was, that the genealogical system was elaborated from the local tradition current among the tribes settled in and around Cûfa, and such like military stations; but the insignificant place assigned to the clans occupying the vicinity of those stations, made him abandon the idea. He then hit on what appears to be the correct theory. The genealogical system and all its details were elaborated at Medina from the Dewân, or salary and pension rolls of Omar, and from each tradition as was still alive on the spot; and hence the various clans inhabiting the vicinity of that city were brought out in strong relief. As the tribes near Mecca and Medina supplied their full contingents for the wars, the names of the individuals would be entered in detail and each tribe assigned a separate heading in the Dewân. In proportion to their distance from Medina, the contingents furnished by the several clans were fewer and smaller. Perhaps bodies of not more than a dozen or twenty men would be supplied by some of the remote southern tribes; several of these small sections would probably encamp together, and in the Dewân would be clubbed under one head. Thus, the importance and numbers of a tribe to the eye and pen of the Genealogist would be magnified by its closeness to Medina; while distance would cause the outline to shrink, and the detail to become obscure. Medina, in short, was the centre of the perspective. Thus the tribes near at hand had a much longer and more elaborate pedigree than those far off, because each clan had a far greater number of groups to account for, and in tracing these up to a common progenitor a corresponding number of steps must be allowed; on the other hand, where the groups were few, the rule of "distance" curtailed proportionately the pedigree. In accordance with this very scholarly theory, we find the family pedigree of Medina itself the longest, and that of Mecca the next. As these were the centres from whence the Genealogists took their survey, they were also the spiritual centres of the Peninsula. Tribes were ennobled as they had any connection or interest with the Prophet or with his home; and so, in this view also, the genealogical perspective would radiate from those Holy places, producing an exaggerated effect on what was near, and diminishing that which was far off.