a name given by the ancients to a large tract of country, inhabited by a race of people whom they called Scythian, but who called themselves Scoloti. The position and extent of this country, according to different writers, differ very considerably; and especially Herodotus and Ptolemy, who give the most distinct information on the subject, are completely at variance, the former placing it entirely in Europe, and the latter almost entirely in Asia. According to Herodotus, who does not recognize the country called Sarmatia by later writers, the Scythians occupied a portion of it, extending from the Ister (Danube) to the Palus Maeotis (Sea of Azof); and the Tanais (Don); and from the Euxine northwards to the country of the Melanchlani. Eastward from Scythia lay the country of the Sauromatae, between the Tanais, the Rha (Volga), and Caucasus; while the region between the Borysthenes (Dnieper) and the Tanais was at one time occupied by the Cimmerians, who were expelled by the Scythians. Scythia, therefore, in the time of Herodotus, comprehended Moldavia and the southern portions of European Russia. The Scythians themselves, according to the historian, were a branch of the Sacae, an Asiatic people living to the east of the Caspian, and had been driven out from their original country by the Massagetae. Only two important events in Scythian history are mentioned by Herodotus; the one is the invasion of Media by the Scythians, and the other that of Scythia by Darius. In 624 B.C., the Scythians entered Media, defeated Cyaxares, the reigning monarch, and occupied the land for twenty-eight years before they were expelled. It was at least ostensibly in revenge for this incursion that Darius Hyastaspis determined to invade Scythia about 513 B.C. He formed a bridge across the Danube; and crossing that river, obtained some advantages over the Scythians. But he was unable to effect any real conquest of these nomad tribes, and narrowly escaped having his retreat cut off by the destruction of the bridge. In later times we do not hear much of the Scythians in history. Instead of them the Sarmatians appear as the occupants of these regions. Whether this is to be accounted for by supposing that the Sauromatae of Herodotus encroached upon the Scythian territory and supplanted its former inhabitants, or we are to believe that the change was only in the name by which these nomad tribes were known to the Greeks and Romans, is a doubtful point; but there can be no question of the fact, that in the time of Ptolemy the term Scythia was applied exclusively to those eastern regions, which even, according to Herodotus, formed the original home of the Scythians. Scythia was, according to this view, bounded on the W. by the Rha, which separated it from Sarmatia; S. by the Jaxartes (Sir Daria), which separated it from Sogdiana, and by the Emadi Montes (Hindoo Coosh and Himalayas), which separated in from India. On the N. and E. there was no definite boundary; in these directions lay the lands of the Sorcs and the Sinase. Scythia was divided into two parts, inside and outside the Imams, a name applied somewhat vaguely to the mountains of Central Asia; but which probably indicates in this connection the ranges now known as Bolor and Thian Shan. Scythia intra Imams would thus comprehend the Kirghize steppes; and Scythia extra Imams Tibet and Little Bucharia. The term Scythia, as used by Ptolemy, thus corresponds very much to the similarly indefinite terms Tartary and Turkestan, which we apply to nearly the same regions, dividing it in a similar way into the western or Independent, and the eastern or Chinese portion. The Scythians of the ancients are also probably to be identified with the Turkish races; and it will no more surprise us to find the former in ancient times occupying the position assigned them by Herodotus, than to find the latter at the present day occupying European Turkey. The physical characteristics, manners, and language of the Scythians, so far as they can be ascertained, confirm this opinion, though some eminent authorities have arrived at different conclusions.

END OF VOLUME NINETEENTH.