70 CHRONOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS 



In " B. C. 361" (Clinton ii. pp. 264 and 383), the accession of Nec- 

 tanebus II., of the Thirtieth Egyptian Dynasty, took place. He was 

 the last of the native Egyptian kings. 



The kastaneia of Mnesitheus, Heracleon Ephesius, and Athenaeus 

 ii. 43, according to the received opinion and Sibthorp's account of the 

 Greek usage, is the chestnut (Castanea vulgaris). — A tree originally 

 foreign to Europe (as appears from the testimony of Pliny and others), 

 and expressly enumerated among objects of cultivation by Virgil. 

 The nuts, being mentioned by Athenseus, were of course imported 

 into Egypt ; but the living tree appears to be unknown there; though 

 according to Rabbi Schwarz, it grows in Palestine. 



In "B. C. 350" (Clinton ii. p. 383), the Persians under Artaxerxes 

 Ochus, aided by Greek mercenaries, regained possession of Egypt. 



The 2<dakon of Alexis, Aristophon, and Athenseus iv. 69, according 

 to the received opinion, is the garden sage (Salvia officinalis). — This 

 plant was seen by Delile, growing spontaneously at Rosetta. 



The oroBos of Demosthenes 598, 4, Theophrastus, and others, ac- 

 cording to the received opinion and Sibthorp's account of the Greek 

 usage, is the Ervum ervilia. — Alpinus speaks of the cultivation of this 

 plant in Egypt. 



The akoniton of Theopompus, Theophrastus, Antigonus Carystius, 

 Euphorion, and Aelius Promotus, according to the received opinion 

 and Sibthorp's account of the Greek usage, is the Aconitum napellus. — 

 Belon speaks of an acrid root imported into Egypt, which is called 

 " bisch," and is by him referred to the " napellus." 



The zTroYeior pizhs of the treatise "De Nat. Mul." in the Hippo- 

 cratic collection, and of Theophrastus, Dioscorides, Lucian, and Galen, 

 according to Sibthorp's account of the Greek usage, would seem to be 

 the Silene behen. — Forskal (Mat. Med.) speaks of the importation into 

 Egypt of " struthium" root from Greece.* 



The batpaxion of the treatises " De Nat. Mul." 29 and " 1 De Mul. 

 Morb.," and the " batrachion triton" of Dioscorides, may be compared 

 with the Ranunculus sceleratus. — This plant is noticed by Gerarde ; 

 was seen by Sibthorp at Constantinople and Smyrna ; and by Forskal 



* The GAASni of the treatise " De Nat. Mul." 29, and of Dioscorides, Pliny, Galen, and 

 Paulus iEgineta, is referred by Sibthorp and others to the Thlaspi bursa-pastoris — The 

 "bursam pastoris" of the Liber Saladini, may also be compared. The T. bursa-pastoris 

 was seen by Hasselquist at Jerusalem ; but I have met with no evidence of its being 

 known in Egypt. 



