266 CHRONOLOGICAL ARRANGEMENT 



S. Austral is was observed by Honorius Bellus eaten on Crete (CIus. hist. 199 to 300) ; is termed 

 "s. cretica minor" by Tournefort inst. 326; was observed by Sibthorp, Gittard, and Fraas, in culti- 

 vated and fallow ground from the Peloponnesus to Caria and Cyprus. Westward, the account of 

 the "scandix" by Pliny seems chiefly taken from the Greeks; but S. Australis is described by 

 Columna ecp. 90, and C. Bauhin prod. 78 (Spreng.) ; and is known to occur in Austria and Southern 

 France (Crantz, All., Lam. fl. fr., and Pers.). 



Scandix pecten of Sicily. Called in Britain shepherd's needle or Venus' 1 comb (Prior), in Italy 

 " pettine di Venere " or " spilettone " (Lenz), in Greece " agria kaukalithra " (Fraas) or " santhuki " 

 (Sibth.); and possibly connected with the above scandal: the " santhukos '' herb whose juice dyes 

 garments " sarkoSithes," was discovered by the Lydians — (J. Lydus mag. iii. 64), is mentioned by 

 Democritus (geopon. vi. 19) ; and the " sandyx " dyeing the fleeces of lambs feeding on it, by Virgil 

 (Plin. xxxv. 23): the cosmetic "paith£r6t" of Alexis, Demetrius Poliorcetes, Aelian ix. 9, Athenaeus 

 xiii. 23, and Hesychius, identified with the " caerefolium " by Pliny xix. 54, may also be compared : 

 S. pecten was observed by Sibthorp, Chaubard, and Fraas, in cultivated ground from the Pelopon- 

 nesus to Cyprus and Constantinople ; is known to occur also as far as the country South of Caucasus 

 (C. A. Mey., and Hohen.). Westward, the " akikoulam " or " skanaria " of the Romans is mentioned 

 in Syn. Diosc. ii. 167 ; the "veneris pectinem " named from resembling a comb, its root according 

 to Pliny xxiv. 114 bruised with " malva " extracting substances imbedded in the flesh : S. pecten is 

 described by Gerarde 884 ; is termed " s. semine rostrato vulgaris " by Tournefort inst. 326 ; is known 

 to occur from Algeria Sardinia and Italy as far as Denmark (fl. Dan. pi. 844, Pers., Moris, and 

 Munby), confined to cultivated ground except only in Sicily, where it was observed by Gussone 

 i. 341 in wild situations (A. Dec). 



" The same year " (Pauth. p. 180), death of Khoung-tseu or Confucius, in his " seventy-third year." 

 A " kiai " tree, planted near his tomb by his disciple Tseu-koung — is said to be still standing: and 

 his descendants, much honoured in China, now number many thousands. 



"478 B. C." (Diodor., and Clint.), in Sicily, Gelon succeeded by Hiero as king at Syracuse. 



" In the Spring" (Herodot., and Clint.), Sestus on the Hellespont surrendered to the Atheni- 

 ans : giving them control of the commerce on the Black Sea. (Herodotus' history here closes ; — 

 though an event twenty-four years later, is incidentally mentioned). 



Hardly later than this date (Herodot. iv. 43), Sataspes sent by Xerxes to circumnavigate Africa. 

 Sailing from Egypt through the Straits into the Atlantic, he turned Southward and followed the 

 African coast, passing Cape Soloe, and several months beyond reached a district inhabited by dwarf- 

 ish people clad in "phoinikeie" palm-leaves and keeping "provata" sheep or cattle, and who on a 

 landing being effected abandoned their towns and fled to the mountains {Hottentot tribes). More 

 than half the distance remaining unaccomplished and finding his ship could proceed no farther 

 (doubtless on account of the opposing winds and current) Sataspes turned back. 



Phoenix rcclinata of Subtropical Austral Africa. Possibly affording the " phoinikeie " in ques- 

 tion : — known to grow in the interior region of Austral Africa (Pers.). From transported speci- 

 mens, described by Jacquin frag. pi. 24. 



" 477 B. C. — 43d year of Keng-wang " (Chinese chron. table), beginning of the Thirty-seventh 

 cycle. 



"The same year" (Diodor. xi. 41, and Clint.), naval dominion having been acquired, beginning 

 of the ascendancy of Athens among the States of Greece. 



As early perhaps as this year, coins issued by the Macedonian king Alexander. He had accom- 

 panied the army of Xerxes but secretly favoured the Greeks ; and sent by Mardonius after their naval 

 advantage at Salamis, urged them to make peace. He subsequently warned them of the impending 

 attack at Plataea ; — and having proved his Greek descent, was the first of the royal family of Mace* 

 donia admitted as competitor at the Olympic games (Sm. b. d.). 



His are the earliest inscribed Greek coins, and they present the following form of the letter S. 



"475 B. C." = 1st year of Youan-wang, of the Tcheou or Fifth dynasty (Chinese chron. table). 



" In his reign " (Pauth. p. 186), the estates of the prince of Ou seized by Keou-tsien prince of 

 Youe : several members of the dispossessed family retiring to Japan, being descendants of Tai-pe 

 already mentioned. Wishing to punish an officer without disgracing him, Keou-tsien sent a sword 

 with orders to put himself to death : the earliest instance of this custom on record. 



Saccharum ofpeinarum of the Moluccas ? The sngar-caiu is called in Burmah " kyan " 

 (Mason) ; and has been known in China from a very ancient period — (A. Dec.) : was observed by 

 Mason "exotic" in Burmah ; by Kaempfer, and Thunberg, under cultivation in Japan ; by Rumphius 

 y. pi. 74, and myself, under cultivation throughout the Malayan archipelago ; by myself, on the Fee- 

 jean Islands, cultivated and a juiceless form overrunning territory in regular cane-brakes,' the absence 

 of seeds being the only indication of foreign origin; "on Tongatabu, and Taheiti, also inclined to 

 become naturalized without the aid of seeds, but here as well as on the Samoan and Hawaiian 



