NORTHERN LIGHTS. 801 



being detached from the body.* The Salish Indians of Oregon 

 regard the spirit as distinct from the vital principle, and capable 

 of quitting the body for a short time without the patient being 

 conscious of its absence f ; while the Dakotas are said to believe 

 in four " souls." The first belief seems to resemble the kra theory ; 

 but here, as in most other cases, the use of the word " soul " tends 

 to confuse the subject. 



When attention is called to the subject, many more instances 

 will no doubt be forthcoming ; but here, at all events, is something 

 to work upon : and, having regard to the great strides which the 

 science of anthropology is making in the United States, it will not 

 be difficult for American anthropologists to determine whether a 

 belief in the possession of a third element by man is common to 

 many tribes of the northern continent, and, if so, whether the 

 origin of Nature-worship among such tribes may be attributed to 

 an extension of this belief to natural objects and features. 



-- 



NORTHERN LIGHTS. 



Br welhelm stosz. 



THE inhabitants of northern Europe, who passed their days in 

 the midst of vast forests, and whose fancy fashioned the forms 

 of heroes and of gods from the mists that hung over their vales, 

 naturally associated with the gods they worshiped the phenom- 

 ena of northern lights, which to them were revealed in all their 

 splendor. Thus, the Edda gives descriptions of naming steeds 

 speeding to Walhalla, and of valkyries dashing on through seeth- 

 ing flames. Nations that as yet rest close to Nature's breast do 

 not seek explanations of such phenomena ; while those that have 

 risen to a higher plane of culture are in possession of simple de- 

 scriptions of these occurrences, and also of crude attempts at 

 investigating Nature's wonders. Thus, in the old writings of the 

 Chinese, whose realm was a flourishing one two thousand years 

 before our time, there may be found many accounts of the occur- 

 rence of northern lights. They observed red vapors arise in the 

 northern heavens, which spread evenly to both sides ; sometimes 

 the fiery sheen was encircled by a large white bow, and flaming 

 rays pierced the vapors. Such descriptions can only refer to 

 northern lights. 



In the Greek and Latin classics we find more detailed descrip- 

 tions of similar phenomena. Aristotle, Cicero, Seneca, Pliny, 

 Lucan, Plutarch, Tacitus, and others describe the appearance of 



* Tanner's "Narrative," p. 291. f "Primitive Culture," vol. i, p. 437. 



