JAIPUR 



3105 



JAMAICA 



for over twenty years. When William IV 

 ascended the throne he decorated Jahn with 

 the Iron Cross and gave him his liberty, but he 

 died in poverty and obscurity. See TURN- 



VEREIN. 



JAIPUR, or JEYPORE, jipoor', the capi- 

 tal city of the native state of Jaipur in India, 

 situated about 148 miles southwest of Delhi; 

 the state of Jaipur is one of twenty-one states 

 in the Rajputana agency ruled by native 

 princes. The city is built of pink stucco, to 

 imitate sandstone, and its streets are wide 

 and are lighted by electricity. It is the only 

 old city in India which is laid out in blocks 

 having right-angled corners. The huge palace 

 of the maharaja stands in the center of the 

 city, and there are three colleges and several 

 hospitals. Jaipur is not unlike other cities in 

 India, where crowds of people are found who 

 differ from each other m color, features, dress, 

 language and customs. Numerous and thriv- 

 ing bazaars, banks and manufactories of mus- 

 lins, carpets, pottery, brass work and jewelry 

 make the town an important industrial center. 

 Population, 1911, about 137,000. 



JALAP, jal'ap, a twining plant of the honey- 

 suckle family, with large, purplish-pink flow- 

 ers and a root resembling the turnip, which 

 varies in size from a hazelnut to a pear. It 

 is found in the mountains of Mexico, about 

 6,000 feet above 

 sea level, around 

 the town of Ja- 

 lapa, hence its 

 name. The root 

 contains about 

 ten per cent of 

 jalap resin, and 

 from this is ob- 

 tained the well- 

 known laxative 

 of the same name, 

 which is usually 'JALAP 



combined with calomel or bitartrate of potash. 

 Its tendency to cause cramping pains is over- 

 come by adding a little ginger. A compound 

 of powdered jalap, bitartrate of potash and 

 ginger is valued as a remedy in treating some 

 forms of dropsy, but should be administered 

 only by a competent physician. 



JAMAICA, jama'ka, "the Queen of the 

 Antilles," the largest and most important of 

 the British West Indies, is an island paradise 

 of tropical vegetation. Its name is derived 

 from the Indian name Jaymaca, meaning the 

 island oj springs. Since the opening of the 

 195 



Panama Canal, which affords a short route to 

 the East, Jamaica's commercial and strategic 

 importance has greatly increased. 



This mountainous island, 144 miles long and 

 fifty miles wide, including the smaller Turks 

 and Caicos islands, has an area of 4,424 square 

 miles, about 500 square miles less than the 

 area of the state of Connecticut and twice that 



of Prince Edward Island. The island rises 

 from the sea like one of the great turtles which 

 abound in its waters, the central mountain 

 ridges resembling its rough, horny back. From 

 the narrow, golden rim of the sandy lowlands 

 encircling the island the land rises to the pur- 

 ple, cloud-capped peaks of the Blue Mountains, 

 which extend from east to west through its 

 center. The summits range from 2,000 to over 

 7,000 feet in height, the loftiest being Blue 

 Mountain Peak, rising 7,360 feet above the 

 sea. The uplands and mountain slopes are cov- 

 ered with a luxuriant growth of flowers and 

 forests hung with parasitic mosses, vines and 

 orchids, and inhabited by cuckoos, humming 

 birds, brilliant parrots and butterflies; a 

 place 



"Which all the year is glad with blooms and girt 

 By groves made green from the bright stream- 

 lets wave. 

 Soft are its slopes and cool its fragrant shades." 



Even the stones are cloven by the stems of 

 the creeping wild fig and are clad with a wav- 

 ing veil of flowers and grass. 



The coast line is well indented, containing 

 sixteen good harbors, the most important of 

 which are Port Royal or Kingston Harbor, and 

 Old Harbor. Numerous short, swift-flowing 

 rivers flow north and south from the central 

 mountain ridge. 



Except in the humid coast lowlands the cli- 

 mate is delightful, and it is one of the principal 

 attractions of the island. The mountains are 

 ideal as both a summer and winter resort, the 

 annual range in temperature scarcely exceeding 



