OF ACCOMPANYING ANIMALS AND PLANTS. &2Q 



• " \f 3 ^'- D " (S6e GaIvan ') death of P rince Henry of Portugal, through whose maritime enter- 

 prises the Atncan coast was made known from Cape Non to Sierra Leone " in 8° N " 



"In this year" (Velasco, and Markh.), Hualcopo Duchicala succeeded by his son Cacha, now 

 fifteenth scyn of Quito. ' 



"In this year" (Barrow, see Major 2d edit. Columb. p. xxvii), under orders from Alfonso V. of 

 Portugal John Vaz Costa Cortereal accompanied by Alvaro Martens Homem exploring the Northern 

 Seas. They discovered Newfoundland ; and on their return touching at Terceira found the captaincy 

 vacant, and solicited the appointment : — their commission is " dated in Evora, 2nd April, [464 " 



H64 A. D-, in Java, Raden Patah after marrying the grand-daughter of Raden Rachmat and 

 before the birth of a chdd proceeded Westward from Ampel to establish himself where he should find 

 the sweet-scented grass called " bintara." This grass was observed growing on a few dry spots in an 

 extensive swamp, and the new city was accordingly called Bintara. 



"Aug. 31st" (Alst., and Nicol.), Pius II. succeeded by cardinal Peter Barbo, now Paulus II 

 fifty-seventh pope. Louis XL ruling France ; Edward IV., England ; and James III., Scotland. 



The tale of " The Wright's chaste wife " written in the reign of Edward IV. — (All. and Cock- 

 ayne). 



Paris quadrifolia of Europe and Northern Asia. Called in ¥,n^m four-leaved grass or trulove 

 from the Danish " trolovet " betrothed, or herb Paris from the medieval Latin "herba paris " of a 

 pair (Prior), in which we recognize the herb "truelove" of the Wright's chaste wife — (Cockayne) : 

 P. quadrifolia is described by Fuchsius p. 87 (Spreng.) ; and is known to grow from the Mediterra- 

 nean throughout middle and Northern Europe as far as Lapland and Iceland (fl. Dan. pi. '139, Pers., 

 Hook., and Wats.). Eastward, is known to grow throughout Siberia (Wats.), and as far as the 

 Japanese islands of Yeso and Niphon (Thunb., and Sieb.). 



" In or about this year " (Rees cycl., and Pouchet), decimals (the invention of George Purbach, 

 "b. 1423"), substituted by Joannes Muller called Regiomontanus for the sexagesimal division of the 

 Circle in his Table of sines. Regiomontanus also according to Pouchet first used clocks in astronom- 

 ical observations. 



"The same year" (Clavig., and Humb. atl. pict.), Motezuma-Ilhuicamina succeeded by Axaja- 

 catl, sixth Mexican emperor. 



The disease syphilis among the Aitians and other American tribes from early times, as appears 

 from legends — collected by F. Roman Pane 6 (F. Columb. 62 and 74). In Europe, syphilis con- 

 tinued unknown in the days of Chaucer c. t, and was brought from America by companions of Colum- 

 bus, according to the direct testimony of Oviedo nat. hyst. 75 and gen. hist. ii. 14 : the " new disease " 

 according to Ruellius i. 45 made its first appearance in Spain; and according to Alsted 310, was 

 '• brought in 1495 into Germany " by soldiers returning from the war in France. 



Guaiacum officinale of the West Indies. A Zygophylloid tree yielding the gum-resin guaicum, 

 called in Aitian " guayacan " (Ovied.), and from early times used as a remedy in syphilis : — the 

 "guayacan" tree was observed by Oviedo nat. hyst. 75 on Hayti and the other islands, but not on 

 the main land : G. officinale by Sloane ii. pi. 222, and Macfadyen, on Jamaica ; by Swartz obs. 168, 

 also in the West Indies, its "wood excessively hard and compact" (Lindl.). The drug guaiacum 

 was procured by Gonsalvo Ferrand from the natives of Hayti and brought to Europe "in 1508" 

 (Pereir. mat. med.) ; is mentioned also by Monardez, Ruellius i. 45, Valerius Cordus, and Dalechamp 

 annot. Diosc. ; is "stimulant and tonic," continues to be "employed as a diaphoretic and alterative" 

 (Lindl.) ; and was found by Forskal mat. med. well known in the drug-shops of Egypt. 



Heimia salicifolia of Mexico. A Lythraceous herb called in Mexican " hanchinol" (Lindl.), and 

 from early times regarded as a specific in venereal disorders, — acting as "a powerful sudorific and 

 diuretic : " observed by Humboldt and Bonpland n. g. vi. 192 growing on the volcano of Jorullo. 



Smilax sarsaparilla of the Eastern declivity of the Mexican table-land. Its root the orig- 

 inal sarsaparilla, a remedy derived from the American tribes and called in Mexico " zarzaparilla " 

 (Schiede), growing — according to Humboldt iii. 8 in the province of Vera Cruz : " S. medica " was 

 observed by Schiede on the Eastern slope of the mountains, and was told that its roots are gathered 

 all the year long, dried in the sun, tied in bundles, and carried to Vera Cruz for export : off the West- 

 ern or Pacific coast of Mexico, a ship laden with " salsaperilla" was captured by Drake (Nuno da 



Hoffm. germ., fl. Dan. pi. 825, Linn, lap., and Hook.). Eastward, was observed by Sibthorp in the 

 Peloponnesus and on mount Athos ; and is known to grow throughout Siberia (Gmel., and Pall.). 

 Farther East, is known to grow in Alaska (Wats.), on the Rocky mountains (E. James), at Cumber- 

 land House Lat. 54° in central North America (Drumm.), on the shore of Lakes Superior and Huron 

 (A. Gray), in Greenland (Wats.) and Newfoundland (Lapyl.), ceasing along the Atlantic in about Lat. 

 42° (Pursh, and myself). 



