name implies, from the drops of blood flowing from his body, and touching the earth, is represented as having licked up the blood as it streamed forth from his person with a view to arrest that dreadful propagation. “Many of these myths, again, may be traced partly to oriental hyperbole, and partly to the many-sided meanings of the words used in describing them: figurative expressions were seized and new myths were invented in illustration of them. Others again are illustrative of national customs; thus the protruded tongue of Káli has been the theme of several fanciful tales. With some, in the heat of the battle, Káli was so maddened, that the gods despaired of the world, and sent Siva, her husband to appease her. Siva crept among the dead soldiers lying in the field, and contrived to pass under the feet of Káli, who no sooner perceived her husband trampled under her feet, than she became abashed, and in the fashion of the women of the country, bit her tongue as expressive of her regret and indelicacy. “It is amusing to follow the line of argument put forth in the Puranas in support of these myths. In some instances, they approach so near the ludicrous, that were it not for their thorough adaptability to the state of native society of the time, their fallacies would have been long ago exposed, and the whole Puranic system spurned and despised. “Sakti is Force. Originally a sect of Hindoos worshipped force and matter as eternal. The word being in the feminine gender, its personification is a female divinity of supernatural powers, and every occupation which called for great exercise of energy and power at once selected her as tutelary goddess, and she is now the most popular of all the three and thirty millions of the Hindu pantheon. _Saktaism_ has since imbibed so many brutal practices of cannibalism, human sacrifices, and bacchanalian rites, that the very name of a Sakta, inspires horror and disgust, nevertheless the unholy Tantras, which propound and explain the principles of this doctrine, and give rules for worshipping the different forms of Sakti, are increasing in number and popularity. They were, until lately, comparatively unknown beyond the frontier of Bengal, but copies of MSS. are now demanded from every quarter of Hindustan. The Tantric system is of Bengali origin, and its rites and customs are ultimately interwoven with those of the hill tribes, especially those of Nepal and Assam. Demonology is a principal feature in the Sakta faith, and the various nocturnal ceremonies are fixed which were much in vogue in Bengal, even as late as about fifty years ago.” * * * * *