1900) 5138 (755 foreign-born); (1905, state census) 5924; (1910) 6588. It is served by the New York Central & Hudson river, and the West Shore railways, by the Utica & Mohawk Valley Electric railroad, and by the Erie canal. It has a public library (1868) of about 13,500 volumes, a public hospital and a village hall. The village owns its water-works and its electric-lighting plant. Its principal manufactures are Remington typewriters and Remington fire-arms (notably the Remington rifle); other manufactures are filing cabinets and cases and library and office furniture (the Clark & Baker Co.), knit goods, carriages and harness, and store fixtures. In 1828 Eliphalet Remington (1793-1861) established here a small factory for the manufacture of rifles. He invented, and, with the assistance of his sons, Philo (1816-1889), Samuel and Eliphalet, improved the famous Remington rifle, which was adopted by several European governments, and was supplied in large numbers to the United States army. In 1856 the company added the manufacture of farming tools, in 1870 sewing-machines, and in 1874 typewriters. The last-named industry was sold to the Wyckoff, Seamans & Benedict Company in 1886, and soon afterwards, on the failure of the original Remington company, the fire-arms factory was bought by a New York City firm. A store was established on the present site of Ilion as early as 1816, but the village really dates from the completion of the Erie canal in 1825. On the canal list it was called Steele's Creek, but it was also known as Morgan's Landing, and from 1830 to 1843 as Remington's Corners. The post-office, which was established in 1845, was named Remington, in honour of Eliphalet Remington; but later the present name was adopted. The village was incorporated in 1852. Ilion is a part of the township of German Flats (pop. in 1900, 8663; in 1910, 10,160), settled by Palatinate Germans about 1725. The township was the scene of several Indian raids during the French and Indian War and the War of Independence. Here General Herkimer began his advance to raise the siege of Fort Schuyler (1777), and subsequently Ilion was the rendezvous of Benedict Arnold's force during the same campaign.

ILKESTON, a market town and municipal borough, in the Ilkeston parliamentary division of Derbyshire, England, 9 m. E.N.E. of Derby, on the Midland and the Great Northern railways. Pop. (1891) 19,744, (1901) 25,384. It is situated on a hill commanding fine views of the Erewash valley. The church of St Mary is Norman and Early English, and has a fine chancel screen dating from the later part of the 13th century. The manufactures of the town are principally hosiery and lace, and various kinds of stoneware. Coal and iron are wrought in the neighbourhood. An alkaline mineral spring, resembling the seltzer water of Germany, was discovered in 1830, and baths were then erected, which, however, were subsequently closed. The town, which is very ancient, being mentioned in Domesday, obtained a grant for a market and fair in 1251, and received its charter of incorporation in 1887. It is governed by a mayor, 6 aldermen and 18 councillors. Area, 2526 acres.

ILKLEY, an urban district in the Otley parliamentary division of the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, 16 m. N.W. from Leeds, on the Midland and the North-Eastern railways. Pop. of urban district (1901) 7455. It is beautifully situated in the upper part of the valley of the Wharfe, and owing to the fine scenery of the neighbourhood, and to the bracing air of the high moorlands above the valley, has become a favourite health resort. Here and at Ben Rhydding, 1 m. E., are several hydropathic establishments. The church of All Saints is in the main Decorated, largely restored in 1860. Three ancient sculptured crosses are preserved in the churchyard. The institutions include a museum of local antiquities, a grammar school, the Siemens Convalescent Home and the Ilkley Bath Charitable Institution. The fine remains of Bolton Abbey lie in the Wharfe valley, 5 m. above Ilkley. Ilkley has been identified with the _Olicana_ of Ptolemy, one of the towns of the British tribe of the Brigantes. There was a Roman fort near the present church of All Saints, and the site has yielded inscriptions and other small remains. Numerous relics are preserved in the museum.

ILL, a river of Germany, entirely within the imperial territory of Alsace-Lorraine. It rises on a north foothill of the Jura, S.W. of Basel, and flows N.N.E. parallel with the Rhine, which it enters from the left, 9 m. below Strassburg. Its course lies for the most part through low meadowland; and the stream, which is 123 m. long, receives numerous small affluents, which pour out of the short narrow valleys of the Vosges. It is navigable from Ladhof near Colmar to its confluence with the Rhine, a distance of 59 m. It is on this river, and not on the Rhine, that the principal towns of Upper Alsace are situated, e.g. Mülhausen, Colmarl, Schlettstadt and Strassburg. The Ill feeds two important canals, the Rhine-Marne canal and the Rhine-Rhone canal, both starting from the neighbourhood of Strassburg.

ILLAWARRA, a beautiful and fertile district of New South Wales, Australia, extending from a point 33 m. S. of Sydney, along the coast southwards for 40 m. to Shoalhaven. It is thickly populated, and supplies Sydney with the greater part of its dairy produce. There are also numerous collieries, producing coal of superior quality, and iron ore, fireclay and freestone are plentiful. The Illawarra Lake, a salt lagoon, 9 m. long and 3 m. wide, is encircled by hills and is connected with the sea by a narrow channel; quantities of fish are caught in it and wild fowl are abundant along its shores. The chief towns in the district are Wollongong, Kiama, Clifton and Shellharbour.

ILLE-ET-VILAINE, a maritime department of north-western France, formed in 1790 out of the eastern part of the old province of Brittany. Pop. (1906) 611,805. Area 2699 sq. m. It is bounded N. by the English Channel, the Bay of St Michel and the department of Manche; E. by Mayenne; S. by Loire-Inférieure; and W. by Morbihan and Côtes-du-Nord. The territory of Ille-et-Vilaine constitutes a depression bordered by hills which reach their maximum altitudes (over 800 ft.) in the N.E. and W. of the department. The centre of this depression, which separates the hills of Brittany from those of Normandy, is occupied by Rennes, capital of the department and an important junction of roads, rivers and railways. The department takes its name from its two principal rivers, the Ille and the Vilaine. The former joins the Vilaine at Rennes after a course of 18 m. through the centre of the department; and the latter, which rises in Mayenne, flows westwards as far as Rennes, where it turns abruptly south. The stream is tidal up to the port of Redon, and is navigable for barges as far as Rennes. The Vilaine receives the Meu and the Seiche, which are both navigable. There are two other navigable streams, the Airon and the Rance, the long estuary of which falls almost entirely within the department. The Ille-et-Rance canal connects the town of Rennes with those of Dinan and St Malo. The greater portion of the shore of the Bay of St Michel is covered by the Marsh of Dol, valuable agricultural land, which is protected from the inroads of the sea by dykes. Towards the open channel the coast is rocky. Small lakes are frequent in the interior of the department. The climate is temperate, humid and free from sudden changes. The south-west winds, while they keep the temperature mild, also bring frequent showers, and in spring and autumn thick fogs prevail. The soil is thin and not very fertile, but has been improved by the use of artificial manure. Cereals of all kinds are grown, but the principal are wheat, buckwheat, oats and barley. Potatoes, early vegetables, flax and hemp are also largely grown, and tobacco is cultivated in the arrondissement of St Malo. Apples and pears are the principal fruit, and the cider of the canton of Dol has a high reputation. Cheese is made in considerable quantities, and the butter of Rennes is amongst the best in France. Large numbers of horses and cattle are raised. Mines of iron, lead and zinc (Pont-Péan) and quarries of slate, granite, &c., are worked. There are flour and saw-mills, brick works, boat-building yards, iron and copper foundries and forges, dyeworks, and a widespread tanning industry. Sail-cloth, rope, pottery, boots and shoes (Fougères), edge-tools, nails, farming implements, paper and furniture are also among the products of the department. The chief ports are St Malo and St Servan. Fishing is very active on the coast, and St Malo, St Servan and Cancale equip fleets for the Newfoundland cod-banks. There are also important oyster-fisheries in the Bay of St Michel, especially at Cancale. The little town of Dinard is well known as a fashionable bathing-resort. Exports include agricultural products, butter, mine-posts and dried fish; imports, live-stock, coal, timber, building materials and American wheat. The department is served by the Western railway, and has over 130 m. of navigable waterway. The population is of less distinctively Celtic origin than the Bretons of Western Brittany, between whom and the Normans and Angevins it forms a transitional group. Ille-et-Vilaine is divided into the arrondissements of Fougères, St Malo, Montfort-sur-Meu, Redon, Rennes and Vitré, with 43 cantons and 360 communes. The chief town is Rennes, which is the seat of an archbishop and of a court of appeal, headquarters of the X. army corps, and the centre of an académie (educational division).

In addition to the capital, Fougères, St Malo, St Servan, Redon, Vitré, Dol, Dinard and Cancale are the towns of chief importance and are separately noticed. At Combourg there is a picturesque château of the 14th and 15th centuries where Chateaubriand passed a portion of his early life. St Aubin-du-Cormier has the ruins of an important feudal fortress of the 13th century built by the dukes of Brittany for the protection of their eastern frontier. Montfort-sur-Meu has a cylindrical keep of the 15th century which is a survival of its old ramparts.

ILLEGITIMACY (from "illegitimate," Lat. _illegitimus_, not in accordance with law, hence born out of lawful wedlock), the state of being of illegitimate birth. The law dealing with the legitimation of children born out of wedlock will be found under LEGITIMACY AND LEGITIMATION. How far the prevalence of illegitimacy in any community can be taken as a guide to the morality of that community is a much disputed question. The phenomenon itself varies so much in different localities, even in localities where the same factors seem to prevail, that affirmative conclusions are for the most part impossible to draw. In the United Kingdom, where the figures differ considerably for the three countries--England, Scotland, Ireland--the reasons that might be assigned for the differences are negatived if applied on the same lines, as they might well be, to certain other countries. Then again, racial, climatic and social differences must be allowed for, and the influence of legislation is to be taken into account. The fact that in some countries marriage is forbidden until a man has completed his military service, in another, that consent of parents is requisite, in another, that "once a bastard always a bastard" is the rule, while in yet another that the merest of subsequent formalities will legitimize the offspring, must account in some degree for variations in figures.

TABLE I.--_Illegitimate Births per 1000 Births (excluding
still-born)._

+------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| |1876-|1881-|1886-|1891-|1896-|1901-|
| |1880.|1885.|1890.|1895.|1900.|1905.|
+------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| England and Wales| 48 | 48 | 46 | 42 | 41 | 40 |
| Scotland | 85 | 83 | 81 | 74 | 68 | 64 |
| Ireland | 24 | 27 | 28 | 36 | 36 | 26 |
| Denmark | 101 | 100 | 95 | 94 | 96 | 101 |
| Norway | 84 | 81 | 75 | 71 | 74 | .. |
| Sweden | 100 | 102 | 103 | 105 | 113 | .. |
| Finland | 73 | 70 | 65 | 65 | 66 | .. |
| Russia | 28 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 27 | .. |
| Austria | 138 | 145 | 147 | 146 | 141 | .. |
| Hungary | 73 | 79 | 82 | 85 | 90 | 94 |
| Switzerland | 47 | 48 | 47 | 46 | 45 | .. |
| Germany | 87 | 92 | 92 | 91 | 90 | 84 |
| Netherlands | 31 | 30 | 32 | 31 | 27 | 23 |
| Belgium | 74 | 82 | 87 | 88 | 80 | 68 |
| France | 72 | 78 | 83 | 87 | 88 | 88 |
| Portugal | .. | .. | 123 | 122 | 121 | .. |
| Spain | .. | .. | .. | .. | 49 | 44 |
| Italy | 72 | 76 | 74 | 69 | 62 | 56 |
| New South Wales | 42 | 44 | 49 | 60 | 69 | 70 |
| Victoria | 43 | 46 | 49 | 60 | 69 | 70 |
| Queensland | 39 | 41 | 44 | 48 | 59 | 65 |
| South Australia | .. | 22 | 25 | 30 | 38 | 41 |
| West Australia | .. | .. | .. | 48 | 51 | 42 |
| Tasmania | .. | 44 | 38 | 46 | 57 | .. |
| New Zealand | 23 | 29 | 32 | 38 | 44 | 45 |
+------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+

Table I. gives the number of illegitimate births per 1000 births in various countries of the world for quinquennial periods. It is to be noted that still-born births are excluded, as in the United Kingdom (contrary to the practice prevailing in most European countries) registration of such births is not compulsory. The United States is omitted, as there is no national system of registration of births.

This method of measuring illegitimacy by ascertaining the proportion of illegitimate births in every thousand births is a fairly accurate one, but there is another valuable one which is often applied, that of comparing the number of illegitimate births with each thousand unmarried females at the child-bearing age the "corrected" rate as opposed to the "crude," as it is usually termed. This is given for certain countries in Table II.

TABLE II.--_Illegitimate Births to 1000 Unmarried and Widowed Females,
aged 15-49 years._

+------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+----------+
| Country. |1846-55.|1856-65.|1866-75.|1876-85.|1886-95.|1896-1905.|
+------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+----------+
| England and Wales| 17 | 18 | 16 | 13 | 10 | 8 |
| Scotland | .. | 22 | 23 | 20 | 17 | 13 |
| Ireland | .. | .. | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 |
| Denmark | .. | 28 | 27 | 26 | 24 | 23 |
| Sweden | 20 | 22 | 23 | 22 | 22 | .. |
| Germany | .. | .. | .. | 28 | 27 | 26 |
| Netherlands | .. | .. | 10 | 9 | 9 | 6 |
| Belgium | 16 | 16 | 17 | 19 | 17 | 17 |
| France | 15 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| Italy | .. | .. | .. | 24 | 24 | 19 |
+------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+----------+

The generally accepted idea that the inhabitants of the warmer countries of the south of Europe are more ardent in temperament has at least no support as shown in the figures in Table I., where we find a higher rate of illegitimacy in Sweden and Denmark than in Spain or Italy. Religion, however, must be taken into account as having a strong influence in preventing unchastity, though it cannot be concluded that any particular creed is more powerful in this direction than another; for example, the figures for Austria and Ireland are very different. It cannot be said, either, that figures bear out the statement that where there is a high rate of illegitimacy there is little prostitution. It is more probable that in a country where the standard of living is low, and early marriages are the rule, the illegitimate birth-rate will be low. As regards England and Wales, the illegitimate birth-rate has been steadily declining for many years, not only in actual numbers, but also in proportion to the population.

TABLE III.--_England and Wales._

+------+--------------+-------------+--------------+
| | Illegitimate | Proportion | Illegitimate |
| Year.| Births. | to 1000 of | Births in |
| | | population. | 1000 Births. |
+------+--------------+-------------+--------------+
| 1860 | 43,693 | 2.2 | 64 |
| 1865 | 46,585 | 2.2 | 62 |
| 1870 | 44,737 | 2.0 | 56 |
| 1875 | 40,813 | 1.7 | 48 |
| 1880 | 42,542 | 1.6 | 48 |
| 1885 | 42,793 | 1.6 | 48 |
| 1890 | 38,412 | 1.3 | 44 |
| 1895 | 38,836 | 1.3 | 42 |
| 1900 | 36,814 | 1.1 | 40 |
| 1905 | 37,515 | 1.1 | 40 |
| 1907 | 36,189 | 1.0 | 39 |
+------+--------------+-------------+--------------+

The corrected rate bears out the result shown in Table III as follows:

TABLE IV.--_England and Wales. Illegitimate Birth-rate calculated on
the Unmarried and Widowed Female Population, aged 15-45 years._

+-----------+----------------+--------------------+
| | | Compared with |
| | Rate per 1000. | rate in 1876-1880, |
| | | taken as 100. |
+-----------+----------------+--------------------+
| 1876-1880 | 14.4 | 100.0 |
| 1881-1885 | 13.5 | 93.8 |
| 1886-1890 | 11.8 | 81.9 |
| 1891-1895 | 10.1 | 70.1 |
| 1896-1900 | 9.2 | 63.9 |
| 1901-1905 | 8.4 | 58.3 |
| 1906 | 8.1 | 56.3 |
| 1907 | 7.8 | 54.2 |
+-----------+----------------+--------------------+

TABLE V.--_England and Wales. Illegitimate Births to 1000 Births._

+----------------+------------+-------+
| | Ten years | 1907. |
| | 1897-1906. | |
+----------------+------------+-------+
| Bedford | 49 | 53 |
| Berks | 47 | 48 |
| Bucks | 40 | 44 |
| Cambridge | 48 | 53 |
| Chester | 41 | 39 |
| Cornwall | 50 | 48 |
| Cumberland | 61 | 58 |
| Derby | 41 | 41 |
| Devon | 39 | 39 |
| Dorset | 40 | 37 |
| Durham | 34 | 37 |
| Essex | 28 | 27 |
| Gloucester | 36 | 36 |
| Hants | 40 | 36 |
| Hereford | 66 | 66 |
| Hertford | 40 | 42 |
| Huntingdon | 49 | 46 |
| Kent | 40 | 41 |
| Lancashire | 38 | 37 |
| Leicestershire | 40 | 39 |
| Lincolnshire | 55 | 54 |
| London | 37 | 38 |
| Middlesex | 30 | 28 |
| Monmouth | 29 | 27 |
| Norfolk | 62 | 65 |
| Northampton | 41 | 42 |
| Northumberland | 39 | 38 |
| Nottingham | 50 | 49 |
| Oxford | 53 | 56 |
| Rutland | 46 | 70 |
| Shropshire | 64 | 61 |
| Somerset | 37 | 35 |
| Stafford | 40 | 38 |
| Suffolk | 56 | 62 |
| Surrey | 38 | 37 |
| Sussex | 52 | 52 |
| Warwick | 32 | 30 |
| Westmorland | 61 | 62 |
| Wilts | 41 | 42 |
| Worcester | 37 | 38 |
| Yorks-- | | |
| E. Riding | 52 | 49 |
| N. " | 53 | 45 |
| W. " | 43 | 41 |
| | | |
| Anglesey | 81 | 75 |
| Brecon | 44 | 40 |
| Cardigan | 64 | 61 |
| Carmarthen | 37 | 41 |
| Carnarvon | 60 | 72 |
| Denbigh | 49 | 47 |
| Flint | 42 | 42 |
| Glamorgan | 26 | 26 |
| Merioneth | 71 | 77 |
| Montgomery | 76 | 73 |
| Pembroke | 52 | 47 |
| Radnor | 66 | 67 |
+----------------+------------+-------+

TABLE VI.--_Annual Illegitimate Birth-rates in each Registration
County of England and Wales, 1970-1907._

+---------------+-----------------------------------------+--------------+
| | Illegitimate Births to 1000 Unmarried | Decrease per |
| | and Widowed Females aged 15-45 years. | cent in each |
| Registration +-----------------------------+-----------+ County |
| Counties. | Three-year Periods. | Years. | between |
| +-----------------------------+-----------+ the period |
| |1870-|1880-|1890-|1900-|1903-|1906.|1907.| 1870-1872 |
| |1872.|1882.|1892.|1902.|1905.| | | and 1907. |
+---------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+--------------+
| England | | | | | | | | |
| and Wales |17.0 |14.1 |10.5 | 8.5 | 8.3 | 8.1 | 7.8 | 54.1 |
| London |10.3 | 9.8 | 8.1 | 6.9 | 6.9 | 6.8 | 6.4 | 37.9 |
| Bedford |21.1 |18.0 |11.2 | 8.4 | 8.0 | 8.2 | 8.7 | 58.8 |
| Berks |16.8 |13.4 |10.3 | 8.7 | 8.6 | 8.1 | 8.4 | 50.0 |
| Bucks |19.0 |16.5 |12.6 | 9.1 | 8.9 | 7.3 | 8.8 | 53.7 |
| Cambridge |19.3 |15.6 |12.4 | 9.6 |10.1 | 9.7 |10.4 | 46.1 |
| Chester |17.5 |14.2 |10.3 | 7.7 | 7.3 | 7.2 | 6.9 | 60.6 |
| Cornwall |16.5 |14.8 |11.2 | 8.6 | 8.1 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 54.5 |
| Cumberland |29.2 |23.9 |18.6 |12.3 |12.3 |12.3 |11.0 | 62.3 |
| Derby |22.5 |17.7 |12.8 |10.0 |10.0 |10.0 | 9.4 | 58.2 |
| Devon |14.0 |10.6 | 8.1 | 6.7 | 6.5 | 6.7 | 6.1 | 56.4 |
| Dorset |14.2 |13.1 | 9.6 | 7.2 | 7.2 | 8.1 | 6.4 | 54.9 |
| Durham |24.0 |18.0 |13.8 |11.1 |11.1 |10.8 |11.6 | 51.7 |
| Essex |16.2 |12.7 | 9.1 | 7.3 | 7.1 | 6.7 | 6.4 | 60.5 |
| Gloucester |12.9 |11.6 | 8.2 | 6.3 | 6.1 | 6.8 | 5.8 | 55.0 |
| Hants |13.6 |11.8 | 8.5 | 7.3 | 7.1 | 6.9 | 6.4 | 52.9 |
| Hereford |21.4 |19.0 |13.4 |11.2 |11.5 |10.3 |11.0 | 48.6 |
| Hertford |18.4 |15.3 |10.4 | 7.0 | 7.2 | 6.6 | 7.5 | 59.2 |
| Huntingdon |19.8 |14.0 |12.9 |10.9 | 9.7 | 9.7 | 9.7 | 51.0 |
| Kent |14.7 |12.1 | 9.3 | 7.5 | 7.6 | 7.5 | 7.2 | 51.0 |
| Lancashire |16.2 |13.6 |10.2 | 7.9 | 7.8 | 7.5 | 7.2 | 55.6 |
| Leicestershire|19.9 |16.1 |11.4 | 8.6 | 7.9 | 7.5 | 7.3 | 63.3 |
| Lincolnshire |22.3 |18.5 |14.2 |12.2 |12.1 |12.7 |11.9 | 46.6 |
| Middlesex | 9.4 | 9.4 | 6.5 | 5.9 | 6.0 | 6.1 | 5.7 | 39.4 |
| Monmouth |18.6 |15.9 |11.3 |10.2 | 9.1 | 9.6 | 9.3 | 50.0 |
| Norfolk |27.3 |22.6 |16.7 |13.4 |13.4 |12.5 |12.8 | 53.1 |
| Northampton |18.7 |15.9 |11.7 | 9.1 | 8.8 | 9.0 | 7.7 | 58.8 |
| Northumberland|21.1 |17.9 |12.4 |10.2 |10.0 |10.4 | 9.3 | 55.9 |
| Nottingham |24.5 |21.7 |15.4 |13.7 |12.6 |12.0 |11.9 | 51.4 |
| Oxford |19.0 |15.4 |10.4 | 9.0 | 9.1 | 9.3 | 9.2 | 51.6 |
| Rutland |18.1 |12.7 | 7.9 | 7.2 | 6.8 | 9.0 |11.4 | 37.0 |
| Salop |28.2 |21.8 |16.6 |12.8 |13.4 |13.0 |11.8 | 58.2 |
| Somerset |13.3 |11.3 | 7.4 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 5.4 | 5.5 | 58.6 |
| Stafford |24.6 |19.4 |14.5 |11.2 |11.4 |10.9 |10.1 | 58.9 |
| Suffolk |22.0 |17.8 |14.0 |12.0 |11.7 |12.4 |12.5 | 43.2 |
| Surrey | 9.5 | 8.5 | 6.6 | 5.9 | 5.7 | 5.9 | 5.7 | 40.0 |
| Sussex |13.7 |11.5 | 8.7 | 7.2 | 7.0 | 6.5 | 6.4 | 53.3 |
| Warwick |14.9 |13.2 | 9.7 | 7.6 | 7.5 | 6.6 | 6.8 | 54.4 |
| Westmorland |21.9 |17.9 |13.1 | 8.6 | 9.1 | 8.5 | 7.8 | 64.4 |
| Wilts |17.1 |14.7 |10.3 | 9.2 | 8.7 | 8.6 | 9.3 | 45.6 |
| Worcester |16.3 |13.7 | 9.2 | 7.2 | 6.8 | 6.6 | 6.6 | 59.5 |
| Yorks-- | | | | | | | | |
| E. Riding |23.0 |18.2 |14.3 |12.2 |11.7 |12.2 |10.6 | 53.9 |
| N. Riding |27.7 |20.2 |15.4 |12.1 |11.6 |11.9 |10.2 | 63.2 |
| W. Riding |20.4 |16.1 |11.4 | 9.4 | 9.2 | 8.8 | 8.1 | 60.3 |
| Anglesey |19.7 |16.7 |15.7 |16.1 |14.9 |13.3 |12.9 | 34.5 |
| Brecon |19.9 |18.0 |12.5 |10.1 | 9.2 | 9.2 | 8.3 | 58.3 |
| Cardigan |16.0 |14.8 |11.8 | 8.9 | 7.8 | 6.3 | 7.3 | 54.4 |
| Carmarthen |18.2 |13.9 | 9.4 | 7.7 | 8.2 | 7.7 | 8.9 | 51.1 |
| Carnarvon |18.3 |13.9 |12.7 |10.3 | 9.6 | 9.4 |10.5 | 42.6 |
| Denbigh |21.1 |17.6 |13.4 |12.3 |11.6 |13.5 |10.3 | 51.2 |
| Flint |18.7 |18.4 |13.1 | 9.7 |11.2 |11.9 |11.0 | 41.2 |
| Glamorgan |17.7 |13.5 |10.3 | 8.5 | 9.1 | 8.9 | 8.4 | 52.5 |
| Merioneth |24.4 |19.5 |16.4 |13.5 |13.4 |13.2 |12.7 | 48.0 |
| Montgomery |29.5 |24.3 |16.7 |13.1 |13.4 |12.6 |11.7 | 60.3 |
| Pembroke |21.6 |15.9 |12.4 | 8.9 |10.2 |10.7 | 8.4 | 61.1 |
| Radnor |41.8 |33.2 |20.1 |14.4 |13.4 | 8.3 |11.3 | 73.0 |
+---------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+--------------+

TABLE VII.--_Rate of Illegitimacy per 1000 Births._

Belfast 31 | Liverpool 54
Birmingham 35 | Manchester 28
Bradford 40 | Middlesboro' 25
Bristol 31 | Newcastle 36
Cork 18 | Nottingham 60
Dublin 28 | Portsmouth 33
Edinburgh 69 | Salford 28
Glasgow 63 | Sunderland 30
Leeds 54 |

TABLE VIII.--_Scotland 1906._

+-------+-----------+-------------+------------+---------------+
| Total |Legitimate.|Illegitimate.| Births per | Percentage of |
|Births.| | |1000 of pop.|Illegitimate to|
| | | | | Total Births. |
+-------+-----------+-------------+------------+---------------+
|132,005| 122,699 | 9306 | 27.93 | 7.05 |
+-------+--+--------+-------------+---+--------+---------------+
| | | Percentage of |
| | Illegitimate | Illegitimate |
| | Births. | to Total |
| | | Births. |
+----------+--------------------------+------------------------+
| 1860 | 9,736 | 9.22 |
| 1865 | 11,262 | 9.96 |
| 1870 | 11,108 | 9.63 |
| 1875 | 10,786 | 8.73 |
| 1880 | 10,589 | 8.50 |
| 1885 | 10,680 | 8.47 |
| 1890 | 9,241 | 7.60 |
| 1895 | 9,204 | 7.28 |
| 1900 | 8,534 | 6.49 |
| 1901 | 8,359 | 6.32 |
| 1902 | 8,300 | 6.28 |
| 1903 | 8,295 | 6.21 |
| 1904 | 9,010 | 6.79 |
| 1905 | 9,082 | 6.91 |
| 1906 | 9,306 | 7.05 |
+----------+--------------------------+------------------------+

TABLE IX.--_Scotland 1906._

+------------------+-----------------+-----------------------+
| | Illegitimate | Illegitimate Births |
| | Births. | per 1000 of Unmarried |
| +------+----------+ Women and |
| | No. | Per 1000 | Widows between |
| | | of Pop. | 15 and 45. |
+------------------+------+----------+-----------------------+
| Districts: | | | |
| Principal Town | 4318 | 7.14 | |
| Large Town | 1029 | 5.58 | |
| Small Town | 1724 | 6.23 | |
| Mainland-rural | 2099 | 9.08 | |
| Insular-rural | 136 | 5.88 | |
+------------------+------+----------+-----------------------+
| Shetland | 31 | 5.30 | 7.0 |
| Orkney | 29 | 5.99 | 7.7 |
| Caithness | 84 | 9.96 | 19.4 |
| Sutherland | 28 | 6.81 | 10.1 |
| Ross and Cromarty| 74 | 4.40 | 6.9 |
| Inverness | 145 | 8.02 | 11.5 |
| Nairn | 18 | 10.29 | 13.2 |
| Elgin (or Moray) | 169 | 15.66 | 26.3 |
| Banff | 202 | 12.93 | 25.4 |
| Aberdeen | 1083 | 12.38 | 24.2 |
| Kincardine | 93 | 8.15 | 17.0 |
| Forfar | 676 | 9.43 | 14.2 |
| Perth | 215 | 7.93 | 10.8 |
| Fife | 308 | 4.56 | 9.7 |
| Kinross | 20 | 9.95 | 22.2 |
| Clackmannan | 53 | 6.69 | 10.9 |
| Stirling | 235 | 4.91 | 13.2 |
| Dumbarton | 163 | 4.14 | 9.7 |
| Argyll | 148 | 10.07 | 12.7 |
| Bute | 30 | 8.36 | 9.2 |
| Renfrew | 410 | 4.46 | 8.5 |
| Ayr | 499 | 6.23 | 14.3 |
| Lanark | 2872 | 6.28 | 15.9 |
| Linlithgow | 99 | 3.88 | 15.4 |
| Edinburgh | 930 | 7.23 | 11.0 |
| Haddington | 66 | 5.92 | 11.8 |
| Berwick | 60 | 9.63 | 12.7 |
| Peebles | 21 | 6.18 | 7.9 |
| Selkirk | 46 | 9.13 | 11.5 |
| Roxburgh | 83 | 8.67 | 9.8 |
| Dumfries | 218 | 12.51 | 19.9 |
| Kirkcudbright | 92 | 10.71 | 15.7 |
| Wigtoun | 106 | 12.79 | 22.5 |
+------------------+------+----------+-----------------------+
| Scotland | 9306 | 7.05 | 14.1 |
+------------------+------+----------+-----------------------+

Table V. gives the illegitimate births to 1000 births in England and Wales for the ten years 1897-1906 and for the year 1907. Table VI. gives the "corrected" rate for certain three-year periods. In connexion with these tables the following extract from the Registrar-General's _Report_ for 1907 (p. xxx.) is important.

"It is difficult to explain the variations in the rates of
illegitimacy in the several counties. It may be stated generally that
the proportion of illegitimate children cannot alone serve as a
standard of morality. Broadly speaking, however, the single and
widowed women in London, in the counties south of the Thames, and in
the south-western counties have comparatively few illegitimate
children; on the other hand, the number of illegitimate children is
comparatively high in Shropshire, in Herefordshire, in Staffordshire,
in Nottinghamshire, in Cumberland, in North Wales, and also in nearly
all the counties on the eastern seaboard, viz. Suffolk, Norfolk,
Lincolnshire, the East and North Ridings of Yorkshire, and Durham. In
the Registrar-General's Report for the year 1851 it was assumed that
there was an indirect connexion between female illiteracy and
illegitimacy. This may have been the case in the middle of the last
century, but there is no conclusive evidence that such is the case at
the present day. The proportions of illegitimacy and the proportions
of married women who signed the marriage register by mark are
relatively high in Staffordshire, in North Wales, in Durham and in the
North Riding of Yorkshire; on the other hand, in Norfolk, in Suffolk
and in Lincolnshire there is a comparatively high proportion of
illegitimacy and a low proportion of illiteracy."

TABLE X.--_Ireland. Proportion per cent of Illegitimate Births._

+------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| |1903.|1904.|1905.|1906.|1907.|
+------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| Ireland | 2.6 | 2.5 | 2.6 | 2.6 | 2.5 |
| +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| Leinster | 2.6 | 2.6 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 |
| Munster | 2.3 | 2.2 | 2.3 | 2.2 | 2.1 |
| Ulster | 3.3 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.3 |
| Connaught | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.6 |
+------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+

TABLE XI.--_Ireland 1907._

+----------------------------------+------------+-------------+
| | No. of | Per cent of |
| County. |Illegitimate|Total Births.|
| | Births. | |
+----------------------------------+------------+-------------+
| Leinster-- | | |
| Carlow | 27 | 3.56 |
| Dublin | 34 | 1.15 |
| Dublin Co. Borough | 314 | 3.29 |
| Kildare | 22 | 1.46 |
| Kilkenny | 54 | 3.29 |
| King's | 24 | 2.07 |
| Longford | 11 | 1.23 |
| Louth | 27 | 2.01 |
| Meath | 30 | 2.27 |
| Queen's | 18 | 1.70 |
| Westmeath | 19 | 1.57 |
| Wexford | 89 | 4.11 |
| Wicklow | 37 | 2.91 |
| Munster-- | | |
| Clare | 23 | 1.04 |
| Cork Co. and Co. Borough | 151 | 1.69 |
| Kerry | 51 | 1.34 |
| Limerick Co. and Co. Borough | 107 | 3.14 |
| Tipperary N.R. | 19 | 1.49 |
| Tipperary S.R. | 66 | 3.32 |
| Waterford Co. and Co. Borough | 68 | 3.69 |
| Ulster-- | | |
| Antrim | 230 | 5.08 |
| Armagh | 99 | 3.49 |
| Belfast Co. Borough | 355 | 3.13 |
| Cavan | 27 | 1.54 |
| Donegal | 54 | 1.36 |
| Fermanagh | 41 | 3.15 |
| Londonderry Co. and Borough | 145 | 4.35 |
| Monaghan | 24 | 1.55 |
| Tyrone | 116 | 3.80 |
| Connaught-- | | |
| Galway | 32 | .80 |
| Leitrim | 10 | .77 |
| Mayo | 21 | .45 |
| Roscommon | 9 | .50 |
| Sligo | 9 | .52 |
+----------------------------------+------------+-------------+
| Leinster | 716 | 2.67 |
| Munster | 495 | 2.11 |
| Ulster | 1272 | 3.32 |
| Connaught | 81 | .60 |
| +------------+ |
| | 2564 | |
+----------------------------------+------------+-------------+

This latter conclusion may be carried further by saying that in those European countries where elementary education is most common, the rate of illegitimacy is high, and that it is low in the more illiterate parts, e.g. Ireland and Brittany.

It has been said that one of the contributory causes of illegitimacy is the contamination of great cities; statistics, however, disprove this, there being more illegitimacy in the rural districts. Table VII. gives the rate of illegitimacy in some of the principal towns of the United Kingdom.

That poverty is a determining factor in causing illegitimacy the following figures, giving the rate of illegitimacy in the poorest parts of London and in certain well-to-do parts, clearly disprove:--

_Rate of Illegitimacy per 1000 Births._

+--------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| London. | 1901. | 1903. | 1905. | 1907. |
+--------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| Stepney | 12 | 9 | 18 | 10 |
| Bethnal Green | 13 | 15 | 13 | 11 |
| Mile End Old Town | 15 | 13 | 16 | 15 |
| Whitechapel | 22 | 24 | 19 | 19 |
| +-------+-------+-------+-------+
| St George's, Hanover Sq. | 40 | 45 | 45 | 45 |
| Kensington | 48 | 44 | 49 | 54 |
| Fulham | 43 | 42 | 45 | 40 |
| Marylebone | 182 | 186 | 198 | 182 |
+--------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+

Tables VIII. and IX. give the rate of illegitimacy for the various counties of Scotland, and Table X. the rate for Ireland.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--The Annual _Reports_ of the Registrars-General for
England, Scotland and Ireland; statistical returns of foreign
countries; A. Leffingwell, _Illegitimacy and the Influence of the
Seasons upon Conduct_ (1892). (T. A. I.)

ILLER, a river of Bavaria, rising in the south-west extremity of the kingdom, among the Algäuer Alps. Taking a northerly course, it quits the mountains at Immenstadt, and, flowing by Kempten, from which point it is navigable for rafts, forms for some distance the boundary between Bavaria and Württemberg, and eventually strikes the Danube (right bank) just above Ulm. Its total length is 103 m.

ILLINOIS, a North Central state of the United States of America, situated between 37° and 42° 30´ N. lat. and 87° 35´ and 91° 40´ W. long. It is bounded N. by Wisconsin, E. by Lake Michigan and Indiana, S.E. and S. by the Ohio river, which separates it from Kentucky, and S.W. and W. by the Mississippi river, which separates it from Missouri and Iowa. The Enabling Act of Congress, which provided for the organization of Illinois Territory into a state, extended its jurisdiction to the middle of Lake Michigan and the Mississippi river; consequently the total area of the state is 58,329 sq. m., of which 2337 sq. m. are water surface, though the official figures of the United States Geological Survey, which does not take into account this extension of jurisdiction, are 56,665 sq. m.

_Physiography._--Physiographically, the state (except the extreme
southern point) lies wholly in the Prairie Plains region. The N.E.
corner is by some placed in the "Great Lakes District." The southern
point touches the Coastal Plain Belt at its northward extension called
the "Mississippi Embayment." The surface of Illinois is an inclined
plane, whose general slope is toward the S. and S.W. The average
elevation above sea-level is about 600 ft.; the highest elevation is
Charles Mound (1257 ft.), on the Illinois-Wisconsin boundary line, one
of a chain of hills that crosses Jo Daviess, Stephenson, Winnebago,
Boone and McHenry counties. An elevation from 6 to 10 m. wide crosses
the southern part of the state from Grand Tower, in Jackson county, on
the Mississippi to Shawneetown, in Gallatin county, on the Ohio, the
highest point being 1047 ft. above the sea; from Grand Tower N. along
the Mississippi to the mouth of the Illinois there is a slight
elevation and there is another elevation of minor importance along the
Wabash. Many of the river bluffs rise to an unusual height, Starved
Rock, near Ottawa, in La Salle county, being 150 ft. above the bed of
the Illinois river. Cave in Rock, on the Ohio, in Hardin county, was
once the resort of river pirates. The country S. of the elevation
(mentioned above) between Grand Tower and Shawneetown was originally
covered with forests.

The drainage of Illinois is far better than its low elevation and
comparatively level surface would suggest. There are more than 275
streams in the state, grouped in two river systems, one having the
Mississippi, which receives three-fourths of the waters of Illinois,
as outlet, the other being tributary to the Wabash or Ohio rivers. The
most important river is the Illinois, which, formed by the junction of
the Des Plaines and the Kankakee, in the N.E. part of Grundy county,
crosses the N. central and W. portions of the state, draining 24,726
sq. m. At some points, notably at Lake Peoria, it broadens into vast
expanses resembling lakes. The Kaskaskia, in the S., notable for its
variations in volume, and the Rock, in the N., are the other important
rivers emptying into the Mississippi; the Embarrass and Little Wabash,
the Saline and Cache in the E., are the important tributaries of the
Wabash and Ohio rivers. The Chicago river, a short stream 1 m. long,
formed by the union of its N. and S. branches, naturally flowed into
Lake Michigan, but by the construction of the Chicago Drainage Canal
its waters were turned in 1900 so that they ultimately flow into the
Mississippi.

The soil of Illinois is remarkable for its fertility. The surface
soils are composed of drift deposits, varying from 10 to 200 ft. in
depth; they are often overlaid with a black loam 10 to 15 in. deep,
and in a large portion of the state there is a subsoil of yellow clay.
The soil of the prairies is darker and coarser than that of the
forests, but all differences disappear with cultivation. The soil of
the river valleys is alluvial and especially fertile, the "American
Bottom," extending along the Mississippi from Alton to Chester, having
been in cultivation for more than 150 years. Along the river bluffs
there is a silicious deposit called loess, which is well suited to the
cultivation of fruits and vegetables. In general the N. part of the
state is especially suited to the cultivation of hay, the N. and
central parts to Indian corn, the E. to oats, and the S.W. to wheat.

_Climate._--The climate of Illinois is notable for its extremes of
temperature. The warm winds which sweep up the Mississippi Valley from
the Gulf of Mexico are responsible for the extremes of heat, and the
Arctic winds of the north, which find no mountain range to break their
strength, cause the extremes of cold. The mean annual temperature at
Winnebago, near the N. border, is 47° F., and it increases to the
southward at the rate of about 2° for every degree of latitude, being
52° F. at Springfield, and 58° F. in Cairo, at the S. extremity. The
lowest temperature ever recorded in the state was -32° F., in February
1905, at Ashton in the N.W. and the highest was 115° F., in July 1901,
at Centralia, in the S., making a maximum range of 147° F. The range
of extremes is considerably greater in the N. than in the S.; for
example, at Winnebago extremes have ranged from -26° F. to 110° F. or
136° F., but at Cairo they have ranged only from -16° F. to 106° F. or
122° F. The mean annual precipitation is about 39 in. in the S.
counties, but this decreases to the northward, being about 36 in. in
the central counties and 34 in. along the N. border. The mean annual
snowfall increases from 12 in. at the S. extremity to approximately 40
in. in the N. counties. In the N. the precipitation is 44.8% greater
in spring and summer than it is in autumn and winter, but in the S.
only 26.17% greater. At Cairo the prevailing winds are southerly
during all months except February, and as far north as Springfield
they are southerly from April to January; but throughout the N. half
of the state, except along the shore of Lake Michigan, where they vary
from N.E. to S.W., the winds are mostly from the W. or N.W. from
October to March and very variable for the remainder of the year. The
dampness and miasma, to which so many of the early settlers' fatal
"chills and fever" were due, have practically disappeared before
modern methods of sanitary drainage.