1849.] Notices. 351 



translated into French by M. Klaproth, and inserted in the "Nou- 

 veau Journal Asiatique" for the month of October, 1833. This mis- 

 sion of the Armenian king is likewise mentioned by an anonymous 

 Syriac writer in the continuation of the Chronicle of Gregory Bar- 

 Hebrseus or Abulpharagius (apud Asseraan. toI. IV. p. 125.) We 

 are informed by William de Rubruqnis, the Minorite Friar, whom 

 Louis IX. king of France, sent on an embassy into Tartary, about 

 1253, that he found several Armenian priests in the retinue of Man- 

 go Khan near the Chinese frontier. From these testimonies, there 

 is reason to infer that Armenian Christians penetrated into China 

 during the invasion of the Tartars. Many valuable particulars in 

 further illustration of this matter are contained in the productions of 

 early writers; such as Yincentius Bellovacensis (Speculum Histori- 

 cum,) Marinus Sanutus (Secreta Fidelium Crucis,) S. Antonius Flo- 

 rentinus (Summa Historialis) and others. In conclusion, it seems very 

 evident that Tersai is a word compounded from the Armenian Ter, 

 and the Persian hai, and that the term was employed by the Persians 

 and Saracens, in direct reference to the Armenian Christians. 



IV.— NOTICES. 



Effects of Lightning. 

 On the morning of the 4th April 1848, between 3 and 4 o'clock, a 

 bungalow at Palaveram, occupied by Assistant Apothecary Yaull, 

 was struck by lightning. The electric fluid appeared to have en- 

 tered through the roof, the tiles being perforated and the palmira raf- 

 ters splintered. Its course continued half way down the wall mark- 

 ing its way by a deep fissure, whence it spread itself, injuring the globe 

 lamp and extinguishing the light. The table underneath was damag- 

 ed, and its legs, which were attached by iron hinges, likewise injured. 

 The fluid was then traced in an opposite direction, having passed 

 through an open door leading to a bed room, within which Mrs. Yaull 

 and three children were sleeping. The door was split from top to 

 bottom along the frame work near the hinges, the floor damaged in 

 several places, and part of the plaster removed from the wall. Near 

 this place, opposite to the bed, hung a pair of pistols and flask contain- 

 ing a few ounces of powder, which exploded, driving the head of the 

 flask to the opposite side of the room, which was indented, and re- 

 bounding, fell near Mr. YauU's head, between whose pillows it was 

 found. The stocks of both pistols were somewhat injured, and the 



