Buddhism and ifs Legends. 421 



larva or pupB3, which are of a different shape and hue to them- 

 selves. With this ant Myrmedonia limbata and the rare Tri- 

 choiiyx McerJcelii also occur sometimes. 



From the above account it will be seen that the bond of 

 persistent connection between certain Goleoptera (chiefly of the 

 section Brachelytra) with some of the Heterogynous Hyme- 

 noptera remains yet to be fully explained ; and rural observers 

 of insect economy, who desire a change from the study of the 

 habits of the honey-bee, will find a new field in the endeavour 

 to supply this explanation. 



BUDDHISM AND ITS LEGENDS* 



A religion which at the present day represents the feelings 

 and guides the thoughts of at least three hundred millions of 

 the human race, which had its origin some centuries before the 

 Christian era, and which is more or less associated with the 

 highest existing forms of Oriental civilization, is, of necessity, a 

 very remarkable object of contemplation ; and there are pecu- 

 liarities about Buddhism which make the extent of its diffusion 

 an almost unique phenomenon. From the stationary tenden- 

 cies of Eastern life, we can imagine that any set of opinions 

 once adopted would be tenaciously preserved • and, had it not 

 been for occasional extensive conquests, the Oriental mind 

 could have had few tendencies to change impressed upon it for 

 a long series of generations. The causes why the civilization 

 of Oriental nations ceased to be progressive are no doubt com- 

 plicated; but, if we look to the way in which society progresses 

 in Europe, we may arrive at the conclusion that no people 

 continue to advance except they are stimulated by contact and 

 competition with other people equal with, or superior to, them- 

 selves in some important particulars of knowledge, aptitude, 

 or skill. 



In former ages there was more vitality in the East, and, 

 about six hundred years before our era, in the days of the 

 Prophet Daniel, Mr. Spence Hardy invites us to imagine our- 

 selves <c in an appanage of Rajagaha, the capital of Magadha, 

 where the lord paramount of the Aryan race holds his court." 

 He pictures the intellectual culture as resembling that of 

 Athens in the days of its earlier philosophers ; the commercial 

 activity well developed, and ' ' a freedom of manners and con- 

 stancy of intercourse between the different grades of society 



* The Legends and Theories of the Buddhists compared with History and 

 Science. With introductory notices of the Life and System of Grotama Buddha. 

 By R. Spence Hardy, Hon. M.B.A.S. Williams and Norgate. 



