§ 1. _The Lenten Fires_, pp. 106-120.--European custom of kindling bonfires on certain days of the year, dancing round them, leaping over them, and burning effigies in the flames, 106; seasons of the year at which the bonfires are lit, 106 _sq._; bonfires on the first Sunday in Lent in the Belgian Ardennes, 107 _sq._; in the French department of the Ardennes, 109 _sq._; in Franche-Comté, 110 _sq._; in Auvergne, 111-113; French custom of carrying lighted torches (_brandons_) about the orchards and fields to fertilize them on the first Sunday of Lent, 113-115; bonfires on the first Sunday of Lent in Germany and Austria, 115 _sq._; "burning the witch," 116; burning discs thrown into the air, 116 _sq._; burning wheels rolled down hill, 117 _sq._; bonfires on the first Sunday in Lent in Switzerland, 118 _sq._; burning discs thrown into the air, 119; connexion of these fires with the custom of "carrying out Death," 119 _sq._ § 2. _The Easter Fires_, 120-146.--Custom in Catholic countries of kindling a holy new fire on Easter Saturday, marvellous properties ascribed to the embers of the fire, 121; effigy of Judas burnt in the fire, 121; Easter fires in Bavaria and the Abruzzi, 122; water as well as fire consecrated at Easter in Italy, Bohemia, and Germany, 122-124; new fire at Easter in Carinthia, 124; Thomas Kirchmeyer's account of the consecration of fire and water by the Catholic Church at Easter, 124 _sq._; the new fire on Easter Saturday at Florence, 126 _sq._; the new fire and the burning of Judas on Easter Saturday in Mexico and South America, 127 _sq._; the new fire on Easter Saturday in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, 128-130; the new fire and the burning of Judas on Easter Saturday in Greece, 130 _sq._; the new fire at Candlemas in Armenia, 131; the new fire and the burning of Judas at Easter are probably relics of paganism, 131 _sq._; new fire at the summer solstice among the Incas of Peru, 132; new fire among the Indians of Mexico and New Mexico, the Iroquois, and the Esquimaux, 132-134; new fire in Wadai, among the Swahili, and in other parts of Africa, 134-136; new fires among the Todas and Nagas of India, 136; new fire in China and Japan, 137 _sq._; new fire in ancient Greece and Rome, 138; new fire at Hallowe'en among the old Celts of Ireland, 139; new fire on the first of September among the Russian peasants, 139; the rite of the new fire probably common to many peoples of the Mediterranean area before the rise of Christianity, 139 _sq._; the pagan character of the Easter fire manifest from the superstitions associated with it, such as the belief that the fire fertilizes the fields and protects houses from conflagration and sickness, 140 _sq._; the Easter fires in Münsterland, Oldenburg, the Harz Mountains, and the Altmark, 141-143; Easter fires and the burning of Judas or the Easter Man in Bavaria, 143 _sq._; Easter fires and "thunder poles" in Baden, 145; Easter fires in Holland and