382 
Proceeding's of the Roycd Irish Academy. 
In the opinion of some commentators, Garcia' s volume contains 
more typographical errors than any hook ever issued from a printing- 
press — the setting up having heen clone by an unskilled assistant. 
Twenty pages of errata direct attention to, hut by no means exhaust, 
the necessary corrections. 
The colloquial style in which the information is conveyed may have 
had some foundation in fact (see coll. i.), but it seems artificial in its 
construction, and, so far as I have yet been able to ascertain, Euano, 
the questioner, may have been a mythical personage, though he is 
described as a Spanish physician who had come to India in search of 
information. 
Garcia' s comments on the writings of Greek and Arab authors 
appear to be judicious, though often expressed in perhaps unnecessarily 
strong language. In not a few instances they are fully justified by 
modern scientific investigation. 
Shortly after the publication of the book, compilations and abstracts 
from it began to appear in various languages. One series of them, in 
Latin, was edited by Carolus L'Ecluse, better known as Clusius, and 
another series, in Spanish, by Christophorus A'Costa, who incorporated 
with Garcia's facts his own observations made in India. These obser- 
vations were subsequently also reproduced by Clusius. 
Translations of these abstracts appeared in Dutch, Italian, French, 
and English, most of them having been published before the end of the 
17th century. 
The original work is now very scarce indeed — it is said that only 
about six copies exist. Taking this circumstance into consideration, 
M. E. Ad. de Yarnhagen of Yienna published a facsimile edition at 
Lisbon, in the year 1872, which, under the circumstances, is therefore, 
strictly speaking, only the second edition. 
Some years ago I obtained a copy of this second edition, as I had 
long been familiar, from references to his work, with the name of 
Garcia, and the store of information which his volume contains. On 
examining it I was immediately impressed with the desirability of an 
English translation being made of it ; but as I could not devote time to 
learning Portuguese in order to make it myself, I applied to the Academy 
for a grant in aid, and, in the person of Mr. C. Howard, I met with a 
gentleman sufficiently interested in the subject to qualify himself for 
the task, which he completed last year. 
Before this translation can be published as a whole, however, some 
further revision of the text will probably be necessary ; but as its pub- 
lication is not contemplated by the Academy, my object now is to 
