KUMISHAH

kumishah, a district and town in the province of isfahan, persia. the district, which has a length of 50 and a breadth of 16 m., and contains about 40 villages, produces much grain. the town is situated on the high road from isfahan to shiraz, 52 m. s. of the former. it was a flourishing city several miles in circuit when it was destroyed by the afghans in 1722, but is now a decayed place, with crumbled walls and mouldering towers and a population of barely 15,000. it has post and telegraph offices. south of the city and extending to the village maksudbeggi, 16 m. away, is a level plain, which in 1835 (february 28) was the scene of a battle in which the army (2000 men, 16 guns) of mahommed shah, commanded by sir h. lindsay-bethune, routed the much superior combined forces (6000 men) of the shah's two rebellious uncles, firman-firma and shuja es saltana. kumquat (_citrus japonica_), a much-branched shrub from 8 to 12 ft. high, the branches sometimes bearing small thorns, with dark green glossy leaves and pure white orange-like flowers standing singly or clustered in the leaf-axils. the bright orange-yellow fruit is round or ellipsoidal, about 1 in. in diameter, with a thick minutely tuberculate rind, the inner lining of which is sweet, and a watery acidulous pulp. it has long been cultivated in china and japan, and was introduced to europe in 1846 by mr fortune, collector for the london horticultural society, and shortly after into north america. it is much hardier than most plants of the orange tribe, and succeeds well when grafted on the wild species, _citrus trifoliata_. it is largely used by the chinese as a sweetmeat preserved in sugar.