The chief sacrificial ceremony of the ancient Brahmans was called “soma,” after an intoxicating drink to be described presently; and the deity to whom this drink was believed to be the most acceptable was Indra. The “soma” sacrifice was and is still performed by the Brahmans as follows:—A certain quantity of the intoxicating juice is offered as a libation to the different deities by pouring it from variously shaped wooden vessels upon the sacred fire. This the gods are supposed to drink. Then the priests themselves drink, sometimes very copiously; also the sacrificer.[55] The drink itself is believed to have been prepared with the juice of a creeper (_Asclepias_). After being cleaned and macerated in water, the plant was pressed between two stones, and the juice which flowed from it was diluted with water, and strained through ram’s wool. This juice was then mixed with malt and warm milk or clarified butter, and was allowed to ferment. M. Haug, who witnessed the sacrifices of the modern Brahmans, tasted the “soma” as at present prepared, and describes it as whitish, very astringent and bitter, with some intoxicating properties. He says it had a most disagreeable taste, and he could only drink a few spoonfuls of it. The plant used in the present day is, however, not that employed by the ancient Brahmans. “Soma,” it should be added, was not only a drink, but is frequently addressed in the Vedas as a deity; and, by priestly incantations, the liquor was believed to be miraculously transformed into the god himself. It is not unlikely that this was the origin of the modern doctrine of transubstantiation, or the real presence of the body and blood of Christ, through priestly consecration, in the bread and wine of the Eucharist; and it is strange how universal has been the practice of combining the use of intoxicating drink with religious worship throughout all ages. It is first found in connection with the early religious observances of the Persian, Brahminical, and Chinese faiths. It was forbidden by the Buddhists. Commencing with the Semitic sacrifices, it has retained its place in the ceremonies of the modern Jews, and has found its way into the worship of every denomination of Christians, from the Unitarians to the Roman Catholics. Without attempting to discuss the proposition of some total abstainers that the wine used at the Lord’s Supper was not an intoxicating drink,[56] we cannot help remarking that until the custom, however nominal, ceases to receive the highest possible sanction—the approval of the Church and the priesthood—it seems idle to attempt to suppress or discountenance the use of alcohol by coercive measures amongst the lay members of society.