Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 11.djvu/86

JACK. many fishes, usually marked by liveliness of action. ( 1 ) A pickerel, especially the Eastern green pickerel. (2) One of the Californiaii rCM-k- lish (ISebaslodes paucispinis). (3) Kither of two West Indian amberfishes (Heriula Lulandi or Herioki Dumerili), more often called "amber jacks.' (4) Any of various scads and crevalles, especially the jurel (q.v.).

JACK, A picturesque character in American frontier life about the middle of the eighteenth century, called also the Black Hunter or Black Rifle. After the massacre of his family and burning of his home on the Juniata by Indians, he devoted himself unceasingly to vengeance, and gathered about him a band of daring men, who in Indian dress engaged in a relentless pursuit of all Indians and in the defense of white settlers. The name is applied also to Kintpuash, the principal leader of the Modoc Indians (q.v.) in northern California in the war of 1872-73. He acquired notoriety by the deliberate murder of General Canby while attending a peace conference, for which he and others concerned in the attack on the commissioners were hanged, on the final suppression of the outbreak.

JACKAL (OF. jackal, jakal, Fr., Sp. chacal, from Ar. jat/al, from Pers. shaghal. from Skt. srgala, jackal). The common name of a number of species of the genus Canis, abounding in Asia, Africa, and Southeastern Europe. They agree in all their most important characters with wolves and dogs (see Caxid.k). although the form and tail are somewhat fox-like. The head is narrow and the muzzle pointed. The ears are erect and rather large. The tail is not so long as in foxes, but is almost equally bushy. All the jackals are of small size, as compared with wolves, seldom exceeding 15 inches in height at the shoulder. Their colors are buff and tawny, more or less grizzled: the tip of tlie tail is always dark. They make holes for themselves in the ground, or take possession of such as already exist among rocks or ruins: and in these they spend the day. not venturing abroad, as a rule, till the dusk of evening. They hunt during the night in troops, and their bowlings are de- scribed by all who have heard them as pecu- liarly unpleasant. The notion that the Jackal is the 'lion's provider' is one of the exploded fables of natural history, although it may have some foundation in the lion's occasionally following a troop of jackals in full cry. and appropriating 'the lion's share.' .Tackals are not only ready to devour any animal which they can rundown, but any carrion that they may" find. They follow armies; they dig up the ill-buried dead; they rob hen-roost-s and outhouses: but they are as omnivorous a-s domestic dogs, and eat farinaceous or other vegetable food when it comes in their way; they are even said, like foxes, to enter vineyards and devour the grapes. They have a verj- offensive smell, which, however, is said to diminish through domestication, and they are domesticated without difficulty. Everyvhere jackals interbreed with native dogs, and doubt- less they contributed essentially to the earlv etnck. The foregoing applies especially to the 'common' jackal (f'nnis atireii.i). which is spread, with many variations, throughout the semi-desert region from the Sudan to Afghanistan. India and Burma, and also is common on the plains of JACKDAW OF RHEIMS. Greece and European Turkey. In Northern India it is known as "pheal,' and in Southern India as hhalu,' and many weird stories are told of it and its relations to the tiger. The African variety is rather larger and grayer than the A.siatic. The black-backed jackel or 'tenlie' (Canis meso- ■melaji) is a very distinct species, of bright colora- tion. The sides and limbs are red to reddish yellow; the back and end of the tail are black. It is widely distributed throughout Eastern and Southern Africa, and its handsome fur is highly prized. A third .frican species, the side-striped jackal {Canis adustus) . called "rubuyo' on the West Coast, and "canduc" eastwardly. is widely scattered south of the equator, and differs from the others in having rather shorter and much darker ears, and the sides marked with one or more curving light bands, bordered with black — a feature, however, which is highly variable. Compare Dog, Fox, Wolf; and see Plate of Foxes an» .Tackai.s. JACK-AMEND-ALL. A nickname given to Jack Cade ( q.v.). JACK AND JILL. A nursery song. The name Jill is a corruption of the Norman Julienne, once common in England in the form Gillian. The prototypes of Jack and .Jill in Xorse mythologj- arc two children rescued bj- the moon from their father, who forced them to draw water all day. The Scandinavian peasantry still see in the spots on the face of the moon the chililren with (heir pail. JACK AND THE BEAN-STALK. . nur- sery legend found in the fiplk-lore of many peo- ples. The harp has been interpreted as the wind, the bags of treasures as the rain, the red hen as the sun. JACKASS. A domestic donkey; often abbre- viated into 'jack,' especially to designate an entire male. Sec paragraph Dnnley under Ass. JACKASS KINGFISHEB. See Laughing Jackass. JACKASS PENGUIN. Any penguin of the genus Spheniscus, so called from their cry, which is similar to the braying of a donkey. See Penguin. JACK BRAG. A pretentious character in Theodore Hook's novel of the same name (1837). JACKDAW. A familiar Old World crow tCorvus moneduln) . very widely distributed in Europe, Asia, and North Africa. It is 13 or A inches long, and deep black in color, appearing dark gray on the neck, but with a steel-blue gloss elsewhere. It frequents towns and villages, and makes its home in towers, steeples, old chimneys, and similar places. It is more or less gregarious and social, is easily domesticated, and exhibits great shrewdness in all its actions. Like other crows, it has considerable power of mimicry, and makes an interesting and often an amusing pet. It builds a large nest of sticks and twigs, lined with wool and other soft sub- stances, and lays four to seven eggs, similar to those of American crows. JACKDAW OF RHEIMS. remz. The. One of the best-known of the Innoldshi/ Legends, the story of a jackdaw which stole the ring of a cardinal, and. through the curse laid by the cardi- nal on the thief, was aflBicted until he restored