230 BUBEAtJ OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 34 



expose their little ones to measles and other contagious diseases, 

 believing that they must contract them sooner or later and that it is 

 better for them to get tlirough with the ordeal. They appreciate, 

 though it is impossible to say whether through their own deductions, 

 or through other channels, that one attack of such diseases gives 

 immunity for the future. 



A few hygienic observances that appear rational are the generally 

 observed sexual abstinence during menstruation; recognition of the 

 transmissibility of venereal diseases, with consequent employment of 

 practical safeguards against them; the knowledge of numerous 

 poisonous plants and animals, with the employment of antidotes; 

 and to a certain extent the use of the sweat bath and steaming. But 

 even concerning these matters occult views are often mingled with 

 the practical. Among the Walapai, Yuma, and others, some of the 

 chronically ill or helpless are isolated in special huts built near the 

 other habitations, but the practice is due to superstition and par- 

 ticularly to the desire to get rid of the inconveniences caused by the 

 patient (see pi. xxvii, h). 



A beneficial custom, which was probably general in former times 

 and is still followed in many localities, is the abandonment or destruc- 

 tion, after the death of an adult person, of the house in which he died, 

 and also the destruction of his clothing and other personal property. 

 Whatever may have been the original reason for this custom, to-day 

 many of the tribes recognize clearly that the burning of everything 

 with which the deceased came in contact hinders contagion. Among 

 the Ute the hut in which an adult person dies is burned and all 

 property of the deceased, even his pan and cup, is destroyed (see 

 pi. xxvii, c). The Navaho abandon the hut and bury most of the 

 property of the deceased with him. The Apache burn the hut with 

 all contents, including objects of metal. Among the San Carlos 

 Apache the burning of the dwelling and all its contents after the death 

 in it of a grown person is general. The people have now very sensible 

 ideas on the subject. They say they do not know what the person 

 died of, and if they should preserve the house or any of his belongings 

 and touch them they might contract the same disease and die also. 

 When they build a new khuva, they know it to be uncontaminated. 

 The Pima used to burn the dwelling in which a death occurred, but 

 do so no more. The Yuma and Mohave .abandon or burn the hut 

 and consign to the funeral pyre all the property of the dead. An 

 adult d}dng among the Zuiii is buried as soon as the habitual observ- 

 ances have been complied with; his blankets are buried with him; 

 his extra clothing and bedding are thrown away; the door of the 

 house is left wide open four days and nights ; then the house is white- 

 washed and the floor newly plastered with mud, after which the 

 dwelling is again ready for occupancy. The Tarahumare abandon 

 the dwelling in case of death within it. 



