[Footnote 58: Sapor, king of Persia, had been made prisoner,
and enclosed in the figure of a cow's hide by Maximian or
Galerius Caesar. Such is the fable related by Eutychius,
(Annal. tom. i. p. 421, vers. Pocock. The recollection of
the true history (Decline and Fall, &c., vol. ii. p 140 -
152) will teach us to appreciate the knowledge of the
Orientals of the ages which precede the Hegira.]