and Iswara are essentially one, differing only in name. ** (Ashta Sáhasrika.)

4. At the general dissolution of all things, the four elements shall beabsorbed in Súnyákára-Akása (sheer space) in this order :-earth in water, water in fire, fire in air, and air in Akása, and Akása in Súnyatá, and Súnyatá in Tathatá," and Tathatá in Buddha, (which Malá Súnyatá†) and Buddha in Bhavana, and Bhávana in Swabháva. And when existence is again evolved, each shall in the inverse order, progress from the other. From that Swabháva, which communicates its property of infinity to Akása, proceeded into being, in Akása, the letter A, and the rest of the letters; and from the letters Adi-Buddha and the other Buddhas; and from the Buddhas the Bodhi-Satwas, and from them the five elements, with their Víja Mantras.§ Such is the Swáblávika Sansára; which Sansára (universe) constantly revolves between Pravritti and Nirvritti, like a potter's wheel. (Divya Avadána).

5. Mahá Súnyatá is, according to som Swabháva, and according to others, Iswara; it is like the ethereal expanse, and self-sustained. In that Mahá

Súnyata, the letter A, with the Víja Mantra of Upaya, and the chief of all the Vija Mantras of the letters, became manifest. (Rakshá Bhagavati.)**

6. Some say creation is from God: if so, what is the use of Yatna or of Karma?*+ That which made all things, will preserve and destroy them; that which governs Nirvritti governs Pravritti also. (Buddha Charitra Kávya.)

7. The Sandal tree freely communicates its fragrance to him who tears off its bark. Who is not delighted with its odour? It is from Swabháva. (Kalpalatá.)

8. The elephant's cub, if he find not leafless and thorny creepers in the green wood, becomes thin. The crow avoids the ripe mango.* The cause is still Swabháva. (Kalpalatá.)

**

See note on No. 3, on the Yatnika system. Tathata, says the comment, is Satya Jnyana; and Bhavana is Bhava or Satta, i. e., sheer entity.

+ See note on quotation 1 of section of Adi-Buddha. Here again I might repeat the caution and remark at quotation 2. I have elsewhere observed that Swabhavika texts, differently interpreted, form the basis of the Aiswarika doctrine, as well as that the Buddhas of the Swabhavikas, who derive their capacity of identifying themselves with the first cause from nature, which is that cause, are as largely gifted as the Buddhas of the Aiswarikas, deriving the same capacity from Adi-Buddha, who is that cause. See remarks on Rémusat apud Journal of Bengal Asiatic Society, Nos. 32, 33, and 34.

SA. Cunningham has found this literal symbolic representation of the elements, and also that of the triad at Bhilsa. See his Bhilsa Topes, p. 355 f.

Upaya, the expedient, the energy of nature in a state of activity. See the note on No. 6 of the section Adi-Sangha.

**The Raksha Bhagavati is the same work as the Prajna Paramita.

*+See the note on quotation 9 of this head. Yatna and Karma may here be rendered by intellect and morality.

*These are assumed facts in Natural History; but

not correct.

9. Who sharpened the thorn? Who gave their varied forms, colours, and habits to the deer kind, and to the birds? Swabháva! It is not according to the will (ichchhá) of any; and if there be no desire or intention, there can be no intender or designer." (Buddha Charitra.)

10. The conch, which is worthy of all praise, bright as the moon, rated first among excellent things, and which is benevolent to all sentient beings, though it be itself insensate, yields its melodious music, purely by reason of Swabháva. (Kal palatá.)

11. That hands and feet, and belly and back, and head, in fine, organs of whatever kind, are found in the womb, the wise have attributed to Swabháva; and the union of the soul or life (A'tma) with body, is also Swabháva. (Buddha Charitra Kárya.)

12. From Swabháva (nature) all things proceeded; by Swabháva all things are preserved. All their differences of structure and of habits are from Swabháva: and from Swabháva comes their destruction. All things are regulated (suddha) by Swabháva. Swabháva is known as the Supreme. (Pújá Kánda, from the Raksha Bhagavati, where the substance is found in sundry passages.)

13. Akásha is Swábhávika, because it is established, governed perfected (suddha), by its own force or nature. All things are absorbed in it: it is uncreated or eternal; it is revealed by its own force; it is the essence (Atma**) of creation, preservation, and destruction; it is the essence of the five elements; it is infinite; it is intellectual essence (Bodhanátmika). The five colours are proper to it; and the five Buddhas; and the letters. It is Súnyáta; self-supported; omnipresent: to its essence belong both Pravritti and Nirvritti.

(To be continued.)

Still

Here is plainly announced that denial of self-consciousness or personality in the causa causarum which constitutes the great defect of the Swabharika philosophy and if this denial amount to atheism, the Swabhavikas are, for the most part, atheists: their denial also of a moral ruler of the universe being a necessary sequel to it. Excepting, however, a small and mean sect of them, they all affirm eternal necessary, entity; nor do any of them reject the soul's existence beyond the grave, or the doctrine of atonement. Newton's is, upon the whole, the right judgment, Deus sine providentia et dominio nihil est nisi fatum et natura.' The Swabhavika attempts to deify nature are but a sad confusion of cause and effect. But, in a serious religious point of view, I fail to perceive any superiority possessed by the immaterial pantheism of the Brahmanists over the material pantheism of the Buddhists. Metempsychosis and absorption are common to both. Both admit eternal necessary entity or a substans for phænomena; both admit intellect; both deny two classes of phænomena as well as two substantes for them; both affirm the homogeneousness and unreality of all phænomena, and lastly, both leave the personality and active dominion of the causa causarum in obscurity.

** One comment on the comment says, A'tma here means sthan or alaya, i. e., the ubi of creation, etc.

MINERALS FOUND IN SIAM.

Siam interests the mineralogist by the curious nature of some of its productions, and the valuable character of others.

Gold is abundant in parts of the range of hills which form the backbone of the Malay Peninsula, and on those same hills lies many a neglected fortune in the shape of stream-tin.

Of the hills to the north and northwest of Siam little is known. The late Sir Robert Schomburgh gave me some magnetic iron ore obtained by him in the Laos country not far from Chieng Mai. This excellent ore is converted by the natives into swords and tools of superior quality. Some of the iron, run into cakes about half an inch in thickness, is brought to Bangkok for conversion into iron rice bowls, which are not only largely used in Siam but are exported in quantities to Java.

Korat and other districts to the northeast of Siam were visited by the unfortunate traveller Mouhot, and declared to be rich in various ores, a report confirmed by subsequent French travellers from Cambodia.

At Nophburi, about a hundred miles north of Bangkok, are copper ores, which, judging by the surface specimens I collected (sulphuret, and blue and green carbonate), are very rich, and should not be allowed longer to lie waste. An English mining engineer visited the spot and was so impressed by the rich specimens he got close to the surface that he determined to work the mine, but unfortunately was carried off by jungle-fever at the very commencement of his work. The hills in the neighbourhood are of dark blue limestone, and in some places sandstone.

The hills which divide Siam from its Cambodian provinces have the reputation of being goldbearing, and very fine specimens of gold in quartz have been brought from Kabin, the northernmost pass on this range. The nobleman who shewed me the specimens wished to work the setts, but required foreign pumps and machinery for the purpose. His promotion to the governorship of another province stopped his enterprize in this direction.

I believe in the richness of the Kabin gold field but I do not advise my countrymen to take to goldhunting in Siam. There have been several attempts, without any success, and attended by awful fatality.

From metals I pass to precious stones. The province of Chanthabun in South Eastern Siam is rendered remarkable by a hill called the 'mountain of jewels,' on and around which are found large numbers of corundums, mostly very coarse. I visited the place and found it to be a detached hill, consisting apparently of grey micaceous schist. On the summit were some lumps of pumice, and the slopes were covered with red baked clay or laterite. The alluvium in the plain around was clay of a red, and in places purple colour. The corundum was obtained in small pits, a few feet deep, at the foot of the hill, and was also often picked up in the neighbouring fields, or found on the roads in the furrows of cart wheels. I picked up some coarse stuff fit only for conversion into emery powder, and procured my specimens of better quality, by purchase and exchange, from cottagers in the neighbourhood.

The majority of pieces are rough fragments of hexagonal prisms of two or three inches in diameter, portions of hexagonal plates, striated parallel to the sides of the hexagon. Some of the pieces are translucent, others opaque. The colour is irregularly distributed, the same crystal containing patches of various colours, blue, green, yellow, etc. The yellow lumps (oriental topaz) are the most prized. A sky blue stone of about three carats, and a bluish cat's-eye or asteria of the same size pleased me more than any other specimens I saw. Many of the stones exhibit dichroism, that is, appear blue when looked through in the direction of the longer axis of the crystal, and green or brownish yellow when looked through in the direction of the shorter axis. I sent one of these dichroitic lumps to a jeweller; when returned to me cut and facetted, it had lost all its translucency and was almost black. Specimens of these Siamese corundums may be seen in the sapphire case at the British Museum.

With the corundums at the 'mount of jewels ' are found numerous garnets, some of them of large size, and affording fine carbuncles when properly cut. They are much used by the Siamese for ringstones, but the lapidaries do not hollow out the back of the stone as is done in Europe and consequently the stones are not as effective as they might be.

I also procured at the same place numerous small crystals of zircon, some rock crystals, some small green crystals, apparently idocrase, and a few coarse lumps of a mineral new to me and to those mineralogists to whom I have shewn it.

The 'mount of jewels' is not worked in any regular manner. It is royal property, and finders of precious stones are liable to punishment if they do not hand over their treasure to the authorities. About five years ago an Indian jewel merchant obtained a concession of it from the late king, but he fell sick before he had used his rights, and his death caused the concession to lapse.

A day's journey from the 'mount of jewels' is a range of hills called Nawong, whereat, according to information given me by the Deputy Governor of the province, there may be found numerous rubies. I had not the opportunity of visiting the place.

HENRY ALABASTER.

CHINESE CORONERS.

The Coroner (114 Wu-tsoh,) in China is a very ancient, but very subordinate officer; he has little rank and less pay. There are two or three in a Hien or district, according to its extent. Twentyfour taels (£8) as salary, and small fees at each inquest, are a good salary. The children of a coroner are not eligible for the literary examinations, without special permission from the throne; the qualification for the post consists in the study of the coroner's manual (Si-yuen-luh), written in A.D. 1247. The district magistrate, or collector, as he may be also called, convenes the court, and the coroner, as his assessor, makes an elaborate ex

ternal examination of the body, and applies certain rude tests, such as boiling the body. The organs of generation are carefully examined in the case of a female subject. When a man commits suicide from oppression, persecution, or mercil ss dunning, a report called Pau-ch'ing is made to the collector. If the report is false the head men of the tything may send in a document called

If this should satisfy the collector he does not hold the inquiry. There is no inquest necessary but in any case of sudden or violent death, unless a complaint or report be made by some related or creditable person, or by the constable. If there be no report, there is no inquest. Sometimes persons are found dead in desolate places, with mud plastered over the eyes, nose, ears, and mouth, and their clothes not disturbed or removed, nor their money and trinkets taken away. This is put down to spiritual agency, and no inquiry is held. Such persons have been generally bad subjects," and the popular decision as to their death seems akin to the open verdict of "Died by the visitation of God." Litigation, revenge, and conspiracy lie at the bottom of most of these inquests in China. Dead bodies are sometimes placed upon premises, and suicide is voluntarily committed to spite an enemy. F. PORTER SMITH, M.B.

RE-ORGANIZATION OF THE JAPANESE ARMY. (Translated from the National Zeitung)

We have heard more than once of the introduction of the German military system into Japan. The following interesting facts on this subject are from a letter by an officer of the Prussian man of war "Hertha," which is at present cruising in Japanese waters.

The Japanese province of Kishiu, or Kii

is one of the six provinces of the so-called Nan kai do, Region of the South Sea,' and forms a prominent cape of the southern coast of Nippon, with an extensive and much indented sea-coast. capital of the province is Waka-yama

The

well situated on the river Ki no gawa. The Prince of Kishiu is almost independent of the government in Yedo. Some time ago he formed the resolution to arm and equip his troops in European fashion. With this object he bought several thousand Zundnädel-guns and requested that a person might be sent out with them who should instruct his people in the use of the same. A pensioner was accordingly despatched and began to exercise the Japanese. At the time of our visit he had been sixteen months there. Our Chargé d'Affaires in Yokohama was invited by the prince to come with the Hertha to see his troops. We had heard this in Yokohama and therefore as we knew how little a Japanese is suited by his habits of life to be a soldier, we expected to find a host of Japanese making all manner of exercises with their weapons. But what did we behold?

We were first invited to a parade. We betook ourselves on horseback to a great exercise ground,

where four battalions, each of 600 strong, appeared arranged one behind the other. They were mancuvred according to the Prussian regulations. The grip was splendid, we only heard one jerk in the whole battalion. They afterwards formed most various columns and deployed, then fell back again with the greatest precision. Each body reverting exactly to its former position.

Here

Later I requested of our commander three days leave of absence, and addressed myself to Kishiu, who treated us in a friendly manner, and I took advantage of the opportunity to make myself acquainted with all the military arrangements. We first visited the cartridge factory, cartridges for the Zundnädel gun were made by the Japanese as with us. The factory turned out daily 10,000 pieces of sharp cartridges. We then inspected several barracks. The rooms were arranged as with us exactly. As soon as we entered all stood bolt upright, and the sub-lieutenant made the customary salute. How the people came to this way of life we can only understand by a knowledge of the life of the Japanese generally. Here in the barrack the soldier must sleep on a bed, though the Japanese usually lies on a straw mat; here he must sit upon a chair or bench, though he usually squats upon the ground. The Japanese never eat flesh, but only fish and poultry; Kishiu has brought up his soldiers to eat beef. They knew nothing of European shoe-leather-the Japanese wear stockings and straw sandals-but now they are shod in our fashion. Their peculiar coiffure has had to give way, and their hair is cut in military style; their whole life indeed, while in service, they have been compelled to change.

After the barracks we went to see the military schools, in which at this time some sixty ensigns were being educated. Also these were organized precisely in the same fashion as ours. At their head was a Director, the Major Okamoto, an acute gentleman, with whom we could communicate in German. He had been the Interpreter of Prince Kishiu. He understood nearly everything when we spoke German plainly to him, but he did not speak much himself, although he could read German. He is enthusiastic and industrious, managed his military school in the best manner, and possessed different German works on military art translated into Japanese. In the library of the school we found Japanese guides in fortification, tactics, and artillery. His lectures were attended by almost all the officers, and he had accommodation in his large lecture room for some 300 listeners.

Military duty and a three years' period of service has been introduced into the province of Kishiu. At present there are eight battalions formed; besides these there is a body of cavalry of 150 men, which is called out only on special service, two batteries of mountain artillery, which can be taken to pieces and carried on horses, and they have also a corps of pioneers.

The three latter kinds of armament Kishiu has deferred to a later period. His object has been attained. With a limited purse he has shown the Japanese that in himself they shall not be deceived,

Original Articles.

THE CELTIC COMPARED WITH THE HEBREW,

CHINESE, AND MONGOL.

Nothing is gained in examining languages by setting out with the opinion that if they belong to different families they cannot be shewn to be connected. For as man is the only representative of his species, so man's great creation-language-is probably capable of being shewn to be one in all times and lands. The Celtic may be connected, as with the Indo-European languages, so with the Semitic; and as with the Semitic, so with the Tartar or Turanian and the Chinese.

As the Gauls and Cymri moved into Western Europe at no very great interval before the birth of Christ, and previously to that time lived in proximity to Semitic races, it need not be regarded as surprising that clear marks of Semitic influence should occur in their languages. The Gauls burnt Rome B.C. 389, and invaded Italy two centuries before, in the time of Tarquin. The Cymbri and Teutones invaded the same country B.C. 100, when they were defeated by Marius. In the time of Herodotus the kiμépio occupied the Crimea. The name of that peninsula still constitutes a memorial of its former inhabitants. We may assume that the influence of Semitic languages spoken in South Western Asia upon the Celtic will have been impressed some time between B.C. 2,000 to B.c. 600.

During part of that time Mongolian or Turanian languages were also spoken in that part of Asia, and at an earlier date there was probably a common language prevailing over all the regions through which the primæval civilization extended. We may therefore expect to find common roots, and to some degree common laws, of language in any ancient Vocabularies and literatures remaining to us, whether Chinese, Hebrew, Sanskrit, Greek, or Latin.

By the examples which will now be given of resemblances in phonetic structure, in grammatical forms and in syntactical arrangement, some conclusions may be arrived at with respect to the extent of the connection between the Celtic and Asiatic languages.

PHONETIC STRUCTURE.-The Welsh and Breton B, G, P, C, LL, RH, D, M, T, are changed in certain positions into v, C'H, B, G, L, R, DD (th in then), F, D. This is in part parallel to the Hebrew softening of B, G, D, K, P, and T, when occupying a place after a vowel, into V, G, DH, K, F, TH.

The Celtic people retain the true sound of these letters, B, G, etc., when the article does not precede and modify it after the definite article ar, or the indefinite eur. In this they agree with the Hebrews so far as to avoid modifying the sound when nothing precedes.

The Breton and Welsh CH agree in value with the Greek X, the Spanish x, and the Hebrew Hheth. This letter unknown in Eastern Asia seems to have sprung up among the Semites, and to have

been communicated by them to their neighbours the Greeks and Celts.

The same is true of the Welsh DD and TH; these agree with the aspirated DH and TH of the Hebrews and the TH of the Greeks.

This is an inherent aspirate quite different from the aspirate of the Eastern Asiatic languages. The Chinese, Mongols, Manchus, and Tibetans, use the same kind of aspirate that is found in Sanskrit. It is an inserted H, an addition to the letter K, T, or P, to which it is attached, a separable element. It is therefore quite distinct from the Semitic, Celtic, and Greek aspirates.

For s the letter H appears in Celtic; this is a peculiarity which it possesses in common with the Greek. Had is seed; hent is semita, 'a path;' heol is sol, the sun.' [cf. Ger. Ho 'wood,' and Xulon, Greek. ED.]

By a remarkable law, G occurs before many Latin roots in v; gwan is vanus; gwerz is versus; Gwener is Venus; the value of the Latin v was w. The question occurs was this G an addition or a part of the original root. To this the answer must be, that it was usually a prefix. But there are exceptions; thus, gwedi ‘after,' is the Chinese

heu

or GUT; gwad 'blood is hine or KIT; gwenn 'white' is candidus.

Like the other Indo-European languages the Celtic prefixes s to roots. Thus the Latin spiritus, where s is prefixed to our breath, breathe, is in Breton spered, and in Welsh yspryd. This is by a Semitic law. The number of Hebrew and Arabic roots which prefix s or Ts to roots is very great. Thus Tsadik 'just,' is the Greek díkalos and the Chinesedik 'straight.' The Turanian and Chinese languages never prefix sibilants to roots in this way.

Another similarity to the Semite languages is found in the frequent occurence of z and s in place of D and T. Thus the Breton neiz is the Latin nidus and English nest. Breiz veur is the Breton form of "Great Britain," the adjective, as will be seen, preceding the substantive. For the word "sound," the Welsh has sain, sun, and son; the Latin has sonitus and sonus; the Mongol has sonosho 'to hear,' and dodoho 'to call,' doloho to sing; where the letter L is a derivative insertion usually causative but here used to mark that the utterance of sound is continuous. The Mongols also have DO for sound, and the Greeks Tóvos 'tone,' from Teivw 'stretch,' the Latin tendo and Chinese chan 'stretch forth,' and tan 'that which is spread forth,' e. g., a sheet of cloth or paper. Here we may see that the Chinese CH and the Celtic s have come out of T. vocabularies of Semitic languages abound in examples; thus,Hhatser, 'a court,' is the Welsh cadlas, the Latin hortus, the Greek XóрTоs, the [*The letter G also precedes certain words in Georgian beginning with v, e. g., gvino for vinum. ED.]

The