JAFFNA

jaffna, a town of ceylon, at the northern extremity of the island. the fort was described by sir j. emerson tennent as "the most perfect little military work in ceylon--a pentagon built of blocks of white coral." the european part of the town bears the dutch stamp more distinctly than any other town in the island; and there still exists a dutch presbyterian church. several of the church buildings date from the time of the portuguese. in 1901 jaffna had a population of 33,879, while in the district or peninsula of the same name there were 300,851 persons, nearly all tamils, the only europeans being the civil servants and a few planters. coco-nut planting has not been successful of recent years. the natives grow palmyras freely, and have a trade in the fibre of this palm. they also grow and export tobacco, but not enough rice for their own requirements. a steamer calls weekly, and there is considerable trade. the railway extension from kurunegala due north to jaffna and the coast was commenced in 1900. jaffna is the seat of a government agent and district judge, and criminal sessions of the supreme court are regularly held. jaffna, or, as the natives call it, yalpannan, was occupied by the tamils about 204 b.c., and there continued to be tamil rajahs of jaffna till 1617, when the portuguese took possession of the place. as early as 1544 the missionaries under francis xavier had made converts in this part of ceylon, and after the conquest the portuguese maintained their proselytizing zeal. they had a jesuit college, a franciscan and a dominican monastery. the dutch drove out the portuguese in 1658. the church of england missionary society began its work in jaffna in 1818, and the american missionary society in 1822. jager, gustav (1832- ), german naturalist and hygienist, was born at burg in wurttemberg on the 23rd of june 1832. after studying medicine at tubingen he became a teacher of zoology at vienna. in 1868 he was appointed professor of zoology at the academy of hohenheim, and subsequently he became teacher of zoology and anthropology at stuttgart polytechnic and professor of physiology at the veterinary school. in 1884 he abandoned teaching and started practice as a physician in stuttgart. he wrote various works on biological subjects, including _die darwinsche theorie und ihre stellung zu moral und religion_ (1869), _lehrbuch der allgemeinen zoologie_ (1871-1878), and _die entdeckung der seele_ (1878). in 1876 he suggested an hypothesis in explanation of heredity, resembling the germ-plasm theory subsequently elaborated by august weismann, to the effect that the germinal protoplasm retains its specific properties from generation to generation, dividing in each reproduction into an ontogenetic portion, out of which the individual is built up, and a phylogenetic portion, which is reserved to form the reproductive material of the mature offspring. in _die normalkleidung als gesundheitsschutz_ (1880) he advocated the system of clothing associated with his name, objecting especially to the use of any kind of vegetable fibre for clothes. jagerndorf (czech, _krnov_), a town of austria, in silesia, 18 m. n.w. of troppau by rail. pop. (1900), 14,675, mostly german. it is situated on the oppa and possesses a chateau belonging to prince liechtenstein, who holds extensive estates in the district. jagerndorf has large manufactories of cloth, woollens, linen and machines, and carries on an active trade. on the neighbouring hill of burgberg (1420 ft.) are a church, much visited as a place of pilgrimage, and the ruins of the seat of the former princes of jagerndorf. the claim of prussia to the principality of jagerndorf was the occasion of the first silesian war (1740-1742), but in the partition, which followed, austria retained the larger portion of it. jagerndorf suffered severely during the thirty years' war, and was the scene of engagements between the prussians and austrians in may 1745 and in january 1779.