Vol. I, No. 8.] ‘The People of Mungeli Tahsil. 181 
[N. 8.] 
24. Notes concerning the People of Mungelc Tahsil, Bilaspore District. 
—By Rev. E. M. Gorvon (continued from the Journal of the 
Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol. UX XIII. Part 3, No. 1, 1904). 
[With one plate.] Communicated by the Anthropological 
Secretary. 
B. 38. The Measuring of Grain.—li is a never-failing practice 
when a man stops measuring for him to throw a handful of grain 
back into the measure. On innumerable occasions, for many 
years, I have seen grain being measured and not once has this act 
been omitted or forgotten. It is considered lucky for the measure 
to be never empty. Much the same idea probably underlies the 
practice of never sweeping out the granary. ‘I'his would be consi- 
dered tantamount to sweeping out prosperity. 
39. Sowing Mango Seeds.—There is a prejudice against the 
sowing of seeds from mangoes which have been eaten. The 
fruit of trees grown from such seeds would be considered impure. 
They would be called ghutta, 2.e, false or impure. This is an ad- 
jective applied to food left over on one’s plate after eating. 
40. Respect paid to Cattle which have died.—I once noticed a 
few clods of earth placed on the carcass of a cow which was lying 
on the outskirts of the village. On inquiring as to why those 
clods were placed there, I was told that the owner of ‘a beast of 
burden” or other domesticated animal that has died will with 
due respect place a few of clods of earth on the carcass and consider 
that this act has taken the place of a formal burial. The car- 
cass is then taken by the leather workers, who remove the hide, 
or it is thrown away at a distance to be devoured by vultures. 
41. Granaries causing Dumbness.—I was once questioning a 
father regarding his child and remarked that it was late in speak- 
ing. His reply was that the child had been placed on a granary, 
and this was assigned as the reason for the delay in its acquiring 
the power of speech. 
42. The Cause of prolonged Pregnancy.—A. woman came to the 
Mission Hospital in Mungeli, and stated that for eleven months 
she had been pregnant and yet there were no signs of the ap- 
proach of the expected event. In conversation the doctor learnt 
that there is a belief amongst the women that if one who is preg- 
nant should step across a string by which a horse is tied, her 
term of pregnancy will be prolonged and she will take the term 
required by a mare before delivery. In order to remove the evil 
consequences of having crossed the rope of a horse, the woman in 
question must take a quantity of grain in her s@vi and present 
the grain to the horse which has affected her. The horse having 
eaten of the grain she will be relieved of the malign influence. 
43. Wedding the Fields.—There is a practice in connection 
with the sowing of fields, which I mention because of the desire of 
folklorists to have on record every insignificant item which is 
apparently of no consequence to the layman and yet may be 
fraught with much meaning to the specialist. After sowing the 
cold-weather crops, such as wheat, gram, etc., it is customary to 
