THE COLLECTION OF ROSARIES IN THE UNITED 

 STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.'* 



By Immanuel M. CASAiXowicz, 

 Of the V. »S;. National Mu.-tcum. 



IxXTKODT CTIOX. 



The rosary is a string of beads, generally formed into a circlet or 

 loop, used' for keeping count of prayers or formulas repeated in re- 

 ligious devotions. The materials of which it is made range from nat- 

 ural berries or common wood to costly metals and precious stones. It 

 is best known from its use by Roman Catholics in devotion to the Vir- 

 gin Mary, to which is also due the name " rosary," as will be seen 

 further on. But long before they came into vogue in Europe and 

 among Christians, mechanical devices for counting the repetition of 

 prayers or mystical sentences were in use among various oriental 

 j^eoples, and at present some form or other of rosary is used by about 

 three-fourths of the world's inhabitants. Man's natural tendency to 



"Literature consulted: William Tayler, The Rosary in India. Journ. Soc. of 

 Arts, XXI, No. 1068, London, May 9, 1873, pp. 461^70. INIonier M. Williams, 

 Indian Rosaries, The Athenseum, No. 2624, I^ondou, Feb. 9, 1878, p. 188, 

 and, Buddliism in its Connection with Brahmanism and Hinduism, New York, 

 1889. p. 383. L. Austin Waddell, Lanialc Rosaries, Their Kinds and Uses, Journ. 

 Asiatic Soc. Bengal, LXI, Pt. 1, 1892, pp. 24-33, and, The Buddhism of Tibet, 

 or Lamaism, Loudon, 189.5, pp. 202-211. J. M. James, Descriptive Notes on the 

 Rosaries {jiii dzu) as used by the Different Sects of Buddhists in .Japan, Trans. 

 Asiatic Soc. Japan, IX. Yokohama, 1881, pp. 173-182. Ignaz Goldzieher. Le 

 Rosarie dans I'lslam, Revue de I'Histoire des Religions, Jan.-Juin, 1890, XXI, 

 pp. 295-.300. Rev. Herbert Thurston. S. J., The Archseology of the Rosary 

 Beads, The Month, London, April, 1901, pp. 38.3^04, and History of the Rosary 

 in all Countries, Scientific American Supplement, No. 1370, New York, April 5, 

 1902, pp. 21960-21963. John R. Volz, Beads in the Catholic Encyclopedia, II, 

 New York, pp. 361-362. Much interesting information on Chinese and Japanese 

 rosaries was also derived from manuscriiit notes of Miss Eliza R. Scidmore, 

 which she deposited with the lai-gei- nuniebr of rosaries described in this pa])er 

 in the National Museum. Mr. William E. Safford, of the Department of Agri- 

 culture, and Mr. Wirt Tassin, of the National Museum, kindly aided in identify- 

 ing the material of the rosaries. 



Proceedings U, S. National Museum, Vol. XXXVI— No. 1637. 



333 



