Manchester Memoirs, Vol. xlvi. (1902), No. 13. 19 



Mourning cries are raised, and amongst the Montagnais 

 the faces of the mourners are daubed with black. In the 

 case of profound grief it is the Huron practice to cut off a 

 handful of hair from the back of the head.* In addition to 

 this, other North American Indians {e.g., Comanches, 

 Sioux) scarify themselves, both men and women, especi- 

 ally the latter. These customs can, of course, be widely 

 illustrated. In ancient Greece the mourning women tore 

 their hair and cheeks and beat their breasts, and the men 

 cut off locks of hair to give to the dead. It has been 

 suggested^ that the bulk of mourning customs, such as 

 smearing the body with ashes, mud, paint, &c., mutilation 

 and gashes, cutting off hair, wearing unusual clothes, are 

 all means adopted for purposes of disguise, so that the 

 ghost of the dead shall not recognise the living. But we 

 have to remember that, besides the fear of ghosts of the 

 dead, there is also a desire for continued fellowship with 

 the kindred dead, under conditions, however, which will 

 make such fellowship free from danger.;]: In the case of 

 the Arunta tribe of Central Australia, it has recently been 

 pointed out that there is no idea in smearing the bodies 

 of the mourners with pipeclay, &c., of concealing their 

 identity from the dead. The idea is rather to render the 

 mourners more conspicuous, and prove to the dead that 

 proper sorrow is being shown by the proper persons.§ 

 The shedding of blood and the cutting off of hair are 

 symbolical acts, the object of which is to maintain the 

 bond of union with the dead. The Australians gash their 

 bodies upon the graves. In the same way the priests of 

 Baalll gashed themselves upon the altar, so that their blood 



*The Montagnais " cut a tuft of hair from the dead man to present 

 to his nearest relative." (vi., 211.) 



tj. G. YxdiZtr, Joiirii. Anthrop. Inst., xv., 64. 



t Robertson Smith, Religion of Semites, p. 370. 



§ Spencer and Gillen, Native Tribes of Central Australia, p. 51 1. 



II I. Kings, xviii., 28. 



