ON INTRODUCED ANIMALS AND PLANTS. H5 



In "A. D. 870," the accession of Motamed, the fifteenth Abbassid 

 khalif, took place. His authority was acknowledged by Tooloon ; 

 who, having received the appointment of governor of Egypt, had ren- 

 dered himself really independent. Coins issued in Egypt, bearing the 

 name of Tooloon, are figured by Marcel, p. 66. 



The subterranean aqueducts which supply the city of Alexandria 

 with water, were constructed during the administration of Tooloon : 

 but Coptic tradition ascribes the Avork to Sanutious, or Shenouda, who 

 was at this time Coptic patriarch (Marcel, pp. 61 and 68). 



Tooloon built a mosque, on the site selected a century later for the 

 city of Cairo. This mosque, according to two Kufic inscriptions on 

 the walls, was completed in "A. D. 879." It presents the earliest 

 example of the pointed arch, so far as at present ascertained (Wilkin- 

 son, Thebes and Egypt, pp. 302 and 457, and Marcel, p. 75). — From 

 this time, very little change has taken place in Muslim architecture. 

 In Egypt, the style became universal ; and in all Eastern countries, 

 Muslim constructions are readily distinguished by the dome and the 

 pointed arch. The origin and extension in Europe of the so-called 

 " Gothic Architecture," is connected with the Muslim occupancy of 

 Sicily and Spain. 



The "hamdhidh" of Abu Hanifa and Ibn Baitar, according to 

 Delile's account of the Egyptian usage, would seem to be the Oxalis 

 corniculata ; though there is some ambiguity in the name. — The plant 

 is figured by Matthioli and by Lobel; was seen by Forskal, both in 

 Egypt and in the mountain region of Yemen ; and by Graham, 

 growing as a weed in the environs of Bombay. 



The "lebakh" of Abu Hanifa, Avicenna, Soyouty, Ibn Baitar, Ab- 

 dallatif, and Makrisi, appears to have been seen in Yemen by Forskal 

 (p. 196) ; but the tree being without fruit or flowers, the species could 

 not be ascertained. 



The "abitheran" of Abu Hanifa, Avicenna, A. H. Ellahabali, and 

 Ibn Baitar, according to Delile's account of the Egyptian usage, is the 

 Santolina fragrantissima. — This is an indigenous plant of the Egyptian 

 Desert ; but according to Forskal, is dried and sold in the drug shops 

 of Cairo. 



In "A. D. 892," the accession of Motadhed, the sixteenth Abbassid 

 khalif, took place. 



The "bamiat" of A. A. Elnabati and Ibn Baitar, according to 

 Egyptian usage, is the ochra (Hibiscus esculentus). — This plant is 



