PREFACE

TO THE

READER.

An ornate woodcut initial 'C' features floral scrollwork and a central blossom.

Since, in the course of many years, I have not infrequently had business with our Fathers arriving here in Rome from India, concerning the various and rarer things which India is accustomed to produce—whether in precious stones, plants, or animals—it happened that from that mutual exchange of literary negotiation, I obtained things that were truly rare and unusual. Among the others, however, who enriched my Musaeum study/collection of curiosities with the offering of such gifts, were Father Franciscus Dorville and Father Joannes Gruberus. The former, from China, through unknown