Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/524

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506 JAGELLON JAGUAE consisting of a pentagon built of blocks of white coral and surrounded by a moat. The streets arc broad and shaded by surca trees ; the houses are of only one story, but are spacious and have fine verandas, and most of them stand detached in enclosed gardens. There are many tine buildings, including a church in the shape of a Greek cross and a mansion for the English commanding officer. The whole place resembles a Dutch town in its apparent cleanliness, and is singularly rich in flowers. Tamils and Moors reside in the native part of the town, and are intelligent and laborious tradesmen. Cotton cloth, jewelry, and cocoa- nut oil are manufactured, and there is much trade carried on in the bazaars. JAGELLON, a Polish royal family, founded by Jagello or Jagiello, a pagan grand duke of Lithuania, who embraced Christianity and be- came king of Poland under the name of Ladis- las II., consequent upon his marriage in 1386 with the Polish queen Iledvig, a daughter of Louis the Great, king of Hungary and Poland. He reigned till his death in 1434, and his dy- nasty, one of the best Poland ever had, expired with Sigismund Augustus in 1572 ; but the fe- male line was perpetuated, through the mar- riage of the sister of Sigismund Augustus with Sigismund III., until the abdication of John II. Oasimir, son of the latter (16C8). Jagello's son Ladislas III. became king of Hungary under the name of Uladislas I., and a few other mem- bers of the family subsequently ruled over that country and over Bohemia, while intermarriage with the houses of Brandenburg, Saxony, and Brunswick established an extensive relation- ship between the Jagellons and many other dy- nasties. (See HUNGARY, LADISLAS II., LITHU- ANIA, and POLAND.) JAGEMANN, Karoline, a German actress, born in Weimar in 1778, died in Dresden in 1847. She was a daughter of Christian Joseph Jage- mann (1735-1804), a translator of Italian works into German, and brother of the painter Ferdinand Jagemann (1780-1820). Her father having become librarian to the duchess Amalie of Weimar, the latter had her carefully edu- cated. Her great beauty and histrionic and vocal talents secured her success in opera as well as in the drama, and made her a favorite of Goethe, and particularly of the grand duke Charles Augustus, who presented her with the domain of Heigendorf and raised her to the nobility under that name. JAGER, Gnstav, a German painter, born in Leipsic, July 12, 1808, died there, April 29, 1871. He studied in Dresden, Munich, and Rome, assisted his former master Schnorr in fresco paintings in Munich, and executed many works of the kind in that city and in Weimar. In 1847 he became director of the Leipsic acad- emy of fine arts. His productions include " The Death of Moses," " The Interment of Christ," and an altarpiece for the new church in Len- genfeld. JAGIELLO. See JAGELLOX. JAGUAR (felig onca, Linn.), the largest of the American carnivora; from its size, strength, and ferocity it is often called the South Ameri- can tiger. It inhabits the warmer parts of America, from Paraguay as far north as Red river in Louisiana; it is considerably larger than the couguar, and but little inferior to the tiger. There is considerable variation in the size and markings, the height at the shoulder ranging from 2f to 2 ft., and the ground color from brownish to ashy yellow ; the sides are marked with open circles of black, enclosing a light area with one or more dark spots ; these mark- ings, however, vary much in different animals, and even on the two sides of the same animal ; there are no distinct stripes, and the lower parts Jaguar (Felis onca). are white ; the tail reaches the ground, being shorter than in the leopard and panther. The jaguar lives solitary in thick forests, especially in the neighborhood of large rivers, but is oc- casionally driven by hunger into the cultivated districts ; it is an excellent climber and swim- mer, preying upon living animals and fish ; its strength is such that it kills and drags off an ox or a horse with ease ; its favorite mode of attack is to leap upon the victim's back, and by placing one paw on the head and the other on the muzzle to break the neck by a single effort; it is said to stand in shallow water and throw out fish on the shore with its paws ; according to Humboldt, it is very fond of turtles, digging up the eggs, devouring the young, and clearing out the flesh of the larger ones with great skill ; it rarely attacks man unless pursued or pressed by hunger, and then is very formidable. Jaguars are now comparatively rare, but Ilum- boldt states in his " Personal Narrative " that 2,000 skins were exported annually from Buenos Ayres alone, in which vicinity their depreda- tions were formerly very extensive ; their skins are handsome, and are esteemed for robes. It is occasionally seen in menageries, and, when taken young, is susceptible of partial subjec-