54 2 The National Geographic Magazine 



invariably sends his children home. 

 The fact is there are but very few 

 European children in Bombay, and the 

 European population consists mainly of 

 the adult class ; hence the death rate 

 among them would naturally be the 

 minimum. The Parsee has many chil- 



A Parsee School Girl in Regulation 

 Dress 



dren ; therefore it can be well stated that 

 the mortality rate is decidedly in favor 

 of the Parsee. 



The reason that brought a custom 

 into life in the East may have long since 

 ceased to exist and is perhaps forgotten, 

 yet the custom may be continued. On 



seeking to learn why, one is met with 

 the answer, " It is an immemorial cus- 

 tom" or "It is part of religion," when 

 in fact religion has little to do with it. 

 But religion has a broad back. 



After some devastating famine in 

 times gone by cattle became scarce, and 

 to encourage their increase became a 

 necessity. The cow with the high 

 hump was selected by the Brahmin 

 caste or some powerful rajah and pro- 

 nounced sacred ; hence she was per- 

 mitted to propagate and roam at will ; 

 yet today it would seem difficult to give 

 a reason why one kind of a cow more 

 than another, or even why any, should 

 be considered sacred. 



SOME PECULIAR CUSTOMS 



In the early days the use of soaps 

 and disinfectants were unknown. The 

 urine of cows was found to contain an 

 element of ammonia. The Parsees were 

 taught to use it for cleansing and puri- 

 fying purposes and as a disinfectant. 

 Surely the reason for the practice of 

 this disgusting and filthy habit has long 

 ceased ; yet, strange to say, it is still 

 continued in use today, and it is even 

 said to have a religious sanction. A 

 corpse, though it may have died of 

 plague or other contagious disease, is 

 first washed and disinfected (?) with the 

 product of the cow before being borne 

 on an open bier through the public 

 streets of Bombay to the Towers of 

 Silence. 



In connection with the ceremony of 

 the dead, the face of a deceased Parsee 

 is exposed three or four times to the 

 gaze of a dog during the funeral oration 

 and the dog is finally led, following the 

 corpse, to the Towers of Silence. One 

 is told that the dog is supposed to guide 

 the soul of the dead toward heaven and 

 to ward off the bad influences of evil 

 spirits to which it may be exposed. 

 The exact object and meaning of this 

 strange ceremony cannot be satisfacto- 

 rily given. The better- educated Par- 



