d-five-and-twenty-after-the-thousand." Intricate dates
like these are to be solved only by an expert.

But when the year is in question, without regard to month or day, and when
the year is written in legible figures, a rough formula for computing the
corresponding Christian date is as follows: Subtract from the given
Mohammedan year one thirty-third part of itself, and add to the remainder
six hundred and twenty-two. Thus: A. H. 1196 = A. D. 1196 - 36 + 622 = A.
D. 1782. This is accurate enough for all practical purposes, and involves
no difficulty except the deciphering of the Arabic digits. The failure to
subtract this essential one thirty-third part explains frequent
misreadings by the ignorant dealer or uninitiated amateur. That six
hundred and twenty-two must be added to the given Mohammedan date explains
itself. But it must be remembered also that the Moslem year is lunar, and
thus a little more than eleven days shorter than our solar year. Their
reckoning therefore gains one year in every thirty-three of our
computation.

Modern commercial rugs of ordinary quality are occasionally provided with
a date or other calligraphic figure to simulate the real signed and dated
masterpieces. This trickery should never deceive even the most unwary,
unless the piece is of exceptional merit; and then, there is no deception;
or at least there is value received.

CHAPTER XII

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS AND PARTICULAR ADVICE

Many kinds of rugs are made in part of camel's hair, generally undyed and
of a soft brown tone. They are praised as particularly desirable and
durable, and antique specimens often showed a distinguished beauty. Modern
examples are seldom improved by this addition to the wool. Camel's hair,
in the muggy days of summer, has the great fault of offending the nose and
proclaiming not only that the "Campbells are coming" but that the circus
and the whole menagerie is already here. If the camel's hair part of your
rug is soft and silky, it has been taken from young camels or from the
camel's belly, and the odour is hardly ever noticeable. Of wool in rugs
generally it may be said that the best is from the younger sheep, and the
silkiness and sheen of the wool give those same characteristics to the
rug.

Silk rugs, both antique and modern, fairly dazzle the eye with their
beauty, but he who may afford one will needs afford also to furnish the
surroundings for it in like magnificence. Otherwise all else grows