d.28 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



just family, which will be hidden in a ravine. After which the earth 

 will be covered with dead bodies and gorged with blood. It will rain 

 a purifying rain, afterward a fecundating rain ; lastly, a third rain will 

 bring all that is indispensable to man. The family which was hidden 

 will then come out from its refuge, and many other virtuous men will 

 be resuscitated to recommence their new life, which will endure 80,000 

 years, and to enjoy all the blessings of the earth. 



But shortly men, forgetting past misfortunes, will begin again to 

 do evil, and consequently their longevity will be gradually decreased. 

 When human life will not endure more than 2,000 years, there 

 will appear upon the earth the being Maidari. He will be of high 

 stature, and of dazzling beauty. Men, surprised with his exterior, 

 will ask him by what means he had arrived at such perfection. To 

 which Maidari will reply that all this came to him in consequence of 

 his good works, by which they also are capable of gaining the same 

 perfection. The example and the instruction of God reacting upon 

 men, they will be corrected, and they will live anew 80,000 years. 

 This second change will be followed by fifty-four new ones ; and 

 each eighth change will be accompanied by a deluge, all the others 

 by a fire. 



The Buddhist doctrines of the soul, of punishments and rewards 

 which are prepared for every one after death, are equally very strange. 

 The souls of all creatures pass after death into new beings. Each 

 soul prepares itself for this transmigration during its terrestrial life. 

 Dwelling in the human body, the soul never seats itself in one single 

 definite place, but every day changes its seat. Thus, on the first of 

 each month the soul finds itself in the forefinger ; the second day it 

 resides in the foot ; the third day in the calf of the leg ; the fourth in 

 the knee. In this way it ascends everyday higher ; at the eighth day 

 it finds itself in the loins; the twelfth it passes into the palm of the 

 hand ; the fifteenth it spreads through the whole body ; the sixteenth 

 it seats itself in the nose ; and on the last day of the month it appears 

 in the thumb. Afterward its migration recommences in the same 

 order. The injury of a part, when the soul is seated in it, is always 

 followed by an inevitable death. After death the soul passes into one 

 of the six reigns, and animates some other body. 



The choice of a reign does not depend upon the soul itself, but it is 

 fixed by the judge of the lower regions, who takes into consideration 

 the good works accomplished upon earth. The habitation of the judge 

 of the infernal regions is situated in a subterranean palace, surrounded 

 with sixteen walls of iron. It is there that all the souls of dead men 

 present themselves before him, except those of lamas, which ascend at 

 once toward the happier dwelling-place. Each soul is escorted by two 

 spirits, the good and the wicked, who, presenting it to Erlik-Khan, 

 place before him white and black stones. If the white stones, which 

 signify good works, exceed the black, then the soul, placed upon a gold- 



