which the family rice-pounder and corn-mill are placed. That day the Pandit makes the boy wear an amulet to keep off evil spirits. This contains some mango leaves, an iron ring, and some mustard seed. Next follows the anointing (ubtauni), and the sacrifice of a young pig to Agwân Deva, the Pânchonpîr, and Phûlmati Devi. At the last Census 25,069 people recorded themselves as worshippers of Agwân Deva. According to Mr. Baillie the word means “a leader and may be the priest (pujâri) in any temple. One District note states that Agwân is a disease godling, the son of Râja Ben, and, therefore, brother to the seven small-pox sisters.” With many of the lower castes to the east of the province he seems to be connected with the worship of fire (agni) in the form of the homa. The higher class Bhars sacrifice a goat instead of a pig to the Pânchonpîr. As the procession starts the usual incantation ceremony (parachhan) is done by the boy’s mother. The rest of the ritual is of the usual type. At the bride’s door the Pandit worships Gauri and Ganesa, and the pair, with their clothes knotted together, move five times round the centre pole of the shed. Next follows the ceremony in the retiring room (kohabar), where jokes are played on the boy by the bride’s father’s sister, who will not desist until she gets a present. The rest of the ceremonial is of the customary type. [Birth ceremony.] 7. During pregnancy the oldest woman in the family waves a pice or a handful of grain over the woman’s head, and vows to offer a pig to Birtiha (who is regarded as a village deity, dih), and to Phûlmati Devi, if the confinement is easy. The Chamâin midwife cuts the cord with a sickle and buries it in the delivery room: a fire is lighted over it, and kept burning during the period of pollution. After the sixth day ceremony (chhathi) the barber’s wife takes the place of the midwife. The birth pollution ceases on the twelfth day (barahi) when the father offers a pig and some wine to Birtiha Deva. On her first visit to the well the mother worships it and lays a little washed rice (achhat) on the platform. The husband does not cohabit with his wife for six months after her confinement. [24] The only initiation ceremony is the usual ear-boring (kanchhedan, kanbedha), which is done at the age of five or six. After this the child must observe the caste rules of food.