Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1914-05-20

be in his food his friends desert MN,
his gun burst IN his hands and wound
! him. and everything that Is pao ao
wrong upon him until death. Stahiey
| thus became q blood brother or NIT
/ anlho and they exchanged presents ait
or the ceremony. on many other oc-
! casions Stanley interchanged oioou
| with native chiefs and 1t was 10 ms
| advantage to do so, for ne often found
himself in difficult situations, with nos
! tile warriors to contend against, ana
his only chance of escaping lay in max
! ing friends by the blood covenant. He'
/ describes a case where he saw two
sucking the blood from gapes.i each
others forearms" In telling how ha'
became brother to Myombic, a native
chief Re writes: For the fiftieth time
nv poor arm was scarified and my
blood shed for civilization
In the legendary lore of the Morse
land there is reference to blood cove
nantins. Odin was the god of light. OF
power. of knowledge and of war, whilaf
Iok was the discordant and corruptina
divinity. symbolizing sin. shrewdness.
deceit. treachery and malice, yet az
i enc time they We're in the sacred union
! OF Hood friendship, having mingled
! their blood in a bowl and drunk to-
gether.
Another of the methods by which ths,
! rite of blood friendship was observed
! in the Norseland was by causing the
/ blood of the two covenanting persons
to interhow from their pierced hands
while they lay together underneath
/ lifted sod. Thus in one of the 1celandio
! sagas we read of Thorstein, the heroic
/ son of Viking, making blood friendship
] with Argantyr Jarl of the Orkneys.
+ They opened a vein in the hollow OF
/ their hands. crept beneath the sod and
/ solemnly swore each of them should
/ ayenge the other If either should bs
i slain There are other examples of blood
covenanting in the Morse saSas, and
/ traces of the custom creep out in our
ewn folklore tales.
In the worlds most ancient records
/ the monuments of Egypt-we find
evidence of the existence OF the cove
nant of blood. Even then 1t seems to
have been a custom TO covenant BY
tasting the blood from another's arm.
In the Book of the Dead the most
ancient and most important of the sa-
cred books of the Egyptians, there are
several references to blood covenant
ing and incidental mention of the tast
ing of blood by gods and by men. An
| inscription on an ancient Egyptian
monument details legend Of the re
belion of mankind against the gods
of an cdict of destruction against tn
human race: of divine interpositior
for the rescue of the doomed people. In
this legend a prominent part is given
to human blood mixed with the juice
| Of mandgakes dove apples and pre-
pared as a drink 10 propitiate the Of
/ funded gods.
Blood TRANSMISSION for the purpose ok
injecting good blood into the veins OF
tho anemic, the diseased or those who
haze lost it by accident or otherwise. ia
/ performed now almost every day in our
/ large hospitals and it is regarded az
a new introduction and a triumph Of,
modern surgery. There is nothing new
about it. Blood TRANSMISSION was prae-
ticed by the Egyptians. the Hebrews
and the Scythians in the morning Of
the world. There is a legend that be- :,
! fore Naaman came to Elisha to bs
healed of his leprosy III. Kings V, I'D
| his physicians. in their efforts at hia '
cure, took blood from his veins and
replaced it with other blood. And
baths of blood were prescribed for lep-t
rosy eighteen hundred years ago
Longfellow in his Golden Legend j..
illustrates the idea of the TRANSMISSION
of blood. Prince Henry lies sick with
a strange malady in the Castle oc :,
Vantsberg on the Rhine. Lucifer ap-
pears TO him in the garb OF a travelling
physician and tells him of the only /,
possible cure for the disease.
In China TRANSMISSION of blood is
quite common. Also among the Kaffira
| and Zulus. In Tasmania TRANSMISSION
! CO human blood is said to be a regular, :.
prescription of the medicine men for
the cure of disease.
An indication of the belief that hu. ,
man blood has vital connection with
its divine source is found in the wide
spread opinion that the blood of u =
| murdered person will bear witness
against the murderer by flowing afresh
at his touch. Literature teens with
incidents of the ordeal of touch"
Beyond the idea of inspiration;
through an interfiow of God-represent.
ing blood, there has been in primitive
mans mind the thought of a possible !,
intercommunion with God through an
interunion with God by blood God 10,
life. All life is from God, and belongs,
to God. Blood Is life. Blood, there.
fore. as life, may be a means of mans
trterunion with God
So in ancient Egypt in ancient Ca.
naan, in ancient Mexico, in modern.
Turkey. in modern Russia, in modern
India, in Africa, in Asia, in America,
in Europe and in Oceanica, blood CIV !,
Ing was lifegiving. Life giving was
love showing. Love showing was q
heart yearning after union in love ANDY
in life and in blood and in very being.
That was the primitive thought in the
primitive religions of the world. Th0f
covenant of blood is old, yet it is Of
today. and it is as universal and full
of meaning as life itself.-New York
, Press.
!, Forlorn hope pitchers are proving the
iInH nin Of Wolf Tnla,