FULHAM

(fql’am), a metropolitan borough of the county of London, bounded by the Thames, and the boroughs of Chelsea, Kensington, and Hammer smith. It contains the palace of the Bishop of London, and returns two members to Parliament. Pop. of municipal borough (1931), 159,940. FU-LIN. The country of Fu-lin is mentioned in Chinese texts as early as the beginning of the fifth century. It is vaguely referred to sometimes as a great island in the Western Sea (the Mediterranean) famous for its trees and precious stones. Of special interest is the fact that it was the scene of the Chinese version of the ‘diamond valley legend.’ The natives, reputed to be skilled in working implements and ve els of precious stones, obtained gems from a deep ravine. They threw down nieces of flesh, which were seized by eagies, and collected the precious stones, especially diamonds, that dropped from the flesh. This legend was carried from the Hellenistic Orient to China. There are two Fu-lins—the ‘Le er Fu-lin,’ which was Syria, and the ‘Greater Fu-lin,’ which was the Byzantine Empire. According to Laufer, the name was originally Fu-lim or Fu-rim. As ‘Rim’ is still the Ru ian word for Rome, it is po ible that Fu-lin was derived from a dialectic rendering of the capital of the Roman Empire.