BULLETIN 39, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. [10] 



or lo dry up, the soft parts to such a degree that the saving of the 

 skeleton or the whole body is quite easy. If the bodies are interred 

 the rapidit}^ of disintegration in the soft parts difi'ers much according 

 to the soil, moisture, depth of burial, amount of clothing, etc. At 

 the least, it takes about a year before the bones can be removed with- 

 out much discomfort. There is, it appears from experience, no danger 

 of infection from a body that has lain that long in the earth; but if 

 any clothing remains in the grave of a recently buried individual, dead 

 from an infectious disease, it better not be handled before a thorough 

 disinfection. 



It is to be understood that in all cases the collector should be pro- 

 vided with the proper consent or legal authorization. 



II. — SOURCES OF SKELETAL REMAINS AMONG MORE PRIMITIVE PEOPLES. 



These sources comprise mainly burials; bodies that have been aban- 

 doned; the specially preserved skulls of relatives or enemies; and occa- 

 sionally, bodies to be found after executions, or in some hospital, 

 morgue, or dissecting room. 



The modes of burial and the care taken of, or sentiments attached to, 

 the dead vary greatly with different tribes, and a good local knowledge 

 of the same as well as judgment and tact are quite essential to success- 

 ful collection. 



Some care almost as a rule is attached by the relatives or the commu- 

 nity to graves comparatively recent, but there are exceptions. Older 

 burials, particularly those of individuals not remembered and the 

 burials of individuals not belonging to the tribe that occupies the ter- 

 ritory at the time, are cared for much less or not at all, or are even 

 feared or hated, and thus offer good opportunities. 



Bodies of those slain in battle are often abandoned by the defeated 

 tribe and either left exposed or buried in a heap. As most or all of 

 the fallen were men in good physical condition, such material, if not 

 mixed, is particular!}^ valuable. 



Those who died of certain diseases, more rarely the aged or helpless, 

 and in some instances new-born children, are abandoned by their peo- 

 ple and may afford some opportunity to the collector. 



There are still tribes on this continent, but particularly in the Phil- 

 ippines, Borneo, Formosa, Andaman Islands, New Guinea, certain 

 parts of Africa, etc., among whom the skulls or all skeletal parts of 

 relatives, or the skulls of the enemies, are cleaned, not seldom deco- 

 rated, and at least for a time guarded. Generally such material is not 

 easy to obtain, 37et limited collections of it had been made by a number 

 of travelers or explorers, showing that the acquisition is not impossible. 



Executions of criminals or captives belonging to primitive tribes are 

 not rare, and the opportunities should be fully utilized for the benefit 

 of science. And the same is true of individuals of other races than 



