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 and stone idols set up in the temples, the potters the clay idols consumed in daily worship, and the braziers, coppersmiths, and goldsmiths the little images in brass and copper, mixed metal, and gold and silver which are always kept in private houses. Brass is largely used in their manufacture, alloyed with six other metals, gold, silver, iron, tin, lead, and mercury, making with the copper, and the zinc of the brass, a mixture of eight metals, which is deemed a perfect alloy, and very highly prized. Idols of pure gold and silver are also made, and in the Sastras great praise is bestowed on those who worship graven images of these precious metals. The larger idols are always cast in moulds, and after- wards finished with the chisel and file. The gold images of Durga, Lakshmi, Krishna, Radha, and Sarasvvati kept in private houses and worshipped daily, must not be less than one tola [nearly half an ounce] in weight, and they generally weigh three or four tolas. The images of Shitala [the goddess of small-pox] are always of silver, and weigh ten or twelve tolas. The images of Siva in his li/igam form are made of an amalgam of mercury and tin, and are esteemed most sacred. They are always very small, and are kept in all houses and used in the daily worship. Copper images of Surya, and of Siva riding on Nandi, and also, in many parts of India, of the serpent Miga, are kept in ail houses and are wor- shipped daily. Brazen images of many of the gods are also kept in private houses and daily worshipped : and images of Radha, Durga, Lakshmi and Siva in mixed metal. The images of the gods made of this perfect alloy may also be worshipped either at home or in the temples. The images of all the gods and goddesses are graven in stone, but they are generally worshipped only in the temples ; only a few very small ones being found in private houses, the greater number of those used in domestic worship being of the lingam form of Siva. The stone images seen in Bengal are gener- ally of black marble, but there are some at Benares which are white. Wooden images are never kept in private houses, but only in the temples. The nimba tree, Melia Azadirachta, furnishes the