FURTHER CLASS-DISTINCTIONS. 203 



mitted to the members of the royal family alone.&quot; More 

 detailed are the interdicts named by Syme. 



&quot;Piasath, the regal spire, distinguishes the dwellings of the mon 

 arch and the temples of the divinity. To none other is it allowed. 

 . . . There are no brick buildings either in Pegue or Rangoon except 

 such as belong to the king, or are dedicated to their divinity Gauda- 

 ma. . . . Gilding is forbidden to all subjects of the Birman Empire. 

 Liberty even to lacker and paint the pillars of their houses, is granted 

 to very few.&quot; 



419. Along with laws forbidding those of inferior 

 rank to have the higher and more ornamental houses which 

 naturally imply the wealth that accompanies power, there 

 go interdicts on the use by common people of various appli 

 ances to comfort which the man of rank and influence has. 

 Among these may first be noted artificial facilities for loco 

 motion. 



A sketch in an African book of travels, representing the 

 king of Obbo making a progress, seated on the shoulders of 

 an attendant, shows us in its primitive form, the connexion 

 between being carried by other men and the exercise of 

 power over other men. Marking, by implication, a ruling 

 person, the palanquin or equivalent vehicle is in many 

 places forbidden to inferior persons. Among the ancient 

 Chibchas, &quot; the law did not allow any one to be carried in a 

 litter on the shoulders of his men, except the Bogota and 

 those to whom he gave the privilege.&quot; Prior to the year 

 1821, no person in Madagascar &quot; was allowed to ride in the 

 native chair or palanquin, except the royal family, the 

 judges, and first officers of state.&quot; So, too, in Europe, there 

 have been restrictions on the use of such chairs. Among the 

 Romans, &quot; in town only the senators and ladies were al 

 lowed to be carried in them; &quot; and in France, in past times, 

 the sedan was forbidden to those below a certain rank. In 

 some places the social status of the occupant is indicated by 

 the more or less costly accompaniments. Kcempfer says 

 that in Japan, &quot; the bigness and length of these [sedan] 



