Note 7 — Chapter V · WORSHIP OF THE MALEVOLENT DEAD.
Reading edition
Bhûts are most to be feared by women and children, and by people at any serious crisis of their lives, such as marriage or child-birth. They also attack people after eating sweets, “so that if you treat a school to sweetmeats, the sweetmeat seller will also bring salt, of which he will give a pinch to each boy to take the sweet taste out of his mouth.”7 Salt is, as we shall see later on, particularly offensive to evil spirits.8