ABSTRACT
Sorcery is practised in the Trobriands by a limited number of specialists—as rule men of outstanding intelligence and personality, who acquire the art by learning a number of spells and submitting to certain conditions. An interesting denouement, illustrating the legal aspect of sorcery, is furnished by the custom of finding out the reasons for which a man has been killed by witchcraft. Sorcery, in fine, is neither exclusively a method of administering justice, nor a form of criminal practice. The two fatal forms of suicide are used as means of escape from situations without an issue and the underlying mental attitude is somewhat complex, embracing the desire of self-punishment, revenge, re-habilitation, and sentimental grievance. A number of concrete cases briefly described will illustrate best the psychology of suicide. Suicide, like sorcery, is a means of keeping the natives to the strict observance of the law, a means of preventing people from extreme and unusual types of behaviour.
