Abstract
MR. CHARLES C. ABBOTT, in NATURE, vol. xii. p. 369, wishes to learn what other men, if any, besides the North American Indians, have the practice of scalping among them. The question is answered in Southall's “Recent Origin of Man,” chap. ii. p. 40. “In this connection we may mention that the custom of scalping is not peculiar to the American Indians. Herodotus mentions that it was one of the most characteristic practices of the ancient Scythians. But this is not all it is stated that the practice prevails at this day among the wild tribes of the frontier in the north-eastern district of Bengal. The Friend of India, commenting on this statement, adds: ‘The Naga tribes use the scalping-knife with a ferocity that is only equalled by the American Indians, and the scalps are carefully preserved as evidences of their prowess and vengeance over their enemies. On the death of a chief, all the scalps taken by him during his warlike career are burned with his remains.’”
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PEYTON, G. Scalping. Nature 12, 496 (1875). https://doi.org/10.1038/012496c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/012496c0
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