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JUMPING

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Originally appearing in Volume V15, Page 554 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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JUMPING ,' a See also:

branch of athletics which has been cultivated from the earliest times (see ATHLETIC See also:SPORTS). Leaping competitions formed a See also:part of the pentathlon, or quintuple See also:games, of the Olympian festivals, and See also:Greek See also:chronicles See also:record that the See also:athlete Phayllus jumped a distance of 55 Olympian, or more than 30 See also:English, feet. Such a leap could not have been made without weights carried in the hands and thrown backwards at the moment of springing. These were in fact employed by Greek jumpers and were called halteres. They were masses of See also:stone or See also:metal, nearly semicircular, according to See also:Pausanias, and the fingers grasped them like the handles of a See also:shield. Halteres were also used for See also:general exercise, like See also:modern dumb-bells. The Olympian jumping took See also:place to the See also:music of lutes. Jumping has always been popular with See also:British athletes, and tradition has handed down the record of certain leaps that border on the incredible. Two forms of jumping are included in modern athletic contests, the See also:running See also:long jump and the running high jump; but the same jumps, made from a See also:standing position, are also See also:common forms of competition, as well as the See also:hop step and jump, two hops and jump, two jumps, three jumps, five jumps and ten jumps, either with a run or from a standing position. These events are again divided into two categories by the use of weights, which are not allowed in championship contests. ' The verb " to jump " only See also:dates from the beginning of the 16th See also:century. The New English See also:Dictionary takes it to be of onomatopoeic origin and does not consider a connexion with See also:Dan. gumpe, Icel. goppa, &c., possible.

The earlier English word is " leap " (O.E. hleapan, to run, jump, cf. Ger. laufen). In the running long jump anything over 18 ft. was once considered See also:

good, while See also:Peter O'See also:Connor's See also:world's record (1901) is 24 ft. 114 in. The jump is made, after a See also:short fast run on a cinder path, from a See also:joist sunk into the ground flush with the path, the jumper landing in a See also:pit filled with loose See also:earth, its level a few inches below that of the path. The joist, called the " take-off," is painted See also:white, and all jumps are measured from its edge to the nearest See also:mark made by any part of the jumper's See also:person in landing. In the standing long jump, well spiked shoes should be worn, for it is in reality nothing but a push against the ground, and a perfect See also:purchase is of the greatest importance. Weights held in the hands of course greatly aid the jumper. Without weights J. Darby (professional) jumped 12 ft. 12 in. and R. C.

Ewry (See also:

American See also:amateur) 11 ft. 4s in. With weights J. Darby covered 14 ft. 9 in. at See also:Liverpool in 1890, while the amateur record is 12 ft. 91 in., made by J. See also:Chandler and G. L. Hellwig (U.S.A.). The standing two, three, five and ten jumps are merely repetitions of the single jump, care being taken to See also:land with the proper See also:balance to begin the next leap. The record for two jumps without weights is 22 ft. 21 in., made by H.

M. See also:

Johnson (U.S.A.); for three jumps without weights, R. C. Ewry, 35 ft. 74 in.; with weights J. Darby, 41 ft. 7 The hop step and jump is popular in See also:Ireland and of ten included in the programmes of See also:minor meetings, and so is the two hops and a jump. The record for the first, made by W. McManus, is 49 ft. 22 in. with a run and without weights; for the latter, also with a run and without weights, 49 ft. z in., made by J. B. See also:Conolly.

In the running high jump also the See also:

standard has improved. In 1864 a jump of 5 ft. 6 in. was considered excellent. The Scotch professional Donald Dinnie, on See also:hearing that M. J. See also:Brooks of See also:Oxford had jumped 6 ft. 22 in. in 1876, wrote to the See also:news-papers to show that upon a priori grounds such an achievement was impossible. Since then many jumpers who can clear over 6 ft. have appeared. In 1895 M. F. Sweeney of New See also:York accomplished a jump of 6 ft. 51 in.

Ireland has produced many first-class high jumpers, nearly all tall men, P. Leahy winning the British amateur record in See also:

Dublin in 1898 with a jump of 6 ft. 4- in. The American A. See also:Bird See also:Page, however, although only 5 ft. 64 in. in height, jumped 6 ft. 4 in. High jumping is done over a See also:light See also:staff or See also:lath resting upon pins fixed in two uprights upon which a See also:scale is marked. The " take-off," or ground immediately in front of the uprights from which the See also:spring is made, is usually grass in See also:Great See also:Britain and cinders in See also:America. Some jumpers run straight at the See also:bar and clear it with See also:body facing forward, the knees being See also:drawn up almost to the See also:chin as the body clears the bar; others run and spring sideways, the feet being thrown upwards and over the bar first, to See also:act as a See also:kind of See also:lever in getting the body over. There should be a shallow pit of loose earth or a See also:mattress to break the fall. The standing high jump is rarely seen in See also:regular athletic meetings.

The jumper stands sideways to the bar with his arms extended upwards. He then swings his arms down slowly, bending his knees at the same See also:

time, and, giving his arms a violent upward See also:swing, springs from the ground. As the body rises the arms are brought down, one See also:leg is thrown over the bar, and the other pulled, almost jerked, after it. The record for the standing high jump without weights is 6 ft., by J. Darby in 1892. By the use of a spring-See also:board many extraordinary jumps have been made, but this kind of leaping is done only by See also:circus gymnasts and is not recognized by athletic authorities. For See also:pole-jumping see POLE-VAULTING. See See also:Encyclopaedia of See also:Sport; M. W. See also:Ford, "Running High Jump," Outing vol. xviii.; " Running Broad Jump," Outing, vol. xix.; " Standing Jumping," Outing, vol. xix.; ' See also:Miscellaneous Jumping," Outing, vol. xx. Also Sporting and Athletic See also:Register (See also:annual). JUMPING-See also:HARE, the English See also:equivalent of springhaas, the See also:Boer name of a large leaping See also:south and See also:east See also:African rodent mammal, Pedetes caller, typifying a See also:family by itself, the Pedet.idae.

Originally classed with the jerboas, to whichit has no See also:

affinity, this remarkable rodent approximates in the structure of its See also:skull to the See also:porcupine-See also:group, near which it is placed by some naturalists, although others consider that its true position is with the African scaly-tailed flying squirrels (Anomaluridae). The See also:colour of the creature is See also:bright rufous fawn; the eyes are large; and the bristles See also:round the muzzle very long, the former having a fringe of long hairs. The front limbs are short, and the See also:hind ones very long; and although the fore-feet have five toes, those of the hind-feet are reduced to four. The bones of the See also:lower part of the hind leg (See also:tibia and fibula) are See also:united for a great part of their length. There are four pairs of cheek-See also:teeth in each See also:jaw, which do not develop roots. The jumping-hare is found in open or mountainous districts, and has habits very like a See also:jerboa. It is nocturnal, and dwells in composite burrows excavated and tenanted by several families. When feeding it progresses on all four legs, but if frightened takes gigantic leaps on the hind-pair alone; the length of such leaps frequently reaches twenty feet, or even more. The See also:young are generally three or four in number, and are See also:born in the summer. A second smaller See also:species has been named. (See See also:RODENTIA.) JUMPING-See also:MOUSE, the name of a See also:North American mouse-like rodent, Zapus hudsonius, belonging to the family Jaculidae (Dipodidae), and the other members of the same genus. Although mouse-like in general See also:appearance, these rodents are distinguished by their elongated hind limbs, and, typically, by the presence of four pairs of cheek-teeth in each jaw.

There are five toes to all the feet, but the first in the fore-feet is rudimentary, and furnished with a See also:

flat See also:nail. The cheeks are provided with pouches. Jumping-mice were long supposed to be confined to North America, but a species is now known from N.W. See also:China. It is noteworthy that whereas E. Cones in 1877 recognized but a single representative of this genus, ranging over a large See also:area in North America, A. Preble distinguishes no fewer than twenty North American species and sub-species, in addition to the one from Szechuen. Among these, it may be noted that Z. insignis differs from the typical Z. hudsonius by the loss of the premolar, and has accordingly been referred to a sub-genus apart. Moreover, the Szechuen jumping-mouse differs from the typical Zapus by the closer See also:enamel-folds of the molars, the shorter ears, and the white tail-tip, and is therefore made the type of another sub-genus. In America these rodents inhabit See also:forest, pasture, cultivated See also:fields or swamps, but are nowhere numerous. When disturbed, they start off with enormous See also:bounds of eight or ten feet in length, which soon diminish to three or four; and in leaping the feet scarcely seem to See also:touch the ground. The See also:nest is placed in clefts of rocks, among See also:timber or in hollow trees, and there are generally three litters in a See also:season.

(See RODENTIA.) JUMPING-See also:

SHREW, a popular name for any of the terrestrial insectivora of the African family Macroscelididae, of which there are a number of species ranging over the African See also:continent, representing the See also:tree-shrews of See also:Asia. They are small long-snouted See also:gerbil-like animals, mainly nocturnal, feeding on See also:insects, and characterized by the great length of the metatarsal bones, which have been modified in accordance with their leaping mode of progression. In some (constituting the genus Rhyncocyon) the muzzle is so much prolonged as to resemble a See also:proboscis, whence, the name See also:elephant-shrews is sometimes applied to the members of the family.

End of Article: JUMPING

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