BOI-KKE.) HAIR POWDER., f&amp;gt;35 



chi, of South America, and by the tribes of the Isthmus of Darien. 2 

 This down has also been used by some of the Australians in their 

 sacred dances/ 1 &quot; The hair, or rather the wool upon their heads, was 

 very abundantly powdered with white powder. . . . They powder 

 not only their heads, but their beards too. 



In China &quot; there is a widespread superstition that the feathers of birds, 

 after undergoing certain incantations, are thrown up into the air, and 

 being carried away by the wind work blight and destruction wherever 

 they alight.&quot; 



The down of birds seems not to have been unknown in Europe. To 

 this day it is poured upon the heads of the bride and groom in wed 

 dings among the Russian peasantry. 5 



This leads up to the inquiry whether or not the application of tar 

 and feathers to the person may not at an early period have been 1111 

 act of religions significance, perverted into a ridiculous and infamous 

 punishment by a conquering and unrelenting hostile sect. The sub 

 ject certainly seems to have awakened the curiosity of the learned 

 Buckle, whose remarks may as well be given. 



Hichard, during his stay in Normandy (1189), made some singular 

 laws for regulating the conduct of the pilgrims in their passage by 

 sea. &quot;A robber, convicted of theft, shall be shaved in the manner 

 of a champion; and boiling pitch poured upon his head, and the 

 feathers of a pillow shaken over his head to distinguish him; and In- 

 landed at the first port where the ships shall stop.&quot;&quot; 



The circumstances mentioned in the text respecting tarring and 

 feathering is a flue subject for comment by the searchers into popular 

 antiquities. 7 



HAIR POWDER. 



Speaking of the &quot;duvet&quot; or down, with which many American savage 

 tribes deck themselves, Picart observes very justly: &quot;Get ornetnentest 

 bizare, mais dans le fond 1 est il beaucoup plus que cette poudre d or 

 dont les Anciens, se poudroient la tete, ou que cette poudre composee 

 d amidon avec laquelle nos petits maitres modernes aft ectent de blan- 

 chir leurs cheveux ou leurs perruques? &quot; 



Picart does not say, and perhaps it would not be wise for us to sur 

 mise, that these modes of powdering had a religious origin. 



The custom of powdering the hair seems to be a savage &quot; survival;&quot; 

 at least, it is still to be found &quot;among the Friendly Islanders, among 



1 I eter Martyr, in Hakluyt s Voyages, vol. 5, p. 4tiO. 

 2 Bancroft, Nat. Races of the Pacific Slope, vol. 1, p. 750. 



Smyth, Aborigines of Victoria, vol. 1, p. &quot;:!; vol. 2, \i. 302. Si-ci also Carteret s description of the 

 natives of the Queen Charlotte Islands, visited l&amp;gt;y him in 1767. 

 4 Hawkesworth, Voyages, vol. 1, p. 379. 



Perry S. Heath, A Hoosier in Russia, New York, 18SH, p. 114. 

 * Foshrooke, British Monachism, p. 442. 



7 See works cited in Buckle s Common place Book. vol. 2, of &quot; Works,&quot; London, 1872, p. 47. 

 Picart. Ceremonies &amp;lt;&amp;gt;t Continue* Keliyienses. vol. 6, p. 20. 



