74 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



spring, was historically connected with the departure from Egypt. 

 The ceremonies are too well known to require narration, but will 

 readily be compared with those of the Indians. 



Incense. The use of incense among Indians was the same as 

 among Israelites i. e., to bring and to please the spirit addressed. 

 A genuine instance among the Iroquois was where tobacco was 

 offered as late as 1882, and in archaic formal language still pre- 

 served, translated as follows : 



Address to the fire : " Bless thy grandchildren, protect and 

 strengthen them. By this tobacco we give thee a sweet-smelling 

 sacrifice, and ask thy care to keep us from sickness and famine." 



Address to the thunder : " O grandfather ! thou large-voiced, 

 enrich and bless thy grandchildren ; cause it to rain, so that the 

 earth may produce food for us. We give this tobacco, as thou 

 hast kept us from all manner of monsters." 



The Dakotas not only burned tobacco in their " buffalo medi- 

 cine " to bring the herds, but often fragrant grass. Other tribes 

 burned the leaves of the white cedar. These forms of incense 

 were sometimes used to entice the inimical spirits, the shaman 

 being supposed to be able, when they had arrived in the form of 

 a bear or some other animal, to kill them with his rattle. Some 

 of the Indians believed that incense and sacrifices generally were 

 to be used only for the spirits from whom they feared harm. They 

 said it was not necessary to trouble themselves about the good 

 spirits, who were all right anyhow. 



Fetiches. Among many of the tribes of Indians there is a tri- 

 bal totem (and often several clan totems) which, in later times 

 becoming chiefly symbolic and emblematic, was once used in ob- 

 jective form for the most important religious purposes. Particu- 

 larly, it was carried on extensive warlike expeditions. Adair, 

 who calls it an "ark," describes it as made of pieces of wood, 

 fastened together in the form of a square, to be carried on the 

 back. It was never placed on the ground, nor did the bearers sit 

 on the earth even when they halted. In many other tribes it was 

 a bag of skins and its contents varied, but generally were " blessed " 

 or " sacred " fragments of wood, stone, or bone. Among the Oma- 

 ha it was a large shell, covered with various envelopes, and was 

 never wholly exposed to sight, for that would occasion death or 

 blindness. 



A custodian was appointed every four years by the old men of 

 the Blackfeet, to take charge of the sacred pipe, pipe-stem, mat, 

 and other implements, which he alone was permitted to handle. 



The ark of the Israelites was probably derived from the Egyp- 

 tians, who had a real ark which was carried on the shoulders of 

 the priests in processions. When the exodus began, the Egyptian 

 ark for convenience was changed into a chest fitted with staves 



