330 



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[Vol. XVI. No. 410 



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Vol. XVI. NEW YORK, December 13, 1890. No. 410. 



CONTENTS: 



Coast Shrvev Parties in Alaska 323 

 The Latest Results of Orien- 

 tal Arch.^ology 



A. H. Sayce 323 

 "Vassab Students' Aid Society. . 326 

 The Preservation of Timber... 326 



The Forests of Annam 3-J7 



Gem-Mining in Siam 328 



Notes and News 328 



The Botanical MyTHOLOGY of 



the Hindoos 330 



Health Matters. 

 Adventure of an Hypnotic Sub- 

 ject 330 



The Protection from Diphtheria 



and Tetanus by Inoculation ... 331 

 The Curability of Galloping Con- 

 sumption 331 



Cancer Mortality among the 



Jews 33] 



The Mlcro-Organisms of Stand- 

 ing Water 331 



Letters to the Editor. 

 Right-Handedness 



Joseph T. O'Connor 331 

 Onondaga Folk- Lore 



W. N. Beauchamp 332 

 Osteological Notes. D. D. Slade 332 

 Book-Eetiews. 

 A Revision of the South Ameri- 

 can Nematognathi or Cat- 

 Fishes 333 



Among the Poblishers 333 



Industrial Notes. 

 A Model Electric- Light Plant ... 335 



THE BOTANICAL MYTHOLOGY OF THE HINDOOS. 



At a recent meeting of the Anthropological Society of Bombay, 

 as we learn from Nature of Nov. 13, Dr. Dymoke read a very in- 

 teresting paper entitled "The Flowers of the Hindoo Poets," in 

 the course of wliich he referred to the mytliical conceptions which 

 have gathered round trees and plants in the minds of the Hindoos, 

 the ancient Eastern poets saw in the tree a similitude with the 

 heavens and with the human form. In the " Gitagoviada" a 

 comparison is drawn between the clouds and the thick dai-k foliage 

 of the Tainala. These fancies gave rise to the numerous poetical 

 myths concerning the tree of life, of knowledge, of the Amrita 

 or ambrosia, as well as those concerning cosmogonic and an- 

 thropogenic trees. The Soma or Amrita is represented as the king 

 of planis, the eternal essence which constantly sustains and re- 

 news the life of plants and animals. It is the symbolical drinking 

 of this eternal essence as a holy ceremony to which constant allu- 

 sion is maJe in the Vedas : — 



," We've quaffed the Soma bright, 

 And are immortal grown ; 

 We've entered into light. 



And all the gods have known." 



Rig Veda, viii. 

 The Amrita appears in various forms in stories and legends. A 

 famous poet .=ays that the drop (t>vedavindu) which fell into the 



shell became a pearl; in the mouth of the black snake it became 

 poison; and in the flower of the plantain, nectar. Several plants 

 bear this name, and are supposed to be endued with an extra 

 particle of the eternal essence, among others the Iseem, on which ac - 

 count the Hindoos, on their New Year's Day, eat the leaves of this 

 tree upon the supposition that the Amrda contained in them will 

 insure longevity. In Hindoo flower-lore the large black bee 

 (BMram^/ra) plays an important part: he is the inconstant lover 

 who delights in gathering sweets from every flower. The queen, 

 of Indian flowers is the lotus. The Hindoos compare the newly 

 created world to a lotus-flower floating upon the waters, and it 

 thus becomes symbolical of spontaneous generation. The golden 

 lotus of Brahminic and Buddhistic mythology is the sun, which 

 floats in the waters which are above the firmament, like an earthly 

 lotus in the deep blue stream below. From it distils the Amrita, 

 the Brst manifestation of Vishnu. Brahma and Buddha (the su- 

 preme intelligence) were born of this heavenly lotus. Lakshmi, 

 the Indian Venus, is represented sitting on this flower. The Hin- 

 doos see in the form of the lotus the mysterious symbol Svastika. 

 The allusions to this flower by Indian poets are innumerable. No 

 praise is too extravagant for it. It is the chaste flower, and its 

 various synonymes are bestowed as names upon women. The red 

 lotus is said by the poets to be dyed with the blood of Siva, that 

 flowed from the wound made by the arrow of Kama, the Indian 

 cupid. The face of a beautiful woman is compared by the poets 

 to a lotus-lilossom, the eyes to lotus-buds, and the arms to its fila- 

 ments. The bee is represented as enamored of the lotus. Although 

 a humble little flower, the Tulasi is almost as great a favorite as 

 the lotus. It is addressed to the goddess Sri or Venus. The heart 

 of Vishnu is said to tremble with rage if a branch of his beloved 

 is injured. The plant must be gathered only for medicinal or 

 religious pui'poses, such as the wor-sbip of Vishnu or Krishna, or 

 the wife of Siva. It is a kind of Amrita, symbolical of the eternal 

 essence. It protects the worshippers, and gives cliildren to women. 

 The plant is often worshipped as a domestic deity, and its branches, 

 are placed on the breasts of the dead. The Champa is chiefly 

 celebrated for its overpoweringly sweet odor and golden color. So 

 strong is its perfume that the poets affirm that bees will not ex- 

 tract honey from it; but they console it for this neglect by dedi- 

 cating it to Krishna, who loves garlands of yellow flowers as; 

 becoming to his dark complexion. One of the greatest favorites 

 of the poets is the Asoka. Its flowers, which are yellow when 

 they first open, gradually change to red. In March and April it 

 is in its glory, and at night perfumes the air witli its delicate odor. 

 The tree is the kul, or anthropogenic tree of the Vaisya caste, wha 

 call it Aaupiila. The kadamba (AntTirocephalus cadamha) is sacred 

 to Kali or Parvati, the consort of Siva. It has many synonymes, 

 such as " protecting children," " dear to agriculturists," etc. It 

 blossoms at the end of the hot season, and its night-scented flowers 

 form a globular orange- colored head, from which the white-clubbed 

 stigmas project. The flowers are fabled to impregnate with their 

 honey the water which collects in holes in the trunk of the tree. 

 In Delhi the goMsmiths are fond of imitating the flowers. Th& 

 well-known prickly gold beads so often seen in Delhi jevvelry are 

 meant for kadamba-flowers. In this part of India the Maratha* 

 will not gather the flowers for profane purposes, as it is their an- 

 thropogonio tree. The Kadamba Rajas cUim their descent from 

 it, as recorded in the foUoiving legend : " After the destruction of 

 the demon 'I'ripura, a drop of perspiration fell from the head of 

 Isvara into the hollow of a kadamba-tree, and assumed the form 

 of a man with three eyes and four arms. He l>ecame the founder 

 of Vanavasi or Jayantipur." There are other versions of the story, 

 but all agree in connecting the orii^in of the fa;nily with this tree, 

 a branch of which is necessary to rep^resent the Kai at a Marithi 

 marriage ceremonv. 



HEALTH MATTERS. 



Adventure of an Hypnotic Subject. 



The Lancet of Aug; 2, 1890, contains the following: In Rome 

 the other day, in that church of the Ara Coeli where Gibbon, as. 

 he himself tells us, conceived his '-History of the Decline and) 



