I shall, however, add one more matutinal hymn addressed to Agni, not simply as the fire, but as the god of light which brightens the world every morning, and is in fact very difficult to distinguish from the sun. This Agni is sometimes called the first of all the gods. The word itself is the general name of fire in Sanskrit. It is phonetically the same as the Latin _ignis_, though the change of a into i is phonetically irregular. No one, however, is likely to be so bold an agnostic as to deny that the Âryas, before they separated, had made the discovery of fire, and given a name to it, such as Agni or _ignis_. What is most interesting in the development of this word is that while in India it entered into a very rich, religious, and mythological career, it remained a simple appellative in Italy, and was almost entirely lost and forgotten among the other Aryan nations. Should we be justified then in saying that the Latin _ignis_ cannot possibly be the same word as Agni, because the latter is one of the greatest gods in the Veda, while _ignis_ is no god at all? In the Veda Agni is a most prominent deity, though his character has often been misunderstood. Agni was, no doubt, the fire on the hearth and on the altar, and as such had his own development in India[44]. But Agni was also light in general, and more especially the light of the sun, whether in the morning, or at noon, or in the evening. Thus we read, Rig-Veda III, 28, 1:— Agni, accept our offering, the cake, at the _morning libation_! Agni, eat the cake offered to thee when the _day is over_! Agni, accept here the cake at the _midday libation_! Here Agni is clearly the sun, or the sunlight, or some power dwelling in the sun, all of which are very natural ideas with people in a nomadic or even agricultural state of society, nor do the three daily libations seem to me to point to any elaborate ceremonial. They are hardly more than the beginnings of the Sandhyâvandana and they could easily be matched among Semitic, nay, even among savage races. In many hymns the solar character of Agni is merged in his domestic character, as the fire on the domestic hearth, as the centre of each family. Thus we read, Rig-Veda X, 1:— Hymn to Agni, Fire. 1. High[45], at the head of Dawn, he stood, the mighty, With light he came, emerging from the darkness, Fair-bodied Agni with his radiant splendour Has filled, when born, all human habitations. 2. Thou, being born, art child of Earth and Heaven, Agni, the fair one, spread among the flowers[46]; The brilliant child by night and through the darkness, Shouts for the cows[47] from far, above his mothers.