Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 05.djvu/357

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.
LEFT
293
RIGHT

JUMPING HABE 293 JUNGLE CAT JUMPING HARE, a species of jerboa found in Southern Africa, and so named from its general resemblance to a hare, while its jumping mode of progression, necessitated by the elongated nature of the hind legs, has procured for it its specific and popular distinction. JUMPING MOUSE, found in Labra- dor and North America generally, but especially an inhabitant of the fur terri- tories. Like the jumping hare, it is classified by some with the jerboas, and is one of the smallest of these forms. JUNAGARH (j6-na-gar'), capital of a native state (area 3,283 square miles; pop., about 500,000) of India, in the Bombay presidency; on the peninsula of Kathiawar, N. W. of Bombay. One of the most picturesque towns in India. Pop., about 36,000. JTJNCEJE, or JUNCACE^, the rush order, a small natural order of endo- genous plants, so named from the typical genus Juncus. It is principally com- posed of obscure herbaceous plants with brown or green glumaceous hexandrous flowers, the perianth being in two series, as in Liliacem, but calycine instead of petaloid. Some of them, as the common rush, are employed for making mats, chair bottoms, and brooms. JUNE, the 6th month of the year in our calendar, but the 4th among the Romans. It consisted originally of 26 days, to which four were added by Romu- lus, one taken away by Numa, and the month again lengthened to 30 by Julius Caesar, since whose time no variation has taken place. During this month the sun leaves the sign of Leo and enters that of Cancer. JUNEAU, a port and territorial capi- tal of Alaska; on a promontory between Linn Channel and the Taku river, oppo- site Douglas Island, and about 55 miles N. E. of Sitka. It had a population of about 1,400 in 1896, which was largely increased in 1897 by the thousands of gold seekers bound for the Yukon river gold fields. Pop. (1910) 1,644. See Alaska: Klondike. JUNE BERRY, a North American wild tree (Amelanchier canadensis) com- mon in Canada and the United States, and allied to the medlar. The fruit is pear-shaped, about the size of a large pea, purplish in color, and a good article of food. Service-berry and shadbush are other names, JUNGARIA, DZUNGARIA. or SUN- OARIA, a country of Central Asia, forming part of the Chinese empire; bounded N. and W. by Russia, E. by the Chinese province of Kansu, S. by East Turkestan; area 147,950 square miles. It is an elevated and almost desert pla- teau between the Altai and Thian-Shan Mountains, and is intersected by subordi- nate ranges. Between the mountains are several fertile valleys, watered by nu- merous lakes, and cultivated by nomadic tribes. Millet and barley are the chief agricultural products; gold, silver, and iron are found in considerable quantities, and salt abounds in the lakes and mines. The country was originally inhabited by the Oo-Sun, distinguished from neigh- boring nations by their blue eyes and red beards. They were expelled by the Turks in the 6th century, and became subject to the Mongols. In 1754 the country was conquered by China, and has since been administered as a province of that empire, though a portion is claimed also by Russia. JUNGERMANNIA (-man'-}, a Lin- naean genus of cryptogamous plants, con- taining a great number of species, which some modern botanists have divided into many genera, and some have even formed into an order, J%ingermannicese, though it is more generally regarded as consti- tuting a sub-order of Hepaticse. The species much resemble mosses in appear- ance. Many are natives of Great Brit- ain. The tropical species are very numerous. JUNGFRAU (yong'frou) ("The Maiden"), a magnificent peak of the Ber- nese Alps; height 13,671 feet. Its sum- mit was first ascended by two Swiss gen- tlemen, named Meyer, in 1811. On Sept. 18, 1898, the first section of the Jungfrau railway, to the Eiger glacier, including a tunnel, was opened; since completed to the summit. The last stage is made by elevator. JUNGLE, a term adopted into the English literature from Bengal (San^ skrit Jangala, "desert") and employed to designate those thickets of trees, shrubs, and reeds which abound in many parts of India, and particularly in the unhealthy tract called Terai or Tarayani, along the S. base of the Himalaya, and in the Sundarbans at the mouth of the Ganges. Tigers and other beasts of prey, elephants, boars, deer, and other quadrupeds may be found in great num- bers in these thickets, with gigantic snakes and multitudes of monkeys. See Bengal: India. JUNGLE CAT, Felis chaus, a wild cat, of a yellowish-gray, inclining to red- dish above and white below the muzzle and the limbs, with dark stripes, and