ANTHROPOLOGY 
 
 / 
 
•fflnwritifBiiw^ii^^ 
 
0t0t^m^m^ 
 
 A STUDY 
 
 IN THE 
 
 Civilization and Education 
 
 OF 
 
 Primitive Man 
 
 BY 
 
 IQNATZ SAYMON 
 
A STUDY 
 
 IN THE 
 
 Civilization and Education 
 
 OP 
 
 Primitive Man 
 
 BY 
 
 IQNATZ SAYMON 
 
 Submitted in partial fulfillment of the rc.|ulrem«nt« for the 
 
 Dejcrcc of Doctor of Philosophy. New York University, 
 
 June. 191 I 
 
A Study in the Civilization and 
 Education of Primitive Man 
 
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 Chapters 
 
 FOREWORD Page 1 
 
 I. Distinctions between Savage, Barbarian and Civilized Man " 3 
 
 II. The Prominent Characteristics and Ideas of Primitive Life 
 
 (a) Animism, {d) Totemism, (c) Taboo " 10 
 
 III. Nature of Primitive Education 
 
 (a) Practical Education, (<J) Theoretical Education. " 47 
 
 IV. Method of Primitive Education 
 
 (a) Imitation, {d) Instruction 
 
 ' : ; Publib-Iiiitj'^tioii " 51 
 
 V. Estimate of Primitive (Civilization' afad" E'diication " 67 
 
 VI. Results of Primitive Civilization and Education " 66 
 
 VII. Transition from Lower to Higher Stages " 74 
 
 VIII. Thoughts Suggested by a Study in the Civilization and 
 
 Education of Primitive Man " Tl 
 
FOREWORD. 
 
 To understand fully wliat man is to-day \vc must know what man 
 was in the past. "The present individual is the inevitable consequence 
 of his antecedents in the past, and in the examination of these alone 
 do we arrive at the edequate e.xplanation of him."* We realize bet- 
 ter the meaninj; of our beliefs, our habits, our ideals, our laws and 
 -•ur practices when we know their orii^in and can trace their j^'rowth. 
 Since the educative process consists in the proper direction of the 
 developing instinctive activities, and in furnishin}; them with suitable 
 material at the time t»f their hijjihest functionin.^^ it is of the utmost 
 importance to education to know the history of the growth and de- 
 velopment of man : for thus only may be understood and appreciated 
 on the one hand the child, and on the other hand the matured experi- 
 ence of the adult — the two forces interacting in the educative pro- 
 cess :t thus only may be understood the meaning of child psychology 
 and its bearing ujion education. 
 
 Particularly important is the period of primitive man, because 
 in this period were laid the foundations on which future periods 
 built — because in this period were laid the bases of many of 
 our beliefs and practices and were developed many of those instincts 
 to which we have to give consideration in education. "The customs, 
 institutions, and beliefs of primitive peoples are related to ours some- 
 what as instinct is related to reason. "J A study of these customs, 
 institutions, and beliefs, "gives a precious kind of self-knowledge, cor- 
 rects undue self-complacency, broadens religious prejudice, and cleep- 
 
 cns the sense of universal brotherhood It deepens our ideas of 
 
 God, soul, fate. duty, death and mortuary custtim. rebirth, prophecy, 
 sacraments, rewards and punishments, and scores of other concepts 
 basal for both religion and psychology. "J 
 
 The attention of this paper will be given more particularly t.» 
 one phase in the history of ancient man. namely, to his e<lucation. 
 The education of a period is determined, explained, reflected by the 
 civilization of the period ; in turn the education of any period pre- 
 serves and influences the civilization of the period and furthers pr«»g- 
 rcss. Our plan of treatment of the subject, therefore, will be to note 
 the civilization of primitive man — to note his fundamental character- 
 istics and ideas — the nature and method of his education as we know- 
 it and infer it— and finally the influence of that educati-" "k.'.-i . .'n 
 cation and civilization that followed. 
 
 •Maudslcy. H— PSYCHOLOGY & PATHOLOGY OF THE MIND, p 7.^ 
 
 (Quoted hy R.iKchot — "Phy^ics & V ' • : 8). 
 
 t Dewey. J-THK CHILD & THM CI i M. P 8 
 
 tHall, G. S.— ADOLESCENCI-:. Vol 11. pp 7J". 727 
 
DISTlHPTtONS BETWEEN SAVAGE, BARBARIAN AND 
 CIVILIZED MAN. 
 
 Assuming the theory of evolution to be correct, we find that man, 
 in his march upward toward modern civiHzation, after he rose above 
 the brute, passed through three particularly marked stages— Sav- 
 agery, Barbarism, Civilization. ' Portions of the race have advanced 
 to the highest stage while other portions have remained behind, some 
 at each of the lower stages. These stages, each having its own civili- 
 zation and education, pass insensibly into each other, yet as we look 
 back we find that they are readily distinguishable. "The institutions 
 of mankind have sprung up in a progressive, connected series, each 
 of which represents the result of unconscious reformatory movement 
 
 to extricate society from existing evils Cases of physical and 
 
 mental deterioration in tribes and nations may be admitted, for rea- 
 sons which are known, but they never interrupted the general prog- 
 ress of mankind. All the facts of human knowledge and experience 
 tend to show that the human race, as a whole, have steadily pro- 
 gressed from a lower to a higher condition."* The theory of human 
 degradation or degeneration to explain the existence of savages and 
 of barbarians is no longer accepted anywhere. 
 
 To explain what it is that has brought about progress, and also 
 to explain what it is that has retarded progress, various theories have 
 been advanced. The truth probably lies in a combination of all these 
 various explanations. 
 
 Morgan holds that "the most advanced portions of the human 
 race were halted, so to express it, at certain stages of progress, until 
 some great invention or discovery, such as the domestication of ani- 
 mals or the smelting of iron ore, gave a new and powerful impulse 
 
 forward."t That "it is probable that the great epochs of human 
 
 progress have been identified, more or less directly, with the enlarge- 
 ment of the sources of subsistence"t and that "we are able to dis- 
 tinguish five of these sources of human food, created by what may 
 be called as many successive arts, one superadded to the other, and 
 
 brought out at long intervals of time (1) Natural subsistence 
 
 upon fruits and roots on a restricted habitat. (2) Fish subsistence. 
 (3) Farinaceous subsistence through cultivation. (4) Meat and 
 milk subsistence. (5) Unlimited subsistence through field agricul- 
 ture."! 
 
 The following is Bagehot's explanation of why some men have 
 progressed while others have halted or been arrested in their prog- 
 ress: "Only those nations can progress which preserve and use the 
 
 ♦Morgan, L. H.— ANCIENT SOCIETY, p. 58. 
 
 t Morgan, L. H.— ANCIENT SOCIETY, pp. 19, 22, 24, 39. 
 
fundamental peculiarity which was given by nature to man's organism 
 as to all other organisms. By a law of which we know no reason, but 
 which is among the first by which Providence guides and governs 
 the world, there is a tendency in descendants to be like their pro- 
 genitors, and yet a tendency also in descendants to differ from their 
 
 progenitors We can only comprehend why so many nations 
 
 have not varied, when we see how hateful variation is; how every- 
 body turns against it."* "The beginning of civilization is marked 
 by an intense legality ; that legality is the very condition of its ex- 
 istence, the bond which ties it together; but that legality — that tend- 
 ency to impose a settled customary yoke upon all men and all 
 actions — if it goes on, kills out the variability implanted by nature, 
 and makes different men and ditYcrent ages fac-similes of other men 
 and other ages, as we see them often. Progress is only possible in 
 those happy cases where the force of legality has gone far enough 
 to bind the nation together, but not far enough to kill out all var- 
 ieties and destroy nature's perpetual tendency to change."t lie men- 
 tions also other factors or elements which have tended to make for 
 progress among races, namely: (1) mixture of races (2) political in- 
 stitutions (3) provisional institutions (4) intellectual (|ualitics (^\ 
 moral qualities (6) religion. 
 
 Spencer and Gillen point out that even among the custom-yoked 
 savages of .\ustralia the old men have authority to institute slight 
 changes ;J which fact gives emphasis to the influence of gifted in- 
 dividuals in making for progress. Such an explanation would be in 
 line with the hero-worshipping theories that make all history center 
 about great personalities. But these great i)ersonalities may be ex- 
 plained rather as great minds grasping the hidden meanings under- 
 lying the social organization of their day. and quick to perceive and 
 hasten changes impending in the society of their time. It seems that 
 . the chief factors in promoting progress have been economic factors. 
 We see before us to-day. as we have seen again and again in the pages 
 of history, s«3cial consciousness changing as a result of economic con- 
 ditions — and this change in social consciousness reflecting itself in 
 changes in government, education, morality, business, religion — in 
 fact in all our institutional life. 
 
 In distinguishing between savagery, barbarism, and civilization, 
 "the principal criteria of classitication are the absence or presence, 
 high or low development, of the industrial arts, especially metal- 
 working, manufacture of implements and vessels, agriculture, archi- 
 tecture, etc.. the extent of scientific knowledge, the definitcncss of 
 
 • Bagchnt. \V— PHYSICS & POUTICS. pp. 53, 60. 
 tBagchot, \V— PHYSICS & POLITICS, p M 
 
 t Spencer. B. & Gillen. I" ' -'V • TRIBES OF CENTK S- 
 
 TK.\LIA. p. 272. 
 
6 
 
 moral principles, the conditions of religious belief and ceremony, the 
 degree of social and political organization, and so forth."* 
 
 In the Savage state we find men grouped in small communities 
 such as hordes or tribes, bound by ties of kinship, with no fixed homes, 
 with labor divided only as between man and woman, with an absence 
 of authority beyond tribe or family, with no body of knowledge except 
 a system of prescribed forms, with no knowledge of metals, with 
 only the beginning of the separation between the practical and 
 theoretical. There is no skill in generalization and abstraction ; super- 
 natural beings are worshipped and believed in ; there is no sense of 
 values, no social permanence, no race consciousness. The people have 
 merely the rudiments of making a living; they live as they go; the 
 group rather than the individual, is the unit. Occupations are hunting 
 and fishing; some little work is done with wood and bone and fibre. 
 They have no written records ; they know neither past nor future. 
 
 "The barbarian as distinguished from the savage stage of cul- 
 ture, begins at the point where men learn to control natural forces — 
 fire, water, wind — and apply them directly to the satisfaction of their 
 own desires. "f So long as these forces were regarded by man with 
 awe, so long as he tried to influence them through magical rites, so 
 long did they elude his control; and it required a breaking away 
 from tradition, and an advance from the religious to the scientific 
 attitude, to enable man to apply them to his uses. 
 
 In barbarism we find the land bond replacing the kin or blood 
 bond as the basis of community, and giving rise thus to political 
 organization. There is more varied experience, and a greater divi- 
 sion of functions, giving rise to such institutions as caste. Fire and 
 its uses are better known ; work in metals is done ; and hunting and 
 fishing give place to agricultural life. There is complete subordina- 
 tion of the individual to institutions ; institutions are considered divine 
 in origin and must not be changed ; absolute conformity is sought ; 
 individual powers are not encouraged; there is prejudice against every 
 form of human change. The form of government is patriarchal ; the 
 group, and not the individual, is still the starting point and the unit. 
 There is no distinction of right and wrong as such; "the whole con- 
 ception of morality is ceremonial — a system of acts, not a system 
 of principles." We have rigidity and absolute conservatism — an end- 
 less recapitulation of the past. In religion, animism gives place to 
 polytheism. We now have a worship of deities — beings like men — 
 a transition from special spirits investing special objects to deities 
 investing realms of nature : various gods representing different moral 
 attributes, and organized under an overlord — in the form of the hu- 
 
 *Tylor, E. B.— PRIMITIVE CULTURE, Vol. I, pp. 26, 27. 
 t Davidson, Th.— HISTORY OF EDUCATION, p. 25. 
 
man family or of the prevailing' monarchial foii.. ... ^.)vcrnmcnt — a 
 conception that paved the way for nu)notheism. 
 
 The change to civiUzation is marked by emancipation from the 
 rule of caste ami custom — emancipation from the slavery of institu- 
 tions. Man becomes master oi institutions ; he docs not abolish them ; 
 he begins to rej^ard them as means, not ends. In this stage there is de- 
 veloped a constantly growing system of morality based on rational 
 principles and innate sanction ; religion is monotheistic. There is a 
 steady development to individualism. Men's choice determines nearly 
 all they do. Knowledge in all lines is now regarded as illimitable, 
 of human origin, and to be added to and developed. Progress, im- 
 provement, change for the better — these are ideals of civilization. 
 k^ The savage period was immeasurably long ; the period of barbar- 
 ism was much shorter; and the period of civilization is as yet very 
 short. The transition, therefore, from savagery to barbarism was 
 very slow, and the transition from barbarism to civilization was much 
 more rapid. That is to say. there is rapid acceleration in progress. 
 "If we assume a hundred thousand years as the measure of man's 
 
 existence upon the earth at least sixty thousand years must 
 
 be assigned to the period of savagery," thirty-five thousand 
 
 years should be assigned to the period of barl)arism. "leaving five 
 
 thousand, more or less, for the period of civilization Human 
 
 progress, from first to last, has been in a ratio not rigorously but 
 essentially geometrical."* 
 
 CH.'XPTER II 
 
 PROMINENT CHARACTERISTICS AND IDEAS 
 OF PRIMITIVE LIFE. 
 
 Primitive life is very similar all tiie world over. "One set of 
 savages is like another." (Dr. Johnson.) In trying, therefore, to get 
 a knowledge of ancient, primitive man. we are much aided by. in fact 
 ^-nve largely ba.se it on a study of savages living at present. "Prehis- 
 toric man was substantially a savage like present savages, in morals, 
 intellectual attainments, and in religion ; but he differed in this from 
 the present savages, that he ha<l not had time to ingrain his nature 
 so deeply with bad habits, and to impress l)ad beliefs so unalterably 
 on his mind as they have. They have had ages to fix the stain on 
 themselves, but primitive man was younger and had no such time. 
 
 His nature was still soft and still impressible, and possibly his 
 
 • Morgan, L. H.— ANCIENT SOCIKTY. pp 3H. 37 
 
8 
 
 outward circumstances were more favorable to an attainment of 
 civilization than those of our present savages."* 
 
 No group of people can exist together for any length of time 
 I without somehow, consciously or unconsciously, creating a system of 
 explanations of things, which becomes the common belief of that 
 people — becomes their philosophy and religion. 
 
 Until recently, whenever a study of primitive man was under- 
 taken it was customary to try to discover the underlying "ideas" of 
 their various customs, habits and institutions. But the recent de- 
 velopment in functional psychology has shed a new light upon this 
 vast foundation of present man. It explains the development of primi- 
 tive customs, habits, and institutions as a result of biological impul- 
 sive action — as natural growths slowly developed from forms of primi- 
 tive function or primitive experience. "It is now seen that habits are 
 often established by direct response to needs, without the mediation 
 
 of cognitive reflection The fallacy that uniform and involved 
 
 conduct which attains important ends must spring from the idea 
 of such ends is well exposed by reference to the conduct of animals 
 whose behavior cannot be attributed to knowledge. "t We therefore 
 explain many habits of man as being based upon certain fundamental 
 impulses which he possesses in common with the higher animals, 
 which habits after being established have in turn led to the develop- 
 ment of certain ideas. 
 
 ^ The original impulses are those of food and sex — of self-preser- 
 vation and race preservation. Satisfactory reactions in the function- 
 ing of these impulses probably led to repetition of those modes of 
 functioning which led to those satisfactory re-actions ; and this led to 
 the creation of "values" : such conduct was thereafter the right and 
 proper conduct for such occasions. Thus methods of action led to 
 certain definite habits for meeting the few needs of primitive life. 
 "From recurrent needs arise habits for the individual and customs 
 for the group, but these results are consequences which were never 
 -^ conscious and never foreseen or intended. "$ These habits and cus- 
 toms gain sanctions or sacredness with age : they lead to the develop- 
 ment of certain ideas, and values, and institutions, which in turn lead 
 to the development of other habits ; and so the circle continues — func- 
 tion leads to thought and thought influences function. 
 
 As we are particularly interested in the education of primitive 
 
 * Bagehot, W.— PHYSICS & POLITICS, p. 134. 
 
 tAmes, E. S.— THE PSYCHOLOGY OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE, 
 
 pp. 56, 57. 
 JAmes, E. S.— THE PSYCHOLOGY OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE, 
 
 p. 59, (Quoted from W. G. Sumner "Folkways," p. 4). 
 
9 
 
 man, let us look at the details of organization (.i In^ liic. for these 
 must explain the educational system of that period. 
 
 The first thinjj that strikes us in connection with primitive or- 
 ganization is the fact that the individual has not yet emerged from 
 tribal consciousness. Another matter of prominence is the fact that 
 in aildition to organization into clans there is a separation of males 
 and females into separate classes, or organizations, as in Australia 
 anil the Malay Archipelago. Of course, the men have ditTercnt occu- 
 pations, and so have the women. The choice of occupations is prob- 
 ahlv based on physical characteristics and functions, and in turn leads 
 to emphasis and development ui these characteristics, as well as to the 
 development of distinct spiritual characteristics. We find man con- 
 nected with the more violent activities involved in hunting and fight- 
 ing. Woman, on the other hand, kept to a more fi.xed point on account 
 of the children, gives her attention to such industries as lead to de- 
 velopment of agriculture, pottery, weaving and domestication of ani- 
 ,mals. The fundamental social bond is that between the mother and 
 the child. The woman cares for the children; she cares for the prop- 
 erty; docent is reckoned in her line; she domesticates man and leads 
 to the development of many of those spiritual qualities which we 
 prize so highly. "While woman had been doing the general work and 
 had developed the beginnings of many industries, man had become a 
 specialist along another line. His occupation had been almost ex- 
 clusively the pursuit of animals or conflict with his neighbors, and in 
 this connection he had become the inventor of weapons and traps, and 
 in addition had learned the value of acting in concert with his com- 
 panions. But a hunting life cann«)t last forever; and when large game 
 began to be exhausted, man found himself forced to abandon his de- 
 structive and predacious activities, and adopt the settled occupations 
 of woman. To these he brought all the inventive technique and capac- 
 ity for organized action which he had developed in his hunting and 
 fighting life, with the result that he became the master of woman in 
 a new sense. Not suddenly, but in the course of time, he usurped her 
 primacy in the industrial pursuits, and through his organization of 
 industry and the aj)plication of invention to the industrial processes 
 became a creator of wealth on a scale before unknown."* 
 
 The habits of primitive people, built up in connection with their 
 occupations, are reflected in their institutions of religion, law, art, 
 science, which can hardly be distinguished from each other. Organi- 
 zation in clans, or as Morgan calls them, gcntcs, was nearly the uni- 
 versal plan of ancient society. In connection with clan organiza- 
 
 • Thomas. W I.— SEX & SOCIETY, pp. 230. 231 
 
/ 
 
 tion the main features are, (1) the bond of kin; (2) descent in the 
 female line; (3) non inter-marriage in the clan. 
 
 In connection with the tie of kin it should be noted that it is 
 not necessarily blood relationship. "The practical test of kinship is 
 that the whole kin is answerable for the life of each of its members 
 
 The idea that kinship is not purely an afifair of birth, but may 
 
 be acquired, has quite fallen out of our circle of ideas ; but so, for that 
 matter, has the primitive conception of kindred itself. To us kinship 
 
 has no absolute value, but is measured by degrees In ancient 
 
 times, on the contrary, the fundamental obligations of kinship had 
 nothing to do with degrees of relationship, but rested with absolute 
 and identical force on every member of the calm. To know that a 
 man's life was sacred to me, and that every blood-feud that touched 
 him involved me also, it was not necessary for me to count cousinship 
 with him by reckoning up to our common ancestor; it was enough 
 that we belonged to the same clan and bore the same clan name. 
 What was my clan was determined by customary law, which was 
 not the same in all stages of society ; in the earliest Semitic communi- 
 ties a man was of his mother's clan, in later times he belonged to the 
 clan of his father. But the essential idea of kinship was independent 
 of the particular form of the law. A kin was a group of persons whose 
 lives were so bound up together, in what must be called a physical 
 unity, that they could be treated as parts of one common life. The 
 members of one kindred looked on themselves as one living whole, a 
 single animated mass of blood, flesh and bones, of which no member 
 could be touched without all the members suffering."* 
 
 "The strong conception of the tie of blood, best seen in feudal 
 and semi-civilized societies, is by no means so strong in primitive 
 culture Psychologically speaking, relationship developes orig- 
 inally from relations, and in primitive thought, relations are the test 
 
 of kinship and not vice versa Of other forms, firstly, identity of 
 
 sex very commonly amounts to a relationship, and where sexual taboo 
 is well developed, it is perhaps the strongest tie of all. It is a result 
 of sexual solidarity, and assumes various forms. For instance each 
 
 sex has a totem All members of a totem-clan are regarded as 
 
 "relations" Primitive relationship, it is clear, is at once stronger 
 
 and weaker than the civilized tie ; weaker, because the bond of blood 
 has not assumed a superiority over other relations, close contact be- 
 ing the test ; stronger, because the ideas of contact which characterize 
 these relations have so intense a religious meaning and enforce duty 
 so stringently."! 
 
 * Smith, W. R.— THE RELIGION OF THE SEMITES, pp. 272, 273, 275. 
 t Crawley, E.— THE MYSTIC ROSE, pp. 452, 454, 457, 460. 
 
11 
 
 As to descent throuj;h the I'ctnalc. \vc cannot say whether this 
 was at any time a universal practice. There is no tloubt, tliuugh, tliat 
 it has prevailed very lar;^'ely ; it has been found to exist to a ^cat cv- 
 tent in Australia and Africa ami traces of it are seen in Japan, China, 
 Arabia. Imlia, and anionic the Hebrews. McLennan e.xplained de- 
 scent through the female side as due to primitive promiscuity and 
 doubtful paternity, but "descent throuj^h females is not. in fact, fully 
 explained by uncertainty of parentage on the male side. It is due to 
 the larger social fact, inckuling this biological one. that the bond be- 
 tween mother and child is the closest in nature, and that the group 
 grew up about the more stationary female."* Prt)f. Crawley says: 
 **It is a method of tracing genealogy, more convenient in i)olygamous 
 societies, and more natural in i)riniiti\e times, when the close con- 
 nection of mother and child during the early days of infancy em- 
 phasizes the relation \\ hy did not early peoples trace descent 
 
 in the apparently obvious way, from both father and mother? For 
 the same reason that we, for instance, use the paternal name to trace 
 descent. In the ages before writing, the use of both parents' names 
 and their application to children would be too complicated, as it still 
 is found. "t 
 
 Intermarriage within the gens or clan, wc shall discuss more 
 fully in explaining that remarkable institution of primitive man known 
 as exogamy. 
 
 Morgan, in criticising the positions of Grote, Xiebuhr, Thirwall, 
 Maine and Mommsen who make the monogamian family of patri- 
 archal type as an integer around which society integrates, says that 
 the gens is not foundeil on family, (irote speaks of gens as an exten- 
 sion of family and as prc-supposing its existence, treating family as 
 primary and gens as secondary. "This view." says Morgan, "is un- 
 tenable. The two organizations proceed upon ditTerent principles and 
 
 are independent of each other In the organization of gentile 
 
 society the gens is primary, forming both the basis and the unit of the 
 
 system. The family also is primary, and olcler than the gens; 
 
 but it was not a member of the organic series in ancient society any 
 more than in modern. "J 
 
 Morgan believes that there was a time when there was promiscu- 
 ous marriage, and that marriage has reached its present development 
 by passitig through various stages of evolution, just like other insti- 
 tutions. In this view he seems to be supported by McLennan, Luh- 
 bf>ck. Fison and Howitt and also by Spencer and Gillcn who con- 
 
 •Thoin,is. \V, I — .SLX A: S< 'Cll. I 'i. j) «>. 
 
 t Crawley. K— THK MYSTIC kOSK. pp. 460. 461. 
 
 tMorpan. L H— ANCIENT SOCIETY, pp IM*. 237. 
 
12 
 
 sider the forms of "group" marriage, now existent among various 
 tribes, as being evidences of a previous system of promiscuous mar- 
 riage. 
 
 Westermarck, our greatest authority on the subject of marriage, 
 criticises the theories of marriage, of Lubbock, Spencer, Tylor and 
 Morgan. "It is not, of course, impossible that, among some people, 
 intercourse between the sexes may have been almost promiscuous. 
 But there is not a shred of genuine evidence for the notion that 
 promiscuity ever formed a general stage in the social history of man- 
 kind." "In all probability there has been no stage of human 
 
 development when marriage has not existed."* 
 
 Darwin, also, questions promiscuous intermarriage as ever hav- 
 ing obtained in man, and Peschel agreeing with Darwin, says "that 
 at any time and in any place the children of the same mother have 
 propagated themselves sexually, for any long period, has been ren- 
 dered especially incredible, since it has been established that even in 
 the case of organisms devoid of blood, such as the plants, reciprocal 
 fertilization of the descendants of the same parents is to a great 
 extent impossible."! Spencer, too, questions the promiscuity theory. 
 "I do not think the evidence shows that promiscuity ever existed in 
 
 an unqualified form The impulses which lead primitive men 
 
 to monopolize other objects of value, must lead them to monopolize 
 
 women Everywhere promiscuity, however marked, is qualified 
 
 by unions having some persistence."! 
 
 Professor Crawley thinks that Spencer and Gillen have misunder- 
 stood the meaning and origin of the facts they bring forward in con- 
 nection with the details and rules of "group" marriage ; that "pro- 
 miscuity would not leave, as its results a system so exact that inter- 
 marriage with the wrong class is considered a crime."§ He and Pro- 
 fessor Thomas support Westermarck in what seems to be to-day the 
 most acceptable view — that, at any rate since man arose above the 
 highest of animals, there has always existed some form of monogam- 
 ous or quasi-monogamous institution : that such an institution is fav- 
 orable to the rearing and training of children and therefore the groups 
 practicing it would have the best chance of survival : that the law of 
 natural selection would operate to preserve such groups since the 
 children would be better trained and nourished. 
 
 The most important feature of the primitive marriage system is 
 what McLennan has called exogamy. The commonest form is to have 
 
 * Westermarck, E.— THE HISTORY OF HUMAN MARRIAGE, pp. 133, 549. 
 t Peschel, O.— RACES OF MAN, p. 232 (Quoted from L. H. Morgan. AN- 
 CIENT SOCIETY, p. 422). 
 $ Spencer, H.— THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY, Vol. I, pp. 632, 634. 
 § Crawley, E.— THE MYSTIC ROSE, p. 477. 
 
18 
 
 the members of the tribe divided into two classes for purposes of 
 marriaj^e, the members of one class bein^j forbidden to marry in their 
 own class, but bound to marry into the other. In addition to this, 
 usually, each of these marriage classes is subdivided into several sub- 
 classes or totem-classes, and there is a rule by which certain ones of 
 these totem-classes must intermarry. Descent is in the female line. 
 Those violating the rules of exoj.,'amy are punished by the clan, some- 
 times by their nearest relatives, the penalty usually beinjj death. 
 
 The followini; are two examples of such exogamous organiza- 
 tions: I. "The whole tribe (L'rabunna) is divided up into two exo- 
 gamous intermarrying classes, which are respectively called Mat- 
 thurie and Kirarawa, and the members of each of these again are 
 divided into a series of totemic groups. A Matthurie man must marry 
 a Kirarawa woman, and not only this, but a man of one totem must 
 marry a woman of another totem, certain totems being confined to 
 each of the exogamous classes. Thus a dingo marries a watcrhen, a 
 cicada a crow, an emu a rat, a wild turkey a cloud, a swan a pelican, 
 and so on.'** Descent is counted through tlic mother, both as re- 
 gards class and totem. 
 
 CLASS TOTEM 
 
 Mattliuric 
 
 r Wild duck 
 Cicada 
 Dingo 
 Emu 
 
 W ild turkey 
 Black swan 
 
 I 
 
 Kirarawa 
 
 r Cloud 
 Carpet snake 
 Lace lizard 
 
 ' \ Pelican 
 ' Water 1 
 
 hen 
 Crow 
 
 II. As may be seen from the following table, which represents 
 the Kamilaroi Tribe in New South Wales, Murri can only marry 
 Kumbo and vice versa; Kiil»i can only marry Ipai; and vice versa. 
 The children arc born into the sub-class neither of their father nor 
 of their mother. 
 
 •Spencer, n and Gillen. F. J.— NATIVE TRIBES OF CENTRAL AUS- 
 TR.NLIA. pp 50. (0 
 
 t Spencer. H and Gillen. V J -NATIVE TRIBES OF CENTRAL AUS- 
 TRALIA, pp. 59. 60 
 
14 
 
 CLASSES 
 
 Kupathin 
 
 Dilbi 
 
 SUB-CLASSES 
 
 TOTEMS 
 
 r Kangaroo, opossum, 
 I bandicott, black duck, 
 J padi-melon, eagle-hawk, 
 
 scrub-turkey, yellow fish, 
 
 honey-fish, bream 
 
 Ipai 
 Kumbo 
 
 Murri 
 Kubbi 
 
 (^ emu, carpet-snake, black 
 I snake, red kangaroo, 
 j honey, Walleroo, frog. 
 I codfish 
 
 MALE 
 
 MARRIES 
 
 CHILDREN ARE 
 
 Ipai 
 Kumbo 
 Murri 
 Kubbi 
 
 Kubbitha 
 Matha 
 Butha 
 Ipatha 
 
 Murri and Matha 
 Kubbi and Kubbitha 
 Ipai and Ipatha 
 Kumbo and Butha 
 
 Scarcity of women resulting in marriage by capture has been 
 assumed by McLennan to have produced exogamy. "The practice 
 
 in early times of female infanticide rendering women scarce, 
 
 led at once to polyandry within the tribe, and the capturing of women 
 
 from without The scarcity of women within the group led to 
 
 a practice of stealing the women of other groups, and in time it came 
 to be considered improper, because it was unusual for a man to marry 
 a woman of his own group."t But recent evidence shows that mar- 
 riage by capture was not very prevalent. "There is no evidence that 
 capture ever formed a regular or important means of getting wives 
 
 Misapprehension as to the prevalence of marriage by capture is 
 
 due in the main to two causes : (1) cases of elopment have been classed 
 as cases of capture ; (2) the so-called survivals of marriage by capture 
 in historical times of which so much has been made, are merely sys- 
 tematized expressions of the coyness of the female, differing in no 
 essential point from the coyness of the female among birds at the 
 pairing season. "$ The general unscientific nature of the theory of 
 Marriage by Capture has been demonstrated by Mr. Fison and Dr. 
 Westermarck The theory that mankind in general, or 
 
 * Howitt A W— NATIVE TRIBES OF SOUTH-EAST AUSTRALIA, p. 200. 
 t McLennan, J. F.— STUDIES IN ANCIENT HISTORY, pp. 75, 160. 
 $ Thomas, W. I.— SEX & SOCIETY, p. 189. 
 
16 
 
 even any particular section of mankind, ever in normal circumstances 
 were accustomed to obtain their wives by capture from other tribes, 
 may be regarded as exploded. There have been, of course, and still 
 are, sporadic cases of capture of wives from hostile tribes or others, 
 
 but such cannot prove a rule Messrs. Spencer and Gillcn point 
 
 out that it is of the rarest occurrence among the Central Australians, 
 and that when it does occur, it arises out of an expedition of venge- 
 ance against a hostile tribe Exogamy is by no means the result 
 
 of real or any sort of capture Capture cannot be proved uni- 
 versal enough to have given rise to so widely spread a system as 
 
 exogamy It is now perhaps evident that it is not the tribe from 
 
 which the bride is abducted, nor, primarily, iicr family and kindred, 
 but her sex."* 
 
 Morgan, supjiortcd by Fison and Howitt, Frazer, and Spencer 
 and Gillen, holds that exogamy was proliably introduced to prevent 
 marriage or cohabitation between blood relations — especially between 
 brothers and sisters — at the time when promiscuity prevailed. "It 
 is explainable only as a reformatory movement to break up inter- 
 marriage of blood relatives, and j)articularly brothers and sisters by 
 compelling them to marry out of the tribe. This view furnishes. I 
 believe, the true key to the whole system of exogamy. "f 
 
 Spencer also rejects McLennan's explanation of exogamy, and 
 suggests as its origin the fact that as a result of war it would become 
 customary for the victors to have as wives foreign women ; that "non- 
 possession of a foreign wife will come to be regarded as a proof of 
 cowardice ;"J that thus would arise an ambition and custom of hav- 
 ing as wives women not belonging to one's own tribe. 
 
 Wcstermarck's explanation is as follows: "I pointed out that 
 there is an innate aversion to sexual intercourse between persons liv- 
 \ing very closely together from early youth, and that, as such persons 
 are in most cases related by blood, this feeling would naturally dis- 
 play itself in custom and law as a horror of intercourse between near 
 
 kin It is not in the first place by the degrees of consanguinity, 
 
 but by the close living together, that prohibitory laws against inter- 
 marriage are determined .Aversion to the intermarriage «)f per- 
 sons who live together in intimate connection with one another has 
 called forth prohibitions of the intermarriage of relations; and. as kin- 
 ship is traced by means of a system of names, the name comes to be 
 
 considered identical with relationship I have suggeste<l that it 
 
 may be the result of natural selection I am inclined to think 
 
 that consanguineous marriages arc in some way or other detrimental 
 
 •Crawley. K— THK MYSTIC < .V>7. 3^i8. 370 
 
 + Frazer. J G— TOTKMISM ^ v.MY. Vol IV. pp 104. 105 
 
 t Spencer. H— THE PRINCIPLtS UF SOCIOLOGY. Vol. I. p. 621. 
 
16 
 
 to the species, and here I find a quite sufficient explanation of the 
 horror of incest ; not because man at an early stage recognized the 
 injurious influence of close intermarriage, but because the law of 
 
 natural selection must inevitably have operated Those of our 
 
 ancestors who avoided in-and-out breeding would survive, while the 
 others would gradually decay and ultimately perish. Thus a senti- 
 ment would be developed which would be powerful enough, as a rule, 
 
 to prevent injurious unions And exogamy, resulting from a 
 
 natural extension of this sentiment to a larger group, would arise 
 when single families united into hordes."* 
 
 Dr. Westermarck's theory is criticised by Prof. Crawley, whc 
 says: "Dr. Westermarck's explanation of the prohibition against the 
 marriage of near kin is mistaken. He supposes that there is a gen- 
 eral human "instinct" against inbreeding, resulting from the survival 
 of those peoples who have avoided it, inbreeding being assumed to 
 
 be deleterious It is the application of sexual taboo to brothers 
 
 and sisters, who, because they are of opposite sexes, of the same gen- 
 eration, and are in close contact, and for no other reasons, are re- 
 garded as potentially marriageable, that is the foundation of exog- 
 amy and the marriage system The cause which prevents 
 
 these people from marrying is identical with that which prevents 
 others in the Jike relation both from betraying one another, and from 
 having any physical contact, the relation of marriage being in primi- 
 tive thought a dangerous one Robertson Smith set the ques- 
 tion in the right direction when he said ("Kinship and Marriage in 
 Early Arabia," p. 107) : 'Whatever is the origin of bars to marriage, 
 they certainly are early associated with the feeling that it is indecent 
 for housemates to intermarry.' If we apply to the word 'indecent' 
 the connotation of sexual taboo, which gave rise amongst other things 
 to the especial meaning of this word, and if we understand by 'house- 
 mates' those upon whom sexual taboo concentrates, we have ex- 
 plained exogamy. "t "The other factor in the simple form of the 
 prohibition is a psychological result of sexual solidarity and sexual 
 taboo. The bringing-up of children in this manner produces what is 
 a psychological impossibility of sexual love between brothers and 
 sisters. Separation before the sexual instinct shows itself, has in 
 effect set the consciousness outwards by the time puberty arrives, 
 and then, when the sexual instinct has appeared, it is biassed towards 
 realisation out of the "house," and this is what actually occurs; for 
 out of the house the prohibition is not so stringent nor so carefully 
 enforced, while love is produced by chance meetings with acquaint- 
 
 * Westermarck, E.— THE ORIGIN AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE 
 
 MORAL IDEAS? Vol. II, pp. 368, 371. 
 t Crawley, E.— THE MYSTIC ROSE, pp. 223, 266, 443, 444. 
 
17 
 
 ances. This coincides with the psycliolo^ical fact that love's awaken- 
 injj turn> the mind away from what is familiar and known towards 
 what is stranj^c and romantic."* 
 
 What seems to me the best explanation is that sujjgested by 
 Prof. Thomas: "The movement toward e.xo^amy doubtless origin- 
 ates in the restlcssnos of the male, the tendency to make new co- 
 ordinations, the stimukis to seek more unfamiliar women, and the 
 
 emotional interest in makini; unfamiliar sexual alliances Natural 
 
 selection favors the process by si)arinL^ the j^roups which by breeding; 
 
 out have heij.;htcned their physical vij^or The man makes, and. 
 
 by force of convention, hnally must make, his matrimonial alliances 
 only with women of other groups ; but the woman still remains in 
 her own {.jroup. and the children arc members of her j^roup, while 
 the husband remains a member of his own clan, and is received, or 
 may be received, as a ^uest in the clan of his wife. Upon his death 
 his property is not shared by his children, nor by his wife, since 
 these are not members of his clan ; but it falls to the nearest of kin 
 within his clan — usually to his sister's children. "f "Familiarity with 
 women within the group and unfamiliarity with women without the 
 group is the explanation of exogamy on the side of interest ; and the 
 system oi exoj^amy is a result of exchanging familiar women for 
 
 others It is a well-known condition of exogamy that, while a 
 
 man must marry without his clan, he must not marry without his 
 tribe, and for the most part, in fact, the clan into which he shall 
 marry is designated. In other words, allied clans gave their women 
 in exchange mutually. This was a natural arrangement, both because 
 ibe two groups were neighbors and because they were friendly, and 
 at the same time the psychological demand for newness was satis- 
 fied. The exchange took place at first occasionally and not system- 
 atically but gradually, and when the habit of exchange had 
 
 been established, men came to look forward to the exchange and to 
 desire to secure the girl at the earliest possible moment, until finally 
 young women were exchanged at puberty and virgins. When for any 
 j^ reason there is established in a group a tendency toward a practice, 
 then the tendency is likely to become established as a habit, and re- 
 garded as right, binding, and inevitable: it is moral, and its contrary 
 is immoral. When we consider the binding natures of the foo<l 
 tab(X)S, of the couvade, and of the regulation that a man shall not 
 speak to or look at his mother-in-law or sister, we can understan«l 
 how the habit of marrying out introduced through the charm of im- 
 familiarity. becomes a binding habit. "J 
 
 As stated before, self-preservation and racc-prcscrvation arc the 
 
 •Crawley. E— THK MYSTIC RDSE. p 44« 
 t Thomas. \V. I— SKX & SoCIKTY. pp. 57. 58 
 I Thomas. W. I.— SEX & SOCIETY, pp 194. 196. 
 
18 
 
 great interests of primitive man. These interests are reflected in his 
 religion which, as we have seen, is scarcely differentiated from his 
 science, law, and art. "Religion in its first form is a reflection of the 
 most important group interests through social symbols and cere- 
 monials based upon the activities incident to such interests.* All 
 habitual actions and reactions — all habitual modes of action which 
 are found to further and maintain life become established as cus- 
 toms which make up this religion. The most characteristic of these 
 customs may be discussed as animism, totemism, and taboo. 
 
 ANIMISM is the religion and philosophy of the savage. It is a 
 belief in a dual or double world — a belief that everything in the world 
 has its double or spirit. "Back of every material existence or phen- 
 omenal reality the savage posits an immaterial power, a spiritual en- 
 tity, a "double" which controls the material object, explains its being 
 and its resistance to the will of man, and makes it an abode of con- 
 sciousness no different in kind from the consciousness which he him- 
 self possesses."! Dream, trance, swoon, somnambulism, insanity, 
 idiocy, epilepsy, death — all these are evidence to him that the body 
 and the spirit are separate things. According to Tylor "the actual 
 
 conception of the personal soul or spirit among the lower races 
 
 may be defined as follows : It is a thin unsubstantial human image, in 
 its nature a sort of vapor, film, or shadow ; the cause of life and 
 
 thought in the individual it animates ; capable of leaving the 
 
 body far behind mostly impalbable and invisible, yet also 
 
 manifesting physical power continuing to exist and appear to 
 
 men after the death of that body ; able to enter into, possess, and act 
 in the bodies of other men, of animals, and even of things.":]: This 
 does not mean that primitive man had our modern conception of 
 "spirit" or "immaterial." "What the primitive man is conscious of is 
 not a material body, and an immaterial mind, but rather an acting, 
 feeling, thinking body — the unity of himself, namely, at once what 
 we should call material and conscious. And if such phenomena as 
 dreams and ghost-seeing made him conceive the possibility of a sep- 
 aration of himself from the earthly body, yet the inner self, 
 
 the soul or ghost, is still only a thinner and more tenuous body."§ 
 To all things he attributes this double — all things are interpreted by 
 him in this way. 
 
 This dual belief gave rise to a system of propitiation which was 
 the beginning of worship. Nature was peopled by unseen powers 
 bad or good ; they brought good or evil upon man and so he had to 
 
 * Ames, E. S.— THE PSYCHOLOGY OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE, p. 49. 
 t Monroe, P.— TEXT BOOK IN HISTORY OF EDUCATION, p. 2. 
 t Tylor, E. B.— PRIMITIVE CULTURE, Vol. I, p. 429. 
 § Rogers, A. K.— HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY, p. 5. 
 
19 
 
 take ihein itUi) consideration in all \u> atu<ni-, iiiu> j>i«HM.i.tti' m 
 came into existence as a practical matter with the savaj^c. Because 
 >f this dual interpretation of life, we find that at his death his dog 
 ..\u\ horse and wife are killed or burned with him so that their 
 loubles might serve his in the other world — and for the same reasons 
 his weapons are buried or burned with him. 
 
 This animistic view of tilings "is manife--ii\ im.- nuuoinc .iml de- 
 velopment of that earliest analogical reasoning, which concludes 
 external objects to be animated with a life essentially similar to our 
 own.'** "Spiritual l)cings are modeled by man on his primary concep- 
 tion of his own human v^oul. and their purpose is to explain 
 
 nature on the primitive childlike theory that it is truly and through- 
 out 'animated Xaturc.' "f This is Tylor's interpretation of Animism 
 and it is very generally accepted. 
 
 It is suggestive, however, to note the view of Professor Ames. 
 who says: "Instead of primitive man discovering his own soul within 
 him and then attributing such a soul to all other things, he is ind«jlent 
 and inattentive; or he is absorbed in an intense activity, all parts of 
 which fuse and blend except in moments of unusual, surprising ex- 
 j)eriences when a conflict springs up between liis accustomed ground 
 
 of action and some feature of his environment There is. then, 
 
 no suftlcient ground for believing that primitive people make any 
 consistent distinction between man and his spirit or between any 
 other object and its spirit. Dreams and trances may indeed give rise 
 to the idea of a double, but this double is not essentially different 
 from the original." So that interpreting Spirits "in terms of at- 
 tention, conception and habit a spirit is an object, sensation or 
 
 image which strikes the attention forcibly; any strange thing, any 
 unwonted, exaggerated or surprising thing — s«nnething which strikes 
 the attention forcibly, interrupting an established habit, and demand- 
 ing the creation of a new conce|)tion."t 
 
 It seems to me that no better explanation of the origin of An- 
 imism has yet been given than the one of Professor Tylor. Reason 
 has ever been the distinguishing characteristic of man since he rose 
 above the brute, and his curiosity and reasoning might possibly have 
 led to animism — a sort of reasoning ami interpretation that wc ob- 
 serve at all times in the case of children an<l the ignorant. 
 
 TOT KM ISM is the name applied to the belief held by primitive 
 man that the clan is descended from a certain object, animate or in- 
 animate, more especially a beast or plant. "There is no record of a 
 
 •Frazcr. J G— ANIMISM IK "FVCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA." 
 t Tylor. K. B— rRIMITI\ Vol. II, p 184 
 
 t.\me5. F. S— THK I'SYi F RKLIGIOfS EXPERIENXF.. pp 
 
 99. I(M. 106. 107. 
 
20 
 
 stage in human society in which each community of men did not 
 claim kindred and alliance with some group or species of the living 
 powers of nature."* 
 
 "Thus the Turtle clan of the Iroquois are descended from a fat 
 turtle, which, burdened by the weight of its shell in walking, con- 
 trived by great exertions to throw it off, and thereafter gradually 
 developed into a man. The Bear and Wolf clans of the Iroquois are 
 
 descended from bears and wolves respectively The Crane clan 
 
 of the Ojibways are descended from a pair of cranes, which after long 
 wanderings settled on the rapids at the outlet of Lake Superior, 
 where they were transformed by the great Spirit into a man and 
 
 woman." Sometimes "a human ancestress is said to have given 
 
 birth to an animal of the totem species one woman brought 
 
 forth a calf, others a crocodile, hippopotamus, monkey, boa, and wild 
 
 pig-"t 
 
 The savage regarded his totem — which was usually a beast, bird, 
 or fish, though sometimes a tree plant — with superstitious respect, 
 expecting the totem to protect him, and in turn showing his regard 
 by not killing it, if it be an animal, and not cutting or gathering it 
 if it be a plant. The totem is not an isolated individual, but a class of 
 animals or plants — generally a species. "Each local group reveals 
 the fact that it is composed largely, but not entirely, of individuals 
 who describe themselves by the name of some one animal or plant. 
 Thus there will be one area which belongs to a group of men who call 
 themselves Kangaroo men, another belonging to emu men, another to 
 Hakea flower men, and so on, almost every animal and plant which 
 is found in the country having its representative amongst the human 
 inhabitants."^ 
 
 "The clan totem is reverenced by a body of men and women who 
 call themselves by the name of the totem, believe themselves to be 
 of one blood, descendants of a common ancestor, and all bound to- 
 gether by common obligations to each other and by a common faith 
 in the totem. Totemism is thus both a religious and a social sys- 
 tem. In its religious aspect it consists of the relations of mutual re- 
 spect and protection between man and his totem ; in its social aspect 
 it consists of the relations of the clansmen to each other and to men 
 of other clans. In the later history of totemism these two sides, the 
 religious and the social, tend to part company ; the social system 
 sometimes revives the religious ; and, on the other hand, religion 
 sometimes bears traces of totemism in countries where the social 
 system based on totemism has disappeared. "§ 
 
 * Smith, W. R.— THE RELIGION OF THE SEMITES, p. 137. 
 t Frazer, J. G.— TOTEMISM & EXOGAMY, pp. 5, 7, 8. 
 
 t Spencer, B. and Gillen, F. J.— NATIVE TRIBES OF CENTRAL AUS- 
 TRALIA, p. 9. 
 § Frazer, J. G.— TOTEMISM IN "ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA." 
 
21 
 
 The savage was in the habu ••! >iu)win)j; liis close rclaiixn in the 
 totem hy tlressiii^ in the skin of the totem animal, nnttilatin{{ his 
 body so as to resemble it an»l representing it on his body by paint. 
 tatou iir t)ther\vise.* lie also used it as a mark to aftlx to treaties or 
 other documents, and paintetl it on his hut. weapon and canoe. All 
 members of a totem clan regard each other as kinsmen and are in duty 
 bound to help and protect one another. 
 
 Sometimes in addition to the clan totems, there are sex totems, 
 separate totems for the man and others for the woman. Sometimes, 
 too. there are found intli\ idual tt)tems rci^arded by individuals as 
 related to themselves and the relati(Miship enilin^ with themselves. 
 
 No satisfactory explanation has as yet been j^iven of the origin 
 of totemism. Spencer explains it as a "misinterpretation oi nick- 
 names."! He says that early man named himself after plants and 
 animals, and then confusing these with his ancestors of the same 
 name, began to worship them as he already worshipped his ancestors. 
 Lubbock also believes that totemism arose from the hai)it of naming 
 people after animals. 
 
 I'ra/.cr at one time believed that "the general explanation of 
 Totemism to which tiie Inticiiiuma ceremonies seem to point is that it 
 is primarily an organized and co-operative system of magic designed 
 to secure for the members of the community, on the one hand, a plen- 
 tiful supplv of all the commodities of which they stand in need, and, 
 on the other hand, immunity from all the perils and dangers to which 
 man is exposed in his struggle with nature. \'iewed in this ligiit. 
 Totemism is a thoroughly practical system designed to meet the 
 everyday wants of the ordinary man. "J But now Frazer thinks that 
 "the Central Australian beliefs as to conception are but one remove 
 from absolutely i)rimitive totemism. which, on my theory, ought to 
 consist in nothing more or less than in a belief that women are im- 
 pregnated without the help of men by something which enters their 
 womb at the moment when they first feel it quicken, for such a belief 
 would perfectly explain the essence of totemism. that is. tlic identi- 
 fication of groups of people with groups of things. "§ 
 
 The theory of G. A. W'ilken, the Dutch scholar, is that totemism 
 is based on the belief in the reincarnation of the dead in the form of 
 animals — that transmigration of souls forms a connecting link be- 
 tween totemism and the worship of the dead. 
 
 .•\ few lines from Professor Dewey also ;;i\e i i i<»r ii»"Ught. 
 
 .\n explanation of totemism is radically defective which does not 
 
 • Trazcr. J G— TOTKMISM & KXOG,\MY. Vol. I. p. 25. 
 
 t Spencer. H— THK I'KINCIPLKS OF SnCIOLOGY. Vol. I. p. 367. 
 
 t Frazer. J. G.— TOT KM ISM & KXOG.VMY. Vol. I. p. 116. 
 
 § Frazer. J. G.— TOTKMISM & KXOGAMY. Vol. IV, pp. 58. 59. 
 
22 
 
 make much of the implication of tribe and animal in the same emo- 
 tional situation Hunter and hunted are, as a matter of 
 
 fact, co-partners in the life of the group. Why, then, should they not 
 be represented as of close kin?"* 
 
 Many attribute the origin of totemism to the worship of the plant 
 or animal originally eaten and regarded as particularly necessary to 
 the clan's existence. This seems to be the view of Spencer and Gillen : 
 "We find among these tribes (the Arunta) no restriction according 
 to which a man is forbidden to eat his totem, as is stated to be the 
 case amongst certain other Australian tribes. On the other hand, 
 though he may only under ordinary circumstances eat very sparingly 
 of it, there are certain special occasions on which he is, we may say, 
 obliged by custom to eat a small portion of it or otherwise the supply 
 would fail At some earlier time it would appear as if the mem- 
 bers of a totem had a right to feed upon the totemic animal or plant 
 as if this were indeed a functional necessity. "f 
 
 Professor Ames seems to voice the same opinion, explaining it 
 very clearly, as follows: "Since food was a most insistent and domi- 
 nant need of man he would be particularly interested in whatever 
 afforded food. On this account the plant or animal or lish wdiich 
 satisfied hunger would fix attention and become an object of intense 
 interest Precisely this fixing of attention, heightening of emo- 
 tion, and recurrent stimulation make things sacred or taboo The 
 
 taboos against eating the totem probably arose when it became scarce 
 or when the habit of regarding the totem as sacred developed the re- 
 striction of its use to occasional ceremonial functions. The growth of 
 the tendency to reserve the totem for ceremonial feasts, and then to 
 partake of it sparingly, accords with the well-known characteristic 
 of habitual activities to develop to extremes, and even to interfere 
 with their original efifects. In this way the very awe and regard at- 
 tached to an article of food because of its life-giving power might 
 naturally enough tend to remove it from common use, when other 
 food was at hand. This would explain the fact that often a clan 
 will not eat its own totem, though other clans are free to eat it."| 
 
 TABOO is another one of the features that occupied a large place 
 in the atmosphere of primitive man. It was essentially a religious 
 observance though also employed for civil purposes. It was a sys- 
 tem of prohibitions of which traces may be discovered in most parts 
 of the world. For a thing to be taboo meant that it was "sacred 
 to one's self or forbidden to others." For primitive man all things 
 
 * Dewey. J.— INTERPRETATIONS OF SAVAGE MIND. p. 227. 
 
 t Spencer. B. and Gillen, F. J.— NATIVE TRIBES OF CENTRAL AUS- 
 TRALIA, pp. 167. 207 or 209. 
 
 tAmes, E. S— THE PSYCHOLOGY OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE, pp. 
 120, 119. 
 
23 
 
 that arc strange, or abiioi nuii. oi reniarkabic, arc rcRarded as pos- 
 sessing' peculiar powers and properties and arc therefore labt>o, being 
 regarded with fear and awe. It may aid us in the understanding of what 
 taboo is, to note that "the orii^'inal idea behind the Maori term noa, for 
 instance, which means common as opposed to tapu, is what we should 
 
 call normal or regular in taboo the connotation of "not to be 
 
 touched" is the salient pujiu all over the world Things and per- 
 sons are potentially dangerous, acts and functions are potentially 
 liable to danger, which are strange, unfamiliar, unusual, abnormal, in 
 a word, more or less unknown. Man's ignorance is the occasion of 
 his fears, and he fears anything or everything which he does not 
 understand Everyone is taboo in times of war, at the arrival 
 of stranger-, ai the planting of the new seed, and at other periodic 
 performances Occasions where the performance of bodily func- 
 tions is in question, are frequently taboo, and practically always when 
 
 the functions are sexual or nutritive Even emotional states, 
 
 such as pain, anger, fear and love, which are apparently so abnormal, 
 are ascribed to supernatural agencies and are taboo states ; and at 
 last the remarkable fact becomes clear, that in primitive thought, most 
 of what a man or woman does is actually, and all is potentially taboo 
 
 W hen we take our attention from the mysterious force of taboo 
 
 and analyize its subject, we find first that it is the "spiritual" danger 
 which makes him taboo and dangerous to others, as soon as it de- 
 scends upon him and fills him with virus or electric force."* 
 
 If this system of prohibition was to grow up at all, it was natural 
 that it should grow up and center about those activities which were 
 of the greatest importance to the group ; and so we find taboo center- 
 ing about birth, initiation, death, sex, food, strangers, chiefs, war. 
 "A secondary development of taboo also follows the law of habit, 
 and the objects thus involved may be taken as becoming taboo 
 
 through association with the main factors in the life activities." 
 
 Not only the king, but "what he touches, .sees, mentions, points at 
 and even what he mentally refers to, becomes taboo."t 
 
 In s(»mc j)laces, priests only could impose the tab(X», but else- 
 where kings and chiefs and even ordinary individuals exercised the 
 power. A taboo might be general, as when applied to a class; or par- 
 ticular as when applied to one or more individuals of a class It 
 might be permanent or temporary. Idols, temples, perstins and prop- 
 erty of royal persons, chiefs and priests were taboo. In some places 
 even the namc^ of chiefs and kings were taluxi and could not be 
 
 • Crawley, h — I III, .M ^ M k i\< im.. pp Ji, 79. 21. 30. 20. 
 t.Xmcs. K. S— THK PSYCHOLOGY OF RELIOIOLS EXPERIENXE, pp. 
 68.69. 
 
24 
 
 uttered. A chief could render taboo anything he took a fancy to 
 by calling it by name of part of his person. 
 
 Certain foods were permanently taboo — in favor of or for use 
 of gods and men, but were forbidden to women. Thus in Hawaii 
 the flesh of hogs, fowls, turtle, and several kinds of fish, cocoa-nuts 
 and nearly everything offered in sacrifice were reserved for gods 
 and men, and could not, except in special cases, be eaten by women. 
 Sometimes certain fruits, animals and flesh were taboo for months 
 from both men and women. Sometimes houses were tabooed against 
 water. If an island or district was tabooed no person or canoe might 
 approach it while the taboo lasted ; if a path was tabooed no one might 
 walk on it. 
 
 Certain seasons were kept taboo, such as the approach of a great 
 religious ceremony, the time of preparation for war, and the time 
 of sickness of chiefs. The time during which they lasted varied from 
 years to months or days. During these periods various ordinary 
 activities were to be abstained from. 
 
 A taboo was either common or strict. During a common taboo 
 the men were only required to abstain from their ordinary occupa- 
 tions and to attend to morning and evening prayers. But during a 
 strict taboo every fire and light on the island or in the district was 
 extinguished; no canoe was launched; no person bathed; no one, ex- 
 cept those who had to attend at the temple, was allowed to be seen 
 out of doors; "no dog might bark, no pig grunt, no cock crow. Hence 
 at these seasons they tied up the mouths of dogs and pigs, and put 
 fowls under a calabash or bandaged their eyes." 
 
 The taboo was imposed either by proclamation or by fixing cer- 
 tain marks on the places or things tabooed. The penalty for viola- 
 tion of the taboo was either religious or civil. The religious penalty, 
 inflicted by the offended spirits, generally took the form of a disease. 
 Persons violating taboo were supposed to be attacked by sickness 
 and misfortune. "The infraction of the savage taboo generally, unlike 
 that of the decalogue, carries its own punishment. Forbidden food 
 is poison, tabooed land is dangerous to tread upon, to handle tabooed 
 property may mean death; nobody knows what awful cosmic catas- 
 trophe might occur if a tabooed woman saw the sun ; many words and 
 names are taboo, and no luck will come of using them."* Cases are 
 on record in which persons who had unwittingly broken a taboo ac- 
 tually died of terror on discovering their error. However, in cases 
 of involuntary trangression, chiefs and priests could perform certain 
 mystical ceremonies which prevented this penalty from taking efifect. 
 
 * Lang, A.— MAGIC AND RELIGION, p. 257. 
 
25 
 
 In i.ut mere were various ecretnoiiics by which a taboo could be 
 removed or overcome. When tal)iM)S had been broken wc have 
 sacrifices — also when women returned to camp after child-birth, when 
 warriors and travellers returned home, when the sick regained health, 
 when mourners returned from burial of the dead — probably because in 
 each of these cases they have come in contact with things or beings 
 or spirits that are dangerous and which are for that reason taboo. 
 One of the commonest methods of overcominj^ taboo is by the use of 
 water (purification). Not because it cleanses or because of its hy- 
 gienic power, but because it is full of magical p<,\ver— it is sacred, 
 mysterious, strange. Similarly may be explained the u-r of (.t.- 
 smoke and incense. 
 
 The civil penalty for breaking the taboo varied in seventy. In 
 some places there were orticers appointed by the chiefs to see that 
 the taboo was observed, and every breach of it was punished with 
 death unless the offender had powerful friends. In some places the 
 punishment was milder — the delinquent being robbed and his gar- 
 dens despoiled. "In New Zealand the judicial roljbery was reduced 
 to a system. Xo sooner was it known that a man had broken a taboo 
 than all his friends and acquaintances swarmed down on him and 
 carried off whatever they could lay hands on. I'ikUt thi^ >^\st(•m 
 property circulated with great rapidity."* 
 
 Persons dangerously ill were taboo and were removed from their 
 houses to sheds in the bush ; if they remained in the house and died 
 there the house was tabooed and deserted. Mothers after child-birth 
 were taboo, and so were their new-born children. Women before 
 marriage could cohabit with their lovers; but after marriage they 
 were strictly tabooed to their husbands and from everyone else. Bur- 
 ial grounds and those who had come in contact with the dead were 
 taboo, and a canoe which had carried a corpse was never afterward 
 
 used but was drawn on shore and painted with the • ■' "lor — red; 
 
 in some places the taboo color was white. 
 
 Besides the taboos already described there were others which 
 anyone couM impose. For instance, in New Zealand if a man wished 
 to preserve his house, garden or anything else, he made it taboo; 
 similarly, he could appropriate a forest tree or a piece of drift timber. 
 There was also the village taboo which was applied, for instance, in 
 making taboo in the autumn the sweet-potato fields belonging to the 
 village until the crop was gathered, so that no stranger could ap- 
 proach them. Similar taboos were laid on woods during the hunting 
 season, and on rivers during the fishing sca.son. 
 
 •TABOO: 'ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA." 
 
26 
 
 It seems that some taboos rendered persons or things sacred or 
 holy, while others rendered them unclean or accursed. But on closer 
 study we find that such a distinction was a later development : that 
 the rules to be observed were originally identical in what seems two 
 different kinds of taboo : that in some cases the ideas of sacredness 
 and uncleanness were indistinguishable. "Alongside of taboos that 
 exactly correspond to rules of holiness, protecting the inviolability 
 of idols and sanctuaries, priests and chiefs, and generally of all per- 
 sons and things pertaining to the gods and their worship, we find 
 another kind of taboo which in the Semitic field has its parallel in 
 rules and uncleanness. Women after child-birth, men who have 
 touched a dead body and so forth, are temporarily taboo and separated 
 from human society, just as the same persons are unclean in Semitic 
 religions. In these cases the person under taboo is not regarded as 
 holy, for he is separated from approach to the sanctuary as well as 
 from contact with men ; but his act or condition is somewhat asso- 
 ciated with supernatural dangers, arising, according to the common 
 savage explanation, from the presence of formidable spirits which 
 are shunned like an infectious disease. In most savage societies no 
 sharp line seems to be drawn between the two kinds of taboo just 
 indicated, and even in more advanced nations the notions of holiness 
 and uncleanness often touch. Among the Syrians, for example, 
 swine's flesh was taboo, but it was an open question whether this 
 was because the animal was holy or because it was unclean."* "The 
 opposition of sacred and accursed, clean and unclean, which plays so 
 important a part in the later history of religion, did in fact arise by 
 differentiation from the single root idea of taboo, which includes and 
 reconciles them both and by reference to which alone their history 
 and mental relation are intelligible. "f 
 
 Some have held that taboos are artificial contrivances made by 
 priests and chiefs in their interests. "The earlier students of the cus- 
 tom regarded it as an artificial invention, a piece of statecraft, cun- 
 ningly devised in the interests of the nobility and the priests. This 
 view is, however, now generally abandoned" because taboo "is most 
 at home in communities which have no state organization, and 
 flourishes where there are no priests and no priesthood. Above all 
 the belief is not artificial and imposed, but spontaneous and natural. "| 
 
 Lang's opinion is that the savage "prohibited just such things as 
 his philosophy, and what he believed to be his experience, showed 
 
 him to be dangerous for obscure reasons These taboos are 
 
 sanctioned by the tribal counsellors as the results of experience, not 
 
 * Smith, W. R.— THE RELIGION OF THE SEMITES, pp. 152. 153. 
 t TABOO: "ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA." 
 
 tjevons. F. B.— INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY OF RELIGION, 
 p. 82. 
 
ihcir own pcrh.ip-^, Imi liuii oi ihc Alkiia Buma. or clairvovam, <>: 
 
 ■■^cll^ilivc." or ■■niciiiuni," or liabitually hallucinated pcr.son 
 
 Taboo, then, is not imposed irrationally, hut for a good reason, as 
 savaj^e reasoninj^ y^oc». and in accordance with what is believed to 
 be experience, and. by dint of suj^'gestion. really does become experi- 
 ence"* Jevons' view is that taboo "cannot have been derived from 
 experience. It is prior to and even contradictory of experience. In 
 fine, it is an inherent tendency of the niind."t Frazer's explanation 
 is that "The original character of the taboo must be looked for not in 
 its civil but in its rclii,Mous element. It was not the creation of a 
 legislat»»r but ilie gradual outgrt»wth of animistic beliefs, to which 
 the ambition and avarice of chiefs and priests afterward gave an 
 artificial extension. "J Crawley's theory is that "Fear is the main 
 cause of the precautions of taboo. The conception of danger, neither 
 
 material nor spiritual, but botli is the chief characteristic of 
 
 early religious thought and practice, and is due to the unscientific 
 
 character of early speculation." "This primitive conception of 
 
 danger leads to precautions, religious or superstitious, and appears in 
 ritual and in the imposition of taboo. This tendency arising from 
 subjective conceptions as to the danger of acts and things unfamiliar, 
 out of the routine, or not understood, grows out of man's egotistic sen- 
 sibility, that animal form of the instinct of self-preservation and the 
 will to live, which causes the individual to insulate liimself from 
 ix3tential danger."§ 
 
 Professor Ames in criticising the explanations <>i Crawley. Jevons 
 and Frazer, says: "A psychology which starts with the search for the 
 underlying ideas of social customs and taboos is apt to fail of results 
 for the reason that these customs do not spring from ideas. 
 They arc reactions to felt needs and are non-rational. They 
 develop into habitual activities, acquiring stability through repetition 
 and erticiency. and gaining the powerful sanctit>ns natural to long- 
 standing habits. There is abundant evidence that primitive custtMns 
 and taboos do not arise from ideas or from systems of belief, and 
 modern psychology has made it possible to account for such 
 
 upon other and far more convincing gri)unds The ri; 
 
 savages themselves to inquiries concerning their customs are good 
 evidence that their conduct does not issue from "ideas" nor depend 
 uiH.n "rea.M)ns." They simply say 'it is our custom.* "|| 
 
 The best explanation, it seems to mc, is that given in the follow- 
 ing few lines by Professor Ames: "It is the nature of custom to de- 
 
 • LanK. .\— MAGIC AND RELIGION, p. 2ti2 
 
 t Jevons. K. B— INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY OF RELIGION. 
 
 tFr.?zcr^J G— T.\HOO: "ENCYCUOPEDIA BRITANNICA" 
 
 §Crawlcy. E— THE MYSTIC ROSE. pp. 65. 5. 6. 30. 
 
 [l \mcs E S— THE PSYCHOLOGY OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE, p. 54. 
 
28 
 
 velop and accumulate to itself authority and inviolability This 
 
 furnishes the basis for a psychological explanation of taboo. Taboo 
 
 is just the negative side of custom. They are correlative terms 
 
 The customs are the thou-shalts and the taboos the thou-shalt-nots 
 of primitive life."* 
 
 Of other notable features that developed in connection with the 
 conceptions of animism, totemism, and taboo may be mentioned cere- 
 monial, myth, sacrifice, magic, prayer, mutilations of body, canni- 
 balism. 
 
 The origin of ceremonial is explained as due partly to the fact 
 that "in moments of leisure, the successfully thrilling events of the 
 chase or battle are often re-enacted ceremonials serve to re- 
 instate the emotional experiences of the real events."f Another ex- 
 planation is that social activities give rise to group consciousness, 
 and that this leads to group ceremonial. Robertson Smith ascribes 
 the origin of ceremonial to occasions of crisis "when the tribal 
 nerves are on the stretch." The ceremonials imitate the usual life 
 activities. One of the purposes of the ceremonies is to overcome 
 taboo or magic. For example, Crawley's explanation of marriage 
 ceremonies^ is that they are employed to overcome sexual and other 
 taboos. Ceremonial gives play to mimicry and mummery, and 
 through dances and chants serves to impress and work up emo- 
 tion. The occasions which are usually accompanied by ceremonial 
 of some kind are chiefly the following : birth, initiation, marriage ; 
 hunting and fishing seasons ; death and burial ; war. 
 
 "The identification of a man with his totem appears further to 
 have been the object of various ceremonies observed at birth, mar- 
 riage, death, and other occasions. "§ 
 
 There are "certain sacred ceremonies associated with the totems, 
 the object of which is to secure the increase of the animal or plant 
 which gives its name to the totem. These ceremonies are perhaps 
 the most important of any, and it does not seem possible to discover 
 where and how they arose. The natives have no tradition which deals 
 with their origin."|| 
 
 Mythology is primitive man's science and philosophy, says 
 Frazer. Spencer thinks myths are distorted stories, arising from 
 misunderstood terms that have survived in speech after their original 
 significance was lost. Some believe that myth preceded religion ; 
 while others, as Robertson Smith, say that mythology was no essen- 
 tial part of ancient religion. This view seems the most acceptable. 
 
 *Ames, E. S.— THE PSYCHOLOGY OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE, pp. 
 62, 52. 
 
 t Ames, E. S.— THE PSYCHOLOGY OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE, p. 60. 
 
 t Crawley, E.— THE MYSTIC ROSE, p. 322. 
 
 § Frazer, J. G.— TOTEMISM & EXOGAMY, p. 31. 
 
 II Spencer, G. and Gillen, F. J.— NATIVE TRIBES OF CENTRAL AUS- 
 TRALIA, p. 167. 
 
29 
 
 Sacrifice, maijic, and prayer arc imp<'riaiu cicmctU"^ in the cere- 
 monial. The essence of sacrifice is iilentificalion with God — contact 
 with the "spirits" — by partakinjj of the same meal with the Spirit, and 
 thus estal)lishinj^ or stren.uthcnin}^ a sacred rehitittn; the sava^jc bc- 
 lievinp that a sacred relation is established between him ami any 
 being with whom he comes in contact. The idea of sacrifice as a gift 
 to the god was a later development. "The leading idea in the animal 
 
 sacrifices was not that of a gift made over to the god. but an 
 
 act of communion, in which the god and his worshippers unite by 
 partaking together of the flesh and !)I(K>d of a sacred victim."* 
 
 Magic is the practice of trying to influence the spirits, go(jd or 
 evil, by ceremony — by greater magic. The greater part of primitive 
 man's relation is little else than magic. 
 
 Prayer is at first a sort of impulsive expression accompanying 
 religious action or ceremony, the things said being absolutely mean- 
 ingless. Such a conception is not strange when we think of the 
 various modes of expression given play to by sects to-day when 
 under strong religious emotion ; at religious revivals, for example. 
 Later, prayer assumes a magical character; and only very much 
 later does it become meditation and communion with God. 
 
 As to mutilations of the body, Klyniannt mentions the fol- 
 lowing purposes for which the savage practices thcni : (1) To beau- 
 tify the body— by boring of holes through the nf)sc: flattening of 
 the nose; tearing of hair in certain places of the scalp. (2) In 
 mourning the death of near relatives — by cutting of gashes across 
 the body. (3) To promote skill in daily occupation— by cutting off 
 a forefinger, etc. (4) To bring about the realization of certain wishes. 
 (5) To acquire supernatural powers through the assistance of the 
 "Spirits." (6) To initiate youths into manhood — by circumcision ; 
 and to prepare girls for marriage — by dcfl-" t"'"n (7) T. > punish 
 and brand wrong-doers. 
 
 These mutilations arc differently interpreted by different author- 
 ities. Many of them are explained as based on the idea of primitive 
 man that sacrificing a part of the body (tr of some organ saves the 
 rest. Thus, for example, is explained the practice of circumcision. 
 Some of the mutilations attributed as due to desire to beautify the 
 body, are by others attributed to diflferent causes: thus the wearing 
 of bones in holes bored in the nose for that purpose is said by .some to 
 be due to a desire to have constantly about the body an amulet or 
 magical object : thus too is tatooing explainc<l by .some as originally 
 a magical device rather than as ornament. Some mutilations arc 
 
 • Smith. \V R — THE RKLIGION OF THK SKMITKS. p. 226 
 t i: lymann. K-DII-- KINGKHORKNF^ '" " '-"">\IE SUDAUSTRA- 
 LIEN, p 108 
 
30 
 
 ascribed to desire to remove a part of a taboo organ to save the rest : 
 this is also given as an exphmation of circumcision. It is, however, 
 widely accepted that some of the mutilations are for purposes of 
 ornament. 
 
 Cannibalism is usually explained as originating through primitive 
 man's belief that by eating of an animal or person he would get the 
 qualities of that animal or person — a conception based on the theory 
 of identification by contact, previously alluded to. "The Namaquas 
 abstain from eating the flesh of hares, because they think it would 
 make them faint-hearted as a hare. But they eat the flesh of the 
 lion, or drink the blood of the leopard or lion, to get the courage 
 
 and strength of the beasts Among the Dyaks of Northwest 
 
 Borneo young men and warriors may not eat venison, because it 
 would make them as timid as deer; but the women and very old men 
 
 are free to eat it The flesh and blood of men are commonly 
 
 eaten and drunk to inspire bravery, wisdom, or other qualities for 
 which the men themselves were remarkable, or which are supposed 
 to have their special seat in the part eaten."* 
 
 Elymann,f however, questions this as being the origin of canni- 
 balism and thinks rather that cannibalism originated from scarcity of 
 food, in which view he seems to be supported by Morgan, who 
 ascribes to the discovery of farinaceous foods the great fact of the 
 abolition of cannibalism. 
 
 Whether it be the origin of cannibalism or not, it is no doubt 
 true that "All over the world primitive man believes that by absorbing 
 the flesh and blood of an animal he acquires the qualities of the crea- 
 ture, and so far identifies himself with it."$ 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 NATURE OF PRIMITIVE EDUCATION. 
 
 It is convenient in discussing the agencies of education to group 
 them as home, school, vocation, state and church. These institutions, 
 highly difi^erentiated and complex as they are, very well include the 
 various activities and ideals of life. These same institutions we may 
 consider in our discussion of primitive education. Professor Home 
 has pointed out that these agencies "are due to traits in man which 
 are found also in simpler form in the lower animals. They mate, 
 build homes, teach their young by example, form social communities, 
 have leaders of flocks and herds, and become attached to higher 
 
 * Frazer, J. G.— THE GOLDEN BOUGH, Vol. II. pp. 354, 355. 357. 
 tElymann, E.— DIE EINGEBORENEN DER KOLONIE SUDy^USTRA- 
 
 LIEN, p. 262. 
 t Frazer, J. G.— TOTEMISM & EXOGAMY, p. 120. 
 
31 
 
 beings who arc i^nmi ici tiiiiii ami ui'imi win'm tiuv <K-i)cn<i ■ ' »ur 
 (Ji>cussion of primitive life with ils orj^ani/aliun. practices and l>c- 
 liefs should lead us to sec that these agencies were present there. 
 Hut thoc institutions, which to us arc so difTcrentiated were one to 
 primitive man. 
 
 rhc orj^anization. such as it was, was due chiefly to economic 
 causes. The aim of all strivini^ was existence and preservation, and 
 these were possible only in j^roup co-operation, and so we have the 
 rudimentary state. In this rudimentary state we see the element 
 of economy in e\i>lution showini; itself in the rc|)rcssion and limita- 
 tion of individuality and originality in order to produce rapid adap- 
 tation to tribal organization. As a result the savage learns only what 
 is absolutely necessary fi>r subsistence and preservation. This for- 
 biilding of any originality may li.i\c been a result also r»f ancotor- 
 worship. 
 
 We have seen that marriage and the relations between the sexes 
 was based on definite rules; so that we may say that the home was 
 already a well-defined institution, giving to education, then, as now, 
 its chief contribution. Here, in the home, chiefly through imitation, 
 partly through the correction of mistakes involving some conscious 
 instruction ; and partly through the method of trial and error, began 
 tlie learning of the speech, deportment, and method of performing 
 the life activities of the group. This education is supplemented at 
 adolescence by the initiatory ceremonies, undertaken by the com- 
 munity and affording the only element of formal instruction. In 
 the home. t«»o. it is that the children, then, as now. begin to imitate 
 in play the occupations of their elders which they themselves will 
 .irry on seriously in later years, and thus their games and play serve 
 :> a contributing factor in their education. 
 
 Division of labor was clearly marked as between man and 
 woman ; besides that, they lived in separate organizations, and so we 
 find the initiatory ceremony serving the purpose of freeing the b \- 
 from their m<Jthers' organization and teaching them the i>r.i. • 
 and ideas connected with the group activities. 
 
 Religion is not only present, but in fact underlies all life, for it 
 i> the expression of group consciousness in connection with all ac- 
 tivity. All of the savage's activities are closely connected with his 
 religious beliefs, and so he needs to know not only how to do certain 
 things, but how to do them in such a way as not to ofTemI the un«*ccn 
 pfnvers. In this connection it should be noted that whereas we fre- 
 (juently profit by discoveries made by trial and experiment, or even 
 by accident, the savage was excluded from such a benefiting from cx- 
 
 • Hornc. H H — THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION, p. S. 
 
32 
 
 perience on account of his fixed customs and beliefs, particularly his 
 taboos. "Even if accidentally and unintentionally he is led to make 
 such an experiment, instead of profiting by the experience, he dies of 
 fright, as did the New Zealand slave who ate his master's dinner; or if 
 he does not die, he is tabooed, excommunicated, outlawed ; and his fate 
 in either case strengthens the original respect for taboo."* 
 
 There is no such special institution as a school. The out-of-door 
 living and occupations of primitive man make it necessary to do 
 their teaching, such as it is, out-of-doors, and — aside from some of 
 the instruction in connection with initiation — by actual experience, 
 ^^avage education may be described, then, as social education ; since 
 formal education can arise only when educational heritage crystal- 
 lizes in convenient form, easily presented, and when division of labor 
 progresses to the extent that teaching may become the business of 
 specialists. Such a beginning is made in the case of the initiation 
 ceremony, society here taking upon itself the work of education ; 
 but even this can hardly be called an element of conscious evolution, 
 for it is determined by custom and tradition rather than by a con- 
 scious aim to weld the child into the tribal community ; the ceremony 
 serves, however, to perform this function. 
 
 So that we may say, with Professor Davidson, that "savage edu- 
 cation was not conscious evolution. But savage education shows, 
 in their primitive form, the two departments of all education — edu- 
 cation with reference to the seen, and education with reference to the 
 unseen, or. roughly speaking, practical education and theoretical edu- 
 cation. "f This practical education of the savage gave him the train- 
 ing in the various activities connected with obtaining the necessaries 
 of life for himself and his family — connected with obtaining food, 
 clothing and shelter. He learned to use wood, stone, clay, bone, wool, 
 fibre and hides ; to sew, cook, weave, build huts, hunt, fish and fight. 
 His theoretical education taught him how to do these things in a 
 manner acceptable to his unseen spirits of the universe. It gave him 
 the primitive explanations of things — his religion, philosophy and 
 science. 
 
 Past or future gave but little worry to the savage ; he gave them 
 but little thought ; but he was highly interested in the present, and 
 ^education fulfilled its purpose when it adjusted him to that present. 
 This it did, as we have seen by forcing on him the strict imitation of 
 the life of those of his group, shaping him into a fixed traditional 
 mould. 
 
 *Jevons, F. B.— INTRODUCTION TO HISTORY OF RELIGION, p. 90. 
 t Davidson, Th.— A HISTORY OF EDUCATION, p. 20. 
 
33 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 METHOD OF PRIMITIVE EDUCATION 
 
 On the practical side the method of education in savage life is 
 imitation. There is no conscious process of instruction, and no spc- 
 vial institution or school. There is no attempt at formal explanation 
 ■r interpretation. The mcth«»d may be compared to that pursuc<l 
 hy us at present, with the child at h(Mne, and outside of the school, 
 when not t;ivin.ii conscious formal instruction — the child observes, it 
 imitates, it does what its elders do and as they do. Similarly the sav- 
 as^e child learned by observation and imitation, by trying; and succced- 
 inj;. by actual contact with the activities of life, the few simple arts of 
 its elders — to sew, to cook, to build huts, to hunt, to fish, to fiKht. 
 
 On the theoretical side the only formal instruction is that given 
 by the shamans or elders, to the adolescent youth who are taken aside 
 for varying periods, to be instructed in the secrets of their people, 
 before their atlmission into the men's organization and to tribe mem- 
 bership. While under obligation of secrecy, prohibited from speaking 
 for several days, and after undergoing certain mutilations of the body, 
 the youth comes intt» possession of the wisdom of his people. "Primi- 
 tive education like most complex modern education, is but the initia- 
 tion of the individual itit<» the ways of society through the acquisition 
 of its organized cultural possession; now expanded into many sub- 
 jects, requiring years for its acquisition."* 
 
 The instruction at initiation is wholly of imitative character, for 
 the vt)Uth accept with<»ut any change or questioning the tradition > 
 of their tribe as taught by those performing the initiation ceremonies. 
 Custom has already fixed mode of action and interpretation and the 
 duty of the initiated is obedience and imitation. "The chief ideas 
 behind the cerenmnies of so-called "initiation" are c<»ncerned with 
 the going-out of childhood and the entering upon the state of 
 manhood and womanhood. The putting-away of the old life of child- 
 hood and sexlessness, and the taking-up of responsibilities, social and 
 sexual, of the new, and also the education imparted, were often dra- 
 matized amongst early peoj)les by "sympathetic" processes 
 
 This kind of rehearsal was meant to insure the pn.per performance 
 of the duties represented in the mystery-play. We also find useful 
 instruction given as to the duties of manhood and womanhoo<l, the 
 sexual relation and marriage: girls are entru>te<l with such feminine 
 lore as the women possess, while the boys arc entrusted with the tribal 
 history and secrets by the old men. the repositories of power, and 
 the real and responsible guardians of the state."t 
 
 • Monroe. P.— Text Book in the HISTORY OF EDUCATION, p. 12. 
 t Crawley. K— THE MYSTIC ROSE, p. 294. 
 
34 
 
 The initiation ceremony is an important event in the Hfe of the 
 primitive boy. It is the means of entrance into manhood and into 
 the men's organization ; without it there follow loss of all men's priv- 
 ileges and ostracism for life. Women, children and the uninitiated 
 are considered as one. "They are 'milksops' and 'pariahs,' the de- 
 spised of men." Successful passing of the hardships incident to in- 
 itiation gives one a place as a man among the men. Those that passed 
 the tests probably represented the survival of the fittest — those strong 
 and fitted for war and the hard struggles of primitive life. 
 
 Various are the forms and the methods employed for this ordeal ; 
 each tribe possesses its distinctive tests. Some portion of the initia- 
 tion ceremony is always devoted to the teaching of the sacred lore, 
 the customs and traditions of the people. This is essentially the 
 business of the elders and it is entrusted to them because of the sanc- 
 tity impressed by their very presence and appearance. "Off in the 
 field, apart from the curious, an appeal is made to the oracle, through 
 the medium of mummery. The very mystery of the process tends 
 to its solemnity. An invocation is always made to the gods that the 
 ceremonies may be pleasing in their sight. This reacts upon the youth 
 in that it gives to society a greater hold upon him. The gods them- 
 selves will conspire with man to give vengeance upon him in the 
 event of his unfaithfulness to the trust. Here religion plays its part 
 to assist social welfare. Individually, reason may urge to violate cus- 
 tom, but the fear of the wrath of the gods, is the force to hold to 
 fellowman." 
 
 V The practice of public initiation among primitive man may be 
 said to mark the beginning of education as a conscious process. 
 Primitive man took advantage of a natural transition — from child- 
 hood to manhood — to instruct the children in tribe lore, tradition, and 
 wisdom, and to inspire them with respect for the old men and for the 
 practices of the tribe. According to Professor Hall's account of in- 
 itiation practices it seems that among American Aborigines the girl 
 receives most attention, while in Africa, Australia and in the Eastern 
 Islands it is almost altogether bestowed upon the boy.* The first 
 great event is arrival at maturity. 
 
 Some tribes had elaborate ceremonies of initiating girls into 
 maturity. The girl would be kept for some period in some secluded 
 place, wear peculiar dress as mark of her condition, and during this 
 period of isolation be busy sewing and weaving to teach her industry 
 and patience. She would have to go through various ceremonies 
 and practices of self-denial such as eating particular kind of food, 
 fasting and praying. "Reserve, self-control, weighing of conse- 
 
 * Hall, C. S.— ADOLESCENCE, Vol. II, p. 233. 
 
quences were cnii)lia>i/.cii. ' 1 licii mere \v«)ul<l be a comni.; "iit 
 fca>t at which she wt>uUl l)e imruiUiceil to ihe youn^ men of the 
 .'pposjte phratry. New clothes ami Drnaments wouhl be given to her. 
 ■'If healthy ami industrious, modest and reserveil, spoke slowly, 
 quietly and deliberately, and especially if she had gaine<l a reputa- 
 tion of unusual industry and skill, suitors abounded and she was soon 
 married."* Amoni,' some tribes the ceremony was simple: there 
 would be a feast, the tzirl aii])earini: in gala dress and makini; K'fts to 
 the guests. 
 
 in the East the ceremonies with the boys are elaborate. They are 
 taken to a tabooed spot in the bush, and. after undergoing certain 
 rites, such as circumcision, they arc instructed in the customs, laws. 
 rites, traditions and practices of the tribe, especially those connected 
 with the totem animal or plant sacred to the clan. Advice is given 
 on the conduct of life, especially conduct toward the other sex. Tribal 
 lulcs and customs are taught; also songs and dances which women 
 and the uninitiated are not allowed to know. There are ceremonials. 
 -hum fights, and pantomimes. The purpose of some of the cere- 
 monies is the giving of strength and the prevention of harm and mis- 
 fortune; the object of others is the imparting and increasing <jf 
 ability in the performance of the group activities. Through such in- 
 itiation practice does primitive man attempt t(t weld the youth into 
 the group among which they live. 
 
 Most of the rites call for a great deal of entlurance of pain and 
 ^-elf-control. A very general practice is the knocking out of one or 
 more teeth of the initiate, possibly thus to save the rest. Beatin-^'s 
 are given, either to add strength to the candidate — according to the 
 savage's theory of identification by contact— or perhaps to drive fn>m 
 the body dangerous spirits. If the youth cannot bear the tortures, 
 certain yells indicate that he is unworthy to be a man. and he i-^ 
 handed over to the women to be forever classed with them and t<> 
 do the work assigned to them. The lessons, orders, and prohibitions 
 are well impressed, for by hunger, thirst, secrecy, etc., the body has 
 been put on the rack and been prepared for strong suggestion. When 
 the ceremonies are over the women are summoned and great dances 
 and feasts occur. The initiatetl youth are now removed from the 
 female «»rganization and are thereafter members of the men's group. 
 
 Among many tribes of Australia, Africa and the Eastern Islands. 
 the practice of circumcision is part of the initiatory exercises. This 
 is one of the most widely prevailing of all ancient rites, and is gen- 
 erally practiced at puberty. 
 
 • Hall. G. S.— ADOLESCENCE. Vol II. p 234 
 
36 
 
 Among some tribes the initiated youth is simply clothed with 
 man's attire in some ceremonial fashion. Among some of the Indian 
 tribes the "medicine dream" in which the youth fasted, prayed and 
 kept watch to obtain visions of his future guardian spirit, took the 
 place of other rites — "undoubtedly based on a psychological char- 
 acteristic of puberty, that desire for the new and the strange, that ro- 
 mantic aspiration after ideals and guiding stars, which is part of the 
 blossoming of love, and has such an important connection with re- 
 ligion."* 
 
 Our knowledge of the wisdom and lore taught in the various 
 schemes of initiation is limited because of the difficulty of obtaining 
 access to or much information concerning these rites. Great pre- 
 cautions are taken that none but the initiated shall penetrate the mys- 
 teries of what is taught. Death is threatened for revealing what 
 is seen or heard. Many ceremonies are according to a fixed ritual, are 
 symbolic, and the meaning is often no longer known to the natives 
 themselves. 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 ESTIMATE OF PRIMITIVE CIVILIZATION AND 
 EDUCATION 
 
 In the estimate of primitive civilization and education it should 
 be noted that "every item of knowledge gained became a factor in 
 further acquisition. Consequently, while progress was slowest in 
 time in the first period, and most rapid in the last, the relative amount 
 may have been greatest in the first, when the achievements of either 
 period are considered in their relation to the sum."f 
 
 In this period began the germs of what have become the principal 
 institutions of mankind : Society, Family, Religion, Government, 
 Language, Work, Property, House Life. The Society was the group, 
 bound by ties of kin, using the same language, believing in the same 
 religion, following the same customs, and having the same level of 
 art and knowledge. To us, all these institutions are differentiated 
 and highly complex: to the savage, they were all one. One con- 
 trolling aim was present — this was subsistence — preservation. 
 
 Government was beginning to perform its proper function ; we 
 see the germ, in the latter part of the period of savagery, in the or- 
 ganization in gentes, phratries, and tribes, using Morgan's classifica- 
 tion — or in classes and sub-classes, using the classification that is 
 more generally preferred. The early laws were beginning to join men 
 into groups, and impressing upon them customs that led to the mak- 
 
 * Crawley, E.— THE MYSTIC ROSE, p. 304. 
 t Morgan, L H.— ANCIENT SOCIETY, p. 37. 
 
37 
 
 ing of natioii>. The orj^.uii/.iUDii oi the ^roup and iis imercsts re- 
 quired limitation and rcj)rc>>ion of originality, and adaption and 
 conformity to tribe usaj^e. And we have seen how well this was 
 accomplished by the sacrcdncss attached U) all custom. ■' 
 and stability can be had only throu}j;h ct>-operation. and the 
 of fixed, sacred customs produced this necessary co-operation. "But 
 for the processes which weave into innumerable men certain ground 
 l)attcrns of ideas, beliefs, and preferences, j^rcat societies could not 
 endure. No communities could last save those held together by social 
 I'lca>^urc or the necessity for co-operation."* 
 i^_^ l\cIii,'ion entereil into every hour of savage life. "Every act of 
 'lis lite from the cradle to the grave has a religious side. At first 
 ^ii^lit it seems impossible to imaj^iiie what conceivable functi«)n such 
 awful religions can perform in the economy of the world. But one 
 use they assuredly had ; they fixed the yoke of custom thoroughly on 
 
 mankind They put upon a fixed law a sanction so fearful that 
 
 no «»ne could dream of not conforming to it."t "Religion in primitive 
 society may be regarded as primarily a system for the controlling of 
 I lie group with reference to the ends which are felt most acutely by the 
 
 L^roup as a group All practices designed to do this are religious, 
 
 whether they are definite forms of worship or not. Among these wc 
 should class the complicated initiation ceremonies of many peoples, 
 tribal organization, involving the regulation of the individual's life 
 in the most minute details, his naming, his eating, his hunting, where 
 he may go. whom he may marry, and his conduct toward various 
 members of the tribe. "J "There was no such thing as absolutely irre- 
 ligious man. A certain amount of religion was required of every- 
 body ; for the due performance of religious acts was a social obliga- 
 tion in which everyone had his appointed share."§ 
 
 There is no moral element present either in the savage's religion 
 r in his religious rites, such as sacrifice or prayer. Either his 
 ceremonial has a practical purpose, intending to influence the spirits — 
 or it is symbolic action expressive of religious emotion. Savage puri- 
 fication, too, has nothing to do with our notion of purification. To 
 the savage "purification means the application to the person of some 
 medium which removes a taboo, and enables the person purified to 
 mingle freely in the ordinary life of his fellows."|| The ceremonies 
 have s<»mc educational value since they promote endurance, self- 
 
 • kos5i. K. /\ — SOCI.AL PSYCHOLOGY, p. 3. 
 
 t BaRchot. \V.— I'HYSICS & POLITICS, w 'r., ?7 
 
 JAmcs. E. S— PSYCHOLOGY OF ki 
 
 73 (Quoted from Irving King "I^iflfer- 
 
 ncss." p. 39). 
 § Smith. W. R.— THE RELIGION OF THE SEMITES, p 2^ 
 Smith, W. R.— THE RELIGION OF THE SEMITES, p 425. 
 
88 
 control and obedience to the old men, and acquaint the initiates with 
 whatever tribe lore there is. Beside that, they impress the mode of 
 performing the most important life activities. "The war-dance and 
 similar sympathetic processes assist the real result by imitating it. 
 These practices have a true psychological basis and subjective use; 
 they resemble "rehearsals"; by previously going through the result 
 man insures its successful issue, just as one runs over in his mind 
 something he is about to do. In the Chippeway war-dance the war- 
 riors imitated the actions of surprising the enemy, of tomahawking, 
 scalping, and drinking the blood of the foe."* Another service of 
 ceremonial is the stimulation of imagination and emotion, tending to 
 a realization of the existence of something beyond the mere individual. 
 It serves also to impress the occurence of important events — a service 
 important at a time when written records do not yet exist. The 
 most important result of ceremonial is the unifying of the social 
 life of the group. 
 
 A study of primitive man's actions and motives shows that he was 
 an unmoral rather than an immoral creature ; morality had not yet de- 
 veloped. The only misconduct is a transgression of custom, a viola- 
 tion of taboo, punishable by death or exclusion from the tribe. "In J 
 the matter of morality their code differs radically from ours, but itl 
 cannot be denied that their conduct is governed by it, and that anyj 
 known breaches are dealt with both surely and severely. "f "All 
 tribal religions preach a dualism of ethics, one for the members of] 
 the tribe who are bound together by ties of kinship and by union to^ 
 preserve existence; and the other, for the rest of the world. To the, 
 former are due aid, kindness, justice, truth, and fair dealing; to thei 
 latter, enmity, hatred, injury, falsehood, and deceit. The latter is 
 just as much a duty as the former, and is just as positively enjoined 
 by both religion and tribal law."$ "Now, if the judgments of rude 
 men about conduct spring from faintly stirring instincts of right, 
 from a dim sense of the good, why is there an abrupt change at the 
 frontier of the group? If in these standards of dealing with clans- 
 men we have the gropings of a half-awake conscience, what becomes 
 of this conscience when the stranger appears? But if they develop 
 very naturally by a process of unconscious adaption out of the mental 
 contacts and long intercourse of associates, it is the most natural 
 thing in the world that these ethical elements should have a short 
 radius of operation. "§ 
 
 Animistic belief shows that early man had no conception of 
 
 * Crawley. E.— THE MYSTIC ROSE, p. 289. 
 
 t Spencer, B. and Gillen, F. J.— NATIVE TRIBES OF CENTRAL AUS- 
 TRALIA, p. 46. 
 tBrinton, D. G.— THE RELIGION OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLES, p. 228. 
 § Ross, E. A.— SOCIAL CONTROL, pp. 345, 346. 
 
39 
 
 law uiulcrlyinji the actions of nature. He believes in supernatural 
 beings — generally thought of in his own image, or in the image of 
 animals — but these beings arc to him really material existences. He 
 has not learned to distinguish between imagination and reality, and so 
 he believes in the material reality of the j)hantoms and spectres and 
 spirits which he sees in sickness, excitement, dream or trance. As a re- 
 sult of the superstitit)us nature of his thought we find that magic and 
 ritual are such very important elements — the spirits must be influenced 
 and controlled. 
 
 The family, going through vari».ii^ i.^^v ... development, 
 was already a well-established .social and educational institution. 
 Language, building, and the sense of property were in rude form, but 
 were well started on their onward march. Similarly, too, with the 
 other institutions that we now consider the very foundations of our 
 society ; they were there, but in their very beginning — in a very rudi- 
 mentary state. Work was beginning its work of moulding and human- 
 izing, and was satisfying the few needs of the time. 
 
 The savage mode of living, the very occupations, made it neces- 
 sary that whatever instruction was given should be given out of doors, 
 by actual experience. There was no crystallized formal body of 
 knowletlge. and so there was no formal instruction. Besides, division 
 of labor had not yet progressed so far as to have teaching or any other 
 occupation become the business of specialists. The only markctl step 
 in advance of unconscious social education by imitation is where we 
 see the tribe taking upon itself the business of education in the initi- 
 atory ceremonies. "Dominated as it is on every hand by custom and 
 tradition, the education of the primitive man is so prescribed in its 
 minutest detail that he has far less freedom than man usually possesses 
 in higher stages of culture."* Whatever culture he has is not reasoned, 
 not formulated, not rationalized — just blind, handed down tradition- 
 ally. Not being born with the finely inherited structure which is 
 modern man's heritage, and because his life was what it was, we find 
 the savage to be a creature of impulse: "they unite the character of 
 childhoo«l w ith the passions and strength of men." ( Lubbock.) He 
 lives a life of feeling and inipuNe. He adjusts himself to his environ- 
 ment through established customs, laws and traditions: his life is 
 the life rtf the grouj) ; this end is uppermost in his education and is 
 accomplished through the fixedness of its prescribed education The 
 teacher is society and the pupils are the younger members. 
 
 Judging from the different accounts given of the savage by reli- 
 able observers, he is usually gentle, kind, honest, generous, and a|>- 
 preciative of kindness. Owing to his peculiar beliefs he is beset by a 
 thousand dangers, real and imaginary, but this fen- • ' i dormant 
 
 • Monroe. P— Text Book in the HISTORY OF EDUCATIU.N. i> 5. 
 
40 
 
 nature, and so he is usually inclined to jollity. Spencer, quoting 
 numerous authorities, describes the savage as having acute senses, 
 quick perception, feeble grasp of thought, absence of the idea of causa- 
 tion, lack of constructive imagination, absence of surprise and curi- 
 osity.* But Dr. Elymann, after carefully testing the capacity of the 
 natives of Central Australia with regard to the senses of sight and 
 hearing, says "I found that both senses were not on an average better 
 developed in the aborigines than in Europeans. "f "In matters 
 such as tracking, which are concerned with everyday life, and upon 
 efficiency in which they actually depend for their livlihood, the natives 
 show conspicuous ability.":]: "The hunting life is of necessity one 
 of great emotional interest, and of adequate demand for acquiring 
 and using highly specialized skills of sense, movement, ingenuity, 
 strategy and combat. "§ But their reflective faculties are hardly at 
 all developed — they cannot count beyond four or five, and they have 
 little conception of time or space, or of past or future. They have 
 strong passions, but weak reason. 
 
 The element of dramatic and mimetic art is present, showing 
 itself chiefly in dramatic reproduction of the activities of war and 
 chase. "The slavery recognized by savage and barbarous races is 
 preferable in kind to that which existed for centuries in late European 
 colonies. The relation of the sexes among many savage tribes is more 
 healthy than among the richer classes of the Mohammedan world. 
 As a supreme authority of government, the savage councils of chiefs 
 and elders compare favorably with the unbridled despotism under 
 which so many cultured races have groaned. The Creek Indians, 
 asked concerning their religion, replied that where agreement was 
 not to be had, it was best to "let every man paddle his canoe his own 
 v*^ay:" and after long ages of theological strife and persecution, the 
 modern world seems coming to think these savages not far wrong." || 
 
 "The old Germans and Gauls appeared no less civilized beside 
 Roman civilization than do Kaffirs or Polynesians beside ours." So 
 that it would be natural to suppose that after coming in contact with 
 civilization savages ought to show advance from generation to gen- 
 eration. Some of them, in fact, have given us proof of their capacity 
 for culture. For example, the Maoris of New Zealand were, at the 
 beginning of the last century, fierce cannibals ; but now they have 
 several representatives in the New Zealand Legislature, and give evi- 
 
 * Spencer, H.— THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY, Vol. I, pp. 76, 87. 
 
 t Quoted by Spencer & Gillen— NATIVE TRIBES OF CENTRAL AUS- 
 TRALIA, p. 24. 
 
 t Spencer. B. and Gillen, F. J.— NATIVE TRIBES OF CENTRAL AUS- 
 TRx\LIA, p. 25. 
 
 § Dewey, J.— INTERPRETATIONS OF SAVAGE MIND, p. 223. 
 
 II Tylor, E. B.— PRIMITIVE CULTURE, p. 29. 
 
41 
 
 (lencc of ahuntlani powtt-" oi .ulaptation and improvcmcm i ntv 
 "take <li}4iiihc«l. active, ami intelligent part in the tlebatcs. especially 
 those having any reference to Maori interests." • Hut what is re- 
 markable is that usually savages, after ct)ming in contact with our 
 civilization, begin lo die away individually and racially, "it is not 
 incapacity for civilization so much as dislike for it and love of the old 
 that cause so often the abandt)nnient of the ncwly-ac(|uired culture liy 
 
 the ex-savage or ex-barbarian Trimitive peoples under the exact 
 
 rule *.A our culture, young country recruits in barracks, and schfxil- 
 chiMren have much in common ; nostalgia and the melancholy phthisis 
 that follows get a hold upon them because, as Dr. Lascgue has sai<l, 
 "discipline, narrow subordination, impose upon them constantly de- 
 pressing unrest and restraint.' "f Professor Dewey in accounting 
 for the same phenomena says: "The savage's repugnance to what we 
 term a higher plane of life is not due to stupidity or dullness or apathy 
 — or to any other merely negative qualities — such traits are a later 
 deveK)pment and fit the indiviilual only too readily for exploitation 
 as a tool by ■suj)erior races.' His aversion is due to the fact that in 
 the new occupations he does not have so clear or so intense a sphere 
 fur the display of intellectual and practical skill, or such opportunity 
 for a dramatic play of emotion. Consciousness, even if superficial, is 
 maintained at a higher intensity. "J 
 
 We shall conclude our estimate of primitive man's life and edu- 
 cation with a suggestive quotation from Lumholtz: "The philosophy 
 of their entire life may be summed up in the sentence which one of 
 their shamans once gave utterance to. 'To pray to Grandfather Fire 
 and to put up snares for catching deer, that is to lead a perfect 
 life.' "§ 
 
 VI 
 
 Results of Primitive Civilization and Education. 
 
 There is no field of thought or action that one can examine with- 
 out coming across influences that ha<l their beginning in .savas^c life. 
 "On our very physical organization the hereditary mark of old times 
 is fixed ; our brains were hardened and our nerves were steadied by 
 the transmitted results of tedious usages. The ages t»f monotony 
 had their use. for they trained men for age^ uhin thev lu-id not be 
 moncjtonous."!! 
 
 •Chamberlain. .\ F— THK CHILD, p 297. 
 
 t Chamberlain. .\ F-THK CHIIJ). p ^'S 
 
 t Dewey. J— I NTKRrKKT.XTION S (»F S.WAGE MIND. p. 223. 
 
 § Lumholtz. C— CNKNOW N MEXICO, p. 46 (Quoted by Hall. C. S.— AD- 
 
 OLKSCENCK. p 684. Vol II 
 II BaRehot. \V— PHYSICS & POLITICS, p 30 
 
42 
 
 The principal institutions of mankind, originating in the early 
 ages of savagery, were developed in the age of barbarism, and are 
 continuing their advancement in the period of civilization. The soul 
 of man has had steady growth. With habitual work began ethics; 
 with worship began religion, art, science, philosophy. In addition to 
 the institutions that we prize highly, we find the history of civilization 
 strewn with beliefs and institutions which served their purpose well 
 at first and were of great value, but which later became most harm- 
 ful when they continued to exist. As examples of such institutions, 
 sometimes called provisional institutions, may be mentioned slavery, 
 monarchy, despotism, extreme conservatism, war. These not only 
 developed certain virtues, but succeeded in killing off corresponding 
 vices. For example, war generated such virtues as valor, veracity, 
 obedience, discipline : slavery made possible the leisure necessary 
 for advancement. 
 
 On every side as we examine item after item of life, we find them 
 to be processes, customs and opinions which have been carried for- 
 ward from early ages, and are now existing in different form or 
 usage. "Progress, degradation, survival, revival, modification, are 
 all modes of the connection that binds together the complex network 
 of civilization." * As examples of survival we may refer to the many 
 popular superstitious beliefs and practices of which we see evidences 
 around us every day — to the Corsican vendetta which reminds us of 
 the time when, a crime having been committed, it was the duty of 
 the aggrieved family to take vengeance on the culprit's family — to 
 cure by exorcism — to circumcision — to use of amulets and charms — 
 to much of the ceremonial and doctrine of modern religions. Fire 
 and water and incense still serve purposes of purification ; baptism, 
 particularly, continuing the idea of purification through the magical 
 power of water. Primitive man's idea of sacrifice is still seen in 
 the eucharistic meal, and the custom of hair-ofifering remains in the 
 tonsure of priests and nuns. The idea of obligation to those who 
 have enjoyed our hospitality is a relic of the primitive belief that 
 those who eat and drink together are bound by a tie of fellowship 
 and obligation. The transposition of circumcision to infancy is a 
 change for purpose of convenience : "it has been conclusively proved 
 that circumcision does not prevent disease, and it is probable that 
 there was no sanitary intention in its origin. "f 
 
 As examples of revival we may refer to witchcraft and spiritual- 
 ism. To illustrate modification we may point to such customs as 
 
 *Tylor, E. B.— PRIMITIVE CULTURE, p. Vol. I, p. 17. 
 t Crawley, E.— THE MYSTIC ROSE, p. 137. 
 
43 
 
 leatliiii; tilt- dead soldier's hur>c in his pravc. when formerly it was 
 the custom to bury him or burn him with his dead ma>tcr that he 
 mijjht serve him in the next world. An interesting illustration is 
 given by Professor Ross: "Our pagan ancestors, when they 
 launched a ship, bountl a captive ti) the rollers to propitiate the God 
 of the Sea. The bottle of wine liroken on the ship's prow to-day is 
 one way of 'reddening the keel" of the vessel to be launched and in- 
 suring her good luck. The old form is kept, but what a change in 
 the spirit." * So. too, from methods of divination, which arose from 
 the notions of supernatural interference, we have ordeals, oaths, cast- 
 ing of lots, anil finally games of chance. Coin tossing and drawing of 
 lots are matters of chance to us. but to primitive man they were 
 appeals to the gods, to decide between man and man. In this way 
 do we find many serious practices passing over into playful sports. 
 Popular sayings and meaningless customs are also, probably, sur- 
 vivals from a time when they had evident practical meaning. 
 
 .-\niinism was the starting point of all religious development. It 
 is in all times the basis of the philosophy of religion. "The concep- 
 tion of the human soul is. as to its most essential nature, continuous 
 from the pliilosophy of the savage thinker to that of the modern pro- 
 fessor of theology. "t Primitive conceptions of soul as a thin 
 vaporous body long iicld place in ancient philosophy and theology. 
 "The classical religions bear relics of the ages before morality." 
 (Jowett.) Tylor thinks that the doctrine of ideas developed in the 
 classic world, was suggested by the savage explanation oi object- 
 souls — by the savage animistic explanation of things. "J Elves, 
 fairies, nymphs, goblins, etc.. remind us of the spirits and demons of 
 savage religion. Belief in glmsts. magic and exorcism is not yet a 
 thing of the past ainong civilized communities. Belief in the soul's 
 existence after death is also an early belief; but with the savage there 
 was an absence of any ethical clement connected with this belief; 
 this element comes in much later when the heaven of the good is «!is- 
 tinguished from the hell of the wicked. 
 
 Many of the ancient religions were iiermeateil \\>tli ulca* ol 
 animal worship which were no doubt survivals of totemism : this 
 feature was particularly i)rominent in the religion of Egypt. A simi- 
 lar explanation may be given of the worship by the Jews of the golden 
 calf and the bra/en serpent. The second commandment point> to the 
 prevalence of animal worship at that time. Ancestor worship is prob- 
 ably also intimately connectetl with totemism. In addition to the evi- 
 dence alluded to, there i- ■•'1"^ .vidence of the prc^riu .• ..f t.-trmisni 
 
 •Ross. E. A.— SC)CI.\L r.sW HoLot'.Y. p. 142 
 
 t Tylor. E. B— PRIMITIVE CLLTIRE. V..1 I. ,. ?01. 
 
 t Tylor. E B— PRIMITIVE CULTURE. \ 497. 
 
44 
 
 among the Hebrews : such is the many names derived from animals 
 and plants — the tracing of kinship through females (Abraham marries 
 Sarah, his half-sister, the daughter of his father — descent through the 
 father not counting) — the observance of exogamy (to this day it is 
 abhorrent to an orthodox Jew to marry a girl bearing the same name 
 as that of his mother) ; the food taboos, which throw new light on the 
 origin of the dietary laws among the Jews, causing us to refer them 
 to totemism and taboo rather than to hygiene. Exogamy has given 
 us the prohibited degrees of marriage. Refusal by orthodox Jews 
 to marry non-Jews is perhaps also a remnant of exogamy. Another 
 effect of totemism is suggested by Frazer: "Considering the far-reach- 
 ing effects produced on the fauna and flora of a district by the preser- 
 vation and extinction of a single species of animals or plants, it 
 appears probable that the tendency of totemism to preserve certain 
 species of plants and animals must have largely influenced the organic 
 life of the countries where it prevailed." * 
 
 Originally taboo was, as we have seen, custom asserting itself 
 as a religious system of prohibitions. Later it was extended and 
 became the means of giving rise to such conceptions as those of 
 property and of the sanctity of the marriage tie — "conceptions which 
 in time grew strong enough to stand by themselves and to fling 
 away the crutch of superstition which in earlier days had been their 
 sole support. "t Traces of the taboo, having the old religious sanc- 
 tion, may be seen among all peoples. For instance, among the Jews, 
 "who are taken as example because they represent the evolution of 
 society," to this day we know how great an element is played by 
 tabooed food, and tabooed work during certain periods ; orthodox 
 Cohanim (those tracing descent from the priestly tribe) will not 
 go beyond the cemetery gates when attending a funeral, nor will 
 they enter the home of the dead. Among the Jews of Biblical times 
 we find such clear evidence of taboo as for example the vow of the 
 Nazarite — he is not to shave his head, nor partake of certain food, 
 nor touch a dead body — all laws of taboo. Some of the rules re- 
 lating to the observance of the Sabbath also seem to be rules of 
 taboo. So also, the Semitic doctrine of holiness and uncleanness is 
 a relic of taboo. "The irrationality of laws of uncleanness, from the 
 standpoint of spiritual religion or even of the higher heathenism, is 
 so manifest, that they must necessarily be looked on as having sur- 
 vived from an earlier form of faith and of Society. "$ "The ritual 
 distinction between clean and unclean things coincides by accident, 
 
 * Frazer, J. G.— TOTEMISM AND EXOGAMY, Vol. I, p. 87. 
 
 t TABOO, IN THE "ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA." 
 
 t Smith, W. R.— THE RELIGION OF THE SEMITES, p. 449. 
 
46 
 
 if at all. with ihc comra>i in-iwccii tlic wholesome and the uir.vii'ic- 
 sonie.'* 
 
 '"The precise way in which the divine sanction was annexed to 
 
 conduct appears to have l)ecn the extension of the idea of tabu 
 
 It needs l)Ut the socializintj of the tabu to transform a jealous retard 
 for sacred etiquette into an ethical holiness to which the sight of evil 
 oT injustice is an oflfense and an abomination. Here lies the crisis 
 in the history of relijjion. Belief, which has been hitherto a political 
 l)adjTe, expressing, on the one hand, the alliance of the members of 
 the political group, and. on the other, its separateness from any < •■ ■ • 
 j^roup, now assumes a social otVicc. It asserts not tribe against tii: c, 
 but society against its individual members. It becomes an agent 
 of siK'ial control. This mt)mentous revolution is achieved by a very 
 simple turn of ideas — namely, by conceiving that the god is plea>ed 
 not by sacrifices, praise, and ritual, but by certain forms of conduct 
 and certain elements of character."! 
 
 Sexual taboo and separate organization on the basis of sex letl 
 to the cmi)hasis of sex characteristics, to the development of separ- 
 ate sex activities, and to the debarring of women from many of man's 
 activities. "Sexual taboo would seem to have had useful results not 
 (^nlv of assisting Nature's institution of the family and of pro<lucing 
 the marriage system, by preventing license both within and without 
 
 the family limits, keeping men from promiscuity and incest 
 
 but also (»f emphasizing the characteristic qualities of each sex by 
 preventing a mixture of male and female temperaments through 
 mutual influence and association, and. as the complement to this, of 
 accentuating by segregation the charm each sex has for the other in 
 love and married life, the charm of complementary diflfercnce of char- 
 acter. Man prefers womanliness in woman, and woman prefers man- 
 liness in man ; sexual taboo has enhanced this natural preference 
 
 Primitive taboo exists now in all its pristine strength. th<nigh 
 
 it has split into religious, moral, and soci.il habits, each distingni ' ' 
 
 by more or less different terminology Human nature rcr. 
 
 potentially primitive, and it is not easy even for those most favored 
 by flesccnt to rise above these primitive ideas, precisely because these 
 ideas '»^pring eternally* from j>ermancnt functional causes. "J 
 
 With the practices described as initiation ceremonies began the 
 functions of the teacher. These ceremonies were serious • > 
 
 the primitive man; with us we find many of these ccreni 
 served in such practices as initiation ceremonies of secret societies, 
 
 VAmcs. K S— THF, PYSCHOLOGY OF REI.IGIOUS EXPERIENCE, p. 
 
 133 
 tRoss. E. A.— SOCIAL CONTROL, pp 144. 145 
 t Crawley. E.— THE MYSTIC ROSE, pp 214. 16. 4 
 
46 
 
 and in hazing. More especially in religious confirmations as observed 
 in Jewish and Christian religions, do we find a modification of these 
 ceremonies. "The universality of these rites and their solemn char- 
 acter testify impressively to a sense of the critical importance of 
 this age almost as wade as the race."* This influence may be seen 
 also in the introducing of the youth to manhood in classical antiquity, 
 and of the youth to knighthood in mediaeval times. All jive atten- 
 tion to this period of transition to manhood. 
 
 And so, if we desired, we might continue to point in every direc- 
 tion to survival and modification and growths whose roots reach 
 back to the ages of primitive man. 
 
 In speaking of the results of primitive civilization and education 
 we have been referring to the institutions we prize so highly, and to 
 some of the old beliefs which we have outgrown, but which we can- 
 not easily shake olif. Let us briefly refer also to the inner causes that 
 produce these manifestations — to the instincts that lie at the basis 
 of our lives. "The silent toil of one generation becomes the trans- 
 mitted aptitude of the next." Not only our institutions, but our very 
 conscience is a product of the past life of the race. "It is more likely 
 that the on-looking fellow-man had his say before the 'spectator 
 within the breast,' and that conscience is the reflection of public opin- 
 ion rather than public opinion the reflection of conscience. The early 
 history of moral concepts certainly points in this direction."! Many 
 of our instincts, particularly as manifested in child life, may be traced 
 directly to primitive life, where they were slowly being worked into 
 the texture of the human race. Some of these are fear of darkness 
 and strangers, shyness, climbing instinct, appropriative instinct, fight- 
 ing instinct, gang instinct. In fact one explanation of the play instinct 
 is that it has developed in connection with primitive activities — that 
 it is ancestral work — that we enjoy doing in fun the things our an- 
 cestors did as serious business. "The child is a little compressed, 
 synthetic picture of all the stages of man's evolution." In conclu- 
 sion let us refer also to the elemental virtues developed in connec- 
 tion with primitive industries and warfare — courage, fortitude, verac- 
 ity, loyalty, justice. It is true these were at first limited to the group ; 
 but this group morality, this selfishness of the group led to the de- 
 velopment of that altruism of the individual without which life is 
 so low and barren. 
 
 * Hall, G. S.— ADOLESCENCE, Vol. II, p. 232. 
 t Ross, E. A.— SOCIAL CONTROL, p. 64. 
 
47 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 TRANSITION FROM LOWER TO HIGHER STAGES 
 
 ^^ From the beginning of time to the present, the tendency of cul- 
 ture has been one of steady progress — from savagery onward to 
 civilization, (^ur race began at the bottom of the scale, and slowly, 
 bv painful ctTorts worked out the elements of culture antl the evolu- 
 tion of the human >«nil. Savages slowly advanced to barbarism, 
 and barl)arians slowly advanced to civilization. The theory of human 
 degradation, to explain the existence of savages and barbarians, is 
 not accepted. Savage man had to make the great start; his was 
 chieflv a struggle for existence, but it meant permanent existence and 
 pritgrcss. "A highly civilized race may fail in producing a rapidly 
 excellent effect on a less civilized race, because it is too good and too 
 
 ditTcrciit In early societies there were no such great differences. 
 
 and the rather su|)crior conqueror must have easily improved the 
 rather inferior conquered."* As we have shown, the savage was 
 ciwnpletely subordinated to the grou|). was governed by custom and 
 tradition, and had not reached the stage where he could realize the 
 meaning of general law or principle. 
 
 Gradually progress is made — gradually differentiation asserts it- 
 self, and we come to the stage of barbarism. The land bond makes a 
 larger political organization ; extension of activities makes for a 
 greater division of labor; a body of knowledge is formulated, and a 
 special class arises to preserve it; there is advance in theoretical edu- 
 rati«»n and this makes for advance in practical education; property 
 accumulates and assumes permanent form, and this causes a cb 
 from descent in female line to descent in male line. There s; •: ., 
 into being written language and records, means of measurement, ob- 
 servati<ins of the workings of natural law — and the sciences make their 
 beginning. In this stage appear the first conscious prcKesses of in- 
 struction and interpretation, and the first real educational institutions. 
 Sciences are gradually evolving, discoveries are being made, and 
 mental p«iwcr is constantly improving. 
 
 Slowly, but surely, the individual is being emancipated from the 
 slavish bonds of custom. He is constantly gaining more and more 
 of freedom; finally we find him in the stage of civilization, where his 
 choice determines nearly all he docs or believes. This "change from 
 the age of status to the age of choice was first made in the states 
 where the government was to a great growing extent a government 
 
 • Bagchot. \V— PHYSICS & POLITICS, p M5 
 
48 
 
 by discussion." (Grote.) Onward, and still onward the progressive 
 races are moving, socially, intellectually, spiritually. Not only is it 
 instructive to look a little backward, to the origin and early develop- 
 ment of civilization and education, but it helps us to a better under- 
 standing of the present and a better shaping of the future. 
 
 "We stand upon the foundation reared by the generations that 
 have gone before, and we can l)ut dimly realize the painful and pro- 
 longed efforts which it has cost humanity to struggle up to the point, 
 no verv exalted one after all, which we have reached. Our gratitude 
 is due to the nameless and forgotten toilers, whose patient thought 
 
 and active exertions have made us what we are Contempt and 
 
 ridicule or abhorrence and denunciation are too often the only recog- 
 nition vouchsafed to the savage and his ways. Yet of the benefactors 
 whom we are bound thankfully to commemorate, many, perhaps most, 
 were savages who slowly acquired by experience and trans- 
 mitted to us by inheritance those seemingly fundamental ideas which 
 we are apt to regard as original and intuitive."* 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 Thoughts Suggested by a Study in the Civilization and Education 
 
 of Primitive Man. 
 
 The following are some of the thoughts suggested to us by our 
 study of primitive life and education : 
 
 The explanation of ideas as arising from instinctive and habitual 
 types of activity is one of the great facts of modern psychology. It 
 V'^ points a lesson for moral education — moral education through train- 
 ing — through insistence on, and practice of, right conduct, through 
 formation of proper habit — not through the study of precepts. Pro- 
 fessor Ross thinks, however, that "we must allow an eflfect to the 
 continual impact of precept. Whether as the master's exhortation, 
 as oft-quoted injunction, as memorized text, or as school-room motto, 
 a persistent suggestion as to conduct, provided it really strike the 
 attention and be brought home by illustration and instance, ought to 
 count for something. The mere droning or dinning of maxims is per- 
 haps vain, but that which is really taught certainly tends to sink in. 
 The present contempt for such direct methods of impressing the will 
 is an accident, due to the fact that the reigning scepticism usually 
 cuts for the man the bonds in which precept has bound the child. 
 
 * Frazer, J. G.— THE GOLDEN BOUGH, Vol. I, p. 449. 
 
49 
 
 Let us not forget that the immemorial device of stationary societies 
 to preserve their ancient order has been to steep the young in certain 
 traditional wisdom. For thousands of years the mere Icamin/ ' 
 rote oi Analects, or \'edas, or Koran, or Thorah, has been not unju :.j 
 deemed of great effect in fixing habits of thought and moulding char- 
 acter."* 
 
 The fact tiiat many customs and ideas were found to be very 
 much alike, or nearly the same, in very ditTerent parts of the world, 
 was at one time considered evidence that the peoples of those parts 
 had brought those ideas with them from some one spot and stock 
 common to both. We no longer rely on such an explanation to ac- 
 count for such facts. "The experience of mankind has run in nearly 
 uniform channels; human necessities in similar conditions have been 
 substantially the same; the operations of the mental principle have 
 been uniform in virtue of the specific identity of the brain of all the 
 
 races of mankind Progress has been found to be substantially 
 
 the same in kind in tribes and nations inhabiting different and even 
 disconnected continents, while in the same status, with deviations 
 from uniformity in particular instances produced by special causes. "f 
 
 We have seen that those nations which insisted that the individual 
 is of no consequence in the presence of the mass — that no originality 
 be given play — have gone down to decay. We have also seen that 
 such nations as put no check at all upon the individual also went down 
 to death. And so we have come to believe that the true view is to 
 consider each of us as a unit, still as a part of a larger unit. "Liberty 
 under the law, allowing a field for every human activity to develop 
 md enrich itself, all co-operating for a common end. "J 
 
 Reform, progress, enthusiasm for change, are modern fashions; 
 conservatism and dread of change was the fashion of old. Even ti>- 
 day traditions of progress are anything but universal. Mohamme- 
 lans. Africans. Chinese, and Indians, to say nothing of savages, hate 
 change ami reform; and even where progress is an ideal it must ever 
 fight hard against the strong forces of conservatism. 
 
 NLnny of the practices of primitive man. which were formerly 
 supposed to indicate great ferocity, such as cannibalism, l)loo<i rc- 
 \enge. infanticide, abandonment of the old. etc.. are now differently 
 explained. They arc seen to result from ignorance, superstition, or 
 necessitv. Primitive man shows qualities of order and gcntlcncj*H. 
 The bad man. the wild man. is usually killed off. He has less chance 
 of survival than has the bad man in our modem society. In fact, the 
 
 • Ross. R. A.— SOCIAL CONTROL, p. 165. 
 
 t MofRan. L H— ANCIENT SOCIETY, pp. 8. 18 
 
 I Butler. N M-THK MKANING OF n • ''""^ : ." 
 
60 
 
 question has been raised whether nowadays we do not go too far 
 in fighting natural selection and saving and protecting the unfit. But 
 while "it is true that rational selection often interferes with the action 
 of natural selection ; while philanthrophy, in so far as it is de- 
 voted to the unfit, does weaken the race ; on the whole the 
 
 gain is greater than the loss. The note of humanity is worth 
 
 all it costs the race. With it are bound up the finer social feelings 
 which one day will make the world at peace Meantime it is im- 
 portant to remember that natural selection brought about just that 
 rise of intellect which to-day favors philanthropy among men." * 
 
 The education of the savage was obtained in connection with 
 1^ life activities. His natural instincts, his interests were given play. 
 He was trained for life, for citizenship in connection with life. Our 
 systems, on the other hand, have frequently failed to give play to 
 the natural instincts — if they did not actually suppress them. We 
 have made educational machines — educational factories — attempting 
 to produce educated people, attempting to develop, without relation 
 to life. Only now are we beginning to realize the mistake of ages and 
 trying to plan a "natural" education beginning with the manifesta- 
 tions of activity on the part of the child and trying to lead these 
 along paths that the race has worked out and found valuable. 
 
 So, too, many of our activities of life are not charged with that 
 intense interest which brings out the best that is in us. As a result 
 we have many of the diseases of civilization. In fact, many activities 
 and institutions seem to call forth the worst that is in us. We see 
 the children in our schools and we love them. What does life do 
 to them that in the case of so many of them their worst instincts are 
 called forth, with so many resulting failures? Drudgery is a modern 
 achievement. "The physical and mental satisfaction growing out of 
 them lend to labors that to us would be repulsive, a joy that makes 
 
 even such a life worth living (speaking of savage life) When 
 
 society becomes divided and the upper classes exploit the lower, 
 
 compelling the workers to support those who sit in idleness, or labor 
 in non-productive ways, the primitive ends of labor become remote. 
 And when the laborer gets back directly only a moiety of the bread he 
 produces, and when, moreover, his social status sinks because of his 
 servile labor, then the direct connection between effort and survival 
 is broken. The laborer becomes a serf doing the will of another, 
 and he is constrained to accept contempt as a sauce to compulsion. 
 He then works directly to ward off evils, and only indirectly to pro- 
 duce benefits The old joy in production, found where men work 
 
 * Home, H. H.— IDEALISM IN EDUCATION, pp. 53, 54. 
 
51 
 
 for themselves, gives way to the passive endurance of the man who 
 works for another upon compulsion." • \Vc must strive to remove 
 many of those artificial conditii)ns which prevent sclf-dcvclopmcnt, 
 which make it seem that success ami proj^ress arc matters of chance 
 and luck, and which depreciate the value of the personal clement. 
 Amelioration and improvement of the economic conditions of man 
 have ever made for proj^ress, piiysical and spiritual. 
 
 The initiation ceremonies of the savage at adolescence emphasize 
 for us the great changes that occur at that period, and the necessity, 
 therefore, of taking these changes into c<^nsideration in our educa- 
 tion. In adolescence there is an awakening of mental life on every 
 side ; the social feelings, particularly, bloom into full power, and re- 
 ligion and other social relations make their greatest appeal; it is the 
 period of change in the whole physical and psychical nature. The 
 changes occurring at this period have in turn led our attention to 
 changes occurring at other periods, to the functioning characteristic 
 of each period of growth, and to the necessity of seizing and directing 
 instincts at their moment of highest functioning, if tlie most is to be 
 made of them. 
 K "The primitive men and women are coaxed or constrained to 
 take up the burden of the white man's civilization, and those who can- 
 not or will not are following to extinction the larger wild animals 
 about them that resist domestication Their faults and their vir- 
 tues are those of childhood and youth. They need the same careful 
 and painstaking study, lavish care, and adjustment to their nature 
 and needs. The inc.\t)rable laws of forcing, precocity, severity, and 
 overwork, produce similar results for both. Primitive peoples have 
 the same right to linger in the paradise of childhood. To war upon 
 them is to war nn children. To commercialize and oppress them in 
 work is child labor on a large scale. "t 
 
 Professor O. T. Mason makes an interesting suggestion: he 
 says that the lower races feel emulation or despair in the presence of 
 higher ones. "When we try to develop them, he thinks, we should 
 folhnv a definite programme or curriculum and begin with fcx>d and 
 hygiene, then should come dress, then shelter, and then in further 
 .sequence, war. in<lustry, ornament, the arts of gratification, traffic, 
 family, organization, government, and last of all religion. The fipit 
 of these arc easiest and the last progressively hardest to change, but 
 to leap consecutive stages in this order or to invert its categories is 
 fatal in main ways, because of the unnatural strain to both the physi- 
 
 • DeGarmo. C— INTERKST AND EDUCATION, p 10 
 t Hall. G S— ADOLESCENCE. Vol II. p (A9 
 
62 
 
 cal and psychic organism Overstimulated savages generally per- 
 ish miserably or lapse to a lazy vegetative existence in the presence of 
 higher stocks."* Herein lies for us a lesson as to the education of 
 the children of the negroes of this country. "Mr. C. D. Warner in- 
 sists that the education of the children of the negroes of this country 
 should be of the lower and not of the higher kind. They are, he says, 
 
 an inferior race He urges that ... the negro is injured by the 
 
 mere top-dressing of culture as v^ell as by being the pawn of politics, 
 and should not be treated like superior races. His training should be 
 essentially practical, domestic, agricultural, chiefly if not entirely in- 
 dustrial. "f "Where education is concerned with different races, the 
 first question is, What are the needs and capacities of this race? The 
 second question is, What culture material ought the curriculum to 
 provide that will best meet this race's needs and develop this race's 
 capacity? Only in barest outline is human nature the same the world 
 over. There must be an adaption of educational material to racial 
 nature. Each race should have developed through its education those 
 traits which are nature's characteristic gifts to it. Thus human so- 
 ciety gains the strength of a diversity of gifts, and avoids the weakness 
 of uniformity. You cannot make a good Filippino, or a good African, 
 by supplying an education that would make a good Anglo-Saxon. "$ 
 
 Our study of man has brought about a change of method in mis- 
 sion and setlement work. We no longer seek to save souls by chang- 
 ing religious beliefs and forms of worship, but instead we seek to 
 teach and civilize by developing in the savage or in the downtrodden 
 "an appreciation of clothing, cleanliness, privacy, order, property and 
 home — the elementary goods of the white man. It is this patient 
 guidance of backward peoples along the path by which the civilized 
 races have reached their present elevation that alone can save them. 
 The lightning process of converting, baptizing, and veneering with a 
 thin layer of morality makes the docile neophyte whose character 
 
 collapses as soon as the supporting hand is withdrawn The 
 
 patient fostering of new wants and imparting of new standards of 
 appreciation produce results less brilliant, but far more enduring."§ 
 
 A study of the progress of the human race shows the great im- 
 portance of imitation and suggestion as a factor in that progress. This 
 emphasizes the influence of the models which we present for imitation 
 in literature, business, and political life, and more especially in the 
 classroom. "The disseminator of wrong ideals is altogether more dan- 
 
 * Hall, G. S.— ADOLESCENCE. Vol. II, p. 721. 
 
 tHall, G. S— ADOLESCENCE, Vol. II, p. 675— (Quoting THE EDUCA- 
 TION OF THE NEGRO: President's Address, American Social Science 
 Assn., Washington, May 7, 1900). 
 
 tHorne. H. H.— PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION, p. 166. 
 
 § Ross, E. A.— SOCIAL CONTROL, p. 335. 
 
63 
 
 gerous to society than the (li>scniin.itMr <•! wronj^ ojumon^ iir.c-^Ti- 
 galurs and thiiikcr>, working in the >phcrc of upiniun. may .saicly be 
 left free to speak and print, because their errors will spread slowly and 
 
 will likely be overtaken by the truth before they j^ct very far 
 
 But artists working; in the sphere of personal ideals, may not be left 
 entirely uncensored, seeing that any poison they emit circulates so 
 
 rapidly Here is where society receives its just punishment in 
 
 case it allows bad men to rtoat to the top in business, finance, or iK>li- 
 tics. Being imitated by the young, they spread their views through- 
 out the social body."* 
 
 One of the effects of personality on progress is seen in the in- 
 fluence of leadership. Through leaders the race is infected and makes 
 progress. Through >uch leadership is produced a great part of moral 
 evolution. As an illu>tration L»f the influence of such leadership on 
 the tone of a nation we shall refer to the recent influence of President 
 I\i>osevelt. "Men are guided by type, not by argument; some winning 
 instance must be set up before them, or the sermon will be vain, and 
 
 the doctrine will not spread It is the life of teachers that is 
 
 catching, not their tenets. "f In the classroom the teacher's personality 
 is the essential element — a personality having enthusiasm for the best 
 things is essential. President Garfleld's ideal of a college, "Mark Hop- 
 kins on the other end of a log." is an illustration of the same idea. 
 
 Occasionally we hear wails as to our civilization making men 
 efTeminate and unwarlike. As a result we have such movements as the 
 Boy Scout movement of to-day. However good such movements arc. 
 the fact is that, when the jiroper occasion calls for it. we have better 
 soldiers than ever. We need but to point to the American soldiers 
 of the Civil War. the Germans of the Franco- Prussian war, and the 
 Japanese of the late war. In the age of culture, however, a proper, 
 sensible motive is necessary to call forth the best soldierly qualities. 
 It is no doubt true that many of the virtues which we value, and which 
 '^ihe primitive man lacked, tend to make us less warlike— a thing not to 
 be regretted. Among such virtues may be mentioned an appreciation 
 of the beautiful, a love of meditation, a wider bond of - ' v, and 
 
 a greater valuation of spiritual wealth than <>f physical ; The 
 
 fact that we can stand the strains of civilization, where primitive man 
 wastes away in its presence, may be another ()roof of «>ur strength. 
 
 Criticism is fre(|uently heard of the fact that the Stale i> a»uming 
 many of the home duties, such as medical examination, etc., but the 
 State is compelled to take over many of these duties, be* iUzing 
 
 the nece.ssity of their performance it yet finds the pare »le to 
 
 perform them, since they are in many casea over-worked drudge 
 
 • Ros>. K .\— SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, p. 133. 
 t Bagchot. \V— PHYSICS & POLITICS, p. 90 
 
64 
 
 beasts of work. "Daily work has tamed man ; has taken the fierceness 
 out of him ; has transformed him into a mild machine." But the ques- 
 tion now is whether we are not pressing this work too far, and whether 
 we are not turning him into nothing but a machine. We agree with 
 Laurie that "at all stages of educational history the family is the chief 
 agency in the education of the young, and, as such, it ought never 
 to be superseded ;" but, either the State must see that the family is 
 able to perform its proper function, or it must assist it in this work. 
 
 We hear much wailing about loss along religious lines, but really 
 there is little cause for worry because we happen to be discarding 
 many of the ancient beliefs. "Dogma after dogma may be surren- 
 i dered, but the soul of religion lives on in that idealistic anthropology, 
 which is voiced at one time in the teachings of Jesus, the theology of 
 Paul, or the meditations of Marcus Aurelius, and finds expression at 
 another time in the democracy of Mazzini, the philosophy of Schopen- 
 hauer, or the poetry of Walt Whitman While the priest is leav- 
 ing the civil service, the schoolmaster is coming in. As the State 
 shakes itself loose from the Church, it reaches out for the school."* 
 The trouble with much of the older religions is that what was in- 
 tended to control conduct has become too much dogma or creed. 
 There has been too much degeneration from the ethical to the cere- 
 monial. This may be said not only of religious organizations, but also 
 of well-meaning fraternal, social organizations that could accomplish 
 much good, but which permit too much of their time and energy to be 
 eaten up by ceremonial, which was probably originally intended as 
 a means, and not as an end. "Religion is far more vital in human 
 experience than present statistics indicate Religious conscious- 
 ness is identical with the core of the social consciousness — with the 
 inner soul of conscience, of duty, of patriotism, of social righteousness 
 
 Religion, in a psychical, as well as a scriptural sense, is a matter 
 
 of the spirit rather than of the letter The democracy and the 
 
 science of the present time demand great readjustments in the relig- 
 ious institutions The scientific and psychological view of all 
 
 doctrines is that they are working hypotheses, subject to constant 
 modification and revision in the light of further experience and re- 
 flection. The Church has not yet accepted this view."f 
 
 "It has been discovered that slavery is not only injurious to 
 slaves but also to their masters. The extension of the ideal involved 
 in this insight is being felt in reference to many other groups. The 
 education of woman and her incorporation into the intellectual, prac- 
 tical life of the race are justified both by her own growth under such 
 conditions and by her contributions to an ideal society. The motive 
 
 * Ross, E. A.— SOCIAL CONTROL, pp. 213. 175. 
 
 tAmes, E. S.— THE PSYCHOLOGY OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE, pp. 
 233,414,368,359,320. 
 
55 
 
 expresses itself in various "rcfi)rni ' niovenicnt.s tlcalin^ \Mth temper- 
 ance, chilli-labor, prison reform, social hygiene, juvenile crime, pov- 
 erty, foreij^ immif^ration, peace movements, race problems, conges- 
 tion of population in cities. a<lministration of charity, etc. All this 
 grounded upon the conviction that the persons aflfected deserve belter 
 things from society and that society deserves from them more than 
 they are able to render under present conditions.*'* Woman, par- 
 ticularly in the middle and higher classes, has been suffering in her 
 physical, mental and moral development, largely because she has been 
 kept away from many of the realities of life. "The remedy for the 
 irregularity, pettiness, ill-health, and uiiscrviceablcness of modern 
 woman seems to lie along educational lino. Xot in a general and 
 cultural education alone, but in a special and occupational interest 
 and practice for women, married and unmarried.**! 
 
 The importance of education in the evolution of the soul cannot 
 be surticiently emphasized. As Professor Crawley well says, every- 
 one would still be primitive were it not for education. "J It is encourag- 
 ing in the study of what is inheritable, and what is contributed by 
 environment and education, to find that the vices and mutilations of 
 the parents — acquired characteristics — do not descend to children, 
 even though a weakened constitution may be the result of the parents* 
 sins or misfortunes. C.reat. however, is the task and duty of educa- 
 tion. All educational agencies — home, school, vocation, state, church — 
 must use unremitting efforts to impress upon the units of society 
 the proper valuations of life. Man acts according to "values*' placed 
 by him. Men fail oftener because they do not value what they ought 
 to value, than they do because they don't know what they ought to 
 know. 
 
 In speaking of the elements of social valuation Professor Ross 
 points out that first those (jualities by which a people overcomes its 
 enemies and maintains an orderly life — courage, justice, honesty, 
 fidelity — become "virtues"; that, secondly, those pleasures which arc 
 exclusive, collision-provoking, or liable to excess — love of money, 
 feasting, drinking, fighting — are steadily depreciated; that, thirdly, 
 society appreciates the safe pleasures — companionship, sport, health, 
 beauty, humor, knowledge, personal excellence — pleasures which can 
 be e.xpanded without limit and without clash with others; those which, 
 being ideal, do not wastefully consume strength and life.§ 
 
 The great task is to influence the members of society to accept 
 those valuations of the "gcxKls of life*' which have been accepted by 
 the race as best and highest. 
 
 V\mcs. E. S— THE PSYCHOLOGY OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE, 
 
 P 400 
 tThom.is \V. I— SEX & SOCIETY, p. 245 
 t Crawley. E— THE MYSTIC ROSE, p 4 
 § Ross. E A— SOCIAL CONTROL, p 330 
 
66 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF BOOKS QUOTED 
 
 Ames, E. S.— THE PSYCHOLOGY OF RELIGIOUS EXPERI- 
 ENCE, New York, 1910. 
 
 Bagehot, W.— PHYSICS AND POLITICS, London, 1873. 
 
 Brinton, D. G.— RELIGIONS OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLES, New 
 York, 1897. 
 
 Butler, N. M.— THE MEANING OF EDUCATION, New York, 1901. 
 
 Crawley, E.— THE MYSTIC ROSE, London, 1902. 
 
 Davidson, Th.— A HISTORY OF EDUCATION, New York, 1900. 
 
 Dewey, J.— INTERPRETATIONS OF SAVAGE MIND, Psy. Rev. 
 May, 1902. 
 
 Encyclopaedia Britannica— ANIMISM, ORDEALS, SACRIFICE, 
 TABOO, TOTEMISM. 
 
 Eylmann, E.— DIE EINGEBORENEN DER KOLONIE SUD- 
 AUSTRALIEN, Berlin, 1908. 
 
 Frazer, J. G.— THE GOLDEN BOUGH, 3 Vols., London, 1890. 
 
 Frazer, J. G.— TOTEMISM & EXOGAMY, 4 Vols. London, 1910. 
 (Containing "Totemism" Edinburgh, 1887.) 
 
 Hall, G. S.— ADOLESCENCE, 2 Vols., New York, 1904. 
 
 Home, H. H.— THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION, New 
 York, 1905. 
 
 Home, H. H.— IDEALISM IN EDUCATION, New York, 1910. 
 
 Howitt, A. W.— NATIVE TRIBES OF SOUTHEAST AUS- 
 TRALIA, London, 1904. 
 
 Jevons, F. B.— AN INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY OF 
 RELIGION, London, 1896. 
 
 Lang, A.— MAGIC AND RELIGION, London, 1901. 
 
 McLennan, J. F.— PRIMITIVE MARRIAGE, Edinburgh, 1865 ; re- 
 published in STUDIES IN ANCIENT HISTORY, London, 
 1876. 
 
 Monroe, P.— TEXT BOOK IN THE HISTORY OF EDUCATION, 
 New York, 1906. 
 
 Morgan, L. H.— ANCIENT SOCIETY, New York, 1878. 
 
 Ross, E. A.— SOCIAL CONTROL, New York, 1901. 
 
 Ross, E. A.— SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, New York, 1908. 
 
 Smith, W. R.— THE RELIGION OF THE SEMITES, Edinburgh, 
 1889. 
 
 Spencer, B. & Gillen, F. J.— NATIVE TRIBES OF CENTRAL 
 AUSTRALIA, London, 1899. 
 
 Spencer, H.— THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY, 3 Vols., Lon- 
 don, 1879. 
 
 Thomas, W. I.— SEX AND SOCIETY, Chicago, 1907. 
 
Tylor, E. B.— PKIMITIM:. CLLTLiwC J \ ul.v. Jvj.idon 1871. 
 Westcnnarck, E— THE IIISTUKV OF HUMAN' M\Ivi^I\r.I' 
 
 London, 1894. 
 Wcstermarck. E.— THE uRiL.iM AND THE DE\EUUi'ME.\T Ui" 
 
 THE MiJRAL IDEAS. 2 Vol>., L..ir1.„i, I'O. 
 
 SUPPLEMENTARY BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 Alien, t;.— THE EVOLUTION OF THE H)EA OF r.OD. Lon- 
 don. 1897. 
 
 Angus, G. F.— S.WWGE LIFE .\Mj ^LE^K^ i.n .\LMKAi.l.\ 
 AND NEW ZEALAND. London, 185U. 
 
 Bachofen, J. J.— DAS MUTTERKECHT, STUTTGART. 1861. 
 
 Baldwin. J. M.— MENTAL DEN'ELOPMENT IN THE CHILD 
 AND THE RACE, New York, 1897. 
 
 Balfour. 11.. and Others.— ANTHROPOLOGICAL ESSAYS pre- 
 sented to E. B. Tylor. O.xford, 1907. 
 
 Bonwick, J.— DAILY LIFE OF THE TASMANIANS, London, 1870. 
 
 Catlin. G.— ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE MANNERS, CUSTOMS 
 & CONDITION OF NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS, 2 
 Vols., London, 1870. 
 
 Casalis, E.— THE BASUTOS, London, 1861. 
 
 Codrin^'ton. R. H.— THE MELANESIANS, Oxford, \i>'Jl. 
 
 Curr, E. M.— THE AUSTk.\!J.\N RACE. 4 \ol>.. Melbourne & 
 London, 1886. 
 
 Darwin. C— THE DESCL.X 1 Ui- MA.\. London. 1S71. 
 
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