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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[OCTOBER, 1895.
of disease by kissing the threshold of St. Mark's Basilica,100 Before taking the Sacrament the early Christian kissed the left horn of the altar. When the novice was admitted into a monastery he kissed the monks' hands and begged their prayers. Among the early Christians the priest first and then the other friends kissed the corpse at the grave. Lucilla of Carthage, in the time of Diocletian (A. D. 300) tasted, that is, kissed the mouth of a dead martyr before eating and drinking theelements.. Besides the kiss of peace and the king of reverence the early Christians practised ceremonial kissing after prayer, after Communion, after Baptism, after Ordination, at espousals, to the dying, and to the dead. Among the early Jews & kiss was a ceremonial marriage salutation.
The liability to injury from the accidental intrusion of outside substances must have been one of the chief risks of the early life. This experience explains why the seven deadly spirits of the Babylonians lived among the thorns of the mountains. It also explains why the first part of Hindu Salya, or Surgery, is the removal of external substances accidentally introduced into the body, as grass, wood, stones, iron, earth, bones, hair, and nails. Finally it explains why, among many wild peoples, the presence of some foreign substance is considered the cause of all disease. From this early experience and belief it followed that the sovran cure of sickness is either direct or indirect sucking with the object of removing the foreign cause of sickness. Among the Zaparo Indians of South America, among the Papuang, among the Banks' Islanders, and among the Tasmanians, the sorcerer cures wounds by sucking out steel splinters, bones and worms. So also the Amana Indians and the Australians suck the rick and draw out evil spirits.10 When a child is hurt the English mother kisses the place to make it well. Compare ants with their mouths staunching the wounds of some of their number whose feelers were cut off.11 In 1864, when he agreed to be Emperor of Mexico, Maximilian kissed the representative of the Mexican nation.12 A kiss, probably the kiss of peace or oneness of spirit, is the salutation among European sovereigns. In Venice, in 1608, the traveller Coryatel noticed that, when the nobles or clarissimos met in the street, they gave at parting a mutual kiss to one another's manly cheek. A custom, he adds, I never saw before, nor heard of, nor read of. Elderly Australian women salute a stranger by kissing him on both cheeks.14 When a Greek left his home he kissed the soil. When he landed in a foreign country he kissed the soil. He kissed his native soil again on his return.15 The Romans kissed the back of their right hand when they passed a temple.16 A Greek suppliant kissed the temple threshold.17 The suppliant Prinm kissed the knees of Achilles and the storm-stayed Odyseus the knees of the Egyptian king 18 The Greeks and Romans salated guests by kissing their lips, hands, knees and feet. When a solemn kiss was given, especially to a child, it was the custom to hold the person kissed by the ears, apparently to prevent the escape of the spirit which passed in the kiss. This was called the pot kiss.19 The same holding of ears is practised among the Russians when the bridegroom first kisses the bride after marriage.20 The Russian husband and wife, after the wedding ceremony, kiss each other three times.21 To prevent misfortune in Banff in Scotland (1800), if a newly married couple
140 Op. cit. p. 2047. Op. cit. p. 414. - Op. cit. p. 1407. Op. cit. p. 253. • Op. cit. p. 1131.
. Op. cit. pp. 903, 905, 903. A good article on kissing will be found in Smith's Dictionary of the Bible "Kissing."
• Genesis, xxix. 17. T Bridge's Babylonian Life and History, p. 199.
• West's Hindu Medicine, p. 2. • Jour. Anthrop. Inst. Vol. VII. p. 506. Compare for Eskimos Clodd's Myths and Dreams, p. 179. Revue Des Religions des Peuples Non Civilisés, Vol. II. p. 54; Featherman's Social History, Vol. II. p. 108; Codrington's Melanesian Folk-Lore, p. 198. 19 Spencer's Principles of Sociology, Vol. I. p. 259.
11 Ency. Brit. Article" Ants." 13 Jones' CrownL8, p. 420.
13 Coryate's Crudities, Vol. II. p. 35. 16 Featherman's Social Hiptory, Vol. II. pp. 54, 140. 16 Potter's Antiquities, Vol. II. PP. 417, 418. 16 Op. cit. Vol. I. p. 285. 11 Op. cit. Vol. I. p. 282. Op. cit. Vol. I. p. 182. 19 Op. cit. Vol. II. p. 870.
% Brand's Popular Antiquities, Vol. II. p. 141. 21 Mrs. Romanoff's Rites and Customs of the Græco-Ruanian Church, p. 212.
