it is carefully washed with warm water, and is then as carefully dried on some high place,—the roof or wherever may be most convenient a man holding the tail till it is quite dry. The birds are fed on unhulled rice and greens. They must be given plenty of water. When one of the long-tailed cocks is to be moved from place to place, it is put in a long narrow box similar to those in which the Japanese keep kakemono (hanging scrolls), the bird's body being laid at full length, the tail twisted round as little as may be. The dimensions of the box are about 6 inches square, and 4 ft. 6 in. long. There is a grating for air at one end only, and a division to guard the feathers.
The hen of course is as nothing by the side of these splendid cocks. Yet even she is a handsome bird, with tail-feathers longer than those of any ordinary hen,—sometimes as much as 8 inches. The hens lay in spring and autumn, one bird producing 30 eggs yearly, which are hatched by other hens. One, or at most two, hens are allowed to each breeding cock. The latter's tail-feathers are cut, to allow of his walking about freely. Thus does he pay with his beauty for the privilege of liberty, and of living a little longer than his long-tailed, captive, and celibate brethren. It is satisfactory, however, to know that even they are fairly hardy, bearing both heat and cold well, and sometimes living to the age of nine. They are almost as tame as dogs, and will nestle most affectionately on their master's arm when taken out of their dark travelling-box into the light of day.
Book recommended. Note on a Long-tailed Breed of Fowls in Tosa, by B. H. Chamberlain, in the "Asiatic Transactions," Vol. XXVII. Part I.
Lotus. The so-called lotus of this country is really a species of water-lily, the Nelumbium, which inhabits shallow ponds, where fore the Japanese Buddhists compare a virtuous man dwelling in this wicked world to a lotus-flower growing out of the mud. Sir Monier Williams says that "Its constant use as an emblem seems to result from the wheel-like form of the flower,—the petals taking the place of spokes, and thus typifying the doctrine of perpetual cycles of existence." In any case, the connection
