" and all others "beasts." They use mystic
texts and secret orgies, at which they drink strong drinks, eat meat and
fish, and practice sex license. They recognize no caste.[1937] There are
also other sects which have inverted all conceptions of decency,
propriety, and expediency. They practice self-torture, crime, and
uncleanliness, and use loathsome food, etc. In all these matters they
show great ingenuity of invention. They are dying out.[1938] There are
also sects which are cannibal, incestuous, and practicers of secret
license and obscenity.[1939] In some parts of the Madras presidency,
girls are made _basivis_ by a vow of the parents, in order to give them
the privileges of males. This custom may be derived from the institution
of the "appointed daughter," that is, a daughter selected in order that
her son may perform the rites for her father (who had no son) and may
carry on the line. Modern _basivis_ "live in their father's house. They
do not marry, yet they bear children, the father of whom they may choose
at pleasure, and the children inherit their family name." It is a device
to insure male descendants, and is so regulated by religious
consecration and rules that it is recognized in the mores. If a _basivi_
breaks the rules she falls to a status which is very different. Men are
also dedicated and wear female dress, if they are born imperfect or
malformed.[1940]

+598. Lingam and yoni.+ The lingam symbol is to be seen all over India,
alone or with the yoni. In some parts of India the lingam is worn as an
amulet.[1941] The word "lingam" is said to mean "symbol."[1942] To
Europeans the object seems indecent and obscene. If it is of phallic
origin, "the Hindus are no more conscious of the fact than we of the
similar origin of the maypole."[1943] It is no more erotic than an egg
or a seed. It is a symbol of Siva, the eternal reproductive power of
nature, reintegrating after disintegration. One form of Siva is
androgyne. The dualism of the male, spirit, and the female, matter, is
essential to all creation. "To one imbued with these dualistic
conceptions the lingam and the yoni are suggestive of no improper
ideas."[1944]

+599. Conventionalization.+ In all these cases it is evident that the
mores extend their protection over archaic and sacred things, and
preserve them instead of forbidding them. The great means of preserving
them is by conventionalization. They are put under a conventional
understanding, different