This is an apparent anachronism; but such frequently occur in reading the Arabian writers. It should be remembered, the difficulty of ascertaining facts and fixing the dates of inventions must be considerable in a vast extent of country, where books are comparatively few, and the art of printing unpractised. Though the origin of _spectacles_ can be traced back, with certainty, no higher than the thirteenth century, yet the observation of Seneca--that letters appeared of an increased magnitude when viewed through the medium of convex glass--might have been noted also by others, and _a sort of spectacles_ contrived, in consequence of it. But, however this might have been, the art of staining glass is sufficiently ancient, to have suggested in the days of Vathek the use of _green_, as a protection to the eye from a glare of light. PAGE 204. _Accursed Giaour!_ _Dives_ of this kind are frequently mentioned by Eastern writers. Consult their tales in general; and especially those of the Fishermen, Aladdin, and the Princess of China. PAGE 206. _Bababalouk, the chief of his eunuchs_ As it was the employment of the _black eunuchs_ to wait upon and guard the sultanas; so the general superintendence of the harem was particularly committed to their chief.--HABESCI’S _State of the Ottoman Empire_, pp. 155, 156. PAGE 206. _... the divan_ This was both the supreme council and court of justice, at which the caliphs of the race of the Abassides assisted in person, to redress the injuries of every appellant.--D’HERBELOT, p. 298. PAGE 206. _The officers arranged themselves in a semicircle_ Such was the etiquette, constantly observed, on entering the divan.--_Arabian Nights_, vol. iv, p. 36. D’HERBELOT, p. 912. PAGE 206. _... the prime vizier_ Vazir, vezir, or, as we express it, vizier, literally signifies a _porter_; and, by metaphor, the minister who bears the principal burden of the state, generally called the Sublime Porte. PAGE 207. _The muezzins and their minarets_ Valid, the son of Abdalmalek, was the first who erected a _minaret_, or turret; and this he placed on the grand mosque at Damascus, for the _muezzin_, or crier, to announce from it the hour of prayer. This practice has constantly been kept to this day.--D’HERBELOT, p. 576. PAGE 210. _Soliman Ben Daoud_ The name of _David_ in Hebrew is composed of the letter ו _Vau_ between two ד _Daleths_ דוד; and, according to the Masoretic points, ought to be pronounced _David_. Having no U consonant in their tongue, the Septuagint substituted the letter B for V, and wrote Δαβιδ, _Dabid_. The Syriac reads _Dad_ or _Dod_; and the Arabs articulate _Daoud_. PAGE 210. _I require the blood of fifty of the most beautiful sons of the viziers_