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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



cising supreme authority) presents with 

 which I had been charged by my royal 

 mistress. I received many presents in re- 

 turn; but the monarch placed in my hand 

 a golden box, locked with a golden key, 

 and he informed me the box contained a 

 gift far more valuable than all the rest, and 

 that was a few hairs of the white elephant. 

 And, perhaps, it may be well to state why 

 the elephant is so specially reverenced. 



" Because it is believed that Buddha, the 

 divine emanation from the Deity, must ne- 

 cessarily, in his multitudinous metamor- 

 phoses or transmissions through all exist- 

 ences, and through millions of aeons, de- 

 light to abide for some time in that grand 

 incarnation of purity which is represented 

 by the white elephant. While the honzes 

 teach that there is no spot in the heavens 

 above, or the earth below, or the waters 

 under the earth, which is not visited in the 

 peregrinations of the divinity — whose every 

 stage or step is toward purification — they 

 hold that his tarrying may be longer in the 

 white elephant than in any other abode, and 

 that in the possession of the sacred creat- 

 ure they may possess the presence of 

 Buddha himself. It is known that the Cin- 

 galese have been kept in subjection by the 

 belief that their rulers have a tooth of 

 Buddha in the temple of Kandy, and that 

 on various tracts of the East unpressions 

 of the foot of Buddha are reverenced, and 

 are the objects of weary pilgrimages to 

 places which can only be reached with 

 difficulty ; but with the white elephant 

 some vague notions of a vital Buddha are 

 associated, and there can be no doubt that 

 the marvelous sagacity of the creature has 

 served to strengthen their religious preju- 

 dices. Siamese are known to whisper their 

 secrets into an elephant's ear, and to ask 

 a solution of their perplexities by some 

 sign or movement. And, most assuredly, 

 there is more sense and reason in the wor- 

 ship of an intelligent beast than in that of 

 sticks and stones, the work of men's hands. 



" ' And yet,' continues Sir John, ' after 

 all, the white elephant is not lohite^ nor any 

 thing like it. It is of a coffee-color ; not 

 of unburnt, but of burnt coffee— dull brown- 

 ish yellow, or yellowish brown — white only 

 by contrast with his darker brother. The 

 last which reached Bangkok was caught in 



the woods. The king and court went a 

 long way out into the country to meet him, 

 and he was conducted, with a grand proces- 

 sion, much pomp, music, and flying banners, 

 to the capital. There a grand mansion 

 awaited him, and several of the leading 

 nobility were appointed his custodians. 

 The walls were painted to represent for- 

 ests, no doubt to remind him of his native 

 haunts, and to console him in his absence 

 from them. All his wants were sedulously 

 provided for, and in his "walks abroad," 

 when " many men he saw," he was escorted 

 by music and caparisoned by costly vest- 

 ments. His grandest and farthest prome- 

 nades were to bathe in the river, when other 

 elephants were in attendance, honored by 

 being made auxiliaries to his grandeur. 

 Now and then two sovereigns sought his 

 presence ; but I did not learn that his dig- 

 nity condescended to oblige them with any 

 special notice. But he wanted no addition 

 to his dignity. Every thing associated with 

 majesty and rank bore his image. A white 

 elephant is the badge of distinction. The 

 royal flags and seals, medals and moneys — 

 on all sides the white elephant is the na- 

 tional emblem, as the cross among Chris- 

 tians or the crescent among Turks ; and 

 the Siamese are prouder of it than Ameri- 

 cans, Russians, Germans, or French, are of 

 their eagles, or Spaniards of the golden 

 fleece. The Bourbon orijlamme and the 

 British Union-Jack show but faintly in the 

 presence of the white elephant.' " 



What is Darwinism ? By Charles Hodge. 

 1*78 pages. Price, $1.50. Scribner, 

 Armstrong & Co. 



The title of this book is a little mislead- 

 ing, although it cannot mislead very far 

 when it is remembered that it emanates 

 from a distinguished Professor of Divinity 

 at Princeton College. A book that should 

 plainly and clearly answer the question 

 " What is Darwinism ? " as a matter of 

 pure exposition, and which should also 

 state what it is not, would be extremely 

 useful at the present time. But such a 

 book could only be made by a man of 

 science, free from prejudice, and familiar 

 with the history and bearings of the whole 

 question. The term " Darwinism " is now 

 vaguely used to represent a whole body of 



