I,

I

THE ninth letter of the English alphabet: it is both a vowel and a consonant; agreeably to which two different powers, it has two different forms; though, since the

Vowel and consonant differ in their form as well as sound, they may, as Dr. Johnson observes, be more properly accounted two letters. I vowel has a long sound, as in fine, thine, which is usually marked by an e final; or a short sound, as fin, thin. Prefixed to e it makes a diphthong of the same sound with the soft i, or double e, ee: thus, field, yield, are spoken as feeld, yeeld. Subjoined to a or e it makes them long; as, fail, deceit. The sound of i before another i, or at the end of a word, is always expressed by y. When it is found before an r, it is generally sounded like a short u, as in first, flirt, shirt.

I, used as a numeral, signifies one, and stands for so many units as it is repeated times: thus, I, one; II, two; III, three, &c. When put before a higher numeral, it subtracts itself, as, IV, four; IX, nine, &c. But when set after it, so many are added to the higher numeral as there are I's added: thus, VI is six; VIII, eight, &c. See ROMAN NOTATION.

This letter was the only vowel that was not marked over with the stroke of a pen to show that it was long; as Scaurus himself testifies. Notwithstanding, to denote its quantity, it was drawn in length a letter bigger than the rest; as, Plso, Vivus, Ædllis. Wherefore, of all the letters, the I was called long by synecdoche.

And thence comes it that Stamphilus, in Plautus's Aulularia, being resolved to hang himself, says that he should make a long letter of his body. Lipsius explains it thus; and this explanation seems more likely than that of Lambinus, who understands it of all kinds of great letters.

Lipsius says expressly, that the I was double to make it long as the other vowels; and it is the opinion of the most learned: though many instances to the contrary might be found, perhaps corruptly; as, Diril Augusti, in an inscription in the time of Augustus. Whence, as the I by its length only was equivalent to a real ii, i. e. that they should be marked in the discourse, as, Manubjs instead of Manubiis; Djs Manibus instead of Diis Manibus. And thence come the contractions that are common and allowed to poets: Di instead of Dij; urbem Patavî, instead of Patarij.

But the ancients noted also the quantity of this letter by the diphthong eî, as Victorinus says; and it was the same thing to write DivI for Divei, the I long and the ei having the VOL. VI.

JAB

same pronunciation, or very like the same. And this is testified by Priscian, when he says that this was the only way to express the I long. This pronunciation of ei was become so common amongst them, that they used it even in short words; which shows that it was not so much perhaps to note its quantity, as a certain pronunciation more full and more pleasing. Whence in old books we find still Omneis, not only instead of Omnes in the plural number, but also instead of Omnis in the singular.

The ancients sometimes changed the i into u; as, decumus for decimus, maxumus for maximus, &c.

The vowel i, according to Plato, is proper for expressing fine and delicate, but humble things; on which account that verse in Virgil,

"Accipiunt inimicum imbrem, remisque

fatiscunt,"

which abounds in i's, is generally admired.

Ainsworth remarks, somewhat differently, that this vowel, having the smallest sound as well as figure, is most fitly suited to low poetical images; as in that of Ovid,—Nec mihi sunt vires inimicos pellere tectis, where this vowel is seven times repeated.

J, used as an abbreviature, is often substituted for the whole word Jesus, of which it is the first letter.

1. pronoun personal. (ik, Gothic; ic. Sax. I, gen. me; plural we, gen. us.) 1. The pronoun of the first person, myself. 2. I is more than once, in Shakspeare, written for ay, or yes.

To JABBER. v. n. (gubberen, Dutch.) To talk idly; to chatter (Swift).

JA'BBERER. s. (from jabber.) One who talks inarticulately or unintelligibly (Hudib.). JABESH-GILEAD, was the name of a city in the half-tribe of Manasseh, beyond Jordan. Eusebius places it six miles from Pella; consequently, it was eastward of the sea of Tiberias.

JABIRIC, in ornithology. See MYCTE

RIA.

JABLUNKA, a town of Silesia, in the territory of Teschen. Lat. 49. 41 N. Lon. 18. 10 E.

JABOK, a brook on the eastern side of Jordan, which rises in the mountains of Gilead, and falls into Jordan near the sea of Tiberias.

JABORO'SA. In botany, a genus of the class pentandria, order monogynia. Corol tubular. Calyx five-cleft, short; stamens inserted into the throat; stigma capitate; berry three-celled. Two species, natives of Bonara, with a one-flowered scape.

JACK. s. (jaques, French.) 1. The diminutive of John. Used as a general term of contempt for saucy or paltry fellows (Shaks.), 2. The name of instruments which supply the place of a boy, as an instrument to pull off boots (atts). 3. An engine which turns the spit (Wilkins). 4. A young pike (Mortimer). 5. (jaque, Fr.) A coat of mail (Hayward). 6. A cup of waxed leather (Dryden). 7. A small bowl thrown out for a mark to the bowlers (Bentley). 8. A part of a musical instrument called a virginal (Bacon). 9. The male of animals (Arbuth.). 10. A support to saw wood on (Ainsworth). 11. The colours or ensign of a ship (Ainsw.). 12. A cunning fellow (Cleaveland.)

JACK, in mechanics, an instrument of common use for raising heavy timber, or very great weights of any kind.

The common kitchen jack is a compound engine, where the weight is the power applied to overcome the friction of the parts, and the weight with which the spit is charged; and a steady and uniform motion is obtained by means of the fly.

JACK, in naval affairs, a sort of flag, or colours, displayed from a staff erected on the outer end of a ship's bowsprit. In the British navy, the Jack is a small union flag; but in merchant ships the union is bordered with red. JACK (Smoke). See SMOKE JACK.

JACK IN THE BOX, a large wooden male screw, turning in a female one, which forms the upper part of a strong wooden box, shaped like a frustum of a pyramid. It is used by means of levers passing through holes in it, as a press in packing, and for other purposes. JACK BY THE HEDGE, in botany. See AL

LIARIA.

JACK DAW, in ornithology. See CORVUS. JACK IN A BOX, in botany. See HERNAN

DRIA.

JACK SNIPE, in ornithology. See SCOLO

PAX.

JACK PUDDING. 8. (jack and pudding.) A zany; a merry Andrew (Guardian). JACK WITH A LANTHORN. S. An ignis fatuus.

JACKAL, in zoology. See CANIS. JACKANAPES. 8. (jack and ape.) 1. A monkey; an ape. 2. A coxcomb'; an impertinent.

JACKET. s. (jacquet, French.) 1. A short coat; a close waistcoat (Spenser). 2. To beat one's JACKET, is to beat the man (L'Estrange).

JACOB, the son of Isaac and Rebecca, was born about 1836 B. C. He was the favourite of his mother, by whose advice he imposed upon his father, and obtained his blessing, having before taken an advantage of Esau, and purchased his birthright. To avoid the fury of Esau, he fled to Padan-aran, where he resided with his uncle Laban, whom he served fourteen years for his daughters Leah and Rachel. He afterwards returned to Canaan, possessed of great wealth, and a reconciliation took place between him and his brother. He died in Egypt, whither he had gone to reside with his beloved son Joseph, 1689 B. C. His name was altered to Israel by an angel, and from thence his posterity were called Israelites.

JACOB (Ben Naphthali), a famous rabbi of the fifth century: he was one of the principal massorets, and bred at the school of Tiberias, in Palestine, with Ben Aser, another principal massoret. The invention of points in Hebrew to serve for vowels, and of accents to facilitate the reading of that language, is ascribed to these two rabbis; and said to be done in an assembly of the Jews held at Tiberias, A.D. 476.

JACOB (Giles), an eminent law-writer, born at Romsey, in the county of Southampton, in 1686. He was bred under a considerable attorney, and is principally known for his Law Dictionary, in one volume folio, which has been often printed; a new and improved edi tion having been given by counsellors Ruffhead and Morgan, and more lately by Mr. Tomlins. Mr. Jacob also wrote two dramatic pieces, and a Poetical Register, containing the lives and characters of English dramatic poets. He died in 1744.

JACOB'S LADDER, in botany. See POLE

of passive obedience and non-resistance with respect to the arbitrary proceedings of princes, disavowed the Revolution in 1688, and asserted the supposed rights and adhered to the interests of the abdicated king James and his family. JACOBITES, in church history, a sect of Christians in Syria and Mesopotamia; so called, either from Jacob a Syrian who lived in the reign of the emperor Mauritius, or from one Jacob a monk who flourished in the year 550. The Jacobites are of two sects, some following the rites of the Latin church, and others continuing separated from the church of Rome. There is also a division among the latter, who have two rival patriarchs.

JACOBUS, a gold coin, worth 25 shillings. It was first struck in the reign of James I. of England: whence the name. This is the old Jacobus; the new Jacobus is more properly called Carolus.

JACQUINIA. In botany, a genus of the class pentandria, order monogynia. Corol ten-cleft: stamens inserted into the receptacle; berry one-seeded. Five species: one a tall tree of Montserrat from twenty-four to thirty feet high; erect, with very numerous racemes. The other four, shrubs of America or the West-Indies.

JACTITA'TION. s. (jactito, Latin.) 1. Tossing motion; restlessness (Harvey). 2. A term in the canon law for a false pretension to marriage.

JACULATION. 8. (jaculatio, Latin.) The act of throwing missive weapons (Milt.), JADE. 8. 1. A horse of no spirit; a hired horse; a worthless nag (Pope). 2. A sorry woman in contempt (Swift). 3. A young woman: in irony (Addison).

JADE, in mineralogy. See SERPENTINUS. To JADE. v. a. (from the noun.) 1. To fire; to harass; to dispirit; to weary (Shak.). 2. To overbear; to crush; to degrade (Shak.). 3. To employ in vile offices (Shakspeare). 4. To ride; to rule with tyranny (Shakspeare). To JADE. v. n. To lose spirit; to sink (South). JA'DISH. a. (from jade.) 1. Vitious; bad: as a horse (Southern). 2. Unchaste; incontinent (L'Estrange).

JAEN, a handsome town of Spain, in Andalusia, with a bishop's sec, and a strong castle. Lat. 37. 38 N. Lon. 3. 22 W.

JAFFA, an ancient town of Palestine, in Asia, formerly called Joppa. Lat. 32. 16 N. Lon. 35 0 E.

JAFFATEEN ISLANDS, the name of four small islands in the Red Sea.

JAFNAPATAM, a seaport of Ceylon, at the N. end of that island, and 100 miles N. of Candy. Lat. 9. 47 N. Lon. 80. 45 E.

JAG. Lacinia. In botany, a division or cleft in a leaf, calyx, or corol. This term relates chiefly to monophyllous calyxes and mo. nopetalons corols. These are named bifid, trifid, &c. according to the number of jags. JAGARNAUT, a famous pagoda lying on the bay of Bengal; remarkable not only as an object of Hindoo veneration, but as an

excellent sea-mark. Lat. 19. 35 N. Lon. 85 40 E.

JAGERNDORF, a town and castle of Silesia, capital of a province of the same name. Lat. 50. 4 N. Lon. 17. 24 E.

To JAGG, or JAG. v. a. (gagaw, slits or holes, Welsh.) To cut into indentures; to cut into teeth like those of a saw (Watts).

JAGG. 8. (from the verb.) A protuberance or denticulation (Ray).

JAGGED. Laciniatus. In botany, cleft or divided. A jagged leaf. Folium laciniatum. Divided irregularly, and the parts subdivided indeterminately.

JA'GGY. a. (from jagg.) Uneven; denticulated (Addison).

JA'GGEDNESS. 8. (from jagged.) The state of being denticulated; unevenness (Peacham).

JAGGERNAUT, a black pyramidal stone worshipped by the Gentus, who pretend that it fell from heaven on the place where their temple stands.

JAGHIRE OF THE CARNATIC, a tract of land, in the peninsula of Hindustan, subject to the English East India Company. It extends along the bay of Bengal, from Madras to lake Pullicate on the N., to Alemparvé on the S., and to Conjeveram on the W.; being 105 miles along the shore, and 47 inland in the widest part. The term Jaghire means, generally, a grant of land from a sovereign to a subject, revokable at pleasure, but generally a liferent. But the Jaghire of the Carnatic, major Rennel thinks, is understood to be held in perpetuity. It contains 2440 square miles, and its revenue is about 150,0001, per annum.

JAGO (St.), a large river of South America, which rises in the audience of Quito and Peru. It is navigable; and falls into the South Sea, after having watered a fertile country abounding in cotton-trees, and inhabited by wild Americans.

JAGO (St.), the largest, most populous and fertile, of the Cape Verd islands, on the coast of Africa, and the residence of the Portuguese viceroy. It lies about 13 miles eastward from the island of Mayo, and abounds with high barren mountains; but the air, in the rainy season, is very unwholesome to strangers. Its produce is sugar, cotton, wine, and some excellent fruits. The animals are black cattle, horses, asses, deer, goats, hogs, &c.

JAGO (Richard), an ingenious poet, was vicar of Snitterfield in Warwickshire, and rector of Kimcote in Leicestershire. He was the intimate friend and correspondent of Mr. Shenstone, contemporary with him at Oxford, and, it is believed, his schoolfellow; was of University College; took the degree of M A. July 9, 1739; was author of several poems in the 4th and 5th volumes of Dodsley's Poems; published a sermon, in 1755, “the Causes of Impenitence considered, preached May 4, 1755, at Harbury in Warwickshire," where he was vicar, on occasion of a conversation said to have passed between one of the inhabitants and an apparition in the church-yard there;

66

wrote Edge-hill, a poem, for which he obtained a large subscription in 1767; and was also author of Labour and Genius, 1768, 4to; of The Blackbirds, a beautiful elegy in the Adventurer; and of many other ingenious performances. He died May 28, 1781.

JAGO DE NATA DE LOS CAVELLEROs, (St.) a town of Terra Firma in South America. JAGO (St.), or ST. JAGO DE LA NEUSTRIA ESTRAMADURA, the capital of Chili, in South America; it was founded in 1541. Lat. 31. 10 S. Lon. 71. 5 W. JAGO DE LOS VALLES, (St.), a town of Panuco, in New Spain. Lat, 23, 0 N. Lon. 100. 0 W.

JAGO DE CUBA, (St.) once the capital of the island of Cuba, in the West Indies. It was nearly destroyed by an earthquake in 1776. Lat, 20, ON. Lon. 76, 44 W.

JAGO DE LA VEGA, or SPANISH TOWN, a town of Jamaica, where the Assembly and the grand courts of justice are held. It was once a populous place, containing two churches, a monastery, and several chapels; but is now reduced to a small compass, and has only one church, and a chapel. It is seated in a pleasant valley, on the Rio Cobre. Lat. 18. 6 N. Lon. 76. 49 W.

JAGODNA, a town of Turkey in Europe, in Servia. Lat. 44. 15 N. Lon, 20, 54 E.

JAGUEER, in East India affairs, any pension from the Grand Mogul, or king of Delhi; generally such as are assigned for military ser vices. The holder, or possessor of a jagueer, is called a Jagueerdar. This last word comes from three Persian words: Ja, a place; gue. ristun, to take; and dashtun, to hold ; quasi, a place-holder or pensioner.

JAIL. s. (gcole, Fr.) A gaol; a prison ; a place where criminals are confined (Dryden). JAIL FEVER, a very dangerous distemper of the contagious kind, arising from the putrescent disposition of the blood and juices.

JAILBIRD. s. (jail and bird.) One who has been in a jail.

JAILER. s. (from jail.) The keeper of a prison (Sidney).

JAKES. A privy.

JALAPA or JALAP. See JALAPIUM. JALAPIUM, (Jalapium, from Chalapa or Xalapa in New Spain, whence it is brought.) Mechoacanna nigra. Jalap. The plant from which this root is obtained is the Convolvulus jalapa: canle volubili; foliis ovatis subcordatis obtusis obsolete repandis subtus villosis; pedunculis unifloris. Hort. Kew. Class pentandria, order monogynia. A native of South America. In the shops the root is found both cut into slices and whole, of an oval shape, solid, ponderous, blackish on the outside, but gray within, and marked with several dark veins, by the number of which, and by its hardness, heaviness, and dark colour, the goodness of the root is to be estimated. It has scarcely any smell, and very little taste, but to the tongue, and to the throat, manifests a slight degree of pungency. The medicinal activity of jalap resides principally, if not

wholly, in the resin, which, though given in small doses, occasions violent tormina. The root powdered, is a very common, efficacious, and sate purgative, as daily experience evinces; but according as it contains more or less resin, its effects must of course vary, In large doses, or when joined with calomel, it is recommended as an anthelmintic and hydrogogue. In the pharmacopoeias this root is ordered in the form of tincture and extract; and the Edinburgh college directs it also in powder with twice its weight of crystals of tartar. See CONVOLVULUS. See MECHOACANNA.

JALAPA ALBA,

JALEMUS, 1аλεos, in antiquity, a kind of mournful song, used upon occasion of death, or any other affecting accident. Hence the Greek proverbs had their original, ue oingsTapos, or dung regos, i. e. more sad or colder than a jalemus ; εις τας καλεμες εγγραπτέος, worthy to be ranked among jalemnses.

JALLINDAR, a town of Hindustan Proper, capital of a district of the same name. Lat, 30, 50 N. Lou. 74. 10 E.

JALOFFS, or YALOFFS, are an active, powerful, and warlike people, inhabiting great part of that tract of Africa which lies between the Senegal and the Mandingo states on the Gambia. Their noses, says Mr. Park, are not so much depressed, nor their lips so protuberant, as those of the generality of Africans; and though their skin is of the deepest black, they are considered by the white traders as the most sightly Negroes in that part of the continent where they live. They are divided into several independent states or kingdoms, which are frequently at war with their neighbours or with each other. In their manners, superstitions, and government, they have a greater resemblance to the Mandingoes than to any other nation; but excel them in the manufac ture of cotton cloth, spinning the wool to a finer thread, weaving it in a broader loom, and dyeing it of a better colour. They make very good soap, by boiling ground nuts in water, and then adding a ley of wood-ashes. They likewise manufacture excellent iron, which they carry to Bondou to barter for salt. Their language is said to be copious and significant, and is often learned by Europeans trading to Senegal. From the names of their numerals, as given by Mr. Park, it would appear that their numeration proceeds by fives as ours does by tens.

JAM. s. A conserve of fruits boiled with sugar and water.

JAMADAR, an officer of horse or foot, in Hindustan. Generally, a superintendant.

JAMAGOROD, a strong town of Ingria, in the Russian government of St. Petersburgh. Lat. 59, 25 N. Lon. 73. 40 E.

JAMAICA, an island of the West Indies, discovered by Christopher Columbus in his se cond voyage, in 1494: after a slight dispute with the natives, he took possession of it for the king of Spain, preserving the word Jamaica, by which it was called by the Indians. In the year 1655, Jamaica was taken by the En

glish, under the command of Penn and Venables. Jamaica is about 120 miles from east to west, and 42, where broadest, from north to south, and is thought to contain near five million acres. It is divided by a ridge of mountains which run through the whole island, from east to west, from which rise innumerable rivers, well stored with fish of various kinds, and navigable for canoes. On the mountains grow great varieties of trees, such as cedars, lignum vitæ, mahogany, &c. The climate of Jamaica is more temperate, and the weather more variable, than in the Caribbee islands, and there is no country between the tropics where the heat is less troublesome. All the year round, the mornings are exces sively hot, till about eight o'clock, when the easterly breeze begins to blow, and gradually increases till about twelve, when it is generally the strongest, and lasts till two or three, when it begins to die away till about five, when it is quite spent, and returns no more till the next morning. About eight in the evening, begins a land-breeze, which blows four leagues into the sea, and continues increasing till twelve at night; after which it decreases till four in the morning, when no more of it is to be felt till next night. Storms used to be very rare here, till within this century. Every night here are piercing dews, which are reckoned very unwholesome, especially to new-comers, who are too apt to expose themselves; but in the plains, or sandy places near the sea, there are few if any fogs. The rains are violent, and the drops very large. The tides are scarce discernible, their increase or decrease depending mostly on the winds, and not according to the age of the moon. The days and nights here are almost of an equal length all the year round. Not half the island is cultivated; natural productions are sugar, ginger, cotton, coffee, indigo, pimento, cocoa, several kinds of wood, some medicinal drugs, and tobacco; maize, or Indian corn, Guinea-corn, peas of various sorts, fruits in abundance, as oranges, lemons, limes, shaddocks, citrons, pomegranates, pineapples, melons, &c. Jamaica is divided into three counties, Middlesex, Surrey, and Cornwall, in which are six towns, and twenty-seven villages; St. Jago de la Vega, or Spanish Town, is the capital of the island, where the chief justice resides. The legislature of Jamaica is composed of the captain general or commander, a council, and house of assembly. The number of negroes, in the year 1787, amounted to 250,000, the number of whites 30,000, freed negroes and people of colour 10,000, and Maroons 1400, in all 291,400. In the year 1787, the exports from Jamaica were 840,548 cwt. of sugar, 2,543,025 gallons of rum, 6416 gallons of molasses, 616,444 lbs. of pimento, 6395 cwt. of coffee, 1,906,467 lbs. of cotton wool, 27,623 lbs. of indigo, 4816 of ginger, 82 cwt. of cocoa, 18,140 lbs. of tobacco, 5878 tons of mahogany, and 6701 tons of logwood, with sundry other articles, to the value of 147,2867. sterling, amounting in

the whole to the sum of 2,136,4421, 17s. 3d. sterling, at the current London prices. The imports of the same year, amounting to the sum of 1,496,2321. 5s. 4d. The centre of the island is situated Lon. 76. 45 W. Greenwich. Lat. 18. 12 N.

JAMAICA, a town of Africa, in the island of York, built by a mulatto, the son of an Englishman, where the English have a factory.

JAMAICA BARK. See CHINCHINI CARIBEA. JAMAICA PEPPER. See PIMENTO. JAMB. s. (jambe, French.) Any supporter on either side, as the post of a door (Moxon). JAMBI, a seaport, and small kingdom, on the E. coast of Sumatra, where the Dutch have a fort. Lat. 0. 59 N. Lon. 102. 35 E.

IAMBIC, in ancient poetry, a sort of verse, so called from its consisting either wholly, or in great part, of iambuses. See IAMBUS. Ruddiman makes two kinds of iambic, viz. dimeter and trimeter; the former containing four feet, and the latter six. And as to the variety of their feet, they consist wholly of iambuses, as in the two following verses of Horace :

4

5 6

1 2 3 Dim. Inar sit œ | stuosius | Trim. Suis & i psa Ro | ma vi | ribus | ruit. Or, a dactylus, spondeus, anapestus, and sometimes tribrachys, obtain in the odd places; and the tribrachys also in the even places, excepting the last. Examples of all which may be seen in Horace; as,

JAMBLICUS, the name of two celebrated Platonic philosophers, one of whom was of Colchis, and the other of Apamea in Syria. The first, whom Julian equals to Plato, was the disciple of Anatolius and Porphyry, and died under the reign of the emperor Constantine.-The second also enjoyed great reputation. Julian wrote several letters to him, and it is said he was poisoned under the reign of Valens. It is not known to which of the two we ought to attribute the works we have in Greek under the name of Jamblicus, viz. 1. The history of the life of Pythagoras, and the sect of the Pythagoreans. 2. An exhortation to the study of philosophy. 3. A piece under the name of Abamon, against Porphyry's letter on the mysteries of the Egyptians.

JAMBOLIFERA, in botany; a genus of the monogynia order, belonging to the octandria class of plants; and in the natural method ranking with those of which the order is doubtful. The calyx is quadridented; the corol tetrapetalous, and funnel-shaped; the filaments a little plane; the stigma simple.