Jacquard loom

“ Jacquard, a native of Lyons, conceived the plan of his great invention in the last decade of the Eighteenth Century, and on December 28, 1801, took out French patent No. 245, on the same. His invention was not, in fact, a new form of loom, but rather an attachment to a loom which was universally applicable to all looms. Before his invention, figured patterns of cloth could only be made by slow and laborious processes. Jacquard’s invention consisted in individualizing and differentiating the movement of the warp threads, instead of operating them in constant groups. ”

“ He solaced himself for the drudgery of his labours by spending his leisure in the study of machines for figure-weaving. The idea of the beautiful apparatus which he afterwards perfected began to dawn on him, but for the time it was driven out of his mind by the stirring transactions of the time. The whirlwind of the Revolution was sweeping through the land. Jacquard ardently embraced the cause of the people, took part in the gallant defence of Lyons in 1793, fled for his [Pg 229] life on the reduction of the city, and with his son—a lad of sixteen—joined the army of the Rhine. ”

“ Like the jackal, he attacks the flocks and herds, caring little for the watchfulness or strength of dogs, and when pressed with hunger, comes and howls at the gates of towns, and violates the repositories of the dead, tearing up the bodies from the graves, and devouring them. He is now only found wild in Asia and Africa, but is supposed to have formerly inhabited Europe. When receiving his food, the eyes of this fierce animal glisten, the bristles of his back stand erect, he grins fearfully, and utters a snarling growl. ”

“ A JACKAL AND A WOLF
Jackal and Wolf went and hired themselves to a man to be his servants. In the middle of the night Jackal rose and smeared Wolf's tail with some fat, and then ate all the rest of it in the house. In the morning the man missed the fat, and he immediately accused Jackal of having eaten it. "Look at Wolf's tail," said the rogue, "and you will see who is the thief." The man did so, and then thrashed Wolf till he was nearly dead.
[25]
THE LION, THE JACKAL, AND
THE MAN
It so happened one day that Lion and Jackal came together to converse on affairs of land and state. ”

“ But Ugh-lomi was a thousand generations nearer the primordial than man: no monkey could have held on better. And the lion had been training the horse for countless generations against the tactics of rolling and rearing back. But he kicked like a master, and buck-jumped rather neatly. In five minutes Ugh-lomi lived a lifetime. If he came off the horse would kill him, he felt assured. ”

“ Lion upbraided Jackal with these words: "Why do you cheat me?"
Jackal answered: "No, my father, I do not cheat you; you may know it, I think. I prepared this fat for you, father."
Lion said: "Then take the fat and carry it to your mother" (the lioness) ; and he gave him the lungs to take to his own wife and children.
When Jackal arrived, he did not give the fat to Lion's wife, but to his own wife and children; he gave, however, the lungs to Lion's wife, and he pelted Lion's little children with the lungs, saying:
"You children of the big-pawed one! ”

“ His wife replied: "No, he was not here. We are still dying with hunger."
Lion then went to Little Jackal's house, but he could not get up the rock to it. So he sat down by the water, waiting. After a time Little Jackal went to get some water. He was close to the water when he saw Lion. He at once ran away, and Lion ran after him. He ran into a hole under a tree, but Lion caught his tail before he got far in. He said to him: "That is not my tail you have hold of; it is a root of the tree. If you do not believe me, take a stone and strike it, and see if any blood comes." ”

“ You know the Jago far better than I. Is there a child in all this place that wouldn't be better dead—still better unborn? But does a day pass without bringing you just such a parishioner? Here lies the Jago, a nest of rats, breeding, breeding, as only rats can; and we say it is well. On high moral grounds we uphold the right of rats to multiply their thousands. Sometimes we catch a rat. And we keep it a little while, nourish it carefully, and put it back into the nest to propagate its kind.'
Father Sturt walked a little way in silence. ”

“ Lion again tied himself to the thong, and, just as he was near the top, Jackal cut the thong as before; Lion fell heavily to the bottom, groaning aloud, as he had been seriously hurt.
"No," said Jackal, "that will never do: you must, however, manage to come up high enough so that you may get a mouthful at least." Then aloud he ordered his wife to prepare a good piece, but aside he told her to make a stone hot, and to cover it with fat. Then he drew Lion up once more, and complaining how heavy he was to hold, told him to open his mouth, and [91] thereupon threw the hot stone down his throat. ”

“ One day Jacko was perched on the top of a tall ladder in the studio, when a lad suddenly came in bringing back a large lion's skin which Tony had sent to be mounted. The boy had hung the skin over his back, and it partly covered his head; and his appearance, and the smell of the skin, so terrified Jacko, that he turned quite faint and fell down from the ladder.
He was promptly picked up and soon restored to his senses, but in the sudden fall his frozen tail had snapped right off, and Jacko had to pass the remainder of his life a tail-less monkey. ”

“ Next to the Wolf, the Jackal is the most important wild member of the Dog tribe. It is a much smaller animal than the Wolf, not exceeding thirty inches in length, and seventeen in height at the shoulder. It is also distinguished from Wolves and true Dogs by its curious, long pointed muzzle. Its fur is of a dusky-yellowish colour—whence its name of “Loup doré,” or gilded Wolf, and its specific appellation aureus—“the hairs being mottled black, grey, and brown, with the under fur brownish-yellow, the lower parts yellowish-grey, tail reddish-brown, ending in a darkish tuft.” ”

“ Then Jackal said, "I believe that the bow and arrow belong to Wolf; he and Monkey were quarreling about them when I came along. They agreed to leave the question to you, King Lion. I know you will see that justice is done."
Wolf looked very innocent and said nothing.
King Lion rose and asked, "What say you? To whom do the bow and arrow belong?"
"To Wolf," they all cried.
"Stealing is a crime that must be punished," said King Lion. "What shall be done?"
"Let Monkey be hanged," they all cried.
Monkey still had his magic fiddle. ”

“ Closely resembling in many respects the wolf, the jackal is widely spread over India, Asia, and Africa. These animals hunt in packs, and there are few sounds more startling to the unaccustomed ear, than a chorus of their cries. ”

“ It is true the jackal is a wolf in every respect, but only a small one; and there is no true wolf in Africa of the large kind, such as the gaunt robber of the Pyrenees, or his twin brother of America. ”

“ When Jackal's tail had been shaved and greased, Hyena caught hold of him with great force, and before he had fairly lifted him from the ground, the cunning Jackal had slipped away from Hyena's grasp, and was running for his life, pursued by all the animals.
Lion was the foremost pursuer, and after a great chase Jackal got under an overhanging precipice, and, standing on his hind legs with his shoulders pressed against the rock, called loudly to Lion to help him, as the rock was falling, and would crush them both. Lion put his shoulders to the rock, and exerted himself to the utmost. ”

“ In the nest the Old One and his mate were crouching whimperingly. The Old One could not fight. He was too weak.
I was strong, very strong. Once when the dun jackal—the half-wolf thing which follows the big tiger and bear and leopard and gnaws the red bones after they have killed and eaten, went mad, as he sometimes does, fearing nothing, though a coward at other times—sprang at me when I was on the ground, I caught him by the throat as he leaped and, with the other hand gripped on him, tore away one of his forelegs, shoulder and all, clear from his body. ”

“ Then the Jackal says, “If thou hadst stopped he wouldn’t eat thee. Art thou a person afraid to have the sovereignty bestowed on thee? What was it? Except that he merely looked at thee he did not attempt to eat thee, Cultivator. If he had done so wouldst thou be thus?1 No. Did he attempt the crime of eating thee?” [At last the Boar agreed to return to the Lion.]
Afterwards, when they went near the Lion together, the Jackal says, “Friend, go without fear, and tell him to hand over the sovereignty.” ”

“ After the Lion had recovered his senses, the Jackal, in a most sympathizing tone, suggested that he was afraid that it was of no use to attempt to haul him up onto the precipice, and recommended, instead, that a nice fat piece of eland's breast be roasted and dropped into the Lion's mouth. The Lion, half famished with hunger, and much bruised, readily accepted the offer, and sat eagerly awaiting the fat morsel. [52] In the mean time, the Jackal had a round stone made red-hot, and wrapped a quantity of inside fat, or suet, round it, to make it appear like a ball of fat. ”

“ I assured him. "If you 'll only be discreet, you 're as safe here as in the Bank of England! But, mind you, Norroy, you 've got to act warily while this fox is in the house. Jackman and I will start on a systematic hunt after breakfast."
"Look here, I 've got an idea," said Sir Gilbert, brightly. "Why not get in a dog?"
"A good thought," I cried. "We can raise one in the village, I dare say."
"Let's ask Jackman. Damn it, if there was time I could get half a dozen from town."
Jackman, interrogated, knew of a man with a smart fox terrier, which breed seemed to meet with his master's approval ”

“ I like the jay, for he is not only a pretty but an affectionate bird, living lovingly in one family till the next breeding-season. They are, however, sadly persecuted by keepers—for what reason I know not. The jackdaw, that cunning bird, has, I see, a nest in a hole of that old and gnarled pollarded beech-tree, setting marauding boys at defiance. He is no great favourite of mine, though I like to hear his tenor when mixed with a flock of rooks, or when he caws on the projections of a church tower. ”

“ Sniffing hungrily, she came out, and I heard the frenzied clankings of Jocko’s chain. “Come, Hoop-La,” I said, though my voice trembled. She called her children, and in a moment they were all eating greedily.
As I had planned, poor, imprisoned Jocko came out to the end of his chain. It did not permit him to go farther than a foot from the entrance, but that was sufficient for my purpose. Quick as a flash, I unfastened the chain from his collar, took the thoroughly frightened animal in my arms, and ran for dear life to the Horse. ”

“ By this time there was quite a crowd watching the bear make the monkey do tricks, when, all of a sudden, Jacko looked over the heads of the audience and saw Uncle Wiggily Longears, the brave rabbit gentleman, standing there with his crutch.
"Oh, if I could only make him see me and make him know who I am, he would save me!" thought Jacko. So, without the bear telling him what to do, the red monkey suddenly began to make believe he was an automobile. He twisted the pinkum-pankum, tooted the horn, cranked the front part and turned on the gasoline. ”

“ Though the species of the wolf approaches very near to that of the dog, yet the jackal finds a place between them both. The jackal, or adil, as Belon remarks, is an animal between the wolf and the dog. With the ferocity of the wolf he joins a little of the familiarity of the dog; his voice is a kind of howl mixed with barking and groaning. He is more noisy than the dog, and more voracious than the wolf. He never stirs out alone, but always in flocks of twenty, thirty, or forty. They collect together every day to go in search of their prey. ”

“ The Jackal, one of the greatest pests of the countries which he inhabits, is spread over nearly the whole of Asia and the north of Africa, occupying in the warmer regions of those continents the place of the Wolf, of whom in many particulars he may be considered as offering a miniature resemblance. ”

“ Dicky walked that morning in a sort of numb, embittered fury. What should he do now? His devilmost. Spare nobody and stop at nothing. Old Beveridge was right that morning years ago. The Jago had got him, and it held him fast. Now he went doubly sealed of the outcasts: a Jago with a hanged father. Father Sturt talked of work, but who would give him work? And why do it in any case? What came of it before? No, he was a Jago and the world's enemy; Father Sturt was the only good man in it ”

“ A native gentleman, who had favourable opportunities of observing the movements of these animals, informed me that when a jackal has brought down his game and killed it, his first impulse is to hide it in the nearest jungle, whence he issues with an air of easy indifference to observe whether anything more powerful than himself may be at hand, from which he might encounter the risk of being despoiled of his capture. ”

“ He kills these animals for himself. The story of the jackal being his “provider,”—killing them for him,—is not true. More frequently he himself provides the skulking jackals with a meal. Hence their being often seen in his company—which they keep, in order to pick up his “crumbs.”
The lion “butchers” for himself, though he will not object to have it done for him; and will take away their game from wolf, jackal, or hyena—from the hunter if he can.
The lion is not a fast runner—none of the true felidae are. Nearly all the ruminant animals can outrun him. ”