48 Science Religion and Reality 



conventionalised and dramatised outburst of grief and wailing in 

 sorrow, which often passes among savages into bodily lacerations 

 and the tearing of hair. This is always done in a public dis- 

 play and is associated with visible signs of mourning, such as 

 black or white daubs on the body, shaven or dishevelled hair, 

 strange or torn garments. 



The immediate mourning goes on round the corpse. This, 

 far from being shunned or dreaded, is usually the centre of 

 pious attention. Often there are ritual forms of fondling or 

 attestations of reverence. The body is sometimes kept on the 

 knees of seated persons, stroked and embraced. At the same time 

 these acts are usually considered both dangerous and repugnant, 

 duties to be fulfilled at some cost to the performer. After a time 

 the cqrpse has to be disposed of. Inhumation with an open or 

 closed grave ; exposure in caves or on platforms, in hollow trees 

 or on the ground in some wild desert place ; burning or setting 

 adrift in canoes — these are the usual forms of disposal. 



This brings us to perhaps the most important point, the two- 

 fold contradictory tendency, on the one hand to preserve the body, 

 to keep its form intact, or to retain parts of it ; on the other hand 

 the desire to be done with it, to put it out of the way, to annihilate 

 it completely. Mummification and burning are the two extreme 

 expressions of this two-fold tendency. It is impossible to regard 

 mummification or burning or any intermediate form as determined 

 by mere accident of belief, as a historical feature of some culture 

 or other which has gained its universality by the mechanism of 

 spread and contact only. For in these customs is clearly expressed 

 the fundamental attitude of mind of the surviving relative, friend 

 or lover, the longing for all that remains of the dead person and the 

 disgust and fear of the dreadful transformation wrought by death. 



One extreme and interesting variety in which this double- 

 edged attitude is expressed in a gruesome manner is sarco-canni- 

 balism, a custom of partaking in piety of the flesh of the dead 

 person. It is done with extreme repugnance and dread and 

 usually followed by a violent vomiting fit. At the same time it 

 is felt to be a supreme act of reverence, love, and devotion. In 

 fact it is considered such a sacred duty that among the Melanesians 

 of New Guinea, where I have studied and witnessed it, it is still 

 performed in secret, although severely penalised by the white 

 Government. The smearing of the body with the fat of the dead, 



