In marriage there were many parts to the ceremony, all of which had to be rigorously observed. During pregnancy there were rites to secure conception, a rite to cause a male child to be born, rites to insure protection to the child in the womb, and sometime between the fourth and eighth month was the ceremony of the husband affectionately parting the wife's hair. On the birth of a child a rite was performed and a secret name given to the child, known only to the parents. The child was weaned at eight months, at which time he was given his first solid food, and an appropriate ceremony went with it. At one year another rite was performed, at which time the child's head was shaved, leaving such hair as might be desired for its arrangement as was the custom of the family. The ceremony of initiation, or the giving over of the boy to his teacher for education, was a very important affair, participated in by the boy and by his teacher. After he had finished his education, the student returned home, which was the occasion for another important ceremony, which was followed by his marriage and the student was then changed into a householder. At the time of the initiation, the triple cord or sacred thread, which was worn by the three upper castes, was bestowed upon the boy. The age of the boy differed at this time according to which caste he belonged, the Brahmin boy being initiated between 8 and 16, the Kshatriya between 11 and 22, and the Vaisya between 12 and 24. =Adoption.= "When a Hindu had no sons, because of his wife's failure to bear them to him or because the sons borne to him had all died, two things were left to him to do, to take another wife or to adopt a son. If he adopted a child it was generally from among his own relatives or if a Brahmin, at any rate from his own caste. He might adopt a child or an adult, just as he should choose. Girls were adopted, but there were very few instances of such. The adoption was an event of importance and it was attended with solemn ceremonies. "The adopted son renounces wholly and forever all his claims to the property and succession of his natural father, and acquires the sole right to the heritage of his father by adoption. The latter is bound to bring him up, to feed him, and to treat him as his own son; to have the ceremony of _upanayana_, or the triple cord, performed for him, and to see him married. The adopted son, in his turn, is obliged to take care of his adoptive father in his old age and in sickness, just as if he were his natural father, and to _preside at his obsequies_. On the death of his adoptive father he enters into full possession of his inheritance--assets as well as liabilities. Should there be any property left, he enjoys it; but if, on the other hand, there are debts, he is bound to pay them. He is, moreover, by his adoption admitted into the _gothram_ or family stock of the adopter, and is considered to have left that in which he was born."[66]