602 QRAMINE^. 



in the following terms: "Come, spirit of the rice, come 

 back ! come to the rice-field, come to the rice ! come from the 

 East, come from the West^ come from the beak of the bird, 

 from the mouth of the monkey, from the throat of the elephant, 

 come from the grain stores ! kelah of the rice, return to 

 the rice !" In Siam they offer rice and cakes to trees before 

 cutting them down. In Bengal sacrifices of rice are made to 

 the Bael tree, probably a survival of an ancient fetish worship 

 which the Brahmins have sanctioned by deifying the tree. 



Rice plays an important part in the marriage ceremonies of 

 the Hindus. According to the Grihya-sutra of Asvalaj'ana, 

 the bride must walk three times round the altar, and at the 

 completion of each turn make an offering of rice. This 

 ceremony resembles an ancient form of marrying among the 

 Romans, in which an offering of a cake made oi far (spelt) 

 was made in the presence of the Pontifex Maximus or Flamen 

 Dialis and ten witnesses. 



Parched rice, Ldjdy also called Si/uld (Si/a " a winnowing 

 fan/* and Id for Idjd), is scattered by the bride's brother at 

 marriages. Rice is poured over the head of the bride and 

 bridegroom as an emblem of life, regeneration and plenty. 

 On the fourth day of the marriage ceremonies the young 

 couple eat rice together for the first and only time in their 

 lives, and on the last day they both celebrate together the 

 Soma sacrifice, when they throw Idjd into the fire. At the 

 birth of a child the father places the red . Akshata rice on 

 its forehead to avert evil, and when the child is named it 

 is placed on a cloth covered with rice. Rice is also used in 

 some parts of India to detect witches: a small bag of rice, 

 bearing the name of each of the suspected parties, is placed in 

 a white-ants' nest, and the one they first eat is considered to 

 belong to the guilty party. When several persons are suspected 

 of a crime, rice is sometimes used to detect the guilty one 

 For this purpose the persons are required to chew rice, the 

 criminal being discov ered by his inability to properly masticate 



Tritinm Spelta, Linn., or German wheat. 



