Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 13, 1902.djvu/75



appear to be a number of customs and superstitions connected with the place each child occupies in the family which, as far as I am aware, have not been fully recorded or explained.

These superstitions are apparently quite distinct from any of those which attach to children born under certain stars, or in certain months, or on certain days of the week.

The first-born has always held a peculiarly sacred position, especially if born in answer to a vow to parents who have long been without offspring, in which case sacrifice of the child was common in India. The Mairs used to sacrifice a first-born son to Mâtâ, the small-pox goddess, while Mohammadans throughout Northern India believe that first-born children can stop excessive rain by certain rites. On the other hand, a first-born son will in Telingana attract lightning.

Twins, as is well known, are peculiarly uncanny, but in Dahomey a boy born after twins has a special name (dosu), according to Burton (Mission to Gelele King of Dahomey, i., p. 99, Memorial Edition).

But many remarkable ideas cluster round the third conception, or round a child of one sex born after three children of the other sex.