200 CEREMONIAL INSTITUTIONS. 



parts with it, lie becomes the scoff and the scorn of all, and 

 hears himself called covetous and niggardly.&quot; But with a 

 few such exceptions, marks of wealth are regarded as marks 

 of honour, even by primitive peoples. Among the Mlsli- 

 mis, 



The skull of every animal that has graced the board, is hung up 

 as a record in the hall of the entertainer; . . . and when he dies, the 

 whole smoke-dried collection of many years is piled upon his grave 

 as a monument of his riches and a memorial of his worth.&quot; 

 A like usage occurs in Africa. &quot; The Bambarans,&quot; says 

 Caillie, &quot; hang on the outside of their huts the heads of all 

 the animals they eat; this is looked upon as a mark of gran 

 deur.&quot; And then on the Gold Coast, &quot; the richest man is 

 the most honoured, without the least regard to nobility.&quot; 

 Naturally the honouring of wealth, beginning in these early 

 stages, continues through subsequent stages; and signs of 

 wealth hence become class-distinctions: so originating vari 

 ous ceremonial restrictions. 



Carrying with us the two ruling ideas thus briefly exem 

 plified, we shall readily trace the genesis of sundry curious 

 observances. 



417. In tropical countries the irritation produced by 

 flies is a chief misery in life; and sundry habits which 

 in our eyes are repulsive, result from endeavours to mitigate 

 this misery. In the absence of anything better, the lower 

 races of mankind cover their bodies with films of dirt as 

 shields against these insect-enemies. Hence, apparently, 

 one motive for painting the skin. Juarros says: &quot; The 

 barbarians, or unreclaimed Indians, of Guatemala .... 

 always paint themselves black, rather for the purpose of 

 defence against mosquitoes than for ornament. 77 And then 

 we get an indication that where the pigment used, being 

 decorative and costly, is indicative of wealth, the abundant 

 use of it becomes honourable. In Tanna &quot; some of the 

 chiefs show their rank by an extra coat of pigment [red 



