d temporarily fallen in imitation of the heathen around them,
but at the same time they furnish ample proof of the existence of tree
and grove worship by the heathen nations of Syria as one of their most
solemn rites." But, from the period of King Hezekiah down to the
Christian era, Mr. Fergusson finds no traces of tree-worship in Judea.
In Assyria tree-worship was a common form of idolatrous veneration, as
proved by Lord Aberdeen's black-stone, and many of the plates in the
works of Layard and Botta.[15] Turning to India, tree-worship probably
has always belonged to Aryan Hinduism, and as tree-worship did not
belong to the aboriginal races of India, and was not adopted from them,
"it must have formed part of the pantheistic worship of the Vedic system
which endowed all created things with a spirit and life--a doctrine
which modern Hinduism largely extended[16]."

Thus when food is cooked, an oblation is made by the Hindu to trees,
with an appropriate invocation before the food is eaten. The Bo tree is
extensively worshipped in India, and the Toolsee plant (Basil) is held
sacred to all gods--no oblation being considered sacred without its
leaves. Certain of the Chittagong hill tribes worship the bamboo,[17]
and Sir John Lubbock, quoting from Thompson's "Travels in the Himalaya,"
tells us that in the Simla hills the _Cupressus toridosa_ is regarded as
a sacred tree. Further instances might be enumerated, so general is this
form of religious belief. In an interesting and valuable paper by a
Bengal civilian--intimately acquainted with the country and
people[18]--the writer says:--"The contrast between the acknowledged
hatred of trees as a rule by the Bygas,[19] and their deep veneration
for certain others in particular, is very curious. I have seen the
hillsides swept clear of forests for miles with but here and there a
solitary tree left standing. These remain now the objects of the deepest
veneration. So far from being injured they are carefully preserved, and
receive offerings of food, clothes, and flowers from the passing Bygas,
who firmly believe that tree to be the home of a spirit." To give
another illustration[20], it appears that in Beerbhoom once a year the
whole capital repairs to a shrine in the jungle, and makes simple
offerings to a ghost who dwells in the Bela tree. The shrine consists of
three trees--a Bela tree on the left, in which the ghost resides, and
which is marked at the foot with blood; in the middl