du papier, Journal Asiatique_, 1905, p. 6 of the reprint).

[11] Ch. B., p. 10b (ed. of _Pie hia chai ts'ung shu_).

[12] The Persian word for the mulberry, _tud_, is supposed to be a
loan-word from Aramaic. (HORN, _Grundriss iran. Phil._, Vol. I.,
pt. 2, p. 6.)

BOOK SECOND.

PART II.--JOURNEY TO THE WEST AND SOUTH-WEST OF CATHAY.

XXXVII, p. 13. "There grow here [Taianfu] many excellent vines, supplying
great plenty of wine; and in all Cathay this is the only place where wine
is produced. It is carried hence all over the country."

Dr. B. Laufer makes the following remarks to me: "Polo is quite right in
ascribing vines and wine to T'ai Yuean-fu in Shan Si, and is in this
respect upheld by contemporary Chinese sources. The _Yin shan cheng yao_
written in 1330 by Ho Se-hui, contains this account[1]: 'There are
numerous brands of wine: that coming from Qara-Khodja[2] (Ha-la-hwo) is
very strong, that coming from Tibet ranks next. Also the wines from P'ing
Yang and T'ai Yuean (in Shan Si) take the second rank. According to some
statements, grapes, when stored for a long time, will develop into wine
through a natural process. This wine is fragrant, sweet, and exceedingly
strong: this is the genuine grape-wine.' _Ts'ao mu tse_, written in 1378
par Ye Tse-k'i,[3] contains the following information: 'Under the Yuean
Dynasty grape-wine was manufactured in Ki-ning and other circuits of Shan
Si Province. In the eighth month they went to the T'ai hang Mountain,[4]
in order to test the genuine and adulterated brands: the genuine kind
when water is poured on it, will float; the adulterated sort, when thus
treated, will freeze.[5] In wine which has long been stored, there is a
certain portion which even in extreme cold will never freeze, while all
the remainder is frozen: this is the spirit and fluid secretion of
wine.[6] If this is drunk, the essence will penetrate into a man's
armpits, and he will die. Wine kept for two or three years develops great
poison." For a detailed history of grape-wine in China, see Laufer's
_Sino-Iranica_.

XXXVII., p. 16.

VINE.

Chavannes (_Chancellerie chinoise de l'epoque mongole_, II., pp. 66-68,
1908) has a long note on vine and grape wine-making in China, from Chinese
sources. We know that vine, according to Sze-ma Ts'ien, was imported from
Farghanah about 100 B.C. The Chinese, from texts in the _T'ai p'ing yu
lan_ and the _Yuan Kien lei han_, learned the art of wine