642 



CHRONOLOGICAL ARRANGEMENT 



behen was observed by Rauwolf pi. 288 in Syria ; is termed " jacea orientalis patula carthami facie 

 flore luteo magno " by Tournefort cor. 32 ; and was observed by Sibthorp on Cyprus. 



Rheum ribes of the mountains of Syria and Persia. The " ribas " of Ishak ben Amran,— 

 Elbasri, Avicenna, Edrisi, Sandhasar, Mesue electuar., and Abd-allatif, mentioned by Ebn Baitar as 

 growing in Syria, is referred lure by Sontheimer, and Royle : "rob ribas from Greece and Syria," 

 is enumerated by Forskal mat med. as imported into Egypt. R. ribes is described from imported 

 specimens by Gronovius, Dillenius elth. pi. 15S, and Desfontaines ann. mus. i. pi. 49 5 but according 

 to Lindley, is not medicinal (see Ribes uva-crispa). 



iXauclea ovalifolia of Eastern Hindustan. Called in Bengalee " shal " or " shala ; " in which we 

 recognize the "schal" of Ishak ben Amran, — Elminhadsch, Ebn Dschezla, and Avicenna, described 

 as an Indian quince by Ebn Baitar : N. ovalifolia is described in the Hortus Bengalensis 14, and by 

 Roxburgh ii. 125, and Piddington 206 (J. F. Wats, index). 



Garcinia mangostana of the Equatorial portion of the Malayan archipelago. The "jawz jan- 

 dum " of Ishak ben Amran, — Rhazes, Ebn Joljol, Avicenna, Ali ben Razn, and Ebn Baitar, is 

 referred here by Sontheimer. Eastward, G. mangostana is enumerated by Mason v. p. 447 as 

 " exotic " in Burmah, called " men-gu," and " cultivated to a considerable extent in Mergui " or to 

 N. Lat. 13 : mangosteen fruit was seen by myself only under the Equator at Singapore. G. man- 

 gostana was observed in the wild state by Rumphius i. p. 133 on Saleya. By European colonists, 

 was carried to Hindustan, where Roxburgh was unable to obtain fruit beyond N. Lat. 23° 30' ; to 

 the environs of Bombay more recently (Graham, and Nimmo) ; and to Jamaica, where the fruit is 

 decidedly inferior (Macfacl., and A. Dec). 



"The same'year" (Nicol.), Louis II. succeeded by his two sons, Louis III. and Carloman, as 

 kings of France. 



"The same year" (Alst.), end of the chronicle of Ado Viennensis. 



" 880 A. D." (Pauth. 329, see also Abu Zeid), the title of " emperor " assumed by Hoang-tchao, 

 now in possession of the greater portion of China. He was'soon afterwards defeated, through the 

 " aid of the king of Tag.ugaz," and put himself to death. 



About this time ("a little after 264 A. H. comm. Sept. 12th 877," Gildem. 75), compilation of 

 Arab voyages to India and China by Abu Zaid Alhakim of Siraf. He speaks of a "great multitude 

 of Jews" in Sarandib (Ceylon), and many other sects, even Tanwis or Manichees, the king permit- 

 ting the free exercise of every religion. Gaming was the most usual occupation of the inhabitants, 

 as draughts, and the fighting of cocks, whose spurs they armed with iron. The favourite drink was 

 " of palm-honey boiled and prepared with the ' tari ' or juice which runs from the tree " (clearly toddy, 

 the crude sap procured from different kinds of palms). — " Vin" obtained in Java from growing trees, 

 is mentioned by Marco Polo 167. 



The island of Socotra chiefly inhabited by Christians : derived (according to Abu Zeid) from a 

 Greek colony founded " by Alexander," and subsequently converted to Christianity ; in which faith 

 they have persevered, "as well as all the inhabitants of other isles." — Marco Polo 189 describes 

 the population of " Scotra" and some islands halfway between it and Hindustan, as Christian, recog- 

 nizing as their head the "arcevesqe" of Bagdad. On the arrival of the Portuguese, the Socotrans 

 exhibited crosses, but according to Barbosa, there was nothing left but the name. By other Portu- 

 guese, they are termed "Jacobites subject to Alexandria." 



The " lead called al-qala'i " (tin of Banca) is enumerated by Abu Zaid as sold at Kalah — in or 

 near the Malay Peninsula (Yule cath. i. p. exci). 



Ccesa/pinia sappan of the Siamese countries. An arborescent shrub furnishing the sappan wood 

 of commerce, called in Tagalo " sapang " or " sibucao " (Blanco), in Burmah " teing-nyet " (Mason), 

 in Tamil " patungha," in Telinga " bukkapu," in Bengali and Hindustanee " bukkum," in Malabar 

 " tsiapangum " (Drury), and enumerated by Abu Zaid as sold at Kalah ; —by Musir ben Muhalhil, 

 as growing at Kulam (on the Indian Sea) ; mentioned also by Abu'fadli (Cels. i. 176), Edrisi, Abul- 

 feda, and according to Bakui imported "from the Malayan archipelago and from Zingitana : " the 

 wood called "presillum" was known in Europe to Matthaeus Sylvaticus ; " brazilium " is men- 

 tioned by Rabbinical writers of the Twelfth century (Spreng.) ; and the "berzi" shrub was seen 

 by Marco Polo \(») under cultivation on Java. C. sappan was observed by Blanco abundant on 

 the Philippines ; by myself, naturalized there and on Zanzibar, and under cultivation at Bombay ; 

 by Mason v. 511, indigenous and confined to Tavoy, but according to the Karens having "a much 

 wider range" on "the Meinan side of the mountains in Siam ;" by Roxburgh, Wight, and Drury, 

 cultivated and growing freely without care from Bengal to Ceylon, its wood used by Telinga elvers 

 for a cheap red ; was observed by Rheede vi. pi. 2 in Malabar ; by Graham, "in gardens Fsombay 

 and the Deccan." 



"882, Sept. 19th, one hour and fifteen minutes after midnight" (Blair, and Clint, iii. p. 369), the 

 Autumnal equinox observed by Albategni at Aractus. 



