38 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Benyal. [X.S., XIII. 



* 



Now four men with a wooden measuring vessel go inside 

 the magic circle which has been drawn all round the ras or 

 heap. Anybody else must not come near them till they have 

 completed the measuring operation. They take their seat on 

 the ground with their faces turned towards' the north and spread 

 out a cloth on the ground. One man fills up the measure from 

 the heap with the aid of the winnowing-fan ; another pours out 

 the contents of the measuring-vessel over the cloth: and th< 

 two others carry off the cloth full of grains and drop out the 

 contents thereof, substituting an empty cloth for the one which 

 has been removed. The man, who has got the measuring 

 vessel with him, puts down for each measure filled up, a small 

 pile of grains wherewith the account is kept. [This is an 

 instance of the prim itive method of counting ]. Profou nd silence 

 w observed until the entire measuring operalin,, is completed. AH 

 counting aloud of the number of measures ia strictly prohibited. 

 As soon as the measurement of tin- grain has been" finished, it 

 becomes perfectly immune from the effects of the evil eye. 1 



In the eastern parts of the Panjab, the measurement of 

 the gram must not be made, on any account whatever, on the 

 day ot the new or full moon, nor on a Saturday which is inaus- 

 picious tor its performance. The measurement must he com- 

 menced at dawn, midday, sunset, or midnight when the malig- 

 nant spirit are busy with something else 8 — 



" F°r then, they say, no spirit dares stir abroad : 

 No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm ; 

 bo hallowed and so gracious is the time." 



Hamlet. Act I : Sc. I. 



;™ b °f th i 6 ^i 1 " 1 ® masons, the peasantry of the United Prov- 

 inces also begin the formation of their' heaps of winnowed 

 corn either exactly at 12 «'-'—»- -•-- " ■ • ■ -"-- 



12 o'clock in the midnight. 



~,„v,„. m „uc iiiiunignt. 



witwu e ta fe° ®£ ainst speaking is also observed in connection 

 tr !t *f ^ultivatH.n of cotton in Northern India. In the di- 

 trict ot Bareilly, when the cotton seeds sown in the fields have 



tKoS . v 8 ?*" U P into seedl ''»gs, the cultivator goes to 



.1 «t flS ° n 0reUOOn ° f a Sundav T Note th * j< * » holv 



day and auspicious for the performance of agricultural cere- 



l*& 



Relimon an) 1 JPr,n.'i H{) V*° p rooke ^ An Introduction to the Popular 

 p. 380 F0M ' )r ' 0/ Northern India (Allahabad Edition of 1894). 



* ^Srif faSL? ^ eW * nl ***»*' Lahore: 1886. p. 174. 

 Sorthern Irulin mi a { I od , M ^» *> ^e Popular Religion and Folklore of 



of istr.) p 30s. W hment "> the Wosnry of Indian Terms (Agra Edition 



