There is scarcely any part of Europe or Asia where the creation of fictitious relationships is altogether unknown. In many cases the object of the creation is simply to obtain an heir. This is the object of adoption amongst modern Hindus, and it is this, no doubt, which has led some persons to speak of Hindu adoption as a rudimentary will. But adoption, as such, has never obtained a footing in Mahommedan law. The fictitious relationships which that law recognizes are based upon a different idea. There was in early times a widespread notion that every man must belong to some family either as a freeman or a slave. The family to which a slave belongs is always that of his owner, and that of a freeman is generally indicated by his birth. But a liberated slave has no family, at least no recognized family; and as he cannot stand alone, it was necessary to attach him to some family. Now, just as in Roman law the freedman became a member of his master's family under the relationship of _patronus_ and _cliens_, so in Mahommedan law a liberated slave becomes a member of the master's family under the relationship called _mawalat_. The object, of course, was to make the master's family liable for the consequences of the wrongful acts of the freed slave. As a compensation for the liability undertaken by the master's family, in default of residuaries of the slave's own blood (who can only be his own direct descendants), the master's family are entitled to succeed as what are called "residuaries for special cause." Of course the relationship of master and slave cannot now be created, and it is scarcely probable that any case of inheritance could arise in which it came into question. The relationship of _mawalat_ may, under Mahommedan law, also be created in a case where a freeman is converted to Islam. From a Mahommedan point of view he then stands alone, and would be required to attach himself to some Mahommedan family. The form of the transaction exactly indicates the nature of it. The party wishing to attach himself says to the person ready to receive him, "Thou art my kinsman, and shalt be my successor after my death, paying for me any fine or ransom to which I may be liable." In this case also the family of the person who receives the convert is entitled, in default of other residuaries, to succeed to him as "residuaries for special cause." But this transaction can have no meaning under English law, which does not recognize the joint responsibility of the family, and it is therefore also obsolete. In the case of _mawalat_ the rights of the persons concerned are not reciprocal. The person received gains no right of inheritance in the family into which he enters, and incurs no responsibility for their acts. An important part may still be played in Mahommedan law by the creation of relationships by acknowledgment. Any such relationship may be created, provided that the parentage of the person acknowledged is unknown; a person of known parentage cannot be