=Adoption and Inheritance.= People not having children of their own were permitted to adopt other children. If a man had no son he could adopt a young man and have him marry his daughter. Those adopted were accorded all the rights and privileges of any children. The children of an adopted son were regarded as descendants of the adopting father and they preserved the ancestral worship and paid homage at his tomb. If after adopting a son the man should marry and have a son from this marriage, then the two boys received equal shares of the property upon the death of the father. When there were neither legitimate nor adopted sons, the estate went to the nearest relatives. In case of death without heirs, the estate descended to the prince, the commonwealth, or the supreme magistrate, as the laws directed. Sometimes if the children of noted men were left without property, they were provided for by the state. Children could be disinherited, but such had to be done publicly before certain judges appointed for that purpose. When a parent was unable, through age or infirmity, to manage his estate the son could bring this before magistrates, who had the power to turn over the property to the son, who would care for the property and the parent. =Toys and Playthings.= The children of ancient Greece had quite a number of toys and playthings. The infant's first toy was a rattle, made of metal or wood, having small stones inside. A little older they had painted clay puppets, representing human beings and such animals as tortoises, hares, ducks, and mother apes with their offspring. Dolls were plentiful, made of painted clay or wax, often with movable hands and feet. "In more than one instance we have found in children's graves their favorite dolls, which sorrowing parents laid with them as a sort of keepsake in the tomb."[169] The little girls had houses for their dolls and dishes and tables. The children had ships and tops and balls and hoops and carts and swings. They also had pet animals. Sometimes the toys were bought and again they were made by the children, for, through instinct and imitation, they were much given to modeling and making things out of clay or wax or fruit-peel or leather. This is well illustrated by a passage from "The Clouds" of Aristophanes, wherein he has a countryman describing the precocious abilities of his son: "He is a lad of parts, and from a child Took wondrously to dabbling in the mud, Whereof he'd build you up a house so natural As would amaze you, trace you out a ship, Make you a little cart out of the sole Of an old shoe, mayhap, and from the rind Of a pomegranate cut you out a frog, You'd swear it was alive."[170]