Abstract
FIRE-MAKING ON THE GOLD COAST.—In the September issue of Man, Mr. A. W. Cardinall describes the use of the flint and steel in fire-making in the northern territories of the Gold Coast. The tinder used is cotton from the kapok, and is carried about in all sorts of receptacles-cotton or leathern bags, or more rarely in the more primitive way in the hollo wed-out seeds of the fan-palm. Only one case of sacred fire is recorded where the fire is maintained, more or less permanently, outside the chief's compound: there is no special rite observed in lighting it, but no one may take fire from it. The fuel used is dried cow-dung, and in the rains the fire is allowed to go out. Sacrifices are made to it, some of the blood and bones of the victims being placed in a pot laid on the top of the fire. Only the chief and one other man, not identified, are allowed to eat the flesh of the sacrifice.
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Research Items. Nature 112, 556–557 (1923). https://doi.org/10.1038/112556a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/112556a0