16 HISTORY OF BOTANY. 



do not understand the language I quote Wiirstenfeld : — 

 " The Arabs have no precise hereditary names, but each 

 joins to his own that of his father, to distinguish himself 

 from others who are called by the same ; e. g., Mohammed 

 Ben Abdallah, i. e., Mohammed, son of Abdallah, for Ben 

 signifies son. Now on account of the small number of 

 names, it frequently happens that the fathers of two who are 

 named alike have the same names ; then, the name of the 

 grandfather is also attached for distinction, e.g., Mohammed 

 Ben Abdallah Ben Omar. If the grandfathers also have the 

 same names they must go still a step further back."* 



It appears that another form used by the Arabs, in place 

 of Ben, was Ebn, also signifying son, as Ebn Omar, the son 

 of Omar, which leaves his individuality uncertain. But 

 Ebn is very often used in a wider signification, as 

 " descendant," thus Ebn Zohr, the descendant of Zohr. 

 Such may be looked upon as a kind of family name, and 

 the different members of the family have to be distinguished, 

 either by a personal name, or some distinctive epithet, — for 

 example, Mohammed Ebn Zohr, Ebn Zohr al-Fakih, that 

 is to say learned in the law. 



Another peculiarity in their method of specifying a man 

 was to join to his own name that of one whose father he 

 was; Abu signifies father, — for example, Mohammed Abu 

 Abdallah, Mohammed the father of Abdallah ; commonly the 

 position of the names is this, that the one to which Abu is 

 coupled is placed first to avoid mistakes, e. g., Abu Abdallah 

 Mohammed Ben Omar; here Mohammed is the personal 

 name, Omar that of his father, and Abdallah that of his son. 



■^ This is in fact pretty universal as the primitive system of nomen- 

 clature, and still obtains in some parts of Lancashire, as illustrated by 

 Collier (Tim Bobbin), when a boy is made to give his name as " Jone's 

 o' Lall's o' Simmy's, o' Marriom's o' Dicks o' Nethon's o' LaU's o'Simmy's 

 itli' Hooms." 



