Correspondence. 235
The Beaver and " Foundation Sacrifice." The so-called "foundation-sacrifice" is a custom which, in certain forms, is found among different peoples in various parts of the globe. The item cited in this brief note may have escaped the attention of those interested in the origin and extension of the practice in question. In his account of the Shushwap Indians of British Columbia, in the Sixth Report (1890) on the North Western Tribes of Canada (Brit. Assoc. Adv. Sci.), p. 92, Dr. Franz Boas says :
" They believe that the beaver, w^hen constructing its dam, kills one of its young and buries it under the dam, that it may become firmer and not give way to floods."
This seems to be an aboriginal belief, and not one due to contact with the whites. This being so, it is interesting to inquire if, in Europe, where the beaver was once so plentiful, any similar beliefs are on record. Is it possible that such beliefs regarding the beaver could have been anterior to the customs and practices embodied in the "foundation-sacrifice"? The attribution of certain actions to animals may sometimes have led to the carrying out of similar ones when human beings were engaged in the performance of things of the same kind, building, etc.
Alexander F. Chamberlain. Clark University, Worcester, Mass.
Burning Elder-wood. {Ante, p. 24.)
I picked up the following item about a month ago. A gentle- man who has lately purchased a property about six miles from here (Weyhill, near Andover), said to his keeper last autumn, — " I think we will grub up all those elder-trees in that copse. They are biggish trees, and the bavins [faggots] we get out of them will sell for more than it will cost to do the job." " Gawd bless your silly soul ! " replied the keeper, " folk won't buy them
