ct a great number of persons formed
an academy called The Synapothanoumenes, who had for their object the
idea of dying together. In Western Europe, as shown in the ceremonies
of the Druids, we find among the Celts a propensity for suicide and an
indifference to self-torture. The Gauls were similarly minded,
believing in the dogma of immortality and eternal repose. They thought
little of bodily cares and ills. In Greece and Rome there was always an
apology for suicide and death in the books of the philosophers. "Nil
igitur mors est, ad nos neque pertinet hilum; quando quidem natura
animi mortalis habetur!" cries Lucretius. With the advent of
Christianity, condemning as it did the barbarous customs of
self-mutilation and self-murder, these practices seem to disappear
gradually; but stoicism and indifference to pain were exhibited in
martyrdom. Toward the middle ages, when fanaticism was at its height
and the mental malady of demoniacal possession was prevalent, there was
something of a reversion to the old customs. In the East the Juggernaut
procession was still in vogue, but this was suppressed by civilized
authorities; outside of a few minor customs still prevalent among our
own people we must to-day look to the savage tribes for the
perpetuation of such practices.

In an excellent article on the evolution of ceremonial institutions
Herbert Spencer mentions the Fuegians, Veddahs, Andamanese, Dyaks,
Todas, Gonds, Santals, Bodos, and Dhimals, Mishmis, Kamchadales, and
Snake Indians, as among people who form societies to practice simple
mutilations in slight forms. Mutilations in somewhat graver forms, but
still in moderation, are practiced by the Tasmanians, Tamaese, the
people of New Guinea, Karens, Nagas, Ostiaks, Eskimos, Chinooks,
Comanches, and Chippewas. What might be called mixed or compound
mutilations are practiced by the New Zealanders, East Africans, Kondes,
Kukas, and Calmucks. Among those practising simple but severe
mutilations are the New Caledonians, the Bushmen, and some indigenous
Australians. Those tribes having for their customs the practice of
compound major mutilations are the Fiji Islanders, Sandwich Islanders,
Tahitians, Tongans, Samoans, Javanese, Sumatrans, natives of Malagasy,
Hottentots, Damaras, Bechuanas, Kaffirs, the Congo people, the Coast
Negroes, Inland Negroes, Dahomeans, Ashantees, Fulahs, Abyssinians,
Arabs, and Dakotas. Spencer has evidently made a most extensive and
comprehensiv