Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/735

 JUNIATA JUNIPER 715 raphy he takes a sentimental delight in pictur- ing his three successive wives, and love and marriage are treated with special enthusiasm in liis romances. In his later works he appears as a ghost-seer and theosophist. Tho most im- portant of them are : Tfieorie der Oeisterkunde (1808), and Apologie der Theorie der Geister- Icunde (1809), full of marvellous but not care- fully authenticated narratives ; Scenen aus dem Geisterreich (1817), consisting of conversa- tions in heaven, and inculcating a sort of wor- ship of genius ; and the poem Ckrysdon, oder das goldene Zeitalter (1819), descriptive of the millennium. His various works were collected in 14 vols. (Stuttgart, 1838). .1 1 M AT t. a river of Pennsylvania, formed in the 8. central part of the state, by the junction of the Little Juniata and Frankstown branch, which rise at the foot of the Alleghany moun- tains, in Blair and Bedford counties. Its gen- eral course is E., with many deviations; and after passing through a mountainous country, it joins the Susquehanna 14 m. above Harris- burg. Nearly its whole course is celebrated for its picturesque scenery. Including the Franks- town branch, it is about 150 m. long. It is not navigable. The Pennsylvania canal and rail- road follow its banks throughout its whole ex- tent, the latter crossing the river many times. .11 M V I, a central county of Pennsylvania, watered by the Juniata river ; area, 360 sq. m. ; jiop. in 1870, 17,390. It has a mountainous surface, with many fertile valleys. The Penn- sylvania railroad and canal pass through it. The chief productions in '1870 were 230,624 bushels of wheat, 329,231 of Indian corn, 347,054 of oats, 69,520 of potatoes, 16,938 Ibs. of wool, 299,575 of butter, and 19,809 tons of hay. There were 4,215 horses, 9,160 cattle, 6,315 sheep, and 7,164 swine; 4 manufactories of agricultural implements, 13 of carriages, 8 of lime, 18 tanneries, 9 flour mills, and 2 saw mills. Capital, Mifflintown. JUNIPER (juniperus, the ancient Latin name), a genus of evergreen shrubs and trees, of the cypress subfamily of the order conifera. The leaves in this genus are awl-shaped or scale- like, rigid, and sometimes of two shapes in the same tree ; the flowers, mostly dioecious, are in small axillary aments ; the sterile aments con- sist of shield-shaped scales, beneath each of which are three to six anther cells ; the fer- tile have three to six fleshy, one-ovuled, coa- lescent scales, and in ripening become a berry- like fruit. The common juniper (J. commtinis), also a native of Europe, is abundant in the northern states, especially on dry sterile hills near the coast, where it is not rare to find plants only a foot or two high spreading close to the ground, and forming a circular mat 30 ft. in circumference. It sometimes rises to the height of 5 to 10 ft., and old specimens attain a much greater size. One at the Bartram gar- den, near Philadelphia, a few years ago, mea- ured 35 ft. The leaves are articulated with the stem in whorls of three, spreading and prickly-pointed ; the upper surface is glaucous white, the under dark green. The berries are about the size of a pea, and dark purple ; they contain a brownish pulp, with three seeds ; their taste is sweetish, warm and bitterish, with a peculiar terebinthinate flavor ; they contain a volatile oil (oil of juniper), which is separated by distillation. The berries are stimulant and diuretic, and have long been used for urinary diseases ; they are used in the manufacture of gin, and give to that liquor its peculiar flavor and diuretic properties. In Europe a kind of tar is prepared from the wood, which under the name of oil of cade is used for cutaneous diseases. The common juniper varies greatly ; in a bed of seedlings it is difficult to find two alike ; some of its forms are useful in orna- mental planting. A very prostrate form, the variety alpina, found along the great lakes and northward, is a useful plant for rockwork. The well known Irish (var. Hibernica) and Swedish (var. Suecica) junipers are remark- ably erect varieties of this species ; these, espe- cially the latter, are much used in ornamental planting, where their columnar forms afford a marked contrast to other trees. They are lia- ble to be bent out of shape by the accumulation Pistillate and Btamlnate Flowers. of snow among their dense erect branches ; this can be prevented by winding the tree with a cord or fine wire at the approach of winter. A related species from the south of Europe, /. hemispluerica, is remarkably dwarf, a plant ten years old being not over a foot high ; this is known as the hedgehog juniper, and is a fa- vorite with planters for the decoration of small grounds. The section of savin junipers differs from the true junipers, to which the fore- going belong, in having their leaves opposite and not articulate with the stem. A prominent representative of this section is the red cedar (/. Virginiana), which is found from Canada to the gulf of Mexico. Few trees present in their wild state a greater variety of form ; in some localities every specimen takes an erect habit and forms a dark green column, tapering but slightly from the base, and as regular in outline as if artificially pruned ; in other places, especially inland, the tree has a clear trunk and handsome open head, with some- what pendulous branches ; those which grow