POWDER

An imperfect oxide of arsenic, formed by the exposure of native arsenic to the air; when mixed with sugar and water it is used to kill flies. FO. The name given by the Chinese to Buddha, by one of those phenomena in literature whereby appellations are introduced from one language into others with which it has little or no affinity. Originally the nams Buddha was expre ed in the Chinese language with sufficient exactne bj the term Fo-thnu, pronounced Fdudah; but, aa is isual ii China with proper names, the last syllable was subsequent ly dropped. According to the Chinese historians, the r? ligion of Buddha was introduced into China in the rei*,->. . Ming-ti, of the dynasty of the Hans, about the 04th j-sar o the Christian era; but there is good reason to believe 'Jin the doctrines of the Indian reformer had been carried thitli er by some of his enthusiastic adherents long before that pe riod, and that it is only to their official recognition by tlu government that this later date refers. This is not the plac* to give an exposition of the religious and philosophical principlesofFo (see Buddhism): suffice it to say that the samr principles are adopted by all the Buddhists of the various countries where they are profe ed, with the exception of a few trifling deviations which the various translations of the Buddhist writings from their original Sanscrit have naturally generated. It is only when these writings, or at al! events the chief of them shall have been translated into the languages of Europe (which we have good grounds to suppose will soon be the case), that an accurate idea can be formed of the doctrines which they inculcate, and which havedia.) exercised so mighty an influence on the largest portion of the inhabitants of Asia. (See the Penny CyclopaeFOCAL [s. 476]