G80 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 



Henry C. Lea in a note on Emerson and the Katha Upanishad referred 

 to a notice of Mr. W. S. Kennedy calling- attention to a passage in the 

 " Katha Upauishad " which fnrnished Mr. Emerson the initial thought 

 in his mysterious stanzas on " Brahma." 



H. W. Magoun treated of the Asuri Ealpa,, a witchcraft practice of 

 the Atharva-Yeda. Afturi is the black mustard of India, and it was 

 used in this rite to make an image of some jierson whom it was desired 

 to overcome or destroy by magical practices. Mr. Magoun prints 

 text, critical notes, extracts from the Scholiast, translation and a com- 

 mentary. 



Raj Coomar Roy corrected various misapprehensions concerning child- 

 marriage in India. The boys and girls, though married in infancy, are 

 never allowed to live together until the girl reaches puberty. This 

 being the case, and marriage ordained by God, it fulfills the twofold 

 object of the procreation of children, and a remedy against sin ; it 

 even fulfills a third object, viz, mutual society. There is great igno- 

 rance among Europeans in regard to the position of Hindu women, 

 wliich is by no means that of slavery. 



W. W. Rockhill described the Lamaist ceremony of "making of mani 

 pills." During the entire process no one is permitted to approach who 

 has used meat, spirits, garlic, tobacco, or other impure objects. The 

 process is sometimes one hundred days in length (consisting of a very 

 careful preparation of the pills, which are made of tlour and scented 

 water), followed by a period of meditation and prayer. He discussed 

 the use of skulls in Lamaist ceremonies, which is at present twofold : 

 (1) as an offering to Tsepamed, who is represented as holding in his 

 hands a skull filled with ambrosia; (2) as a receptacle for the wine or 

 other liquid oifered to the gods. 



Justin A. Smith gave a summary of the ancient literature of the 

 East. He treats of romance and drama, the Paukatantra, the Sakoon- 

 tala ot Kalidasa, and Hindu fiction in general ; of Hindu epic and my- 

 thology, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana; of the Iranian script- 

 ures, the Zend-Avesta of Zarathustra, adding notes on Persian and 

 Iranian history; of the Shah-Nameh and the Bundehesh; of Buddhism 

 and the teachings of Buddha; and of Chinese literature, especially the 

 works of Confucius and Meucius. 



W. D. Whitney wrote a review of the second volume of Eggeling's 

 translation of the Catapatha Brahmana, and brought out a new edition 

 of his Sanskrit grammar. 



CHINA. 



W. S. Anient discussed tne ancient coinages of China. Starting with 

 the assertion that the Chinese were the inventors of coined money, he 

 investigated, specifically, (1) the composition of Chinese coins; (2) the 

 mode of their casting; (3) their inscriptions; (4) their form. 



Adele M. Fielde described some Chinese mortuary customs. The 

 obsequies of a parent are reckoned the most troublesome affair in hu- 



