JORDAN ("descending"), the princi pal river of Palestine, the bed of which forms a great valley stretching from N. to S., in the E. part of the country. It is formed by the junction of three streams. The highest source of the Jor dan is the Hasbany, which rises near the Druse town of Hasbeiya, on the W. side of Mount Hermon. There is another spring on the S. side of the same moun tain at Bflnias (Paneas or Cmsarea Philippi), and the Leddan at Dan. The Jordan flows S., and after a course of a little over 100 miles, having passed through the small Huleh Lake (The Waters of Merom) and the Lake of Tiberius (Sea of Galilee), 682 feet below the Mediterranean, it falls into the N. ex tremity of the DEAD SEA (q. v.), 1,292 feet below the Mediterranean. Besides smaller affluents, it receives four streams, the Wady Far'ah and Wady Kelt from the W., the Hieromax and Jabbok from the E. The source is 1,700 feet above the Mediterranean, making a total fall when it reaches the Dead Sea of 3,000 feet. The Upper Jordan was first ex
plored by John McGregor in his Rob Roy canoe in 1869.
jORDAN, DAVID STARR, an Amer ican educator; born in Gainesville, N. Y., Jan. 19, 1851. He studied at Cornell and Harvard. After holding important pro fessorships, he served as president of the University of Indiana from 1885 to 1891. In the latter year he was made president of Leland Stanford Jr. Uni versity. He served in this capacity until 1913, and as chancellor from 1913-1916, when he became chancellor emeritus. He wrote "Science Sketches," "Care and Culture of Men," "Footnotes to Evolu tion," etc., and served on a number of important government commissions, since 1909 Director of World Peace Founda tion, author of 400 scientific monographs, "The Way of Lasting Peace" (1916), etc., president California Academy of Science, 1896 and 1909, chairman U. S. Fish eries Commission (1901-1904) and Alas ka Salmon Investigation (1903-1904.)