OF ACCOMPANYING ANIMALS AND PLANTS. 371 



"299 B. C." (Hervey-Saint-Denys), Kiu-ping-youen or Kiu-youen commencing his elegiac poem 

 called Li-sao. 



Hibiscus Syriacus of Eastern Asia. A flowering shrub called in English gardens "althaja" 

 (A. Gray), in Japan "kin" or usually " mukunge " (Thunb.) ; and the "althaea flowers" of Kiu- 

 youen 29 * — may be compared : H. Syriacus was observed by Kaempfer, and Thunberg, in Japan, 

 cultivated everywhere for hedges, and (according to Jap. centen. comm. 76) its fibres used for cord- 

 age. Westward, by Roxburgh in Hindustan ; by Graham, "in every garden" around Bombay, both 

 "single and double varieties ; " by Forskal, Delile, and Clot-Bey, in the gardens of Egypt; and by 

 Forskal, in gardens at Constantinople. Farther West, the " fios siriacus " or " flos malvae " is men- 

 tioned by Simon Januensis sinon. ; and H. Syriacus is described by Camerarius hort. med. pi. 4, and 

 Gerarde. By European colonists, was carried to Northeast America, where it continues in gardens. 



"298 B. C." (Sm. b. d.), L. Cornelius Scipio and Cn. Fulvius Maximus Centumalus consuls, the 

 Samnites invading the territory of Lucanians in alliance with Rome, the third Samnite war. 



"297 B. C. = 18th year of Nan-wang" (Chinese chron. table), beginning of the Fortieth cycle. 



"295 B. C." (Sm. b. d.), Q. Fabius Maximus and P. Decius Mus the younger, consuls, great 

 defeat of the Samnites, Etruscans, Umbrians, and Gauls at Sentinum. 



Sisymbrium officinale of Europe and the adjoining portion of Asia. Called in Britain hedge 

 mustard (Prior), in Greece "agrioporiho " (Forsk.) or " agriovrouva " (Sibth.), in Italy " verbena 

 muschia" (Mazziari, and Targ.); and possibly the plant tendered by the verbenarius on this occasion, 

 tufts of grass from the capitol being sometimes employed, —as appears from Pliny xxii. 3 : the "ver- 

 bena " is mentioned by Plautus, Terence, Horace, Virgil, Propertius, Festus, Celsus v. 28, and the 

 " verbenaca mas " by Pliny xxv. 59 both kinds superstitiously employed by the Gauls : S. officinale 

 is described by Fuchsius pi. 592 ; is termed "e. vulgare " by Tournefort inst. 228 ; and is known to 

 occur in waste places from Sweden to the Mediterranean and North Africa (fl. Dan. pi. 560, Curt, 

 lond. v. pi. 50, Pers., and Wats.) ; was observed by Forskal, Sibthorp, and Chaubard, from the Pelo- 

 ponnesus to Constantinople, but seems unknown in Eastern Asia (Ledeb., and A. Dec). By Euro- 

 pean colonists was carried to Greenland (Wats.), and to Northeast America, where it continues 

 around dwellings and along walls, observed by myself from Salem to Philadelphia, known to occur in 

 the "upper districts" of our Southern States (Chapm.), and found by Scouler at the mouth of the 

 Columbia (Hook. ; see Verbena officinalis). 



"In this year" (Sm. b. d.), Cyprus recovered by Ptolemy. Who about this time, admonished 

 by a dream, caused the statue of a god to be brought from Sinope to Alexandria. On arrival, the 

 statue was found by his interpreter Timotheus and the Egyptian priest Manetho to be that of Sera- 

 pis, and the great temple to Serapis was commenced (Callim., Apollod., Tacit, and Plut. is. and 

 osir. 28). 



Bupleurum fruticosiim of the shores of the Mediterranean. A woody-stemmed umbelliferous 

 plant called in Greece "anSmopuroma " (Fraas), affording perhaps the CECEAI enumerated by 

 Manetho among the ingredients of the " kuphi " incense (Plut. is. and osir. 88) : the "kuonon phri- 

 ken " of the Egyptians — is identified with the " sSsSli aithiopikon," of Dioscorides, a great shrub 

 with boughs two cubits long, ivy-like leaves oblong as in " p£riklum£nou," and " anethou "-like tops, 

 the seeds crowded as in " puros " and very odorous, mentioned also by Oribasius, and referred here 



by the natives in one of the provinces. F. elephantum is termed "anisifolius " by Rumphius ii. pi. 

 43 ; and according to Lindley, "both leaves and flowers exhale a powerful odour of anise." 



Spondias maugifera of Tropical Hindustan and Burmah. The hogplum is called in Burmah 

 "kywae" (Mason), in Telinga "amatum," in Bengalee " amra " (Lindl ), in Hindustanee "ambara," 

 in Tamil " caat-maavu," in Malabar " ambalam " (Drur.), at Bombay "ran amb " (Graham); and the 

 size of its fruit also assigned for these balls by Angiras — (H. H. Wils.) : the " amburanus " tree 

 was seen by John de' Marignolli in Adam's garden on Ceylon (Yule cath. 362) : S. mangifera is 

 known to grow on the mountains of Coromandel (Lindl.), and as far as Travancore ; is described by 

 Rumphius i. pi. 61 ; was observed by Rheede i. pi. 50 in Malabar ; by Graham, "a large tree " in 

 woods around Bombay "probably planted ; " its " leaves deciduous in the cold weather." Eastward, 

 is enumerated by Mason v. p. 461 and 4S9 as indigenous in Burmah, its intensely astringent fruit 

 " considered a specific " in wounds by poisoned arrows, formed the chosen offering of the Karens 

 according to their own tradition, and hence " God cursed the Karen nation and placed it lowest among 

 all the nations by whom they are surrounded." According to Roxburgh, the trunk when wounded 

 yields large quantities of a mild insipid gum exactly like gum arabic. 



* Trapa incisa of Yeso and the neighbouring countries. A species of water-chestnut called on 

 Yeso "bekanbe," in Japanese "hisi" (Sieb.) ; and possibly the " chataigne d'eau " of Kiu-youen 29: 

 T. incisa is described by Siebold and enumerated among the useful plants of Yeso. 



