30 MR. H. E. STAPLBTON ON SAL-AMMONIAC : 



already been given. In dealing with the second, I propose, for the sake of clearness, t6 

 confine myself almost entirely to a discussion of such beliefs in the magical properties of 

 Hair, as may reasonably be supposed to have been current among Muhammadans of Arabic 

 and Persian descent during the first five centuries from the Hijra} 



All magical rites spring from one source — the Pan-Animism of primitive races. To 

 the savage it is almost impossible to conceive of matter devoid of the Immaterial ; and 

 when a body happens to be tenanted by a living soul, primitive man, with world-wide 

 unanimity, agrees in extending the indwelling of the spirit to even such separable portions 

 of the body as blood, hair, teeth and natural secretions. An evident corollary to the same 

 idea is that " things which have once been conjoined must remain ever afterwards, even 

 when quite dissevered from each other, in such a sympathetic relation that whatever is 

 done to the one must similarly affect the other," 2 and from this it is but a step to the 

 practice of those magical rites by which men of all ages have striven to win control over 

 another's will or life. 



A familiar example among Semitic races of a belief in the connexion of a man's 

 spirit with his hair is the story of Samson and Delilah, but in order to afford a clearer 

 insight into the meaning of such beliefs, it may not be altogether inappropriate to illustrate 

 what I have just stated by a detailed description of two ceremonial observances of the 

 Muhammadans of modern India. 



I will first deal with the methods of Exorcism that are employed by Muhammadans in 

 the Madras Presidency. 



When a devil enters into a man, his relatives prevent it from escaping prematurely 

 by tying a knot in the demoniac's hair, and an exorcist ['dmt'l J-«tc] is summoned to expel 

 the evil being with due ceremony. The exorcist begins by ascertaining the name of the 

 demon, its place of origin, and the duration of its stay in the patient's body. Sometimes 

 this information is obtained without any trouble, but if the devil is obstinate, it can be 

 forced to speak by flogging the demoniac with a rattan over which an incantation has been 

 read. The evil spirit is afterwards appeased by being asked what kind of food it would 

 like as an offering on the day of its departure. 



On the appointed day the exorcist enquires of the devil the exact spot at which it 

 intends to leave the patient, and having obtained the necessary information, he follows the 

 demoniac about wherever he goes, holding on by his hair either at the back or on one side 

 of the head. "Wherever he may fall down, there he must let him lie ; and having read 

 the incantation, or the aet-ool-koorsec? over an iron nail or wooden peg, he is to strike it into 

 the ground. 4 The moment the demoniac falls down, the exorcist instantly plucks out one 



L It should, however, be understood that similar arguments may also be used in connexion with most, if not all, other organic 

 products. 



2 Frazer, The Golden Bough, 2nd ed., 1, p. 49. 



S < f>£S\ £>f {Ayatu-l-Kursl, ' the Verse of the Throne '), Verse 256 of the second Chapter of the Qur'an. 



4 The account is somewhat confused, but the use of the nail is apparently to peg the devil down, and so prevent him from 

 escaping while being transferred from the demoniac to the bottle. 



Similar ideas were current in Europe during the time of Pliny, e.g., a man could be injured by hammering a nail into an 

 image, or drawing, " Defigi quidem diris deprecationibus nemo non metuit " (Hist. Nat., XXVlII, 4) ; while epilepsy could be cured 



