Chapter II: THE SECLUSION OF GIRLS AT PUBERTY, Pp. 22-100

§ 1. _Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in Africa_, pp. 22-32.--Girls at puberty forbidden to touch the ground and see the sun, 22; seclusion of girls at puberty among the Zulus and kindred tribes, 22; among the A-Kamba of British East Africa, 23; among the Baganda of Central Africa, 23 _sq._; among the tribes of the Tanganyika plateau, 24 _sq._; among the tribes of British Central Africa, 25 _sq._; abstinence from salt associated with a rule of chastity in many tribes, 26-28; seclusion of girls at puberty among the tribes about Lake Nyassa and on the Zambesi, 28 _sq._; among the Thonga of Delagoa Bay, 29 _sq._; among the Caffre tribes of South Africa, 30 _sq._; among the Bavili of the Lower Congo, 31 _sq._

§ 2. _Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in New Ireland, New Guinea, and Indonesia_, pp. 32-36.--Seclusion of girls at puberty in New Ireland, 32-34; in New Guinea, Borneo, Ceram, and the Caroline Islands, 35 _sq._

§ 3. _Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in the Torres Straits Islands and Northern Australia_, pp. 36-41.--Seclusion of girls at puberty in Mabuiag, Torres Straits, 36 _sq._; in Northern Australia, 37-39; in the islands of Torres Straits, 39-41.

§ 4. _Seclusion of Girls at Puberty among the Indians of North America_, pp. 41-55.--Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Indians of California, 41-43; among the Indians of Washington State, 43; among the Nootka Indians of Vancouver Island, 43 _sq._; among the Haida Indians of the Queen Charlotte Islands, 44 _sq._; among the Tlingit Indians of Alaska, 45 _sq._; among the Tsetsaut and Bella Coola Indians of British Columbia, 46 _sq._; among the Tinneh Indians of British Columbia, 47 _sq._; among the Tinneh Indians of Alaska, 48 _sq._; among the Thompson Indians of British Columbia, 49-52; among the Lillooet Indians of British Columbia, 52 _sq._; among the Shuswap Indians of British Columbia, 53 _sq._; among the Delaware and Cheyenne Indians, 54 _sq._; among the Esquimaux, 55 _sq._

§ 5. _Seclusion of Girls at Puberty among the Indians of South America_, pp. 56-68.--Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Guaranis, Chiriguanos, and Lengua Indians, 56 _sq._; among the Yuracares of Bolivia, 57 _sq._; among the Indians of the Gran Chaco, 58 _sq._; among the Indians of Brazil, 59 _sq._; among the Indians of Guiana, 60 _sq._; beating the girls and stinging them with ants, 61; stinging young men with ants and wasps as an initiatory rite, 61-63; stinging men and women with ants to improve their character or health or to render them invulnerable, 63 _sq._; in such cases the beating or stinging was originally a purification, not a test of courage and endurance, 65 _sq._; this explanation confirmed by the beating of girls among the Banivas of the Orinoco to rid them of a demon, 66-68; symptoms of puberty in a girl regarded as wounds inflicted on her by a demon, 68.

§ 6. _Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in India and Cambodia_, pp. 68-70.--Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Hindoos, 68; in Southern India, 68-70; in Cambodia, 70.

§ 7. _Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in Folk-tales_, pp. 70-76.--Danish story of the girl who might not see the sun, 70-72; Tyrolese story of the girl who might not see the sun, 72; modern Greek stories of the maid who might not see the sun, 72 _sq._; ancient Greek story of Danae and its parallel in a Kirghiz legend, 73 _sq._; impregnation of women by the sun in legends, 74 _sq._; traces in marriage customs of the belief that women can be impregnated by the sun, 75; belief in the impregnation of women by the moon, 75 _sq._

§ 8. _Reasons for the Seclusion of Girls at Puberty_, pp. 76-100.--The reason for the seclusion of girls at puberty is the dread of menstruous blood, 76; dread and seclusion of menstruous women among the aborigines of Australia, 76-78; in Torres Straits Islands, New Guinea, Galela, and Sumatra, 78 _sq._; among the tribes of South Africa, 79 _sq._; among the tribes of Central and East Africa, 80-82; among the tribes of West Africa, 82; powerful influence ascribed to menstruous blood in Arab legend, 82 _sq._; dread and seclusion of menstruous women among the Jews and in Syria, 83 _sq._; in India, 84 _sq._; in Annam, 85; among the Indians of Central and South America, 85 _sq._; among the Indians of North America, 87-94; among the Creek, Choctaw, Omaha and Cheyenne Indians, 88 _sq._; among the Indians of British Columbia, 89 _sq._; among the Chippeway Indians, 90 _sq._; among the Tinneh or Déné Indians, 91; among the Carrier Indians, 91-94; similar rules of seclusion enjoined on menstruous women in ancient Hindoo, Persian, and Hebrew codes, 94-96; superstitions as to menstruous women in ancient and modern Europe, 96 _sq._; the intention of secluding menstruous women is to neutralize the dangerous influences which are thought to emanate from them in that condition, 97; suspension between heaven and earth, 97; the same explanation applies to the similar rules of seclusion observed by divine kings and priests, 97-99; stories of immortality attained by suspension between heaven and earth, 99 _sq._

CHAPTER III.--THE MYTH OF BALDER, Pp. 101-105

How Balder, the good and beautiful god, was done to death by a stroke of mistletoe, 101 _sq._; story of Balder in the older _Edda_, 102 _sq._; story of Balder as told by Saxo Grammaticus, 103; Balder worshipped in Norway, 104; legendary death of Balder resembles the legendary death of Isfendiyar in the epic of Firdusi, 104 _sq._; the myth of Balder perhaps acted as a magical ceremony; the two main incidents of the myth, namely the pulling of the mistletoe and the burning of the god, have perhaps their counterpart in popular ritual, 105.