hereafter. In ancient Persia
corpses were thrown out for the dogs to devour. There was also the
custom of leading a dog to the bed of a dying man who presented him with
food, just as Cerberus was given honey-cakes by Hercules in his journey
to hell. But I have not been able to obtain any corroboration of this
supposition. It is a remarkable coincidence that the Great Mother has
been identified with the necrophilic vulture as Mut; and it has been
claimed by some writers[285] that, just as the jackal was regarded as a
symbol of rebirth in Egypt and the dead were exposed for dogs to devour
in Persia, so the vulture's corpse-devouring habits may have been
primarily responsible for suggesting its identification with the Great
Mother and for the motive behind the Indian practice of leaving the
corpses of the dead for the vultures to dispose of.[286] It is not
uncommon to find, even in English cathedrals, recumbent statues of
bishops with dogs as footstools. Petronius ("Sat.," c. 71) makes the
following statement: "valde te rogo, ut secundum pedes statuae meae
catellam pingas--ut mihi contingat tuo beneficio post mortem
vivere".[287] The belief in the dog's service as a guide to the dead
ranges from Western Europe to Peru.

To return to the story of the dog and the mandrake: no doubt the demand
will be made for further evidence that the mandrake actually assumed the
role of the pearl in these stories. If the remarkable repertory of
magical properties assigned to the mandrake[288] be compared with those
which developed in connexion with the cowry and the pearl,[289] it will
be found that the two series are identical. The mandrake also is the
giver of life, of fertility to women, of safety in childbirth; and like
the cowry and the pearl it exerts these magical influences only if it be
worn in contact with the wearer's skin.[290] But the most definite
indication of the mandrake's homology with the pearl is provided by the
legend that "it shines by night". Some scholars,[291] both ancient and
modern, have attempted to rationalize this tradition by interpreting it
as a reference to the glow-worms that settle on the plant! But it is
only one of many attributes borrowed by the mandrake from the pearl,
which was credited with this remarkable reputation only when early
scientists conceived the hypothesis that the gem was a bit of moon
substance.

As the memory of the real history of these beliefs grew dim, confusion
was rapidly intro