[1] A complete list of these inscriptions will be found in Rhys
Davids's _Buddhist India_, p. 209.
JATH, a native state of India, in the Deccan division of Bombay, ranking
as one of the southern Mahratta jagirs. With the small state of
Daphlapur, which is an integral part of it, it forms the Bijapur Agency,
under the collector of Bijapur district. Area, including Daphlapur, 980
sq. m. Pop. (1901), 68,665, showing a decline of 14% in the decade.
Estimated revenue £24,000; tribute £700. Agriculture and cattle-breeding
are carried on; there are no important manufactures. The chief, whose
title is deshmukh, is a Mahratta of the Daphle family. The town of JATH
is 92 m. S.E. of Satara. Pop. (1901), 5404.
JÁTIVA (formerly written XATIVA), or SAN FELIPE DE JÁTIVA, a town of
eastern Spain, in the province of Valencia, on the right bank of the
river Albaida, a tributary of the Júcar, and at the junction of the
Valencia-Murcia and Valencia-Albacete railways. Pop. (1900), 12,600.
Játiva is built on the margin of a fertile and beautiful plain, and on
the southern slopes of the Monte Bernisa, a hill with two peaks, each
surmounted by a castle. With its numerous fountains, and spacious
avenues shaded with elms or cypresses, the town has a clean and
attractive appearance. Its collegiate church, dating from 1414, but
rebuilt about a century later in the Renaissance style, was formerly a
cathedral, and is the chief among many churches and convents. The
town-hall and a church on the castle hill are partly constructed of
inscribed Roman masonry, and several houses date from the Moorish
occupation. There is a brisk local trade in grain, fruit, wine, oil and
rice.
Játiva was the Roman Saetabis, afterwards Valeria Augusta, of
Carthaginian or Iberian origin. Pliny (23-79) and Martial (c. 40-102)
mention the excellence of its linen cloth. Under the Visigoths (c.
483-711) it became an episcopal see; but early in the 8th century it was
captured by the Moors, under whom it attained great prosperity, and
received its present name. It was reconquered by James I. of Aragon
(1213-1276). During the 15th and 16th centuries, Játiva was the home of
many members of the princely house of Borgia or Borja, who migrated
hither from the town of Borja in the province of Saragossa. Alphonso
Borgia, afterwards Pope Calixtus III., and Rodrigo Borgia, afterwards
Pope Alexander VI., were natives of Játiva, born respectively in 1378
and 1431. The painter Jusepe Ribera was also born here in 1588. Owing to
its gallant defence against the troops of the Archduke Charles in the
war of the Spanish succession, Játiva received the additional name of
San Felipe from Philip V. (1700-1746).
JATS, or JUTS, a people of north-western India, who numbered altogether
more than 7 millions in 1901. They form a considerable proportion of the
population in the Punjab, Rajputana and the adjoining districts of the
United Provinces, and are also widely scattered through Sind and
Baluchistan. Some writers have identified the Juts with the ancient
Getae, and there is strong reason to believe them a degraded tribe of
Rajputs, whose Scythic origin has also been maintained. Hindu legends
point to a prehistoric occupation of the Indus valley by this people,
and at the time of the Mahommedan conquest of Sind (712) they, with a
cognate tribe called Meds, constituted the bulk of the population. They
enlisted under the banner of Mahommed bin Kasim, but at a later date
offered a vigorous resistance to the Arab invaders. In 836 they were
overthrown by Amran, who imposed on them a tribute of dogs, and used
their arms to vanquish the Meds. In 1025, however, they had gathered
audacity, not only to invade Mansura, and compel the abjuration of the
Mussulman amir, but to attack the victorious army of Mahmud, laden with
the spoil of Somnath. Chastisement duly ensued: a formidable flotilla,
collected at Multan, shattered in thousands the comparatively
defenceless Jat boats on the Indus, and annihilated their national
pretensions. It is not until the decay of the Mogul Empire that the Jats
again appear in history. One branch of them, settled south of Agra,
mainly by bold plundering raids founded two dynasties which still exist
at Bharatpur (q.v.) and Dholpur (q.v.). Another branch, settled
north-west of Delhi, who adopted the Sikh religion, ultimately made
themselves dominant throughout the Punjab (q.v.) under Ranjit Singh, and
are now represented in their original home by the Phulkian houses of
Patiala (q.v.), Jind (q.v.) and Nabha (q.v.). It is from this latter
branch that the Sikh regiments of the Indian army are recruited. The
Jats are mainly agriculturists and cattle breeders. In their settlements
on the Ganges and Jumna, extending as far east as Bareilly, they are
divided into two great clans, the Dhe and the Hele; while in the Punjab
there are said to be one hundred different sections. Their religion
varies with locality. In the Punjab they have largely embraced Sikh
tenets, while in Sind and Baluchistan they are Mahommedans. In
appearance they are not ill-favoured though extremely dark; they have
good teeth, and large beards, sometimes stained with indigo. Their
inferiority of social position, however, to some extent betrays itself
in their aspect, and tends to be perpetuated by their intellectual
apathy.
JAUBERT, PIERRE AMÉDÉE ÉMILIEN PROBE (1779-1847), French Orientalist,
was born at Aix in Provence on the 3rd of June 1779. He was one of the
most distinguished pupils of Silvestre de Sacy, whose funeral _Discours_
he pronounced in 1838. Jaubert acted as interpreter to Napoleon in Egypt
in 1798-1799, and on his return to Paris held various posts under
government. In 1802 he accompanied Sebastiani on his Eastern mission;
and in 1804 he was at Constantinople. Next year he was despatched to
Persia to arrange an alliance with the shah; but on the way he was
seized and imprisoned in a dry cistern for four months by the pasha of
Bayazid. The pasha's death freed Jaubert, who successfully accomplished
his mission, and rejoined Napoleon at Warsaw in 1807. On the eve of
Napoleon's downfall he was appointed chargé d'affaires at
Constantinople. The restoration ended his diplomatic career, but in 1818
he undertook a journey with government aid to Tibet, whence he succeeded
in introducing into France 400 Kashmir goats. The rest of his life
Jaubert spent in study, in writing and in teaching. He became professor
of Persian in the collège de France, and director of the école des
langues orientales, and in 1830 was elected member of the Académie des
Inscriptions. In 1841 he was made a peer of France and councillor of
state. He died in Paris on the 28th of January, 1847.
Besides articles in the _Journal asiatique_, he published _Voyage en
Arménie et en Perse_ (1821; the edition of 1860 has a notice of
Jaubert, by M. Sédillot) and _Éléments de la grammaire turque_
(1823-1834). See notices in the _Journal asiatique_, Jan. 1847, and
the _Journal des débats_, Jan. 30, 1847.
JAUCOURT, ARNAIL FRANÇOIS, MARQUIS DE (1757-1852), French politician,
was born on the 14th of November 1757 at Tournon (Seine-et-Marne) of a
Protestant family, protected by the prince de Condé, whose regiment he
entered. He adopted revolutionary ideas and became colonel of his
regiment. In the Assembly, to which he was returned in 1791 by the
department of Seine-et-Marne, he voted generally with the minority, and
his views being obviously too moderate for his colleagues he resigned in
1792 and was soon after arrested on suspicion of being a reactionary.
Mme de Staël procured his release from P. L. Manuel just before the
September massacres. He accompanied Talleyrand on his mission to
England, returning to France after the execution of Louis XVI. He lived
in retirement until the establishment of the Consulate, when he entered
the tribunate, of which he was for some time president. In 1803 he
entered the senate, and next year became attached to the household of
Joseph Bonaparte. Presently his imperialist views cooled, and at the
Restoration he became minister of state and a peer of France. At the
second Restoration he was for a brief period minister of marine, but
held no further office. He devoted himself to the support of the
Protestant interest in France. A member of the upper house throughout
the reign of Louis Philippe, he was driven into private life by the
establishment of the Second Republic, but lived to see the _Coup d'état_
and to rally to the government of Louis Napoleon, dying in Paris on the
5th of February 1852.
JAUER, a town of Germany, in the Prussian province of Silesia, 13 m. by
rail S. of Leignitz, on the Wüthende Neisse. Pop. (1900), 13,024. St
Martin's (Roman Catholic) church dates from 1267-1290, and the
Evangelical church from 1655. A new town-hall was erected in 1895-1898.
Jauer manufactures leather, carpets, cigars, carriages and gloves, and
is specially famous for its sausages. The town was first mentioned in
1242, and was formerly the capital of a principality embracing about
1200 sq. m., now occupied by the circles of Jauer, Bunzlau, Löweberg,
Hirschberg and Schönau. From 1392 to 1741 it belonged to the kings of
Bohemia, being taken from Maria Theresa by Frederick the Great. Jauer
was formerly the prosperous seat of the Silesian linen trade, but the
troubles of the Thirty Years' War, in the course of which it was burned
down three times, permanently injured this.
See Schönaich, _Die alte Fürstentumshauptstadt Jauer_ (Jauer, 1903).
JAUHARI (ABU NASR ISMA^EIL IBN HAMMAD UL-JAUHARI) (d. 1002 or 1010),
Arabian lexicographer, was born at Farab on the borders of Turkestan. He
studied language in Farab and Bagdad, and later among the Arabs of the
desert. He then settled in Damghan and afterwards at Nishapur, where he
died by a fall from the roof of a house. His great work is the _Kitab
us-Sahah fil-Lugha_, an Arabic dictionary, in which the words are
arranged alphabetically according to the last letter of the root. He
himself had only partially finished the last recension, but the work was
completed by his pupil, Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Salih ul-Warraq.
An edition was begun by E. Scheidius with a Latin translation, but one
part only appeared at Harderwijk (1776). The whole has been published
at Tebriz (1854) and at Cairo (1865), and many abridgments and Persian
translations have appeared; cf. C. Brockelmann, _Geschichte der
arabischen Literatur_ (Weimar, 1898), i. 128 seq. (G. W. T.)
JAUNDICE (Fr. _jaunisse_, from _jaune_, yellow), or ICTERUS (from its
resemblance to the colour of the golden oriole, of which Pliny relates
that if a jaundiced person looks upon it he recovers but the bird dies),
a term in medicine applied to a yellow coloration of the skin and other
parts of the body, depending in most instances on some derangement
affecting the liver. This yellow colour is due to the presence in the
blood of bile or of some of the elements of that secretion. Jaundice,
however, must be regarded more as a symptom of some morbid condition
previously existing than as a disease _per se_.
Cases with jaundice may be divided into three groups.
1. _Obstructive Jaundice._--Any obstruction of the passage of bile from
the liver into the intestinal canal is sooner or later followed by the
appearance of jaundice, which in such circumstances is due to the
absorption of bile into the blood. The obstruction is due to one of the
following causes: (1) Obstruction by foreign bodies within the bile
duct, e.g. gallstones or parasites; (2) inflammation of the duodenum or
the lining membrane of the duct; (3) stricture or obliteration of the
duct; (4) a tumour growing from the duct; (5) pressure on the duct from
without, from the liver or other organ, or tumours arising from them.
Obstructions from these causes may be partial or complete, and the
degree of jaundice will vary accordingly, but it is to be noted that
extensive organic disease of the liver may exist without the evidence of
obstructive jaundice.
The effect upon the liver of impediments to the outflow of bile such as
those above indicated is in the first place an increase in its size, the
whole biliary passages and the liver cells being distended with retained
bile. This enlargement, however, speedily subsides when the obstruction
is removed, but should it persist the liver ultimately shrinks and
undergoes atrophy in its whole texture. The bile thus retained is
absorbed into the system, and shows itself by the yellow staining seen
to a greater or less extent in all the tissues and many of the fluids of
the body. The kidneys, which in such circumstances act in some measure
vicariously to the liver and excrete a portion of the retained bile,
are apt to become affected in their structure by the long continuance of
jaundice.
The symptoms of obstructive jaundice necessarily vary according to the
nature of the exciting cause, but there generally exists evidence of
some morbid condition before the yellow coloration appears. Thus, if the
obstruction be due to an impacted gallstone in the common or hepatic
duct, there will probably be the symptoms of intense suffering
characterizing hepatic colic (see COLIC). In the cases most frequently
seen--those, namely, arising from simple catarrh of the bile ducts due
to gastro-duodenal irritation spreading through the common duct--the
first sign to attract attention is the yellow appearance of the white of
the eye, which is speedily followed by a similar colour on the skin over
the body generally. The yellow tinge is most distinct where the skin is
thin, as on the forehead, breast, elbows, &c. It may be also well seen
in the roof of the mouth, but in the lips and gums the colour is not
observed till the blood is first pressed from them. The tint varies,
being in the milder cases faint, in the more severe a deep saffron
yellow, while in extreme degrees of obstruction it may be of dark brown
or greenish hue. The colour can scarcely, if at all, be observed in
artificial light.
The urine exhibits well marked and characteristic changes in jaundice
which exist even before any evidence can be detected on the skin or
elsewhere. It is always of dark brown colour resembling porter, but
after standing in the air it acquires a greenish tint. Its froth is
greenish-yellow, and it stains with this colour any white substance. It
contains not only the bile colouring matter but also the bile acids. The
former is detected by the play of colours yielded on the addition of
nitric acid, the latter by the purple colour, produced by placing a
piece of lump sugar in the urine tested, and adding thereto a few drops
of strong sulphuric acid.
The contents of the bowels also undergo changes, being characterized
chiefly by their pale clay colour, which is in proportion to the amount
of hepatic obstruction, and to their consequent want of admixture with
bile. For the same reason they contain a large amount of unabsorbed
fatty matter, and have an extremely offensive odour.
Constitutional symptoms always attend jaundice with obstruction. The
patient becomes languid, drowsy and irritable, and has generally a slow
pulse. The appetite is usually but not always diminished, a bitter taste
in the mouth is complained of, while flatulent eructations arise from
the stomach. Intolerable itching of the skin is a common accompaniment
of jaundice, and cutaneous eruptions or boils are occasionally seen.
Yellow vision appears to be present in some very rare cases. Should the
jaundice depend on advancing organic disease of the liver, such as
cancer, the tinge becomes gradually deeper, and the emaciation and
debility more marked towards the fatal termination, which in such cases
is seldom long postponed. Apart from this, however, jaundice from
obstruction may exist for many years, as in those instances where the
walls of the bile ducts are thickened from chronic catarrh, but where
they are only partially occluded. In the common cases of acute catarrhal
jaundice recovery usually takes place in two or three weeks.
The treatment of this form of jaundice bears reference to the cause
giving rise to the obstruction. In the ordinary cases of simple
catarrhal jaundice, or that following the passing of gallstones, a light
nutritious diet (milk, soups, &c., avoiding saccharine and farinaceous
substances and alcoholic stimulants), along with counter-irritation
applied over the right side and the use of laxatives and cholagogues,
will be found to be advantageous. Diaphoretics and diuretics to promote
the action of the skin and kidneys are useful in jaundice. In the more
chronic forms, besides the remedies above named, the waters of Carlsbad
are of special efficacy. In cases other than acute catarrhal, operative
interference is often called for, to remove the gallstones, tumour, &c.,
causing the obstruction.
2. _Toxaemic Jaundice_ is observed to occur as a symptom in certain
fevers, e.g. yellow fever, ague, and in pyaemia also as the effect of
certain poisons, such as phosphorus, and the venom of snake-bites.
Jaundice of this kind is almost always slight, and neither the urine nor
the discharges from the bowels exhibit changes in appearance to such a
degree as in the obstructive variety. Grave constitutional symptoms are
often present, but they are less to be ascribed to the jaundice than to
the disease with which it is associated.
3. _Hereditary Jaundice._--Under this group there are the jaundice of
new-born infants, which varies enormously in severity; the cases in
which a slight form of jaundice obtains in several members of the same
family, without other symptoms, and which may persist for years; and
lastly the group of cases with hypertrophic cirrhosis.
The name _malignant jaundice_ is sometimes applied to that very fatal
form of disease otherwise termed acute yellow atrophy of the liver
(see ATROPHY).
JAUNPUR, a city and district of British India, in the Benares division
of the United Provinces. The city is on the left bank of the river
Gumti, 34 m. N.W. from Benares by rail. Pop. (1901), 42,771. Jaunpur is
a very ancient city, the former capital of a Mahommedan kingdom which
once extended from Budaun and Etawah to Behar. It abounds in splendid
architectural monuments, most of which belong to the period when the
rulers of Jaunpur were independent of Delhi. The fort of Feroz Shah is
in great part completely ruined, but there remain a fine gateway of the
16th century, a mosque dating from 1376, and the _hammams_ or baths of
Ibrahim Shah. Among other buildings may be mentioned the Atala Masjid
(1408) and the ruined Jinjiri Masjid, mosques built by Ibrahim, the
first of which has a great cloistered court and a magnificent façade;
the Dariba mosque constructed by two of Ibrahim's governors; the Lal
Darwaza erected by the queen of Mahmud; the Jama Masjid (1438-1478) or
great mosque of Husain, with court and cloisters, standing on a raised
terrace, and in part restored in modern times; and finally the splendid
bridge over the Gumti, erected by Munim Khan, Mogul governor in
1569-1573. During the Mutiny of 1857 Jaunpur formed a centre of
disaffection. The city has now lost its importance, the only industries
surviving being the manufacture of perfumes and papier-mâché articles.
The DISTRICT OF JAUNPUR has an area of 1551 sq. m. It forms part of the
wide Gangetic plain, and its surface is accordingly composed of a thick
alluvial deposit. The whole country is closely tilled, and no waste
lands break the continuous prospect of cultivated fields. It is divided
into two unequal parts by the sinuous channel of the Gumti, a tributary
of the Ganges, which flows past the city of Jaunpur. Its total course
within the district is about 90 m., and it is nowhere fordable. It is
crossed by two bridges, one at Jaunpur and the other 2 m. lower down.
The Gumti is liable to sudden inundations during the rainy season, owing
to the high banks it has piled up at its entrance into the Ganges, which
act as dams to prevent the prompt outflow of its flooded waters. These
inundations extend to its tributary the Sai. Much damage was thus
effected in 1774; but the greatest recorded flood took place in
September 1871, when 4000 houses in the city were swept away, besides
9000 more in villages along its banks. The other rivers are the Sai,
Barna, Pili and Basohi. Lakes are numerous in the north and south; the
largest has a length of 8 m. Pop. (1901), 1,202,920, showing a decrease
of 5% in the decade. Sugar-refining is the principal industry. The
district is served by the line of the Oudh & Rohilkhand railway from
Benares to Fyzabad, and by branches of this and of the Bengal &
North-Western systems.
In prehistoric times Jaunpur seems to have formed a portion of the
Ajodhya principality, and when it first makes an appearance in authentic
history it was subject to the rulers of Benares. With the rest of their
dominions it fell under the yoke of the Mussulman invaders in 1194. From
that time the district appears to have been ruled by a prince of the
Kanauj dynasty, as a tributary of the Mahommedan suzerain. In 1388 Malik
Sarwar Khwaja was sent by Mahommed Tughlak to govern the eastern
province. He fixed his residence at Jaunpur, made himself independent of
the Delhi court, and assumed the title of Sultan-us-Shark, or "eastern
emperor." For nearly a century the Sharki dynasty ruled at Jaunpur, and
proved formidable rivals to the sovereigns of Delhi. The last of the
dynasty was Sultan Husain, who passed his life in a fierce and chequered
struggle for supremacy with Bahlol Lodi, then actual emperor at Delhi.
At length, in 1478, Bahlol succeeded in defeating his rival in a series
of decisive engagements. He took the city of Jaunpur, but permitted the
conquered Husain to reside there, and to complete the building of his
great mosque, the Jama Masjid, which now forms the chief ornament of the
town. Many other architectural works in the district still bear witness
to its greatness under its independent Mussulman rulers. In 1775 the
district was made over to the British by the Treaty of Lucknow. From
that time nothing occurred which calls for notice till the Mutiny. On
the 5th of June 1857, when the news of the Benares revolt reached
Jaunpur, the sepoys mutinied. The district continued in a state of
complete anarchy till the arrival of the Gurkha force from Azamgarh in
September. In November the surrounding country was lost again, and it
was not till May 1858 that the last smouldering embers of disaffection
were stifled by the repulse of the insurgent leader at the hands of the
people themselves.
See A. Führer, _The Shargi Architecture of Jaunpur_ (1889).
JAUNTING-CAR, a light two-wheeled carriage for a single horse, in its
commonest form with seats for four persons placed back to back, with the
foot-boards projecting over the wheels. It is the typical conveyance for
persons in Ireland (see CAR). The first part of the word is generally
taken to be identical with the verb "to jaunt," now only used in the
sense of to go on a short pleasure excursion, but in its earliest uses
meaning to make a horse caracole or prance, hence to jolt or bump up and
down. It would apparently be a variant of "jaunce," of the same meaning,
which is supposed to be taken from O. Fr. _jancer_. Skeat takes the
origin of jaunt and jaunce to be Scandinavian, and connects them with
the Swedish dialect word _ganta_, to romp; and he finds cognate bases in
such words as "jump," "high jinks." The word "jaunty," sprightly,
especially used of anything done with an easy nonchalant air, is a
corruption of "janty," due to confusion with "jaunt." "Janty," often
spelt in the 17th and 18th centuries "janté" or "jantee," represents the
English pronunciation of Fr. _gentil_, well-bred, neat, spruce.
JAUREGUI, JUAN (1562-1582), a Biscayan by birth, was in 1582 in the
service of a Spanish merchant, Gaspar d'Anastro, who was resident at
Antwerp. Tempted by the reward of 80,000 ducats offered by Philip II. of
Spain for the assassination of William the Silent, prince of Orange, but
being himself without courage to undertake the task, d'Anastro, with the
help of his cashier Venero, persuaded Jauregui to attempt the murder for
the sum of 2877 crowns. On Sunday the 18th of March 1582, as the prince
came out of his dining-room Jauregui offered him a petition, and William
had no sooner taken it into his hand than Jauregui fired a pistol at his
head. The ball pierced the neck below the right ear and passed out at
the left jaw-bone; but William ultimately recovered. The assassin was
killed on the spot.
JAURÉGUIBERRY, JEAN BERNARD (1815-1887), French admiral, was born at
Bayonne on the 26th of August 1815. He entered the navy in 1831, was
made a lieutenant in 1845, commander in 1856, and captain in 1860. After
serving in the Crimea and in China, and being governor of Senegal, he
was promoted to rear-admiral in 1869. He served on land during the
second part of the Franco-German War of 1870-71, in the rank of
auxiliary general of division. He was present at Coulmiers, Villépion
and Loigny-Poupry, in command of a division, and in Chanzy's retreat
upon Le Mans and the battle at that place in command of a corps. He was
the most distinguished of the many naval officers who did good service
in the military operations. On the 9th of December he had been made
vice-admiral, and in 1871 he commanded the fleet at Toulon; in 1875 he
was a member of the council of admiralty; and in October 1876 he was
appointed to command the evolutionary squadron in the Mediterranean. In
February 1879 he became minister of the navy in the Waddington cabinet,
and on the 27th of May following was elected a senator for life. He was
again minister of the navy in the Freycinet cabinet in 1880. A fine
example of the fighting French seaman of his time, Jauréguiberry died at
Paris on the 21st of October 1887.
JÁUREGUI Y AGUILAR, JUAN MARTÍNEZ DE (1583-1641), Spanish poet, was
baptized at Seville on the 24th of November 1583. In due course he
studied at Rome, returning to Spain shortly before 1610 with a double
reputation as a painter and a poet. A reference in the preface to the
_Novelas exemplares_ has been taken to mean that he painted the portrait
of Cervantes, who, in the second part of _Don Quixote_, praises the
translation of Tasso's _Aminta_ published at Rome in 1607. Jáuregui's
_Rimas_ (1618), a collection of graceful lyrics, is preceded by a
controversial preface which attracted much attention on account of its
outspoken declaration against _culteranismo_. Through the influence of
Olivares, he was appointed groom of the chamber to Philip IV., and gave
an elaborate exposition of his artistic doctrines in the _Discurso
poético contra el hablar culto y oscuro_ (1624), a skilful attack on the
new theories, which procured for its author the order of Calatrava. It
is plain, however, that the shock of controversy had shaken Jáuregui's
convictions, and his poem _Orfeo_ (1624) is visibly influenced by
Góngora. Jáuregui died at Madrid on the 11th of January 1641, leaving
behind him a translation of the _Pharsalia_ which was not published till
1684. This rendering reveals Jáuregui as a complete convert to the new
school, and it has been argued that, exaggerating the affinities between
Lucan and Góngora--both of Cordovan descent--he deliberately translated
the thought of the earlier poet into the vocabulary of the later master.
This is possible; but it is at least as likely that Jáuregui
unconsciously yielded to the current of popular taste, with no other
intention than that of conciliating the public of his own day.
JAURÈS, JEAN LÉON (1859- ), French Socialist leader, was born at
Castres (Tarn) on the 3rd of September 1859. He was educated at the
lycée Louis-le-Grand and the école normale supérieure, and took his
degree as associate in philosophy in 1881. After teaching philosophy for
two years at the lycée of Albi (Tarn), he lectured at the university of
Toulouse. He was elected republican deputy for the department of Tarn in
1885. In 1889, after unsuccessfully contesting Castres, he returned to
his professional duties at Toulouse, where he took an active interest in
municipal affairs, and helped to found the medical faculty of the
university. He also prepared two theses for his doctorate in philosophy,
_De primis socialismi germanici lineamentis apud Lutherum, Kant, Fichte
et Hegel_ (1891), and _De la réalité du monde sensible_. In 1902 he gave
energetic support to the miners of Carmaux who went out on strike in
consequence of the dismissal of a socialist workman, Calvignac; and in
the next year he was re-elected to the chamber as deputy for Albi.
Although he was defeated at the elections of 1898 and was for four years
outside the chamber, his eloquent speeches made him a force in politics
as an intellectual champion of socialism. He edited the _Petite
République_, and was one of the most energetic defenders of Captain
Alfred Dreyfus. He approved of the inclusion of M. Millerand, the
socialist, in the Waldeck-Rousseau ministry, though this led to a split
with the more revolutionary section led by M. Guesde. In 1902 he was
again returned as deputy for Albi, and during the Combes administration
his influence secured the coherence of the radical-socialist coalition
known as the _bloc_. In 1904 he founded the socialist paper,
_L'Humanité_. The French socialist groups held a congress at Rouen in
March 1905, which resulted in a new consolidation; the new party, headed
by MM. Jaurès and Guesde, ceased to co-operate with the radicals and
radical-socialists, and became known as the unified socialists, pledged
to advance a collectivist programme. At the general elections of 1906 M.
Jaurès was again elected for the Tarn. His ability and vigour were now
generally recognized; but the strength of the socialist party, and the
practical activity of its leader, still had to reckon with the equally
practical and vigorous liberalism of M. Clemenceau. The latter was able
to appeal to his countrymen (in a notable speech in the spring of 1906)
to rally to a radical programme which had no socialist Utopia in view;
and the appearance in him of a strong and practical radical leader had
the result of considerably diminishing the effect of the socialist
propaganda. M. Jaurès, in addition to his daily journalistic activity,
published _Les preuves; affaire Dreyfus_ (1900); _Action socialiste_
(1899); _Études socialistes_ (1902), and, with other collaborators,
_Histoire socialiste_ (1901), &c.
JAVA, one of the larger islands of that portion of the Malay Archipelago
which is distinguished as the Sunda Islands. It lies between 105° 12´
40´´ (St Nicholas Point) and 114° 35´ 38´´ E. (Cape Seloko) and between
5° 52´ 34´´ and 8° 46´ 46´´ S. It has a total length of 622 m. from
Pepper Bay in the west to Banyuwangi in the east, and an extreme breadth
of 121 m. from Cape Bugel in Japara to the coast of Jokjakarta,
narrowing towards the middle to about 55 m. Politically and commercially
it is important as the seat of the colonial government of the Dutch East
Indies, all other parts of the Dutch territory being distinguished as
the Outer Possessions (_Buitenbezittungens_). According to the
triangulation survey (report published in 1901) the area of Java proper
is 48,504 sq. m.; of Madura, the large adjacent and associated island,
1732; and of the smaller islands administratively included with Java and
Madura 1416, thus making a total of 50,970 sq. m. The more important of
these islands are the following: Pulau Panaitan or Princes Island
(_Prinseneiland_), 47 sq. m., lies in the Sunda Strait, off the
south-western peninsula of the main island, from which it is separated
by the Behouden Passage. The Thousand Islands are situated almost due N.
of Batavia. Of these five were inhabited in 1906 by about 1280 seafarers
from all parts and their descendants. The Karimon Java archipelago, to
the north of Semarang, numbers twenty-seven islands with an area of 16
sq. m. and a population of about 800 (having one considerable village on
the main island). Bavian[1] (Bawian), 100 m. N. of Surabaya, is a ruined
volcano with an area of 73 sq. m. and a population of about 44,000.
About a third of the men are generally absent as traders or coolies. In
Singapore and Sumatra they are known as Boyans. They are devout
Mahommedans and many of them make the pilgrimage to Mecca. The Sapudi
and Kangean archipelagoes are eastward continuations of Madura. The
former, thirteen in all, with an area of 58 sq. m. and 53,000
inhabitants, export cattle, dried fish and trepang; and many of the male
population work as day labourers in Java or as lumbermen in Sumbawa,
Flores, &c. The main island of the Kangians has an area of 19 sq. m.;
the whole group 23 sq. m. It is best known for its limestone caves and
its buffaloes. Along the south coast the islands are few and
small--Klapper or Deli, Trouwers or Tingal, Nusa Kembangan, Sempu and
Nusa Barung.
[Illustration: Map of Java.]
From Sumatra on the W., Java is separated by the Sunda Strait, which at
the narrowest is only 14 m. broad, but widens elsewhere to about 50 m.
On the E. the strait of Bali, which parts it from the island of that
name, is at the northern end not more than 1½ m. across. Through the
former strong currents run for the greater part of the day throughout
the year, outwards from the Java Sea to the Indian Ocean. In the strait
of Bali the currents are perhaps even stronger and are extremely
irregular. Pilots with local knowledge are absolutely necessary for
vessels attempting either passage. In spite of the strength of the
currents the Sunda Strait is steadily being diminished in width, and the
process if continued must result in a restoration of that junction of
Sumatra and Java which according to some authorities formerly
existed.[2]
In general terms Java may be described as one of the breakwater islands
of the Indian Ocean--part of the mountainous rim (continuous more or
less completely with Sumatra) of the partially submerged plateau which
lies between the ocean on the S. and the Chinese Sea on the N., and has
the massive island of Borneo as its chief subaerial portion. While the
waves and currents of the ocean sweep away most of the products of
denudation along the south coast or throw a small percentage back in the
shape of sandy downs, the Java Sea on the north--not more than 50
fathoms deep--allows them to settle and to form sometimes with
extraordinary rapidity broad alluvial tracts.[3]
It is customary and obvious to divide Java into three divisions, the
middle part of the island narrowing into a kind of isthmus, and each
of the divisions thus indicated having certain structural
characteristics of its own. West Java, which consists of Bantam,
Krawang and the Preanger Regencies, has an area of upwards of 18,000
sq. m. In this division the highlands lie for the most part in a
compact mass to the south and the lowlands form a continuous tract to
the north. The main portion of the uplands consists of the Preanger
Mountains, with the plateaus of Bandong, Pekalongan, Tegal, Badung and
Gurut, encircled with volcanic summits. On the borders of the
Preanger, Batavia and Bantam are the Halimon Mountains (the Blue
Mountains of the older travellers), reaching their greatest altitudes
in the volcanic summits of Gedeh and Salak. To the west lie the
highlands of Bantam, which extending northward cut off the northern
lowlands from the Sunda Strait. Middle Java is the smallest of the
three divisions, having an area of not much more than 13,200 sq. m. It
comprises Tegal, Pekalongan, Banyumas, Bagelen, Kedu, Jokjakarta,
Surakarta, and thus not only takes in the whole of the isthmus but
encroaches on the broad eastern portion of the island. In the isthmus
mountains are not so closely massed in the south nor the plains so
continuous on the north. The watershed culminating in Slamet lies
almost midway between the ocean and the Java Sea, and there are
somewhat extensive lowlands in the south. In that part of middle Java
which physically belongs to eastern Java there is a remarkable series
of lowlands stretching almost right across the island from Semarang in
the north to Jokjakarta in the south. Eastern Java comprises Rembang,
Madiun, Kediri, Surabaya, Pasuruan and Besuki, and has an area of
about 17,500 sq. m. In this division lowlands and highlands are
intermingled in endless variety except along the south coast, where
the watershed-range forms a continuous breakwater from Jokjakarta to
Besuki. The volcanic eminences, instead of rising in lines or groups,
are isolated.
For its area Java is one of the most distinctly volcanic regions of
the world. Volcanic forces made it, and volcanic forces have continued
to devastate and fertilize it. According to R. D. M. Verbeek about 125
volcanic centres can be distinguished, a number which may be increased
or diminished by different methods of classification. It is usual to
arrange the volcanoes in the following groups: westernmost Java 11
(all extinct); Preanger 50 (5 active); Cheribon 2 (both extinct);
Slamet 2 (1 active); middle Java 16 (2 active); Murio 2 (both
extinct); Lavu 2 (extinct); Wilis 2 (extinct); east Java 21 (5
active). The active volcanoes of the present time are Gedeh,
Tangkuban, Prahu, Gutar, Papandayan, Galung-gung, Slamet, Sendor,
Merapi,[4] Kalut (or Klut), Bromo, Semeru, Lamongan, Raung, but the
activity of many of these is trifling, consisting of slight ejections
of steam and scoriae.
The plains differ in surface and fertility, according to their
geological formation. Built up of alluvium and diluvium, the plains of
the north coast-lands in western and middle Java are at their lowest
levels, near the mouths of rivers and the sea, in many cases marshy
and abounding in lakes and coral remains, but for the rest they are
fertile and available for culture. The plains, too, along the south
coast of middle Java--of Banyumas and Bagelen--contain many morasses
as well as sandy stretches and dunes impeding the outlet of the
rivers. They are, nevertheless, available for the cultivation more
particularly of rice, and are thickly peopled. In eastern Java, again,
the narrow coast plains are to be distinguished from the wider plains
lying between the parallel chains of limestone and between the
volcanoes. The narrow plains of the north coast are constituted of
yellow clay and tuffs containing chalk, washed down by the rivers from
the mountain chains and volcanoes. Like the western plains, they, too,
are in many cases low and marshy, and fringed with sand and dunes. The
plains, on the other hand, at some distance from the sea, or lying in
the interior of eastern Java, such as Surakarta, Madiun, Kediri,
Pasuruan, Probolinggo and Besuki, owe their formation to the volcanoes
at whose bases they lie, occupying levels as high as 1640 ft. down to
328 ft. above the sea, whence they decline to the lower plains of the
coast. Lastly, the plains of Lusi, Solo and Brantas, lying between the
parallel chains in Japara, Rembang and Surabaya, are in part the
product of rivers formerly flowing at a higher level of 30 to 60 or 70
ft., in part the product of the sea, dating from a time when the
northern part of the above-named residencies was an island, such as
Madura, the mountains of which are the continuation of the north
parallel chain, is still.
The considerable rivers of western Java all have their outlets on the
north coast, the chief among them being the Chi (Dutch Tji) Tarum and
the Chi Manuk. They are navigable for native boats and rafts, and are
used for the transport of coffee and salt. On the south coast the Chi
Tanduwi, on the east of the Preanger, is the only stream available as
a waterway, and this only for a few miles above its mouth. In middle
Java, also, the rivers discharging at the north coast--the Pamali,
Chomal, &c.--are serviceable for the purposes of irrigation and
cultivation, but are navigable only near their mouths. The rivers of
the south coast--Progo, Serayu, Bogowonto, and Upak, enriched by rills
from the volcanoes--serve abundantly to irrigate the plains of
Bagelen, Banyumas, &c. Their stony beds, shallows and rapids, and the
condition of their mouths lessen, however, their value as waterways.
More navigable are the larger rivers of eastern Java. The Solo is
navigable for large praus, or native boats, as far up as Surakarta,
and above that town for lighter boats, as is also its affluent the
Gentung. The canal constructed in 1893 at the lower part of this
river, and alterations effected at its mouth, have proved of important
service both in irrigating the plain and facilitating the river's
outlet into the sea. The Brantas is also navigable in several parts.
The smaller rivers of eastern Java are, however, much in the condition
of those of western Java. They serve less as waterways than as
reservoirs for the irrigation of the fertile plains through which they
flow.
The north coast of Java presents everywhere a low strand covered with
nipa or mangrove, morasses and fishponds, sandy stretches and low
dunes, shifting river-mouths and coast-lines, ports and roads,
demanding continual attention and regulation. The south coast is of a
different make. The dunes of Banyumas, Bagelen, and Jokjakarta, ranged
in three ridges, rising to 50 ft. high, and varying in breadth from
300 to over 1600 ft., liable, moreover, to transformation from tides
and the east monsoon, oppose everywhere, also in Preanger and Besuki,
a barrier to the discharge of the rivers and the drainage of the
coast-lands. They assist the formation of lagoons and morasses. At
intervals in the dune coast, running in the direction of the limestone
mountains, there tower up steep inaccessible masses of land, showing
neither ports nor bays, hollowed out by the sea, rising in
perpendicular walls to a height of 160 ft. above sea-level. Sometimes
two branches project at right angles from the chain on to the coast,
forming a low bay between the capes or ends of the projecting
branches, from 1000 to 1600 ft. high. Such a formation occurs
frequently along the coast of Besuki, presenting a very irregular
coast-line. Of course the north coast is of much greater commercial
importance than the south coast.
_Geology._--With the exception of a few small patches of schist,
supposed to be Cretaceous, the whole island, so far as is known, is
covered by deposits of Tertiary and Quaternary age. The ancient
"schist formation," which occurs in Sumatra, Borneo, &c., does not
rise to the surface anywhere in Java itself, but it is visible in the
island of Karimon Java off the north coast. The Cretaceous schists
have yielded fossils only at Banjarnegara, where a limestone with
Orbitolina is interstratified with them. They are succeeded
unconformably by Eocene deposits, consisting of sandstones with
coal-seams and limestones containing Nummulites, Alveolina and
Orthophragmina; and these beds are as limited in extent as the
Cretaceous schists themselves. Sedimentary deposits of Upper Tertiary
age are widely spread, covering about 38% of the surface. They consist
of breccias, marls and limestones containing numerous fossils, and are
for the most part Miocene but probably include a part of the Pliocene
also. They were laid down beneath the sea, but have since been folded
and elevated to considerable heights. Fluviatile deposits of late
Pliocene age have been found in the east of Java, and it was in these
that the remarkable anthropoid ape or ape-like man, _Pithecanthropus
erectus_ of Dubois, was discovered. The Quaternary deposits lie
horizontally upon the upturned edges of the Tertiary beds. They are
partly marine and partly fluviatile, the marine deposits reaching to a
height of some 350 ft. above the sea and thus indicating a
considerable elevation of the island in recent times.
The volcanic rocks of Java are of great importance and cover about 28%
of the island. The eruptions began in the middle of the Tertiary
period, but did not attain their maximum until Quaternary times, and
many of the volcanoes are still active. Most of the cones seem to lie
along faults parallel to the axis of the island, or on short cross
fractures. The lavas and ashes are almost everywhere andesites and
basalts, with a little obsidian. Some of the volcanoes, however, have
erupted leucite rocks. Similar rocks, together with phonolite, occur
in the island of Bavian.[5]
_Climate._--Our knowledge of the climate of Batavia, and thus of that
of the lowlands of western Java, is almost perfect; but, rainfall
excepted, our information as to the climate of Java as a whole is
extremely defective. The dominant meteorological facts are simple and
obvious: Java lies in the tropics, under an almost vertical sun, and
thus has a day of almost uniform length throughout the year.[6] It is
also within the perpetual influence of the great atmospheric movements
passing between Asia and Australia; and is affected by the
neighbourhood of vast expanses of sea and land (Borneo and Sumatra).
There are no such maxima of temperature as are recorded from the
continents. The highest known at Batavia was 96° F. in 1877 and the
lowest 66° in the same year. The mean annual temperature is 79°. The
warmest months are May and October, registering 79.5° and 79.46°
respectively; the coldest January and February with 77.63° and 77.7°
respectively. The daily range is much greater; at one o'clock the
thermometer has a mean height of 84°; after two o'clock it declines to
about 73° at six o'clock; the greatest daily amplitude is in August
and the least in January and February. Eastern Java and the inland
plains of middle Java are said to be hotter, but scientific data are
few. A very slight degree of elevation above the seaboard plains
produces a remarkable difference in the climate, not so much in its
mere temperature as in its influence on health. The dwellers in the
coast towns are surprised at the invigorating effects of a change to
health resorts from 300 to 1200 ft. above sea-level; and at greater
elevations it may be uncomfortably cold at night, with chilly mists
and occasional frosts. The year is divided into two seasons by the
prevailing winds: the rainy season, that of the west monsoon, lasting
from November to March, and the dry season, that of the east monsoon,
during the rest of the year; the transition from one monsoon to
another--the "canting" of the monsoons--being marked by
irregularities. On the whole, the east monsoon blows steadily for a
longer period than the west. The velocity of the wind is much less
than in Europe--not more in the annual mean at Batavia than 3 ft. per
second, against 12 to 18 ft. in Europe. The highest velocity ever
observed at Batavia was 25 ft. Wind-storms are rare and hardly ever
cyclonic. There are as a matter of course a large number of purely
local winds, some of them of a very peculiar kind, but few of these
have been scientifically dealt with. Thunder-storms are extremely
frequent; but the loss of life from lightning is probably diminished
by the fact that the palm-trees are excellent conductors. At night the
air is almost invariably still. The average rainfall at Batavia is
72.28 in. per annum, of which 51.49 in. are contributed by the west
monsoon. The amount varies considerably from year to year: in 1889,
1891 and 1897 there were about 47.24 in.; in 1868 and 1877 nearly
51.17, and in 1872 and 1882 no less than 94.8. There are no long
tracts of unbroken rainfall and no long periods of continuous drought.
The rainfall is heaviest in January, but it rains only for about
one-seventh of the time. Next in order come February, March and
December. August, the driest month, has from three to five days of
rain, though the amount is usually less than an inch and not more than
one and a half inches. The popular description of the rain falling not
in drops but streams was proved erroneous by J. Wiesner's careful
observations (see _Kais. Akad. d. Wiss. Math. Naturw. Cl._ Bd. xiv.,
Vienna, 1895), which have been confirmed by A. Woeikof
("Regensintensität und Regendauer in Batavia" in _Z. für Met._, 1907).
The greatest rainfall recorded in an hour (4.5 in.) is enormously
exceeded by records even in Europe. From observations taken for the
meteorological authorities at a very considerable number of stations,
J. H. Boeseken constructed a map in 1900 (_Tijdschr. v. h. Kon. Ned.
Aardr. Gen._, 1900; reproduced in Veth, _Java_, iii. 1903). Among the
outstanding facts are the following. The south coasts of both eastern
and middle Java have a much heavier rainfall than the north. Majalenka
has an annual fall of 175 in. In western Java the maximal district
consists of a great ring of mountains from Salak and Gedeh in the west
to Galung-gung in the east, while the enclosed plateau-region of
Chanjur Bandung and Garut are not much different from the seaboard.
The whole of middle Java, with the exception of the north coast, has a
heavy rainfall. At Chilachap the annual rainfall is 151.43 in., 87.8
in. of which is brought by the south-east monsoon. The great belt
which includes the Slamet and the Dieng, and the country on the south
coast between Chilachap and Parigi, are maximal. In comparison the
whole of eastern Java, with the exception of the mountains from Wilis
eastward to Ijen, has a low record which reaches its lowest along the
north coast.[7]
_Fauna._--In respect of its fauna Java differs from Borneo, Sumatra
and the Malay Peninsula far more than these differ among themselves;
and, at the same time, it shows a close resemblance to the Malay
Peninsula, on the one hand, and to the Himalayas on the other. Of the
176 mammals of the whole Indo-Malayan region the greater number occur
in Java. Of these 41 are found on the continent of Asia, 8 are common
to Java and Borneo, and 6 are common to Java and Sumatra (see M.
Weber, _Das Indo-Malay Archipelago und die Geschichte seiner
Thierwelt_, Jena, 1902). No genus and only a few species are confined
to the island. Of the land-birds only a small proportion are peculiar.
The elephant, the tapir, the bear, and various other genera found in
the rest of the region are altogether absent. The Javanese rhinoceros
(_Rhinoceros sundaicus_; _sarak_ in Javanese, _badak_ in Sundanese),
the largest of the mammals on the island, differs from that of Sumatra
in having one horn instead of two. It ranges over the highest
mountains, and its regular paths, worn into deep channels, may be
traced up the steepest slopes and round the rims of even active
volcanoes. Two species of wild swine, _Sus vittatus_ and _Sus
verrucosus_, are exceedingly abundant, the former in the hot, the
latter in the temperate, region; and their depredations are the cause
of much loss to the natives, who, however, being Mahommedans, to whom
pork is abhorrent, do not hunt them for the sake of their flesh. Not
much less than the rhinoceros is the banteng (_Bibos banteng_ or
_sundaicus_) found in all the uninhabited districts between 2000 and
7000 ft. of elevation. The kidang or muntjak (_Cervulus muntjac_) and
the rusa or russa (_Rusa hippelaphus_ or _Russa russa_) are the
representatives of the deer kind. The former is a delicate little
creature occurring singly or in pairs both in the mountains and in the
coast districts; the latter lives in herds of fifty to a hundred in
the grassy opens, giving excellent sport to the native hunters.
Another species (_Russa kuhlii_) exists in Bavian. The kantjil
(_Tragulus javanicus_) is a small creature allied to the musk-deer but
forming a genus by itself. It lives in the high woods, for the most
part singly, seldom in pairs. It is one of the most peculiar of the
Javanese mammals. The royal tiger, the same species as that of India,
is still common enough to make a tiger-hunt a characteristic Javanese
scene. The leopard (_Felis pardus_) is frequent in the warm regions
and often ascends to considerable altitudes. Black specimens
occasionally occur, but the spots are visible on inspection; and the
fact that in the Amsterdam zoological gardens a black leopard had one
of its cubs black and the other normally spotted shows that this is
only a case of melanism. In the tree-tops the birds find a dangerous
enemy in the matjan rembak, or wild cat (_Felis minuta_), about the
size of a common cat. The dog tribe is represented by the fox-like
adjag (_Cuon_ or _Canis sutilans_) which hunts in ferocious packs; and
by a wild dog, _Canis tenggeranus_, if this is not now exterminated.
The Cheiroptera hold a prominent place in the fauna, the principal
genera being _Pteropus_, _Cynonycteris_, _Cynopterus_ and
_Macroglossus_. Remarkable especially for size is the kalong, or
flying fox, _Pteropus edulis_, a fruit-eating bat, which may be seen
hanging during the day in black clusters asleep on the trees, and in
the evening hastening in long lines to the favourite feeding grounds
in the forest. The damage these do to the young coco-nut trees, the
maize and the sugar-palms leads the natives to snare and shoot them;
and their flesh is a favourite food with Europeans, who prefer to
shoot them by night as, if shot by day, they often cling after death
to the branches. Smaller kinds of bats are most abundant, perhaps the
commonest being _Scotophilus Temminckii_. In certain places they
congregate in myriads, like sea-fowl on the cliffs, and their
excrement produces extensive guano deposits utilized by the people of
Surakarta and Madiun. The creature known to the Europeans as the
flying-cat and to the natives as the kubin is the _Galeopithecus
volans_ or _variagatus_--a sort of transition from the bats to the
lemuroids. Of these last Java has several species held in awe by the
natives for their supposed power of fascination. The apes are
represented by the wou-wou (_Hylobates leuciscus_), the lutung, and
kowi (_Semnopithecus maurus_ and _pyrrhus_), the surili
(_Semnopithecus mitratus_), and the munyuk (_Cercocebus_, or _Macacus,
cynamolgos_), the most generally distributed of all. From sunrise to
sunset the wou-wou makes its presence known, especially in the second
zone where it congregates in the trees, by its strange cry, at times
harsh and cacophonous, at times weird and pathetic. The lutung or
black ape also prefers the temperate region, though it is met with as
high as 7000 ft. above the sea and as low as 2000. The _Cercocebus_ or
grey ape keeps for the most part to the warm coast lands. Rats
(including the brown Norway rat, often called _Mus javanicus_, as if
it were a native; a great plague); mice in great variety; porcupines
(_Acanthion javanicum_); squirrels (five species) and flying squirrels
(four species) represent the rodents. A hare, _Lepus nigricollis_,
originally from Ceylon, has a very limited habitat; the Insectivora
comprise a shrew-mouse (_Rachyura indica_), two species of tupaya and
_Hylomys suillus_ peculiar to Java and Sumatra. The nearest relation
to the bears is _Arctictis binturong_. _Mydaus meliceps_ and _Helictis
orientalis_ represent the badgers. In the upper part of the mountains
occurs _Mustela Henrici_, and an otter (_Aonyx leptonyx_) in the
streams of the hot zone. The coffee rat (_Paradoxurus
hermaphroditus_), a civet cat (_Viverricida indica_), the Javanese
ichneumon (_Herpestes javanicus_), and _Priodon gracilis_ may also be
mentioned.
In 1820, 176 species of birds were known in Java; by 1900 Vorderman
and O. Finsch knew 410. Many of these are, of course, rare and occupy
a limited habitat far from the haunts of man. Others exist in myriads
and are characteristic features in the landscape. Water-fowl of many
kinds, ducks, geese, storks, pelicans, &c., give life to sea-shore and
lake, river and marsh. Snipe-shooting is a favourite sport. Common
night-birds are the owl (_Strix flammea_) and the goat-sucker
(_Caprimulgus affinis_). Three species of hornbill, the year-bird of
the older travellers (_Buceros plicatus_, _lunatus_ and _albirostris_)
live in the tall trees of the forest zone. The Javanese peacock is a
distinct species (_Pavo muticus_ or _spiciferus_), and even exceeds
the well-known Indian species in the splendour of its plumage. _Gallus
Bankiva_ is famous as the reputed parent of all barn-door fowls;
_Gallus furcatus_ is an exquisitely beautiful bird and can be trained
for cock-fighting. Of parrots two species only are known: _Palaeornis
Alexandri_ or _javanicus_ and the pretty little grass-green _Curyllis
pusilla_, peculiar to Java. As talkers and mimics they are beaten by
the _Gracula javanensis_, a favourite cage-bird with the natives. A
cuckoo, _Chrysococcyx basalis_, may be heard in the second zone. The
grass-fields are the foraging-grounds of swarms of weaver-birds
(_Plocula javanensis_ and _Ploccus baya_). They lay nearly as heavy a
toll on the rice-fields as the gelatiks (_Munia oryzivora_), which are
everywhere the rice-growers' principal foe. Hawks and falcons make
both an easy prey. The _Nictuarinas_ or honey-birds (eight species)
take the place of the humming-bird, which they rival in beauty and
diminutiveness, ranging from the lowlands to an altitude of 4000 ft.
In the upper regions the birds, like the plants, are more like those
of Europe, and some of them--notably the kanchilan (_Hyloterpe
Philomela_)--are remarkable for their song. The edible-nest swallow
(_Collocalia fuciphaga_) builds in caves in many parts of the
island.[8]
As far back as 1859 P. Bleeker credited Java with eleven hundred
species of fish; and naturalists are perpetually adding to the
number.[9] In splendour and grotesqueness of colouring many kinds, as
is well known, look rather like birds than fish. In the neighbourhood
of Batavia about three hundred and eighty species are used as food by
the natives and the Chinese, who have added to the number by the
introduction of the goldfish, which reaches a great size. The sea fish
most prized by Europeans is _Lates calcarifer_ (a perch). Of more than
one hundred species of snakes about twenty-four species (including
the cobra di capella) are poisonous and these are responsible for the
deaths of between one hundred and two hundred persons per annum.
Adders and lizards are abundant. Geckos are familiar visitants in the
houses of the natives. There are two species of crocodiles.
As in other tropical-rain forest lands the variety and abundance of
insects are amazing. At sundown the air becomes resonant for hours
with their myriad voices. The _Coleoptera_ and the _Lepidoptera_ form
the glory of all great collections for their size and magnificence. Of
butterflies proper five hundred species are known. Of the beetles one
of the largest and handsomest is _Chalcosoma atlas_. Among the spiders
(a numerously represented order) the most notable is a bird-killing
species, _Selene scomia javanensis_. In many parts the island is
plagued with ants, termites and mosquitoes. Crops of all kinds are
subject to disastrous attacks of creeping and winged foes--many still
unidentified (see especially Snellen van Hollenhoven, _Essai d'une
faune entomologique de l'Archipel Indo-néerlandais_). Of still lower
forms of life the profusion is no less perplexing. Among the worms the
_Perichaeta musica_ reaches a length of about twenty inches and
produces musical sounds. The shell of the _Tridacna gigas_ is the
largest anywhere known.
_Flora._--For the botanist Java is a natural paradise, affording him
the means of studying the effects of moisture and heat, of
air-currents and altitudes, without the interference of superincumbent
arctic conditions. The botanic gardens of Buitenzorg have long been
famous for their wealth of material, the ability with which their
treasures have been accumulated and displayed, their value in
connexion with the economic development of the island and the
extensive scientific literature published by their directors.[10]
There is a special establishment at Chibodas open to students of all
nations for the investigation on the spot of the conditions of the
primeval forest. Hardly any similar area in the world has a flora of
richer variety than Java. It is estimated that the total number of the
species of plants is about 5000; but this is probably under the mark
(De Candolle knew of 2605 phanerogamous species), and new genera and
species of an unexpected character are from time to time discovered.
The lower parts of the island are always in the height of summer. The
villages and even the smaller towns are in great measure concealed by
the abundant and abiding verdure; and their position in the landscape
is to be recognized mainly by their groves, orchards and cultivated
fields. The amount and distribution of heat and moisture at the
various seasons of the year form the dominant factors in determining
the character of the vegetation. Thus trees which are evergreen in
west Java are deciduous in the east of the island, some dropping their
leaves (e.g. _Tetrameles nudiflora_) at the very time they are in
bloom or ripening their fruit. This and other contrasts are
graphically described from personal observation by A. F. W. Schimper
in his _Pflanzen-Geographie auf physiologischer Grundlage_ (Jena,
1898). The abundance of epiphytes, orchids, pitcher-plants, mosses and
fungi is a striking result of the prevalent humidity; and many trees
and plants indeed, which in drier climates root in the soil, derive
sufficient moisture from their stronger neighbours. Of orchids J. J.
Smith records 562 species (100 genera), but the flowers of all except
about a score are inconspicuous. This last fact is the more remarkable
because, taken generally, the Javanese vegetation differs from that of
many other tropical countries by being abundantly and often gorgeously
floriferous. Many of the loftiest trees crown themselves with blossoms
and require no assistance from the climbing plants that seek, as it
were, to rival them in their display of colour. Shrubs, too, and
herbaceous plants often give brilliant effects in the savannahs, the
deserted clearings, the edges of the forest and the sides of the
highways. The _lantana_, a verbenaceous alien introduced, it is said,
from Jamaica by Lady Raffles, has made itself aggressively conspicuous
in many parts of the island, more especially in the Preanger and
middle Java, where it occupies areas of hundreds of acres.