The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-12-17
WHEN LIFE IS DONE.
Some Peoples Give Their Dead to
 Animals to DeVour.
PECULIAR FUNERAL CUSTOMS

Among Many Races There Are Differ
 ent Methods of Burial For Men and
 Wonsen-Rites That Are Inspired by
 Fear of the Spirit of the Departed.
 Strange indeed are many of the cere- monies attending the disposal of the dead in different parts of the world, and, following the natural order of things, the more primitive the nation the more primitive its methods. The rudest mode now prevalent Is that of simply leaving the body exposed. but the ways of exposure vary consider ably Some wandering tribes act on the maxim, Where the tree falls. there let it lie," and, leaving the dead behind. move their camp to pastures new The Wanyamwesi however, carry their dead into the forest to be de voured by beats of prey, while some of the tribes of Guinea throw the corpse into the sea.
 The Kamchadales keep dogs to con- sume their dead. under the strange i'm pression that those who are sdevoured by dogs will be the masters of fine dogs in the world beyond The Par sees although cultured nation. place their dead in a round tower, called a tower of science. and the vultures who make such towers their habitation finish the work In Da- honey it was been stated that per son whose body has been struck by lightning is hacked to pieces and de voured by the priests . H
 Burial. of course, has many diff ferent forms. the simplest of which Is perhaps the piling of stones or thorns over the body to keep off wild beasts Some tribes bury their chill dren by the roadside, so that their souls may enter into the bodies of the pas sersby- Burial in. the earth Is an ear Her custom than that of cremati ton, embalming, or drying the body by sus- pending it from a tree. and many nations have more than one custom for instance, merely burying their women, while the men are embalmed or dried
 An instance of several customs be- ing in common use in one tribe is to be seen among the Kalmucks. They either expose. bury. burn. throw the body into the water, pile over it heap of stones or build a hut over it, doing whatever the priest considers to be the most suitable The position of the body also varies considerably. but as a general rule the head is laid either to the east or to the west The Bon goe, however, are an exception, for they bury the women with the face to the south and the men with the face to the north.
 Among the primitive nations the expressions of grief at the loss of the deceased, grief not untinged with fear E,E~ Ia, self inflicted tortures and other tre- nendousiy exaggerated expressions of woe. The inhabitants of New Zealand the aborigines that Is-bedaub them selves with pigment and wound them selves with broken shells The Ha- ~aiians go still further. knocking out their teeth and cutting off an ear or finger joint, while, when Hawaii was under the rude of monarchs, at the kings death the nation at large feign- % madness through grief, and this was the signal for unbridled license of every description.
 No nation is there, as whole, which believes that the soul does not con dnue to exist after it leaves the body. and the origin of many funeral rites Is the belief that death means the souls transition from one state to an- OL0er ana I0aL lC IS necessary to enter tain the soul on the journey; hence it is that wives. servants. horses, money. weapons. musical instruments, meat and drink are among the things buried with the body The Laplanders sup ply the corpse with flint steel and tin der wherewith to obtain light by the way. and the Clouds even place tooth picks in the grave
 Rather a touching custom is preva- lent among the Greenlanders, for on he death of a child they bury a dog with 1t to guide it. certain that dog will find his way anywhere The Rus Fians have a custom of placing a paper passport in the hand of the deceased to be shown to Peter at the gate of heaven. while at one time in Wales sin eaters were employed. who by eating loaf of bread over the dead body took upon themselves the burden of the deceased's sins
 1t would seem that the fear of being haunted by the ghost of the departed has had no small effect upon many of he rites Dractjced for the Egyptian ns