on the mana principle, was held to be unclean and contaminating, and was
followed by elaborate rites of purification. It may be that the pains of
delivery were ascribed to the machinations of demonic powers, or
possession by evil spirits,--we know that this has sometimes been the
case. The use of charms and amulets, and the chanting of sacred formulæ
at this dangerous time all point to such beliefs. At any rate, although
the birth of the child would seem in every respect except in the
presence of blood to be more closely connected with the phenomena of
pregnancy than with that of menstruation, as a matter of fact the taboos
on the woman in child-bed were intimately associated with those on
menstruous women.

Among the ancients, the Zoroastrians considered the woman unclean at
childbirth as at menstruation.[22] In the Old Testament, ritual
uncleanness results from contact with a woman at childbirth.[23]

Likewise among savage tribes the same customs concerning childbirth
prevail. Among the Australian aborigines women are secluded at childbirth
as at menstruation, and all vessels used by them during this seclusion
are burned.[20] The Ewe-speaking people think a mother and babe unclean
for forty days after childbirth.[24] At menstruation and childbirth
a Chippeway wife may not eat with her husband; she must cook
her food at a separate fire, since any one using her fire would fall
ill.[10, v. ii, p.457] The Alaskan explorer Dall found that among the
Kaniagmuts a woman was considered unclean for several days both after
delivery and menstruation; in either case no one may touch her and she
is fed with food at the end of a stick.[25] Amongst the tribes of the
Hindu Kush the mother is considered unclean for seven days after the
birth of her child, and no one will eat from her hand nor will she
suckle her infant during that period. In the Oxus valley north of the