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though obtainable and wholesome ? 2. Do the whole people 
abstain from it, or only certain families or individuals, or persons 
under some special circumstances P 3. Is the prohibition reli¬ 
gious or referred to custom and propriety ? 4. Is there a di¬ 
stinction between young and old, male and female, as to these 
prohibitions ? 5. Is the animal or plant abstained from in any 
way regarded as divine, a tribe-fetish, the incarnation of a local 
deity or personal guardian-spirit, or the soul of some ancestor ? 
is it the animal after which the tribe or family has its name ? 
6. If the food is abstained from at certain times only, are these 
occasions puberty, menstruation, pregnancy, the period after 
childbirth, mourning after a death, time of purification after 
manslaughter, times connected with hunting and war, time of 
preparation for observance of religious rites, &c. ? 7. Does it 
seem that the abstention has to do with fasting, and that it 
prepares the abstainer for spiritual intercourse ? 8. Is the idea 
that the food is holy, and persons in a state of uncleanness 
must not defile it by eating it ? 9. Or, on the other hand, is 
the person in a state of sanctity, and would the food defile him ? 
10. Is there any thing symbolical, as where the flesh of slow or 
cowardly animals is abstained from by warriors, lest they should 
become slow or cowardly? 11. Is there any particular caste or 
tribe, or member of family, who may eat what others may not, 
or may not eat what others may ? and why ? 12. Are any per¬ 
sons under any circumstances not allowed to eat with others ? 
13. Do men and women take their meals apart ? and is this a cere¬ 
monial usage, or a matter of inferiority ? 14. Are persons ever 
forbidden to feed themselves or touch their food with their 
hands ? 
15. Do any persons object to eating with, touching, speak¬ 
ing to, looking at, or calling by name other persons ? 16. Do 
these prohibitions apply to persons of different ranks, occu¬ 
pation, or caste ? 17. Are they between relations, as between 
parents-in-law and their children-in-law ? 18. If so, what 
appears to be the motive ? is the one holier than the other ? is 
there an idea of magical harm, or is it a mere question of social 
separation ? 
19. Are the names of chiefs, of dead persons, &c. avoided in 
conversation, and even excluded from the language? and if so, 
why ? 20. Are any special words or subjects considered improper 
or indecent ? 
21. Are any places or objects sacred or taboo ? 22. Is this with 
a religious idea, as in case of temples, idols, sacred pipe, &c. ? 
23. If so, who may enter or touch with impunity ? 24. Is 
