a temple as Bodh-Gaya in particular. Such would have been the usual development, for it was a settled custom to enlarge such shrines, just as it was to extend old stupas by enveloping them. There is thus every possibility that these additional halls were no part of the original design, that they had not been erected when our plaque was made, but had been added at some point or points in the long interval of centuries between our document and Hiuen Tsang. To this second of his four objections, therefore, I personally attach but little weight. As for his third, I almost demur to having the occurrence of the plaque at Pataliputra instead of at Bodh-Gaya itself counted as an argument against me. Such plaques are in their very nature meant to travel, if I am right in thinking them to be souvenirs of pilgrimage, and a neighbouring city like the capital is thus the most natural place in the world for such an object to be found. Was not the evidence of the Basarh seals, which show the name “Vaīsāli” in their epigraphs, discounted by some scholars for the very reason that they had been found right at Basarh itself? On this analogy I should suppose myself at liberty to look upon the findspot of our plaque as favourable to my argument, if anything. It certainly has, to my mind, no evidential value on the other side. For these reasons, therefore, I must crave permission to abide by my former judgment, and should do so quite unmoved were it not for Mr. Smith's fourth objection, regarding the posture of the hands, which strikes me as by far the most legitimate of all. The Bhumisparsa mudra is certainly what we should expect for Bodh-Gaya on the analogy of later art, and it is clear from what Mr. Smith has quoted from the pilgrim that the image there did show this mudra in the seventh century. There are, however, so many possible or conceivable explanations for the difference here that I should hesitate to look upon this detail as absolutely decisive, where no other positive evidence exists. For instance, if the plaque is so early as I think, it is conceivable that the image dates from a period before these mudras were fixed, for they are not absolutely determinate in our oldest work. There is always the possibility of inaccurate or careless work on the part of the engraver, in a country where mistakes occur in the spelling of even royal names in epigraphs, and there is a remote possibility that the photograph misleads (for, being now on tour, I am as dependent on it as is Mr. Smith himself). I do not doubt the correctness of his interpretation, though, and am considering the matter on the assumption that he is right. Even so, where reasonable explanations of this one discrepancy can be found, I should deprecate treating this detail as in itself conclusive. That it raises a certain degree of doubt, I willingly admit, and therefore I say that, on the whole, I agree with Mr. Smith that the temple cannot be identified with perfect certainty. But I do not share the full measure of his doubt by any means, and still consider that in probability, the temple on the plaque is actually the temple which we know in modern form at Bodh-Gaya. If ever the inscription can be read, the matter may be settled once for all. III-A New Explanation of the Couvade. By the Hon'ble Mr. C. H. Bompas, B.A., I.C.S., formerly Deputy Commissioner of Singhbhum. Your journal affords me an opportunity of putting on record a small fact which may be of permanent interest. It is known that among the Hos of the Kolhan the father after the birth of a child is isolated and is unclean in exactly the same way as the mother is. I once asked a Ho why this was so, he answered, "Because the life has gone out of the man ;" the Bengali word "Jiban" was used. This gives a clue to what seems to me a probable explanation of the custom of couvade which is found in so many parts of the world. For so widespread a custom we need an explanation founded on the very nature of things. When once the fact of paternity is recognized, it is not unnatural to consider the father as contributing the invisible spirit to the body which has grown in the mother's womb. If the birth of the child's body is a time of danger to the mother, the birth of the child's spirit may be equally dangerous to the paternal spirit. This is rather a different explanation from that which treats the custom as, in origin, an acknowledgment of paternity, though such an acknowledgment would actually be involved. Once the custom originates it may in certain localities 1eceive artificial developments in consequence of more artificial reasons being found for maintaining the custom, such as the diversion of evil influences from the mother. The answer in this case was more illuminating than that which I received from a Ho when I asked why the race was It may be noticed that it is the Ho father who cuts the umbilical cord of his new-born child, and he is the only male person who may enter the lying-inroom during the eight days of ceremonial impurity (bisi). He has also to cook for his wife during that period.-Editor. divided into Killis. He stared in amazement and asked "Chilikātēlē kipiringia?"-how should we buy brides from each other if there were no exogamous divisions? This merely showed the importance attached to the practice of exogamy. IV.-Further Relics of the Copper Age. In his last Presidential address, His Honour the President referred to several copper axes and other relics of the Copper Age that had been brought to light through the agency of the Society. The search has been continued and three pieces of copper of a novel type have been forwarded to the Society by Mr. L. E. B. Cobden-Ramsay, C.I.E., I.C.S., Political Agent, Feudatory States of Orissa. They were found with six or seven similar pieces on the bank of the Gulpha river, at village Bhagra Pir, in the Mayurbhanj State. The river washed away the bank and exposed the pieces of copper which were about a foot beneath the surface. No other remains or utensils were noticed at the place. The shape and general appearance of these pieces of copper can best be understood by reference to the illustration on the opposite page. the opposite page. They were apparently intended for use as battle-axes, the shaft being split at the end and the narrow neck of the axe-head firmly bound in the cleft. The large axe, (Fig. 1) which measures 18 inches in length and 15 inches in breadth, may perhaps have been intended for ceremonial or sacrificial use. The other two measure respectively 10 inches by 8 inches (Fig. 3) and 10 inches by 7 inches (Fig. 2). The two first are about one-eighth of an inch in thickness and the third about one-twentieth of an inch. The largest and the smallest appear to have been sharpened at both ends and are both considerably oxidized. The other, which is but slightly oxidized, has an edge on the small end only. These axes were apparently made by casting or hammering out a roughly oval disk of metal, sharpening the edges and then cutting out two more or less circular holes to form the neck. Mr. C. T. Trechmann, to whom a description of the axes was sent, writes:-"The thinness of the implements seems to be extraordinary. In such apparently isolated finds it is difficult to get any details of |