ABSTRACT
T he influence which our investigation reveals as the most fundamental is not the non-recognition on the part of the savage of conceiving of death as a fact, but the awfulness felt to attach to the dead body itself. Here, we are in accord with Marett1 who thinks, “ We have the cause of a definite assignment to a passing appearance such as the trance image of real and permanent existence in relation to a dead owner ” . However, real as the thrill of ghost-seeing may be, according to this view it is insignificant in comparison to the very horror of a human corpse instilled into man’s body by the selfpreservation instinct. The mass of evidence dealing with the use of human remains for the purpose of offensive or protective magic seems to support this view. The acquisition of a dead man’s scalplock, his bones, his hair, insures the possession of mana to the recipient.
