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SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



VOL. 61 



and turtles, 32 in number, arranged in pairs ; one of the latter having 

 an obelisk on its carapace reminds one of the elephant bearing an 

 obelisk now in the Piazza del Minerva at Rome, and can be traced 

 directly to Mongol influences, although in southern China where it is 

 not as strong, giant images of Buddhas are frequently encountered. 



1 



Fig. 20. — Elephant colossus, Ming Tombs, China, photo- 

 graph from F. B. Wright. 



Historical monoliths like the Nestorian tablet of China set up in 

 781 A. D., or that erected by the Japanese in commemoration of the 

 visit of the U. S. squadron to Japan under Commodore Perry, the 

 Tomb of Midas and other massive rocks bearing inscriptions claim 

 attention in our studies of the megaliths. 



