1844.] Notice of the Ajaib-al-Mukhlnkat. 649 



The author observes, that when the sun rises on the Islands of Pros- 

 perity, (Jaadit) t •• ,^3t,*>, the twv juaKafHvv, or Fortunate Islands of 

 Plotemy, in the far west, he is rising on the inhabitants of China in the 

 extreme East. Hence the distance, he states, must be one-half of the 

 earth's circumference, or 13,500 miles.* 



The Divisions of the Globe. 



Abu-r-rihan of Kharezm, divides the globe into the Northern and 

 Southern hemispheres, which are separated by the equator. 



Another line, crossing the equator at right angles, and extending from 

 pole to pole, subdivides it into four quarters. 



The Southern quarters are supposed to be occupied by water ; and 

 the equator to be the austral limit of the habitable world. 



Of the Northern hemisphere ^th is land, and the remainder water. 

 The tracts near the North pole are uninhabited from the intense cold 

 which is occasioned by its distance from the equator. 



Those parts are inhabited, where the maximum length of the days 

 and nights never exceed 16 hours. 



The South-easterly parts of the North hemisphere are inhabited by 

 the Abyssinians, the Zenjs, (people of Zanguebar,) and the Nubians. 

 The S. W. tracts are bad, God knows. 



The seven Climes, {Haft Akalim, ^.Jlj'f d-<h.^)the icXi^a^a of the Greeks. 



The habitable portion of the earth, (i. e. Northern hemisphere,) is 

 divided into seven climes, which are supposed to extend like zones, or 

 carpets, spread from East to West, between the equator and the North 

 pole. Their breadth from N. to S. varies, and their length shortens, 



* Eratosthenes of Cyrene, who determined the distance between the tropics, 47° 

 24' 39", or ~ of the earth's circumference, was the first to attempt the earth's mea- 

 surement by observations of the sun's meridian height. He found that, at the summer 

 solstice, the sun was vertical at noon at Syene, while at Alexandria, at the same 

 time, it was the 50th part of a circumference from being vertical; hence he concluded, 

 neglecting the solar parallax, that the distance between these two cities comprehend- 

 ed a 50th part of the globe's circumference. The distance between Alexandria and 

 Syene was then estimated at 5,000 stadia; which multiplied by 50, give 2,50,000 

 stadia as the measure of the circumference, and divided by 360, 694 1 stadia to a 

 degree. 



This practical philosopher, who flourished nearly three centuries before Christ, wrote 

 a work on geography, which is unfortunately lost. 



