328 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol.50. 



212. Prayer wheel. — Bronze. Similar to the preceding, No. 210. 

 The bottom is decorated with scroll patterns. Darjeeling, India 

 (Cat. No. 74493, U.S.N.M.) 



213. Prayer wheel. — The barrel of bronze is divided by a band of 

 brass into two compartments, which have the invocation. Top and 

 bottom, as also the pineapple-shaped knob on top and the bead on 

 the side, are likewise of brass. The top is in shape of a fluted dome; 

 the bottom is decorated with four dorjes, all in repousse. Probably 

 Tibet. (Cat. No. 311794, U.S.N.M.) Bequest of Miss Elizabeth S. 

 Stevens. 



214. Prayer wheel. — Bronze. Resembling the preceding. Leh, 

 Ladak. (Cat. No. 175152, U.S.N.M.) Gift of W. L. Abbott. 



215. Prayer wheel. — Bronze. Flat top; otherwise similar to the 

 preceding. Leh, Ladak. (Cat. No. 175153, U.S.N.M.) Gift of 

 W. L. Abbott. 



216. Prayer wheel. — The barrel is of felt covered with coarse 

 woolen cloth. An iron pivot runs through the barrel and fits in a 

 roughly carved wooden handle. The cylinder is covered with a 

 piece of red cotton cloth, to the corners of which are attached glass 

 beads. Tibet. (Cat. No. 167169, U.S.N.M.) 



ROSAUIES. 



The rosary, like the prayer wheel, is especially peculiar to the 

 northern, or Mahayana, school of Buddhism, with its belief in the 

 merit and efficacy of meditation and in the potency of repeating 

 mystic spells and formulas. The Buddhist full rosary is composed 

 of 108 beads, and this number is given a symbolic signification. The 

 number 108 is said to correspond to a like number of mental condi- 

 tions, or sinful inclinations, which are to be overcome by the recita- 

 tion of the beads. The number 108 generally plays a great part in 

 the tradition and philosophy of Buddhism: 108 Brahmans were 

 summoned at Gautama's birth to foretell his destiny. The Burmese 

 footprints of Buddha have sometimes 108 divisions. The Ka-gyur, 

 the Tibetan canon of scriptures is composed of 108 vloumes, and the 

 white pagoda at Peking is surrounded by 108 columns. In Japan, 

 on the festival of the dead (Jbommatsuri or honku), which is celebrated 

 from the 13th to the 15th of July, 108 welcome fires (mukaebi) are 

 lighted along the shores of the sea or lake or river by which a city or 

 village is situated. 



The full rosary of 108 beads is usually divided by three beads of a 

 different size or material into four groups of 27 beads each. The 

 two ends of the string before being knotted are passed through three 

 extra beads, called "retaining beads," or "union holders," as they 

 keep the proper rosary beads in position and indicate the completion 

 of a cycle. They symbolize the Buddhist triad — the Buddha, the 



