"Nil igitur mors est, ad nos neque pertinet hilum; quando quidem natura animi mortalis habetur!" cries Lucretius.

With the advent of Christianity, condemning as it did the barbarous customs of self-mutilation and self-murder, these practices seem to disappear gradually; but stoicism and indifference to pain were exhibited in martyrdom.

Toward the middle ages, when fanaticism was at its height and the mental malady of demoniacal possession was prevalent, there was something of a reversion to the old customs.

In the East the Juggernaut procession was still in vogue, but this was suppressed by civilized authorities; outside of a few minor customs still prevalent among our own people we must to-day look to the savage tribes for the perpetuation of such practices.
In an excellent article on the evolution of ceremonial institutions Herbert Spencer mentions the Fuegians, Veddahs, Andamanese, Dyaks, Todas, Gonds, Santals, Bodos, and Dhimals, Mishmis, Kamchadales, and Snake Indians, as among people who form societies to practice simple mutilations in slight forms.

Mutilations in somewhat graver forms, but still in moderation, are practiced by the Tasmanians, Tamaese, the people of New Guinea, Karens, Nagas, Ostiaks, Eskimos, Chinooks, Comanches, and Chippewas.