JAL 
/ » 
to the top-gallant-tie, and through which 
the top-gallant top-rope is reeved to sway 
up or to strike the yard. 
JACKALL, in zoology, an animal of the 
dog kind, with a slender snout. See Canis. 
JACKET, cork. See Cork jacket. 
JACOB’S staff, sometimes called a cross- 
staff', a mathematical instrument to take 
altitudes at sea, consisting of a brass circle 
divided into four equal parts by two lines 
cutting each other in the centre : at each 
extremity of either line is fixed a sight per- 
pendicularly over the lines, with holes below 
each, slit for the better discovery of distant 
objects. The cross is of course mounted 
on a stand for use. 
JACOBUS, an ancient gold coin worth 
2os. See Coin. 
JACQUINIA, in botany, so named in 
honour of Nic. Jos. de Jacquin, professor of 
botany at Vienna, a genus of the Pentandria 
Monogynia class and order. Natural order 
of Dumosae. Sapotse, Jussieu. Essential 
character : corolla ten-cleft ; stamens insert- 
ed into the receptacle ; berry one-seeded. 
There are four species, natives of the West 
Indies and South America. 
JACTITATION of marriage, «in law, is 
when one of the party boasts, or gives out, 
that he or she is married to the other, 
whereby a common reputation of their ma- 
trimony may ensue. On this ground the 
party injured may libel the other in the spi- 
ritual court; and unless the defendant un- 
dertake, and make out a proof of the actual 
marriage, he or she is enjoined perpetual 
silence on that head. 
JADE. See Nephrite. 
JALAP is the root of the convolvolus ja- 
lappa. It derives its name from Xalapa, a 
town of Mexico, in the environs of which it 
grows plentifully. It is also found among 
the sands of Vera Cruz. This plant resem- 
bles in appearance the convolvolus of our 
hedges. Its stem is climbing, angular, and 
covered with a slight down. Its leaves al- 
ternately disposed are rather large, some- 
times entire and cordiform, sometimes di- 
vided into several lobes, more* or less dis- 
tinct. The flower is campaniform, whitish 
on the outside, and of a dark purple within. 
Its root, which is the only part in use, is tu- 
berose, large, lengthened out into the form 
of a French turnip, white on the inside, and 
full of a milky juice. The weight of the 
roots is from twelve to twenty pounds. They 
are cut into slices, in order to dry them. 
They then acquire a brown colour, and a 
jan 
resinous appearance. Their taste is rather 
acrid, and excites a nausea. Jalap to the 
amount of 50,000 1. sterling is consumed in 
Europe annually. 
IAMBICS, certain songs, or satires, which 
are supposed to have given birth to the an- 
cient comedy. The word is applied also to 
a particular kind of Latin verse, of which 
the simple foot consists of a short and long 
syllable. Ruddiman makes two kinds of 
iambic, viz. dimeter and trimeter ; the 
former containing fourfeet, and the latter six. 
JANSENISTS, in church history, a sect 
of the Roman Catholics in France, who fol- 
low the opinions of Jansenius, bishop of 
Ypres, and doctor of divinity of the Univer- 
sities of Louvain and Douay, in relation to 
grace and predestination. 
In the year 1640, the two universities 
just mentioned, and particularly Father Mo- 
lina and Father Leonard Celsus, thought tit 
to condemn the opinions of the Jesuits on 
grace and free-will. This having set the 
controversy on foot, Jansenius opposed to 
the doctrine of the Jesuits the sentiments 
of St. Augustine, and wrote a treatise on 
grace, which he entitled Augustinus. This 
treatise was attacked by the Jesuits, who 
accused Jansenius of maintaining dangerous 
and heretical opinions; and afterwards, in 
1642, obtained of Pope Urban VIII. a for- 
mal condemnation of the treatise wrote by 
Jansenius : when the partisans of Janse- 
nius gave out that this bull was spurious, 
and composed by a person entirely devoted 
to the Jesuits. After the death of Ur- 
ban VIII. the affair of Jansenism began to 
be more warmly controverted, and gave 
birth to an infinite number of polemical 
writings concerning grace ; and what occa- 
sioned some mirth, was the titles which 
each party gave to their writings : one wri- 
ter published “ The Torch of St. Augus- 
tin,” another found “ Snuffers for St. Au- 
gustin’s Torch,” and Father Vernon formed 
“ A Gag for the Jansenists,” &c. In the 
year 1650, sixty-eight bishops of France 
subscribed a letter to Pope Innocent X. to 
obtain an inquiry into, and condemnation of 
the five following propositions, extracted 
from Jansenius’s Augustinus: 1. Some of 
God’s commandments are impossible to be 
observed by the righteous, even though they 
endeavour, with all their power, .to accom- 
plish them. 2. In the state of corrupted 
nature, we are incapable of resisting in- 
ward grace. 3. Merit and demerit in a 
state of corrupted nature, does not depend 
