108 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITL'TK. 



When worked into a state of trance by personal exertions, the 

 singing of liis own magic chant, the incessant beating of drums and 

 the rattling of the Castanet with which he acconijjanied his dance, 

 the shaman would declare himself to have fallen under the control of 

 his familiar genius. Therefore, pointing its image (fish, bird, 

 mammal, etc.) in the direction of the patient, he would dance towards 

 him and drop on his head his spirit's representatives which (eye 

 witnesses assure me) would at once fade away. Then sucking that 

 part of the body which most ached, he would take out of his mouth 

 either a thorn, a bug, a toad, etc., which he would exhibit as the 

 cause of the complaint. Then, after a momentary recess from the 

 patient he would dance back to him and lo ! the image of his genius 

 would come back of itself to his outstietched arms, and the patient 

 would shortly feel all right. 



In desperate cases, when the patient had already lost consciousness 

 and death seemed to be fast approaching, the conjuror, if he was at 

 all acquainted with his art, would, in the course of singing and 

 dancing, suddenly fall apparentlj' sen.seless to the ground and feigning 

 sleep, he would dream and be supposed to have gone to the regions of 

 the ghosts. In badly articulated words he would be heard beseeching 

 the moribund's shade or self to return to his body, for the sake of his 

 friends, etc. ; after some little time he would awaken at the propei" 

 moment, and cautiously and noiselessly take said shade in the hollow 

 of his hands, and with repeated insufflations restore it to the patient's 

 head. Was this really an effect of an over excited imagination on 

 the part of a half conscious subject, or was it due to jn-eternatural 

 forces ? Be this as it may, the elderly men all assure me that in such 

 cases the moribund immediately revived. 



To the proper understanding of the foregoing, I must say a word 

 concerning aboriginal [jsychology. The Denes believed man to be 

 vivified by a soul which to them w^as nothing else than his natural 

 warmth {nezoel) and which as such died with the body. But besides 

 this, they credited every human being — indeed many still hold to that 

 belief — ^with the possession of another self or shade (netsin) which 

 was invisible as long as he enjoyed good health, but appeared wan- 

 dering about in one form or another wiienever disease or death 

 was imminent. In order therefore to prevent either the one or the 



