500 TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION H. 



flesh was a mode of gaining sacramental communion with the divine animal. 

 The view that among the early Hindus beef-eating was generally practised 

 merely from the desire for this special food may be dismissed. 



The bearing of the doctrine of metempsychosis and totemism, as explaining 

 the modern veneration felt for the animal, was considered. 



From an examination of the facts the conclusion suggested is that, while its 

 claims to veneration were partially ignored by Buddhism, for various reasons the 

 cow came to be recognised as the specially sacred animal of the Brahmans. On 

 the rise of the neo-Brahmanism, after the decay of Buddhism, Brahman patronage 

 of the animal was extended. It was associated with the work of the missionary 

 ascetics, with the cults of Siva and Krishna, and was adopted in various 

 domestic rites conducted under Brahman superintendence. 



The passionate reverence for the cow is thus shown to be, in a large measure, 

 due to Brahman influence, and the priestly class has been the main agent in 

 encouraging the modern feeling. 



2. On the Origin of Rest Days. By Professor Hutton Webster. 



The custom of refraining from labour and other activities is by no means 

 unknown to peoples of primitive or archaic culture. Frequently, as associated 

 practices, there may be fasting, either partial or complete, bright and gay cloth- 

 ing may be laid aside, fires and lights extinguished ; dancing, singing, even loud 

 talking forbidden. In such circumstances a season of abstinence from labour 

 passes into a season of complete quiescence. 



Communal rest-days with these characteristics may be studied among such 

 contemporary peoples as the Dyaks of Borneo and the Nagas of Assam. They 

 were a constant feature of old Polynesian life, particularly among the Hawaiian 

 Islanders, whose tabu periods are well known. It would seem that in these 

 regions taboos imposing various sorts of abstinence are declared at critical occa- 

 sions, such as planting and harvesting, after an earthquake or a pestilence, very 

 frequently after a death, at the changes of the moon, and at other times of 

 crisis. The regulations are to be regarded primarily as protective and con- 

 ciliatory measures, but they appear also to be sometimes considered as of 

 compelling power over evil spirits. 



It is probable that the anthropological data may help to explain, on the one 

 hand, the familiar phenomenon of 'unlucky days,' and, on the other hand, the 

 Sabbatarian regulations found among the Romans, the Babylonians, and the 

 Hebrews. 



3. Some Notes on Hausa Folk-lore. By Major A. J. N. Tremearne, B.A, 



The Hausas occupy most of what is now Northern Nigeria, and a good deal 

 of the French territory to the west, though whether they originally came from 

 the north or north-east, or whether they are indigenous, is still a moot question. 



They are very fond of tales and proverbs, and almost every well-known 

 animal and nearly every trade or profession are represented in the folk-lore of 

 the people. 



The Spider is the king of cunning, and after each account the narrator 

 excuses himself for his untruths by stating that the story has been told in the 

 name of this insect. The dog is not at all sagacious. 



The desire of motherhood is strongly implanted in the Hausas, several stories 

 relating how a woman prayed to have offspring whatever it might be. And even 

 abnormal children were welcome in the stories, though it is doubtful if they 

 were well treated in actual life. 



There is some magic in names, the first child being often known by a nick- 

 name, and there is great reluctance on the part of the mother to allow the father 

 to see her nursing her first child. Wives must not mention the names of their 

 husbands. Some slave-names correspond to our 'Praise God Barebones.' Parents 

 are usually kind to their children, but there are many tales of stepmothers which 

 give the contrary idea, some of them resembling ' Cinderella.' 



There seem to have been sacrifices of young girls to a water-god, one 

 story reminding one of Jephtha's Daughter. The object of the sacrifice was to 



