of the dragon was as sincere as that of
learned men of other countries in the beneficent attributes which
tradition had taught them to assign to their particular deities. In the
passages I have quoted the Chinese scholars were presumably attempting
to bridge the gap between the ideas inculcated by faith and the evidence
of their senses, in much the same sort of spirit as, for instance,
actuated Dean Buckland last century, when he claimed that the glacial
deposits of this country afforded evidence in confirmation of the Deluge
described in the Book of Genesis.

The tiger and the dragon, the gods of wind and water, are the keystones
of the doctrine called _fung shui_, which Professor de Groot has
described in detail.[163]

He describes it "as a quasi-scientific system, supposed to teach men
where and how to build graves, temples, and dwellings, in order that the
dead, the gods, and the living may be located therein exclusively, or as
far as possible, under the auspicious influences of Nature". The dragon
plays a most important part in this system, being "the chief spirit of
water and rain, and at the same time representing one of the four
quarters of heaven (i.e. the East, called the Azure Dragon, and the
first of the seasons, spring)." The word Dragon comprises the high
grounds in general, and the water streams which have their sources
therein or wind their way through them.[164]

The attributes thus assigned to the Blue Dragon, his control of water
and streams, his dwelling on high mountains whence they spring, and his
association with the East, will be seen to reveal his identity with the
so-called "god B" of American archaeologists, the elephant-headed god
_Tlaloc_ of the Aztecs, _Chac_ of the Mayas, whose more direct parent
was Indra.

It is of interest to note that, according to Gerini,[165] the word
_Naga_ denotes not only a snake but also an elephant. Both the Chinese
dragon and the Mexican elephant-god are thus linked with the Naga, who
is identified both with Indra himself and Indra's enemy Vritra. This is
another instance of those remarkable contradictions that one meets at
every step in pursuing the dragon. In the confusion resulting from the
blending of hostile tribes and diverse cultures the Aryan deity who,
both for religious and political reasons, is the enemy of the Nagas
becomes himself identified with a Naga!

I have already called attention (_Nature_, Jan. 27, 1916) to the fact
that the graphic