1 82 CHRONOLOGICAL ARRANGEMENT 



tioned by Josephus b. ]'. iv. 8, and Tacitus : S. sanctum was observed by Rauwolf 73 (Spreng.), and 

 Hasselquist, in Palestine, is known to be " the species commonly met with at the Dead Sea " (Daub.) ; 

 was observed by Delile around cultivated land at Syene ; by Forskal p. 47, frequent in Yemen and 

 the seeds with the surrounding pulp used to coagulate milk. Farther East, the B rah mans of the 

 mountains in the time of Porphyrius abst. iv. 17 lived on cow's milk coagulated by herbs; and 

 according to Forskal the berries of all species of Solanum have this property. 



Rumex roseus of Egypt and the South side of the Mediterranean. Called in Egyptian " jSjrS " 

 (Kirch.), at the present day in Egypt " hommeyd " (Del.) or "hemsis" (Forsk.) : the ^/VSS IP 

 kmshnym of Proverbs xxiv. 31, — or "kymwsh " of Hosea ix. 6, or " kmwsh " of Isaiah xxxiv. 13, 

 may be compared: the "hummadh elbakar " is mentioned by Ebn Baitar : R. roseus was observed 

 by Forskal p. 77, and Delile, in sandy situations near Rosetta ; by Sibthorp, on Cyprus ; and by Des- 

 fontaines i. p. 320, in cultivated ground in Barbary. 



985 B. C. = " 17th year of Mou-wang" (Lie-tseu, Sse-ma-thsian, the Li-tai-ki-sse, and Pauth. 

 p. 97), journey of Mou-wang to mount Kouen-lun and the '' dominions of the mother of the Western 

 king; " the first instance of a Chinese emperor visiting a foreign country. 



About this time (" 78 to 100 years after the fall of Troy," Eratosth., Crates, Clint, p. 359, and 

 Sm. b. d.), Homer composing poetry. — The tomb of Homer is mentioned in the Scylacean periplus 

 58, and Strabo x. 5. 1, as on 16s : a small island whose proximity to Cadmean Thera is significant ; 

 in consideration of the like proximity of Hesiod's residence to Cadmean Thebes. In pronunciation 

 " 16s " is readily converted into " Hios ; " the claim to Homer by the inhabitants of the latter island, 

 may therefore be compared. 



The E TO/ 1 / OE of Homer il. xviii. 414 and od. xx. 151 — is admitted to be sponge, Spongia offi- 

 cinalis : wiping with " spoggos " is mentioned by Aristophanes, Plato, Theopompus, Demosthenes, 

 and Athenaeus ; " spongia " and " spongiosa," by Cicero, and Pliny ; and to the present day, the 

 commercial demand for sponge, I am informed, is in great part supplied from the Mediterranean. 



The ® E E I H of Homer il. xi v. 41 5 and od. xxiii. 50 — is admitted to be sulphur : " the'Sion " is 

 also mentioned by Araros, and Dioscorides ; and " sulphur," by Vitruvius, Ovid, Seneca, and Martial. 



That the Strait betweeen Italy and Sicily was known to Homer, is inferred by Polybius from the 

 capture there of A E V * I N!\ E porpoises and KV/VAE sharks mentioned in od. xii. 95 : — in the time 

 of Polybius, the capture was effected from boats by means of a sort of harpoon; the wooden shaft 

 falling off, leaving a long line attached to the infixed barb (Strab. i. 2. 15). 



Calypso's isle, termed by Homer od. i. 50 " Ogugie the navel of the sea " — is referred by Calli- 

 machus to " Gauthon " or Gozo (Strab. i. 2. 37) ; and if the adjacent island of Malta be included, 

 the epithet is at least applicable. 



The KAEEITEPOIO kassitSroio or tin mentioned by Homer il. xi. 25, xviii. 474 and 613, may 

 have come from the Cassiterides : the source in the days of Herodotus iii 115 of the tin brought to 

 Greece. The Cassiterides are generally admitted to be the Scilly Isles near Cornwall ; and as the 

 Thracians held the sea, the report to Artemidorus (Strab. iv. 5. 6) of sacrifices after the fashion of 

 Samothrace to Ceres and Proserpine "on an island near Britain," claims attention ; especially, as the 

 sacrifices were in all probability established by Greek traders. Plates of tin have been unrolled in 

 mummies not much later than Homer : as in one at London ( . . . . ) ; and in one belonging to the 

 Twenty-third dynasty, at Boston. (See bronze.) 



Papaver somniferum of the Mediterranean countries. Called in Britain garden poppy or white 

 poppy, and its product opium (Prior), in Germany " mohnblume " (Grieb), in Italy " papavero " 

 (Lenz), in Greece "paparouna" or " aphiSni " (Fraas) or by the Turks "casch casch " (Sibth.), in 

 Egypt "abou el-noum " (Del.) ; in which we recognize the M H KO N of the gardens with drooping head 

 likened by Homer il. viii. 306 to that of a dying warrior : — the juice of the " mek6nos " extracted 

 solely from its head, is mentioned by Theophrastus ix. 8. 2 ; " mek6ni5n " or " opion " is mentioned 

 by Mnesidemus, is condemned by Diagoras, and Erasistratus, is according to Andreas adulterated at 

 Alexandria and therefore not absolutely blinding, and the process of procuring it from the " mekfin 

 kep<5ute " or "papaveris sativi " is described by Iollas, Dioscorides, and Pliny xx. 76 ; the two varie- 

 ties, white-seeded and black-seeded, are also distinguished by Dioscorides, and Galen: P. som- 

 niferum was observed by Sibthorp, and Fraas, cultivated and springing up spontaneously in the 

 Peloponnesus. Farther South, the " mek6n " is called in Egyptian " nanti " (Syn. Diosc.) or 

 "nSman" or "phaki" (Kirch.) or "haulan" (Edw.): opium is mentioned by Rhazes, and Abd- 

 allatif ; continues one of the principal productions of Egypt, and P. somniferum was observed under 

 cultivation there by Delile, Clot-Bey, and myself ; by Forskal, under cultivation on the mountains of 

 Yemen. Westward, the " mek6n " is identified in Syn. Diosc. with the "papavSr" of the Romans ; 

 Tarquinius Superbus in reply to an envoy seeking advice cut off "papa vera in horto altissima" (Plin. 

 xix. 53) : P. somniferum is cultivated in Italy and middle Europe for ornament and the bland oil from 

 its seeds, continues springing up spontaneously during several years as far even as Britain ; and " P. 



