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The Irish duine, then, or its predecessor donio, would be a derivative 

 from the Gaulish dono, which therefore must have some cognate signi- 

 fication. As the root naturally presents itself, the Skr. dhd to put, to 

 create, to procreate, whence dkd-tr, the creator. Especially with the 

 prefix d it refers to the procreation of children, or, to speak more cor- 

 rectly to conception, being used both of the father and the mother : thus 

 Bigveda, 3, 27, 9 : yatheyam prthivi hJiMdndm garhham ddadhe, as this 

 earth conceived the germ of beings, Bhagavata Purana, 9, 24, 51 (ed. 

 Bopp). Vasudevah sutdn ashtdv ddadhe Sahadevayd V. engendered eight 

 sons with S. Savitri upakhyanam, 1.18 mahishydm garhham adadhe, 

 in his wife he placed (engendered) the embryo. Hence the word ddhdna, 

 embryo. 



Eut also the simple root dhd is used in a similar sense, to put 

 the embryo into the womb, to cause to conceive." In this respect the 

 hymn Y. 25, of the Atharvaveda is classical, of which a few verses 

 may be given in a translation : — - 



2. "As this broad earth conceived {ddadhe) germ of beings, so I 

 create to thee {dadhdmi te) an embryo, I will call thee to this help [i. e., 

 this powerful charm]. 



3. Put {dhehi) an embryo, Sinivali ; put an embryo, Sarasvati, an 

 embryo both of the two Agvins may create (dhattdm) to thee, that wear 

 garlands of lotus. 



4. An embryo may create for thee Mitra and Yaruna; an embryo 

 the god Yrhaspati ; an embryo Indra and Agni ; an embryo the Creator 

 may create to thee {garhham dhdtd dadhdtu te). 



5. " Yishnu may make ready the womb ; Tvashtr may shape the 

 forms; Prajapati may sprinkle fiuid; the Creator may create thee an 

 embryo {garhham dhdtd dadhdtu te). 



6. That which King Yaruna knows, or which the goddess Sarasvati 

 knows, that which Indra, the slayer of Yrtra, knows, that thou shalt 

 drink, causing an embryo. [Here, evidently, a magical drink is admi- 

 nistered.] 



7. " Thou art the womb (or the germ?) of all herbs, the germ of 

 trees, the germ of all things, o Agni, create an embryo here {garhham d 

 iha dhdh). 



8. ''Pise above, be full of manly power, create an embryo in the 

 womb {garhham d dhehi yonydm) \ a bull thou art; we bring thee hero 

 for the sake of procreation. 



10. ''0 Creator {dhdtah), in the loins of this woman create {ddhehi) 

 a male child, with most excellent form, to be born in the tenth month." 



It results from the examples quoted that both dhd and d-dhd, have 

 the sense of creating, literally putting the embryo. We have, indeed, 

 even a word dhdnd, grain, literally that which is put or sown, which, 

 as far as etymology is concerned, might mean embryo, as well as ddhdna, 

 although custom has given it a different signification. 



To this latter word, without the prefix d, our dono corresponds 

 closely enough ; and we may therefore assume that it has the meaning 

 germ, embryo." The Irish duine, i. e., donio, therefore means '' re- 



