244 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



is some thirty-five miles south of Madras. Vishnu is said to 

 have visited this earth of ours several times, in each case to 

 right wrong, and on two of these occasions a Bee plays a 

 conspicuous part in the story. 



Mahabali was one day performing a sacrifice (yaga), at which 

 time every desire of a visitor must be granted. In order to test 

 him, Vishnu took the form of a dwarf (Vamana) and entered the 

 hermitage where the king was. Appearing before the Eaja, 

 Vishnu asked, as a reward for the performance of austerities, as 

 much ground as he could cover with three steps. Mahabali, 

 being a great king and deceived by the size of his small visitor, 

 readily granted the request, notwithstanding the advice of his 

 " guru " (spiritual adviser), Sukrachariar by name, who recog- 

 nised the god and saw that he plotted to ruin the king. In 

 performing the yaga, water is poured from a small vessel (gindi 

 or muku chembu) into the outstretched hands of the visitor 

 while the request is granted. In order to prevent the water 

 escaping from the vessel, the guru at once changed himself into 

 a Bee, and flew up the spout of the cup, thus stopping the flow 

 of water and preventing the gift being made. Vishnu knew 

 quite well who the Bee was, and poked it out with a little stick. 

 In so doing he unfortunately knocked out one of the Bee's eyes, 

 so that ever after the guru was blind of an eye, and even to this 

 day a one-eyed man is referred to as Sukrachariar. 



The small black Ants which swarm everywhere throughout 

 the plains are specially connected with Ganesa. For this reason 

 it is very sinful to kill them. Ganesa (the Elephant or belly 

 god) is said to be very fond of the white sweetmeats (korokottai) 

 sold in the bazaars, and the Ants resemble him in that they are 

 frequently seen moving about carrying their small white 

 "eggs." 



The Scorpion is popularly believed to liberate its young by 

 bursting its back, an idea obviously due to the fact that the 

 mother Scorpion often carries her young on her back. Ganesa 

 is said to send a Scorpion to sting anyone who has offended him. 

 When you see the Scorpion approaching, you have only to 

 repeat the god's name, when it will stop and not harm you. 

 That is the theory, but in actual practice we believe that it does 

 not work. 



