dren were sacrificed in Mexico their hearts
were cooked and eaten, for sorcery.[1069]

+343. Judicial cannibalism.+ Another use of cannibalism in the in-group
is to annihilate one who has broken an important taboo. The notion is
frequently met with, amongst nature peoples, that a ghost can be got rid
of by utterly annihilating the corpse, e.g. by fire. Judicial
cannibalism destroys it, and the members of the group by this act
participate in a ritual, or sacramental ceremony, by which a criminal is
completely annihilated. Perhaps there may also be the idea of collective
responsibility for his annihilation. To take the life of a tribe comrade
was for a long time an act which needed high motive and authority and
required expiation. The ritual of execution was like the ritual of
sacrifice. In the Hebrew law some culprits were to be stoned by the
whole congregation. Every one must take a share in the great act. The
blood guilt, if there was any, must be incurred by all.[1070] Primitive
taboos are put on acts which offend the ghosts and may, therefore, bring
woe on the whole group. Any one who breaks a taboo commits a sin and a
crime, and excites the wrath of the superior powers. Therefore he draws
on himself the fear and horror of his comrades. They must extrude him by
banishment or death. They want to dissociate themselves from him. They
sacrifice him to the powers which he has offended. When his comrades eat
his corpse they perform a duty. They annihilate him and his soul
completely.

+344. Judicial cannibalism in ethnography.+ "A man found in the
harem of Muato-jamvos was cut in pieces and given, raw and warm,
to the people to be eaten."[1071] The Bataks employ judicial
cannibalism as a regulated system. They have no other
cannibalism. Adulterers, persons guilty of incest, men who have
had sex intercourse with the widow of a younger brother,
traitors, spies, and war captives taken with arms in their hands
are killed and eaten. The last-mentioned are cut in pieces alive
and eaten bit by bit in order to annihilate them in the most
shameful manner.[1072] The Tibetans and Chinese formerly ate all
who were executed by civil authority. An Arab traveler of the
ninth century mentions a Chinese governor who rebelled, and who
was killed and eaten. Modern cases of cannibalism are reported
from China. Pith balls stained with the blood of decapitated
criminals are used as medicine for