In the ordeal of the cross, the accuser and accused were placed under the cross, with their arms extended, and the one whose hands moved first was adjudged to be the guilty one and the other the innocent. A trial by lot, similar to this latter ordeal, occurred when the accused was placed before certain relics with two dice before him, one of which was marked with a cross. If the cross was selected, at hazard, he was acquitted, but otherwise was adjudged guilty.[14] And finally, the ordeal known as the judgment of the bier was used to determine the guilt of the accused, under a charge of murder. The deceased, supposed to have been murdered, was placed upon a bier, and the accused was made to touch his body. If blood flowed, or foam appeared in the mouth of the murdered person, or the body changed position, the accused was adjudged guilty of the murder, but if none of these signs appeared, he was acquitted.[15] According to the Institute of Narada,[16] the ordeal was used four or five centuries before Christ, in India, for we find that the balance, fire, water, poison and the sacred libation, were considered the five divine tests, for determining the guilt or innocence of suspected persons. From the formulas given in the Institute of Narada, the most solemn ceremonies accompanied the application of the tests used in the trials by ordeal, in India, in ancient days. In describing the different tests, it is said: “Having adjured the balance by imprecation, the judge should cause the accused to be placed in the balance again. ‘O balance, thou only knowest what mortals do not comprehend. This man, being arraigned in a cause, is weighed upon thee. Therefore mayst thou deliver him lawfully from his perplexity.’ ... If the individual increased in weight, he was adjudged guilty; if he was found to be lighter or equal in weight, his innocence was established. In the ordeal of fire, the judge thus addressed the fire: ‘Thou, O fire, dwellest in the interior of all creatures, like a witness. Thou only knowest what mortals do not comprehend. This man is arraigned in a cause and desires acquittal. Therefore, mayst thou deliver him lawfully from his perplexity.’ ... Seven circles of fire, with a diameter of a foot each and thirty-two inches distant from each other were marked on the ground, and the man, having fasted and cleansed himself, has seven _acvattha_ leaves fastened on his hands and he takes a smooth ball of red hot iron in his hands and walks slowly through the seven circles of fire and deposits the ball on the ground. If he is burnt, he is adjudged guilty, but if he is unburnt, he is declared innocent.