139 
or is there a notion that there is merit in the worshipper 
giving them up ? 206. Are human sacrifices made ? if so, are 
the victims captives or slaves, or the sacrificed own children, 
or who ? 207. Are the bodies burned or exposed or eaten ? 
208. Are the souls of the victims considered to go to the 
deity ? 209. Are substitutes in sacrifice used, such as part of 
an animal, an effigy, or imitation? 210. Do worshippers 
sacrifice parts of themselves, such as hair, tips of fingers, 
drops of blood, &c. ? 211. Are oblations and libations usual 
at meals ? and to whom ? (Food No. XXV.). 
Austerities. —212. Do priests, devotees, or the whole nation 
perform religious austerities, such as fasting, flagellation, ex¬ 
posure, &c. ? 213. What are the motives ? Are spiritual com¬ 
munications ever obtained by dreams, visions, &c. 214. Does 
the suffering of the worshipper give pleasure to the deity ? 
215. Is it a self-imposed punishment for offences ? 216. Are 
austere devotees considered holy ? and are they respected and 
supported by the people ? 217. Is public penance and mortifi¬ 
cation done on any solemn occasion? 218., Can the divine 
anger be thus averted ? 
Purification. —219. Are ceremonial purifications practised ? 
220. Are any persons at any time impure or unclean, and re¬ 
quiring purification, as after child-birth, during menstruation, 
after bloodshed or funeral, &c. ? 221. Do they purify them¬ 
selves, or is it the priest’s office ? 222. What is used for lustra¬ 
tion—water, urine, herbs, fire, smoke ? 223. Does any kind of 
baptism exist ? how soon after birth, and connected or not with 
the naming ? 224. Is there an understood distinction between 
physical, ceremonial, and moral purification ? 225. Are disease, 
ill-fortune, contamination by contact with the dead, violation 
ofreligious ordinances,and moral wickedness capable of being 
removed by purification ? 226. Is the cleaning of the house¬ 
hold and lighting of new fire a part of the purification ? 227. Is 
unchastity, &c., connected with ceremonial impurity ? and 
how is it atoned ? 228. Are the same words used to denote 
bodily cleanness and moral purity ? 
Special and Miscellaneous Ceremonies , &c. —229. Are there 
other religious ceremonies connected with birth, marriage, 
