J A letter of the alphabet which, as far as form is concerned, is only a modification of the Latin I and dates back with a separate value only to the 15th century. It was first used as a special form of initial I, the ordinary form being kept for use in other positions. As, however, in many cases initial i had the consonantal value of the English y in iugum (yoke), &c., the symbol came to be used for the value of y, a value which it still retains in German: Ja! jung, &c. Initially it is pronounced in English as an affricate dzh. The great majority of English words beginning with j are (1) of foreign (mostly French) origin, as “jaundice,” “judge”; (2) imitative of sound, like “jar” (the verb); or (3) influenced by analogy, like “jaw” (influenced by chaw, according to Skeat). In early French g when palatalized by e or i sounds became confused with consonantal i (y), and both passed into the sound of j which is still preserved in English. A similar sound-change takes place in other languages, e.g. Lithuanian, where the resulting sound is spelt dž. Modern French and also Provençal and Portuguese have changed j = dzh into ž (zh). The sound initially is sometimes represented in English by g: gem, gaol as well as jail. At the end of modern English words the same sound is represented by -dge as in judge, French juge. In this position, however, the sound occurs also in genuine English words like bridge, sedge, singe, but this is true only for the southern dialects on which the literary language is founded. In the northern dialects the pronunciation as brig, seg, sing still survives. (P. Gi.)
JA’ALIN (from Jā’al, to settle, i.e. “the squatters”), an
African tribe of Semitic stock. They formerly occupied the
country on both banks of the Nile from Khartum to Abu
Hamed. They claim to be of the Koreish tribe and even trace
descent from Abbas, uncle of the prophet. They are of Arab
origin, but now of very mixed blood. According to their own
tradition they emigrated to Nubia in the 12th century. They
were at one time subject to the Funj kings, but their position
was in a measure independent. At the Egyptian invasion in
1820 they were the most powerful of Arab tribes in the Nile
valley. They submitted at first, but in 1822 rebelled and
massacred the Egyptian garrison at Shendi. The revolt was
mercilessly suppressed, and the Jā’alin were thenceforward
looked on with suspicion. They were almost the first of the
northern tribes to join the mahdi in 1884, and it was their position
to the north of Khartum which made communication with
General Gordon so difficult. The Jā’alin are now a semi-nomad
agricultural people. Many are employed in Khartum as servants,
scribes and watchmen. They are a proud religious
people, formerly notorious as cruel slave dealers. J. L. Burckhardt
says the true Jā’alin from the eastern desert is exactly
like the Bedouin of eastern Arabia.
See The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, edited by Count Gleichen (London, 1905).
JABIRU, according to Marcgrave the Brazilian name of a bird,
subsequently called by Linnaeus Mycteria americana, one of the
largest of the storks, Ciconiidae, which occurs from Mexico
southwards to the territory of the Argentine Republic. It
stands between 4 and 5 ft. in height, and is conspicuous for its
massive bill, slightly upturned, and its entirely white plumage;
but the head and neck are bare and black, except for about the
lower third part of the latter, which is bright red in the living
bird. Very nearly allied to Mycteria, and also commonly called
jabirus, are the birds of the genera Xenorhynchus and Ephippiorhynchus—the
former containing one or (in the opinion of
some) two species, X. australis and X. indicus, and the latter
one only, E. senegalensis. These belong to the countries
indicated by their names, and differ chiefly by their feathered
head and neck, while the last is sometimes termed the saddle-billed
stork from the very singular shape of its beak. Somewhat
more distantly related are the gigantic birds known to Europeans
in India and elsewhere as adjutant birds, belonging to the genus
Leptoptilus, distinguished by their sad-coloured plumage, their
black scabrous head, and their enormous tawny pouch, which
depends occasionally some 16 in. or more in length from the lower
part of the neck, and seems to be connected with the respiratory
and not, as commonly believed, with the digestive system.
In many parts of India L. dubius, the largest of these birds, the
hargila as Hindus call it, is a most efficient scavenger, sailing
aloft at a vast height and descending on the discovery of offal,
though frogs and fishes also form part of its diet. It familiarly
enters the large towns, in many of which on account of its services
it is strictly protected from injury, and, having satisfied its
appetite, seeks the repose it has earned, sitting with its feet
extended in front in a most grotesque attitude. A second and
smaller species, L. javanicus, has a more southern and eastern
range; while a third, L. crumenifer, of African origin, and often
known as the marabou-stork, gives its name to the beautifully
soft feathers so called, which are the under-tail-coverts; the
“marabout” feathers of the plume-trade are mostly supplied
by other birds, the term being apparently applied to any downy
feathers. (A. N.)
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JABLOCHKOV, PAUL (1847–1894), Russian electrical engineer
and inventor, was born at Serdobsk, in the government of
Saratov, on the 14th of September 1847, and educated at St
Petersburg. In 1871 he was appointed director of the telegraph
lines between Moscow and Kursk, but in 1875 he resigned his
position in order to devote himself to his researches on electric
lighting by arc lamps, which he had already taken up. In 1876
he settled in Paris, and towards the end of the year brought out
his famous “candles,” known by his name, which consisted of
two carbon parallel rods, separated by a non-conducting partition;
alternating currents were employed, and the candle was
operated by a high-resistance carbon match connecting the tips
of the rods, a true arc forming between the parallel carbons
when this burnt off, and the separators volatilizing as the
carbons burnt away. For a few years his system of electric
lighting was widely adopted, but it was gradually superseded
