braced in their proper position, thus preventing rupture.

On their feet children and young girls wear the _paijan_ or hollow
anklet with tinkling balls inside. But when a married woman has had
two or three children she leaves off the _paijan_ and wears a solid
anklet like the _tora_ or _kasa_. It is now said that the reason why
girls wear sounding anklets is that their whereabouts may be known and
they may be prevented from getting into mischief in dark corners. But
the real reason was probably that they served as spirit scarers,
which they would do in effect by frightening away snakes, scorpions
and noxious insects; for it is clear that the bites of such reptiles
and insects, which often escape unseen, must be largely responsible
for the vast imaginative fabric of the belief in evil spirits, just
as Professor Robertson Smith demonstrates that the _jins_ or _genii_
of Arabia were really wild animals. [650] In India, owing to the
early age of marriage and the superstitious maltreatment of women at
child-birth, the mortality among girls at this period is very high;
and the Hindus, ignorant of the true causes, probably consider them
especially susceptible to the attacks of evil spirits.

10. Ear-piercing

Before treating of ear-ornaments it will be convenient to mention
briefly the custom of ear-piercing. This is universal among Hindus and
Muhammadans, both male and female, and the operation is often performed
by the Sunar. The lower Hindu castes and the Gonds consider piercing
the ears to be the mark of admission to the caste community. It
is done when the child is four or five years old, and till then
he or she is not considered to be a member of the caste and may
consequently take food from anybody. The Raj-Gonds will not have the
ears of their children pierced by any one but a Sunar; and for this
they give him _sidha_ or a seer [651] of wheat, a seer of rice and
an anna. Hindus employ a Sunar when one is available, but if not,
an old man of the family may act. After the piercing a peacock's
feather or some stalks of grass or straw are put in to keep the hole
open and enlarge it. A Hindu girl has her ear pierced in five places,
three being in the upper ear, one in the lobe and one in the small
flap over the orifice. Muhammadans make a large number of holes all
down the ear and in each of these they place a gold or silver ring,
so that the ears are dragged down by the weight. Similarly their women
will have te