CSOMA DE KOROS. Alexander Csoma de Koros was a highly learned Hungarian philo logist, who died in 1842 on the Himalaya. A memoir of him appeared in the Bl. As. Trans. 1841. Ile bequeathed Rs. 5000 to tho Asiatic Society of Bengal. He resided in Kunawar, and at Ladakh and Kanum, from 1828, for the sake of studying the language of the country. An account of Gemrd's interview with him appeared in the Gleanings in Science, 1829, i. p. 110. He wrote a Geographical Notice of Tibet in Bl. AS. Trans. 1833, i. 121. The Buddhist religious works of Tibet, brought to notice by him, are the Tanjur, which consists in its differ ent editions of 100, 102, and 108 folio volumes, and comprises 1083 distinct works. The Tanjur consists of 225 voltunes folio, each weighing from 4 to 5 lbs. in the edition of Pekin ; but art edition has also been published at Lhasaa and other places ; of these De Koros gave an analysis in the 20th volume of the Asiatic Researches. See Pali.
CTESfAS, B.c. 440-370, a Greek of Cnidos, of the Aselepiad tribe, a contemporary of Xenophon and Herodotus. He took service with the Greek mercenaries who joined Cyrus, son of Darius 1113 expedition against his brother Artaxerxes Mne mon, by whom ho was taken prisoner at tho battle of Cynaxa, a.c. 401, 41 miles from 13abylon. Ho became physician to Artaxerxes Mnemon, king of Persia, at whose court he resided for 17 years. Dur ing his residence he was able to consult the public archives, and he compiled from them a history of the Persians and of their predecessors in the empire of Asia. He also wrote an account of India and
its productions, but the absurd exaggerations and fables which this contains have caused all his other works to be viewed with suspicion. He is likewise accused of being led, by extreme jealousy of Herodotus, into direct mis-statemeuts, that he might contradict that historian. Aristotle more than once declares him to be unworthy of eredit ; and modern critics have generally agreed to reject altogether, or to receive with gyeat reserve, all his assertions. Yet Diodorus Siculus and several ancient authors appear to have followed and trusted him ; and it may be observed that whilst mere tiavellers' tales and vulgar traditions were probably the only sources of his Indian marvels, written records and monuments may have fur nished him with well-authenticated historical facts, to assist him in compiling the history of the country in which he resided, and of which he had a personal knowledge. Unfortunately, of his history very little remains, except the names of kings. Much relating to Assyria, contained in the works of others, was, however, undoubtedly copied from him. Ctesias and Isidore both mention a statue pillar of Semiramis at Baptane, but these and the Syriac inseriptiOns have disappeared. Ctesias mentions the use of swords as lightning conductors.—Smith's Dictionaq of Gr. and Rom.; Yule, Cathay, i. p. :19 ; Layard, Nineveh, i. p. 15.