494 A NATURALIST OX THE "CHALLENGER." 



Lives of the Saints, elaborately illuminated and illustrated, 

 are executed on long rolls, or depicted on sheets arranged for 

 suspension on walls. Similarly pictures of the various deities 

 represented in groups, or singly, are suspended for devotional 

 purposes, and many of them curiously resemble, in general 

 appearance, early European representations of a similar cha- 

 racter. Pictures are also suspended in shrines representing the 

 nature of the prayer of the suppliant ; as for example, a picture 

 of a mother praying for her child. Pictures representing the 

 pleasures of Heaven and torments of Hell are also common. 

 These various religious pictures are sold in the vicinity of the 

 temples. 



The illustrations in many of the Japanese Zoological books 

 are very interesting to a naturalist and remarkably complete. 

 Even Land Planarians (Bipcdium) are figured in some of them. 



In a book in my collection, representing the doings of the 

 Ainos, the Ainos are represented as hunting Seals, or Sea Otters, 

 with bows and arrows from canoes. Some of the men are shown 

 as provided with foxes' brushes tied by strings to the ends of 

 short rods. The foxes' brushes are being caused to dance about 

 on the surface of the water as a lure to the Seals who are follow- 

 ing them in a shoal. Seals, or Sea Otters, must be attracted by 

 lures of this kind; though it seems most improbable that they 

 should. The figure almost certainly represents an actual occur- 

 rence. 



I often visited the Japanese theatres. Besides the ordinary 

 stage there is a second stage, consisting of a narrow platform, 

 which lies on the left side of the audience, and extends from 

 the side of the main stage, the whole length of the theatre, to 

 a point close to the entrance door. Actors go round to the door 

 behind the box seats, and appearing at the end of the long plat- 

 form, approach the stage along it, acting their parts as they go. 



In this way journeys are acted. A man may be represented 

 as on a journey home, and at the same time his family are seen 

 awaiting his return on the main stage, and he may be waylaid 

 and murdered, for example, on the way; two separate but 

 connected scenes being acted at once. 



It is a curious fact, which I have not seen mentioned else- 



