opinion, that Xagis, whom the poet makes the wife of Κυλλοποδείων (China), is no other than a poetical personification of the silk-worm: 13 Π. 382, Την δε ιδε προμολεσα Χαρις λιπαροκρήδεμνος Καλο δαιδαλες Ηφαιςε, προμολ' ωδε The name of Xagis refers to the glossiness of the silk; λιπαροκρηδεμνος, to the fineness of the silk-thread (observe 7 also in that word, and επεο, επι, and ειπε shortly after). Προμολέσα and weouone seem to allude to the flies spinning as by a mill, as before noticed of μύλης : and the marriage of Κυλλοποδείων and Χαρις mark, by the nearness of that relation, how closely the circumstances of lameness and cultivation of the silk-worm have been connected in all ages with the habits of the Chinese. The word WTUIE seems to allude to the Piho or white river, as the district where the silk-worm is chiefly cultivated or its produce collected; which is confirmed by Χαρις conducting Thetis επι θρονο αργυροηλό, marking, by the colour of silver, the name of the White river, and this is further confirmed by the two following from 23 Il. 281, Ηπιε ος σφων μάλα πολλακις υγρον ελαιον Χαιταων κατεχευε which may be interpreted as alluding to the custom of adorning the manes of horses with ribands of silk (or composing the streamers of ships of that material), such silk coming from the Piho river, as insinuated by the word 8. Finally, the word avia, twice cited above, and enia, in the second of the two following lines, plainly refer to China, nominatim; 18 II. 407, Παντα Θετι καλλιπλοκαμω ζωαγρια τινειν and (warpia, as evidently refers to the silk's being the produce of an animal. In closing this subject, it may be observed that some confirmation of my having given a right interpretation to Χαρις, arises from considering the following passage of the Odyssey, 23, 6, Η οι ομηλικίη μεν ην, κεχαριςο δε θυμω in which the words κεχαριστο and χαίρεσιν seem to have the same allusion to the glossiness of silk, as Xapis has been explained to have before, and the words καλα εννυςθαι and ειματα ακήδεα, to refer to the manufacture of the material in question, which material, in the last epithet σιγαλόεντα, 1 take to be disguisedly named. It is further to be remarked, that in what is said of Exemos, one of the princes of Alcinous's court, whose representative character will be explained presently, 7 Od. 155, Οψε δε δη μετεειπε γέρων ηρως Ελένης there is not only an allusion to the very ancient civilization of India, (for Exevnos (EXEN VAUS) means, ex vi termini, nearly the same thing as Navonad), but to the well-known practice likewise of preserving there the records of antiquity by their pundits, and (under the word nexαoto) to the singular institution of the casts, into which the inhabitants of that country are divided. But before any further details are offered, either on the subject of India or China, it is fit to observe a little on that immense portion of the continent of Asia, Tartary. That country seems to me to be designated with sufficient clearness, in the person of Аp, the mother of Navonax, (India,) and wife of Aλx005, (China). In her name, ApиTи, there appears to be somewhat of a disguised allusion to the name of Tartary, which becomes stronger if the first part of the word is pronounced twice, a repetition implied to be necessary by the word επwμov, 7 Od. 54, . -Αρητη δ' ονομ' εςιν επώνυμον and the concluding part of that same line, together with the line following, εκ δε τόκων Των αυτών, οι περ τεκον Αλκινοον βασιλήα, contains a statement that agrees exactly with the account given by the Chinese at this day, of their origin, as being derived from the Manchou race of Tartars. The line immediately preceding those last cited, Δεσποιναν μεν πρωτα κιχησεαι εν μεγάροισιν, insinuates that, in sailing to the metropolis of China, Pekin, (βασιλήος αγακλυτα δωματα), you come first to the territory of the emperor's wife, ApиTи, (that is, you pass by the province of Corea, a part of Tartary,) which territory of Tar |