lands. So important a factor has the cow proved in Indian life and thought, that an exhaustive account of her influence from the earliest times would form a noteworthy chapter in the history of civilisation. Among the noxious animals of the Rigveda the serpent is the most prominent. This is the form which the powerful demon, the foe of Indra, is believed to possess. The serpent also appears as a divine being in the form of the rarely mentioned Ahi budhnya, "the Dragon of the Deep," supposed to dwell in the fathomless depths of the aërial ocean, and probably representing the beneficent side of the character of the serpent Vritra. In the later Vedas the serpents are mentioned as a class of semi-divine beings along with the Gandharvas and others; and in the Sutras offerings to them are prescribed. In the latter works we meet for the first time with the Nagas, in reality serpents, and human only in form. In post-Vedic times serpent-worship is found all over India. Since there is no trace of it in the Rigveda, while it prevails widely among the non-Aryan Indians, there is reason to believe that when the Aryans spread over India, the land of serpents, they found the cult diffused among the aborigines and borrowed it from them. Plants are frequently invoked as divinities, chiefly in enumerations along with waters, rivers, mountains, heaven, and earth. One entire hymn (x. 97) is, however, devoted to the praise of plants (oshadhi) alone, mainly with regard to their healing powers. Later Vedic texts mention offerings made to plants and the adoration paid to large trees passed in marriage processions. One hymn of the Rigveda (x. 146) celebrates the forest as a whole, personified as Aranyani, the mocking genius of the woods. The weird sights and sounds of the gloaming are here described with a fine perception of nature. In the dark solitudes of the jungle Sounds as of grazing cows are heard, A dwelling-house appears to loom, And Aranyani, Forest-nymph, Creaks like a cart at eventide. Here some one calls his cow to him, Another there is felling wood; Who tarries in the forest-glade Thinks to himself, "I heard a cry." Never does Aranyani hurt Unless one goes too near to her: When she has eaten of sweet fruit At her own will she goes to rest. Sweet-scented, redolent of balm, Replete with food, yet tilling not, Mother of beasts, the Forest-nymph, Her I have magnified with praise. On the whole, however, the part played by plant, tree, and forest deities is a very insignificant one in the Rigveda.