Translations from the Persian, illustrative of the Sunni and Shia Sects of Mahomedans, by Brigadier-General Sir John Malcolm, K. B. -- No commentary accompanies these documents, which are more likely to interest in the East than in Europe.

A Treatise on Sufiism, or Mahomedan Mysticism, by Lieutenant James William Graham.-To the accumulations formed by Sir William Jones and Dr.Leyden on this subject, a valuable addition is made in the present paper: but, like the preceding essay, it is more fitted for the Asiatic than the European horizon. It points out to the philosopher that ubiquitary analogy between the mystics of different persuasions, which favours the suspicion that all forms of mind are native tendencies, distributed every where in regular and similar proportions; and that, whatever creeds are poured into these moulds, they will ramify accordingly, and always exhibit the same varieties and proportions of wisdom, common sense, and folly.

Account of the present compared with the antient State of Babylon, by Captain Edward Frederick.-Whatever tends to throw light on the topography of this celebrated city merits some pause of attention. The present author begins by copying the description of Herodotus. The first question for the antiquary to solve is this: Does Herodotus describe by the name Babylon the Babel of Genesis (c. xi.), or a new town of the same name situated elsewhere? It seems probable that the Babel of Genesis is the Birs Nemroud of Mr. Rich *; and that "the immense fragments of brick-work of no determinate figure, tumbled together, and converted into solid vitrified masses," which occupy the summit of this vast artificial hill, and which are described by Captain Frederick as resisting iron like any hard stone,' are the vestiges of that prodigious thunder-storm, in which, to borrow the sublime language of the sacred historian, "the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded." "Therefore is the name of it called Babel, or Confusion." Whether the oracles ascribed to Isaiah proceed wholly from his own pen, or whether, as Professor Eichhorn thinks, some have been added by a later prophet cotemporary with Darius Hystaspis, (see a remarkable dissertation inserted in a publication, now discontinued, called the Annual Review, vol. iv. p. 119.) it can scarcely be doubted that the first Babylon was become a morass, and a heap of

See our account of Mr. R.'s two Memoirs, vol. lxxxi. and vol. lxxxix. p. 41.

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p. 257.,

ruins,

ruins, (see Isaiah, c. xiii. v. 19-22.) when these oracles were composed. This desertion was favoured and completed by the circumstance that Darius Hystaspis transferred the seat of government, and the residence of the monarch, to Susa, or Shushan; where the seat of government for the Persian empire appears to have continued until the close of the reign of Artaxerxes the First, or the Long-handed. The anarchy which prevailed after his death necessitated an approach to the disturbed provinces, and restored to Babylon its metropolitan character: then grew up, probably, the Babylon which Herodotus admired, and not exactly on the site where the tower of Ninus, or Nimrod, (Clio, 178.) had been overthrown. The ruins of this second Babylon, according to the sketch annexed to Captain Frederick's paper, are north-east of the original Babel. They consist chiefly of huge mounds formed of rubbish; viz. partly sun-dried bricks, united by a mortar of bitumen and reed-straw; and partly furnace-burnt bricks, which appear to have been used for casing the outsides of the buildings. Only two of these mounds, says the present' writer, appeared very conspicuous. He notices the situation of an old tree, called Athelé in Mr. Rich's account, and that of the Mujelibé, which he denominates the tower of Belus; and which is probably a remain of the temple of the god Bel, so particularly described by Herodotus. We should observe that this temple still subsisted when the Apocalypse was written; and that the seven mountains, on which the woman of the idol sitteth, (c. xvii.) exactly coincide with the seven pyramidal stages at the summit of which the priestess of Bel, according to Herodotus, had her station. Captain Frederick ascribes to its base a circuit of only 2250 feet. It merits notice that, after much investigation directed to that object, he could find no trace of the ditch and city-wall that had encompassed Babylon. We might expect to discover on the real seat of the Babylon of Cyrus some traces of the new bed which he dug for the Euphrates, when he entered the town through the desiccated channel: but whether the new course of the river became henceforth its permanent channel is not stated. After the capture by Darius, which was enormously destructive to the inhabitants, the fortifications were rased; and it is highly probable that the superfluous population, which was expelled during the siege, went and settled at some no very distant place, which became the Babylon of Herodotus. It deserves remark, many commentators of Scripture having expounded otherwise, that the fiftieth chapter of Jeremiah certainly describes the capture of Babylon by Darius; because the death of Merodach (the Mardys of Eschylus,

and

and the Smerdis of Herodotus,) is noticed in the second verse; and in the fifty-first chapter (v. 58.) the demolition of the fortifications peculiar to this capture is recorded.

Account of the Hill-Fort of Chapaneer in Guzerat, by Captain William Miles. However concise, complete, and archæologically learned this paper may be, its value is local.

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The Fifth Sermon of Sadi, translated from the Persian, by James Ross, Esq. No specimen of the pulpit-eloquence of the Mohammedans had been presented to the world in an European dress before Mr. R. furnished us with this sermon of Sadi: which exhibits the mystical turn of phraseology that prevails among our Methodistical and Evangelical preachers. The story of the santon Barsisa is introduced with good effect. Account of the Origin, History, and Manners of the Race of Men called Bunjaras, by Captain John Briggs. - Bunjaras are drivers of laden bullocks, which they keep to make a profit as carriers: they often speculate in rice and corn on their own account, and contract with armies for supplies.

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An Account of the Parisnath-Gowricha, worshipped in the Desert of Parkur; with a few Remarks on the present Mode of Worship of that Idol, by Lieutenant James Mackmurdo. A sitting figure of white marble, which is kept in a brass pot, and usually buried in the sand, is the description given of this idol. The profit of the priest seems to arise from suffering the hiding-place of the image to become a bank of deposit.

Observations on Two Sepulchral Urns found at Bushire in Persia, by William Erskine, Esq.-These urns are engraved, and supposed to be prior to Zoroaster.

Account of the Cave-Temple of Elephanta, by the Same. An interesting introduction to this excellent paper explains the opponent tenets of the Bramins and Bouddhists. The admirably complete description of the cave itself is illustrated by numerous engravings; and the sculpture is explained to represent stories from the Ramayana of Valmiki. The entire excavation is inferred to have been a temple of Shiva.

Remarks on the Substance called Gez, or Manna, found in Persia and Armenia, by Captain Edward Frederick. — The sweet-meat, or honey-dew, here described, either exudes from a plant called gavan, in consequence of the puncture of an insect, or results from the digestion of that insect.

Remarks on the Province of Kattiwar, its Inhabitants, their Manners and Customs, by Lieutenant James Mackmurdo. Statistical information of this kind, however meritoriously compiled, has less to attract attention in Europe than on the

spot.

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Account

Account of the Cornelian Mines in the Neighbourhood of Baroach, by John Copland, Esq. A most picturesque account is here given of an interesting little journey or voyage to the mines. It appears that cornelians are exposed to the action of fire previously to being polished.

Some Account of the Famine in Guzerat in 1812 and 1813, by Captain James Rivett Carnac. — Readers of sensibility, turn aside from this painful narrative!

The twentieth and concluding paper is the Plan of a Comparative Vocabulary of Indian Languages, by the President.

This plan is founded on the collection of words made by Pallas in the various dialects of the Russian empire; and it is recommended to accumulate the parallel words in all the dialects of British India, subjecting them to the orthography of Mr. Gilchrist. The materials which were procured in consequence of this recommendation had been transmitted to the late Dr. Leyden, who was engaged in this branch of inquiry : but the utility of these collections has now in a great degree been superseded by the multifarious versions of the Scriptures into the various dialects of Hindostan. Much more can be learnt, as Adelung observes in his Mithridates, of the structure and history of a language from a single Pater-noster, than from a mere vocabulary of twice as many words; and it is to be hoped that some person, who has access to the Biblical hoards of the Missionary Societies, will print in a separate volume a complete collection of Pater-nosters in all the tongues of the earth.

An appendix of illustrative documents occurs, in which may be distinguished the speech of General Malcolm on moving that Sir James Mackintosh be requested to sit for his bust: an honour which had been well merited by lofty talents worthily employed.

ART. III. Lilawati; or a Treatise on Arithmetic and Geometry. By Bhascara Acharya. Translated from the original Sanscrit. By John Taylor, M. D. 4to. Bombay. 1816.

THIS

HIS treatise was read before the members of the Literary Society of Bombay, on the 27th of June, 1815; and a resolution was in consequence adopted that the work should be printed at their expense, under the superintendance of the translator, Dr. Taylor. It has not, however, formed a part of the preceding volume of the Transactions of that Society: but it would have added to the value and curiosity of a production already so variously rich, if this account of the arith

metic, geometry, and algebra in use among the colleges of Hindostan, had been incorporated with it. European readers, also, would not have been ungrateful for a form of publication so much more accessible than a Bombay edition.

We learn from the introduction that the Hindoo author of this volume, Bhascara Acharya, was born at Biddur, a city in the Deccan, in the year 1114 of the Christian era. He wrote several astronomical and mathematical works, the most celebrated of which are the Lilawati, the Bija-Gannita, and the Sirowani. The first two, which relate to arithmetic, geometry, and algebra, have entirely superseded the more antient treatises on these subjects; no other being in use, or, as far as the translator could learn, having ever been seen by any astronomers of the present day.

The Lilawati exhibits a regular, well connected, and, considering the period in which it was written, a profound system of arithmetic: it also contains many useful propositions in. geometry and mensuration. It is the first work which is studied by Hindoo astronomers, or rather astrologers: for these two professions are always united in the Deccan. The rules are written in verse, and in a very concise and elliptical style; which may favour their being remembered, but renders a teacher necessary to make them understood.

The Bija-Gannita treats of algebra. It was translated into Persian in 1634, by Ata Allah Rashidi; and from this version an analysis has been made into English, consisting partly of literal translation, and partly of abstract, by Edward Strachey, Esq. of the Bengal civil service. Learned notes and illustrations accompany the epitome.

The Sirowani is a treatise of astronomy. As it explains the science in a fuller and more perspicuous manner than the more antient and celebrated work called the Surya Siddhanta, it has a great circulation among the astronomers of the Deccan, and is often the only work which they peruse. It is divided into two Adya, or sections; named the Gola Adya, that which regards the globular form of the earth; and the Gannita Adya, that which relates to computative or prophetic astro

nomy.

Dr. Taylor confines himself to the translation of the first of these three works. He has compared with the original a Persian translation made in 1587 by Fyzi, at the command of the emperor Acbar, and a Marwar translation made in 1762 for the use of the Jaina priests. As this last dialect has a close affinity with the Sanscrit, and is indeed one of the corruptions of it, this version was of considerable use in determining the sense of doubtful passages: but it omits some entire chapters,

as