238 ETHNOLOGY. 



interred subsequently to being denuded of the flesb and tbe other soft 

 parts of the body. 



Besides the foregoing instances of this curious custom wliich have 

 been brought immediately to my knowledge, I have since been informed 

 of a skull having been found at Saginaw, Mich., which presented the 

 peculiarity ; but in this case there were three perforations, arranged 

 triangularly — cocoa-nut fashion. 



Fig. 4. 





\^' 



Perforation, Sable River skull, full size. F, frontal. 



All inquiry which I had made of learned societies or individuals in 

 regard to this observance elicited an utter disclaiming of all knowledge 

 on the subject. The two largest collections in ethnology in this country-, 

 the Smithsonian Institution and the Peabody Museum, contain no evi- 

 dence of it. Prof. Joseph Ilenry, in replying to my queries, stated that 

 the only information he had procured in relation to perforated skulls 

 was the following note from Professor Mason, of Columbian College, 

 Washington : ♦' It is an interesting coincidence that the head-hunting 

 Dyaks of Borneo have a house in the center of their village, in an upper 

 story of which they keep the beads which they capture suspended by a 



