religion on an act which might lead to the introduction of another human being into the world. He therefore repeated two mantras or texts of the Rig Veda (X, 184), the first of which may be thus translated,—“Let (all-pervading) Vishnu prepare her womb; let the Creator shape its forms; let Prajapati be the Impregnator; let the Creator give the embryo.” [170] At present, in Bengal, the girl is subjected to a period of isolation which exactly corresponds to that described by Mr. Frazer in the case of various primitive races, the idea being that at this period of her life dangerous influences emanate from the girl which it is necessary to counteract. In Upper India the rite appears to consist in the worship of the kula devata or family god, and if the head of the family is rich or illiterate, a Brâhman is employed to read the Durgapâtha or songs in honour of the goddess Durga. This rite is intended to obviate the danger of a miscarriage. [Sîmanta pum savana.] 14. Next follows, in the sixth month of pregnancy, the sîmanta pum savana, or the rite of male production, done with the object of securing a male heir, the desire of every Hindu mother. The expectant mother is bathed, dressed in red clothes which are sent from her father’s house, and some fruit, the emblem of prolificacy, is placed in her lap. She then goes to the family shrine and worships the household god. [Nandimukh srâddha.] 15. When the child is born, and before the cord is cut, the head of the family does the nandimukh srâddha. He lays some kusa grass on the ground and offers a pinda over it. After this the cord is cut and it is buried in the room in which the delivery took place. Over it a fire (pasanghi) is lighted, and wood of the tendu tree is burnt. For twelve days the lamp is fed with nîm oil. During this time the mother is fed with cakes (pûri, halwa), caudle (achhwâni), and ginger (sonth). Bread and pulse cannot be given to her, because during the period of pollution only substances cooked with ghi, milk, or parched grain, can be taken from the family cookhouse. The members of the family are impure for twelve days after a confinement in the house; during this time no Deota can be worshipped, nor can any one drink water from their hands. After the sixth day the Chamâr midwife is dismissed, the mother and child are bathed, and after that the Nâin or barber’s wife attends on her. But it is not absolutely necessary that this rite should take place on the sixth day in case the omens are adverse. In that case it is postponed for one or two days. At this rite one of the women of the house waves some barley in a sieve or basket over the mother and child, and this grain is given to the midwife. If the first child die, the next born is usually put in a sieve, or it is weighed in a scale against barley, which is given to the midwife. The general rule appears to be that if a child die within six days after birth the corpse is buried; if it die between that time and the