Arctic regions, ceremonies at the reappearance of the sun in the, 124 sq., 125 n. 1

Ardennes, the King of the Bean in the, 314;

the Eve of Epiphany in the, 317

Argentina, 9

Argus, the murder of, 24

Aricia, 305;

the priest of, 273;

King of the Wood at, 409

Arician grove, the, 274, 305

—— priesthood, 305

Aries, the constellation, the sun in, 361 n. 1, 403

Armenia, the worship of Anaitis in, 369 n. 1

Armenians, their belief in demons, 107 sq.

Arrows, invisible, of demons, 101, 126

Artaxerxes II., his promotion of the worship of Anaitis, 370

Artemisia laciniata, garlands of, 284

Aru Archipelago, 121 n. 3

Arval Brothers, the college of the, at Rome, 230, 232, 238

Aryan custom of counting by nights instead of days, 326 n. 2

—— languages, names for moon and month in, 325

—— peoples, their correction of the lunar year, 342

Aryans of the Vedic age, 324;

their calendar, 325, 342

Ascalon, Derceto at, 370 n. 1

Ascension Day, cures on Eve of, 54;

annual expulsion of the devil on, 214 sq.;

ceremony at Rouen on, 215 sq.;

bells rung to make flax grow on, 247 sq.

Ash-tree in popular cure, 57

Ashantee, annual period of license in, 226 n. 1

Ashtaroth, 366

Ashurbanapal and Sardanapalus, 387 sq.

Asia, Saturnalia in Western, 354 sqq.

Asia Minor, use of human scapegoats by the Greeks of, 255

Asongtata, an annual ceremony, 208

Aspen in popular cure, 57

Ass in cure for scorpion's bite, 49 sq.;

introduced into church at Festival of Fools, 335 sq.;

triumphal ride of a buffoon on an, 402 sq.

Assam, the Kacharis of, 93;

the Lushais of, 94;

the Khasis of, 173;

the Nagas of, 177;

the Garos of, 208 sq.

Assembly of the gods at the New Year in Babylon, 356

Assimilation of human victims to trees, 257, 259 n. 3

Assyria, Ashurbanapal, king of, 387 sq.

Assyrian monarchs, conquerors of Babylonia, 356

Assyrians, the ancient, their belief in demons, 102

Astarte or Ishtar, a great Babylonian goddess, 365.

See also Ishtar

—— and Semiramis, 369 sqq.

Aston, W. G., quoted, 213 n. 1

Aswang, an evil spirit, exorcism of, 260

Athenians, their use of human scapegoats, 253 sq.;

their mode of reckoning a day, 326 n. 2;

their religious dramas, 384

Athens, Cronus and the Cronia at, 351 sq.

Atkhans, the, of Aleutian Islands, 3

Atlas, Berbers of the Great, 178

Atlatatonan, Mexican goddess of lepers, 292;

woman annually sacrificed in the character of, 292

Atonement, the Jewish Day of, 210

Attis and Cybele, 386

Aubrey, John, on sin-eating, 43 sq.

Aucas, the, of South America, 12

Australia, Central, 2

——, demons in, 74;

annual expulsion of ghosts in, 123 sq.

Austria, cure of warts in, 48

Autumn, ceremony of the Esquimaux in late, 125

Autun, the Festival of Fools at, 335

Avestad in Sweden, 20

Axim, on the Gold Coast, 131

Aymara Indians, their remedy for plague, 193

Azazel, 210 n. 4

Aztecs, their custom of sacrificing human representatives of gods, 275;

their five supplementary days, 339

Azur, the month of March, 403

Baal, human sacrifices to, 353, 354

Babalawo, priest, 212

Babar Archipelago, 8;

sickness expelled in a boat from the, 187

Baboons sent by evil spirits, 110 sq.

Baby, effigy of, used to fertilize women, 245, 249

Babylon, festival of the Sacaea at, 354 sqq.

Babylonia, belief in demons in ancient, 102 sq.;

conquered by Assyria, 356;

the feast of Purim in, 393

Babylonian calendar, 398 n. 2

Bacchanalia, Purim a Jewish, 363

Badagas, the, of the Neilgherry Hills, 36

Badi, performer at a ceremony, 197

Baffin Land, the Esquimaux of, 125

Baganda, the, of Central Africa, 4, 7, 17 sq., 27, 32;

human scapegoats among the, 42

Bahima, the, of the Uganda Protectorate, 6, 32

Baiga, aboriginal priest, 27

Bali, belief in demons in, 86;

periodical expulsion of demons in, 140

Ball, games of, played as a magical ceremony, 179 sq.;

in Normandy, 183 sq.

Balolo, a sea-slug, 141

Bamboo-rat sacrificed for riddance of evils, 208 sq.

Bananas, mode of fertilizing, 264;

the cause of human mortality, 303

Bangkok, 150

Banishment of evil spirits, 86

Banks' Islands, 9

Banks' Islanders, their story of the origin of death, 304

Banmanas of Senegambia, their custom at the death of an infant, 261 sq.

Banquets in honour of the spirits of disease, 119

Bantu tribes, 77

Banyoro, the, 42, 194

Barabbas and Christ, 417 sqq.

Baraka, blessed influence, 265

Barat, a ceremony performed in Kumaon, 196

Barito, river in Borneo, 87

Baron, S., quoted, 148

Barwan, river, 123

Bassa tribe, of the Cameroons, 120

Bassus, Roman officer, 309

Basutos, the, 30 n. 2

Batchelor, Rev. J., 261

Baton of Sinope, 350

Battas or Bataks of Sumatra, 34;

their belief in demons, 87 sq.;

their use of human scapegoats, 213