602 CHRONOLOGICAL ARRANGEMENT 



The Mahabharata, a Sanscrit epic poem on the wars of the Pandus, hardly earlier than this date. 



Solatium melongena of Equatorial Africa. The brinjal or egg-plant is called in France "auber- 

 gine " (A. Dec), at Constantinople " melisana " or by the Turks "patlisana" (Forsk.), at Aleppo 

 "melanzana" (Rauw.), in Egypt and Yemen " badindjan " (Forsk.), in Hindustanee " badanjan " or 

 "baingan" (Pidd.), in Sanscrit "bhuntakee" (Wall ), in Telinga "wankai," in Tamil " valoothalay " 

 (Drur.), in Burmah " kha-yan " (Mason), in Tagalo " talong " (Blanco) : the "melongene" is men- 

 tioned in the Mahabharata i. 1020 to 2197 — (transl. Pavie 91): S. melongena was observed by 

 Rheede x. pi. 74 in Malabar ; by Graham, around Bombay " extensively cultivated for the sake of its 

 fruit," and " next to the potatoe perhaps" the "most useful of Indian vegetables;" by Roxburgh, 

 and Drury, cultivated "all over India; " by Mason, "exotic " in Burmah ; by Loureiro, in Anam ; by 

 Blanco, universally known to the natives on the Philippines; is termed "trongum hortense " by Rum- 

 phius v. pi. S5. Westward from Hindustan, the " badinschan " is mentioned by Ebn Masawia, 

 Rhazes, Avicenna, Serapion, Edrisi, Ebn Baitar, and Makrizi : S. melongena was observed by myself 

 cultivated and naturalized on Zanzibar ; is known to be also cultivated in Western Equatorial Africa 

 (Benth. fl. nigr. 473) ; was observed by myself in Yemen, the fruit in market at Mocha ; by Forskal, 

 under cultivation in Yemen and Egypt ; by Rauwolf in 1574 in gardens at Aleppo; by Forskal, and 

 Chaubard, cultivated at Constantinople and in Southern Greece ; is described also by Dodoens pempt. 

 458, and C. Bauhin pin. 167. By European colonists, was carried to the^Mauritius Islands (Boj.); to 

 the West Indies (Hughes), and our Southern and Middle States, where it continues abundantly 

 cultivated. 



"636, November" (Clint.), battles on the river Yermouk, continuing several days and deciding 

 the fate of Syria in favour of the Muslims. 



"637 A. D." (Blair, and Clint.), Jerusalem captured by the Muslims ; and death of Sophronius, 

 the last bishop there. 



" The same year " (Clint.), the Muslims under Saed ravaging Persia, and the Persians defeated 

 by them in a great battle near Jaloulah ; Yazdejerd III. retiring to the Persian city of Ferganah. 



" 638, before July 4th " (Clint.), flight of Heraclius from Antioch, followed some weeks later by 

 the surrender of the city to the Muslims. Other cities surrendering, the conquest of Syria was com- 

 pleted " six years " after the death of Mohammed. 



" Not before September " (Clint., and Nicol.), edict of Heraclius in favour of the Monothelites. 

 It was confirmed by a synod at Constantinople. 



"In this year" (Biograph. univers.), end of the reign of Dagobert, king of the Franks. 



"638 or 639 A. D." (Mason iii. 43), the Burman era established by king Poukpasau : — in use 

 among the Burmese to. the present day. 



"639 A. D." (Clint.), pestilence in Syria, the Muslims losing "twenty-five thousand" men, 

 including Abu Obeidah ; who was succeeded by Moawiyah as lieutenant in Syria. "June 6th," a 

 Muslim army under Amrou entering Egypt. 



"640 A. D." (Elphinst. iii. 3), a Chinese traveller writing in this year, that Pataliputra on the 

 Ganges "was a mass of ruins," when visited by him. 



"In this year" (Klapr. mem. ii. 360), the Chinese attacking the Kao tchhang or Ouigour, and 

 meeting with success, built there the city of Thing tcheou, — from " 702 " called Pe thing tou hou fou, 

 and identified by Klaproth with Ouroumtsi and Bich-balik. 



"The same year" (Nicol., and Clint.), at Rome, Honorius succeeded by Severinus ; and before 

 the close of the year, by Joannes the fourth, seventh archbishop. 



Cassia acutifolia of Nubia and Tropical Arabia. Among articles deposited in ancient Egyptian 

 tombs as early probably as this date, leaves and fragments of senna — have been met with (Wilk.) : 

 the drug senna is mentioned by Abix, Abu Ziad Elarbi, Serapion the elder, Abi Solt, Abu Hanifa, 

 Honain, Hobaisch, Rhazes, Haly Abbas, Ebn Amran, Edrisi, and Mesue : '< zinophullou " or " zeno- 

 phullou " is mentioned by Theophanes Nonnus 173, " seng " by Demetrius Pepagomenus podagr. 34, 

 and Actuarius (Bernard), and "senna alexandrina sive foliis acutis " by C. Bauhin pin. 397. The 

 proper Alexandrian senna, called in the drug-shops of Egypt " sena lesan el-a'sfour" or " sena 

 sa'ydy," was found by Delile to consist of leaves of C. acutifolia, and the living plant was observed 

 by him near Syene on the border of Nubia: was observed by Forskal p. cxi and 85 in Tropical Ara- 

 bia, collected in large quantities in the district of Abu arish ; and the stored senna in the warehouses 

 of Mocha and Muscat was found by myself to consist exclusively of this species. Farther East, 

 "C. elongata" according to Graham "indigenous in Goozerat," and observed in Interior Hindustan 

 by Roxburgh, and Royle ill. pi. 37, is regarded by Wight as perhaps not distinct and only naturalized 

 (Lindl.). 



Acacia heterocarpa of Nubia. Also pods of this tree — (Cliampoll.-Figeac 157), called at pres- 

 ent "faraeh:" the fruit of " fara ufarfara " is enumerated by Forskal mat. med. as frequently 

 employed in sickness as a fumigatory, and he was informed that the tree occurred in wardens at 



