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JEPHTHAH JERBOA 605 he published his " Free Inquiry into the Na- ture and Origin of Evil," which Dr. Johnson severely criticised. In 1776 appeared "A View of the Internal Evidence of the Chris- tian Religion," in which he avowed his early skepticism and recent conversion. A com- plete edition of his works was published in 1790 (4 vols. 8vo, London). JEPHTHAH, the ninth judge of Israel, natural son of Gilead. He was exiled by his half brothers after the death of his father, and dwelt in the land of Tob. There he gained renown as leader of a band of border rovers, and was at length chosen by the Gileadites to be their commander in a defensive war against the Ammonites. He, however, chose to attack the enemy in their own country, first making an oath that if victorious he would sacrifice to the Lord whatsoever should first come forth from his house to meet him on his return. He conquered the Ammonites, and when he re- turned his daughter, an only child, issued from his house to greet him with timbrels and with dances. It is stated that at her own request " he did with her according to his vow ;" but some commentators suppose that he only con- secrated her to perpetual virginity. Jephthah ruled Israel six years. The sacrifice of his daughter is the subject of oratorios by Handel (1751) and Reinthaler (1855). JKQUTIMIOMIA, a river of Brazil, rising in the Serro Frio, about 9 m. W. of the town of Serro, and S. S. W. of the peak of ItambS, in the province of Minas Geraes, and falling into the Atlantic near the town of Belmonte in Bahia, lat. 15 50' S., Ion. 39 W. It has a course of about 750 m., the first 130 m. being K, and the remainder generally N. E., and the area of its basin is estimated at 19,800 sq. m. Its bed is obstructed by many dangerous rapids and cataracts, and a magnificent series of cas- cades with an aggregate fall of 800 ft. occurs near the boundary line between Minas Geraes and Bahia ; so that the river to that point is only navigable by canoes. Further down it widens, but, being shallow, is only available for small steamers ; while the entrance, owing to numerous sand bars, is difficult for even the smallest coasters. The Poassu, however, open- ing on the left bank, and communicating with the Pardo, virtually forms the main channel of the Jequitinhonha ; and the maize, cotton, and other products, sent down in large quan- tities from Minas Geraes and the lower river, are not taken to Belmonte, but to Cannavieiras, at the mouth of the Pardo, 40 m. N. Of the numerous tributaries of the Jequitinhonha, the principal is the Arassuai, a stream of consid- erable magnitude from the south. Diamonds are plentiful in all the streams. JERBOA, the principal old-world representa- tive of the rodent subfamily dipodince, char- acterized by greatly developed hind legs for taking long leaps, diminutive fore legs, long hairy tail, and large infra-orbital foramen. The best known species is the Egyptian jerboa (dipvs JEgyptius, Licht). The incisors are slender and sharp, the upper ones grooved, two above and two below ; the molars, fcf , are complex, furnished with roots; the head is large, with prominent eyes, moderate point- ed ears, and silken whiskers 6 in. long. In external conformation it somewhat resembles the kangaroo, having an elongated body thick- est behind, the posterior limbs very much larger than the anterior; the neck is very short, and the six lower vertebra are frequently found united together ; the metatarsus consists of a single bone ; there are five toes on the short fore feet, and three on the posterior, armed with obtuse claws ; the tail is long, with hairs set in two rows, and tufted at the end ; it is not thick at the base, as in the kangaroo, though it is used to sustain the body in the act of leap- ing. The body is about as large as a rat's, of a fawn color above and white below, the black tuft of the tail white tipped. From its generic Egyptian Jerboa (Dipus ^Egyptlne). name, which signifies two-footed, it has been supposed that the jerboa walks entirely on the hind feet; but the animal walks upon four feet, resorting to its prodigious leaps only when alarmed ; when about to spring, it raises itself on the end of the hind feet, with the support of the tail, the fore feet close to the breast; the body comes down on the fore feet, but is elevated again so quickly that it appears con- stantly in the air. All the species are clavicu- lated, and carry their food to the mouth with the fore paws ; they pass the winter in bur- rows in a state of lethargy ; they are difficult to keep in captivity, even in their own cli- mates ; the females are generally the largest, and have six or eight young. The Egyptian species lives in troops in northern Africa, most abundantly in the sandy regions and ruined places of Egypt ; it extends into Syria and Ara- bia, and as far north as the Caspian sea ; it is restless and timid, and can be taken only by surprise. The Arabians take jerboas alive in