the old school, from the moment he gets out
of bed to the time of his going to rest, and the principal ceremonies
from the hour of his birth to the hour of his burial. Although we can
gather from the tenour of his writings that the author himself belongs
to the Liberals, we must give him credit for the fairness with which
he describes the party to which he is opposed. There is no sneer, no
expression of contempt anywhere, even when, as in the case of the
Nirang, the temptation must have been considerable. What this Nirang
is we may best state in the words of the writer:

'The Nirang is the urine of cow, ox, or she-goat, and the
rubbing of it over the face and hands is the second thing a
Parsee does after getting out of bed. Either before applying
the Nirang to the face and hands, or while it remains on the
hands after being applied, he should not touch anything
directly with his hands; but, in order to wash out the
Nirang, he either asks somebody else to pour water on his
hands, or resorts to the device of taking hold of the pot
through the intervention of a piece of cloth, such as a
handkerchief or his Sudra, i. e. his blouse. He first pours
water on one hand, then takes the pot in that hand and
washes his other hand, face and feet.'

Strange as this process of purification may appear, it becomes
perfectly disgusting when we are told that women, after childbirth,
have not only to undergo this sacred ablution, but have actually to
drink a little of the Nirang, and that the same rite is imposed on
children at the time of their investiture with the Sudra and Kusti,
the badges of the Zoroastrian faith. The Liberal party have completely
surrendered this objectionable custom, but the old school still keep
it up, though their faith, as Dadabhai Naoroji says, in the efficacy
of Nirang to drive away Satan may be shaken. 'The Reformers,' our
author writes, 'maintain that there is no authority whatever in the
original books of Zurthosht for the observance of this dirty practice,
but that it is altogether a later introduction. The old adduce the
authority of the works of some of the priests of former days, and say
the practice ought to be observed. They quote one passage from the
Zend-Avesta corroborative of their opinion, which their opponents deny
as at all bearing upon the point.' Here, whatever our own feelings may
be about the Nirang, truth obliges us to side with