their shares. Then followed an address to the Fathers with reference to the six seasons of the year. The worshipper then looked at his wife and said: "Fathers! you have made us domestic men we have brought these gifts to you according to our power." Then, offering a thread or wool or hair, he said: "Fathers! this is your apparel, wear it." The wife then ate a cake with a desire to have children, and said: "Fathers! let a male be born in me in this season. Do you protect the son in this womb from all sickness." Departed spirits, according to the Hindu religion, receive offerings from their living descendants, and get none when the family is extinct. Hence the extreme fear of Hindus of dying without male issue, so that the birth or adoption of a son is a part of their religion.
We do not purpose to give an account of the other sacrificial rites; what we have already said will convey a general idea as to how sacrifices were performed. We will now turn to some of the legends of the Brahmanas, which are curious and interesting. A most remarkable legend is told of Manu, who in the Vedic hymns is mentioned as the ancient progenitor of man, and who introduced cultivation and worship by fire. The legend of Manu in the Satapatha Brahmana gives the Hindu version of the story of the Flood. As Manu was washing his hands, a fish came unto him and said: "Rear me, I will save thee." Manu reared it, and in time it told him: "In such and such a year that flood will come. Thou shalt then attend to me by preparing a ship." The flood came, and Manu entered into the
