saw horses' bones exhumed from the graves examined
in 1873. The writer has frequently conversed with Indians upon this
subject, and they have invariably informed him that when horses were
slain great care was taken to select the poorest of the band.

Tree-burial was not uncommon among the nations of antiquity, for the
Colchians enveloped their dead in sacks of skin and hung them to trees;
the ancient Tartars and Scythians did the same. With regard to the use
of scaffolds and trees as places of deposit for the dead, it seems
somewhat curious that the tribes who formerly occupied the eastern
portion of our continent were not in the habit of burying in this way,
which, from the abundance of timber, would have been a much easier
method than the ones in vogue, while the western tribes, living in
sparsely-wooded localities, preferred the other. If we consider that the
Indians were desirous of preserving their dead as long as possible, the
fact of their dead being placed in trees and scaffolds would lead to the
supposition that those living on the plains were well aware of the
desiccating property of the dry air of that arid region. This
desiccation would pass for a kind of mummification.

The particular part of the mourning ceremonies, which consisted in loud
cries and lamentations, may have had in early periods of time a greater
significance than that of a mere expression of grief or woe, and on this
point Bruhier[69] seems quite positive, his interpretation being that
such cries were intended to prevent premature burial. He gives some
interesting examples, which may be admitted here:

The Caribs lament loudly, their wailings being interspersed with
comical remarks and questions to the dead as to why he preferred to
leave this world, having everything to make life comfortable. They
place the corpse on a little seat in a ditch or grave four or five
feet deep, and for ten days they bring food, requesting the corpse
to eat. Finally, being convinced that the dead will neither eat nor
return to life, they throw the food on the head of the corpse and
fill up the grave.

When one died among the Romans, the nearest relatives embraced the body,
closed the eyes and month, and when one was about to die received the
last words and sighs, and then loudly called the name of the dead,
finally bidding an eternal adieu. This ceremony of calling the deceased
by name was known as the _conclamation_, and was a custom anterio