because he is an ancestor, but rather that he is conceived as an ancestor because he is believed to be their God,"[26] obviously applies to this feature of Shinto. Other nobles traced their lineage from, and paid a special worship to, personages who never existed as individual human beings. Such is Koyane, the reputed ancestor, but really only a personified type of the Nakatomi priestly corporation. If we have any regard for correct terminology we must call this recognition of nature-deities and class-types as ancestors not ancestor-worship, but pseudo-ancestor-worship. When Britain's sons declare, as they do with sufficient emphasis, that "Britannia rules the waves," is this ancestor-worship? Or supposing that Macaulay's New Zealander found a remnant of the English people worshipping John Bull as their reputed ancestor, would he be right to conclude that ancestor-worship was an English institution? =Uji-Gami=.--These pseudo-ancestors are called in Japanese _uji-gami_, or surname gods. The _uji_ were originally official designations, whether of Court officials or of local officials or chieftains, which, as these offices became hereditary, took the character of hereditary titles, and eventually became mere surnames. They may be compared with such titles as Duke of Wellington or with surnames like Chamberlain, Constable, or Baillie. In ancient times the common people had no surnames, and therefore no ancestor-worship, pseudo or real. The word _uji_ is also used collectively of the noble house of persons bearing the same surname. It does not seem a very ancient institution, and must date from a time when an organized Government had already been established. Of the cult of the _Uji-gami_ as such we know very little. The _Kojiki_ mentions the fact of various deities being worshipped by certain noble families. A modern authority says: "All descendants of deities had _uji_. Every _uji_ consisted of members called _ukara_. The chief of the _uji_ was termed the _uji no kami_ (the superior of the _uji_). It was his duty, on festival occasions, to convene the _ukara_ for the worship of the ancestral God." In later times the _Uji-gami_ became simply the tutelary deity of one's birthplace, and was also called _ubusuna_ (birth-sand). Infants born in his jurisdiction are presented to him soon after birth, and parturient women pray to him for relief. They also procure earth from the site of his shrine, in the belief that it has a magical power to assist their delivery. The same earth is credited with the property of relaxing the rigidity of a corpse. The modern _Uji-gami_ are taken indiscriminately from all classes of deities, perhaps including even a few genuine ancestors. One or two Indian deities have been made _Uji-gami_. The Nakatomi had three _Uji-gami_--namely, Take-mika-dzuchi, Futsunushi, and Koyane. Noble families have been known to change their _Uji-gami_, The _Uji-gami_ correspond in some respects to the Greek άρχηγός.[Greek: archêghos]