18 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [ JAN. 
the country in architecture, and it would be absurd to suppose that 
a king, like As’oka, who is presumed to have originally lived in 
thatched huts, would of his own accord send for architects and 
quarriers from Greece to build him a palace. In reply to the argu- 
ment founded on the ornaments of old Indian architecture being 
copied from wooden originals, it is contended that they do not 
suffice to indicate the exact age when the transition first took 
place, inasmuch as there isa spirit of conservatism, a mannerism or 
a survival of custom in architectural ornamentation, so strong that 
it preserves intact forms long after the lapse of the exigencies which 
first lead to their production, and such evidence, therefore, cannot 
be accepted as conclusive. 
Rev. K. M. Benerjea made some observations in support of tie 
views expressed by Babu Rajendraldla Mitra. 
Mr. Wood-Mason exhibited an interesting case of polydactylism 
(see pl. I), in a horse from Bagdad, and remarked that the splint- 
like rudiments of the metacarpals of the fourth toe on each fore-foot 
(iv. in figs. 1 et 2 of pl. I) had given rise to a supernumerary digit 
provided with the regular number of phalanges and encased in an 
asymmetrical hoof ; the asymmetry of which was such, that the pre- 
sence of another of the same shape internally to it would have formed 
asymmetrical pair, like the cleft hoof of a ruminant. The metatarsals 
of the fourth toe on each hind foot were by the law of correlation 
similarly affected, but the supernumerary hoofs of these were stout- 
er and more irregular in shape. He next mentioned the fact that 
M. Arloing in a recent contribution* to our knowledge of the organi- 
zation of the foot of the horse had described a polydactyle horse 
with the extra digits developed from the rudiments of the second 
toe (ii. in figs. 1 et 2); the hoofs of these only differed from those 
of the principal digits in their smaller size. He next distinguish- 
ed between those monstrositiest that had resulted from injuries 
received by the embryo én utero or in-the egg, between those which 
might be said to be due’to the ‘‘ anomalous retention of embryonic 
* Ann. des sc. nat. (zool.), Be Sér., vol. viii, pp. 55 et seqq., pl. 1. 
+ For full information on the subject of monstrosities vide Daryeie  Ani- 
mals and Plants under domestication.” 
