ORIGIN OF THERAPEUTIC BATHING 213 



phenomenon. Among some African tribes a concealed 

 miscarriage seems to be more deadly than anything, and 

 a woman who has procured abortion can kill a man by 

 lying with him. The medicine man makes a great deal 

 of this, as we can guess. Earth from the spot upon which 

 she has buried the child has to be put into the river, 

 while the place itself is sprinkled with water, and she has 

 to wash for several days with water in which earth has 

 been mingled. After that we shall all have rain again. 

 From examples of this kind, and many others to be found 

 in Frazer's Golden Bough, it may be inferred that much 

 of the use of water is sympathetic magic to get rain, 

 while it must be remembered that any unseemly and 

 wrong act of man or woman may not only dry up the 

 springs, but the very sky. There are, of course, many 

 means of ensuring rain. Twins are especially powerful 

 in this branch of medicine, and can readily be obtained 

 by physicians. On ancient principles it might be argued 

 that there would be little danger of drought if obstet- 

 ricians, meteorologists, and balneologists worked in com- 

 bination, although, in many cases among certain tribes 

 twins are regarded as a highly dangerous and abnormal 

 product : they are even killed in order to get rid of them. 

 Since water is so dangerous and powerful, washing 

 of any kind often appears to be something of a ceremony. 

 It is not therefore wonderful that washing the head, the 

 most important part of the body, is a very serious matter 

 among many races, even those called civilized. Among 

 the poor a bath of any kind appears to be an ordeal, not 

 a luxury. In Siam one observer knew a native preacher 

 who washed his head monthly. The whole process took 

 three days, one for preparation, one for the tremendous 

 act, and the third for recovery. In old days the King 



