Part 267 (1/2)
JUMPERS, name of a certain religious sect in America, from the dancing a.s.sociated with its services.
JUNE, the sixth month of the year, so named from the Roman _gens_ or clan Junius, or perhaps from Juno.
JUNG STILLING, a German mystic, born in Na.s.sau; first a tailor, then a schoolmaster; went to Strasburg, became intimate with Goethe, studied medicine there, and afterwards practised in Elberfeld; became professor of Political Economy at Marburg and in Heidelberg; is best known by his autobiography: Kant and Lavater were friends of his (1740-1817).
JUNGFRAU (Maiden), a peak of the Bernese Alps, 13,671 ft. in height; was first ascended by the brothers Meyer in 1811.
JUNIUS, LETTERS OF, seventy letters on public affairs which appeared under that signature in the _Public Advertiser_ 1769 to 1772, and were with others reprinted in book form; were, though severe in tone, the prototype of the modern leading article. Their authors.h.i.+p has never been discovered; but some hold that evidence points to Sir Philip Francis as responsible for them.
JUNK, a Chinese boat with a flat bottom, a square prow, a high stern, and a pole for mast.
JUNKER, a name given in Germany to the younger members of the aristocracy, or of the landed gentry, as representing a reactionary party in modern politics.
JUNO, a Roman G.o.ddess, the wife of Jupiter, and the queen of heaven, corresponding to the HERA (q. v.) of the Greeks; the impersonation of womanhood, and the special protectress of the rights of women, especially married women, and bore the names of _Virginalis_ and _Matrona_. She was the patroness of household and even state economy. See ZEUS.
JUNOT, ANDOCHE, DUC D'ABRANTES, French general; was Napoleon's aide-de-camp in his first Campaign in Italy; took part in the expedition to Egypt; distinguished himself in the invasion of Portugal, but soon experienced reverse after reverse; in a fit of madness he threw himself one day out of a window, and died from the effect (1771-1813).
JUNTO, the name given to a Whig faction in the reign of William III., that for 20 years exercised a great influence in the affairs of the nation, of which Russell, Lord-Keeper Somers, and Charles Montague were the leading members.
JUPITER. See ZEUS.
JUPITER, one of the exterior planets of the solar system, and the largest; revolves in an orbit outside that of the asteroids, at a mean distance from the sun of 480 millions of miles, completing its revolution round the sun in 4338 days, and taking 10 hours to revolve on its own axis; it is surrounded by belts considered to be openings in the cloudy atmosphere which invests it, and is accompanied by four moons, all nearly of the same size but at different distances, and with different periods of revolution round it; it is in volume 1300 times larger than that of the earth, while its weight is only 300 times that of the earth, is therefore less than one-fourth of the density of the earth.
JUPITER CARLYLE, a sobriquet given to the REV. ALEXANDER CARLYLE (q. v.), from his resemblance to the artist's conception of Jupiter, particularly in the head.
JUPITER SCAPIN, a nickname given by the Abbe de Pradt to Napoleon, after a valet of the name of Scapin in a comedy of Moliere's, noted for his knaveries.
JURA, an Argylls.h.i.+re island NE. of Islay, mountainous (2500 ft.); the eastern slopes yield some crops, but most of the island is deer forest and cattle-grazing land.
JURY, a body of citizens set to try a question of fact, or to a.s.sess damages; in England and Ireland a jury numbers 12, and its verdict must be unanimous; in Scotland the verdict is by majority, and the jury numbers 12 in civil and 15 in criminal cases.
JUSSIEU, ANTOINE LAURENT DE, celebrated French botanist, born at Lyons; his book, ent.i.tled ”Genera Plantarum,” published in 1789, lays down the principle on which the modern cla.s.sification of plants is based; he was one of a family of botanists (1748-1836).