practical or domestic; the other, the mythologic or religious. The
former is fairly exemplified in the habits, customs, games, and
experiences of our own domestic child life. The other is essentially
different; in it are involved the ceremonials, legends, and myths
which surround the Zuñi child from its birth.

Previous to the birth of a child, if a daughter be desired, the
husband and wife proceed together to the "mother" rock, and at her
feet make offerings and prayers, imploring her to intercede with
the great father, the Sun, to give to them a daughter, and that this
daughter may grow to be all that is good in woman; that she may be
endowed with the power of weaving beautifully and may be skilled in
the potter's art. Should a son be desired, the couple repair to the
shrine above, and here, at the breast and heart of the "father" rock,
prayers and plume sticks are offered that a son may be given them, and
that he may have power to conquer his enemies, and that he may become
distinguished in the Kōk-kō and other orders, and have power over
the field to produce abundant crops. In both cases the sacred meal is
sprinkled, and, should the prayer not be answered, there is no doubt
that the heart of one or the other was not earnest when the prayer was
offered.

The Zuñi child is born amid ceremony. At its birth only the maternal
grandmother and two female doctors are present. After the birth of the
child, the paternal grandmother enters, bearing as offerings to the
new born babe a large pottery bowl and inside of it a tiny blanket.
She then prepares warm suds of yucca root in the bowl, in which she
bathes the infant, at the same time repeating a prayer of thanks for
the life that has been given them and praying for the future of the
child. She then rubs the entire body of the child, except the head,