46 CHRONOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS 



The takingos of Homer and others, is referred by Linnasus and 

 Bory de St. Vincent to the Delphinium Ajacis. — The name " ayakbouh," 

 given to this plant in Egypt, favours the reference; as also the accounts 

 of the Greek usage by Forskal, Zalikoglous (article "jacinthe"), and 

 Scarlatus.* 



The ion of Homer and Theophrastus, is usually referred to the 

 Viola odorata. — This plant was seen by Sibthorp in Greece ; and ac- 

 cording to Clot-Bey and Figari, is a favourite in the gardens of Egypt. 



The snorros of Homer (II. xviii. 414, and Od. xx. 151), Plato, 

 Theopompus, and Athenams, is clearly sponge. — The Eastern portion 

 of the Mediterranean continues to furnish large supplies of this article 

 of commerce. 



The HAEKTroN of Homer, Hesiod (quoted by Hyginus, 154), and 

 Herodotus iii. 115, is clearly amber ; a fossil gum procured on the 

 shores of the Baltic. This light and valuable substance was doubtless 

 transported by land to the Adriatic : and the transfer in ancient times 

 of the name of the Rhone to the Po, seems to indicate the route of 

 this traffic in tin and amber. 



The " dbywnym " of the account of the siege of Samaria (2 Kings 

 vi. 25) is referred by Linnaeus to the Omithogalum umbellalum. — This 

 plant is considered to be the " ornithos gala" of Nicander, Dioscorides, 

 and Atheneeus ix. : it was seen by Sibthorp in Greece, and by Hassel- 

 quist in Palestine, but appears to be unknown in Egypt. An allied 

 species, the 0. Arabicum, inhabiting Barbary, and figured by Rudbeck 

 and Besler, was received from Egypt by Linnaeus. 



The name of Userkan III., the seventh king of the Twenty-Second 

 Egyptian Dynasty, has been found on the monuments; together with 

 the date of the eleventh year of his reign. The mummy recently un- 

 rolled at Boston, contained the name of Userkan III., and proved to 

 be the body of an individual who died during this king's reign. 



The noAioN of Hesiod (quoted by Theophrastus ix. 21), and of 

 Musoeus, Dioscorides, and Pliny, is referred by Sibthorp and others to 

 the Teucrmm polium. — This plant was seen by Forskal in the environs 

 of Alexandria ; where, however, according to Delile, it is indigenous. 



The maaaxh of Hesiod, according to Sibthorp's account of the Greek 

 usage, would seem to be either the common mallow, Malta rotund i folia, 

 or an allied species, M. sylvestris. — In Egypt, I frequently observed 



* Modern Greek Lexicon of Scarlatus of Byzantium. By A. Koromelas. Athena, 

 1839. 



