[866]. Like the thrust of the Spanish bull-fighter which is supposed to split the heart.
[867]. Sometimes, though very rarely, the serpent is absent, as in the Mithraeum discovered at Krotzenburg near Hanau. Op. cit. II. p. 353.
[868]. Cumont, op. cit. I. pp. 207, 208. Following the mention by Dionysius the Areopagite of a “threefold Mithras,” M. Cumont thinks that the two torch-bearing figures are representations of Mithras himself. The theory is ingenious, but not very plausible. See loc. cit. pp. 208-213.
[869]. Op. cit. I. p. 186, for authorities. Cf. Döllinger, J. und H. I. p. 420. Tiele, Rel. of Iran. P. pt 1, p. 118, says that “originally” the bull was slain not by Ahriman, but by its creator.
[870]. Op. cit. I. p. 197. Cf. Porphyry, de antro nymphar. c. XVIII.
[871]. D. Menant, “Les Rites Funéraires,” Conférences au Musée Guimet, t. XXXV. pp. 181, 182.
[872]. Cf. Plutarch, de Is. et Os. c. XLVII.
[873]. So Cumont, T. et M. I. pp. 182, 305.
[874]. Op. cit. I. p. 192.
[875]. Op. cit. II. Pl. VIII.