It is--being a representation of the male organ--represented, of course, in a conical form, and is of every size, from half-an-inch to seventy feet, and of all materials, such as stone, wood, clay, metal, &c. Lingas are seen of enormous size; in the caves of Elephanta for instance, marking unequivocally that the symbol in question is at any rate as ancient as the temple, as they are of the same rock as the temple itself; both, as well as the floor, roof, pillars, pilastres, and its numerous sculptured figures, having been once one undistinguished mass of granite, which excavated, chiselled, and polished, produced the cavern and forms that are still contemplated with so much surprise and admiration. The magnitude of the cones, too, further preclude the idea of subsequent introduction, and together with gigantic statues of Siva and his consort, more frequent and more colossal than those of any other deity, necessarily coeval with the excavation, indicate his paramount adoration and the antiquity of his sect. Lingas are seen also of diminutive size for domestic adoration, or for personal use; some individuals always carrying one about with them, and in some Brahman families, one is daily constructed in clay, placed after due sanctification by appropriate ceremonies and prayers, in the domestic shrine, or under a tree or shrub sacred to Siva, the Bilva more especially, and honoured by the adoration of the females of the household. It is rather singular that while many Hindus worship the deity of male and female in one, there are distinct sects which worship either the Lingam or the Yoni; the first being apparently the same as the phallic emblem of the Greeks, the _membrum virile_: and the latter _pudendum muliebre_. The interesting ceremony connected with the obsequies which we have just said can be the most effectually performed by a male child, and which gives rise to the intense longing both on the part of husband and wife for such offspring, is called Sradha, and is of daily recurrence with individuals who rigidly adhere to the ritual. It is offered in honour of deceased ancestors, but not merely in honour of them, but for their comfort; as the Manes, as well as the gods connected with them, enjoy, like the gods of the Greeks, the incense of such offerings, which are also of an expiatory nature, similar, it is said, to the masses of the Church of Rome. Over these ceremonies of Sradhi presides Yama, in his character of Sradhadeva, or lord of the obsequies. It is not within our province to give a detailed account of these ceremonies, but owing to their connection with the subject generally of our book, a brief outline will no doubt prove interesting.