Salting a Corpse

1895

One of the most curious burial customs still existing in Ireland and in Somersetshire, England, is that of placing salt upon the breast of a corpse as soon as it has been properly "laid out" on the cooling board. In England, where the custom still prevails among a people who hoot the imputation of being superstitious, it is claimed that it is done in order "to prevent air from getting into the corpse, and thus swell and bloat it." Campbell and Moresin both refer to the practice as a survival of old time superstitious burial rites. They quote largely from ancient writers to prove that early Christians all regarded salt as an emblem of immortality and eternity, and that on such accounts it was anciently used in the manner above mentioned. Harman is authority for the statement that the early Germans not only put salt under the tongues of their dead, but also put little cylinders of rock salt in the right hands of the sick as soon as it was learned that such persons were near death's door.

In most heathen countries, where all kinds of superstition prevail, salt is used as a charm in frightening away evil spirits, and it is alleged that the Patagonians frequently strangle their children to death by forcing salt down their throats to drive out devils. — St. Louis Republic.