106 Beading of Papers. 



longer in use : the glazed fragment, however, tended to show that only the 

 rudest vessels were selected for purposes of interment, and the shape of the 

 vessels would not alone stamp the antiquity of the find. 



With regard to their position in the wells, Mr. Cockhurn was disposed 

 to agree with the author that the vessels had been intentionally intro- 

 duced into the wells. In the course of village insj^ection as an Opium officer 

 during the season of 1880-81, which was a year of partial drought in the 

 Banda District, Mr. Cockburn observed numerous wells literally choked 

 with potsherds, the fragments of vessels that had either slipped from the 

 line used for letting them down, &c., or which had broken by coming in 

 contact with the sides of the well. Many of these wells only contained 

 from 3 to 4 feet of water, and after a few hours' use a pile of potsherds 

 became visible at the bottom at the portion of the margin corresponding 

 to that most frequented at the mouth. He had often occasion to superin- 

 tend the cleaning of these wells and had invariablj^ found the pottery in 

 fragments, sometimes in well defined layers. 



The following papers were read — 

 1. Folk-tales from the Upper Fanjah. — By Rev. Chaeles Swynneeton, 

 M. K. A. S., Chaphiin, Naiishera. 

 (Abstract.) 



This paper contains SO short tales collected by the author from the 

 peasantry of the Upper Panjab, and probably never hitherto printed. Most 

 of the stories were told to the author at the little village of Ghazi on the 

 Indus, thirty miles above Attock. This paper contains the shorter tales 

 of the Series, consisting of fables and short stories, and is to be followed by 

 another containing longer and more ambitious tales such as those in the 

 " Arabian Nights." 



This paper will be published in the Journal, Part I. 



2. Notes on the habits and instincts of some animals. — By John 



COCKBUHN. 



(Abstract.) 



This paper describes the injuries inflicted on a cobra by a mungos, 

 {Herpestes auropunctatus, Hodg.), which included the destruction of both 

 fangs. The author proceeds to state his grounds for believing the destruc- 

 tion of the fangs to be a deliberate act of reason and not accidental. 



An instance of the Crested serpent Eagle {Spilornis cheela, Lath.) de- 

 stroying the maxillary bones of a snake is given, and the development of 

 the specially protected tarse of Circaetus gallicus, Gm., speculated upon. 



The autlior observes that it would be of much interest if from ques- 

 tions of this kind we could discover how animals acquire their experiences. 



