92 ELLIOT SMITH, Distribution of Mummification. 



of these matters, except to note in passing that the in- 

 fluence exerted by the " heliolithic " culture upon the 

 Pacific coast of America may have been exerted partly 

 by the East Asiatic- Aleutian route (see Map II.). 



The disgusting practice of collecting the fluids which 

 drip from the putrefying corpse and mixing them with 

 the food for the living occurs in Indonesia, in New 

 Guinea and the neighbouring islands, in Melanesia, 

 Polynesia and in Madagascar (for the bibliographical 

 references see Hertz, p. 83, footnote 3), 



The Indonesian methods of preserving the dead are 

 found in Seram ( W. J. Perry), and the report recently 

 published by Lorenz 16 (43, p 22) records a similar practice 

 in the neighbourhood of Dore Bay in North-West New 

 Guinea. The corpse was tied to the rafter of the 

 dwelling-house ; and the practice of mixing the juices of 

 decomposition with the food is in vogue also. The 

 accounts given by D'Albertis (I) and other travellers 

 show that analogous customs are found at other places in 

 New Guinea. There can be no doubt that the practice 

 spread along the north coast of the island and then 

 around its eastern extremity to reach the islands of the 

 Torres Straits, where the practice is seen in its fully 

 developed form, as Flower (19), Haddon and Myers (25), 

 and Hamlyn-Harris (27) have described. 



As I have already referred to Papuan mummies earlier 

 in this communication and at some future time intend to 

 devote a special memoir to the full discussion of the 

 methods of the Torres Straits embalmers, I shall not go 

 into the matter in detail here. I should like, however, 

 to call special attention to the admirable account given 

 by Haddon and Myers (25) of the associated funeral rites. 



10 For tiiis and certain other references I have lo thank my colleague 

 Professor S.J. Ilickson, F.R.S. So far I have been unable to consult the 

 full reports of Lorenz's expedition. 



