Manchester Memoirs, Vol. xlvi. (1902), No. \%. 29 



easier. Father Breboeuf says that the Hurons had special 

 ceremonies for the burial of little children who die less 

 than a month or two old. The bodies were interred on the 

 road or pathway in order that they might secretly enter 

 the womb of any passing woman and be born again. In 

 West Africa, too, Miss Kingsley says that the bodies of 

 little children are thrown near the path in order that their 

 souls may choose a new mother from the women who 

 pass by.* In Central Australia we are told that there is 

 a round stone with a hole on one side through which the 

 spirit children are supposed to be on the loak-out for 

 women who may chance to pass near, and it is firmly 

 believed that a visit to this stone will result in conception. 

 A woman who wishes a child will go to the stone ; a 

 woman who does not wish will wrap her head up when 

 she passes.f Other instances amongst savages could be 

 given. Coming to more civilised nations, we find that in 

 ancient Rome the bodies of children who had not cut 

 their teeth were buried, not burnt.| There is also a state- 

 ment coming from a late authority, Fulgentius, that 

 infants were buried under the eaves.§ The Hindus, who 

 practice cremation, do not burn the bodies of infants ; 

 they bury them if they are under two years of age, or 

 unless they have cut all their teeth. In the case of Rome, 

 the ancient ritual or custom survived after the belief had 

 disappeared. 



The savage notion has been given fully in recent 

 accounts of the Central Australian tribes. With them 

 there are certain totem centres connected with different 

 localities. The child belongs to the totem associated 

 with the locality in which the mother was at the time of 



• Miss Kingsley, op. cit. , p. 478. 



t Spencer and Gillen, op. cit., p. 337. 



X Pliny, Nat. Hist., vii., 72-Juv. xv., 140. 



§ cf. Classical Review, xi., 33 ff. 



