ars that they had given up
cannibalism but still preserved the use of the skull as a drinking
vessel. Another modification of an original ritual cannibalism is the
custom of drinking the ashes of the dead, which is practised by some
African and South American tribes. The custom of holding burial feasts
has also been traced to the same origin. More incomprehensible to the
European than any other form of cannibalism is the custom of partaking
of the products of putrefaction as they run down from the body. The
Australians smoke-dry the bodies of tribesmen; here, too, it is the
custom to consume the portions of the body which are rendered liquid by
the heat. (c) The ritual cannibalism just mentioned shades over into and
may have been originally derived from magical cannibalism, of which
three sub-species may be distinguished. (i.) Savages are accustomed, on
the one hand, to abstain from certain foods in order that they may not
acquire certain qualities; on the other hand other foods are eagerly
desired in order that they may by partaking of the flesh also come to
partake of the mental or bodily peculiarities of the man or animal from
which the meat is derived; thus, after the birth of a child, especially
the first-born, the parents are frequently forbidden the flesh of
slow-moving animals, because that would prevent the child from learning
to walk; conversely, eating the heart of a lion is recommended for a
warrior to make him brave; from this point of view therefore we readily
understand the motives which lead to the eating of those slain in
battle, both friends and foes. (ii.) We may term protective an entirely
different kind of magical cannibalism, which consists in the consumption
of a small portion of the body of a murdered man, in order that his
ghost may not trouble the murderer; according to Hans Egede, the Eskimo,
when they kill a witch, eat a portion of her heart, that she may not
haunt them. (iii.) The practice is also said to have the effect of
causing the relatives of the murdered man to lose heart or to prevent
them from exercising the right of revenge; in this case it may be
brought into relation with the ceremony of the blood covenant in one of
the forms of which the parties drink each other's blood; or, it may
point to a reminiscence of a ritual eating of the dead kinsman. The late
survival of this idea in Europe is attested by its mention by Dante in
the _Purgatorio_. (d) The custom of eating food offered to