the ninth day, to the female on the eighth. The Athenians gave names on the tenth. Others on the seventh. These days Tertullian calleth Nominalia. The Grecians, besides the tenth day on which they named the child, observed also the fifth, on which day the midwives took the child, and ran about a fire made for that purpose, using that ceremony as a purification of themselves and the child."-Moses and Aaron, book vi, chap. i.

Morier gives an interesting account connected with the naming of children in Persia. He says: "The Persians have no ceremony that corresponds entirely to our christening, because their children become Mohammedans as soon as the Kelemeh Islam has been whispered into their ear; but they have one called the Sheb be Khair, or 'Be the night propitious,' which is for the purpose of giving the child a name. If the father of the child be in good circumstances, he collects his friends together and makes a feast. He also requires the attendance of several Mollahs; and when the mejlis or assembly is complete, sweetmeats are brought in and eaten. The infant is also brought into the mejlis, and placed near one of the Mollahs. The father of the child then gives out certain names, five in number, each of which is written separately on separate slips of paper. These slips of paper are placed either within the Koran, or under the edge of the nummud, or carpet. The Futhel. which is the first surai or chapter of the Koran, is read. One of the slips of paper is then taken out at random by the hand of the father, and the child is called after the name which is there inscribed. A Mollah takes up the babe, pronounces the name in its ear, and places the paper on its swaddlingclothes. The relations of the child then each give it money and other presents, and this custom they call the Roo-memah, or Showing the face."-Second Journey, etc., p. 108.

750.-WRITING-TABLETS.

I, 63. He asked for a writing-table, and wrote, saying, His

name is John.

Writing-tablets were in use among various ancient nations. They are referred to in Isa. xxx, 8, and in Hab. ii, 2, and metaphorically in Prov. iii, 3; Jer. xvii, 1, and 2 Cor. iii, 3. They are yet to be seen in modern Greece. Among the Romans they were occasionally made of ivory or of citron-wood, but generally of beach, fir, or some other common wood. They were covered with a thin coating of wax, in which the letters were formed by a stylus, an instrument corresponding to the modern pen. It was made of gold, silver, brass, iron, copper, ivory, or bone. One end was pointed for writing, while the other was smooth, flat, and circular, for erasing, and for smoothing the waxed surface so that it might be used again for writing. The outside part of the tablet, which was held in the hand, was not coated with wax, and around the edge of the inside there was a thin, narrow ledge, so

that when two tablets came together the waxed surfaces would not touch each other and become marred.

A book was often made of several of these tablets combined, sometimes as many as five or six being fastened together at the backs by means of wires, which also served as hinges. Tablets were used for almost every species of writing, where the document was not of great length. Letters, or even wills, were written upon them. For the purpose of sealing these, and other documents which might require it,

153.-WRITING TABLETS.

holes were made in the outer edge, through which a triple thread was passed and fastened with a seal.

751.-SWADDLING-CLOTHES-MANGER-INN.

II, 7. She brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him in swaddling-clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

1. The "swaddling-clothes" were bandages which were tightly wrapped around a new-born child. The rank of the child was indicated by the splendor and costliness of these bands. A fine white shawl, tied with a golden band, was sometimes used for the purpose; at other times a small purple scarf, fastened with a brooch. The poor used broad fillets of common cloth.

The practice is still followed in the East. Miss Rogers, an English lady, who had opportunities far beyond ordinary travelers for observing the domestic life of the Eastern people, describes the appearance of an infant thus bandaged: "The infant I held in my arms was so bound in swaddling-clothes that it was perfectly firm and solid, and looked like a mummy. It had a band under its chin and across its forehead and a little, quilted silken cap on its head with tiny coins of gold sewed to it. The outer covering of this little figure was of crimson and white striped silk; no sign of arms or legs, hands or feet, could be seen."-Domestic Life in Palestine, p. 28. This was in Jaffa. Another infant which she saw in Bethlehem is thus described: "I took the little creature in my arms. His body was stiff and unyielding, so tightly was it swathed with white and purple linen. His hands and feet were quite confined, and his head was bound with a small, soft red shawl, which passed under his chin and across his forehead in small folds."-P. 62. This custom is referred to in Job xxxviii, 9; Lam. ii, 22; Ezek. xvi, 4; Luke ii, 12. 2. There is a dispute as to the precise meaning of the word púrın, here

and in verses 12 and 16 rendered "manger," and in Luke xiii, 15, rendered "stall." Some authorities give it the one meaning, and some the other; while others, as our translators, attach both meanings to the word. It is the Septuagint rendering for the Hebrew ebus in Job xxxix, 9, and in Isa. i, 3; a word which, in our version, is translated "crib." The location of the manger or the stall is also a point of discussion; whether it was connected with the stable belonging to the inn, or with some other stable in the neighborhood, as, for instance, in some cave near by. Caves, we know, were used for dwellings, (see note on Gen. xix, 30,) and are so used at this day, and also for stables. The discussion is interesting, but is not pertinent to the object of this book. It is proper, however, to remark, that in many rude houses horses and cattle are stabled in the court, while the family are provided for in apartments raised on a platform of stone some two feet from the level of the court. The food of the animals is placed on this platform, and sometimes there are hollow places in the stone which serve the purpose of mangers. See further in the description of the inn in the next paragraph.

3. The Eastern "inn," or caravanserai, bears no resemblance to the inns with which we are acquainted. There are various kinds of these Oriental inns, some being merely small, rude resting-places, such as are mentioned in the note on Jer. ix, 2, while others are capacious and comparatively comfortable. Such an inn presents, at a distance, the appearance of a fortress, being a quadrangular building about a hundred yards long on each side of the square, having its wall about twenty feet high. An arched gate-way, surmounted by a tower, opens into a large open court, surrounded by a platform, on the level of which are the travelers' rooms. These rooms are not furnished, each traveler being expected to provide for himself every thing but actual shelter. He must carry his own bedding, provisions, and cooking utensils. In case of sickness the porter in attendance may minister to his wants. See Luke x, 34, 35. The horses, camels, and baggage are placed in the extensive court, in the center of which is a fountain. Sometimes, however, there are stables formed of covered avenues, extending between the rear wall of the lodging-rooms and the external wall of the caravanserai, the entrance being at the corners of the quadrangle. These stables are on a level with the court, and thus below the level of the platform on which are the

travelers' apartments. This platform, however, projects into the stable, thus forming a ledge or bench above the stable floor. On this ledge the cattle can, if they wish, rest the nose-bags of hairDr. Kitto thinks that it was in such a stable See Daily Bible Readings, vol. vii, p. 63.

155.-DIAGRAM OF CARAVANSERAI. cloth which contain their food. as this that our Lord was born.