POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



569 



tity of the deceased; but in certain condi- 

 tions of life, as during war or the chase, cre- 

 mation was employed. At least a handful 

 of dust had to be sprinkled over the corpse 

 before the spirit could obtain repose ; its 

 neglect was regarded with horror. The same 

 motive dictated the rearing of cenotaphs. The 

 tomb was constructed on the model of the 

 house. The deceased was furnished with all 

 the necessaries for his new home — attendants 

 and wives, dogs and horses, weapons, cloth- 

 ing, and earthenware. As to the abode of the 

 dead, the earliest theory was that the soul 

 became ethereal, passing into the wind, or 

 fire, or constellations. The exact locality 

 was uncertain, because of the nebulous char- 

 acter of their life, for they followed certain 

 Great Spirits. Then the region of bliss was 

 placed in the west. The germs of a theory 

 of recompense and punishment were found 

 early. No doubt the idea gained in clear- 

 ness when they came into contact with the 

 Semites. Transmigration, regeneration, and 

 purification belonged to a later time. The 

 relation between the living and the departed 

 was a wide question. In addition to the care 

 taken at burial, there was constant commu- 

 nication — e. g., in dreams. Hence the re- 

 spect shown to (1) kindly spirits, like the 

 pitaras, fravashi, manes, etc. — the givers of 

 wealth ; (2) the evil-disposed, like the lemures 

 or larvae. This gave rise to ancestral wor- 

 ship, and was connected with the sustenta- 

 tion of the family ; children were buried un- 

 der the eaves of houses, and did not need 

 propitiation. Thus the worshipers were ac- 

 tuated by fear and sympathy. 



Cultivation of Sunflowers. — The history 

 of the cultivation of the sunflower in Russia 

 is easily written, for it was begun in 1842 by 

 one Bokareff, at Voronezh, for the purpose 

 of making oil from the seed. It has now 

 extended to the adjacent provinces in the 

 Volga basin, so that the acreage in sunflow- 

 ers increased from 367,800 acres in 1881 to 

 704,500 acres in 1887. Sunflowers with 

 small seeds are cultivated for the oil, and 

 those with large seeds for eating the seeds 

 as nuts. The oil is extremely nutritious, and 

 has a pleasant flavor. Another source of 

 profit is found in the residual cake, for which 

 there is a constant and growing demand 

 abroad. The shells or husks of the seeds 



also form a valuable article of trade as fuel, 

 when wood is scarce ; and the seed " cups " 

 are prized by farmers as food for sheep. The 

 money value per acre of the crop is large, 

 perhaps superior to that of any other crop 

 cultivated in Russia. The methods of culti- 

 vation are various. Some of the Russian 

 farmers invariably sow sunflowers after wheat 

 or rye, and others only after oats. Others 

 advocate sowing after clover, and some con- 

 sider it most profitable to put sunflowers into 

 land which, after four or five crops, has lain 

 fallow for two years. On the other hand, it 

 seems generally admitted to be a mistake to 

 sow grains immediately after a sunflower 

 crop, an interval of a year being necessary 

 to rest the land. Some of the farmers of 

 Voronezh sow sunflowers in the same field 

 for seven years in succession ; then sow 

 buckwheat ; and then, after a year's rest, 

 rye. As firewood, the stalks of the sunflower 

 plants produce a bright, hot flame quickly, 

 and form a pleasant and fragrant fire. An 

 acre of sunflowers will yield about a ton of 

 this fuel. As the sunflower is rich in potas- 

 sium, even the ashes have a commercial value 

 for fertilizing purposes. 



Respect for Books. — The London Spec- 

 tator remarks upon the respect which the 

 average Briton has for libraries in them- 

 selves, no matter how little he reads or how 

 averse he may be to spending money for 

 books, as one of the most inexplicable fea- 

 tures of his character. " The impressiveness 

 of a library," it says, " is felt by classes far 

 outside the one which passes its life in using 

 books. The ordinary population of an ordi- 

 nary town, though it will not always vote the 

 cost of a free library, is proud to believe that 

 the town library is a good one, regards its 

 increase as something to be recorded with 

 triumph, and enters the rooms in which it is 

 kept with a kind of awe. It is considered a 

 mark of caste to possess a good library, and 

 a house will sell better because there is a 

 room in it which has been devoted to the 

 keeping of books, and that to men who would 

 regard a day spent among books ... as in- 

 tolerably tedious." The feeling is said to 

 extend to those who can not read, " and it is 

 undoubtedly true that servants, though they 

 will neglect a library to any extent, and ap- 

 parently believe that dust on book-shelves 



