These ceremonies, however, are not all generally practised, as they occasion considerable expence, which poor people are not able to bear; and the Brahmans never do any thing without being paid. When a child, therefore, is born to parents in indigent circumstances, it receives a name from the chief of the cast; and the father or grandfather makes it known to the other relations. In whatever light these customs may be considered, it appears that they have been invented by the Brahmans, and are founded on the philosophy of the Heathens, by means of which their legislators endeavoured to make the people obedient to the laws. This, however, holds good only so far as these practices have a relation to the religious system of the Indians, and are not merely ceremonial. Thus we know, for instance, that the bananas represent fruitfulness, and are dedicated to Bacchus or the sun; that the _Vepa_ leaves, which are extremely bitter, cleanse wounds, and that they are consequently used in these practices to represent, in a symbolical manner, the purification of the mind and body; that the coco-nut is dedicated to _Gannesha_, because it makes a whole without any joining; and that the Indian philosophers are accustomed to combine with their ceremonies a mystical sense, as was always the case among all the ancient nations of the east[159]. All the Grecian historians represent the Indians as people of greater size, and much more robust than those of other nations. Though this is not true in general, it is certain that the purity of the air, wholesome nourishment, temperance and education contribute, in an uncommon degree, to the bodily conformation, and to the increase of these people. Their new-born children lie always on the ground, as if they were thrown away or neglected; and they are never wrapped up with bandages, or confined in any other manner, as is done in Europe. Their limbs, therefore, can expand themselves without the least restraint; their nerves and bones become more solid; and when these children attain to the period of youth, they acquire not only a beautiful figure, but a sound, well turned, and robust bodily conformation. The frequent use of the cold bath, repeated rubbing the body with coco-nut oil and the juice of the _Ingia_ plant, as well as their exercises, which have a great resemblance to the _Juvenilia_, and which I have often seen in Malabar, all contribute to increase their strength and agility. These advantages also are seldom lost, unless some of these young people abandon themselves to debauchery, or weaken their bodies by too great labour or excessive perspiration. However healthful and lively the young Indians may be in general, those who marry before the twentieth year of their age, for the most part, soon become feeble and enervated. In a word, I seldom saw in India a person either lame, crooked, or otherwise deformed. The people of Malabar, who live towards the west, are much handsomer and