the work is put into it, nor the heat increased too fast, either of which errors would make it blister; but the slower the heat is augmented, and the longer it is continued provided it be restrained within the due degree, the harder will be the coat of japan. This kind of varnish requires no polish, having received, when properly managed, a sufficient one from the heat.

The best kind of tortoise-shell ground produced by heat is not less valuable for its great hardness, and enduring to be made hotter than boiling water without damage, than for its beautiful appearance. It is to be made by means of a varnish prepared in the following manner: take of good linseed-oil one gallon, and of umber half a pound; boil them together till the oil become very brown and thick; strain it then through a coarse cloth, and set it again to boil, in which state it must be continued till it acquire a pitchy consistence, when it will be fit for use. Having prepared thus the varnish, clean well the metal plate which is to be japanned; and then lay vermilion tempered with shell-lac varnish, or with drying oil diluted with oil of turpentine, very thinly, on the places intended to imitate the more transparent parts of the tortoise-shell. When the vermilion is dry, brush over the whole with the black varnish, tempered to a due consistence with oil of turpentine; and, when it is set and firm, put the work into a stove, where it may undergo a very strong heat, and be continued a considerable time; if even three weeks or a month, it will be the better. This was given amongst other receipts by Kunckel; but appears to have been neglected till it was revived with great success in the Birmingham manufactures, where it was not only the ground of snuff-boxes, dressing-boxes, and other such smaller pieces, but of those beautiful tea-waiters that have been so justly esteemed and admired in several parts of Europe to which they have been sent. This ground may be decorated with painting and gilding in the same manner as any other varnished surface, which had best be done after the ground has been duly hardened by the hot stove; but it is well to give a second annealing with a more gentle heat after it is finished.

Method of painting japan work.—Japan work ought properly to be painted with colors in varnish, though, for the greater despatch, and in some very nice and small works for the freer use of the pencil, the colors are frequently tempered in oil; which should previously have a fourth part of its weight of gum-anime dissolved in it; or, in default of that, of the gums sandarac or mastich. When the oil is thus used it should be well diluted with spirit of turpentine, that the colors may be laid more evenly and thin; by which means fewer of the polishing or upper coats of varnish become necessary.

In some instances water colors are laid on grounds of gold, in the manner of other paintings; and are best when so used in their proper appearance, without any varnish over them; they are also sometimes so managed as to have the effect of embossed work. The colors em

ployed in this way for painting are both prepared by means of isinglass size, corrected with honey or sugar-candy. The body of which the

embossed work is raised need not, however, be tinged with the exterior color, but is best formed of very strong gum-water, thickened to a proper consistence by bole-armenian and whiting in equal parts; which, being laid on the proper figure and repaired when dry, may be then painted with the proper colors tempered in the isinglass size, or in the general manner with shell-lac varnish.

Method of varnishing japan work. The last and finishing part of japanning lies in the laying on and polishing the outer coats of varnish; which are necessary, as well in the pieces that have only one simple ground of color, as with those that are painted. This is in general best done with common seed-lac varnish, except in the instances and on those occasions where we have already shown other methods to be more expedient: and the same resaons which decide as to the fitness or impropriety of the varnishes, with respect to the colors of the ground, hold equally with regard to those of the painting: for where brightness is the most material point, and a tinge of yellow will injure it, seed-lac must give way to the whiter gums; but where hardness and a greater tenacity are most essential, it must be adhered to; and where both are so necessary, that it is proper one should give way to the other in a certain degree reciprocally, a mixed varnish must be adopted.

This mixed varnish, as we have already observed, should be made of the picked seed-lac. The common seed-lac varnish, which is the most useful preparation of the kind hitherto invented, may be thus made:-Take of seed-lac three ounces, and put it into water to free it from the sticks and filth that are frequently intermixed with it; and which must be done by stirring it about, and then pouring off the water and adding fresh quantities in order to repeat the operation till it be freed from all impurities, as it very ef fectually may be by this means. Dry it then and powder it grossly and put it with a pint of rectified spirit of wine into a bottle, of which it will not fill above two-thirds. Shake the mixture well together, and place the bottle in a gentle heat, till the seed appear to be dissolved, the shaking being in the mean time repeated as often as may be convenient; and then pour off all that can be obtained clear by this method, and strain the remainder through a coarse cloth. The varmish thus prepared must be kept for use in a bottle well stopped. When the spirit of wine is very strong it will dissolve a greater proportion of the seed-lac: but this will saturate the common, which is seldom of a strength sufficient for making varnishes in perfection. As the chilling, which is the most inconvenient accident attending those of this kind, is prevented or produced more frequently, according to the strength of the spirit; we shall therefore take this opportunity of showing a method by which weaker rectified spirits may with great ease at any time be freed from the phlegm, and rendered of the first degree of strength.

Take a pint of the common rectified spirit of wine, and put it into a bottle of which it will not fill above three-parts. Add to it half an ounce of pearl-ashes, salt of tartar, or any other

alkaline salt, heated red-hot and powdered as well as it can be without much loss of its heat; shake the mixture frequently for the space of half an hour, before which time a great part of the phlegm will be separated from the spirit, and will appear, together with the undissolved part of the salts, in the bottom of the bottle. Let the spirit then be poured off or freed from the phlegm and salts by means of a tritorium or separating funnel; and let half an ounce of the pearl ashes, heated and powdered as before, be added to it, and the same treatment repeated. This may be done a third time if the quantity of phlegm separated by the addition of the pearlashes appear considerable. An ounce of alum, reduced to powder and made hot, but not burnt, must then be put into the spirit, and suffered to remain some hours, the bottle being frequently shaken after which the spirit, being poured off from it, will be fit for use.

The manner of using the seed-lac or white varnishes is the same, except with regard to the substance, used in polishing; which, where a pure white, or great clearness of other colors is in question, should be itself white: whereas the browner sorts of polishing dust, as being cheaper and doing their business with greater despatch, may be used in other cases. The pieces of work to be varnished should be placed near a fire, or in a room where there is a stove, and made perfectly dry; and then the varnish may be rubbed over them by the proper brushes made for that purpose, beginning in the middle and passing the brush to one end; and then with another stroke from the middle passing it to the other. But no part should be crossed or twice passed over in forming one coat, where it can possibly be avoided. When one coat is dry another must be laid over it, and this must be continued at least five or six times or more, if on trial there be not sufficient thickness of varnish to bear the polish without laying bare the painting or the groundcolor underneath.

When a sufficient number of coats is thus laid on, the work is fit to be polished; which must be done, in common cases, by rubbing it with a rag dipped in Tripoli or pumice-stone, commonly called rotten stone, finely powdered; but towards the end of the rubbing a little oil of any kind should be used along with the powder; and, when the work appears sufficiently bright and glossy, it should be well rubbed with the oil alone, to clean it from the powder, and give it a still brighter lustre. In the case of white grounds, instead of the Tripoli or pumicestone, fine putty or whiting must be used, both which should be washed over to prevent the danger of damaging the work from any sand or other gritty matter that may happen to be commixed with them.

It is a great improvement in all kinds of japan work to harden the varnish by means of heat, which in every degree that it can be applied short of what would burn or calcine the matter, tends to give it a more firm texture. Where metals form the body, therefore, a very hot stove may be used, and the pieces of work may be continued in it a considerable time; especially if the heat be gradually increased; but, where wood is in VOL. XI.

question, heat must be sparingly used, as it would otherwise warp or shrink the body so as to injure the general figure.

JAPETUS, in fabulous history, the son of Calus, or Titan, and Terra. He married Asia, or Clymene, by whom he had Prometheus, Epimetheus, Atlas, and Mencetius. The Greeks considered him as the father of all mankind.

JAPHETH, the son of Noah. His descendants possessed all Europe and the isles in the Mediterranean, including those which depend on Asia. They had all Asia Minor, and the northern parts of Asia above the sources of the Tigris and Euphrates. Noah, when he blessed Japheth, said, 'God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant.' This blessing or rather prophecy of Noah was accomplished when the Greeks, and after them the Romans, carried their conquests into Asia and Africa, where were the dominions of the posterity of Shem and Canaan. The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. The Scripture says, 'that they peopled the isles of the Gentiles, and settled in different countries, each according to his language, family, and people.' It is supposed that Gomer was the father of the Cimbri, or Cimmerians; Magog of the Scythians; Madai of the Medes; Javan of the Ionians and Greeks; Tubal of the Tibareni; Meshech of the Muscovites or Russians, and Tiras of the Thracians. By the isles of the Gentiles, the Hebrews understand the isles of the Mediterranean, and all the countries separated by the sea from the continent of Palestine; whither also the Hebrews could go by sea only, as Spain, Gaul, Italy, Greece, and Asia Minor. The name of Japheth was very little altered by profane authors, who call him Japetus. The poets made him the father of heaven and earth. The Greeks believe that he was the father of their race, and acknowledge nothing more ancient than him. Besides the seven sons above-mentioned, the Septuagint, Eusebius, the Alexandrian Chronicle, and St. Austin, give him an eighth, called Eliza, who is not mentioned either in the Hebrew or Chaldee.

JAR, v. n. & n. s. Sax. eonne, anger, or Fr. guerre, war, or old Teut. garren, to clamor. To strike together with a kind of short rattle: to sound untuneably: figuratively, to clash; to interfere; to quarrel; to dispute: jar, a discordant sound; discord; debate; a state in which a door unfastened may strike the post; an earthen vessel, from Ital. giano.

Nath'less, my brother, since we passed are Unto this point, we will appease our jar.

Hubberd. When those renowned noble peers of Greece, Through stubborn pride, among themselves did jar, Forgetful of the famous golden fleece, Then Orpheus with his harp their strife did bar.

to some lapidaries, the jargon comes nearest to the sapphire in hardness; and as it has, when cut and polished, a great resemblance to the diamond, jargons are called by some soft diamonds; and one may be easily imposed upon in purchasing these for the true kind, when they are made up in any sort of jewellery work. On exposing this stone to a violent fire, M. D'Arcet found the surface a little vitrified where it stuck to the porcelain test in which it was set; whence it appears, that the jargon has not the least resemblance to the diamond in its essence.

JARGONELLE', n. s. A species of pear.

See PEAR.

JARGONIA, in mineralogy, a new kind of earth discovered by Klaproth in the jargon of Ceylon. It resembles argill more than any other earth, though it differs essentiallyfrom it in some respects. Its color is white, and its specific gravity probably exceeds 4000. It is incapable of uniting to fixed air; at least, when precipitated from acids by mild alkalies, it takes up none. It is soluble in dilute vitriolic acid (as also in the nitrous and muriatic); and with a slight excess of this acid it forms, in a moderate heat, by spontaneous evaporation, stelliform crystals of an astringent taste, easily soluble in water. Its solutions, like those of argill, are precipitable by volatile caustic, as well as by fixed alkali. It is also soluble in the concentrated acetous acid; this solution will not crystallise; but, if it be evaporated to dryness, the saline powder thus had will not attract the moisture of the air, as acetous alum does; neither does the acetous acid act so powerfully on argill as on this earth. It is insoluble in a boiling solution of caustic fixed alkali, in which argill is perfectly soluble. It is infusible, not only by fixed alkalies, but also by microcosmic salt, to which argill yields. Borax, however, melts it, but without any effervescence, in which respect also it differs from argill.

JARNAC, a town of France, in the depart ment of the Charente, containing 1700 inhabitants. It is remarkable for a victory obtained by Henry III. (then duke of Anjou), over the Hugonots, in 1596, when their general Louis I. prince of Condé was killed. It is seated on the Charente, eighteen miles north-west of Angoulême.

JAROSLAV, a city and government of European Russia, bounded by Vologda, Kostroma, Vladimir, Tver, and Novogorod, and lying between 37° 45′ and 41° 15′ of E. long., and 56° 44′ and 58° 52′ of N. lat. The territorial extent of this government is above 14,000 square miles, and its population 800,000. The surface consists of large undulating plains, traversed by the Wolga, the Schekna, the Mologa, and numerous smaller rivers. The lakes are also numerous. The soil, where it is not marshy, is sand, clay, or black mould. The climate is not particularly severe; but agriculture is in a backward state, and large quantities of corn are imported for consumption. The inhabitants rear cattle, and trade in wood to great extent; flax and hemp are likewise cultivated, and a few manufactures appear. The government is divided into ten circles or districts; but the steppes of Jaroslav are distinct from them.

JAROSLAV, the capital of the foregoing government, and a bishop's see, is situated on the Wolga, 146 miles N. N. E. of Moscow, and 360 E.S. E. of St. Petersburg. It is built almost entirely of wood; but the manufactures of silk, linen, and Russia leather, are on a large scale, and it has a noted bell-foundry. Here is an academy endowed with valuable lands for the education of superior youth. The number of students hardly ever exceeds fifty; but there is also a high-school for the education of those of less elevated birth, and a theological seminary on a considerable scale. Peter the Great founded its manufactures; but they were still more indebted to the fostering care of John Ernest, duke of Courland, who resided here many years. Population 19,000.

JAROSLAW, a large town of Austrian Poland, in Galicia, on the river San. Its manufactures are of wax and cloth, but they are very indolently conducted; the chief trade is in linen and flax; a large fair is held on the 15th of August. It is forty-eight miles W. N. W. of Lemburg, and 110 east of Cracow.

JASHER, a book which Joshua mentions, and refers to in chapter x. 13. Is not this written in the book of Jasher?' It is difficult to determine what this book of Jasher, or the upright, is. St. Jerome and the Jews believed it to be Genesis, or some other book of the Pentateuch. Some think it was public annals, or records, which were styled justice or upright, because they contained a faithful account of the history of the Israelites. Grotius believes, that this book was a song, made to celebrate this miracle and this victory, because the words cited by Joshua as taken from this work, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon, and thou moon in the valley of Ajalon,' are such poetical expressions as do not suit with historical memoirs; and in the second book of Samuel (i. 18.) mention is made of a book under the same title, on account of a song made on the death of Saul and Jonathan. See AJALON.

JASIONE, in botany, a genus of the monogynia order, and syngenesia class of plants; natural order twenty-ninth, campanacea: CAL. ten-leaved: COR. five regular petals: CAPS. beneath, two-celled. Species one only-J. montana, a native of Europe.

JASION, or JASIUS, in fabulous history, the son of Jupiter and Electra, and king of Arcadia. Having improved agriculture, he was fabled to have married the goddess Ceres, by whom he had three sons, Plutus, the god of riches, Philomelus, and Corybas. All the gods were present at the wedding. He was killed by lightning, and worshipped by the Arcadians.

JASK, a town of Croatia. JASMINE, n. s. Fr. gelseminum, jasmin. It is often pronounced jessamine. A creeping shrub with a fragrant flower. Thou, like the harmless bee, mayst freely range; From jasmine grove to grove may'st wander.

Thomson.

JASMINUM, jasmine or jessamine tree, in botany, a genus of the monogynia order, and diandria class of plants; natural order forty-fourth, sepiariæ coR. quinquefid, the berry dicoccous;

the SEERS arillated, and the anthere within the tube. The species are numerous, the principal are, 1. J. azoricum, the azorian white jessamine, has shrubby, long, slender stalks and branches, rising upon supports hteen or twenty feet high, with pretty large flowers of a pure white color; coming out in loose bunches from the ends of the branches, and appearing most part of the summer and autumn.

2. J. fruticans, the shrubby yellow jasmine or jessamine, has shrubby, angular, trailing stalks and branches, rising upon supports eight or ten feet high; trifoliate and simple alternate leaves; with yellow flowers from the sides and ends of the branches, appearing in June; frequently producing berries of a black color. This species is remarkable for sending up many suckers from its roots; of en so plentifully as to overspread the ground, if not taken up annually.

3. J. grandiflorum, the great-flowered Catalonian jessamine, has a shrubby, firm, upright stem, branching out into a spreading head from about three to six or eight feet high, with large flowers of a bluish-red color without, and white within, appearing from July to November. Of this there is a variety with semi-double flowers, having two series of petals.

4. J. humile, the dwarf yellow jessamine, has shrubby firm stalks, and angular branches, of low, somewhat robust and bushy growth; broad, trifoliate, and pinnated leaves; and large yellow flowers in July, sometimes succeeded by berries.

5. J. odoratissimum, the most sweet-scented yellow Indian jessamine, has a shrubby upright stalk, branching erect, without supports, six or eight feet high, with bright yellow flowers in bunches from the ends of the branches; flowering from July till October, and emitting a most fragrant odor. This species, as well as the first and third, may be increased by layers or seeds, or by grafting and budding them upon the common white and shrubby yellow jessamine. They are tender, and require shelter in a greenhouse in winter, and therefore must always be kept in pots to move them out and in occasionally. The pots must be filled with light, rich earth, frequently watered in summer, but moderately, about once a-week in winter. Prune off all the decayed wood when it appears, and retrench the rambling shoots, to preserve the heads somewhat regular; managing them in other respects as the common greenhouse plants.

6. J. officinale, the common white jessamine, has shrubby, long, slender, stalks and branches, rising upon supporters fifteen or twenty feet high, with numerous white flowers from the joints and ends, of a very fragrant odor. There is a variety with white-striped, and another with yellow-striped leaves. This species, with the fruticans and humile, are sufficiently hardy to thrive in this climate without shelter. They may be easily propagated by layers and cuttings; and the striped varieties by grafting or budding on stocks of the common kind.

JASON, the Greek hero who undertook the Argonautic expedition, was the son of Eson and Alcimede (See Esox), and was educated by Chiron the Centaur. His uncle Pelias having usurped his father's kingdom, Jason boldly de

mandel it of him, but was advised by him first to go to Colchis and recover the golden fleece previous to the restoration of it. Eetes, king of Colchis, subjected him to several arduous enterprises, all which Jason, by the aid of Juno and Medea, accomplished, and then set sail for Europe with Medea, to whom he proved faithful for ten years, but afterwards deserted her. See AR

GONAUTS.

JASPER, n. s. Fr. jaspe; Lat. iaspis. A hard stone of a bright beautiful green color, sometimes clouded with white, found in masses of various sizes and shapes. It is capable of a very elegant polish, and is found in many parts of the East Indies, and in Egypt, Africa, Tartary, and China.-Hill.

And upon pillers grete, of jasper long, I sawe a temple of brasse ifounded strong. Chaucer. The Assemble of Foules. And underneath a bright sea flowed Of jasper, or of liquid pearl, whereon Who after came from earth sailing arrived, Wafted by angels, or flew o'er the lake Rapt in a chariot drawn by fiery steeds.

Milton. Paradise Lost. columns of oriental jasper in St. Paulina's chapel, The most valuable pillars about Rome are four library. and one of transparent oriental jasper in the vatican Addison on Italy.

The basis of jasper is usually of a greenish hue, and spotted with red, yellow, and white. Woodward. What is her pyramid of precious stones? Of porphyry, jasper, agate and all hues Of gem and marble, to encrust the bones Of merchant dukes? Byron. Childe Harold.

JASPER, in mineralogy, a genus of silicious earths, or a sub-species of the rhomboidal quartz of Jameson. Kirwan distinguishes three families, viz. common jasper, Ægyptian pebble, and striped jasper. The colors of common jasper are milkwhite, grayish-white, or yellowish-white, citron, ochre-yellow, brownish-yellow, blood-red, brownish dark red, brown, olive, or dark green; and variegated, spotted or veined with many of these.

It is met with either in large masses, or blunt detached fragments. Gerhard found some irregularly crystallised, in hexahedral prisms, among the fossils sent to him by Beyer from Schneeberg; and Baron Born mentions some found in the Palatinate. Its lustre is 21; its transparency 0, cr nearly 1; its fracture conchoidal, sometimes imperfectly, sometimes flatly; its hardness, from 9 to 19; specific gravity from 2:58 to 27. The heavier sort seems evidently contaminated with metallic particles. Jasper, when heated, does not decrepitate or harden. Alkalies and microcosmic salt flux it with difficulty; borax better, and without effervescence. Even by oxygen jasper is scarcely, and but imperfectly melted, as appears by the experiments of Lavoisier. As Gerhard found it to yield in a chalk crucible, in the parts that touched the chalk, it is probable it contains a small portion of argill, with a much larger of silex. Unless very impure, it does not wither by exposure to the air. Its transitions are into hornstone, opal, argillite, and lithomarga; it is often intimately mixed with chalcedony. The mineral acids have no immediate effect upon it, but corrode it by some months immersion. On treating a small