are considered as concrete; among some Hindus
promises are tied up in knots of cloth, and when they are discharged
the knots are untied. Mr. S.C. Roy says of the Oraons: "Contracts are
even to this day generally not written but acted. Thus a lease of land
is made by the lessor handing over a clod of earth (which symbolises
land) to the lessee; a contract of sale of cattle is entered into by
handing over to the buyer a few blades of grass (which symbolise so
many heads of cattle); a contract of payment of bride-price is made
by the bridegroom's father or other relative handing over a number of
_baris_ or small cakes of pulse (which symbolise so many rupees) to the
bride's father or other relative; and a contract of service is made by
the mistress of the house anointing the head of the intended servant
with oil, and making a present of a few pice, and entertaining him to
a feast, thus signifying that he would receive food, lodging and some
pay." [112] Thus an abstract agreement is not considered sufficient
for a contract; in each case it must be ratified by a concrete act.

The divisions of time are considered in a concrete sense. The
fortnight or Nakshatra is presided over by its constellation, and
this is held to be a nymph or goddess, who controls events during its
course. Similarly, as shown in _The Golden Bough_, [113] many kinds
of new enterprises should be begun in the fortnight of the waxing
moon, not in that of the waning moon. Days are also thought to be
concrete and governed by their planets, and from this idea come all
the superstitions about lucky and unlucky days. If a day had been
from the beginning realised as a simple division of time no such
superstitions could exist. Events, so far as they are conceived of,
are also considered in a concrete sense. The reason why omens were
so often drawn from birds [114] is perhaps that birds fly from a
distance and hence are able to see coming events on their way; and the
hare and donkey were important animals of augury, perhaps because,
on account of their long ears, they were credited with abnormally
acute hearing, which would enable them to hear the sound of coming
events before ordinary people. The proverb 'Coming events cast their
shadows before,' appears to be a survival of this mode of belief,
as it is obvious that that which has no substance cannot cast a shadow.

The whole category of superstitions about the evil eye arises from the
belief that the glance of