,,the ,,origin ,,of ,,man ,,and ,,of    
,,his ,,superstitions                   
,,cambridge ,,university ,,press    ,c4 
,f4 ,,clay1 ,,manager    ,,london3      
,,fetter ,,lane1 ,e4,c4 #d              
,illustration      ,,new ,,york3 ,,the  
,,macmillan ,,co4    ,,bombay           
,,calcutta  ,,macmillan ,,and ,,co41    
,,ltd4    ,,madras       ,,toronto3     
,,the ,,macmillan ,,co4    ,,of         
,,canada1 ,,ltd4    ,,tokyo3            
,,maruzen-,,kabushiki-,,kaisha          
,,all ,,rights ,,reserved               
,,the ,,origin ,,of ,,man    ,,and ,,of 
,,his ,,superstitions      ,,by         
,,carveth ,,read1 ,m4,a4      ,,lecturer
 ,,on ,,comparative ,,psychology        
7,,formerly ,,grote ,,professor    ,,of 
,,philosophy7 ,,in ,,university         
,,college1 ,,london      ,,cambridge    
,,at ,,the ,,university ,,press    #aibj
            ,,printed ,,in ,,great      
,,britain ,,by    ,,richard ,,clay      
,,sons1 ,,limited1    ,,brunswick ,,st41
 ,,stamford ,,st41 ,s4,e4 #a1    ,,and  

,,bungay1 ,,suffolk4          ,,preface 
,the volume now published explains in   
its first part an hypothesis that  the  
human race has descended from some      
ape-like stock by a series  of changes  
which began and1 until recently1 were   
maintained by the  practice of hunting  
in pack for animal food1 instead of     
being content  with the fruits and other
 nutritious products of the tropical    
forest4  ,the hypothesis occurred to me 
many years ago1 and was first published 
7in brief7 in ,the ,metaphysics of      
,nature 7#ahje71 ,chap4 ,,xiii41 and    
again in ,natural and ,social ,morals   
7#aiji72 but all it implied did not     
become clear until1 in lecturing on     
,comparative ,psychology1 there was     
forced upon me the necessity of         
effecting an intelligible transition    
from the animal to the human mind1 and  
of not being satisfied to say  year     
after year that hands and brains were   
plainly so useful that  they must have  
been developed by ,natural ,selection4  

,then one day  the requisite ideas came 
to light2 and an outline of the         
hypothesis  was read at the ,meeting of 
the ,british ,association 7,section ,h7 
at  ,birmingham in #aiac1 and printed in
 ,man1 ,november #aiad4 ,the ,council   
of the ,anthropological ,institute has  
kindly consented to my using the        
substance of that article in the first  
chapter here following4    ,the article 
in ,man dealt chiefly with the physical 
changes which our  race has undergone4  
,the correlative mental changes were    
explained in  the ,british ,journal of  
,psychology in an article which supplies
 the  basis of the second chapter of    
this book4    ,the hunting-pack1 then1  
was the first form of human society2 and
 in  lecturing on ,ethnopsychology two  
questions especially interested me3     
7#a7 ,under what mental conditions did  
the change take place from the          
organisation of the hunting-pack 7when  
this weakened7 to the settled  life of  
the tribe or group8 and 7#b7 ,why is the

 human mind everywhere  befogged with   
ideas of ,magic and ,animism8 ,they     
seemed at last to have  the same answer3
 these superstitions were useful and    
7apparently7 even  necessary in giving  
to elders enough prestige to preserve   
tradition  and custom when the leader of
 the hunt was no longer conspicuous in  
authority4 ,a magic-working gerontocracy
 was the second form of society2  and   
the third form was governed by a        
wizard-king or a priest-king1  or by a  
king supported by wizards or priests4   
,one must1 therefore1  understand the   
possibility of these beliefs in ,magic  
and ,animism1 and  how they arose and   
obtained a hold upon all tribes and     
nations2 and  hence the second part of  
this volume--on ,superstition4    ,some 
results of inquiry into these matters   
were also published in the  ,british    
,journal of ,psychology 7namely1 much of
 the substance of  ,chaps4 ,,iii41      
,,iv41 ,v41 ,,vi41 and ,,viii47 and are 
here reproduced1 with  the editor's     

consent1 enlarged and1 for the most     
part1 rewritten3 the  least altered are 
,chaps4 ,,vi4 and ,,viii4 ,chaps4       
,,vii41 ,,ix4 and ,x4 have not  hitherto
 been printed2 but part of ,chap4 ,x4   
was read at the ,meeting of  the        
,british ,association at ,bournemouth   
last year4    ,messrs4 ,williams and    
,norgate have given permission to use   
the diagram  in the footnote to p4 #c1  
based on one of ,prof4 ,keith's in his  
,antiquity of ,man4    ,extensive use   
has1 of course1 been made of the works  
of ,darwin1 ,herbert  ,spencer and ,e4  
,b4 ,tylor1 and 7among living authors7  
of the volumes  of ,sir ,j4 ,g4 ,frazer 
and ,prof4 ,ed4 ,westermarck4 ,i am     
grateful to my  friends and colleagues1 
,prof4 ,spearman1 ,prof4 ,j4 ,p4 ,hill  
and ,prof4  ,arthur ,keith for          
assistance in various ways4 ,mr4        
,pycraft1 too1 of the  ,natural ,history
 ,museum has given me important         
information2 and my old  friend1 ,mr4   
,thomas ,whittaker1 has helped me1 as   

usual1 when my need was  greatest4      
,,carveth ,,read4      ,university      
,college1 ,london4      ,july #aibj     
,,contents      ,,chapter ,i            
,,page    ,,on ,,the ,,differentiation  
,,of ,,man ,,from ,,the ,,anthropoids   
#a         #a4 ,the ,hypothesis4--,that 
,man was differentiated from            
the anthropoid stock by becoming a      
hunter2 perhaps in            the       
,oligocene period                       
#a-c         #b4 ,what the ,hypothesis  
,explains4--,world-wide range2          
why the earliest known men were hunters2
 the erect            gait2             
specialisation of hands2 reduction of   
arms2            and of teeth and jaws2 
modification of skull2 social           
co-operation2 rudiments of speech2      
intelligence2            control of fire
                                        
#d-ac         #c4 ,minor and ,secondary 
,consequences4--,alimentary             
canal2 loss of seasonal marriage2 naked 
skin2            cannibalism2 division  

into races2 ,nordic sub-race            
#ac-ba         #d4 ,prey and            
,competitors4--,climate and landscape   
in ,oligocene and ,miocene2 animals1    
herbivorous2            anthropoids and 
their stature in late ,oligocene2       
carnivorous contemporaries              
#ba-h         #e4 ,conclusion4--,summary
                                        
#bh-i      ,,chapter ,,ii      ,,on     
,,the ,,differentiation ,,of ,,the      
,,human ,,from ,,the ,,anthropoid ,,mind
        #cj         #a4 ,heredity1      
,adaptation1 ,accommodation             
#cj-ca         #b4 ,the ,original ,stock
 and the ,conditions of                 
,differentiation4--,mind of the higher  
apes the best            clue to that of
 the original stock4 ,conditions of     
differentiation3 the hunting life2      
geographical            diffusion2      
social life2 imaginations concerning    
,magic            and ,animism          
#ca-e         #c4 ,primal               
,society4--,forms of gregariousness     

amongst            ,mammalia2 the       
hunting-pack most likely original of    
human society4 ,other conjectures       
#ce-dj         #d4 ,psychology of the   
,hunting-pack4--,interest in the        
chase and in killing2 gregariousness2   
various modes            of sympathy2   
aggressiveness2 claim to territory2     
recognition of leaders1 submission to   
the pack1            emulation1         
precedency2 strategy and persistence2   
struggle to share the prey2             
intelligence4 ,different                
mentality of the herbivorous herd       
#dj-di         #e4 ,the ,wolf-type of   
,man established by ,natural            
,selection4--,keith's hypothesis as to  
epoch of            differentiation4    
,slow progress of culture2 full         
adaptation to hunting life prior to     
,neolithic culture    #di-eb         #f4
 ,some further ,consequences of the     
,hunting-life4--,growth of              
constructiveness2 language2             
customs--marriage2 property2 war2 sports

 and games2            laughter and     
lamentation                             
#eb-fa         #g4 ,moralisation of the 
,hunters4--,character of                
,anthropoids2 human benevolence2 moral  
sense2 effect            of industry2 of
 growing intelligence                   
#fa-f         #h4 ,influence of the     
,imaginary ,environment4--,belief in    
,magic and ,spirits often injurious2 but
 on the whole            advantageous2  
especially by establishing government   
#ff-gj      ,,chapter ,,iii             
,,belief ,,and ,,superstition           
#ga         #a4 8,superstition40--,here 
used merely to include ,magic           
and ,animism as imagination-beliefs     
#ga-b         #b4                       
,imagination4--,various uses of the     
word2 mental            8images02 in    
connection with reasoning2 and          
with literary fiction4 ,here means      
unverifiable            representation  
#gb-f         #c4 ,belief4--,nature of  
belief2 degrees of probability2         

tested by action2 play-belief           
#gf-i         #d4 ,causes and ,grounds  
of ,belief4--,derived from              
perception4 ,evidentiary causes1 or     
grounds1            raising some        
probability2 and non-evidentiary        
causes which are not grounds4 ,memory1  
testimony1            inference so far  
as unverifiable are imagination4        
,influence of apperceptive masses and of
 methodology4                           
,non-evidentiary causes have their own  
apperceptive            masses--derived 
from bad observation1 memory1           
testimony2 influenced by emotion1 desire
 and            voluntary action2 by    
sympathy and antipathy1 and by          
suggestibility                          
#gi-he         #e4 ,the ,beliefs of     
,immature ,minds4--,non-evidentiary     
causes more influential than with us2   
picture-thinking more vivid2 no common  
standard of            truth2 feeble    
power of comparison1 due perhaps to     
undeveloped brain                       

#he-ib         #f4 ,the ,reasoning of   
,immature ,minds4--,fallacies           
of induction2 ignorance of the minor    
premise in            deduction2        
reasoning by analogy                    
#ib-h         #g4 ,general ,ideas at the
 ,savage ,level4--,savages have         
general ideas1 though often not         
recognised or named2            force2  
relations of causation and equality     
#ii-ajc         #h4 ,the ,weakness of   
,imagination-beliefs4--,superficial     
resemblance to perception-beliefs2 more 
nearly allied            to play-belief 
#ajc-g      ,,chapter ,,iv      ,,magic 
#ajh         #a4 ,antiquity of ,magic   
#ajh-i         #b4 ,what is             
,magic8--,magic defined2 imaginary      
impersonal            force contrasted  
with power of spirits2 its action       
uniform like laws of nature4 ,kinds of  
,magic             #aji-ab         #c4  
,the ,beginnings of ,magic4--,a matter  
of speculation4            ,the earliest
 were probably the simplest1 and the    

kinds that have prevailed most widely by
 tradition            and hereditary    
predisposition4 ,the chief source of    
belief in ,magic is the mistaking of    
coincidence for            causation    
#aab-ai         #d4 ,magical ,force and 
,primitive ,ideas of                    
,causation4--,idea of magical force     
derived from            physical force  
7empathy1 ,animatism1 invisible action  
at a distance1 mana74 ,how ,animism and 
,magic corrupt            the ideas of  
causation                               
#aai-bd         #e4 ,magic and ,mystery 
#abd-f         #f4 ,volitional          
,magic4--,a relatively late idea        
#abf-h         #g4 ,the ,evolution of   
,magic--,direct ,magic4--,growth and    
differentiation2 four stages2 spells and
 charms2 taboo  #abh-cd         #h4     
,indirect or 8,sympathetic0             
,magic4--,principles            of      
,sympathetic ,magic--mimesis and        
participation2            connection    
with ,animism4 ,exemplary ,magic        

#acd-db         #i4 ,the ,dissolution of
 ,magic                                 
#adc-d      ,,chapter ,v      ,,animism 
#ade         #a4 ,what is               
,animism8--,hyperphysical and           
psychological            ,animism4 ,not 
all savages think that every man has a  
separable soul                          
#ade-g         #b4 ,psychological       
,animism4--,that everything is animated 
not an universal or primitive illusion4 
,animatism4            ,causes of the   
treatment of some inanimate things as   
living or sentient                      
#adg-ec         #c4 ,the ,ghost         
,theory4--,originated chiefly by dreams2
            which are regarded as       
objective experience                    
#aec-g         #d4 ,extension of the    
,ghost ,theory to                       
,animals4--,influence of shadows and    
reflections4            ,generally1 only
 things individually interesting have   
ghosts4 ,examples                       
#aeg-fj         #e4 ,ghosts and         

,soul-stuff4--,separated spirits need   
bodies and food1 that is1 soul-stuff4   
,abstract ideas            of 8spirit10 
8force10 etc4                           
#afa-d         #f4 ,ghosts and          
,spirits4--,ghosts first imagined1 and  
other spirits on their model4 ,some     
spirits1 formerly            ghosts1 now
 declared not to have been2 others never
            incarnate                   
#afd-i         #g4 ,how ,ghosts and     
,spirits are imagined4--,have the same  
attributes1 and not at first immaterial2
 confused            with the corpse4   
,various conceptions4 ,number of souls  
to each body4 ,external souls           
#afi-gc         #h4 ,origin and ,destiny
 of                                     
,souls4--,reincarnation--,transmigration
--,liable to            second death4   
,place of the departed4 ,importance of  
next life resembling the present        
#agd-g         #i4 ,the ,treatment of   
,ghosts4--,results partly from fear1    
partly from affection4 ,funerary        

rites--extravagance            and      
economy4 ,simplicity of ghosts4         
,inconsistent            behaviour      
toward them                             
#agh-hb         #aj4 ,evolution and     
,dissolution of ,animism4--,popular     
and priestly ,animism4 ,different       
emotions excited by            ghosts   
and by gods                             
#ahb-f      ,,chapter ,,vi      ,,the   
,,relations ,,between ,,magic ,,and     
,,animism                               
#ahg         #a4 ,the ,question of      
,priority4--,wundt's theory of          
,animism and of the derivation from it  
of ,magic4            ,reasons for      
dissenting4 ,origins of ,magic and of   
,animism independent                    
#ahg-ic         #b4 ,magic and          
,religion4--,frazer's hypothesis as to  
the superseding of ,magic by ,religion4 
,reasons for            dissenting4     
,alternative hypothesis4 ,caprice of    
spirits the essential distinction of    
,animism             #aic-g         #c4 

,ideas and ,practices of ,magic adopted 
by            ,animism4--,invisible     
force4 ,power of charms ascribed        
to spirits4 ,omens first magical1 then  
spiritual            warnings4 ,spells  
become prayers4 ,magical rites become   
religious ceremonies                    
#aig-bjc         #d4                    
,retrogradation4--,wundt's theory       
explains the loss            in many    
cases of animistic ideas2 ,fetiches2    
,omens2            ,prayers2 religious  
ceremonies                              
#bjc-g         #e4 ,spirits know ,magic1
 teach it1 and inspire                  
,magicians4--,examples of spirits       
knowing and teaching            ,magic4 
,inspiration and possession             
#bjg-ab         #f4 ,spirits operate by 
,magic4--,possession2 smiting2          
metamorphosis2 charms and spells        
#bab-af         #g4 ,spirits are        
controlled by ,magic4--,biological      
necessity of controlling spirits--by    
fear--or by            ,magic4 ,analogy 

with politics4 ,the higher barbaric     
religions4 ,magico-legal control of     
gods4 ,idea of            ,fate4        
,free-will and uniformity               
#baf-bd      ,,chapter ,,vii            
,,omens                                 
#bbe         #a4 ,the ,prevalence of    
,omens everywhere1 in all ages4         
,examples                               
#bbe-f         #b4 ,omens and ,natural  
,signs4--,natural signs                 
all-important to hunters2 and ,omens are
 imaginary            signs             
#bbf-g         #c4 ,some ,signs         
,conceived of as ,magical4--,by         
coincidence            some events      
become signs of others by a mysterious  
and infallible tie4 ,moods of elation or
 depression            favour belief in 
,omens2 their validity may depend       
upon acceptance4 ,antiquity of          
subjective ,omens4            ,whatever 
causes elation or depression is ominous4
            ,coincidence and analogy    
#bbg-cb         #d4 ,differentiation of 

,omens from ,general ,magic4--,omens    
are classed with charms1 rites and      
spells1 but            distinguished by 
being signs only1 not causes4 ,other    
differences                             
#bcb-d         #e4 ,omens ,interpreted  
by ,animism4--,omens resemble           
warnings--at first given by friendly    
animals1 then by            spirits1    
hence connected with ,oracles and       
,dreams         #bcd-h         #f4      
,natural and ,artificial                
,omens--,natural ,omens            not  
being always at hand1 means are         
discovered            for obtaining them
 at any time2 e4 g4 ,dice1              
,hepatomancy1 ,astrology                
#bch-dj         #g4 ,divination and     
,oracles4--,diviners and the art of     
,divination4 ,power of ,diviners and    
,oracles4 ,ways of            obtaining 
oracles and of being inspired derived   
from            low savagery            
#bdj-de         #h4 ,apparent ,failure  
of ,omens--ascribed to faulty           

observation or interpretation2          
frustration by            spirits1 or by
 superior ,magic2 or by having been     
symbolically fulfilled                  
#bde-g         #i4 ,apology for         
,omens4--,the ,diviner or oracular      
person            tries to be           
well-informed4 ,the ,stoics and         
,divination4            ,omens involved 
in ,fate4 ,conditional and unconditional
            ,omens                      
#bdg-fa      ,,chapter ,,viii      ,,the
 ,,mind ,,of ,,the ,,wizard             
#beb         #a4 ,the ,rise and ,fall of
 ,wizardry4--,at first no               
professionals4 ,early professionals     
unpaid2 except            by influence2 
which enables them to maintain order4   
,animism gives rise to sorcerers and    
priests4 ,priests            suppress   
sorcery and black ,magic1 and absorb    
white            ,magic in religious    
rites4 ,societies of wizards            
#beb-g         #b4 ,the ,wizard's       
,pretensions4--,control of ,nature2     

shape-changing and flying2 the causing  
and curing of            diseases2      
,divination2 control of ghosts and      
spirits4            ,general trust in   
them                                    
#beg-i         #c4 ,characteristics of  
the ,wizard--,intelligence and          
knowledge2 force of will and daring     
7initiation72                           
motives--attraction of mystery1         
reputation1 power2                      
distinctive costume and demeanour of a  
8superman02            jealousy of      
rivals2 histrionic temperament2         
hysterical diathesis4 ,suggestibility of
 his clients     #bei-gf         #d4    
,the ,wizard and the ,sceptic4--,social 
delusion and            imposture4      
,scepticism frequent amongst chiefs and 
the            higher social ranks1 and 
also amongst the people1                
because of common sense4 ,still more    
difficult for            ,wizards to    
maintain self-delusion                  
#bgf-hc         #e4 ,the ,wizard's      

,persuasion4--,honesty and fraud4 ,the  
,wizard by vocation4 ,fascination of    
,black ,wizardry4            ,artifices 
professionally necessary seem justified 
by            social utility4 ,his      
belief strengthened by effects          
of natural causes set going by himself  
or by his            clients1 and by    
coincidences                            
#bhd-ib      ,,chapter ,,ix             
,,totemism                              
#bic         #a4 ,meaning and ,scope of 
,totemism4--,frazer's                   
definitions4 ,the ,clan-,totem1 and     
observances            connected with it
                                        
#bic-f         #b4 ,of the ,origin of   
,totemism4--,totemism not universal4    
,totemic names sometimes recent1        
generally ancient4            ,totemism 
has not the psychological necessity of  
,magic            and ,animism4         
,originates with the names of           
individuals            or of groups8    
#bif-i         #c4 ,the ,conceptional   

,hypothesis of ,frazer4--,belief in     
,totems derived from the fancies of     
women as to cause            of         
pregnancy4 ,criticisms                  
#bii-cjd         #d4 ,lang's            
,hypothesis4--,names of animals or      
plants            given to groups       
probably by other groups4               
,circumstances of origin having been    
forgotten1            explanatory myths 
are invented with corresponding         
observances4 ,comments                  
#cjd-g         #e4 ,totemism and        
,marriage4--,exogamy1 ,totemism and     
,marriage ,classes4 ,westermarck's      
hypothesis as to            ,exogamy    
#cjg-aa         #f4 ,the ,clansman and  
his ,totem--perhaps believed to         
have the same soul                      
#cab-ad         #g4 ,totemism and       
,magic4--,magical properties of names4  
,transformation4 ,penalties on breach of
 observances4            ,control of    
,totems                                 
#cad-ai         #h4 ,totemism and       

,animism4--,totems in ,australia        
give warnings2 are sometimes invoked in 
aid2 the            ,wollunqua4 ,fusion 
of ,totem with spirit of hero in        
,fiji2 in ,polynesia4 ,propitiation of  
guardian spirits1            8elder     
brothers10 species-gods in ,north and   
,south            ,america4 ,zoolatry in
 ,africa2 in ,egypt                     
#cai-be      ,,chapter ,x      ,,magic  
,,and ,,science                         
#cbf         #a4 ,their ,common         
,ground4--,both assume uniformity of    
action4 ,differentiated in opposite     
directions from            common-sense 
#cbf-h         #b4 ,the                 
,differentiation4--,the ,wizard a       
physician--genuine and magical drugs2 a 
surgeon with            some knowledge  
of ,anatomy--effective remedies and     
the sucking-cure2 of ,psychology and    
suggestion2 his                         
,physiological ,psychology4 ,knowledge  
of natural signs2            ,natural   
signs and ,omens2 ,astronomy and        

,astrology4            ,rain-rites and  
,meteorology                            
#cbh-cg         #c4 ,why ,magic seems to
 be the ,source of                      
,science4--,conducted for ages by the   
same people1 and            develops    
faster                                  
#ccg-cdj         #d4 ,animism and       
,science4--,naturally opposed as caprice
            to uniformity2 but1         
indirectly1 ,animism is the great       
nurse of ,science and ,art4 ,animism and
 ,philosophy4            ,conclusion    
#cdj-db      ,,index                    
#cde          ,,the ,,origin ,,of ,,man 
,,and ,,of ,,his ,,superstitions        
,,chapter ,i    ,,on ,,the              
,,differentiation ,,of ,,man ,,from     
,,the ,,anthropoids       #a4 ,,the     
,,hypothesis    ,that the human species 
as we now see it1 with its several      
races1  ,mongolian1 ,negro1             
,mediterranean1 etc41 represents a      
,family of the  ,primates is generally  
agreed2 and there is evidence that the  

,family  formerly comprised other       
species that have become extinct4 ,our  
nearest  surviving zoological relatives 
are the ,gorilla1 ,chimpanzee and       
,orang1  and 7at a further remove7 the  
,siamang and ,gibbons2 and in spite of  
the  fundamental anatomical resemblance 
between those apes and ourselves1  the  
difference is so great that some        
explanation of how it came about  is    
very desirable4    ,the differences     
between ,man and his nearest relatives  
are innumerable2  but taking the chief  
of them1 and assuming that the minor    
details are  correlated with these1 it  
is the hypothesis of this essay that    
they  may all be traced to the influence
 of one variation operating amongst  the
 original anthropoid conditions4 ,that  
variation was the adoption  of a        
flesh-diet and the habits of a hunter in
 order to obtain it4  ,without the      
adoption of a flesh-diet there could    
have been no hunting2  but a flesh-diet 
obtained without hunting 7supposing it  

possible7  could have done nothing for  
the evolution of our stock4 ,the        
adoption  of the hunting-life1          
therefore1 is the essential variation   
upon which  everything else depends4 ,we
 need not suppose that a whole ancestral
  species varied in this way3 it is     
enough that a few1 or even one1 of  the 
common anthropoid stock should have done
 so1 and that the variation  was        
advantageous and was inherited4    ,such
 a variation must have occurred at some 
time1 since ,man is  everywhere more or 
less carnivorous2 the earliest known men
 were  hunters2 weapons are among the   
earliest known artefacts4 ,and it  is   
not improbable that the change began at 
the anthropoid level2  because although 
extant anthropoids are mainly           
frugivorous1 yet they  occasionally eat 
birds'-eggs and young birds2 the gorilla
 has been said  to eat small mammals2   
and other ,primates 7cebid1 macaques and
 baboons7  eat insects1 arachnids1      
crabs1 worms1 frogs1 lizards1 birds2 and

 the  crab-eating macaque collects a    
large portion of its food on the ,malay 
littoral4 ,why1 then1 should not one ape
 have betaken itself to hunting8    ,we 
need not suppose that our ancestors were
 ever exclusively  carnivorous3 that is 
very unlikely4 ,a mixed diet is the rule
 even  amongst hunting tribes1 and      
everywhere the women collect and consume
  fruits and roots4 ,but if at first    
nearly omnivorous1 our ancestor  7it is 
assumed7 soon preferred to attack       
mammals1 and advanced at a  remote date 
to the killing of the biggest game found
 in his habitat4  ,everywhere savage    
hunters do so now3 the little ,semang   
kills the tiger1  rhinoceros1 elephant  
and buffalo2 and many thousands of years
 ago1 in  ,europe men slew the reindeer 
and the mammoth1 the horse and the      
bison1  the hyna and the cave-bear4 ,it 
is true they had weapons and snares1    
whilst the first hunter had only hands  
and teeth4    ,the change from a        
fruit-eating to a hunting life subserved

 the great  utility of opening fresh    
supplies of food2 and1 possibly1 a      
failure  of the normal supply of the old
 customary food was the direct cause  of
 the new habit4 ,if our ape lived near  
the northern limits of the  tropical    
forest1 and a fall of temperature there 
took place1 such as to  reduce          
7especially in winter7 the yield of     
fruit and other nutritious  vegetation  
on which he had subsisted1 famine may   
have driven him  to attack other        
animals2#a whilst more southerly        
anthropoids1 not  suffering from the    
change of climate1 continued in their   
ancient manner  of life4 ,a large       
anthropoid 7,dryopithecus7 inhabited    
,central ,europe  in the ,miocene1 for  
his bones have been found2 there may    
have been  others2 and during that      
period the climate altered from         
sub-tropical  to temperate1 with        
corresponding changes in fauna and      
flora4 ,hence it  formerly occurred to  
me that perhaps the decisive change in  

the life of  our ,family happened there 
and then4 ,it seems1 however1 that good 
judges  put the probable date of the    
great differentiation much earlier1 in  
the  ,oligocene2#b and since ,i cannot  
find that any extensive alteration  of  
climate is known to have happened during
 that period1 it seems  necessary to    
fall back upon 8spontaneous0 variation  
7as one must in  many other cases72 that
 is to say1 from causes which are at    
present  beyond our vision1 the fateful 
ape did1 in fact1 prefer animal food  so
 decidedly as to begin a-hunting for it4
 ,that being granted1 the  rest of the  
history was inevitable4 ,the new pursuit
 was of a nature to  engross the        
animal's whole attention and co-ordinate
 all his faculties2  and to maintain and
 reinforce it1 his structure in body and
 mind may  reasonably be supposed to    
have undergone rapid modification by    
natural  selection2 because those       
individuals that were in any organ or   
faculty  best adapted to the new life   

had an advantage1 which was inherited   
and  gradually intensified4#c       #b4 
,,what ,,the ,,hypothesis ,,explains    
,let me run rapidly through the chief   
differences between ,man and his        
nearest congeners3 some of them are     
obvious and can be stated very  briefly2
 others ,i shall return to in the next  
chapter4 ,we shall see  that they all   
follow naturally from the above         
hypothesis4    7#a7 ,the anthropoids are
 never found out of the tropical forests
 of  ,africa and ,malaya 7including     
,borneo and ,sumatra74 ,they feed       
chiefly on  the fruits and other highly 
nutritious vegetable products that1 all 
the year round1 are only there          
obtainable4 ,although often coming to   
the ground1 especially the chimpanzee   
and gorilla1 they are adapted  to living
 in the trees3 that is their home4 ,in  
contrast with their  habits1 ,man is at 
home on the ground1 with unlimited range
 over the  whole planet from beyond the 
,arctic ,circle to ,tasmania and ,tierra

  del ,fuego2 because on the ground     
7chiefly7 he everywhere finds his  food 
in the other animals whom he hunts and  
slays4 ,this1 then1 is the  condition of
 his emancipation from the tropical     
forest4 ,it is1 indeed1  conceivable    
that a frugivorous animal1 originally of
 the forest1 should  obtain a wider     
range by taking to a coarser diet of    
roots and herbage1  such as suffices the
 ,ungulates1 browsing or grazing or     
digging with  their snouts2 but this    
would not have led to the upright gait1 
or the  big brain1 or any of the marks  
that distinguish ,man4 ,not advance but 
retrogression must have followed such a 
change4    7#b7 ,that the earliest men  
of whose condition of life we have any  
knowledge were hunters agrees with the  
hypothesis4 ,any other view  of ,man's  
origin must explain how and when he     
became a hunter4 ,there  seems to be no 
reason to put the change of habits      
7which certainly  occurred at some time7
 anywhere nearer than the beginning of  

our  differentiation4 ,the further we   
put it back the better it explains      
other modifications4    7#c7 ,the erect 
attitude was reached by the apes in the 
course of  adaptation to arboreal       
life2#d but the erect gait as the normal
 mode  of progression is 7if we neglect 
the gibbons' imperfect performance7     
peculiar to ourselves2 and such a gait  
was attained because the  most          
successful hunters followed their prey  
afoot upon the ground4  ,the feeble     
ineffective shuffle of the anthropoids  
upon the ground1  supporting themselves 
with their arms where there are no      
overhanging  boughs to swing by and help
 themselves along1 could not have served
  the hunter1 especially if he was to   
leave the forest4 ,we may1 indeed1      
suppose that at first prey was sometimes
 attacked by leaping upon it  from the  
branch of a tree1 as leopards sometimes 
do2 but the less our  ancestor in his   
new career trusted to trees the better  
for him4 ,such  simple strategy could   

not make him a dominant animal          
throughout the  world2 nothing could do 
this but the gradual attainment of erect
 gait  adapted to running down his prey4
 ,hence the numerous modifications of   
structure necessary to it1 whenever from
 time to time they occurred1  were      
preserved and accumulated by natural    
selection3 namely1 the  curving of the  
vertebral column1 the balancing of the  
head upon a  relatively slender neck1   
changes in the joints1 bones and muscles
 of  the legs1 the lengthening of the   
leg and the specialisation of the foot  
7in which the heel is developed more    
than in the gorilla1 and the great  toe 
is lengthened and lies parallel with the
 other toes74    7#d7 ,the              
specialisation of the legs and feet1 as 
it proceeded1 made  possible the        
specialisation of the hands3 being      
gradually rid of the  task of assisting 
locomotion1 whether in trees or on the  
ground1 they  were used in grappling    
with prey1 seconded by massive jaws and 

powerful  canine teeth4 ,in course of   
time they brought cudgels and stones to 
the  encounter1 and after many ages     
began to alter such means of offence    
into weapons that might be called       
artefacts4 ,these simple beginnings     
probably occupied an immense time1      
perhaps more than half of the total     
period down to the present4 ,the utility
 and consequent selection of  hands had 
been great throughout2 but their final  
development may be  referred to the     
making and using of weapons fashioned   
according to a  mental pattern4 ,those  
who had the best hands were selected    
because they  made the best weapons and 
used them best2 but we know from remains
 of  several palolithic stages of the   
art of manufacturing implements how     
very slowly the art improved4    7#e7   
,along with specialisation of the hands 
went a reduction in  the length and     
massiveness of the arms2 and this must  
have been  disadvantageous in directly  
grappling with prey4 ,but it was        

necessary  to the runner in order to    
lessen the weight and cumbersomeness of 
the upper part of the body and to       
improve his balance and agility4  ,the  
change may also have been beneficial by 
affording physiological  compensation   
for the lengthening and strengthening of
 the legs4 ,and as  soon as unwrought   
stones and clubs came into use there was
 mechanical  compensation for the       
shortening of the arms4 ,the result is  
an adaptive  co-ordination of the total 
structure to the life of a two-footed   
hunter4    7#f7 ,darwin says3 8,the     
early male forefathers of ,man were1 as 
previously  stated1 probably furnished  
with great canine teeth2 but as they    
gradually acquired the habit of using   
stones1 clubs1 or other weapons1  for   
fighting with their enemies or rivals1  
they would use their jaws  and teeth    
less and less4 ,in this case the jaws1  
together with the  teeth1 would become  
reduced in size1 as we may feel almost  
sure from  numerous analogous cases40   

7#g7 ,hence the profile began to        
approach the orthognathous type2 and it 
progressed further in that direction on 
account of accompanying changes  in the 
skull4 ,the skull became less thick and 
rough1 7a7 because1 as  the hands 7using
 weapons7 superseded the teeth in       
fighting1 jaws and  neck grew less      
massive1 and their muscles no longer    
needed such solid  attachments2 7b7     
because the head was less liable to     
injury when no  longer used as the chief
 organ in combat4 ,at the same time the 
skull  slowly increased in capacity and 
became vaulted to make room for the     
brains of an animal1 which 7as we shall 
see7 acquired much knowledge  7parietal 
association area7 and lived by the      
application of its  knowledge to the    
co-ordination of increasingly complex   
and continuous  activities 7anterior    
association area74#e    7#h7 ,monkeys of
 most species1 whether in the ,new      
,world or in the ,old1  are social1     
living in bands of from ten to fifty or 

more1 and may  co-operate occasionally  
in mutual defence or in keeping watch4  
,baboons1  indeed1 are seen in herds of 
several hundreds2 and they are credibly 
reported to co-operate in raiding       
plantations1 and in defending           
themselves against leopards1 other      
baboons and even human hunters4#f       
,gibbons1 again1 are social1 going in   
bands to the number of fifty4 ,but  the 
large anthropoids live only in          
families--the male orang being even  of 
a somewhat solitary habit2 three or four
 families of chimpanzees may  for a time
 associate together4 ,man1 however1 is  
everywhere--with a few  doubtful        
exceptions1 probably degenerate--both   
social and co-operative2  and the       
purpose of his co-operation at the level
 of the ,australian  or the ,semang is  
instructive4 ,it is not1 as we might    
suppose1 in  industry1 but in hunting1  
war1 or tribal ceremonies that tribesmen
 work  together--the last no doubt of   
comparatively recent origin3 so that a  

few thousand years ago there was no     
co-operation except hunting and war     
7which come to the same thing74    ,that
 the large anthropoids are neither      
gregarious nor co-operative  follows    
from their having no task in which      
co-operation would be  useful1 no common
 purpose3 they are able alone to defend 
themselves  and their families2 and when
 families range apart through the woods 
their food is in better supply4 ,but the
 ancestor of ,man found an object  for  
association and co-operation in the     
chase4 ,spencer1 indeed1 says  that a   
large carnivore1 capable of killing its 
own prey1 profits by  being solitary2   
and this may be true where game is      
scarce3 in the  ,oligocene and ,miocene 
periods game was not scarce4 ,moreover1 
when our  ape first pursued game1       
especially big game 7not being by       
ancient  adaptation in structure and    
instinct a carnivore71 he may have been1
  and probably was1 incapable of killing
 enough prey single-handed2 and1  if so1

 he will have profited by becoming both 
social and co-operative  as a hunter1   
like the wolves and dogs--in short1 a   
sort of wolf-ape  7,lycopithecus74 ,the 
pack was a means of increasing the      
supply of food  per unit2 and           
gregariousness increased by natural     
selection up to the  limit set by       
utility4 ,hence 7as will be shown at    
length in the next  chapter7 ,man is in 
character more like a dog or a wolf than
 he is like  any other animal4    7#i7  
,some development of the rudiments of   
speech may be confidently  traced to    
social co-operation4 ,the gibbon1 most  
social1 is also  the most vocal of      
anthropoids2 but having no common task  
in which  united action is necessary1 he
 uses his remarkable power of voice     
7apparently7 merely to express his      
feelings and to keep the troop          
together4 ,the chimpanzee and the       
gorilla enjoy probably a close and      
affectionate family life1 but one that  
makes little or no demand  for concerted

 effort4 ,hence their vocalisation is   
very rudimentary4  ,according to ,r4 ,l4
 ,garner1 it is true speech3 a          
chimpanzee 7he says7  knows the meaning 
of the sounds he makes1 and intends to  
convey it  to some definite individual  
at whom he looks4 ,but he has at command
  very few sounds1 and those mainly     
expressive of natural wants4#g ,if  it  
be urged that anthropoids do not talk   
because their lower jaw and  tongue have
 not the special adaptation to speech   
that is found in  ,man1 it should be    
considered 7a7 that if such structure   
had been  useful to them it would have  
been acquired1 as at some time it must  
have been by ,man himself2 and 7b7 that 
even without any change they  might have
 jabbered well enough to convey a good  
many discriminated1  objective meanings 
if they had needed to do so3 for ,man   
must have  begun in that way2 he cannot 
have waited for the development of      
physical structure before trying to     
talk4 ,sufficient intelligence is  not  

wanting to chimpanzees2 for in captivity
 they learn to understand  a good deal  
that is said to them4 ,what they wanted 
was a sufficient  motive for            
persistently trying to communicate1 such
 that those who  made any progress in   
the art had a living advantage over     
others4 ,man  had such a motive2 because
 co-operation was necessary to him1 not 
7as  we have seen7 in industry1 but in  
hunting4 ,in hunting1 in planning  and  
directing the hunt1 speech is plainly   
useful2 and it is better  than gesture1 
which probably preceded1 and generally  
accompanied it2  because1 as speech     
became independent of gesture1 it could 
go on  whilst the hands and body were   
otherwise employed1 or where comrades   
could not see one another--transferring1
 by a very profitable division  of      
labour1 the whole business of expression
 to organs not otherwise  needed4 ,it   
may not be much more than very simple   
beginnings of  articulate speech that   
can be traced to early co-operative     

hunting2  but in the beginning lies the 
whole difficulty4 ,and the situation was
  particularly favourable to the        
beginning of language by onomatopia1    
imitating the characteristic noises of  
different animals and of the  weapons   
and actions employed in pursuing and    
slaying them4    7#aj7 ,the intelligence
 and extensive knowledge 7compared with 
anthropoids7 that distinguish ,man in   
his lowest known condition are  clearly 
accounted for by his adoption of the    
hunting life4 ,already  7as we may      
assume7 the most intelligent of living  
animals1 with great  knowledge of the   
forest1 he had everything to learn about
 the world  beyond the forest as soon as
 he ventured into it1 and everything to 
learn about the art of hunting4         
,depending chiefly upon sight and       
hearing1 he had to learn by observation1
 and to remember1 and to apply  all and 
more than all that the carnivore knows  
and does instinctively1  or learns by   
following its mother4 ,he must have     

learned to discriminate  all sorts of   
animals1 many of them new in a strange  
country2 their  reactions to himself1   
manner of flight1 or of attack1 or      
defence2 the  spoor of each and its     
noises2 its habits and haunts1 where it 
reposed  or went to drink1 where to set 
snares or lie in wait for it4 ,advancing
  to the use of weapons1 he must have   
adapted them to his prey2 he must  have 
discovered the best materials--wood1 or 
stone1 or bone--for making  weapons1 the
 best materials for snares1 and where to
 find such things4  ,he must have fixed 
in his mind this series3 game1 weapons1 
the making  of them1 materials1 where   
found2 and must have learned to attend  
to  the items of the series in the      
necessary order without impatience or   
confusion3 a task far beyond the power  
of any other animal4    ,further1 the   
hunting life supplied a stimulus that   
had formerly been  wanting to our ape4  
,there is some difficulty in            
comprehending why  the anthropoid should

 be as intelligent as he is2 and1       
similarly1 it  seemed to ,wallace that  
the savage has intelligence above his   
needs--8in  his large and well-developed
 brain he possesses an organ quite      
disproportionate to his actual          
requirements40#h ,this illusion results 
from our not reflecting that the first  
task of increasing intelligence  is to  
deal appropriately with details in      
greater and greater number  and variety1
 and that the details of their life1    
with both savage and  anthropoid1 are   
just what we cannot appreciate4 ,still1 
the anthropoid  seems to have a rather  
lazy time of it3 especially1 he seems to
 have  hardly any occasion for following
 out a purpose needing some time for    
its accomplishment4 ,this powerful      
stimulus the hunting life applies  to   
carnivores1 above all to dogs and       
wolves2 and in the same way it  affected
 our ape3 compelling him to combine many
 activities for a  considerable period  
of time1 along with his fellows1 and    

direct them  to one end in the actual   
hunting1 and 7later7 to prosecute still 
other  activities for a longer period in
 preparing weapons and snares to make   
the hunting more effective4 ,add to     
these considerations the development  of
 gesture and rudiments of speech1       
exacting intelligence for their         
acquisition and increasing intelligence 
by their attainment1 and the            
superiority of the lowest savage to an  
anthropoid is sufficiently  explained4  
,severe must have been the selection of 
those that were  capable of such        
progress1 and correspondingly rapid the 
advance and  differentiation of the     
species4    7#aa7 ,using stones as      
weapons1 and finding that broken stones 
do most  damage1 and breaking them for  
that purpose1 the progressive hunter    
necessarily makes some sparks fly2 and  
if these fall amongst dry  leaves or    
grass1 he may light a fire4 8,in making 
flint implements  sparks would be       
produced2 in polishing them it would not

 fail to be  observed that they became  
hot2 and in this way it is easy to see  
how  the two methods of making fire may 
have originated40#i ,but if the         
production of fire by friction had been 
suggested by the polishing of  flints1  
it could hardly have been discovered    
before the neolithic  stage2 whereas    
hearths are known of much earlier date4 
,and it may have  happened earlier      
whilst some one was polishing an arrow  
or a spear  with another piece of wood3 
a supposition which dispenses with the  
long inference from a warm flint to a   
flaming stick4 ,it is a curious  fact   
that to this day in ,australia fire is  
sometimes made by rubbing  a            
spear-thrower upon a shield2#aj but ,i  
lay no stress upon this1 as  if such a  
practice must be traditionary from the  
earliest discovery  of the method4      
,either in the chipping of flints or in 
the polishing  of spears it is far      
easier1 and a more probable way1 to     
learn the art  of making fire than by   

observing that dried boughs or bamboos  
driven  together by the wind sometimes  
catch fire2 because those processes     
include the very actions which the art  
employs3 imitation of nature is  not    
called for4 ,it is true that the natives
 of ,nukufetan in the ,south  ,seas     
explain the discovery of fire by their  
having seen smoke arise  from two       
crossed branches of a tree shaken in the
 wind2#aa but this1  probably1 is merely
 the speculation of some ,polynesian    
philosopher4  ,volcanoes1 too1 have been
 pointed out as a possible source of    
fire2  and1 in the myth1 ,demeter is    
said to have lit her torches at the     
crater  of tna--an action fit for a     
goddess4 ,but were such an origin of    
fire  conceivable with savages1 it would
 not show how they came to make it      
themselves4 ,fire at first must have    
excited terror4 ,until uses were  known 
for fire no one could have ventured to  
fetch it from a volcano1  nor to make it
 by imitating the friction of boughs in 

the wind4 ,fires  were accidentally lit 
by man again and again1 and much damage 
done1  before he could learn 7a7 the    
connection of events1 7b7 the uses  of  
fire1 7c7 purposely to produce it1 7d7  
how to control it4 ,the  second and     
fourth of these lessons are much more   
difficult than the  mere making of fire2
 they are essential1 yet generally      
overlooked4  ,it seems necessary to     
suppose a series of accidents at each   
step1 in  order to show the effects of  
fire in hardening wood1 hollowing wood1 
cooking game1 baking and 7later7 glazing
 clay1 and so forth4 ,perhaps  a        
prairie-fire disclosed the advantages of
 cooking game1 and many a  prairie was  
afterwards burnt to that end before a   
more economical plan  was discovered4   
,as to the effect of fire on clay1 ,lord
 ,avebury observes  that clay-vessels   
may have been invented by 7#a7          
plastering gourds or  coco-nuts with    
clay to resist the fire when boiling    
water in them2 7#b7  observing the      

effect of fire on the clay2 7#c7 leaving
 out the vegetable  part4#ab ,this must 
have been a comparatively recent        
discovery2 though  there is some        
evidence of pottery having been made by 
palolithic man4  ,it is impossible to   
say when fire was discovered2 but it was
 certainly  known to the ,mousterian    
culture--say1 #ej1jjj years ago3        
probably very  much earlier2 and it was 
made by hunters4       #c4 ,,minor ,,and
 ,,secondary ,,consequences    7#a7 ,the
 extensive adoption by ,man of a        
flesh-diet many hundreds  of thousands  
of years ago might be expected to have  
shortened his  alimentary canal in      
comparison with that of the anthropoids2
 but not  much evidence of it is        
obtainable4 ,topinard1 giving a         
proportionate  estimate1 says that in   
,man it is about six times the length of
 the  body1 in the gibbon about eight   
times4 ,dr4 ,arthur ,keith1 in a private
  communication with which he has       
favoured me1 says that the adult        

chimpanzee's intestine is slightly      
longer than the adult man's1 but  that  
the measurements are for certain reasons
 unsatisfactory1 and that  there have   
not been enough measurements of adult   
chimpanzees4 ,we must  remember that1 on
 the one hand1 the chimpanzee is not    
exclusively  frugivorous1 and that1 on  
the other hand1 it is not likely that   
,man has  been at any time exclusively  
carnivorous2 though the return of large 
populations to a vegetarian diet by     
means of agriculture is recent4    7#b7 
,man has lost the restraint of seasonal 
marriage1 common to the  anthropoids    
with other animals1 as determined by    
food-supply and  other conditions of    
infantile welfare2 though1 according to 
,prof4  ,westermarck1 traces of it may  
still be found in a few tribes4#ac      
,that our domestic carnivores have also 
lost this wholesome restraint  on       
passion and population points1 probably1
 to some condition of a  steadier       
food-supply as determining or permitting

 the change amongst  ourselves4 ,no     
growth of prudence1 however1 or habit of
 laying up stores  can explain the      
steadier supply of food2 since the lower
 savages have  no prudence and no       
stores4 ,on the whole1 the change may be
 attributed  7a7 to an omnivorous habit 
being more steadily gratified than one  
entirely frugivorous or carnivorous2 7b7
 to our ancestors having  wandered in   
quest of game from country to country in
 which the seasons  varied1 so that the 
original correspondence of birth-time   
with  favourable conditions of welfare  
was thrown out4 ,there may also have    
been causes that kept down the normal   
numbers of the pack1 so as to  be       
equivalent1 in scarce seasons1 to more  
abundant food3 the hunter's  life1      
whilst securing a richer normal diet1   
involved many destructive  incidents4   
,and this 7by the way7 was favourable to
 rapid selection  and adaptation2 though
 if the destruction had been great      
enough to  counterbalance the advantages

 of animal food1 it must have frustrated
  the whole experiment4    7#c7 ,there  
is one characteristic difference of ,man
 from the anthropoids  which his hunting
 habits do not clearly explain--his     
relatively naked  skin4 ,darwin         
attributed this condition to sexual     
selection4#ad ,he  argued that1 on the  
one hand1 so far as ,man has had the    
power of  choice1 women have been chosen
 for their beauty2 and that1 on the     
other  hand1 women have had more power  
of selection1 even in the savage state1 
than is usually supposed1 and 8would    
generally choose not merely the         
handsomest men1 according to their      
standard of taste1 but those who  were  
at the same time best able to defend and
 support them40 ,hence1  if a partial   
loss of hair was esteemed ornamental by 
our ape-like  progenitors1 sexual       
selection1 operating age after age1     
might result in  relative nakedness4    
8,the faces of several species of monkey
 and large  surfaces at the posterior   

end of the body have been denuded of    
hair2  and this we may safely attribute 
to sexual selection40 ,the beard of  the
 male1 and the great length of the hair 
of the head in some races1  especially  
seem due to this cause4 ,the greater    
hairiness of ,europeans1  compared with 
other races1 may be a case of reversion 
to remote  ancestral conditions4 ,but as
 all races are nearly naked1 the common 
character was probably acquired before  
the several races had diverged  from the
 common stock4    ,the species of monkey
 that have lost the hair on various     
parts of their  bodies1 and the beard of
 males 7together with the longer        
head-hair of  women7 of our own race are
 cases that strongly support the        
ascription  of such secondary sexual    
characters to sexual selection4 ,yet1   
going  back to the time before the      
division of modern ,man into races 7say1
  #fjj1jjj years71 it seems incredible  
that any women then went unmarried1     
hair or no hair1 if they were healthy   

7and the unhealthy soon ceased  to      
exist72 or that any man went unmarried1 
if he could do his share  in the        
hunting-field 7and1 if not1 he also soon
 ceased to exist74 ,no  facts observed  
amongst extant savages--the choice      
exerted by women1 or  the polygamy of   
chiefs--throw much light upon that      
ancient state of  affairs4 ,there were  
then no chiefs3 the hunt-leader of pack 
or clan  had no authority but his       
personal prowess1 no tradition of       
ancestry or  religion1 nor probably the 
prestige of magic1 to give him command  
of  women4 ,unless1 at that time1       
relative nakedness was strongly         
correlated  with personal prowess in the
 male and efficiency in the female1 it  
is  difficult to understand how it can  
have been preserved and increased  by   
sexual selection4 ,forgive me for adding
 an unkind remark3 if the  selection of 
women for their beauty has gone on for  
hundreds of  thousands of years1 and has
 had a cumulative effect upon the race1 

is not the result disappointing8 ,go    
into the street and look4 ,that  8women 
have become more beautiful1 according to
 the general opinion1  than men10 is not
 an objective1 truly sthetic judgment1  
but one  determined by causes of which  
8general opinion0 is falsely            
unconscious4  ,schopenhauer#ae thought  
that men are better looking than women2 
and of  average specimens this seems to 
be true2 though1 to be sure1 he was a   
sort of misogynist4    ,another         
explanation of ,man's nakedness was     
suggested by ,thomas ,belt1  based on   
the parallel case of certain races of   
naked dogs1 namely1  that he is the     
better able to free himself from        
parasites4#af ,darwin  mentions this    
hypothesis and1 in a footnote1 cites in 
its favour 8a  practice with the        
,australians1 when the vermin get       
troublesome1 to  singe themselves02 but 
he says1 in the text1 8whether this evil
 is of  sufficient magnitude to have led
 to the denudation of the body through  

natural selection1 may be doubted1 since
 none of the many quadrupeds  inhabiting
 the tropics have1 as far as ,i know1   
acquired any specialised  means of      
relief40#ag ,it appears1 too1 that      
against the probability  of such a      
result must be set the actual           
disadvantage of nakedness1  as insisted 
upon by ,wallace1 who says that savages 
feel the want of  protection and try to 
cover their backs and shoulders4#ah     
,still1 the  disadvantage implied in    
occasionally feeling the want of        
protection  would not prevent the loss  
of hair1 if this would deliver the race 
from serious dangers from vermin2 and   
the force of the argument from  the     
condition of other tropical quadrupeds  
depends1 at least in some  measure1 upon
 whether or not there is something      
peculiar in the case of  naked dogs and 
men4    ,belt argues that the naked dogs
 with dark1 shining skins1 found in     
,central ,america and also in ,peru1#ai 
and which were found there at  the      

,spanish conquest1 have probably        
acquired their peculiar condition  by   
natural selection1 because they are     
despised by the natives1 and no  care is
 taken of their breeding1 and yet they  
do not interbreed with  the common hairy
 varieties1 as usually happens with     
artificial stocks4  ,the advantage of a 
naked skin being the greater freedom it 
gives from  ticks1 lice and other       
vermin1 the advantage is especially     
great for a  domestic animal living in  
the huts of savages1 where1 because they
 are  inhabited year after year1 vermin 
are extraordinarily abundant4 ,the      
naked dog1 then1 differs from tropical  
quadrupeds which are adapted  from a    
dateless antiquity to such vermin as    
infest them1 by having been  thrown by  
human companionship amongst not only    
strange vermin1 but  vermin in          
extraordinarily dense aggregation4 ,belt
 would have guarded a  weak point in his
 case1 had he explained why naked races 
of dogs are so  scarce4 ,hairy races may

 have been more recently domesticated1  
or bred  for their hairiness1 or less   
addicted to an indoor life4    ,the case
 of our own forefather also differs     
somewhat from that of  other tropical   
mammalia2 because1 by hypothesis1 he    
underwent pretty  rapidly such an       
extraordinary change of life2 which may 
have brought  him into circumstances    
where vermin1 formerly negligible1      
became highly  injurious4 8,monkeys10 as
 ,belt observes1 8change their          
sleeping-places  almost daily02 the     
,orang is said to construct a fresh nest
 every  night2 this is also reported of 
the ,gorilla4 ,not improbably1 then1    
daily change of locality was the        
practice of the original anthropoid     
stock1 whence we also are descended3    
thereby avoiding the accumulation  of   
vermin4 ,did the hunting life introduce 
a new habit8 ,in the old  frugivorous   
forest life1 the custom was to get up   
into some tree for  the night1 and      
within a short radius there were        

hundreds equally  suitable2 and1        
therefore1 there was nothing to check   
the natural  preference for a fresh one4
 ,when1 however1 the hunting pack began 
to  make its lair on the ground1 there  
was no such wide choice amongst  caves1 
rock-shelters1 or thickets3 one might be
 better than any  other for miles       
around4 ,if1 then1 they settled down    
there as in a  common lair1 the         
circumstances were1 for the time1       
favourable to the  multiplication of    
vermin1 and therefore to nakedness of   
skin1 in order  the more easily to be   
rid of them4 ,perhaps1 then1 this       
difference of  ,man from the anthropoids
 may be referred to one common cause    
with all  the others--the hunting life4 
,there1 too1 the defilement of blood    
made  fur inconvenient to animals not   
apt to cleanse themselves1 like those   
in the true carnivorous heredity and    
tradition4    ,when we consider how     
injurious some insects are to vertebrate
 life1  being suspected of having caused

 in some cases the extinction of        
species1 can it be said that facility in
 ridding oneself of such vermin  as lice
 and ticks is an inadequate cause of    
human nakedness1 or not one  that might 
outweigh the drawbacks of cold and wet8 
,it is not1 however1  incompatible with 
the action of sexual selection1 tending 
to the same  result2 nor1 again1 with   
the preferential destruction of hairy   
children  if ever infanticide was       
practised4 ,a further possible ground of
  deliberate selection may have been the
 mere ambition of differing from  other 
animals2 for a tribe on the ,upper      
,amazons is reported to depilate  to    
distinguish themselves from the monkeys1
 and the wish to be superior  to other  
animals led a tribe in ,queensland to   
pretend that they1 unlike  kangaroos1   
etc41 have no fathers according to the  
flesh4#bj ,admitting  that this last    
motive can hardly have been primitive1  
still1 our  nakedness may be a resultant
 of several causes4    7#d7             

,cannibalism1 where it has been found   
amongst extant peoples1 or  is known to 
have been formerly practised1 was often 
justified by  certain magical or        
animistic ideas1 but sometimes frankly  
by dietetic  taste1 or by the           
satisfaction of revenge or of emphatic  
triumph  over an enemy4 ,was it an      
ancient and perhaps general custom8 ,the
  excavations at ,krapina in ,croatia   
disclosed along with remains of the     
,neanderthal species1 which seems to    
have had a habitation there1 those  of  
rhinoceros and cave-bear and of some    
other kind of ,man2 and 8some  of the   
human bones had been apparently split   
open3 on that slender  basis the        
,krapina men have been suspected of     
cannibalism40#ba ,if the  suspicion is  
valid1 the practice existed 7say7       
#ej1jjj years ago in one  species of    
,man2 and perhaps much earlier1 if we   
consider how it was  merely an extension
 of the practice of devouring game to   
include the  slain members of a hostile 

pack2 for as primitive ,man1 or         
,lycopithecus1  his pre-human forebear1 
no doubt regarded other animals as upon 
the  same level as himself1 so he will  
have regarded human enemies as upon  the
 same footing with other animals4 ,that 
true carnivores are not  generally      
cannibals may be put down to their more 
ancient and perfect  adaptation to a    
predatory life4 ,for them persistent    
cannibalism would  have been too        
destructive1 and for us it belongs to   
the experimental  stage of history2     
though1 of course1 even in recent times1
 under stress  of famine1 reversion to  
the practice is not unknown to civilised
 men4    7#e7 ,the extraordinary        
variability of modern ,man 7considered  
as one  species7 in stature1 shape of   
skull1 size and power of brain1 colour1 
hairiness1 quality of hair1 and other   
characters1 physical and mental1  may be
 referred chiefly to his having become  
adapted to various local  conditions    
upon settling here or there for long    

periods of time after  wandering over   
the world in quest of game4 ,the        
settling of offshoots  of the original  
stock in certain regions long enough for
 them to  undergo adaptation to local   
circumstances is the simplest           
explanation  of existing races3 the     
,negro adapted to equatorial ,africa2   
the ,asiatic  stock 78,mongolian07 to   
,central ,asia2 the ,mediterranean race 
to the  neighbourhood of the sea after  
which it is named4 ,as to the ,nordic   
sub-race 7of the ,mediterranean1 we may 
suppose71 with its fair hair  and skin1 
it has the appearance of an ,arctic     
beast of prey1 like the  ,polar bear4   
,the snow-leopard of the ,himalaya is   
found at a midway  stage of such        
adaptation4 ,some geologists and        
zoologists now believe  that1 during the
 ,glacial ,period1 the climate of       
,northern ,europe was  not everywhere   
such as necessarily to destroy the local
 fauna and  flora1 and in that case our 
ancestors may for ages have maintained  

themselves there2 or1 if that was       
impossible 7as the absence of           
palolithic remains in ,scandinavia seems
 to indicate71 they may have  roamed for
 many ages along the borders of         
glaciation1 perhaps as far  as the      
,pacific ,coast4 ,chinese annals refer  
to fair tribes in ,eastern  ,siberia    
#bjj years before the ,christian era2#bb
 and it seems requisite  to imagine some
 extensive reservoir of mankind in order
 to explain the  origin of the vast     
hordes which in prehistoric as in       
historical times  again and again       
invaded ,europe--hordes                 
8which the populous ,north      ,poured 
ever from her frozen loins1 to pass     
,rhene or the ,danau2 when her barbarous
 sons      ,came like a deluge on the   
,south1 and spread      ,beneath        
,gibraltar to the ,libyan sands40       
,that the race was formerly fairer than 
it is now may be inferred from  the     
whiteness of its children's hair3 the   
trait has outlived its  utility4 ,the   

occurrence of a fair complexion in some 
mountain tribes1  in the ,alps1 e4 g41  
has occasioned the conjecture that it   
may be due  in some way to mountainous  
conditions1#bc of which snow might be   
one2  but1 if we suppose that the       
,nordic race extended during the        
,glacial  ,period into ,western ,europe 
7having already acquired its distinctive
  characters71 a fair complexion in the 
,alps may be understood by  supposing   
that1 whilst the greater number of them 
followed the  ice-sheet back to the     
north-east1 some followed it southward  
up into  the mountains--if the          
complexion is really ancient there4     
,two objections to this hypothesis will 
occur to every one3 7i7 ,why are  not   
the ,esquimo fair8 ,because1 ,i suppose1
 they are much more recent  immigrants  
into the ,arctic regions1 and perhaps   
were fully clothed when  they arrived   
there4 7ii7 ,could the ,nordic people   
have existed in such  circumstances     
unclothed8 ,whether this was possible   

physiologists must  judge4 ,we see the  
,fuegians maintain themselves1          
practically naked1  under very inclement
 conditions4 ,and it is not necessary to
 assume that  the ,nordic hunters were  
entirely naked2 since the correlation   
between  the hair1 eyes and all parts of
 the skin is such that1 if the whitening
  of any part 7say the hair7 was        
sufficiently advantageous to determine  
natural selection1 the remainder of the 
body would be similarly  affected4 ,and1
 no doubt1 the ,mediterranean race was  
always whitish4    ,the ,amerinds seem  
to have been derived chiefly from the   
,asiatic race4  ,pygmies and            
,australians may represent separate and 
still older stocks4  ,but1 as a result  
of migrations and conquests1 most       
peoples are of mixed  descent2 and hence
 7i7 individuals in the same locality   
sometimes  vary greatly1 because they   
inherit the blood of different strains  
in  different proportions2 and 7ii7     
classification is difficult1 so that    

whilst some observers are content to    
find half a dozen races1 ,deniker       
enumerates twenty-nine4    ,besides     
general racial differences1 there exist 
within each race and  within each       
national group further differences      
between individuals in  their physical1 
and still more in their mental1 stature 
and ability4 ,as  it was necessary that 
,man should vary greatly in undergoing  
adaptation  to the hunting life 7as well
 as to different local environments71 he
  was in an organic condition favourable
 to further variation4#bd ,and  this has
 been utilised in his adaptation to a   
certain special condition  of his       
gregariousness1 namely1 life in the     
hunting-pack2 for this  requires a      
difference of personality between       
leaders and followers1  first in the    
chase and later in war4 ,a good democrat
 may think it would  have been a better 
plan to make all men equal from the     
first2 and ,i  would it had been so2 for
 then the head of the race would not    

have had  to drag along such an         
altogether disproportionate tail3 a tail
 so huge  and unwieldy that one may     
doubt whether it can ever be extricated 
from  the morass of barbarism4 ,but in  
the early days of gregariousness1 a     
pack could not have held together1 or   
have hunted efficiently1 if all  had    
been equal and each had exercised the   
right of private judgment4  ,so in      
successful packs one led and the rest   
followed2 as they still  do1 and will   
continue to do1 of whatever kind may be 
the leader4 ,and  of all structures that
 make up a human being the most variable
 is the  brain3 the differences between 
men in stature and physique are trifling
  compared with those in mental power4  
,whatever feat of strength your  ,samson
 can perform1 half a dozen ordinary men 
can also accomplish2 but  in every      
generation tasks are carried out by     
intellectual athletes1  toward which all
 the ordinary men in the world1 uniting 
their efforts1  could do                

nothing--absolutely nothing4       #d4  
,,prey ,,and ,,competitors    ,if we    
suppose the differentiation of the      
,hominid from the  ,anthropoidea to have
 begun in the ,upper ,oligocene1 and    
that the  decisive change was initiated 
by some ape that adopted the life of a  
hunter1 it is interesting to consider   
what the world was like in which  he    
lived1 what sort of animals surrounded  
him1 what animals probably  became his  
prey1 and what were his rivals in the   
chase4#be    ,the surface of the planet 
was less mountainous than at present2 in
  ,europe the ,pyrenees had risen1 but  
the ,alps were only beginning to  rise2 
and in ,asia the ,himalayas began to    
dominate the world only in  the middle  
of the next epoch1 the ,miocene4 ,the   
distribution of land  and water1 too1   
was very different in the ,oligocene    
from that which  we now see3 ,europe was
 divided from ,asia by a broad gulf     
stretching  from the ,indian ,ocean to  
the ,arctic ,circle1 and an arm of this 

gulf  toward the west submerged a great 
part of ,central ,europe2 ,asia was     
broadly connected with ,north ,america1 
where now the sea penetrates  between   
,siberia and ,alaska2 ,africa had no    
connection with either  ,europe or      
,asia2 ,north and ,south ,america were  
separated--perhaps at  ,panama4 ,in the 
,miocene1 ,europe1 ,asia and ,africa    
became united4 ,these  physiographic    
changes may have affected climate2 for  
during the ,eocene  tropical conditions 
prevailed far to the north1 and         
coal-beds were laid  down in ,alaska2   
but from the ,oligocene onwards there   
was a gradual  fall of temperature1 slow
 at first1 but ending 7for the present7 
in  the cataclysms of the ,glacial      
,period4 ,there was also a decrease in  
some regions of atmospheric moisture1   
which determines the density of         
vegetation4 ,in its general character   
the vegetation was similar to  that     
which now prevails in tropical1         
subtropical and temperate regions  of   

the world4 ,the species of plants now   
existing had not yet arrived2  but of   
the same genera and families as those we
 see1 conifers1 palms  and              
dicotyledonous flowering plants crowded 
the forests and overhung  the rivers4   
,the forests were more extensive and    
continuous than ours  outside the       
tropics2 for by degrees browsing        
animals1 feeding down  the young trees1 
check the renovation of forests and     
clear open  spaces1 where grasses grow2 
changes of temperature limit the        
northern  or southern extension of      
certain kinds of plants1 and a failure  
of  humidity starves all the larger     
kinds2 converting1 at successive        
stages1 forest into steppe and steppe   
into desert4    ,animals1 especially    
mammalia1 with which chiefly we are     
concerned1  were1 at the close of the   
,oligocene1 very different from any that
 now  roam the lands2 all the species1  
most genera1 many families and some     
whole orders have since disappeared4    

,but there were plenty to eat and a     
good many to dread4 ,until we know the  
neighbourhood in which our ape's        
adventures began1 nothing precise can be
 said of his circumstances4  ,probably  
it was somewhere in the ,old ,world1 and
 probably it was in  ,asia4             
,unfortunately1 we know nothing of the  
zoological antiquities of  ,asia until  
the early ,miocene1 and even then a very
 small selection  of what must have     
existed1 because geologists have        
hitherto explored  a very small part of 
the continent--a few beds in            
north-western and  northern ,india and  
in ,burmah4 ,but there is so much       
evidence of the  migrations of animals  
in successive ages of the ,tertiary     
,period1 that  any remains from the     
,oligocene and ,miocene will help us to 
understand  what sort of neighbours our 
remote ancestors had to live amongst4   
,for prey there was great variety of    
birds and reptiles 7everywhere  eaten by
 savages7 and fishes2 but we are most   

concerned with the  mammalia1 which he  
may be supposed to have pursued afoot4  
,of these  the most important are the   
hoofed animals1 which fall into two     
great  groups1 perhaps not closely      
connected--the odd-toed                 
7,perissodactyls7  and the even-toed    
7,artiodactyls74 ,during the ,oligocene 
there lived in  ,europe1 or in ,north   
,america1 or in both--and1 therefore1   
probably in  ,asia--numbers of the      
odd-toed group3 tapirs2 rhinoceroses of 
several  species1 some without horns1   
some with1 some amphibious              
7,amynodonts71  all smaller than their  
modern representatives2 chalicotheres1  
strange  beasts something like horses1  
but instead of hoofs they had claws  on 
their toes--perhaps survived in ,china  
into the ,pleistocene2  small           
predecessors of the horse with three    
toes on each foot2  titanotheres1 hugest
 animals of their age1 extinct in the   
middle of  it--something like the       
rhinoceros and nearly as big as an      

elephant  7,brontotherium74 ,of the     
even-toed group1 pig-like animals       
abounded1  and some true pigs appeared2 
entelodonts1 or giant-pigs1 were common2
  anthracotheres1 somewhat pig-like in  
size and shape2 ancestral camels  about 
the size of sheep were to be had in     
,north ,america2 oreodonts1             
unfinished-looking creatures of many    
species2 primitive deer and other       
ruminants1 small in size and not having 
yet grown any horns4 ,in ,europe1       
during the ,upper ,oligocene1 cnotheres1
 small and graceful animals1  lived in  
large herds around the lakes4 ,there    
were also primitive  proboscidia about  
half the size of modern elephants2 many 
insectivores2  and1 amongst rodents1    
beavers and tailless hares4 ,generally1 
animals  of this age that have left     
descendants were smaller than their     
modern  representatives2 and notably    
their brains were smaller4    ,in the   
,lower and ,middle ,miocene there       
appeared also horned cervuline  deer1   

chevrotaines1 and horned antelopes2     
dinotheres and mastodons1  probably from
 ,africa2 primitive hedgehogs1 moles and
 shrews2 and in the  ,upper ,miocene1   
hipparion1 true hares1 several varieties
 of hornless  giraffe1 true deer1 and   
ancestral sheep4 ,true horses and cattle
 are  first known from ,pliocene beds2  
but it is needless to follow the story  
further3 the fauna becomes more and more
 modern in its character1 and  uncouth  
forms die out4    ,anthropoids are first
 met with in the ,miocene and in        
,europe3  pliopithecus1 allied to the   
gibbons1 in the ,lower2 and             
dryopithecus1  related to the           
chimpanzee1 in the ,middle ,miocene2 but
 they are believed  to have come from   
,asia4 ,there1 in ,pliocene beds of the 
,siwaliks  7southern foot-hills of the  
,himalayas71 occur the orang and        
chimpanzee1  besides macaques1 langurs  
and baboons4 ,since the orang is now    
found  only in ,borneo and ,sumatra1 and
 the chimpanzee only in ,africa1        

southern ,asia seems to have been the   
centre from which the anthropoids       
dispersed2 and this seems to be the     
chief positive ground for believing     
that the human stock began to be        
differentiated in that region4 ,since1  
again1 by the ,middle ,miocene a        
chimpanzee form had already migrated    
into ,europe1 it may be assumed that the
 orang was already distinct from  it    
7and perhaps had spread eastward73 the  
differentiation of these  genera must1  
therefore1 have happened earlier2 and1  
therefore1 also the  differentiation of 
the human stock2 so that this event     
cannot be put  later than some time in  
the ,oligocene4    ,how big was         
,lycopithecus to begin with8 ,the answer
 to this question  must affect our view 
of his relations both to prey and to    
enemies4  ,inasmuch as the three extant 
anthropoids and ,man are all of about   
the  same size1 there is a presumption  
that their common ancestor was in       
stature superior to the gibbons and to  

the largest monkeys--in fact1  a 8giant0
 ape 7to borrow a term from ,dr4        
,keith74 ,dryopithecus 8was  smaller    
than the chimpanzee1 but much larger    
than the gibbon40#bf  ,awaiting further 
evidence of fossils1 which is much to be
 desired1  it is probable1 on the whole1
 that ,lycopithecus weighed less on the 
average than modern man1 but more than  
the wolf4    ,as to competitors and     
aggressive enemies1 there were snakes   
and  crocodiles2 but1 confining our     
attention to carnivorous mammals1 the   
time seems to have been favourable to   
the enterprise of a new hunter4  ,by the
 middle of the ,oligocene1 the ancient  
,creodonts 7primitive  flesh-eaters     
which had flourished in the ,eocene7    
were nearly extinct1  represented in the
 deposits by their last surviving       
family1 the  ,hynodonts4 ,ancestors of  
the modern carnivores1 such as may be   
called  by anticipation dogs and cats1  
derived 7according to ,prof4 ,scott7    
from  the ,creodont ,family of the      

,miacid1 were becoming numerous1 but for
 the  most part were still of small     
size4 ,apparently1 the primitive dogs   
and  their allies must1 for some time1  
have been more formidable adversaries   
than the primitive cats1 especially if  
we suppose them to have already  begun  
to hunt in pack2 and this is not        
improbable1 both on account of  their   
structure and because several distinct  
varieties and even genera1  now extant1 
have that habit--such as wolf1 jackal1  
dingo1 dhole1 ,cape  hunting-dog1 etc4  
,in the ,upper ,oligocene of ,north     
,america1 occurs a  dog as big as a     
large modern wolf1 and in ,europe the   
bear-like dog1  ,amphicyon1 of about the
 same size1 but said to have been clumsy
 and  slow-moving4 ,there were several  
other dog-like species2 they continue   
in the ,miocene1 and some of them       
increase in bulk2 but true modern dogs  
or wolves 7,canis7 do not appear before 
the ,pliocene4 ,then1 too1 first  occur 
true bears 7,ursus72 hynas in the ,upper

 ,miocene4 8,cats0 belong  to two       
sub-families3 7i7 the true felines1 our 
modern species and  their ancestors2 and
 7ii7 the machrodonts1 or sabre-toothed 
cats4 ,the  latter first appear in      
,north ,america in the ,lower           
,oligocene2 the former  in ,europe in   
the ,middle ,oligocene4 ,the            
sabre-tooths are so called from  their  
thin1 curved upper canines2 which were  
so long 7#c to #f inches7  that it is   
not easy to understand how they could   
open their mouths  wide enough to bite  
with them4 ,that they were effective in 
some way  is proved by the fact that    
machrodonts1 first appearing in the     
,lower  ,oligocene1 increased in numbers
 and diversity of species for ages1 and 
some of them in bulk4 ,in ,north        
,america1 in the ,upper ,oligocene1 one 
species was as large as a jaguar1 and   
some of the biggest and most  terrifying
 were contemporary with ,man1 and only  
became extinct in the  ,pleistocene4    
,their limbs were relatively shorter and

 thicker than those  of the ,felin4     
,these1 the true cats1 at first         
progressed more slowly  than the        
,machrodontid2 but in the ,siwalik      
deposits 7,pliocene7  there occur1 along
 with machrodonts1 forms resembling the 
leopard  and the lynx1 with others as   
large as tigers4 ,the largest of all    
this  group seems to have been the      
cave-lion1 perhaps a large variety of   
the common ,african lion1 which also    
lived with ,man in ,europe in the       
,pleistocene4 ,these were serious       
competitors in the hunting-life of      
,lycopithecus and of primitive ,man2 and
 the effect of such competition  in     
exterminating inferior forms is shown by
 the fate of the carnivorous  marsupials
 of ,south ,america 7allied to          
,thylacinus71 which were the  predatory 
fauna of that region1 until in the      
,pliocene1 ,north and ,south  ,america  
having become united by continuous land1
 cats and dogs came  in from the        
northern continent and put an end to    

them2 and also by  the fate of the      
creodonts1 which in the ,oligocene seem 
everywhere to  have been exterminated by
 the new carnivores4 ,in both cases the 
beaten  competitors were very inferior  
in the size and complexity of their     
brains2 and if ,man has succeeded in the
 struggle for life against the  same    
foes1 in spite of his inferior bodily   
adaptation1 it is probably  due to his  
very superior brains4 ,this may also be 
the reason why  modern ,man 7,homo      
sapiens671 wandering everywhere over the
 world1  has everywhere exterminated    
such experiments in human nature as     
,pithecanthropus1 ,eoanthropus1 and     
,neanderthalensis2 as others are soon   
to follow them into the ,hades of       
extinct species4    ,these few pages    
give a ridiculously faint sketch of the 
animal world  amidst which our remote   
ancestors began their career4 ,but it   
may  serve to indicate that there was   
always plenty to eat if you could  kill 
it1 and plenty of rivals who wanted     

their share4 ,after the  disappearance  
of the dinosaurs at the close of the    
,cretaceous period1  the mammalia1      
already numerous1 developed rapidly1 and
 spread in ever  multiplying numbers and
 diverging shapes over the whole area of
 the  land4 ,we may take it that from   
the ,middle ,eocene 7at least7 onwards  
the earth has always been as full of    
wild beasts as it would hold4 ,to       
understand what it was like in the      
,middle ,oligocene1 one should read  the
 adventures of hunters in ,south ,africa
 seventy or eighty years  ago 7their    
verisimilitude is vouched for by        
,livingstone71#bg before  a gun in the  
hands of every ,kaffir had begun to thin
 the vast herds  that then covered the  
whole landscape1 and in whose numbers   
the wild  hunters and the lions could   
make no appreciable diminution4 ,the    
little  ,bushmen regarded themselves and
 the lions as joint owners and masters  
of all the game4 ,the masters fought one
 another1 indeed2 but there was  no     

necessity to fight1 for there was more  
than enough for both3 lions  were then  
sometimes met in gangs of ten or a      
dozen4 ,game throughout  the ,cainozoic 
ages was abundant and of all sizes3 many
 small1 many  middle-sized and some     
prodigious4 ,even in the ,eocene1 some  
of the  ,amblypoda 7,dinoceras1 ,am47   
and of the ,barypoda 7,arsinotherium1   
,af47 were as big as rhinoceroses2 in   
the ,oligocene1 ,titanotheres not  much 
smaller than elephants2 in ,south       
,america1 in ,miocene and ,pliocene     
times1 the ,toxodonts2 in the           
,pleistocene1 ,ground-sloths of huge    
bulk1 and ,glyptodonts4 ,of ,families   
still represented amongst living        
animals1 dinotheres and mastodons occur 
in the ,miocene2 and elephant1          
rhinoceros1 hippopotamus1 giraffe have  
abounded from the ,pliocene to  recent  
times1 in many species1 over most of    
,africa and the northern  hemisphere4   
,even the marsupials in ,australia      
produced a species  7,diprotodon7 as    

large as a rhinoceros with a skull three
 feet long4  ,any one of these would    
have been a meal for a whole pack of    
hunters1 if  they could kill it--as we  
may be sure they could4       #e4       
,,conclusion    ,from the addiction of  
some ancestral ape to animal food1 and  
to  the life of a hunter in order to    
obtain it1 then1 the special            
characteristics of ,man seem to be      
natural consequences4 ,the  hypothesis  
from which everything follows is        
exceptionally simple and  moderate4 ,it 
is generally admitted that our ancestor 
was a large  anthropoid--possibly more  
gregarious than others1 possibly more   
apt to  live upon the ground2 but       
neither of these suppositions is        
requisite4  ,he was adapted to his life1
 as the chimpanzee and gorilla are to   
theirs3 in which1 probably1 they have   
gone on with little change for  ages4   
,but into his life a disturbing factor  
entered--the impulse to  attack1 hunt   
and eat animals1 which extensively      

replaced his former  peaceable1         
frugivorous habit4 ,the cause of this   
change may have been a  failure in the  
supply of his usual diet1 or an         
8accidental variation0  of appetite4    
,not a great number need have shared in 
the hunting  impulse2 it is enough that 
a few should have felt it1 or even one4 
,if  advantageous and inheritable1 it   
would spread through his descendants4   
,it was advantageous 7a7 in enlarging   
their resources of nutrition1  and 7b7  
in enabling them to escape from the     
tropical forest4 ,on  the other hand1 to
 those least fit for the new life it    
brought the  disadvantages of more      
strenuous exertion and of competition   
with other  carnivorous types4 ,but with
 hands and superior intelligence1 those 
that had the requisite character        
succeeded4 ,there was rapid selection   
of those whose variations of structure1 
character1 activity were most  effective
 in dealing with game and with enemies2 
especially of those  who combined and   

co-operated1 and learned to direct      
co-operation by  some rudimentary       
speech4    ,but1 again1 the hunting     
impulse here assumed to have possessed  
some  anthropoid was not something      
entirely new2 anthropoids and many      
other ,primates are known to seize and  
devour birds1 lizards and even  small   
mammals when chance offers an easy      
opportunity4 ,it is merely a  greater   
persistence in this behaviour that turns
 it into hunting4  ,how very improbable 
that such a change should not sometimes 
occur6  ,is it not likely to have       
occurred often1 and with many failures8 
,similarly1 of the resulting changes3   
the differentiation of our hands  and   
feet is only an advance upon what you   
see in the gorilla2 as for  our         
ground-life1 can the adult male gorilla 
be fairly called arboreal8  ,several    
,primates use unwrought weapons2 most of
 them lead a gregarious  life1 to which 
our own is a return2 they are           
co-operative at least in  defence2 like 

many other animals1 they communicate by 
gestures and  inarticulate vocal cries4 
,co-operative hunting1 indeed1 seems to 
be  new in our ,order2 but since wolves 
and dogs1 or their ancestors1 fell  in  
with it some time or other1 why should  
it be beyond the capacity of  apes8 ,on 
second thoughts1 is the co-operative    
raiding of plantations  by baboons      
something altogether different from     
hunting in pack8 ,thus  at each occasion
 of change in structure or function1    
,lycopithecus  merely carried some      
tendency of the other ,primates a little
 further1  and a little further2 until1 
certainly1 he went a long way4 ,the     
whole  movement can be distinctly       
pictured throughout1 and it has an air  
of  being natural or even inevitable4   
,few hypotheses ask us to grant less    
than this one4    ,moreover1 if the     
story is not true1 ,man is an exception 
to the rule  of animal life1 that the   
structure of every organism is made up  
of apparatus subserving its peculiar    

conditions of nutrition and             
reproduction4 ,indeed1 conditions of    
nutrition are the ground of the         
differentiation of animals and plants4  
,conditions of reproduction need  not   
here be considered1 as the apparatus is 
the same in the anthropoids  and in     
ourselves4 ,with many species to avoid  
being eaten and to mate  are the reasons
 for some secondary characters1 such as 
protective  armour or coloration1       
fleetness with its correlative          
structures1  nuptial plumage1 and so    
forth4 ,but to avoid being eaten and to 
mate1  it is first of all necessary to  
eat and live2 and accordingly1 for  each
 sort of animal1 starting from the      
organisation of some earlier  stock1 its
 structure and activities are determined
 by the kind of food  it gets1 and the  
conditions of getting it3 in our case1  
the hunting of  game afoot4             
,,footnotes3    #a ,this was suggested  
to me by ,mr4 ,g4 ,a4 ,garfitt4    #b   
,illustration    ,estimated duration of 

the ,cainozoic ,period1 assuming that   
the thickness  of the deposits is about 
#fc1jjj feet1 and that deposits         
accumulate at  the rate of #a foot in   
#ajj years4 ,drawn to the scale of #a   
mm4 to #ajj1jjj  years4 ,the estimate is
 given and explained by ,prof4 ,sollas  
in the  ,quarterly ,journal of the      
,geological ,society1 ,,lxv4 7#aiji74   
,the 8tree0  is based on that given by  
,dr4 ,a4 ,keith in ,the ,antiquity of   
,man1 p4  #eji4    ,if we suppose the   
differentiation of the ,hominid to have 
begun  before the close of the          
,oligocene1 about 7say7 #c1ejj1jjj years
 are  allowed for the evolution of the  
existing species of ,man4 ,all these    
reckonings are provisional4    #c ,that 
,man was from the first a hunter has    
been suggested by several  authors2 but 
the consequences of the assumption have 
never 7as far as ,i  know7 been worked  
out4 ,a4 ,r4 ,wallace1 in ,darwinism 7p4
 #dei71 has the  following passage3     
8,the anthropoid apes1 as well as most  

of the monkey  tribe1 are essentially   
arboreal in their structure1 whereas the
 great  distinctive character of man is 
his special adaptation to terrestrial   
locomotion4 ,we can hardly suppose1     
therefore1 that he originated in a      
forest region1 where fruits to be       
obtained by climbing are the chief      
vegetable food4 ,it is more probable    
that he began his existence on the  open
 plains on high plateaux of the         
temperate or subtropical zone1  where   
the seeds of indigenous cereals1        
numerous herbivora1 rodents1            
game-birds1 with fishes and molluscs in 
the lakes and rivers and seas  supplied 
him with an abundance of varied food4   
,in such a region he  would develop     
skill as a hunter1 trapper or fisherman1
 and later as a  herdsman and           
cultivator--a succession of which we    
find indications in  the palolithic and 
neolithic races of ,europe40    ,prof4  
,mac,bride1 in his popular introduction 
to ,zoology 7p4 #hd71 also  traces the  

specialisation of ,man to the hunting   
life4    ,my friend ,mr4 ,thomas        
,whittaker has sent me the following    
extract  from ,comte's ,politique       
,positive1 ,i4 pp4 #fjd-e3              
8,l'obligation de se  nourrir d'une     
proie qu'il faut atteindre et vaincre1  
perfectionne   la fois tous les         
attributs animaux1 tant intrieurs       
qu'extrieurs4  ,son influence envers les
 sens et les muscles est trop vidente   
pour  exiger ici aucun examen4 ,par sa  
raction habituelle sur les plus  hautes 
fonctions du cerveau1 elle dveloppe     
galement l'intelligence  et l'activit1  
dont le premier essor lui est toujours  
d1 mme chez  notre espce4 ,a tous ces   
ttres1 cette ncessit modifie aussi les  
races qui en sont victimes1 d'aprs les  
efforts moins nergiques1 mais  plus     
continus1 qu'elle y provoque pour leur  
dfense4 ,dans les deux  cas1 et surtout 
quant  l'attaque1 elle dtermine mme les 
prmires  habitudes de co-opration       
active1 au moins temporaire4 ,bornes    

la simple famille chez les espces       
insociables1 ces ligues peuvent         
ailleurs embrasser quelquefois de       
nombreuses troupes4 ,ainsi commencent1  
parmi les animaux1 des impulsions et des
 aptitudes qui ne pouvaient se          
dvelopper que d'aprs la continuit propre
  la race la plus sociable  et la plus  
intelligente4 ,enfin1 la condition      
carnassire doit aussi  tre apprecie dans
 sa raction organique4 ,une plus forte  
excitation1  une digestion moins        
laborieuse et plus rapide1 une          
assimilation  plus complte produisant un
 sang plus stimulant3 telles sont ses   
proprits physiologiques4 ,toutes        
concourent  dvelopper les fonctions     
suprieures1 soit en augmentant l'nergie 
de leurs organes1 soit en  procurant    
plus de temps pour leur exercice40    #d
 ,f4 ,wood ,jones1 ,arboreal ,man1 pp4  
#aag-bb4    #e ,on these                
paragraphs--7#c71 7#d71 7#e71 7#f71     
7#g7--see ,darwin's ,descent  of ,man1  
#bnd ed41 pp4 #di-ed3 whence1 of course1

 ,i have freely borrowed4    #f         
,numerous references might be given1    
from which ,i select ,hagenbeck1        
,beasts and ,men1 p4 #fc4    #g ,r4 ,l4 
,garner1 ,gorillas and ,chimpanzees1 ch4
 vi43 where  mention is made of such    
meanings as 8food10 8calling to some    
one10  8affection10 8good0 7said1 ,i    
suppose1 of food71 8warning cries10     
8cold  or discomfort10 8drink10         
8illness10 8dead03 the entire           
vocabulary1  perhaps1 not more than     
twenty signs4 ,the value of ,garner's   
work is  disputed4    #h ,natural       
,selection1 p4 #aic4    #i ,avebury1    
,prehistoric ,times1 #gth ed41 p4 #egh4 
#aj ,spencer and ,gillen1 ,northern     
,tribes of ,central ,australia1 p4 #fai4
    #aa ,turner's ,samoa1 p4 #bhe4      
#ab ,op4 cit41 p4 #egi4    #ac          
,primitive ,marriage1 ch4 ii4    #ad    
,descent of ,man1 #bnd ed41 pp4         
#eie-fjd4    #ae ,parerga and           
,paralipomena1 ,b4 ,,ii1 ,kap4 #bg4     
#af ,a ,naturalist in ,nicaragua1 ch4   

xi4    #ag ,op4 cit41 p4 #eg4    #ah    
,natural ,selection1 pp4 #aie-g4    #ai 
,naked races of dogs have also been     
reported to exist in ,china1  ,manila   
and ,south ,africa2 but ,i can learn no 
particulars of them4    #bj ,w4 ,e4     
,ling ,roth1 ,north ,queensland         
,ethnology1 ,bulletin ,v4  #ha4    #ba  
,a4 ,keith1 ,the ,antiquity of ,man1 p4 
#acd4    #bb ,m4 ,a4 ,czaplicka1 ,my    
,siberian ,year1 p4 #bcj4    #bc        
,ripley1 ,the ,races of ,europe1 pp4    
#gf-g4    #bd ,darwin1 ,animals and     
,plants under ,domestication1 ,pop4 ed41
 ,,ii4 p4  #cjh4    #be ,the contents of
 this section lie outside my own        
studies1 and have  been taken from      
various books of ,geology and           
,palontology3 ,i must  especially       
mention ,prof4 ,osborne's ,age of       
,mammals 7#aiaj7 and ,prof4  ,scott's   
,land ,mammals in the ,western          
,hemisphere 7#aiac74 ,i have also       
profited by inspecting the              
,palontological ,gallery at ,south      

,kensington  with the help of its       
excellent ,guide-,book4    #bf ,a4      
,keith1 ,the ,human ,body1 p4 #eh4      
#bg ,travels and ,researches in ,western
 ,africa1 ch4 vii4          ,,chapter   
,,ii    ,,on ,,the ,,differentiation    
,,of ,,the ,,human ,,from ,,the         
,,anthropoid ,,mind       #a4           
,,heredity1 ,,adaptation1               
,,accommodation    ,following the       
general belief that ,man is descended   
from a stock nearly  allied to the      
greater anthropoids--,orang1            
,chimpanzee1 ,gorilla--we may  assume   
that his mental endowments were once    
much the same as theirs2  and that1 so  
far as they are still the same1 heredity
 sufficiently  explains his having them4
 ,thus the senses1 perception1 the      
simpler  forms of comparison and        
inference1 the appetites and many of the
  instincts and emotions are common to  
us with the apes1 are seen in  our      
children under three years old1 and 7in 
short7 constitute that  generic         

consciousness 7as ,i have called it7    
from which the human  mind in general   
and the peculiar traits of races and    
individuals are  differentiated4    ,so 
much for heredity2 but the differences  
of the human from the  anthropoid mind1 
alike in intelligence and in character1 
are enormous1  and must be accounted for
 in some other way4 ,allowing for some  
original  specific difference which we  
can hardly hope to discover1 the changes
  that have taken place may be          
considered as the result of adaptation  
to those habits of life under which our 
species 7now ranking  zoologically as a 
,family7 has been developed4 ,and this  
adaptation ,i  shall assume to have been
 brought about under conditions of      
natural  selection3 human races1 as we  
now see them1 being the survivors of    
many variations1 more or less           
successful1 and the others having been  
destroyed4 ,for good judges are of      
opinion that1 amongst the discovered    
remains of ancient specimens of the     

human family1 some that exhibit  marked 
deviations from the modern              
type--,neanderthalensis1 ,eoanthropus1  
,pithecanthropus--should be regarded not
 as belonging to our ancestral  line1   
but rather as representing distinct     
species that have failed in  the        
struggle for existence4#bh    ,but      
besides the innate dispositions of human
 nature determined by  heredity and     
natural selection1 which are found in   
some measure  universally1 because they 
are adaptations to conditions that1 at  
one  time and not long ago1 weighed upon
 the ancestors of all of us1 there  are 
numerous traits 7some of them quite     
superficial7 that vary from  country to 
country and from age to age1 according  
to the economic or  political type of   
the society in which a man lives1 his   
place therein1  geographical            
circumstances1 religious institutions   
and the countless  causes that govern   
manners and customs4 ,in the lives of   
most men these  traits are not          

necessary2 they may be adopted and cast 
aside more than  once in an individual's
 career3 they are temporary             
accommodations  due to education1       
imitation1 tradition2 and1 in fact1 are 
often the  disguises of human nature4   
,still1 as society grows more and more  
complex1 orderly and stable1 there is1  
no doubt1 again some natural  selection 
of those individuals who are capable of 
undergoing the  requisite               
accommodations4 ,those that cannot      
endure the restraints of  civilisation1 
wander away2 the extremely lazy1        
improvident1 dishonest1  or aggressive1 
in considerable numbers1 perish4        
#b4 ,,the ,,original ,,stock ,,and ,,the
 ,,conditions ,,of ,,differentiation    
,to the original mentality of man we can
 only seek a clue in the  higher        
,primates1 and especially in the extant 
anthropoids4 ,no doubt1  during the long
 millennia that have elapsed since the  
separation of  our own stock from those 
of other genera and species1 they also  

have  undergone some evolution1 but     
probably much less change than we have4 
,unfortunately1 our knowledge of their  
habits and abilities is still           
deplorably limited4 ,it seems certain1  
however1 that their intelligence  is    
much greater than that of any other kind
 of animal4 ,they must have  extensive  
knowledge of their habitat1 of all the  
forest can yield for  food or shelter1  
and of its other denizens dangerous or  
otherwise4  ,they construct for         
themselves some sort of sleeping-place1 
not much  inferior to the ,australians' 
8lean-to10 by piling branches together  
in the trees4 ,toward men1 anthropoids  
seem to be unaggressive1 and  usually   
retreat from them2 but1 when attacked1  
defend themselves with  fury4 ,from     
other animals the male gorilla has      
nothing to fear1 and he  defends his    
family against leopards2 the chimpanzee 
is said to fight  leopards with varying 
success2 and1 as for the orang1 ,dyak   
chiefs told  ,wallace that no animals   

dare attack him1 except crocodiles and  
pythons1  and that he kills both of     
them4#bi ,the food of these apes is     
chiefly  fruit and the tender shoots of 
trees and bamboos2 but they sometimes   
eat eggs and young birds2 and the       
gorilla is said to eat small mammals3   
in confinement they all take cooked     
flesh freely4 ,socially1 they  hardly   
get beyond family life4 ,orangs male and
 female are even seen  alone1 and young 
ones together without parents2 gorillas 
are seen in  family parties2 chimpanzees
 in families1 and occasionally three or 
four families in company4 ,it is said   
that gorillas and chimpanzees  have been
 seen together in a large band4 ,i have 
met with no report of  these animals    
fighting amongst themselves1 except that
 male gorillas  sometimes fight for a   
wife4 ,gorillas have also been said1    
upon very  slight evidence1 to be       
polygamous2 chimpanzees and orangs seem 
to be  monogamous4#cj ,their family life
 is probably1 as amongst all the other  

,primates1 affectionate3 the long youth 
of their children implies much  parental
 care4 ,whilst the smaller              
anthropoids--siamang and gibbon--go  in 
troops1 as also do the baboons and most 
monkeys of both hemispheres1  the less  
sociability of the great anthropoids may
 be understood to  result 7a7 from the  
limited supply of the right sort of food
 for  them1 even in the tropical forest 
to which they are confined--since       
animals of their bulk must consume a    
great deal2 and 7b7 from their  having  
no need of combining for the purpose of 
defence4    ,from the type thus outlined
 the mentality of the human race has    
departed so widely that some even of    
those who believe that our bodies  have 
been derived from some simian stock 7e4 
g4 ,wallace7 hesitate to  admit that our
 minds can have had a similar history4  
,but as everywhere  else in the animal  
kingdom mind and body constitute one    
organism1 it is  reasonable to consider 
whether the differentiation of the mind 

of man  may not be understood to have   
taken place under the same conditions as
  those which determined the            
transformation of his body4 ,what were  
these  conditions8    7a7 ,in the       
foregoing chapter ,i have collected a   
number of facts and  arguments pointing 
to the probability that the chief cause 
of the  evolution of the human ,family  
was the adoption by some anthropoid 7or 
allied form7 of the life of the hunter  
in order to obtain animal food4  ,that  
the change from a frugivorous to a      
carnivorous diet may itself  have had   
some effect upon our temperament and    
activity is possible2  but ,i lay no    
stress upon that4 ,most monkeys are     
almost exclusively  frugivorous2 the    
only ,primate1 except man1 that depends 
a good deal  upon animal food is1 ,i    
believe1 the crab-eating macaque        
7,macacus  cynomolgus71 of the ,burmese 
and ,malay littoral2 yet monkeys are the
  most alert and active of animals2 some
 of them are amongst the most           

courageous2 anthropoids are amongst the 
most powerful4 ,a carnivorous  diet     
alone would not explain any changes in  
the shape and proportions  of our trunk 
and limbs1 nor the upright gait1 nor the
 gregarious habit1  nor the development 
of the brain1 nor the invention of      
weapons1 nor the  use of fire1 nor any  
of the mental and emotional             
characteristics that  distinguish man   
from the other ,primates2 but all these 
things readily  follow from our remote  
ancestor's adoption of the life of the  
hunter4    ,sociologists1 surveying     
extant peoples1 have usually            
distinguished  four stages of culture1  
the hunting1 pastoral1 agricultural and 
manufacturing2 and some have indicated  
what they suppose to have been a  still 
earlier stage1 the 8collecting10 such as
 may be seen1 e4 g41  amongst the       
,fuegians4 ,but the collecting state is 
plainly degenerate1  the resource of    
tribes fallen into distress2 it cannot  
have been the  first stage1 because it  

implies no conditions that tend in any  
way to  develop body or mind or society4
 ,that hunting came first is a true     
intuition3 and1 to understand the       
development of human nature1 we  need   
only refer the hunting-life back to the 
very origin of the human  stock4#ca     
7b7 ,the great anthropoids are all      
confined to the equatorial forests2  and
 it is obvious that1 with their diet1 it
 is impossible to pass out  of tropical 
or 7at furthest7 sub-tropical regions4  
,but the adoption  of a flesh diet      
enabled the human stock to extend the   
range of its  hunting 7allowing for     
gradual adaptation to climate or        
accommodation  by clothing7 to any      
country that supplied the requisite     
prey2 and1  accordingly1 in course of   
time1 it wandered to every part of the  
world4  ,the settling of various        
off-shoots of the original stock in     
certain  regions long enough for them to
 undergo adaptation to local conditions 
is 7as we have seen7 the simplest       

explanation of existing races4    7c7   
,whilst none of the great anthropoids   
has advanced socially beyond  family    
life1 man is everywhere 7with few and   
doubtful exceptions7  gregarious--living
 at the lowest grade in tribes or bands 
of about  fifty2 and the gregarious life
 is one of the most important conditions
  of his peculiar development4          
,possibly1 he may originally have been  
more gregarious than any extant         
anthropoid1 in spite of his not  needing
 society for defence1 and of its seeming
 to be for so large a  frugivorous      
animal inconvenient in relation to      
nutrition4 ,moreover1  if the great     
anthropoids and our own ancestors were  
descended from  some stock of the lower 
monkeys1 such as always go in troops1   
the  gregarious instinct may have       
remained with them as a latent          
character4  ,still1 it is my conjecture 
that man became gregarious1 or recovered
  the social habit1 because of the      
utility of co-operative hunting2 so     

that he became at first a sort of       
wolf-ape4 ,this will be discussed in    
the next section4 ,i observe here1      
however1 that the hypothesis helps  us  
to understand why man is still          
imperfectly sociable2 the purpose  of   
the hunting-pack1 each wolf-ape seeking 
prey1 was unfavourable to  social life  
in other relations4 ,that in human life 
group-consciousness  preceded           
self-consciousness is a groundless and  
fantastic notion3  all known savages are
 fully self-conscious1 as their         
sentiments and  behaviour imply2 and    
even the higher brutes are 7in my       
judgment7  self-conscious in their      
relations with others4 ,current         
speculations  about fashion1 imitation1 
tradition1 crowd-psychology1 are in     
danger of  exaggeration1 and overlook   
the patent facts of individualism1 as   
shown  by the hypocrite1 the criminal1  
the vagrant1 the contra-suggestible1    
the hermit1 the sceptic1 the saint4     
,some people--without being in any  way 

morbid--find that a good deal of        
solitude is necessary to the  complete  
life3 by nature the student and the     
pioneer escape from the  crowd4    7d7  
,the later stages of human development  
have been considerably  modified by     
certain imaginary conditions peculiar to
 ,man2 for he--we  know not at what     
date--invented them4 ,these may be      
summed up under the  names of ,magic and
 ,animism2 and in subsequent chapters   
they will be  discussed1 with their     
astonishing vagaries and still more     
astonishing  reactions upon human life4 
,the chief conditions1 then1 to which   
man has been adapted1 and thereby       
differentiated in body and mind from the
 anthropoid stock1 ,i take to be  four3 
the hunting life2 geographical          
circumstances2 social life2 and  his own
 imaginations4       #c4 ,,primal       
,,society    ,in looking for the        
probable form of the earliest human or  
7rather7  prehuman society1 one         
naturally makes a survey of other       

mammalian  societies2 and the task is   
soon accomplished4 ,it is surprising how
  few and simple the types of them are1 
in contrast with the elaborate  polities
 of some hymenoptera and of the         
termites3 these have much  greater      
superficial resemblance to modern human 
societies2 but1 in  fact1 they are      
families rather than societies2 their   
interesting  activities will one day    
probably be traced to relatively simple 
mechanisms2 and in every way they are   
too remote from us for any useful       
comparison4 ,as for mammalian societies1
 even using the term to include         
families1 they may be classified under  
four or five types3    7#a7 ,families3  
7a7 ,monogamous3 of which the best      
examples seem to  be found in some      
monkeys4 ,many of the cats are believed 
to pair  monogamously2 but it is        
doubtful whether1 or in what measure1   
the male  takes part in the rearing of  
the whelps4    7b7 ,polygamous3         
characteristic of many species of       

deer2--after the  breeding-season1 the  
stags often wander away by themselves4  
7#b7 ,associations of families without  
apparent structure or  organisation1    
such as those of the vizcacha and the   
beaver4 ,they  have no leaders1 and make
 no attempt at mutual defence2 but their
  inco-ordinated activities1 in making  
their burrows1 dams1 etc41 have  results
 which1 especially in the case of the   
beavers1 look as if the  animals had    
worked upon a common1 premeditated plan4
 ,gregariousness  exists widely in the  
animal kingdom without any utility in   
attack or  defence1 but merely for      
convenience of breeding1 or for the     
advantage  of signalling the approach of
 danger1 from any direction1 to the     
whole  flock4    7#c7 ,troops or herds1 
comprising several families4 ,this type 
is common  amongst monkeys3 generally   
the families are monogamous1 and both   
parents care for the offspring2 they    
have leaders1 and combine in  mutual    
defence4 ,this is especially effective  

with the baboons--who1  however1 are    
polygamous4 ,a very similar type is     
characteristic of  cattle2 who also have
 leaders as the result of battle between
 the  bulls1 each trying to control and 
keep together as many cows as he can2   
and they often combine their forces     
against beasts of prey4    7#d7         
,hunting-packs--most noticeable with    
wolves and wild dogs3 they  have        
leaders1 and probably an order of       
precedence determined by  battle4 ,in   
the breeding-season 7,february to       
,august7 a pack of wolves  breaks up    
into pairs2 but whether their pairing is
 for life or merely  seasonal is        
disputed2 and it is also doubtful       
whether the male takes  any share in    
caring for the puppies2 such habits may 
vary in different  localities4#cb ,the  
numbers of the pack depend on           
circumstances1 and  are now much smaller
 in ,canada than in ,russia4    ,was our
 own primitive society1 then1 like any  
of these8 ,since direct  evidence cannot

 be obtained1 we must be guided in      
forming our  hypothesis by two          
considerations3 7a7 what type of society
 gives  the best explanation of human   
nature as we now find it8 and 7b7 for   
which type can we give the best reason  
why it should have been adopted8  ,so ,i
 point out 7a7 that man1 in character1  
is more like a wolf or  dog than he is  
like any other animal2 and 7b7 that for 
the forming  of a pack there was a clear
 ground in the advantage to be obtained 
by  co-operative hunting4#cc    ,it must
 be admitted that ,darwin1 discussing   
sexual selection in man1  suggests a    
different hypothesis4 ,he says3         
8,looking far enough back in  the stream
 of time1 and judging from the social   
habits of man as he now  exists1 the    
most probable view is that he           
aboriginally lived in small             
communities1 each with a single wife1 or
 if powerful with several1 whom  he     
jealously guarded against all other men4
 ,or he may not have been a  social     

animal1 and yet have lived with several 
wives1 like the gorilla2  for all the   
natives #8agree that but one adult male 
is seen in a band2  when the young male 
grows up1 a contest takes place for     
mastery1 and  the strongest1 by killing 
and driving out the others1 establishes 
himself as the head of the community4'  
,the younger males1 being thus  expelled
 and wandering about1 would1 when at    
last successful in finding  a partner1  
prevent too close inter-breeding within 
the limits of the  same family40#cd ,the
 information concerning the polygamy of 
the  gorilla1 quoted here from ,dr4     
,savage1 who wrote in #ahde1 has not    
since  7,i believe7 been confirmed1     
except by ,prof4 ,garner4#ce            
,naturally1 the above passage has       
attracted the attention of              
anthropologists2 and ,i am sorry to     
expose myself to the charge of          
immodesty in venturing to put forward a 
different view4 ,atkinson in  his essay 
on ,primal ,law1 edited with qualified  

approval by ,andrew  ,lang1 starts from 
,darwin's hypothesis1 and merely        
modifies it by urging  that the young   
males1 when driven off by their father1 
did not wander  away1 but kept near the 
family1 always on the watch to murder   
their  father4 ,this amendment he makes1
 because he had observed the same       
habits in cattle and horses4 ,then1     
through a row of hypotheses with  little
 evidence or rational connection1 he    
arrives at an explanation of  certain   
savage laws of avoidance1 exogamy1 etc4 
,more recently1 ,prof4  ,freud has      
produced a most ingenious and           
entertaining essay on ,totem  und ,tabu1
 in which he builds upon the same       
foundations4 ,you easily  see how the   
8dipus complex0 emerges from such a     
primitive state of  things1 but will    
hardly1 without reading the work1       
imagine the wealth  of speculation it   
contains or its literary attractiveness4
 ,atkinson  probably relied upon the    
supposed parallel case of wild cattle   

and  horses1 because those animals      
resemble the apes in being vegetarian3  
though the diets are1 in fact1 very     
different4 ,but even if such a          
comparison indicates a possible social  
state of our original ape-like  stock1  
what is there in such a state that can  
be supposed to have  introduced the     
changes that made our forebears no      
longer ape-like8  ,supposing those      
changes to have already taken place1    
what evidence is  there that the same   
social state endured8 ,none3 for it was 
assumed  to have been the social state  
of our forebears on the ground of their 
resemblance in diet and family economy  
to the gorilla4    ,returning1 then1 to 
our hypothesis as to the chief cause of 
human  differentiation1 namely1 that a  
certain ,primate1 more nearly allied  to
 the anthropoids than to any other1     
became carnivorous and adopted  the life
 of a hunter1 there are 7as ,i have     
said7 two ways in which  this may have  
happened3 either by such a variation on 

the part of our  ancestor that he felt a
 stronger appetite for animal food than 
the  gorilla does--strong enough to make
 him hunt for prey2 or by such a  change
 of climate in the region he            
inhabited--say from sub-tropical to     
temperate--as to make his former diet   
scarce1 especially in winter1  so that  
he became a hunter to avoid starvation4 
,every one admits that  he became a     
hunter at some time3 why not at the     
earliest8 ,nothing  less than some great
 change of life1 concentrating all his  
powers  and straining every faculty1 can
 possibly account for the enormous      
differentiation of ,man4 ,the adoption  
of the hunting life is such a  change2  
and the further back we put it1 the     
better it explains the  other changes   
that have occurred in our physical and  
mental nature4    ,from the outset1     
again1 our ancestor may have attacked   
big game1  probably ,ungulates--to whom 
he owed much2 for not only did they     
provide  prey1 but by clearing the      

forest over wide areas compelled him to 
run  in pursuit remote from his native  
trees1 thus giving great selective      
advantage to every variation of legs and
 feet adapted to running3  though at the
 very first there may have been little  
need to run1 as  he was not yet an      
object of terror2 8we must remember that
 if man was  unskilful1 animals were    
unsuspicious40#cf ,i suppose him1 at    
first1 to  have fallen to with hands and
 teeth3 combining with others in a      
hungry1  savage onslaught4 ,by attacking
 big game advantage was given to those  
individuals and families who co-operated
 in hunting3 thus forming the  primal   
society of the human stock2 a society   
entirely different from  that of any of 
the ,primates1 or of cattle1 and most   
like that of the  dogs and wolves--a    
hunting-pack4    ,as in the course of   
generations the hunting-pack developed1 
no doubt1  it had recognised leaders1   
the most powerful males1 one perhaps    
pre-eminent4 ,but it was not subject to 

one old male who claimed all  the       
females2 for the more adult males it    
comprised1 the stronger it  was2 and1   
for the same reason1 pairing1 as among  
wolves1 was the most  efficient form of 
sexual relationship4 ,but1 in my        
judgment1 it is  altogether vain to try 
to deduce from this form of society1    
which may  have existed three or four   
million years ago1 any of the known     
customs  of savages concerning marriage1
 such as avoidance1 totemism1 exogamy2  
which would be of comparatively recent  
date if we put back their origin        
#ejj1jjj years4 ,many such rules can    
only have arisen when there was  already
 a tradition and a language capable of  
expressing relationships4       #d4     
,,psychology ,,of ,,the ,,hunting-,,pack
    ,possibly our ape-like ancestor was 
more sociable than any of the           
anthropoids2 but sociability in ape-life
 would in no way account for  our       
present character as men3 nothing       
accounts for it1 except the early       

formation of the hunting-pack4 ,since1  
however1 we can know nothing of  that   
institution directly1 we must try to    
learn something about it  from the      
parallel case of dogs and wolves4       
,galton remarks how readily  the        
proceedings of man and dog 8are         
intelligible to one another4 ,every     
whine or bark of the dog1 each of his   
fawning1 savage1 or timorous  movements 
is the exact counterpart of what would  
have been the man's  behaviour1 had he  
felt similar emotions4 ,as the man      
understands the  thoughts of the dog1 so
 the dog understands the thoughts of the
 man1 by  attending to his natural      
voice1 his countenance1 and his         
actions40#cg  ,no more1 if as much1     
could be said of the terms upon which we
 stand  with a tame chimpanzee1 in spite
 of greater physical and facial         
resemblance and nearer kinship4 ,what   
can connect us so closely in mind  with 
an animal so remote from us in lineage  
and anatomy as the dog is8  ,adaptation 

to the same social conditions1 the life 
of the hunting-pack4      7#a7 ,the     
master-interest of every member of the  
pack lies in the  chase1 because success
 in it is necessary to life4 ,to show   
how this  passion actuates ourselves1 ,i
 quote ,mr4 ,f4 ,c4 ,selous2 who1 during
 an  expedition in ,canada1 roused a    
caribou stag within twenty yards1 saw   
8the dreadful terror0 in his eyes1 and  
shot him4 8,did ,i feel sorry for  what 
,i had done8 it may be asked4 ,well6 no1
 ,i did not4 ,ten thousand  years of    
superficial and unsatisfying            
civilisation have not altered  the      
fundamental nature of man1 and the      
successful hunter of to-day  becomes a  
primeval savage1 remorseless1           
triumphant1 full of a wild1  exultant   
joy1 which none but those who have lived
 in the wilderness1  and depended on    
their success as hunters for their daily
 food1 can ever  know or comprehend40#ch
 ,to the hunter my paradox must seem a  
truism4  ,and that the hunter           

temporarily released from civilised     
restraints1  who suffers such           
intoxication1 merely renews old savage  
raptures is  shown by the following     
curious parallel3 a ,bushman1 returning 
from a  successful hunt to the wagons of
 the traveller ,baines--8,behold me60   
he shouted1 8the hunter6 ,yea1 look on  
me1 the killer of elephants  and mighty 
bulls6 ,behold me1 the big elephant1 the
 lion6 ,look on  me1 ye ,damaras and    
,makalaka2 admire and confess that ,i am
 a great  ,bull-calf40#ci    ,again1    
since the interest of the chase         
culminates in the kill--for this  is the
 condition of making a meal--to kill    
becomes1 in some predatory  animals1 a  
passion that is often gratified without 
regard to their  needs4 ,wolves often   
slay many more sheep than they devour3 a
 sheep-dog  that undergoes reversion    
kills by night the sheep on neighbouring
 farms  without any call of hunger2 and1
 says ,mr4 ,thompson ,seton 7writing of 
the natives of ,north ,canada71 8the    

mania for killing that is seen in so    
many white men1 is evidently a relic of 
savagery2 for all these ,indians  and   
half-breeds are full of it40#dj ,they   
fired at everything they saw4  ,the     
manners of my own pack--now long        
dispersed--were very similar to  the    
,indians'2 and the sport of pigeon- or  
of pheasant-shooting has  been reduced  
to its last element--skilful slaying4   
,the disposition to slay is reinforced1 
when prey makes serious  resistance1 by 
anger2 and generally by a distinct      
tendency1 sometimes  called             
8destructiveness10 perhaps a latent     
character derived from the  monkeys1 and
 which ,i take to be partly a           
play-impulse and partly an  expression  
of curiosity4    7#b7 ,the              
gregariousness of the pack is variable2 
probably1 amongst  wolves1 it was much  
greater anciently than it is to-day4    
,there are  conflicting statements about
 the gregariousness of wolves that have 
been studied in different countries4    

,couteulx de ,canteleu 7,france7  says3 
8,the wolf is an enemy of all society2  
when they assemble it is  not a pacific 
society1 but a band of brigands40#da    
,thompson ,seton  7,canada7 says3       
8,wolves are the most sociable of beasts
 of prey2 they  arrange to render one   
another assistance4 ,a pack seems to be 
an  association of personal             
acquaintances1 and would resent the     
presence  of a total stranger40#db      
,gregariousness of wolves must be       
reduced by  failure of game 7as by the  
destruction of bison in ,north          
,america71 and  still more by the       
encroachments of civilisation 7as in    
,france74 ,the  primitive human pack1   
probably1 was more constantly gregarious
 than  wolves are3 7a7 because its      
individuals1 having no instinctive or   
traditionary knowledge of hunting1 were 
more dependent on co-operation2  and 7b7
 because the long youth of children made
 it necessary for  parents to associate 
with the pack during their nurture--else

 no pack  could have existed2 for whilst
 wolves are nearly full-grown at        
eighteen  months1 apes are not mature   
until the eighth or ninth year4 ,at a   
later  period1 after the invention of   
effective weapons1 an individual became1
  for many kinds of game1 less dependent
 on co-operation2 but by that  time1 the
 hunting-grounds of a pack were         
circumscribed by those of  other hostile
 packs2 so that no one dared go far     
alone4    7#c7 ,with gregariousness     
went1 of course1 7a7 perceptive         
sympathy--every animal read instantly in
 the behaviour of others  their feelings
 and impulses2 7b7 contagious           
sympathy--the impulses  of any animal1  
expressed in its behaviour1 spread      
rapidly to all the  rest2 and 7c7       
effective sympathy1 so far 7at least7 as
 that all  united to defend any         
associate against aggression from       
outside the  pack4 ,perceptive and      
contagious sympathy1 however1 extend    
beyond the  limits of the pack or the   

species4 ,most of the higher mammalia   
can  read the state of mind of others1  
though of widely different kinds1  in   
their expression and behaviour2 and many
 are liable to have their  actions      
immediately affected by signs of the    
emotional impulses of  others1          
especially fear4 ,these modes of        
sympathy1 therefore1 though  liveliest  
amongst gregarious animals1 are not     
dependent on specific  gregariousness4  
7#d7 ,the pack has a disposition to     
aggression upon every sort of  animal   
outside the pack1 either as prey or as a
 competitor for prey3  limited no doubt 
by what we should call considerations of
 prudence or  utility2 which must vary  
with the size of the pack1 the prowess  
of its  individuals1 the possession of  
weapons1 etc4 ,after the invention of   
weapons and snares1 many savage tribes  
can kill every sort of animal in  their 
habitat1 as the palolithic ,europeans   
did many thousands of years  ago4 ,from 
the outset the human pack must have come

 into competition  with the true        
carnivores1 must have defended itself   
against them1 may  have discovered that 
attack was the safest defence1 and may  
have been  victorious even without      
weapons4 ,mr4 ,g4 ,p4 ,sanderson writes3
 8,it is  universally believed by the   
natives 7of ,south ,india7 that the     
tiger is  occasionally killed by packs  
of wild dogs4444 ,from what ,i have seen
 of  their style of hunting1 and of     
their power of tearing and lacerating1  
,i  think there can be no doubt of their
 ability to kill a tiger4444 ,causes  of
 hostility may occasionally arise       
between the tiger and wild dogs  through
 attempted interference with each       
other's prey40#dc    7#e7 ,a            
hunting-pack1 probably1 always claims a 
certain territory4 ,this  is the first  
ground of the sense of property1 so     
strongly shown  by domestic dogs3 the   
territorial claims of the half-wild dogs
 of  ,constantinople are well known4 ,to
 nourish a pack the hunting-grounds     

must be extensive4 ,mr4 ,thompson ,seton
 says that in ,canada the wolf  has a   
permanent home-district and a range of  
about fifty miles4#dd  ,very many       
generations must have elapsed before the
 deviation of our  forebears from       
anthropoid habits resulted in the       
formation of so many  packs as to       
necessitate the practical delimitation  
of hunting-grounds4  ,then the          
aggressiveness of the pack turned upon  
strangers of its own  species2 the first
 wars arose1 and perhaps cannibalism on 
the part of  the victors4 ,it is certain
 that1 in ,north ,america1 wolves kill  
and eat  foxes1 dogs1 coyotes2 and it is
 generally believed that wolves will eat
  a disabled companion2 though1         
according to ,mr4 ,w4 ,h4 ,hudson1 a    
wolf  will only eat another when it has 
killed that other1 and then only as  the
 carrying out of the instinct to eat    
whatever it has killed4#de ,it  may be  
so4    7#f7 ,a pack must have a leader1 
and must devotedly follow him as long as

  he is manifestly the best of the pack2
 and here we have a rudimentary         
loyalty4    7#g7 ,every individual must 
be subservient to the pack1 as long as  
it  works together2 and this seems to be
 the ground of the 8instinct of         
self-abasement0 7,mc,dougall71 so far as
 the attitudes involved in such         
subserviency are due to a distinct      
emotional impulse1 and are not  rather  
expressive of fear or of devotion4      
7#h7 ,the members of the pack must be   
full of emulation2 in order that1  when 
the present leader fails1 others may be 
ready to take his place4    7#i7 ,for   
the internal cohesion of the pack1 there
 must be the equivalent  of a recognised
 table of precedence amongst its        
members2 and this is  reconciled with   
the spirit of emulation1 by fighting    
until each knows  his place1 followed by
 complete submission on the part of the 
inferior4  ,mr4 ,th4 ,roosevelt says of 
a pack of dogs employed in bear-hunting1
  8at feeding-time each took whatever   

his strength permitted1 and each  paid  
abject deference to whichever animal was
 his known superior  in prowess40#df    
,mr4 ,w4 ,h4 ,hudson writes of dogs on  
cattle-breeding  establishments on the  
pampas1 that he presumes 8they are very 
much like  feral dogs and wolves in     
their habits4 ,their quarrels are       
incessant2  but when a fight begins the 
head of the pack1 as a rule1 rushes to  
the spot10 and tries to part the        
combatants--not always successfully4    
8,but from the foremost in strength and 
power down to the weakest  there is a   
gradation of authority2 each one knows  
just how far he can  go1 which companion
 he can bully when in a bad temper or   
wishing to  assert himself1 and to which
 he must humbly yield in his turn40#dg  
,the situation reminds one of a houseful
 of schoolboys1 and of how  ontogeny    
repeats phylogeny4 ,where political     
control is very feeble1  as in mining   
camps or backwoods settlements1         
civilised men revert to  the same       

conditions4 ,fifty years ago1 8all along
 the frontier between  ,canada and the  
,united ,states1 every one knew whom he 
could lick1 and  who could lick him40#dh
 ,amongst ,australian aborigines1 we are
 told  that 8precedence counts for very 
much40#di    7#aj7 ,a pack of wolves    
relies not merely upon running down its 
prey1  but resorts to various stratagems
 to secure it3 as by surrounding it2    
heading it off from cover2 driving it   
over a precipice2 arranging  relays of  
pursuers1 who take up the chase when the
 first begin to flag2  setting some to  
lie in ambush while the rest drive the  
prey in their  direction4 ,such devices 
imply intelligent co-operation1 some    
means of  communicating ideas1 patience 
and self-control in the interests of the
  pack and perseverance in carrying out 
a plan4 ,failure to co-operate          
effectually is said to be punished with 
death4 ,primitive man1 beginning  with  
more brains than a wolf1 may be supposed
 soon to have discovered  such arts and 

to have improved upon them4    7#aa7    
,when prey has been killed by a pack of 
wolves1 there follows a  greedy struggle
 over the carcass1 each trying to get as
 big a meal as  possible4 ,mr4 ,th4     
,roosevelt writes of dogs used in       
hunting the cougar  7puma73 8,the       
relations of the pack amongst themselves
 7when feeding7  were those of wild     
beast selfishness4444 ,they would all   
unite in the  chase and the fierce      
struggle which usually closed it4 ,but  
the instant  the quarry was killed1 each
 dog resumed his normal attitude of     
greedy  anger or greedy fear toward the 
others40#ej ,as this was a scratch  pack
 of hounds1 however1 we cannot perhaps  
infer that a naturally  formed pack of  
wolves is equally discordant1 or that   
the human pack  was ever normally like  
that4 ,galton1 indeed1 says3 8,many     
savages are  so unamiable and morose as 
to have hardly any object in associating
  together1 besides that of mutual      
support20#ea but this is by no means    

true of all savages4 ,at any rate1 the  
steadier supply of food obtained  by our
 race since the adoption of pastoral or 
agricultural economy1  with other       
circumstances1 has greatly modified the 
greedy and morose  attitude in many men 
and disguised it in others2 though it   
reappears  under conditions of extreme  
social dislocation1 and it is a proverb 
that 8thieves quarrel over their        
plunder40 ,in the original pack such  a 
struggle over the prey may have         
subserved the important utility of      
eliminating the weak1 and of raising the
 average strength and ferocity4  ,but   
some custom must have been established  
for feeding the women and  children4 ,no
 doubt when fruits were obtainable1 the 
women and children  largely subsisted   
upon them4 ,but the strong instinct of  
parental care  in ,primates1 the long   
youth of children1 and the greater      
relative  inferiority of females to     
males 7common to anthropoids and        
savages7  than is found amongst dogs and

 wolves1 must have made the human pack  
from the first differ in many ways from 
a pack of wolves4    ,so much1 then1 as 
to the traits of character established  
in primitive  man by his having resorted
 to co-operative hunting3 they all      
plainly  persist in ourselves4          
99       99       99       99       99  
,on our intelligence life in the        
hunting-pack had just as revolutionary  
an influence1 as already explained in   
the first chapter4 ,the whole art  of   
hunting had to be learned from its      
rudiments by this enterprising  family4 
,with them there was no inherited       
instinct or disposition1 and  no        
tradition or instruction1 as there is   
with the true carnivores3 they  depended
 solely on observation1 memory1         
inference4 ,with poor olfactory  sense  
7as usual in apes7 prey must be followed
 and inconvenient  enemies outwitted1 by
 acquiring a knowledge of their         
footprints and  other visible signs of  
neighbourhood1 and by discrimination of 

all  the noises they make4 ,the habits  
and manners of prey and of enemies1     
their favourite lairs1 feeding-grounds  
and watering-places1 their  paths       
through forest1 marsh1 thicket and high 
grass1 must all be  learnt3 so must     
their speed1 endurance1 means and       
methods of attack  and defence4 ,the    
whole country within the range of the   
pack must be  known1 its resources and  
its difficulties2 and whenever new      
territory  was entered1 new lessons in  
all these matters had to be learned4    
,this  must have entailed a rapid       
natural selection of brains4 ,only a    
rapidly  developing1 plastic brain could
 have been capable of the requisite     
accommodation of behaviour in such      
conditions3 a mechanism was required  by
 which more and more new lines of       
specialised reaction were related  to   
numerous newly observed and             
discriminated facts4    ,the very       
crudest weapons may be handled with     
variable dexterity2 the  best handling  

must be discovered and practised2 and   
this had a high  selective value for the
 hands as well as for the brain4        
,probably crude  weapons were very early
 used2 for some monkeys 7and baboons    
generally7  throw sticks or stones1 or  
roll stones down upon an enemy4 ,in     
,borneo1  ,wallace came upon a female   
orang who1 8as soon as she saw us1 began
  breaking off branches and the great   
spiny fruits of the durian  with every  
appearance of rage1 causing such a      
shower of missiles as  effectually kept 
us from approaching too near the tree4  
,this habit of  throwing down branches  
has been doubted2 but ,i have1 as here  
narrated1  observed it myself on three  
separate occasions40#eb ,the importance 
of the observation consists in its      
proving the existence in an  anthropoid 
of the impulse to use missiles under the
 occasional stress  of anger2 so that it
 might be expected rapidly to develop   
under the  constant pressure of hunger4 
,the use of clubs and stones induced the

  discrimination of the best materials  
for such weapons1 and where they  could 
be found2 and1 in process of time1      
brought in a rough shaping of  them1 the
 better to serve their purposes4 ,then  
came the invention of  snares and       
pitfalls and the discovery of poisons4  
,thus the primitive human1 or prehuman  
mind1 was active in many  new           
directions2 and depending for its skill1
 not upon instinct or  imitation1 but   
upon observation and memory and         
inference1 it was  necessary for it to  
arrange ideas in a definite order before
 acting  upon them1 as in making weapons
 or planning a hunt2 indefiniteness  or 
confusion in such matters was fatal4    
,the contrast between growing  memory of
 the past and present experience1       
between practical ideas and  the actions
 realising them that had been suspended 
until the right  moment came1 furthered 
the differentiation of                  
self-consciousness amidst  the world2   
the contrasts of co-operation and greed1

 of emulation  and loyalty and          
submission1 of honour and shame1        
furthered the  differentiation of       
self-consciousness amidst the tribe4    
99       99       99       99       99  
,if it be asked--how much of all this   
development attributed to the           
hunting-pack might have been brought    
about just as well by the  formation of 
a defensive herd1 such as we see in     
cattle and horses8--a  definite answer  
can be given4 ,the herd is1 of course1  
marked by 7#b7  gregariousness1 7#c7    
perceptive and contagious sympathy and  
sometimes  effective sympathy in common 
defence1 7#g7 recognition of leaders    
7all  herds that travel have leaders71  
7#h7 emulation1 7#i7 precedence2 but not
  by 7#a7 interest in the chase and in  
killing1 nor 7#d7 aggressiveness1  nor  
7#aj7 strategy and perseverance in      
attack1 nor 7#aa7 greed2 and  herd-life 
affords no conditions for the           
development of intelligence  and        
dexterity1 nor for any of the physical  

characters that distinguish  man4       
,herd-life does not involve the great   
and decisive change which  is implied in
 the evolution of human nature4 ,we must
 conceive1 then1  of the primitive human
 mind as a sort of chimpanzee mind      
adapted to  the wolfish conditions of   
the hunting-pack4 ,wolves themselves    
have  undergone no great development1   
compared 7say7 with cats1 for want of   
hands and other physical advantages     
which we had to begin with4 ,if some    
species of baboon had taken to the      
hunting-life1 there might have been     
very interesting results4       #e4     
,,the ,,wolf-,,type ,,of ,,man          
,,established ,,by ,,natural ,,selection
    ,the differentiation of the human   
from the anthropoid stock must have     
begun a long time ago2 as to when it    
began there is no direct evidence2  and 
even if fossil remains of the earlier   
stages of our evolution had  been       
discovered1 we could only judge from the
 strata in which they  occurred what    

must have been their relative antiquity4
 ,when it comes  to reducing the        
chronology of past ages to figures1     
geologists either  decline to make any  
estimate1 or the results of their       
calculations  may differ as #a to #aj4  
,since my own studies give me no claim  
to an  opinion on such matters1 whilst  
it is helpful to have clear ideas1      
however tentative1 ,i shall adopt the   
views of ,dr4 ,arthur ,keith in his     
work on ,the ,antiquity of ,man1 based  
on estimates published by ,prof4        
,sollas4#ec ,on turning to p4 #eji of   
that work1 a genealogical tree  will be 
found1 showing the probable lines of    
descent of the higher  ,primates4 ,the  
separation of the human from the great  
anthropoid stock  is represented as     
having happened at about the last third 
of the  ,oligocene period--say          
#b1jjj1jjj years ago 7or1 according to  
the later  estimate1 #c1ejj1jjj74       
,pithecanthropus 7of ,java7 branched off
 as a  distinct genus about the middle  

of the ,miocene4 ,neanderthal man 7,homo
  ,neanderthalensis7 and ,piltdown man  
7,eoanthropus ,dawsoni7 separated  as   
distinct species 7or genera7 from the   
stock of modern man 7absurdly  named    
,homo sapiens7 early in the ,pliocene1  
and became extinct  respectively 7say7  
#bj1jjj and #cjj1jjj years ago4 ,the    
races of modern  man began to           
differentiate near the end of the       
,pliocene 7say7 #ejj1jjj  years from the
 present time4 ,such is the 8working    
hypothesis40    ,the skull capacity of  
the great anthropoids averages #ejj     
c4c42 that of  ,pithecanthropus is      
estimated at #ijj c4c42 the ,australian 
native average  is #abjj c4c42          
,eoanthropus1 according to ,dr4 ,keith1 
rises to #adjj2ed  a ,neanderthal skull 
has been measured at #afjj c4c42 the    
modern ,english  average is under #aejj 
c4c4 ,of course1 mental power depends   
not on size  of the brain only1 but also
 on its differentiation1 which may have 
recently advanced4    ,as to culture1   

the ,neolithic period extends in        
,western ,europe from  about #bjjj to   
#aj1jjj ,b4,c43 and to that age is      
usually attributed the  introduction of 
agriculture1 the domestication of       
animals1 pottery1  weaving1 permanent   
constructed dwellings1 and monuments    
requiring  collective labour2 but some  
of these improvements may be of earlier 
date4 ,in other parts of the world1 e4  
g4 in the ,eastern ,mediterranean       
region1 such culture is probably older1 
but still comparatively recent4  ,what  
is known as the ,palolithic stage of    
culture is often supposed  to have begun
 early in the second quarter of the     
,pleistocene period1  giving us a       
retrospect of 7say7 #cjj1jjj years4 ,but
 if we include  under 8,palolithic0 all 
unpolished stone-work that shows clear  
signs  of having been executed according
 to an idea or mental pattern 7and  this
 seems a reasonable definition71 the    
8rostro-carinate0 implements  must be so
 called1 and then the beginning of this 

culture must be  pushed back into the   
,pliocene4#ee ,in ,pliocene 7and perhaps
 ,miocene7  deposits have further been  
discovered numerous 8eoliths03 stones so
  roughly chipped that they do not imply
 an idea-pattern2 so that1 whilst  many 
archologists accept them as of human    
workmanship1 some experts  dispute their
 claim to be considered artefacts4 ,of  
course1 there must  be eoliths2 the only
 question is whether we have yet        
unearthed any  of them4 ,our forefathers
 cannot have begun by shaping stones to 
a  definite figure and special purpose4 
,beginning with stones taken up  as they
 lay1 they discovered that a broken     
stone with a sharp edge  inflicted a    
worse wound than a whole one2 then broke
 stones to obtain  this advantage2 used 
sharp fragments to weight clubs2 and    
very slowly  advanced to the manufacture
 of recognisable axes and spear-heads1  
meanwhile discovering other uses for    
flaked stones2 and it seems to  have    
needed at least #a1djj1jjj 7or          

#b1hjj1jjj7 years to arrive at the      
poorest of known paloliths4 ,this       
strikingly agrees with the law1  often  
stated1 that the progress of culture is1
 by virtue of tradition1  cumulative1   
and flows1 as a stone falls1 with       
accelerating velocity3 in  spite of the 
ebb1 to which from age to age we see it 
to be liable4 ,at  any one time1        
moreover1 the art of stone-working was1 
probably1 even in  adjacent tribes1 at  
different stages of advancement2 it     
depends partly  upon the kind of stone  
obtainable2 but it has been only        
recently that  such contrasts could     
occur as ,herodotus#ef describes among  
the hosts  of ,xerxes3 when1 beside the 
well-accoutred ,persians and ,medes1    
marched  ,libyans and ,mysians armed    
with wooden javelins hardened in the    
fire1  and ,ethiopians with stone-tipped
 arrows and spears headed with the      
sharpened horns of antelopes4    ,the   
moral of all this is that there was     
abundant time before the  rise of       

,neolithic culture 7which may be called 
the beginning of  civilisation7 for the 
complete adaptation of mankind          
everywhere1 by  natural selection1 to   
the life of hunters2 and that1 since    
then1 there  has not been time for the  
biological adaptation of any race to the
  civilised state4 ,we shall see that   
natural selection has probably had  some
 civilising influence2 but any approach 
to complete adaptation has  been        
impossible1 not only for want of time1  
but also because of rapid  changes in   
the structure of civilisation1 the      
social protection of some  eccentrics1  
the persistence of the hunting-life as a
 second resource  or as a pastime1 and  
by the frequent recurrence of           
warfare--that  is to say1 man-hunting4  
,to civilisation we are1 for the most   
part1  merely accommodated by           
experience1 education1 tradition and    
social  pressure4 ,a few people seem to 
be adapted to civilised life from their 
birth1 and others to the slavish life2  

but all inherit1 more or less           
manifestly1 the nature of the hunter and
 warrior4 ,this is a necessary  basis of
 general and social psychology2 and     
perhaps tribal or national  characters  
7so far as distinguishable7 may be      
understood by assigning  the conditions 
under which they have1 in various       
directions1 been  modified from this    
type4    ,to avoid the appearance of    
overlooking an obvious objection1 ,i may
 add  that the life of the hunter does  
not imply an exclusively carnivorous    
diet1 but merely that hunting is the    
activity upon which his faculties  are  
bent and upon which his livelihood      
chiefly depends4 ,it is most  unlikely  
that a cousin of the frugivorous        
anthropoids should entirely  give up his
 ancestral food1 immediately1 or perhaps
 at any time4 ,even  the diet of the    
wolf1 in ,north-,east ,canada1 includes 
8much fruit1  especially the uva-ursi02 
and the coyote there also eats          
berries2#eg  so does the jackal in      

,india4 ,savage women everywhere subsist
 largely  on roots and fruits4 ,dr4     
,keith says the teeth and jaws of the   
,neanderthal species were adapted to a  
coarse vegetable diet4#eh ,yet  the     
,neanderthal burials at ,la ,ferrasie1  
,la ,chapelle aux ,saints1 ,jersey  and 
,krapina1 with their implements and     
animal remains1 leave no doubt  that the
 species hunted the biggest game4 ,at   
,krapina1 besides mammoth  and          
rhinoceros1 8the cave-bear occurred     
abundantly1 it was evidently  a         
favourite article of diet03 the         
inhabitants were not fanatical          
vegetarians4       #f4 ,,some ,,further 
,,consequences ,,of ,,the               
,,hunting-,,life    ,between the remote 
age when our hypothetical ancestor      
became a hunter  and the time to which  
probably belong the remains of the      
oldest known  men1 there lies a gap of  
7say7 one 7or two7 and a half million   
years1  concerning which we have not    
only no direct evidence but not even    

any parallel in the world by means of   
which to apply the comparative  method4 
,just at the beginning1 the parallel of 
the wolf-pack sheds some  light upon our
 path2 but the light soon grows faint2  
for the primitive  human1 from the first
 more intelligent than wolves1 and      
inheriting  from the ape-stock qualities
 of character which the new life greatly
  modified but could not extirpate1 must
 under pressure of selection have       
become1 after not many ages1 an animal  
unlike any other4 ,just at the  end1    
again1 something concerning those who   
lived many thousand years  before the   
beginning of history may be inferred    
from the parallel of  existing savage   
customs2 from their rock-dwellings1     
drawings1 tools1  weapons1 hearths1     
something about their way of life2 from 
evidence of  their burial-customs1      
something of their beliefs4 ,but what   
can be said  of our ancestors during all
 those years that intervene between the 
beginning and the end8    ,having been a

 hunter at the first and at the last1 we
 may reasonably  suppose that he had    
been so all the time4 ,but1 with our    
present  knowledge1 our chief guide as  
to other matters seems to be the fact   
that the most backward of existing      
savages possess powers of body and      
mind1 and forms and products of culture1
 which must have been acquired          
gradually through a long course of      
development from no better origins  than
 are traceable in apes and wolves4 ,as  
the use of good stone weapons  by living
 savages and the occurrence of stone    
weapons in deposits  of various age in  
the ,pleistocene--less and less         
perfectly made the  further we go       
back--justify us in assuming that there 
must have been  eoliths of even cruder  
workmanship at remoter dates1 so the    
possession  by savages of extensive     
languages1 intricate customs1 luxuriant 
myths1  considerable reasoning powers   
and even humane sentiments1 compel us to
  imagine such possessions as belonging 

to our prehistoric ancestors1  in       
simpler and simpler forms1 as we go back
 age by age toward the  beginning4 ,a   
tentative reconstruction of the lost    
series of events may  sometimes be      
supported by what has been observed of  
the individual  development of our      
children4    7a7 ,for example1 the      
constructive impulse1 slightly shown by 
anthropoids that make beds and shelters 
in the trees1 was called into  activity 
in man especially in the making of      
weapons1 tools and snares1  and became  
an absorbing passion2 so that a savage  
7often accused of  being incapable of   
prolonged attention67 will sit for days 
working at  a spear or an axe3 they are 
inattentive only to what does not       
interest  them4 ,many children from     
about the sixth year come under the same
 sort  of fascination--digging1         
building1 making bows and arrows1 boats 
and  so forth4 ,this is a necessary     
preparation for all the achievements  of
 civilised life2 and it is reasonable to

 suppose that the stages  of growth of  
such interest in construction are       
indicated by the  improvement of ancient
 implements4    7b7 ,as to language--in 
the most general sense1 as the          
communication  of emotions and ideas by 
vocal sounds--the rudiments of it are   
widespread in animal life4 ,a sort of   
dog-language is recognised1 and  monkeys
 seem to have a still greater           
8vocabulary40 ,hence1 a number of       
emotional vocal expressions was probably
 in use among the primitive  human      
stock4 ,and the new hunting-life was    
favourable to the development  of       
communicative signs2 for it depended on 
co-operation1 which is  wanting in      
ape-life1 and in the lower extant       
savages hardly exists1  except in       
hunting1 war1 and magical or religious  
rites4 ,hunting1  moreover1 is 7as ,i   
have said7 especially encouraging to    
onomatopic  expression in imitating the 
noises of animals1 etc4 ,it was still   
more  favourable1 perhaps1 to the growth

 of gesture-language in imitating  the  
behaviour of animals and the actions    
involved in circumventing  and attacking
 them4 ,increasing powers of            
communication were extremely  useful1   
and the pack must have tried to develop 
them4 ,without the  endeavour to        
communicate1 there could never have been
 a language better  than the ape's2 nor 
could there have been the endeavour     
without the  need4 ,that gesture alone  
was very helpful may be assumed2 and it 
must  have assisted in fixing the       
earliest vocal signs for things and     
actions  and qualities1 and probably    
determined the earliest syntax2 but     
when1  in hunting1 members of the pack  
were hidden from one another1 or when   
their hands were occupied1 gesture was  
not available1 and communication        
depended on the voice4 ,the speech of   
children similarly emerges from         
emotional noises and impulsive babbling1
 assisted by gesture4    ,passing to    
later ages1 we cannot expect to learn   

much about the  speech of prehistoric   
men1 whom we know only by a few bones4  
,as to the  ,java skull1 ,dr4 ,keith    
observes that 8the region of the brain  
which  subserves the essentially human  
gift of speech1 was not ape-like in     
,pithecanthropus4 ,the parts for speech 
are there2 they are small1 but  clearly 
foreshadow the arrangement of           
convolutions seen in modern  man40 ,on  
the other hand1 8the higher association 
areas 444 had not  reached a human      
level40#ei ,the jaw of this skull not   
having been  found1 nothing can be said 
of its fitness for carrying out the     
process  of articulation4 ,as to        
,eoanthropus1 8if our present conception
 of  the orbital part of the third      
frontal convolution is well founded1    
namely1 that it takes part in the       
mechanism of speech1 then we have       
grounds for believing that the ,piltdown
 man had reached that point  of         
brain-development when speech had become
 a possibility4 ,when one  looks at the 

lower jaw1 however1 and the projecting  
canine teeth1  one hesitates to allow   
him more than a potential ability40#fj  
,the  jaw had not undergone the         
characteristic changes which in modern  
man  give freedom to the tongue in the  
articulation of words4#fa ,but ,dr4     
,keith 8cannot detect any feature in the
 frontal1 parietal or occipital  areas  
which clearly separate this brain-cast  
from modern ones40#fb  ,eoanthropus1    
therefore1 must have had a good deal to 
say and1 being a  social animal1 must   
have felt the need of expression2 and1  
though he  was not a direct ancestor of 
ours1 it can hardly be doubted that at  
some period the jaws of our own         
ancestors were no better adapted than   
his to articulate speech4 ,may we not   
infer that articulate speech1  meeting a
 need of the stock1 arose very          
gradually1 and was slowly               
differentiated from some less definite  
and structural connection of  expressive
 and onomatopic vocables1 such as we    

have seen may naturally  have arisen    
amongst the earliest hunters8 ,pari     
passu the jaw was  modified4    7c7 ,all
 savages live by custom2 gregarious     
animals have their  customs2 and in the 
primitive hunting-pack customs must have
 been  early established as 8conditions 
of gregariousness40 ,m4 ,salomon        
,reinach1 indeed1 thinks that the       
anthropoid probably became human  as the
 result of inventing taboos1 especially 
in sexual relations2  there was economy 
of nervous energy in the direction of   
the senses1  and consequent enrichment  
of the intellect4#fc ,his hypothesis    
does  not carry us far1 perhaps1 into   
the particulars of human form and       
faculty2 but it contains this truth1    
that without the growth of customs      
there could have been no progress for   
human nature2 and it certainly  points  
to the probability that some custom was 
early established with  regard to       
marriage4 ,in ,prof4 ,westermarck's     
opinion our species was  originally     

monogamous4#fd ,supposing this to have  
been the custom1  as it is amongst many 
,primates1 could it have persisted after
 the  formation of the hunting-pack8    
,according to ,mr4 ,thompson ,seton1    
wolves pair 8probably for life02#fe but 
this is disputed2 and so it  is whether 
or no the male of a seasonal pair takes 
part in caring  for the puppies4#ff ,of 
the primitive human stock one may say   
that  whilst1 on the one hand1 the      
association of many males and females in
  the same pack may have tended to break
 up the family1 on the other  hand1 the 
long youth of the children and the      
parental care generally  characteristic 
of ,primates would have tended to       
preserve it2 that the  practice of      
pairing requires the largest number of  
males 7setting aside  polyandry71 and   
lessens quarrelling1 and is therefore   
favourable to the  strength of the pack2
 and that any custom may have been      
established  that was most favourable to
 the species in its new life4 ,the least

  probable of all conditions is         
promiscuity2 for the rearing of children
  with their ever-lengthening youth must
 have been difficult1 taxing the  care  
of both parents4    7d7 ,the claim to   
property is instinctive in most         
animals--claim  to a certain territory1 
or to a nest1 or lair1 or mate4 ,each   
early  human pack probably claimed a    
certain hunting-range2 and each family  
its lair1 which it guarded1 as our      
domestic dog guards the house4 ,in      
,australia 8every tribe has its own     
country1 and its boundaries are  well   
known2 and they are respected by        
others02#fg and the ,bushmen1  who      
retained the ancient hunting-life more  
perfectly than any other  known people1 
are said to have been formerly divided  
into large tribes  with well-defined    
hunting-grounds4#fh ,as weapons or other
 implements1  charms1 or ornaments came 
into use1 the attitude toward the       
territory  or lair will have been       
extended to include them2 indeed1 it    

seems to be  instinctive even in lower  
,primates4 8,in the ,zoological         
,gardens10 says  ,darwin1 8a monkey1    
which had weak teeth1 used to break open
 nuts with a  stone2 and ,i was assured 
by the keepers that1 after using the    
stone1 he  hid it in the straw1 and     
would not let any other monkey touch it4
 ,here1  then1 we have the idea of      
property40#fi ,among the half-wolf      
train-dogs  of ,canada1 the claims of   
one to property seem to be recognised by
  others2 for a dog will defend its     
cache of food against another that      
ordinarily it fears2 and 8the bigger dog
 rarely presses the point40#gj  ,the    
utility of keeping the peace within the 
tribe1 no doubt1 led to the  growth of  
customs concerning property1 and to     
their protection by the  social         
sanction1 and later by the taboo4#ga    
,for taboo cannot be the  origin of     
respect for property or for any custom3 
it implies a custom  already existing1  
which it protects by the growth of a    

belief in some  magical penalty that is 
effective even when there are no        
witnesses4 ,the  same utility of order  
must have established customs of        
dividing the  kill of the pack3 later   
also protected by taboo1 as we still see
 in  many savage tribes4    ,the        
attitude towards property is very       
variable amongst the tribes now  known  
to us4 ,still1 considering how early and
 strongly it is manifested  by children1
 we may infer with some plausibility its
 antiquity in  the race4 ,the urgent    
desire of property1 and tenacity in     
holding it1  displayed by many          
individuals1 though not an amiable1 has 
been a highly  useful trait1 to which is
 due that accumulation of capital that  
has  made possible the whole of our     
material and much of our spiritual      
civilisation4 ,amongst barbarians it may
 be a necessary condition  of social    
order4 ,had not wealth been highly      
prized amongst our own  ancestors1 it is
 hard to see how revenge could ever have

 been appeased  by the wergeld4 ,the    
payment1 indeed1 was not the whole      
transaction2  it implied an             
acknowledgment of guilt and of the      
obligation to make  amends2 but these   
things would not have mollified an enemy
 nurtured in  the tradition of the      
blood-feud1 if silver had not been dear 
to him4  ,it is still accepted as       
compensation for injuries that seem     
difficult  to measure by the ounce4     
,wealth gives rank1 and gratifies not   
only the  greed but also the emulative  
spirit of the pack4 ,acquisitiveness is 
an  essential trait of aristocracy1 and 
adhesiveness of its perpetuity4         
,homespun prudence belongs1 in our      
ancestry1 to a more recent stratum  of  
motives2 we see it as a blind instinct  
in squirrels and beavers1 a             
quasi-instinctive propensity in dogs and
 wolves 7who hide food that  they cannot
 immediately devour72 but it is not     
known in any anthropoid1  and is        
acquired at some stage by some human    

races--not by all2 for  it is not found 
in many extant savages4 ,the only       
occasion on which  ,australian tribes   
show prudential foresight as to food is 
on the  approach of the season of       
magical rites1 when they lay in a stock 
of  food before giving themselves up for
 weeks or months body and soul  to      
thaumaturgy4#gb ,prudence is not1       
however1 merely a function of  foresight
 or intelligence1 or else the ,irish    
would be as prudent as the  ,scotch4    
7e7 ,the first wars1 probably1 were     
waged for hunting-grounds2 and  this may
 have been a revival1 for the           
carnivorous anthropoid pack1  of a state
 of affairs that existed amongst their  
ancestors at a much  earlier date2 for  
battles for a feeding-ground have been  
witnessed  between troops of the lower  
,primates4 ,such a battle between two   
bands  of langur 7,semnopithecus        
entellus7 has been described2#gc and    
,darwin  relates after ,brehm how 8in   
,abyssinia1 when baboons of one species 

7,c4  gelada7 descend in troops from the
 mountains to plunder the fields1  they 
sometimes encounter troops of another   
species 7,c4 hamadryas71  and then a    
fight ensues4 ,the ,geladas roll down   
great stones1 which  the ,hamadryas try 
to avoid1 and then both species1 making 
a great  uproar1 rush furiously against 
each other40#gd ,as packs of the        
wolf-ape increased in numbers and spread
 over the world1 they no doubt          
generally came to regard one another as 
rivals upon the same footing  as the    
great cats and packs of dogs1 and every 
attempt at expansion or  migration      
provoked a battle4 ,wars strengthened   
the internal sympathies  and loyalties  
of the pack or tribe and its external   
antipathies1 and  extended the range and
 influence of the more virile and       
capable tribes4    ,it is true that     
neighbouring tribes of savages are not  
now always  mutually hostile4 ,in       
,australia1 we are told1 local groups   
and adjacent  tribes are usually        

friendly2#ge but with them the age of   
expansion  seems to have closed some    
time ago1 and a sort of equilibrium has 
been  established4 ,on the other hand1  
it is a shallow sort of profundity that 
insists upon interpreting every war as a
 struggle for nutrition1 an  effort to  
solve the social problem4               
,aggressiveness and insatiable greed    
are characteristic of many              
tribes--passions always easily exploited
 by  their leaders1 as in the civilised 
world by dynasts and demagogues4        
,plethora is more insolent than poverty4
 ,lust of power1 of glory1 of  mere     
fighting is a stronger incentive than   
solicitude for the poor4    ,however1 in
 the development of society nothing has 
been so influential  as war3 an immense 
subject1 for the outlines of which ,i   
refer to  ,herbert ,spencer's ,political
 ,institutions4#gf    7f7 ,most of the  
amusements as well as the occupations of
 mankind  depend for their zest upon the
 spirit of hunting and fighting1 which  

they gratify and relieve1 either        
directly or in a conventionalised  and  
symbolical way1 and at the same time    
keep alive4 ,sports and games  involve  
the pursuit of some end by skill and    
strategy1 often the  seizing upon some  
sort of prey1 or slaying outright1 and  
they give  scope to emulation4          
,emulation is a motive in the race for  
wealth1 in  every honourable career1    
even in addiction to science and        
learning3  though here the main stress  
is upon an instinct older than the      
pack--curiosity1 a general character of 
the ,primates4 ,that children  at first 
play alone1 later play together1 and    
then 8make up sides10  repeats the      
change from the comparatively solitary  
life of anthropoids  to the social life 
and combined activities of the          
hunting-pack4 ,from  the interest of the
 chase and the aggressiveness that is   
involved in it  must be derived all that
 we call 8enterprise10 whether          
beneficent or  injurious3 a trait1      

certainly1 which there is little reason 
to regard  as inherited from the        
anthropoid stock4    7g7 ,the great     
amusement and pastime of feeding has1 no
 doubt1  descended to us in unbroken    
tradition1 through harvest and vintage  
festivals1 from the unbridled indulgence
 that followed a successful  hunt4 ,and 
,i offer the conjecture that the origin 
of laughter and  the enjoyment of broad 
humour 7so often discussed7 may be      
traced to  these occasions of riotous   
exhilaration and licence4 ,we may       
suppose1  indeed1 that these conditions 
began to prevail not in the earliest    
days of the ravenous pack1 but after    
some advance had been made in the       
customs of eating4 ,savages usually cram
 to repletion when possible1  and with  
huge gusto1 for there may not soon be   
another opportunity4  ,if uproarious    
feasting was advantageous physically and
 socially 7as  till recently we all     
thought it was71 addiction to the       
practice was a  ground of survival2 and 

laughter 7a discharge of undirected     
energy1 as  ,spencer says71 being its   
natural expression and enhancement1     
shared in  its perpetuation4 ,this      
social origin agrees with the           
infectiousness  of laughter1 with its   
connection with triumph and cruelty1 and
 with  the quality of the jokes that    
still throughout the world excite  most 
merriment--practical jokes and allusions
 to drunkenness1 the  indecorous1 the   
obscene4 ,sir ,robert ,walpole preferred
 such humour as  the most sociable2     
because in that everybody could take    
part4 ,many  refinements have been      
introduced in polite circles2 but it is 
in vain  that one begins a theory of    
laughter with an analysis of the genius 
of  ,molire4    ,similarly1 ,i suppose  
that weeping1 lamentation and the facial
 and  bodily expressions of grief were  
developed by the social utility of      
common mourning in tribal defeat and    
bereavement4       #g4 ,,moralisation   
,,of ,,the ,,hunters    ,we are left to 

speculate about the earliest growth of  
magnanimity1  friendliness1 compassion1 
general benevolence and other virtues4  
,they cannot be explained merely by the 
hunting-life1 which so easily  accounts 
for greed1 cruelty1 pride and every sort
 of aggressiveness4  ,robert ,hartmann  
writes3 8,it is well known that both    
rude and civilised  peoples are capable 
of showing unspeakable and1 as it is    
erroneously  termed1 inhuman cruelty    
towards each other4 ,these acts of      
cruelty1  murder and rapine are often   
the result of the inexorable logic of   
national characteristics and1 unhappily1
 are truly human1 since nothing  like   
them can be traced in the animal world4 
,it would1 for instance1  be a grave    
mistake to compare a tiger with a       
bloodthirsty executioner  of the ,reign 
of ,terror1 since the former only       
satisfies his natural  appetite in      
preying on other animals4 ,the          
atrocities of the trials  for           
witchcraft1 the indiscriminate slaughter

 committed by the ,negroes  on the coast
 of ,guinea1 the sacrifice of human     
victims by the ,khonds1  the            
dismemberment of living men by the      
,battus1 find no parallel in the  habits
 of animals in their savage state4 ,and 
such a comparison is1  above all1       
impossible in the case of anthropoids1  
which display no  hostility toward men  
or other animals unless they are first  
attacked4  ,in this respect the         
anthropoid ape stands upon a higher     
plane than  many men40#gg ,are we1 then1
 to explain the more amiable side of    
human  nature1 partly at least1 by      
derivation from the frugivorous         
,primates1  extensively modified by our 
wolfish adaptation1 but surviving as    
latent  character8    7a7 ,several      
further considerations may be offered to
 account for the  growth of what we call
 humanity1 7i7 ,the long non-age of     
human children  is favourable to the    
attachments of family life1 and such    
attachments  may under certain          

conditions be capable of extension      
beyond the  family2 but ,i cannot trace 
the whole flood of altruistic regard to 
the  sole source of maternal or parental
 love4 7ii7 ,friendliness and the       
disposition to mutual aid are so useful 
to a hunting-pack that is not  merely   
seasonal but permanent 7as ,i take ours 
to have been71 both to  individuals and 
to the pack as a whole1 within certain  
limits 7as that  the wounded1 sick1 or  
aged must not amount to an encumbrance71
 that we  may suppose natural selection 
to have favoured the growth of effective
  sympathy1 not merely in mutual        
defence1 but so far as it is actually   
found at present in backward tribes4 ,it
 nowhere seems to be excessive2  and its
 manifestation in some civilised races  
seems to depend not  upon a positive    
increase of benevolence in the          
generality1 but 7iii7  upon the breaking
 down here and there of conditions that 
elsewhere  oppose and inhibit it4 ,thus 
the generosity1 mercy and magnanimity   

that  constitute the chivalrous ideal1  
depend 7,i believe7 upon the attainment 
by a class of such undisputed           
superiority that there is no occasion   
for jealousy or rivalry in relation to  
other classes2 for should the           
superiority be disputed1 these virtues  
quickly disappear4 ,similarly1  what    
have been called the 8slavish virtues0  
of charity1 humility1  long-suffering   
may arise amongst those who are free    
from rivalry1  because they have no hope
 of aggrandisement in wealth or honour1 
and who have indeed suffered long4 ,with
 the interfusion of classes1  their     
virtues interfuse2 for they have a      
common root1 and are active1  provided  
that circumstances do not inhibit them4 
7iv7 ,but since in individuals our      
complex nature varies in all            
directions1 and amongst the rest in the 
direction of benevolence2 and  since any
 organ or quality that varies is apt to 
continue to do so1  and may go on       
varying even beyond the limits of       

biological utility2  why in human life  
may not this happen with benevolence 7or
 with any  other passion or virtue72 so 
that in some men it expands with        
wonderful  richness and beauty even to  
the sacrifice of themselves--nay1 by    
excessive clemency or generosity1 even  
to the injury of the tribe or of  the   
race8    7b7 ,the moral sense or        
conscience has been discussed by        
,darwin#gh  8exclusively from the side  
of natural history02 so as this is the  
way  of considering human nature in the 
present book1 ,i shall epitomise his    
account of it2 which seems to be true1  
and to which ,i see little to  add4 ,he 
finds four chief conditions of the      
growth of a moral sense3  7a7 the social
 instincts lead an animal to take       
pleasure in the  society of its fellows1
 to sympathise with them and to help    
them4  7b7 ,when the mind is highly     
developed1 images of past actions and   
motives continually recur2 8and that    
feeling of dissatisfaction or even      

misery which invariably results 444 from
 any dissatisfied instinct  would arise 
as often as it was perceived that the   
enduring and always  present social     
instinct had yielded to some other      
instinct1 at the time  stronger1 but    
neither enduring in its nature nor      
leaving behind it a  very vivid         
impression0--as with anger or greed4 7c7
 ,after language  has been acquired1    
public opinion can be expressed1 and    
becomes the  paramount guide of action2 
though still 8our regard for the        
approbation  and disapprobation of our  
fellows depends on sympathy40 7d7       
,social  instinct1 sympathy and         
obedience to the judgment of the        
community are  strengthened by the      
formation of habit4 ,darwin then proves 
successively  these four positions4     
,seeing the stress here laid upon       
sympathy1 it may make the matter        
clearer if we observe that the word     
occurs in different senses--for  the    
participation in another's satisfaction 

or distress 7emotional  sympathy7 and   
readiness to help 7effective sympathy72 
and these are the  meanings under 7a71  
the first of the above heads3 and1      
again1 for the  knowledge that there are
 ideas or judgments in another's mind   
together  with approval or disapproval  
of our actions2 and this is the meaning 
under 7c71 the third head4 ,but         
knowledge of another's thoughts is  not 
sympathy1 except so far as1 being       
accompanied with assent to  his         
judgment1 there is participation in his 
feelings of approval or  disapproval2   
and1 if we dissent from his judgment1   
there may1 indeed1  be perceptive       
sympathy as to his feelings1 but there  
is no emotional  sympathy or            
participation in them--there is rather  
fear or resentment4  ,it is necessary to
 bear in mind that perception of        
another's feelings1  participation in   
them and impulse to help or relieve are 
separable  processes1 and that          
perceptive sympathy is as active in     

cruelty as in  generosity or mercy4     
,it may be added that 7b71 the second of
 the four conditions assigned  by       
,darwin as determining the growth of the
 moral sense or conscience1  accounts   
more especially for 8remorse of         
conscience02 and that 7c71  the third   
condition1 explains that tone of        
authority attaching to  conscience on   
which ,bishop ,butler laid so much      
stress4#gi    ,how early the moral sense
 began to form itself in our stock      
cannot be  estimated because it must    
have been a very gradual process4       
,probably  the rudiments of it appeared 
in the family life of the ape even      
before  our differentiation2 and the    
authoritative character of conscience   
established itself under the discipline 
of the hunting-pack before  there was   
much development of mind 7for dogs know 
what theft is71 and  under pressure of a
 public opinion that managed to express 
itself  without language4 ,in an        
original and suggestive book#hj ,mr4    

,trotter  has shown that a herd 7pack1  
tribe or nation7 necessarily approves   
of whatever actions are done in its     
interests as good or right1 and         
disapproves of the contrary actions as  
bad or wrong4 ,confident that  its      
beliefs and customs are good and right1 
the pack persecutes  dissenters and     
nonconformists4 8,good0 is a relative   
idea4 8#8,the good  are good warriors   
and hunters1' said a ,pawnee chief2     
whereupon the  author who mentions the  
saying remarks that this would also be  
the  opinion of a wolf if he could      
express it40#ha ,hence we may guess the 
principal contents of the primitive     
categorical imperative4 ,the study  of  
,ethnology and ,history enables us to   
trace the modification and  enrichment  
of those contents under varying         
conditions of culture1 and  for the     
results of such study ,i refer to       
,edward ,westermarck's ,origin  and     
,development of ,moral ,ideas4    7c7   
,after the introduction of agriculture1 

the stress of natural  selection was in 
certain directions altered4 ,at first1  
indeed1 most  agricultural work1        
probably1 was done by women2 but in its 
progress it  fell extensively into the  
hands of men2 and then advantage accrued
 to  those tribes that were capable of  
steady industry and prudence4 ,the new  
employment decreased aggression on the  
principle that 8had ,alexander  been    
holding the plough1 he could not have   
run his friend ,clitus  through with a  
spear40 ,the sick and aged were now less
 an encumbrance  than they had been to  
hunters4 ,those who could not endure a  
settled  life wandered away in their old
 pursuits4 ,the more aggressive clans   
slaughtered one another in the vendetta4
 ,social pressure and hanging           
eliminated many of the more idle1       
improvident1 dishonest and unruly1      
whose instincts resisted                
8accommodation40 ,the more neighbourly  
and  co-operative tended to predominate4
 ,as civilisation intensifies1 the      

numerous ways of getting a livelihood1  
which 7as we have seen7 derive  their   
motive-force from the spirit of the     
pack1 gratify that spirit  under so many
 disguises and with so little direct    
personal collision1  as to be compatible
 with a great deal of friendliness and  
benevolence2  and co-operation1 direct  
or indirect1 steadily increases4    7d7 
,increasing capacity of forming ideas of
 remote ends and of  co-ordinating many 
activities in their pursuit1 implies the
 inhibition  of many aggressive or      
distracting impulses1 and constitutes an
  automatic control4 ,and although it is
 now fashionable to depreciate  the     
power of intelligence in human life1    
surely1 its development has  had great  
influence4 ,as men come to foresee the  
many consequences  of action they learn 
to modify and regulate it1 as each      
foreseen  consequence excites some      
impulse1 either reinforcing or          
inhibiting  action4 ,reflection upon our
 lot has done much to ameliorate it4    

,the  8conditions of gregariousness0 7to
 use ,w4 ,k4 ,clifford's definition  of 
morality7 have been expounded by the    
more penetrating and  comprehensive     
minds--prophets1 poets1 philosophers2   
and some disciples  have understood them
 and have persuaded many to believe4    
,nor have  such luminaries arisen only  
in the later phases of culture when     
their  writings have been delivered or  
their sayings recorded4 ,probably it    
was some one man who first pointed out  
to a tribe that had ignored  the fact1  
that whether a wrong had been done by   
accident or on  purpose affected the    
agent's guilt and ought to affect the   
penalty  exacted4 ,some one man1        
probably1 first saw what injustice is   
often  disguised by the specious        
equality of the lex talionis2 another   
first tried to assuage the bitterness of
 a vendetta by appointing  compensation2
 another1 perhaps first proposed to     
substitute animal  for human sacrifice1 
or a puppet for a slave4 ,and when we   

read the  lists of sagacious proverbs   
that have been collected from many      
savage  tribes1 we must consider that it
 was by eminent individuals that those  
sayings were first uttered one by one3  
individuals with the gifts of  insight  
and expression to summarise the         
experience of a whole tribe in          
memorable words1 rude forerunners of our
 prophets and philosophers4       #h4   
,,influence ,,of ,,the ,,imaginary      
,,environment    ,the necessity of      
learning the whole art of hunting from  
its rudiments1  without the help of     
instinct or tradition1 by sheer         
observation1 memory  and inference1 put 
extraordinary stress upon the brain4 ,at
 first by  knowledge1 strategy1         
co-operation and persistence of will1   
later by  devising weapons and snares1  
evolving language and discovering the   
ways  of making and utilising fire1 man 
found means of entirely changing the    
conditions of his life2 but this would  
have been impossible without  a great   

development of his brain2 and1          
accordingly1 it appears that            
,eoanthropus1 at the beginning of the   
,pleistocene1 had a skull with  three   
times the cubic capacity of the         
anthropoids4 ,with the growth of  the   
brain came a continually increasing     
fecundity of ideas4 8,piltdown  man saw1
 heard1 felt1 thought1 and dreamt much  
as we do40#hb ,the use  of ideas is to  
foresee events and prepare for them     
beforehand3 the  great advantage of     
distance-senses over contact-senses1 is 
to give an  animal time to adapt its    
actions to deferred events2 and ideas   
give  this power in a vastly higher     
degree4 ,so far the utility of brains   
and  ideas seems obvious4 ,but in order 
that ideas may be useful in this  way1  
they must 7one would suppose7 represent 
and anticipate the actual  course of    
events4 ,if they falsely indicate the   
order of nature1 or  even beings and    
actions that do not exist at all1 ideas 
may seem to be  worse than useless4     

,now1 when we turn to the lowest        
existing savages1 they are found to     
possess1 in comparison with apes1 a     
considerable fecundity of ideas2        
constituting1 on the one hand1 a good   
stock of common sense1 or  knowledge of 
the properties and activities of the    
things and animals  around them1 and of 
how to deal with them1 which enables    
them to carry  on the affairs of a life 
much more complex and continuous than   
any  animal's3 but including1 on the    
other hand1 a strange collection of     
beliefs about magic and spirits1 which  
entirely misrepresent the course  of    
nature and the effective population of  
the world4 ,these latter  beliefs1 or   
imaginative delusions1 hamper them in so
 many ways1 waste  so much time1 lead   
them sometimes into such dark and cruel 
practices1  that one may be excused for 
wondering whether their bigger brains   
can have been1 on the whole1 of any     
biological advantage to them in         
comparison with the anthropoids4 ,the   

anthropoids live by common sense4  ,so  
do savages1 and they have much more of  
it2 but the anthropoids seem  not to be 
troubled by magic and animism4 ,we must 
suppose that the  common sense of       
primitive man increased age by age1 as  
he became more  and more perfectly      
adapted to the hunting-life1 and that at
 some stage  his imagination began to   
falsify the relations of things and the 
powers  of nature4 ,it seems that       
imagination-beliefs depend chiefly upon 
the  influence of desire and fear1      
suggestibility1 hasty generalisation1   
and  the seduction of reasoning by      
analogy4 ,at what stage imaginations1   
thus  divorced from reality1 began to   
influence human life1 it is impossible  
to say2 but it cannot be less than half 
a million years ago1 if 7as ,dr4  ,keith
 says7 ,eoanthropus1 #djj1jjj years ago1
 8thought and dreamt much as  we do40   
,why did not such delusions hinder our  
development8 ,or did they  promote it8  
,the first consideration is1 that       

biological adaptation is nearly always  
a compromise3 if any organ or faculty be
 useful on the whole1 in spite  of some 
disutility1 its increase favours the    
survival of those in  whom it increases2
 and this is true of the brain and its  
thinking4  ,the second is1 that nearly  
all the magical and animistic beliefs   
and  practices that are socially        
destructive1 probably belong to a stage 
of human life that is attained long     
after our differentiation has  been     
established1 and when some progress has 
been made in arts and  customs4 ,savages
 of the lowest culture have few beliefs 
that can be  called positively          
injurious4 ,talismans and spells1 not by
 themselves  relied upon1 but only      
adscititious to common-sense actions1   
give  confidence without weakening      
endeavour4 ,to curse1 or to 8point the  
bone10 does not create but merely       
expresses a malevolent purpose2 and1    
although sometimes fatal by suggestion1 
is on the whole better than  to         

assassinate4 ,taboos do more good by    
protecting person and property  and     
custom than they do harm by restricting 
the use of foods4 ,belief  in imaginary 
evils waiting upon secret sins exerts1  
whilst supported  by social unanimity1 a
 control upon all kinds of behaviour3 it
 is the  beginning of the 8religious    
sanction10 and one sort of conscience4  
,the  dread of spirits that prowl at    
night keeps people in the family-cave   
or by the camp-fire2 and that is the    
best place for them4 ,many rites  and   
observances are sanitary4 ,totemism     
rarely does any harm1 and may  once have
 usefully symbolised the unity of social
 groups4 ,totemic and  magical dances   
give excellent physical training1       
promote the spirit  of co-operation1 are
 a sort of drill2 and 7like all art71   
whilst  indulging1 they also restrain   
imagination by imposing upon it definite
  forms4 ,for a long time there was no  
special profession of wizard or  priest1
 with whose appearance most of the evil 

of magic and animism  originates2 though
 probably even they generally do more   
good than  harm by their courage and    
sagacity1 by discovering drugs and      
poisons1  by laying ghosts1 and by their
 primitive studies in medicine and      
psychology4    ,the wizard1 however1 and
 the priest1 who could never have       
existed but  for the prevalent beliefs  
in ,magic and ,animism1 have a further  
and far  more important function in     
human life1 namely1 the organisation1 or
  rather reorganisation of society4 ,the
 organisation of the hunting-pack       
described above was liable through      
several causes to fall asunder4  ,some  
of these causes are obvious3 7a7 ,the   
improvement of weapons  and snares and  
discovery of poisons made very small    
parties1 or even  single families1      
self-sufficing--as among the ,bushmen   
7though they  sometimes assembled for a 
grand hunt74#hc 7b7 ,failure of game    
from  desiccation1 as in ,australia1 or 
because the tribe has been driven into  

a poor country like ,tierra del ,fuego2 
so that a small population is  scattered
 over a wide area1 and reduced to a     
greater or less dependence  on          
8collecting40 7c7 ,the adoption of even 
a primitive agricultural  or pastoral   
life may make hunting a secondary       
interest4 ,in such cases  the natural   
leaders of a clan are no longer 7as in  
the old pack7  plainly indicated2 and if
 society is to be saved from anarchy1   
some  new control must establish itself 
for the preservation of tradition  and  
custom4 ,conceivably this happened in   
several ways2 but in fact  7,i believe7 
we know of only one1 namely3 ,first1 the
 rule of wizards1  who are chiefly old  
men credited with mysterious power that 
makes  the boldest tribesman quail1 such
 as the headmen and elders of an        
,australian tribe4 ,in ,new ,guinea1    
too1 and much of ,melanesia1 the power  
of rulers1 even though recognised as of 
noble birth1 depends chiefly  upon their
 reputation for ,magic4 ,and among the  

,bushmen secrets about  poisons and     
antidotes and colours for painting      
7probably considered  magical7 were     
heirlooms in certain families of chiefs1
 and gave them  caste4#hd ,secondly1 at 
a later stage1 as the belief in ghosts  
more  and more prevails1 and ancestral  
ghosts are worshipped1 and ghosts  of   
heroes or chiefs become veritable gods1 
the priests who celebrate  their worship
 strengthen the position of chiefs or   
kings descended  from these gods1 and   
help to maintain more comprehensive and 
coherent  governments than those        
established upon ,magic only2 though to 
these  later forms1 also1 and to        
,religion itself magical beliefs        
contribute  their support4 ,the         
inevitable development of illusory      
imaginations  along with common sense1  
then1 assisted early and also later     
culture1  because they preserved order  
and cohesion by re-arousing the ancient 
submission and loyalty of the pack4 ,for
 common sense is always limited  to     

present conditions1 it could never have 
foreseen the dependence of  human life  
upon order and the necessity of         
maintaining cohesion even  at great     
immediate sacrifices4 ,these interests  
were1 therefore1 served  indirectly     
through delusions2 natural selection    
must1 within certain  limits1 have      
favoured the superstitious4 ,excessively
 imaginative  and superstitious tribes  
may sometimes have been eliminated2 for 
common sense also has biological        
utility4 ,but1 perverse as it may  seem1
 imaginations utterly false have had    
their share in promoting  8progress03   
co-operating with agriculture and trade1
 magic1 religions  and the fine arts    
have1 by supporting government and civil
 order1  helped in accommodating us1 and
 even in some measure adapting us1 to   
our present condition1 such as it is4   
,,footnotes3    #bh ,see ,the ,antiquity
 of ,man1 by ,arthur ,keith4    #bi     
,malay ,archipelago1 pp4 #df-g4    #cj  
,according to ,r4 ,l4 ,garner1 however1 

both gorillas and chimpanzees  are      
polygamous4 ,see ,gorillas and          
,chimpanzees1 pp4 #ed and #bad4    #ca  
,this view is not opposed to the        
suggestion ,i have somewhere  seen that 
the collecting activities of women1     
whilst men hunted1  may1 at some stage1 
have led to property and domestication  
of plants  and animals4 ,again1 the     
pastoral and agricultural states are not
  necessarily successive3 it depends    
upon local conditions4 ,for an          
excellent survey of the gradual rise of 
primitive culture and the  difficulties 
it encountered1 see ,h4 ,spencer's      
,industrial ,institutions1  ,principles 
of ,sociology1 ,vol4 ,,iii4    #cb ,it  
is certainly believed by fox-hunters    
that a fox feeds his vixen  when she is 
occupied with their family1 and that 8if
 the vixen is  killed he will bring up  
the family by himself40--,thomas ,f4    
,dale1 ,the  ,fox1 pp4 #ab1 #ac4        
,nothing incredible in this--nor of     
wolves4 ,can the vixen provide for      

herself and litter alone8 ,if not1 the  
dog must do it3 else there could  be no 
foxes or wolves4    ,however1 de        
,canteleu denies that the he-wolf takes 
any part in rearing  the young 7,la     
,chasse du ,loup1 p4 #cj74    #cc ,w4   
,p4 ,pycraft1 in his entertaining       
,courtship of ,animals1 after  assuming 
that ,man became a hunter for the sake  
of the excitement such  a life afforded1
 goes on 7p4 #bc73 8,a little later the 
advantages of  neighbourliness were     
borne in on him1 largely for the sake of
 the  greater ease wherewith the animals
 of the chase could be captured by      
their combined efforts2 but this begat  
comradeship and some of the  graces that
 follow therefrom40    #cd ,descent of  
,man1 ch4 xx4    #ce ,see above1        
footnote on p4 #cb4    #cf ,avebury1    
,prehistoric ,times1 #gth ed41 p4 #ehj4 
#cg ,inquiries into ,human ,faculty1 p4 
#bfb4    #ch ,hunting ,trips in ,north  
,america1 p4 #cdi4    #ci ,g4 ,w4       
,stone1 ,native ,races of ,south        

,africa1 p4 #ia4    #dj ,the ,arctic    
,prairies1 p4 #bj4    #da ,la ,chasse du
 ,loup1 p4 #ba4    #db ,life ,histories 
of ,northern ,animals1 p4 #gee4    #dc  
,wild ,beasts of ,india1 pp4 #bge-f4    
,cf4 ,casserly1 ,life on an  ,indian    
,outpost1 pp4 #id-e4 ,brehm says1 in    
,thierleben1 that in ,russia  wolves    
attack and kill the bear4    #dd ,life  
,histories of ,northern ,animals1 p4    
#ged4    #de ,naturalist in ,la ,plata1 
p4 #cdf4    #df ,outdoor ,pastimes of an
 ,american ,hunter1 p4 #gj4    #dg ,op4 
cit41 pp4 #ccf-g4    #dh ,hiram ,s4     
,maxim1 ,my ,life1 p4 #eg4    #di       
,spencer and ,gillen1 ,across           
,australia1 p4 #chh4    #ej ,op4 cit41  
pp4 #f-g4    #ea ,op4 cit41 p4 #gh4     
#eb ,malay ,archipelago1 p4 #dc4    #ec 
,see the ,report of the ,british        
,association1 #aijj1 pp4 #gaa-cj4 ,the  
author has since then revised his       
estimates1 assigning much greater  depth
 to the ,pliocene and ,miocene deposits 
and proportionally more  time for their 

formation4 ,see the ,quarterly ,journal 
of the ,geological  ,society1 ,,lxv4    
7#aiji74    #ed ,dr4 ,smith ,woodward's 
reconstruction gives the skull of       
,eoanthropus  a capacity of about #acjj 
c4c4    #ee ,see ,ray ,lankester's      
,description of the ,test-,specimen4    
,r4,a4,i41  ,occasional ,papers1 ,no4   
#d4    #ef ,book ,,vii4 chs4 #fi1 #ga1  
#gd4    #eg ,e4 ,thompson ,seton1 ,the  
,arctic ,prairies1 pp4 #cjd and #ceb4   
#eh ,op4 cit41 pp4 #aea1 #bci1 #dgf4    
#ei ,antiquity of ,man1 p4 #bfh4    #fj 
,a4 ,keith1 op4 cit41 p4 #djh4    #fa   
,op4 cit41 p4 #deb4    #fb ,op4 cit41 p4
 #dad4    #fc ,cultes1 ,mythes et       
,religion1 ,,iii4 p4 #dcj4    #fd       
,primitive ,marriage1 ch4 iii4    #fe   
,life ,histories of ,northern ,animals1 
p4 #geg4    #ff ,see above1  #c 7#d71   
footnote1 p4 #cg4    #fg ,spencer and   
,gillen1 ,across ,australia1 p4 #aih4   
#fh ,g4 ,w4 ,stone1 ,native ,races of   
,south ,africa1 p4 #cc4    #fi ,descent 
of ,man1 ch4 iii4    #gj ,e4 ,thompson  

,seton1 ,life ,histories of ,northern   
,animals1 p4 #gfi4    #ga ,e4           
,westermarck1 ,origin and ,development  
of ,moral ,ideas1 ,,ii4 p4 #eb4    #gb  
,spencer and ,gillen1 ,native ,tribes of
 ,northern ,territory of  ,australia1 p4
 #bg4    #gc ,royal ,natural ,history1  
,i4 pp4 #gb-c4    #gd ,descent of ,man1 
ch4 iii4    #ge ,spencer and ,gillen1   
,across ,australia1 p4 #bjj4    #gf     
,principles of ,sociology1 ,vol4 ,,ii4  
#gg ,anthropoid ,apes1 pp4 #bid-e4      
#gh ,descent of ,man1 ch4 iv4    #gi    
,sermons on ,human ,nature4    #hj ,the 
,herd ,instinct4    #ha ,tylor1         
,primitive ,culture1 ,,ii4 p4 #hi4      
#hb ,a4 ,keith1 op4 cit41 p4 #dbi4      
#hc ,g4 ,m4 ,theal1 ,history and        
,ethnology of ,south ,africa1 p4 #aa4   
#hd ,g4 ,w4 ,stone1 ,native ,races of   
,south ,africa1 p4 #gf4                 
,,chapter ,,iii    ,,belief ,,and       
,,superstition       #a4 ,,superstition 
,inasmuch as the influence of           
superstition upon the history of society

  can hardly be exaggerated1 it must be 
worth while to inquire into  its origin 
and nature4 ,but this inquiry leads into
 a quagmire of  ambiguous words3 and to 
attempt to define them for all purposes 
would  entangle the discussion in       
endless controversies4 ,so it will be   
best  to explain merely in what sense   
certain words will be used in this      
book4 8,superstition10 for example1     
means in common use 7,i think7 false    
beliefs concerning supernatural powers1 
especially such as are regarded  as     
socially injurious1 and particularly as 
leading to obscurantism or  cruelty3 but
 it is often extended to cover beliefs  
of a negligible or  frivolous kind1 such
 as stories about 8fairy-rings10 or the 
unluckiness  of seeing the new moon for 
the first time through glass4 ,plainly  
the  injuriousness of a false belief is 
often in dispute1 and at any rate is  a 
question of time and place4             
8,superstition10 then1 is here used     
merely  as a collective term for the    

subjects of the ensuing chapters--,magic
  7or the belief in occult forces7 and  
,animism 7or the belief in the  activity
 of spirits74    ,the consequences of a 
belief1 again1 whether good or evil1    
cannot  affect its psychological        
character3 in trying to explain its     
nature and  origin1 one cannot take     
account of its social values4 ,the      
explanation  of superstitions must hold 
of all false beliefs1 whatever their    
utility  or disutility4 ,nay1 further1  
whether a belief is false or true does  
not  necessarily affect its             
psychological character3 for a man may  
hold two  doctrines1 one true and the   
other false1 both derived from the      
sincere  testimony of the same person1  
and he may not be able to discern any   
difference in the degrees of confidence 
with which he holds them or in  their   
influence upon his conduct4 ,the        
understanding of false belief1  then1   
requires an examination of belief in    
general4    ,still1 whilst in the mind  

of any given man a true and a false     
belief  may have the same character and 
origin1 considered generally they  must 
surely have different origins and       
grounds2 and to make the  sequel        
clearer1 ,i will anticipate its         
conclusions so far as to say  that true 
beliefs seem to rest on perception or   
inferences verified  by perception1 and 
false beliefs seem to depend upon       
imagination  that cannot be verified4   
,this general statement will need       
several  qualifications4 ,but ,i rely   
upon it at present so far as to say that
  superstitions are essentially         
imagination-beliefs4    ,we shall find  
that these superstitions1 though often  
held by whole  tribes with the utmost   
assurance1 differ in some subtle way    
from the  perception-beliefs of their   
common sense1 as that 8fire burns0 and  
that 8water quenches fire40 ,they are   
unstable3 7#a7 they become active  on   
occasions1 and otherwise are apt to be  
forgotten--as ghosts are  only thought  

of at night4 7#b7 ,they are modifiable  
merely for the sake  of economy or other
 convenience4 7#c7 ,they lose their hold
 on a tribe1  fall off and die in course
 of time without any change in the      
evidence  for them4 7#d7 ,they depend a 
good deal upon the assent of a crowd4   
7#e7  ,they often vary in neighbouring  
countries or families1 or amongst the   
members of a family4 ,this is not like  
common sense4 ,superstitions or         
imagination-beliefs are unstable1 in    
spite of being often held with  great   
obstinacy 7so that people die for them71
 and of their enduring1  in the simpler 
forms and at a certain level of social  
life1 for  thousands of years4 ,there is
 something wanting in the holdfast or   
anchorage of imagination-beliefs4    ,it
 is necessary to explain what ,i mean by
 8imagination40       #b4 ,,imagination 
,is it enough to define 8imagination0 as
 merely the having of mental  8images10 
pictures before the mind's eye8 ,this   
would confine  imagination to visual    

representations1 to the exclusion of    
auditory1  olfactory1 etc41 which are   
all a man born blind can have1 and which
  sometimes occur to those who can see1 
though the visual are commonest4  ,the  
word 8images10 therefore1 is sometimes  
used to cover all these  modes of       
representation2 though 8phantasmata0    
would be better4    ,again1 a mental    
image or phantasm1 visual or auditory1  
is improperly  called an imagination1 if
 there is nothing more than the         
reproduction  of a single sense-quality4
 ,imaginations represent not abstract   
sensations1 but perceptions4 ,to see an 
armed knight is not merely to  have a   
visual impression of him1 but to        
perceive a living1 solid1  heavy object 
definitely in space2 and imagination    
reproduces the whole  of this1 and      
otherwise would be quite uninteresting4 
,what would the  tournament in ,ivanhoe 
amount to if the knights were only      
phantoms8    ,further1 imagination1     
merely as a reproduction of perception1 

is not  distinguished from memory2 but1 
in use1 the two are always contrasted4  
,memories are recognised 7in their      
complete form7 as returning to us  from 
earlier experience1 both their component
 pictures and the order of  them1 and   
they are relatively stable2 imaginations
 are felt to be more  or less novel1 and
 can easily be modified4 ,probably all  
the elements  of an imagination might   
have occurred in a memory2 but the      
arrangement  of these elements is often 
so different from any actual experience 
as  to baffle every attempt to          
redistribute them amongst their sources4
  ,hence1 in normal cases1 our attitudes
 toward a memory and toward an          
imagination are entirely different4 ,if 
a seeming memory prove false1 we  say it
 was only an imagination4    ,but1 once 
more1 a good many men never have images 
or phantasmata  7except words71 or very 
few or faint ones1 or only when falling 
asleep1  and so on4 ,yet they are not   
wanting in imagination2 words or other  

signs serve them instead of images to   
carry all meanings 7the important       
matter72 they enter into the spirit of  
poetry and literary fiction3  so that   
imagination may be active without       
images4 ,and the fact seems  to be that 
the effectiveness of mental processes   
depends very little  upon phantasmata1  
but upon something much deeper in the   
mind2 and that  there exist in men all  
degrees of concrete representative      
power1 from  those who picture          
everything they think of with vivid and 
definite  detail1 down1 through many    
stages of decreasing realisation1 to    
those  who have only faint or           
fragmentary 8images10 or even none at   
all3  without its being possible to say 
7at present7 that one type of mind is   
better or worse than another2 though    
they may be adapted to different  tasks4
    ,expectation and reasoning1 which   
are closely allied 7for every  definite 
expectation is a sort of inference71 are
 often carried on in  pictures--8picture

 thinking0--and this also is called     
imagination4  ,tyndall's brilliant      
address on ,the ,scientific ,uses of the
 ,imagination  is well known4 ,it       
greatly helps some men in thinking to   
form pictures  of what they think about1
 such as a machine or an anatomical     
specimen1  as if they had the thing     
before them2 or even of an atom1 which  
no man  ever has before him1 and which  
cannot be imagined by reproducing the   
precept1 but only by constructing a     
picture from much grosser materials     
according to concepts4 ,the picture thus
 formed necessarily falls short  in some
 ways of the thing thought or meant1 and
 can only be prevented  from misleading 
us by guarding it with definitions or   
rules or abstract  ideas2 and this shows
 that the effectiveness of thought1 the 
deeper  process mentioned above1 is a   
concatenation or evolution of meanings  
or general ideas1 and that it is1 in    
part1 by illustrating these that        
pictures are useful3 they also serve to 

fix attention1 as words do4    ,thus    
reasoning may express itself by         
imagination4 ,on the other hand1        
imagination is more frequently          
contrasted with reason1 as dealing in   
fiction1 not reality4 ,our confusion is 
shown thus3 to call an historian        
imaginative is depreciatory2 yet it is  
as bad to say he is wanting in          
imagination4 ,in the latter case1 we    
mean that he fails adequately to        
conceive the events he treats of2 in the
 former1 that he embellishes or         
distorts them with unverifiable         
representations4    ,again1 the term    
8imagination0 is sometimes confined to  
intellectual  processes in the fine     
arts3 dramas1 novels1 etc41 are works of
  imagination4 ,now dramas and novels   
all proceed upon one method1 namely3    
they begin by stating or insinuating an 
hypothesis concerning certain  persons  
in a given situation1 and then deducing 
7that is reasoning out7  the            
consequences1 occasionally helping the  

plot by further assumptions3  at least  
that is how it appears1 though probably 
the main incident of  the plot is       
thought of first1 and then an hypothesis
 is framed that  conveniently leads up  
to it4 ,and if the reasoning is feeble1 
and if  the subsidiary assumptions are  
too numerous or too facile1 we say the  
work is flimsy or improbable--allowing  
for the genre2 for a romance  is not    
expected to be as probable as a modern  
novel4 ,gulliver's  ,travels afford the 
most perfect example of this method2 for
 each  voyage begins with a frank       
absurdity--men six inches or sixty feet 
high1 a flying island1 rational horses2 
but this being granted1 the  sequel     
makes tolerable logic4 ,well1 many      
scientific investigations seem  to      
follow exactly the same method--begin   
with an hypothesis1 deduce  the         
consequences1 and occasionally help out 
the argument with further  hypotheses   
7though that is not all73 and here again
 the conclusion is  usually thought of  

first1 and the hypothesis invented to   
explain it4  ,if it be said that the    
scientist believes his hypothesis to be 
true1  whilst the romancer does not1 it 
may be replied that the scientist       
sometimes expressly warns us that his   
assumption is only a 8working           
hypothesis10 which may not be true      
7though he thinks it may be71  whereas  
early epic poets and minstrels often    
regarded their work as by  no means     
without a foundation in fact4           
,imagination and reasoning1 then1 are   
closely allied or interwoven1  and the  
contrasting of them depends entirely    
upon this1 that there  is a sense in    
which imagination is not a presentation 
of truth or  matter-of-fact1 whether it 
is believed to be or not2 and a sense in
  which reasoning is devoted solely to  
the discovery of truth concerning       
facts1 and to that end is protected by a
 methodology1 carefully  comparing its  
premises1 carefully verifying its       
conclusions2 whereas  the imagination   

that is contrasted with reasoning knows 
nothing of a  methodology nor of        
verification4 ,even the modern novelist1
 a great part  of whose hypothesis is   
usually true--the present state of      
society1  facts of history or geography1
 etc41--does not pretend to present a   
truth of fact4 ,it belongs to his art to
 play at reasoning2 he has  learnt to   
play the game very well2 but it remains 
play3 he aims at and  attains not truth 
but verisimilitude4 ,and when we look   
back on the  history of fiction we see  
7on the whole7 the verisimilitude       
growing1  age by age1 slighter and      
fainter2 till in early romance and      
poetry  it is disturbed and broken and  
destroyed by stories about monsters1    
impossible heroes1 magicians and gods1  
believed at one time to be true1  and   
just the same as stories still believed 
by barbarians and savages1  but which we
 believe no longer4    ,it is such      
stories as these last1 including all    
superstitions1 that  ,i especially call 

8imagination-beliefs40 ,the term        
includes all false  beliefs1 but with   
the rest ,i am not directly concerned4  
,how are  imagination-beliefs possible8 
#c4 ,,belief    ,belief is here used to 
denote the attitude of mind in which    
perceptions  are regarded as real1      
judgments as true of matters-of-fact1   
actions and  events as about to have    
certain results4 ,it is a serious and   
respectful  attitude2 for matter-of-fact
 compels us to adjust our behaviour to  
it1 whether we have power to alter it or
 not4 ,hume describes belief  as having 
a certain 8force1 vivacity1 solidity1   
firmness1 steadiness2  influence and    
importance in governing our actions02#he
 and these terms  are quite just1 but   
most of them are synonyms2 and the whole
 dictionary  will not make anybody      
understand what belief is who has never 
felt it4  ,however1 there is no such    
person4    ,the quality of this attitude
 7or the 8feeling0 of it7 as a specific 
8state of consciousness0 is difficult to

 observe1 because 7like  pleasure or    
displeasure7 it is always marginal to   
something else in  the focus of         
attention1 some object1 judgment or     
action2 but we can  appreciate it in its
 variations by considering the very     
different  degrees of 8force1           
steadiness10 etc41 which characterise   
several  beliefs regarded as more or    
less probable4 ,the degree of belief    
ought to correspond with the weight of  
evidence3 if evidence for  any judgment 
is complete and uncontradicted1 it may  
be called #a1 and  the corresponding    
state of mind should be 8certainty02 if 
evidence  for it there is none1 or if   
evidence for the contradictory judgment 
is complete1 it may be called #j1 and   
the state of mind 8disbelief40  ,between
 these extremes there is room for an    
infinite series of  fractions1 and for  
corresponding shades of doubt 7which1 of
 course1 do  not really occur72 and in  
the middle1 at 1 there should be        
suspension  of judgment4 ,but most of   

these refined attitudes are the luxury  
of a  few men severely trained in       
estimating evidence1 and by them enjoyed
  only in the departments they have been
 trained in4 ,for the mass of  mankind1 
a very few shades of confidence or      
dubiety fill up their  scale of         
judgment-values2 and these may be far   
from corresponding as  they should do   
with the quantity or quality of the     
evidence2 and the  nearest they get to  
suspension of judgment is a state of    
hesitation  between alternatives that by
 turns seem equally likely4 ,disbelief1 
though the opposite logically to belief1
 as rejection to acceptance1  has1      
nevertheless1 much in common with       
it--the character of finality  and      
positiveness1 which is often 7perhaps   
always7 derived from belief  in         
something else which is incompatible    
with the given judgment4    ,when the   
attitude of belief is established in    
one's mind by evidence  clearly         
conceived1 whether by the examination of

 facts or the weighing  of arguments1 it
 is called 8conviction10 and so is the  
process of  bringing it about2 but if it
 results from considerations imperfectly
  appreciated1 and from emotional       
appeals1 especially when urged by       
another person1 it may be called        
8persuasion10 though the word  describes
 the process rather than the result4    
,most imagination-beliefs1  including   
all superstitions1 are persuasions4     
,it is generally admitted that the test 
of the strength of one's belief  is its 
influence upon our actions--where the   
test is practicable4 ,with  full belief 
one acts 8confidently0 7a significant   
verbal proposition672  in doubt1        
hesitatingly or cautiously2 in          
disbelief1 not at all1 or in  the sense 
of the contrary belief4 ,but we cannot  
always judge of a man's  beliefs from   
his actions2 for he may be actuated by  
several beliefs1  and we do not know    
what they are4 ,and popular actions that
 involve no  loss or hardship may       

express mere assent without belief4     
,there is a kind of imagination-belief1 
and the purest kind1 which has  nothing 
to do with evidence3 it is often called 
8make-believe0 or  8play-belief03 the   
entering into or contemplating some     
activity1 which  we know to have no     
direct bearing on our necessary         
interests1 with as  much ardour and     
absorption as if it were the only       
important thing in  the world3 as in    
games and sports1 especially in drama   
and romance4  ,this is one of the many  
things that do not astonish because they
 are  so common2 and the usual 7and     
probably the true7 explanation of it is1
  that this state of mind is of the     
utmost utility in giving zest to  play1 
especially during youth4 ,for many      
animals share in this spirit2  and the  
young of the higher animals1 which enjoy
 a long protected  youth1 pass the time 
chiefly at play1 and thereby develop and
 train  all their faculties1 physical   
and mental4 ,it somewhat outlasts youth 

in many animals1 and conspicuously in   
ourselves1 some having nothing  better  
to do 7and they might do worse71 and    
others relieving from time  to time the 
strain or tedium of work and1 in some   
sort1 prolonging  youth into middle age2
 till play becomes gradually less       
engrossing4    ,this play-belief depends
 entirely upon imaginative excitement2  
and it  shows that the attitude of      
belief may be adopted voluntarily1 or   
fall  upon us 7as it were7 by surprise  
and maintain itself for a time in  great
 strength3 with many at a melodrama it  
runs to anxiety1 weeping  and anguish2  
and this not only without evidence1 but 
in spite of the  knowledge that this is 
,london1 whose magistrates would never  
permit  such doings3 only one forgets   
,london1 with all its dull conventions  
of  law and order4 ,attention is        
engrossed by the play4    ,play-belief  
has the same traits as were said above  
to mark  superstitions3 7#a7 it becomes 
active on occasions1 and otherwise      

disappears2 7#b7 it is always modifiable
 for convenience or by a change  of     
taste2 7#c7 it loses its hold and tends 
to die out in a man as time  goes on2   
7#d7 it is strengthened by the assent of
 an excited crowd2 7#e7  the objects of 
such beliefs are very variable4 ,we     
shall find that in  other ways there is 
a close alliance between superstition   
and play4  ,but1 certainly1 superstition
 has a much deeper hold upon our nature2
  for it not only excites fear and      
anxiety1 but itself is born of those    
passions3 the desire of security and    
confidence1 the dread of impending  and 
unknown perils1 these are its life and  
strength4 ,so that the wonder  is that  
superstitions are not more enduring4    
,and the truth seems to be  that the    
tendency to adopt superstitions does    
endure at a certain level  of mentality1
 though particular superstitious beliefs
 are mutable2 just  as in the           
individual1 a disposition to play       
outlasts many particular  modes of      

recreation4    ,belief1 then1 is an     
attitude of mind in which we may find   
ourselves  for good reasons1 or for bad 
reasons1 or for none at all2 sometimes  
even slipping into it voluntarily or    
involuntarily when we know the          
situation is unreal2 indeed1 an attitude
 in which1 in play or earnest1  we pass 
our lives1 unless something happens to  
arouse doubt or  criticism4       #d4   
,,causes ,,and ,,grounds ,,of ,,belief  
,the source1 direct or indirect1 of all 
belief is perception4 ,in  perception   
must be included1 for subjective        
studies1 introspection2  though being   
difficult to keep steady1 to repeat and 
to compare with  the observation of     
other minds1 it carries less conviction4
 ,as to  perception we say that 8seeing 
is believing02 and1 in fact1 an object  
holds the eye in a way that vouches for 
its own reality2 but1 if we  suspect    
that our eyes deceive us1 reassurance   
comes with the handling  of the thing4  
,belief has sometimes been discussed as 

if it were  chiefly concerned with ideas
 or the relations of ideas2 and systems 
of philosophy have sought justification 
in the coherence of ideas1  with little 
or no regard 7not to say with contempt7 
for the coherence  of ideas with        
perceptions4 ,but nearly the whole of   
every man's life  7savage or            
philosopher7 passes in an attitude of   
unquestioning belief  in the evidence of
 his senses2 and it is thence that      
belief extends  to ideas on a           
presumption of their representing       
reality4 ,we know that  a perception may
 be fallible1 but perceptions and the   
comparison of  perceptions in the long  
run overrule everything else2 and       
experimental  methods consist in taking 
precautions against the errors of       
perception1  and in bringing every      
hypothesis to the test of perception4   
,further causes of belief are either    
,evidentiary1 which 7though often       
misleading7 may generally be justified  
on reflection as raising  some degree of

 probability1 and which may1 therefore1 
be called  8grounds02 or                
,non-evidentiary1 which 7though very    
influential7 cannot1  on reflection1 be 
justified as having any logical value1  
and are1  therefore1 causes only and not
 grounds4    7#a7 ,evidentiary grounds  
of belief are 7a7 memory1 which is      
plainly  indispensable if we are to     
learn by experience2 and 7b7 testimony1 
which must be trusted if language is not
 to be useless and social  co-operation 
impossible3 both these grounds are      
supposed to rest  upon the primary rock 
of previous perception1 but are slippery
 and  treacherous4 ,memory is only valid
 so far as it truthfully represents     
original experience1 and testimony only 
so far as it presents 7i7  a valid      
memory1 7ii7 correctly reported4 ,hence 
in serious matters  precautions must be 
taken against their fallibility3        
otherwise they  are not good evidence4  
,a specious memory1 so far as it is     
false1 is  imagination2 and false       

testimony1 so far as it reports 7i7 a   
false  memory or 7ii7 an invention of   
the reporter1 is also imagination4      
,testimony gathers force1 as a cause of 
belief1 with the numbers and            
consideration of those who support it1  
and is especially strengthened  by their
 unanimity2 but1 as a ground of belief1 
it depends only on  their knowledge and 
truthfulness4 ,a third ground of belief 
is 7c7  inference2 which is necessary to
 all original adjustment of our conduct 
to the future or to unperceived         
circumstances1 but highly fallible1  and
 constituting the chief problem for the 
exercise of ,logic when  that science   
arises3 especially to explain the       
conditions of valid  observations and   
experiments1 of probability1 of the     
conclusion of  an argument being covered
 by its premises1 and of the sufficiency
 of  verification4 ,false inferences    
that cannot be verified are             
imaginations4    ,as the growing mind of
 society deals with true beliefs they   

are piled  up and classified in systems 
of science and philosophy3 in which     
systems each belief or judgment         
strengthens and is strengthened by  the 
rest4 ,even without systematisation1 the
 mere structural similarity  of         
judgments1 formed unconsciously on the  
same implicit principles of  causation  
and classification1 throws them into    
those loose apperceptive  masses which  
we call 8common sense40 ,such systems or
 masses1 whether  of science or of      
common sense1 readily assimilate and    
confirm new  inferences having the same 
character1 and offer resistance to all  
inferences having a different structure1
 such as those about magic  and spirits4
 ,the selective power of these          
apperceptive masses over  novel ideas   
constitutes 8understanding10 and is the 
plain solid man's  substitute for       
,logic2 and so it is with many          
scientists1 who often  neglect the      
abstract study of ,logic4 ,for these    
systems or masses of  experience are the

 substance of ,logic and ,methodology1  
which are their  skeletons abstracted   
from them4 ,they are the basis of all   
effective  comparison and criticism2    
agreement or disagreement with them is  
the  test of truth or error4 ,it is the 
chief defect of common sense that the   
verification of its judgments depends   
almost entirely upon repetition  of     
experiences 7what ,logicians call       
8simple enumeration071 without that     
analysis of observations which alone can
 show the necessary relations  of facts2
 but this defect is in some measure     
remedied in good minds  by that power of
 unformulated ideas of natural order1   
the result of  unconscious analysis1    
which we call 8good judgment0--a power  
which the  fortunate possessor may be   
unable to explain4    7#b7              
,non-evidentiary causes of belief are   
all reducible to bad  observations1     
imaginations1 and the causes that excite
 imagination2 and  bad observations are 
caused by false imaginations as to the  

meaning  of sense-data4 ,if it should   
seem to any one that since imagination  
consists of ideas it must be by nature  
incompatible with intense  belief1 we   
must consider that memory1 the effects  
of testimony1 and  inferences also      
consist entirely of ideas2 so that in   
that character  they do not differ from 
imagination4 ,even perception depends   
for  its meaning upon implicit ideas1   
and erroneous perception is due to      
erroneous ideas4 ,the weakness of       
imagination-belief which 7despite its   
frequent intensity7 always in time      
becomes manifest1 is due to its not     
being constantly confirmed by           
experience4    ,in detail the           
non-evidentiary causes of belief are as 
follows3 7a7  not only the truths of    
experience become massed or systematised
  in common sense and science1 but the  
errors of misinterpreted  experience and
 tradition form similar aggregates4     
,coincidences  mistaken for causation1  
illusions1 dreams1 tales of thaumaturgy 

and ghost-stories1 so far as they have  
anything in common in their  outlines or
 emotional tone1 form apperceptive      
masses which function  in the same way  
as scientific systems3 each of their    
constituent  beliefs strengthens and is 
strengthened by the rest2 and each mass 
7as a delusive 8understanding07 readily 
assimilates and confirms any  new tale  
or illusion having its own character1   
and resists and repels  every judgment  
having a different structure--and1      
therefore1 refuses  explanation4 ,and   
just as science and common sense have a 
sort of  internal skeleton of principles
 which has been exhibited as ,logic1 so 
some of these comparatively obscure and 
chaotic masses of illusion  and         
tradition contain certain structural    
principles which1 though  unconscious at
 the lowest human level1 obtain         
recognition as culture  advances--for   
example1 the principles of mimetic and  
contagious magic2  and then1 too1 arise 
such caricatures of science as          

theogonies and  cosmologies1 chiromancy1
 astrology and so forth4 ,but nothing   
ever  emerges from them that can be     
called a test of truth or methodology2  
much less1 of course1 can such a thing  
be found at lower levels of  culture4   
,there you see the accumulating clouds  
of imagination-belief1  which gather    
together from all the winds and pile    
themselves up to  overshadow poor       
humanity age after age2 which still1 in 
our own world1  are by no means         
dissipated2 and to whose persistent     
influence we may 7,i  suppose7 attribute
 the mysticism that periodically infects
 philosophy  itself4    7b7             
,contributory to these masses of error  
are bad observations1  confused and     
distorted memories1 dreams and corrupted
 testimony and  tradition1 all of them  
having their origin in some sort of     
experience  and matter-of-fact1 and all 
issuing in vain imaginations4 ,for of   
course  there is no such thing as       
imagination underived from experience2  

experience is distorted and corrupted by
 superstition1 but it  transfers to     
superstition the attitude of belief that
 always belongs  to experience1 and     
supplies materials from which 7as we    
shall see7 it  is often possible to     
construct such a defence of superstition
 as1 to  an unsophisticated mind1 must  
be very plausible and persuasive4#hf    
,direct experience is often interpreted 
by a story in such a way as  to make the
 story more credible4 ,if a stone is    
shown as marking the  tomb of a hero1 or
 a cleft in the mountain as proving the 
prowess of a  wizard1 one unconsciously 
transfers the attitude of belief        
involved in  contemplating these relics 
to all the legends concerning those     
mighty  men of old4    7c7 ,the causes  
determining belief are reinforced in    
various ways  by feeling and emotion4   
,the agreeableness or disagreeableness  
of any  judgment draws attention to1 or 
diverts it from such a judgment and the 
evidence for it3 except that some       

disagreeable emotions1 especially  fear1
 by a sort of fascination of attention1 
are favourable to belief  in the reality
 of an imagined evil4 ,they possess the 
whole mind4    7d7 ,every desire fixes  
attention upon beliefs favourable to it1
  and upon any evidence favourable to   
them1 and diverts attention from        
conflicting beliefs and considerations4 
,thus every desire readily forms  about 
itself a relatively isolated mass of    
beliefs1 which resists  comparison and1 
therefore 7as ,ribot says71#hg does not 
recognise the  principle of             
contradiction4 ,incompatible desires may
 be cherished  without our becoming     
aware of their incompatibility2 or1 if  
the fact  obtrudes itself upon us1 we   
repudiate it and turn away4    ,the more
 immature a mind1 again1 and the less   
knowledge it has1 the  less inhibition  
of desire is exerted by foresight of    
consequences that  ought to awaken      
conflicting desires or fears2 and the   
less compassion  one has1 the less is   

desire inhibited by its probable        
consequences to  others3 therefore1 in  
both cases1 the less check there is upon
 belief4    7e7 ,voluntary action in    
connection with any belief1 whether of a
  rational kind or in the routine of    
rites and ceremonies1 favours that      
belief3 7#a7 by establishing the        
idea-circuit of means and end1 the  end 
suggesting the means to it1 and the     
thought of means running  forward to the
 end--a circuit that resists            
interruption3 7#b7 by the  general      
effect of habit and prejudice2 for every
 habit of action or of  thought has     
inertia1 and1 moreover1 it is agreeable1
 and to break it is  disagreeable2 so   
that1 again1 a relatively isolated      
system is formed1  which resists        
comparison and criticism4    ,on the    
influence of desire and of activities   
for an end depends 8the  will to        
believe40 ,we cannot believe anything by
 directly willing it2  but we can will  
what to attend to1 or what to do1 and   

that determines  belief4    7f7         
,finally1 belief is determined by       
certain social influences  besides      
testimony and tradition3 especially by  
sympathy and antipathy  between         
families1 parties1 tribes2 and by       
imitativeness and  suggestibility       
7qualified fortunately by               
contra-suggestibility72 so  that beliefs
 become fashionable1 endemic1 coercive1 
impassioned and  intolerant4 ,the power 
of a crowd to inflict its passions and  
beliefs  upon the individual has        
recently been much explained3 it has    
always  been practically understood by  
wizards1 priests and politicians who    
lead mankind by the ears4               
,suggestibility1 in general1 is the     
liability  to follow example or         
testimony without criticising it2 and   
for many  people it is so easy to fall  
into the attitude of belief upon slight 
provocation1 that this liability1 to the
 extent of weakness1 is very  common4   
,contra-suggestibility in general is the

 opposite tendency4  ,but special       
suggestibility 7,i should say7 is the   
liability to adopt a  belief on         
testimony not only in the absence of    
evidence1 but against  evidence2 and    
contra-suggestibility is the liability  
to reject a belief  against the         
evidence4 ,they are merely extreme      
cases4 ,if you draw two  equal straight 
lines1 ,a and ,b1 and say1 8,it seems to
 me that ,b is  longer than ,a10 one    
person will reply 8,certainly10 another 
8,certainly  not2 ,a is the longer40    
,the art of suggestion consists in      
reducing  your audience to this state of
 imbecility2 it requires you to bring   
them into such a condition of exclusive 
attention to your words that1           
comparison and criticism being excluded1
 their natural disposition to  assent   
shall 7for the time7 have free play4    
,the specially suggestible  person is   
easily thrown into this state of        
exclusive attention1 as if  hypnotised4 
,he who is suggestible by one man may   

not be so by another2  or he may be more
 suggestible in the line of his         
prejudices than  against them4       #e4
 ,,the ,,beliefs ,,of ,,immature ,,minds
    ,all these grounds and causes of    
belief1 evidentiary and non-evidentiary 
7except ,logic and ,science7 are common 
to both mature and immature  minds3 but 
their proportional influence with       
individuals or with  societies is very  
different at different stages of        
development2 and  in immature minds and 
in the lower stages of culture1 the     
power of  the non-evidentiary causes is 
excessive4 ,probably the chief cause of 
the growth of common sense in the       
generality of men is an increasing      
regularity of social life1 as 7notably7 
in the bloom of the classical           
civilisations and in the last four      
hundred years4    ,perception1 in normal
 circumstances1 is accepted by all as a 
matter  of course or1 rather1 of        
necessity3 it controls the activities of
  practical life in hunting and in      

industry1 in making weapons1 hoeing  the
 ground1 building houses3 however1 these
 labours may sometimes be  modified or  
interrupted by the intrusion of beliefs 
derived from other  sources4 ,if a      
savage sings a spell to his prey1 or    
weapon1 or tool1 or  keeps the head of a
 slain enemy on a shelf that his        
victim's soul may  assist him as a      
slave1 he may thereby increase his own  
confidence in  the work of hunting or   
gardening2 but1 otherwise1 if his work  
be no  better1 neither need it be the   
worse for such fancies4 ,the properties 
of matter exact practical recognition1  
without which nothing can be  done4     
,even magical practices presuppose a    
sane perception of the  central facts3  
as who is acting1 for what purpose1 when
 and where1  with what and toward whom4 
,upon this basis there may be an        
astonishing  superstructure of          
imagination-belief2 but there are limits
 to the  effectiveness of such beliefs4 
,m4 ,levy-,bruhl1 indeed1 in a very     

interesting book1 maintains#hh that1    
under the influence of social ideas     
7reprsentations collectives71  the      
primitive mind actually perceives things
 differently from what  we do4 ,whilst  
we succeed in attaining an objective    
presentation1  eliminating subjective   
associations1 with primitives proprits  
mystique1 forces occultes are integral  
qualities of the object4 ,he  grants    
that1 in certain cases of immediate     
practical interest1 we find  them very  
attentive and able to discriminate      
slight impressions1 and to  recognise   
the external signs of an object on which
 their subsistence  or even their life  
depends2 but holds that1 in a very great
 majority  of cases1 their perceptions  
are over-weighted by subjective         
elements4  ,this doctrine reverses 7,i  
venture to think7 the real relations    
between  perceptions and other causes of
 belief and their proportionate         
influence in savage life4 ,it is not    
only where subsistence or life  is at   

stake that backward peoples see things  
as they are3 in merely  experimental    
tests1 ,dr4 ,rivers found amongst both  
,papuans and ,todas1  that1 as to       
suggestibility in perception1 they      
showed a high degree  of independence of
 judgment4#hi ,their confidence in      
perception is  not1 like                
imagination-belief1 occasional1         
modifiable for convenience1  liable to  
lapse in course of time1 dependent on   
the assent of a crowd4  ,so far as      
occult or mystical attributes are by a  
savage assigned to  things1 such as     
magical force to a weapon1 they         
constitute a secondary1  imaginary      
integration with the percept4 ,such     
imaginary attributes  cannot1 like      
perception attributes1 be verified by   
sensation3 compare  the hardness of a   
spearhead with its magical force4       
,the peculiarity of savage beliefs is   
due1 not to corrupt and clouded         
perception1 but to the influence of     
desire and anxiety upon their           

imagination1 unrestrained by            
self-criticism and reinforced by the    
popular consensus4 ,the savage's        
imagination is excited by the  pressing 
needs of his life in hunting1 love1 war1
 agriculture1 and  therefore by hunger  
and emulation1 hate and grief1 fear and 
suspicion4  ,imaginations spring up in  
his mind by analogy with experience2 but
  often by remote or absurd analogies2  
and there is no logic at hand  and not  
enough common sense to distinguish the  
wildest imaginative  analogies from     
trustworthy conclusions4 ,the same      
pressing needs and the  same emotional  
storms often affect a whole tribe1 and  
simultaneously  stimulate every one's   
imagination2 and originating 7no doubt7 
in  ancient times and slowly            
accumulating and condensing1 there grows
 up a  mass of public                   
imagination-beliefs1 which are          
inculcated into every  individual by    
tradition and common ceremonies4 ,such  
beliefs embodied  in stories and formul1

 and associated with rites and customs1 
have  for a long time the strength of   
custom in governing the behaviour  of   
individuals and in tribal respect2 but  
they prove at last to be  weaker than   
custom1 inasmuch as the observances may 
continue whilst  the beliefs are        
forgotten or replaced by others1 as the 
progress of  culture makes it necessary 
to think of the old rites in a different
  way4 ,in their flourishing period they
 extensively influence practical        
affairs1 sometimes helpfully or         
harmlessly1 sometimes injuriously and   
disastrously4 ,in general1 imaginations 
are prevented by biological  necessity  
from modifying a tribe's conduct beyond 
certain limits2 but1  exceptionally1    
they result in tribal insanity1 tending 
toward1 if not  accomplishing1 the      
tribe's destruction1 as in extreme cases
 of the  practice of human sacrifice or 
of the ordeal by poison4    ,indeed1 so 
violent and tyrannous is the power of   
superstitious beliefs  in many cases1   

that it may be difficult to understand  
how they are  almost entirely born of   
the imagination4 ,in a civilised country
 there  are always current some beliefs 
as imaginative and absurd as any to  be 
found in the middle of ,africa2 but     
surviving amidst a greater mass  of     
perception-beliefs and positive ideas   
about industry and commerce1  they have 
lost much of their driving power2 and   
when the imaginative  character of any  
belief has been recognised1 it passes   
into the region  of fine art or         
mythology1 or even of ridicule4 ,if such
 things have any  place in our life1 we 
turn to them of personal choice in the  
intervals  of affairs4 ,under the       
influence of the fine arts or of        
literature  treating of such things1 our
 emotional states may be intense2 but   
they are dissociated from action1 exist 
for their own sake1 have an  appropriate
 tone 7sthetic7 which marks their lack  
of energy1 so  that they require only an
 imaginary satisfaction4 ,with a        

backward  people there is much less     
8positive0 opposition to their          
imaginative  prepossessions and         
pursuits2 what seems to us absurd1 seems
 to them  necessary2 the actions and    
observances that express their beliefs  
are  not performed as a matter of       
personal choice1 but of public custom2  
the  ends to be obtained 7they think7   
are the same as those of what we call   
8business40 ,and it must be so4         
,considering the function of            
superstition  in promoting political    
evolution1 it is plain that primitive   
man must  have been capable of believing
 and doing those things which 7within   
certain limits7 had so much biological  
and social value4    ,to understand how 
the magical and religious beliefs of    
savages and the  play-beliefs of        
civilised man1 having a common source in
 imagination1  are 7in spite of strong  
contrasts7 closely allied1 we must call 
to mind  the many degrees of intensity  
of play-belief in ourselves1 varying    

from the momentary entertainment of     
playing with a child1 through many      
grades of fiction or ceremony1 down to a
 deeply serious frame of mind1  a       
profound movement of dread or compassion
 that may long outlast our  play4 ,a    
child's absorption in such beliefs is   
more intense than ours2  but            
circumstances prevent his attaining to  
the solid faith of a savage4  ,the child
 of civilised people has little or no   
support in tradition  7except from      
nursemaids72 he is not driven by the    
desires and anxieties  of subsistence2  
and he is frequently interrupted by his 
seniors4 ,the  savage has an            
overwhelming tradition and authority1   
pressing anxieties  and no seniors4     
,until the civilised sceptic reaches his
 shores1 there  is1 for the average     
tribesman1 nothing but tardy experience 
or social  fatigue to check his         
vagaries4 ,his imagination vies with the
 sense of  reality1 often overpowers it2
 yet his beliefs show many signs of     

their  insecure foundations4            
99       99       99       99       99  
,it is not only the influence of society
 and tradition that renders             
imagination-beliefs coercive to a       
savage2 in the immature mind of the     
individual there are certain conditions 
favourable to their prevalence4    7a7  
,the process of imagination itself1 the 
memory and the  picture-thinking of     
savages1 seems to be more vivid1        
sensuous1 stable1  more like perception 
than our own normally is4 8,the         
,australians10  says ,spencer and       
,gillen1 8have the most wonderful       
imagination40#ij  ,they often die of it2
 and so do ,hindoo peasants1 ,maories1  
,fijians1  ,negroes and others1 if they 
know they have been cursed or have      
broken  a taboo4 ,with the ,melanesians1
 says ,dr4 ,coddrington1 thinking is    
like  seeing2#ia and ,dr4 ,rivers has   
confirmed this statement4 ,hence there  
is  a tendency to accept imaginations as
 perceptions are accepted2 and to       

believe in the efficacy of rites1       
because the mere performing of them     
with an imagined purpose makes their    
purpose seem to be accomplished4  ,when 
a man of intense and excited imagination
 makes an image of an  enemy1 and stabs 
it1 that his enemy may suffer1 his      
action gratifies  the impulse to stab1  
as if he wounded the enemy himself1 and 
revenge  seems to be a present fact4    
,similar intensity of imagination is    
found  in civilised children--greater   
than in ordinary adults4 ,savages1      
again1 seem to dream more vividly and   
convincingly than is usual  amongst     
ourselves1 and are said to be more      
liable to hallucinations4               
,physiological conditions of the        
immature brain 7childish or savage71  in
 which excitement does not rapidly      
spread through many associated          
neurones1 may be the basis of the       
vividness of imagination1 dreaming  and 
hallucination4    7b7 ,but more         
important than any intensity of         

picture-thinking to  the growth and     
persistence of imagination-beliefs1 is  
the want of a  mental standard1 by which
 they might be discredited4 ,it is true 
that  even at a low level of culture    
individuals are found for whom common   
sense constitutes a private standard1   
and who are sceptics in relation  to    
their tribal beliefs4#ib ,but such a    
private standard cannot be              
communicated1 and for the great majority
 of the tribesmen common  sense is no   
confident guide2 and perhaps they are   
even incapable of  effectively comparing
 their ideas4 ,at any rate1 one reason  
why we  believe our memories and not our
 imaginations is that1 whilst in  both  
cases the images 7or elements of images7
 entering into them are  derived from   
experience1 in memory the relations of  
images in place1  time and context are  
also derived directly from experience2  
whereas in  imagination images 7or their
 elements7 are reconstructed in         
relations  in which they have never been

 experienced1 by analogies of experience
  7often distorted7 or by condensations 
the most capricious4 ,therefore1  to    
make imaginations credible to us1 even  
in play1 the relations of  experience   
must be faithfully imitated1 as 7e4 g47 
in ,robinson  ,crusoe2 or else our      
emotions must be so strongly excited as 
to possess  our minds with the fiction  
to the exclusion of all criticism4 ,but 
with  immature minds observation of     
fact1 outside the practical1 repetitive1
  necessary course of life1 is not exact
 and coherent2 and1 accordingly1  their 
memories are not coherent1 especially as
 to time-relations2 so  that1 by        
comparison with such memories1 irregular
 imaginations suffer  little4 ,there is 
not enough orderly memory or general    
knowledge to  discredit even absurd     
imaginations2 for so far as observation 
and  memory are disorderly1             
generalisation1 conscious or            
unconscious1 is  impossible4 ,hence not 
only traditionary myths may be monstrous

 and  arbitrary1 but occasional tales of
 private invention1 amongst both        
children and savages1 usually exhibit   
disconnected transitions and  impossible
 happenings4 ,yet they satisfy the      
immature mind4    7c7 ,there are certain
 other conditions of the immature mind  
that  hinder the comparison of ideas    
and1 therefore1 the criticism of        
beliefs4 ,about every imperative need1  
such as success in hunting1 with  its   
desires and anxieties1 rites and        
ceremonies grow up to gratify           
imaginatively the desires and relieve   
the anxieties2 and ideas of  these      
observances form relatively isolated    
systems4 ,to us these ideas  usually    
seem absurd and irrelevant when compared
 with the savage's own  experiences and 
his other practices4 ,we see a hunter1  
for example1  endeavour to gain his ends
 by two distinct series of actions4 ,in 
one  he fasts1 enchants his weapons1    
casts spells upon his expected prey2  in
 the other he carefully prepares his    

weapons1 patiently tracks his  prey1    
warily approaches and slays it4 ,the    
latter series we approve  and appreciate
 as causation2 the former we ridicule as
 hocus-pocus1  contributing objectively 
nothing to the event 7though probably it
  increases his confidence72 and we pity
 8the heathen in his blindness40  ,and1 
indeed1 he may be said to be mind-blind2
 for in observing the  rites1 his       
attention is so occupied by means and   
end1 and caught in the  circuit in which
 these ideas revolve1 and he is so      
earnest in carrying  out the prescribed 
actions1 that he cannot compare them    
with the really  effective actions1 so  
as to discover their absurdity and      
irrelevancy4  ,in short1 a state of     
mental dissociation is established for  
the system  of magical ideas4 ,so far   
does illusion go that he seems to regard
  the rites as the most important part  
of his proceedings4 ,but that is  not   
really his deepest conviction3 he trusts
 in ,magic and keeps his  bowstring dry4

    7d7 ,in the case of children we may 
assume1 and in the more backward  races 
of men we may suspect1 that the         
comparison of judgments is  difficult1  
or sometimes even impossible1 because of
 the imperfect  development of the      
cerebral cortex4 ,there must be some    
structural  conditions of the free flow 
of energy through all organs of the     
brain1  corresponding with the          
associability and comparability of all  
ideas4  ,we may doubt if these          
conditions are complete even in good    
cultivated  minds2 since everybody finds
 one or another study or art especially 
difficult for him1 or the freeing of    
himself from this or that sort  of      
prejudice especially repugnant4 ,and it 
is not only deliberate  comparison that 
is hindered in the immaturity of the    
brain1 but also  that automatic process 
7more or less unconscious7 of           
assimilation  and discrimination to     
which 7,i think7 we owe most of the     
results of  abstraction and             

generalisation that may seem to have    
required purposive  comparison4 ,such   
imperfections of structure1 greatest at 
the lowest  levels of organisation1 and 
gradually decreasing as ideal           
rationality  is approached1 we may call 
8incordination02 and1 so far as it      
obtains1  the results must be somewhat  
similar to the discordination1 the      
breaking down or interruption of organic
 efficiency1 that occurs in  hysteria1  
hypnosis and some forms of insanity4    
,one of the results  probably is        
suggestibility--the tendency to accept  
what is told1  or insinuated1 without   
examination2 for freedom from this      
common  liability depends 7apart from   
the contra-suggestible disposition7 upon
  the rapidity and definiteness with    
which one can compare that which  is    
suggested with present fact or with     
one's knowledge and former  experience2 
and this is hindered by incordination4  
,effective incordination may1 however1  
be merely functional for want  of       

practice in thinking2 and it exists     
often enough in civilised  people1      
because they have not even the desire to
 be consistent4 ,in  either case1       
whether from defective structure or from
 the dull inertia  of disuse1 there will
 be failure of comparison and1          
therefore1 of  criticism1 and also 7we  
may suppose7 a greater intensity of     
imagination  and of dreaming and a      
liability to hallucination1 such as is  
said to be  frequently the case with    
immature minds4       #f4 ,,the         
,,reasoning ,,of ,,immature ,,minds     
,we have seen that many beliefs result  
from inferences1 and that  inferences1  
when logically justifiable1 may be      
considered as grounds  7raising some    
degree of probability72 but1 when not   
justifiable1  they are only causes of   
belief and their results are only       
imagination-beliefs4 ,since the general 
nature of reasoning is the same  for    
,socrates and ,sambo1 we must inquire   
into the particular nature of  the      

reasoning which leads immature minds    
into such bewildering mazes of  error as
 we see 7for example7 in the world-wide 
prevalence of ,magic and  ,animism4     
,on the inductive side of knowledge 7the
 obtaining of premises7 there  is1 of   
course1 much imperfect observation and  
hasty generalisation2  but1 in spite of 
these faults1 a savage learns by        
repeated experiences  a great many      
narrow general truths about the physical
 world1 plants1  animals and his        
fellow-men1 which constitute his stock  
of common sense  and on the strength of 
which he lives as a very intelligent    
animal4 ,we  shall find from time to    
time errors of observation 7such as the 
taking  of a dream for reality7 and of  
generalisation 7such as the classing of 
worms with reptiles72 but1 strictly     
speaking1 this is not reasoning3  all   
reasoning is deductive1 and the immature
 mind's deductive processes  need a     
fuller analysis4    ,our ,logic consists
 of a few universal principles generally

 accepted1  with which any more         
particular judgment may be compared in  
order  to test its validity4 ,the matter
 may be superficially acquired in  a few
 hours2 but the full comprehension of it
 implies the widest  comparison of types
 of judgment from all departments of    
knowledge3  ,logic being 7as ,i have    
said7 a sort of skeleton of knowledge4  
,hence  in any mind incapable of        
comparison and criticism--or so far as  
it  is incapable--there must be an      
absence of ,logic4 ,so much effective   
comparison of experience1 however1 goes 
on without our specially  attending to  
it that a man's logical power bears no  
proportion to  his investigations into  
the structure of knowledge4 ,one man may
 be a  great student of ,logic and a    
very inefficient reasoner from a want   
of discipline in the world of fact2     
another1 who has never opened a         
text-book1 may yet show by the          
definiteness of his judgments and the   
adequacy of his plans1 that he is a sort

 of incarnate ,logic1 that his  mind    
works according to reason or 7in other  
words7 according to the  order of facts4
 ,it is the highest manifestation of    
common sense4 ,such  men occur among    
backward peoples4    ,the only universal
 principles that need be considered here
 are the ,law  of ,causation and the    
,form of ,substance and ,attribute      
7,mill's doctrine  of ,natural ,kinds73 
which may be called the principles of   
parallel  reasoning2 because the greater
 part of ordinary reasoning consists in 
drawing some inference parallel to one  
or the other of them1 usually  in some  
restricted shape4 ,for example1 a       
restriction of causation is  the        
proposition that 8exposure to intense   
daylight causes sun-burn10  of substance
 and attribute that 8the specific       
gravity of gold is  about #aie03 whence 
we infer that if we expose ourselves to 
sunlight  our faces or hands will       
suffer1 or that any piece of gold will  
be  relatively very heavy4 ,but in such 

cases erroneous inferences are  easy3   
for example1 to expect that exposure to 
,london sunshine will  cause sunburn2   
for there the foul atmosphere cuts off  
the actinic  rays3 or to expect that a  
lump of brass will have specific gravity
  #aie4 ,a necessary precaution before  
trusting an inference1 therefore1  is   
the ascertaining that the inference     
deals with the very same sort  of case  
as the premise describes3 else there is 
no complete parallel4  ,and ,logicians  
show in the form of the syllogism this  
necessary  precaution--to use their     
favourite example in a case of          
,substance and  ,attribute3      ,major 
premise--,all men are mortal2    ,minor 
premise--,socrates is a man2            
,conclusion--,socrates is mortal4       
,the conclusion ,socrates is ,mortal is 
parallel to the major premise  ,all men 
are mortal2 and that it deals with the  
very same sort of case  is secured by   
the minor premise1 ,socrates is a man4  
,whoever reasons  must see to it that   

this premise is true4 ,but the savage   
has never  noticed that necessity2 and  
thence come most of his errors4    ,the 
syllogism 7it is now admitted7 does not 
describe the way in which  we reason1   
but is only a form which gives some help
 in testing the  validity of reasoning  
if one should ever think of doing such a
 thing4  ,in practice we do not think   
first of the major premise1 then of the 
minor premise and lastly of the         
conclusion4 ,as a rule we do not think  
of either premise at all3 the           
8conclusion0 comes first to mind4 ,in   
certain circumstances of association1   
because of our hopes or our  fears1 it  
occurs to us that 8,socrates is mortal40
 ,if some one should  doubt this        
judgment and ask for proof1 we might    
think of the major  premise1 and then   
put it into words for the first         
time--8,all men die20  even then it     
might not seem necessary to add that    
8,socrates is a man40  ,but although we 
may not have been at the time aware of  

these premises  until we were asked for 
them1 their presence in the mind in some
 way  was necessary to determine the    
inference3 the major premise was there  
as latent memory of one or more cases of
 people who had died2 the minor  premise
 was represented by the assimilation of 
the case of ,socrates to  those cases of
 mortal men4 ,the former experiences    
have left an engram1  which serves as a 
mould into which subsequent experience  
may run1 and  which conceivably may     
determine subsequent judgments even     
though the  former experiences can no   
longer be remembered4    ,the phrase    
8form of thought0 is most used for      
premises of high  generality1 such as   
the axioms of mathematics1 causation1   
substance  and attribute1 space in three
 dimensions2 and1 undoubtedly1 these are
  forms which determine the lines of all
 thinking to which they are  relevant2  
but they would be useless1 if there were
 not1 under them1  forms established in 
very concrete material by the repetition

 of simple  experiences and ordinary    
events 7or even by single impressive    
events71  such as 8men are mortal10     
8water quenches fire10 which determine  
the  lines of common-sense judgments4   
,if there has been an experiential      
judgment--,x is related to ,y1 when ,x  
again appears it is expected to be      
related to ,y4    ,amongst savages also1
 of course1 experience settles in their 
minds  such forms of thought2 both the  
most general ones1 which they never     
formulate but which necessarily control 
their thoughts1 and many  particular    
ones concerning the experience of daily 
life2 which last  control the details of
 their thoughts1 and for practical      
purposes are  true2 but which1 through  
ignorance of the minor premise1 are     
allowed  to assimilate many judgments of
 a very different nature4 ,thus1 ,x     
being known to be related to ,y1 they   
are apt to infer that things  that are  
like ,x1 or which they suppose to be    
like ,x1 are also in the  same way      

related to ,y2 and this is disastrous4  
,in civilised life1  most occupations   
are so mechanical1 and the general      
tradition is so  positive1 that there is
 little encouragement to think nonsense2
 so that  the average man reasons       
tolerably about simple matters without  
having  heard of the minor premise2 but 
the savage's life is much less regular1 
and less fully occupied1 and the        
tradition is full of magic and ghosts4  
,accordingly1 he is always ready to     
think about magic and ghosts2 and  since
 his thoughts about such things can only
 run in the mould of his  experiences   
7with some playroom for amplification1  
distortion and  condensation71 whilst he
 is also ignorant of the function of the
 minor  premise1 he seems to draw often 
from a very sound major premise a very  
absurd conclusion4 ,for the minor       
premise is an invention of ,logicians   
7perhaps their greatest73 it does not   
occur to cursory1 but only to  critical 
thought4    ,for example1 a savage      

judges that to put a lock of a man's    
hair in the  fire injures and may       
destroy him3 how comes he to think so8  
,he has  learnt by experience that for a
 man to put his hand in the fire1 or  to
 fall into it1 hurts him2 and this      
supplies the mould in which his         
inference about the lock of hair is     
cast4 ,similarly1 he is apt to judge    
that to throw a man's image into the    
fire hurts him and may destroy  him2 and
 this clearly rests upon the same       
experience4 ,his reasoning  assumes the 
minor premise that 7for the purpose of  
his revenge7 a  separated part of a man1
 or his image1 is the same as the man   
himself2  and this assumption is made   
explicit in the famous maxims of ,magic1
  that in rites1 whatever has been in   
contact with a man--or that any         
likeness of a man--may be substituted   
for him4 ,but the generalisation  of    
these maxims is left for an advanced    
stage of culture2 the savage1  who acts 
as if he held them1 has never thought   

of1 much less formulated  them4 ,they   
are derived1 by later thought1 entirely 
from an analysis of  his conduct in     
magic4 ,what the causes are that        
determine him to act as  if he accepted 
the maxims of ,magic will presently be  
discussed4#ic    ,there are certain     
other reasonings implied in savage      
practices1 where  the error lies not so 
much in the minor premise as in the     
minor term1  thus3 ,it is matter of     
experience that a sense of personal     
power and  elation is produced by       
dancing and singing2 and 7perhaps       
without  remembering such experience7 a 
savage infers that magical power is     
increased by the same means4 ,or1 again1
 it is matter of experience that  men   
eat and use solid food and weapons2 and 
a savage infers that ghosts  eat ghostly
 food and use ghostly weapons2 that is  
to say1 that where  food and spears are 
left at a tomb and remain untouched1 the
 ghost has  taken to himself the soul of
 these things which was his proper      

share4  ,now granting that there are    
such things as magical powers and       
ghosts1  the reasoning that identifies  
them respectively with physical power   
and  with men is1 for the purpose of the
 inference1 not unplausible2 with a     
liberal examiner the minor premises     
might pass4 ,but if magical powers  and 
ghosts do not exist1 the minor terms are
 imaginary4#id ,in short1  all these    
reasonings turn upon imaginations4 ,the 
experiential major  premises are true   
enough1 but the minor premises are      
illusory1 and as  it is a maxim with    
,logicians that the force of reasoning  
follows the  weaker premise1 the        
conclusion is illusory4 ,it is not in   
perception but  in imagination that a   
part is the same as the whole1 or that a
 likeness  is the same as the thing     
itself2 that magic controls events and  
that  ghosts haunt their sepulchres4    
,these reasonings are fallacious        
imitations of parallel inferences       
according to cause and effect2 but there

 are others of a kind peculiar  to      
imagination3 ,i mean reasonings by      
analogy--as when a ,zulu1 courting  the 
dusky fair1 chews a piece of wood1 in   
the expectation that1 as  the wood is   
reduced to pulp1 her heart1 too1 will be
 softened4 ,these  processes are not    
parallel2 there is no resemblance       
between a lady's  heart and a piece of  
wood1 nor between mastication and       
court-ship2 but  the relation involved1 
the softening process1 is felt to be the
 same in  both connections and1         
therefore1 the cases on the whole are   
thought to  be the same4 ,many rites and
 observances depend upon such           
analogies--for  this is the strict sense
 of analogy1 8like relations of unlike  
terms02  and they have a leading part in
 the formation of myths in which natural
  events are represented as personal    
relations--,apollo chasing the  ,dawn1  
and so forth4 ,and ,i formerly thought  
that such arguments as the  foregoing1  
in which the actions of ghosts are      

identified with those  of men1 or the   
sufferings of a part are equated with   
those of the  whole1 were examples of   
analogical reasoning2 for certainly1 the
 terms  involved are different3 a ghost1
 or an image1 or a nail-paring is not   
the same as a man4 ,but1 on reflection1 
,i see that though these terms  are     
really different1 that has nothing to do
 with the psychology of  the matter1 for
 they are conceived by the savage to be 
the same2 and1  therefore1 the inference
 is conceived as parallel to the        
experiential  ground 7even though this  
remain latent in consciousness74        
,analogical thought is now understood to
 be imaginative only1 and is  confined  
to the metaphors and similes of poetry  
or rhetoric2 though it  is not very long
 ago that it was seriously trusted in   
argument1 as in  defending absolute     
monarchy in the ,state by the examples  
of patriarchy  in the family1 and even  
by the supposed 8regiment0 of bees and  
quails  in their societies1 of the lion 

over beasts and of the eagle over birds4
    ,in this spirit1 ,malays1 having    
identified the life of the rice plant   
with human life1 regard the flowering   
rice as in its infancy1 and  proceed to 
feed it with pap3 and carry out the     
analogy at further  stages of its       
development4 ,similarly1 to facilitate  
childbirth1 or to  liberate the         
struggling soul of the dying1 it is a   
respected recipe  to untie all knots1   
unfasten all buttons1 unlock all doors1 
open all  windows2 for opening or       
loosing1 no matter what1 is always the  
same  process-relation4    ,these seem  
to be the chief modes of fallacious     
thinking--7#a7 false  parallels and 7#b7
 analogies--which mislead the untutored 
mind and give  to imagination-beliefs   
such coherence as they ever attain4 ,two
 accounts  of superstitious reasoning   
have been given by those who admit that 
savages reason at all2 one is that they 
reason correctly from absurd  premises2 
the other that they reason absurdly from

 correct premises4  ,if the foregoing   
analysis is sound1 there is some truth  
and some error  in both these doctrines4
 ,so far as primitive ratiocination is  
purely  analogical1 it is quite futile1 
whether its premises be true or false2  
for it cannot be cast in any admissible 
logical form4 ,so far as in             
superstition it imitates parallel       
reasoning1 according to cause and       
effect or substance and attribute1 the  
major premise is1 for the most  part1   
empirically true2 the minor premise is  
false2 and the conclusion  is a vain    
imagination4 ,there are three types of  
ratiocination3 7#a7  equations1 as in   
mathematics2 and here primitive man for 
a long time  got no further than the    
counting of things by his fingers and   
toes4  7#b7 ,parallels of premise and   
inference1 according to causation or    
substance and attribute1 as in the      
physical and natural sciences2  and here
 the savage collects by experience much 
common sense1 and by  inevitable        

fallacies much superstition4 7#c7       
,analogies of imagination4  ,the natural
 progress of reason consists in         
relegating analogies to  poetry and     
rhetoric2 in introducing greater and    
greater accuracy into  the judgments    
that serve as major premises1 and       
greater caution in  assuming minor      
premises2 at last1 in counting and      
measuring the facts  reasoned about1 and
 so preparing the beginnings of         
mathematical method4  ,such progress is 
promoted by the high biological value of
 greater  definiteness of thought4      
,immature man in the necessary practical
  life--which may be called the         
biological life--has many definite      
perceptions and judgments and           
well-adjusted actions2 outside that     
life1  in the region of superstitious   
observance1 he is not a rational1 but an
  imaginative animal4       #g4         
,,general ,,ideas ,,at ,,the ,,savage   
,,level    ,the language of savages is  
often wanting in names of classes of    

things for which names are with us a    
matter of course1 and it has  been      
supposed that those who use the language
 must be without the  corresponding     
general ideas4 ,thus it is reported that
 a tribe had a  name for each kind of   
tree but none for tree in general2      
another had  a name for coco-nuts at    
various stages of growth 7when they     
serve  different uses7 but none for     
coco-nut at all times3 therefore1 it is 
inferred1 they had no general idea of   
tree or of coco-nut4 ,a ,siberian       
example is still more remarkable4 ,the  
,tunguses depend entirely upon  reindeer
 for food1 clothes1 tents and           
locomotion1 and keep herds of  them2 yet
 they have no name for the animal4 ,but 
they have a name for  wild and another  
for tame reindeer2 a name for domestic  
reindeer that  have been broken in1 and 
another for the unbroken2 a name for the
  female fawn1 for the doe with young1  
for a doe with one fawn1 a doe in  the  
third year with two fawns2 a name for   

each age-class of buck1 and  so on4#ie  
,are we to infer that the ,tunguses have
 no general idea of  reindeer8    ,it   
was1 no doubt1 natural to assume that we
 first perceive individuals1  which now 
stand clearly before us1 and then1      
having compared them1  arrive at general
 ideas4 ,but if knowledge grows by the  
assimilation  and differentiation of    
experiences1 the class on the one hand  
and the individual on the other1 must be
 joint products of this  process3       
classes becoming clearer as more and    
more individuals are  discriminated4    
,classes1 or class-ideas never stand    
before us as  individuals do2 but the   
greater part of the meaning of every    
perception  of an individual is the kind
 of thing it is4 ,and as to priority1   
to perceive the kind of thing is        
7biologically7 far more important  than 
its individuality4 ,if the individual   
did not mean the class1 to  perceive it 
would be useless as a guide to action4  
,the general idea  derived from the     

assimilation of experiences is the      
apperceptive mass  that converts        
sense-stimulation into cognition3 when  
unconscious  ,romanes called it a       
8recept40    ,the primitiveness of      
general ideas is shown by               
gesture-language1 which  probably       
precedes speech1 and which 7except in   
direct indication  of what is thought   
of7 depends wholly upon general ideas   
suggested  by imitative or significant  
actions4 ,primitive language must have  
described things by general characters1 
so far as it consisted in  onomatopia2  
to growl like a lion could only suggest 
the kind of  animal4 ,primitive drawing 
7whether by children or savages7 is     
nearly  always generic3 dog1 horse1     
frigate-bird1 hammer-headed shark1 but  
not  any individual4    ,there can be no
 doubt that savages are capable of      
general and abstract  ideas2 and no one 
now supposes that language is an        
adequate measure of  thought4 ,a        
language contains names only for things1

 groups1 and aspects  or actions of     
things which the people who use it need 
to discuss3 if  they do not need to     
speak of abstractions1 there are no     
words for them4  ,but we cannot assume  
of the contents of the mind1 any more   
than of the  outside world1 that things 
do not exist unless we have noticed and 
named them4 ,professor ,franz ,boas has 
shown#if that languages of the  northern
 ,amerinds1 that do not idiomatically   
express abstract ideas1  may be made to 
do so without violence1 and that the    
abstract expression  is intelligible to 
men native to the languages4 8,every one
 who knows  people of low culture10 says
 ,dr4 ,rivers1 8must recognise the      
difficulty  which besets the study of   
any abstract question1 not so much      
because  the savage does not possess    
abstract ideas as that he has no words  
of  his own to express them40#ig        
,amongst the ideas attained by savages1 
and having an important part  in their  
lives1 though often taken for granted   

and unexpressed1 are  some of the       
highest generality3 for example 8force40
 ,the notion of  force is derived from  
the experience of effort in our own     
muscular  exertions2 but with the       
development of our perception of        
physical  objects by the integration of 
sense-data--sight1 touch1 movement and  
resisted movement 7kinsthesis71 smell1  
hearing--this sense of effort1  being   
transferred to objects as equivalent to 
our own exertions about  them1 becomes  
the all-important core of every object  
7or meaning of  every perception of an  
object71 without which the thing would  
be a  mere show1 neither useful nor     
injurious--sheep and tigers1 rocks and  
pumpkins alike indifferent4 ,probably   
the perceptions of all the higher       
animals 7down to reptiles7 have this    
meaning4 ,force is reality1 and by      
primitive man is thought of as the      
essence of whatever he conceives  of as 
real1 such as spells1 talismans and     
ghosts4 ,having a subjective  ground1   

from which it never becomes free1 the   
notion of it is  indefinite1 varies for 
each of us with our constitution1 age1  
health1  and not only lends itself to   
the wildest whims of superstition1 but  
has  misled scientific investigations4  
,relations are a class of general ideas 
familiar to savage thought1  often      
appreciated with great subtlety and     
especially prominent in  some magical   
operations4 ,relations are not only     
thought of by savages  but compared1 and
 likenesses discovered between them that
 may often  surprise us4 ,a gardener of 
,new ,guinea1 having planted taro1      
ensured the  growth of the crop by      
saying3 8,a murna1 left on the shore by 
the tide1  was exhausted and on the     
point of expiring1 when the tide        
returned1  and it revived and swam      
away40 ,and he struck the ground with a 
branch  three times4#ih ,he saw that    
renewal of life in the murna and in the 
taro were the same thing2 so that to    
describe one must strengthen the        

other--such is the 8force0 of a spell6  
,the most important relation involved in
 knowledge and in its practical         
applications is causation4 ,savages who 
have no word for causation and  have    
never thought of it in the abstract1    
must always act as if they  assume it4  
,this is apt to be misunderstood4 ,it is
 written3 8,the natives  of ,australia  
have no idea of cause and effect4 ,they 
notice that two  things occur one after 
the other1 and at once jump to the      
conclusion  that one is cause and the   
other effect40 ,they have1 then1 some   
idea of  the relation1 though           
ill-discriminated4 ,thus1 having noticed
 that the  plover often cries before    
rain1 they imitate the cry when         
performing  rites to bring on rain4 ,we 
rather suppose that an atmospheric      
change1  preceding the approaching rain1
 excites the plovers4 ,but that does not
  occur to the natives3 that 8one after 
the other0 is the same as effect  after 
cause1 or 7as ,logicians say7 post hoc1 

ergo propter hoc1 lies  at the bottom of
 innumerable superstitions4 ,the        
subconscious control  exercised by this 
latent form of thought is very          
imperfect4 ,the maxims  of indirect     
,magic1 that a likeness may be          
substituted for the thing  itself1 or a 
part of it for the whole1 are merely    
formul of causation  assumed under an   
erroneous belief as to what can be a    
cause4 ,there are  cases in which the   
like may be a substitute 7one man for   
another7 and  a part may nearly serve   
for the whole 7part of a broken knife74 
,hence  these principles were stated and
 avowed by physicians and alchemists of 
the ,middle ,ages1 and observed in their
 practice4    ,the quantitative axiom of
 mediate relation--8,magnitudes equal to
 the  same magnitude are equal0--is1 of 
course1 never expressed by savages2  but
 it is practically understood and       
applied by them whenever they  use a    
common measure--the fingers for         
counting1 the pace1 or hand or          

arm-stretch to measure distance4 ,these 
devices are gesture language2  and the  
truth which the gestures assume has been
 forced upon the  observation of        
primitive men whenever they saw three or
 more nearly  equal things together--men
 in a row1 birds in a flock1 eggs in a  
nest4  ,we need not suppose that        
conscious analysis is necessary to      
determine  the relations between such   
things2 the brain has its own method of 
analysis2 and some day we learn the     
results4 ,it was late in the day  that  
the results became known2 not1          
apparently1 till the ,greeks gave       
scientific form to the rudiments of     
mathematics4 ,for then1 for the  first  
time1 articulate axioms were wanted--to 
satisfy the form of  science4 ,the      
innumerable exact calculations of ,egypt
 and ,assyria could  go on very well    
without them4 ,their discovery required 
the specific  purpose of a scientist in 
search of them1 the state of profound   
meditation and abstraction1 excluding   

all irrelevant ideas1 when in the       
emptiness and darkness of the mind their
 light became visible1 like a  faint    
sound in a silent room4 ,thus an idea1  
whose functioning has for  ages         
controlled thought without being        
recognised1 suddenly takes its  place in
 the organisation of knowledge4         
#h4 ,,the ,,weakness ,,of               
,,imagination-,,beliefs    ,with        
immature minds their superstitions seem 
to rest on good evidence4  ,some of     
those who pray to ,neptune are saved    
from shipwreck1 and the  drowned are    
forgotten3 all confirmatory coincidences
 are deeply  impressive1 and failures   
are overlooked or excused4 ,by          
suggestion  the sick are often healed1  
and the hale are struck down4 ,curses   
and  incantations1 if known to the      
intended victim1 fulfil themselves4 ,so 
do  good omens that give confidence1 and
 bad omens that weaken endeavour4  ,if a
 magician has the astuteness to operate 
for rain only when the  wet season      

approaches1 the event is likely to      
confirm his reputation4  ,sleight of    
hand1 ventriloquism and the advantages  
of a dark sance are  not unknown to     
sorcerers tutored in an old tradition of
 deceit1 and  their clients take it for 
demonstration4 ,the constant practice by
 a  whole village of both magic and     
industry for the same end1 makes it     
impossible for ordinary mortals to see  
which of them is the real agent  of     
success4 ,for the failures of magic or  
of sacrifice the practitioners  always  
have plausible explanations4 ,hence     
between imagination-beliefs  and        
perception-beliefs1 as to their causes1 
there may be1 for the  believers1 no    
apparent difference4    ,but in         
character1 also1 imagination-beliefs may
 seem indistinguishable  from           
perception-beliefs2 in immediate        
feeling-quality they are  certainly very
 much like them2 and1 on a first        
consideration1 they  appear to have as  
much influence over men's actions3 but  

this is not  true4 ,we must not infer   
that to suffer martyrdom for a cult 7as 
witches  have done7 can be a sign of    
nothing but unalterable faith in it3    
besides fanaticism and other abnormal   
states of mind1 one must allow  for     
loyalty to a party or leader1 for       
oppositeness and hatred of the          
persecutor1 for display1 self-assertion 
and 7in short7 for a strong  will4      
,those who take part in a religious     
war--are they driven wholly by          
enthusiasm for the supernatural1 and not
 at all by hatred of aliens1  love of   
fighting and hope of plunder8           
,discounting the admixture of  other    
motives1 the power of                   
imagination-beliefs is1 with most       
people1  much less than we are apt to   
suppose4 ,they are unstable1 and in     
course  of time change1 though the      
8evidence0 for them may remain the same4
  ,moulded from the first by desire and 
anxiety1 they remain plastic  under the 
varying stress of these and other       

passions4 ,in a primitive  agricultural 
community1 preparation of the soil1     
hoeing1 reaping  and harvesting go on   
7though with inferior tools and methods7
 just  as they do with us2 and from age 
to age the processes are generally      
confirmed or slowly improved4 ,at the   
same time1 every such employment  is    
surrounded by a sort of aura of rites1  
which seem to be carried out  with      
equal1 or greater1 scrupulosity and     
conviction2 yet1 age by age1  these     
rites slowly atrophy and lose their     
importance and their ancient  meaning1  
which is explained by new myths2 or     
other rites may be learnt  from         
neighbours or from invaders2 for some   
rites may be necessary to  their life1  
though not any particular ones4    ,the 
unstable character of superstitions and 
their close alliance with  play-beliefs 
may be shown in various ways3    7a7    
,the rites which express them are often 
carried out with  deception1 practised  
on the crowd in a public performance1 as

 by  obtaining from heaven a shower of  
rice1 which 7over night7 has been       
lodged in the tree-tops1 and is shaken  
down at the decisive moment2 or1  in    
private practice1 played off on the     
patient1 by bringing a stone in  one's  
waist-belt and then extracting it from  
his body4 ,half the tribe  may deceive  
the rest1 the men mystifying the women  
and children1 or the  old the young4    
7b7 ,religious beliefs often comprise   
incompatible attitudes3 the  worshippers
 of a god acknowledge in prosperity his 
superior wisdom and  power--at the same 
time1 perhaps1 employing devices to     
cheat him2 or1  in long continuing      
distress from drought or war1 they may  
threaten  to punish him1 withhold his   
sacrifices and desecrate his shrine4    
,in ,raiatea1 when a chief of rank fell 
ill1 extravagant rites and  sacrifices  
were practised2 but if these failed1    
8the god was regarded  as inexorable1   
and was usually banished from the       
temple1 and his image  destroyed40#ii   

7c7 ,imagination-beliefs break down     
under various trials--such as  economy1 
selling the ,rice-mother when the price 
of grain rises2  offering the gods      
forged paper-money instead of good1 or  
leaving many  things at a grave and     
taking back the more precious2          
self-preservation1  as in substituting  
the king's eldest son for himself in    
sacrifice2  compassion1 in burying with 
the dead puppets instead of slaves      
7though  in this economy may have some  
part71 or substituting in sacrifice a   
bull for a man4    ,in such cases as    
these we see how any desire1 whose      
satisfaction  is incompatible with a    
given belief or observance1 tends to    
create  a limiting belief and to modify 
the rites4 ,social indolence and        
fatigue--the product of many individual 
fatigues and occasional levity1  whereby
 the meaning of rites is forgotten1 and 
the rites themselves  are gradually     
slurred and abbreviated--must be an     
important condition  of the degeneration

 of rites1 as it is of language4        
,foreign influence  through trade or war
 introduces disturbing ideas that appeal
 to lovers  of novelty1 and show that   
other people with other beliefs are as  
well  off as ourselves4 ,even repeated  
experience of failure may shake a man's 
confidence and make him throw away his  
fetish3 though usually he gets  another4
    7d7 ,the beliefs of ,magic and      
,animism are generally supported by     
intense emotional excitement during the 
incantations and ceremonies  that       
express them4 ,emotion is artificially  
stimulated and1 probably1  is felt to be
 necessary in order to sustain illusion4
 ,it excludes  criticism and increases  
suggestibility4    7e7 ,the specific    
connexion of such beliefs with the play 
attitude  is shown3 by their rites      
including games1 such as leaping1       
swinging1  spear-throwing--supposed to  
have some magical efficacy2 the         
ceremonies themselves are often dances1 
dramas1 choruses2 and with  the         

degeneration of belief1 the rites remain
 as dramatic or musical  pastimes1      
whilst the myths survive in epic poems1 
fairy-tales and  ghost-stories4 ,when   
rites and incantations are not intended 
to incite  to immediate action1 it is   
necessary that the emotions generated in
  their performance shall subside with  
only an imaginary satisfaction3  they1  
therefore1 acquire the sthetic tone of  
beauty1 or sublimity1  or pathos 7or    
some rudimentary form of these          
feelings72 so that the  performance1    
thus experienced1 becomes an end in     
itself4    ,these beliefs with their    
correlative ceremonies have a further   
resemblance to play in the indirectness 
of their utility4 ,play develops        
faculty2 but no child thinks of that4   
,magic and ,animism 7as we have  seen7  
tend to maintain custom and order2 but  
this is not known to  any one at first  
and hardly now to the generality4 ,rites
 of public  interest1 to procure rain or
 to encourage the crops1 though useless 

for such purposes1 gratify the desire to
 do something1 or to feel as  if        
something were being done toward the end
 desired1 especially in the  intervals  
when really effective work cannot be    
carried on1 as whilst  the crops are    
growing or after harvest3 they allay    
anxiety and give  hope and confidence4  
,moreover1 they are organised           
pastimes--not that  they are designed to
 pass the time1 but that they have in   
fact that  valuable function4 ,the men  
of backward societies1 during a         
considerable  part of their lives1 have 
not enough to do4 ,social ceremonies    
keep  people out of mischief1 and1 at   
the same time1 in various ways exercise 
and develop their powers4 ,with us      
industry is a sufficient occupation1  or
 even too engrossing1 and circumstances 
keep us steady2 so that1  in leisure1   
pastimes may be treated lightly4 ,with  
the savage some  pastimes must present  
themselves as necessary periodical      
religious  duties1 whose performance 7in

 his belief7 encourages and enhances    
industry4 ,so far1 again1 as needs and  
interests are common to a tribe1        
village or other group1 these ceremonies
 ensure social co-operation  and unity  
and also emulation in their performance2
 and they preserve  tradition and the   
integration of successive generations4  
,our games  are free from practical     
hopes and anxieties2 but the more       
elaborate1  such as horse-racing1 have  
still a social function2 or1 like       
cricket  and football1 a tribal         
character3 the school1 college1 county  
or even  the nation feels deeply        
concerned about them4 ,the ,olympic     
,games1 which  interested the ,greek    
world throughout all its scattered      
cities1 have  been traced back to       
primitive religious observances4#ajj    
,as for the dark side of superstition1  
it needs no other explanation  than     
crime1 fanaticism and insanity3 which   
also are diseases of  the imagination4  
,jealousy1 hatred1 greed1 ferocious     

pride and the  lust of power are amongst
 the causes that mould belief4 ,any     
calling  pursued in secret1 like that of
 the sorcerer1 under a social ban1 is   
of course demoralised4 ,where the       
interest of an organised profession     
stands in a certain degree of antagonism
 to the public interest1 it  may become 
the starting-point of unlimited         
abominations2 and of this  truth the    
interests of magicians and priests have 
supplied the most  terrific examples4   
,dwelling upon what you know of black   
magic and  red religion1 the retrospect 
of human culture fills you with dismay2 
but need not excite astonishment2 for   
human nature is less adapted  to its    
environment 7chiefly social7 than       
anything else in the world2  the        
development of the mind and of society  
has been too recent for us  reasonably  
to expect anything better4              
,,footnotes3    #he ,treatise of ,human 
,nature1 ,part ,,iii4  #g4 ,for the     
recent  psychology of ,belief see ,james

 ,sully's ,the ,human ,mind1 ch4 xiii41 
and  ,james ,ward's ,psychological      
,principles1 ch4 xiv4    #hf ,see below1
 ch4 viii4  #e4    #hg ,logique des     
,sentiments1 ,,ii4  #d4    #hh ,les     
,fonctions ,mentales dans les ,socits   
,infrieures1 p4 #dj4    #hi ,british    
,journal of ,psychology1 ,vol4 ,i4 p4   
#cic4    #ij ,northern ,tribes of       
,central ,australia1 p4 #dfb4    #ia    
,the ,melanesians1 p4 #bdg4    #ib      
,below1 ch4 viii4  #d4    #ic ,ch4 iv4  
#h4    #id ,in assuming that there are  
no magical powers ,i do not mean that   
the magician has no professional powers1
 but that such real powers as  he has   
are not magical4    #ie ,czaplicka1 ,my 
,siberian ,year1 p4 #id4 ,other examples
 in ,romanes1  ,mental ,evolution in    
,man1 pp4 #cea-c4    #if ,the ,mind of  
,primitive ,man1 ,v4 pp4 #aej-eb4    #ig
 ,sociological ,review1 ,january #aiaj1 
p4 #i4    #ih ,quoted by ,frazer1       
,spirits of the ,corn and of the ,wild1 
,i4 p4 #aje4    #ii ,w4 ,ellis1         

,polynesian ,researches1 ,,ii4 p4 #baf  
#ajj ,f4 ,m4 ,cornford in ,miss ,jane   
,harrison's ,themis1 ch4 vii4           
,,chapter ,,iv    ,,magic      8,the    
histories ,i borrow1 ,i refer them to   
the consciences of those ,i    take them
 from40--,montaigne1 ,i4 #bj4       #a4 
,,antiquity ,,of ,,magic    ,magic1     
until recently1 was somewhat neglected  
by those who treated of  savage ideas4  
,in ,sir ,e4 ,b4 ,tylor's ,primitive    
,culture only one chapter  is given to  
,magic1 against seven to ,animism       
7belief in the agency of  spirits74 ,in 
,spencer's ,sociology1 ,part ,i4 is     
almost wholly devoted  to the genesis   
and development of ,animism1 without a  
single chapter on  ,magic4 ,the         
importance of early ,animism became such
 an obsession1 that  travellers observed
 and reported upon it wherever they     
went1 making  only casual references to 
,magic--much to our loss4 ,the tradition
 of  this way of thinking seems to run  
back to ,hume's ,natural ,history  of   

,religion1 where he traces the          
development of religion from a          
primitive belief that all natural       
activities are like our own1 and  that  
everything is possessed and actuated by 
a spirit4 ,this idea was  adopted by    
,comte1 and elaborated in his celebrated
 law of the three  stages of the        
explanation of ,nature as determining   
the growth of human  culture3           
,fetichism1 which ascribes all causation
 to the particular will  of each object1
 and which by generalisation leads      
through polytheism to  monotheism2      
,metaphysics1 which1 giving up the      
notion of personal will1  attributes the
 activities of things to abstract       
forces2 and ,positivism1  which1        
discarding the variety of forces that   
can never be known1 turns  to the exact 
description of the order of phenomena4  
,mill1 in turn1  adopted these doctrines
 from ,comte1 and gave them currency    
amongst us1  as part of the             
extraordinary influence which for many  

years he exerted  upon all our thoughts4
 ,hence the priority of ,animism to     
every other  theory of things seemed at 
that time a matter of course4           
,recently there have been signs that    
this conception of primitive  thought is
 giving way to another1 namely1 that    
,animism was preceded  by ,magic4 ,sir  
,j4 ,g4 ,frazer puts it1 that the idea  
of ,magic is simpler  than that of      
,animism2 that ,magic is found in full  
force amongst people  whose ,animism is 
feebly developed1 and that its beliefs  
are more  uniform throughout the        
world4#aja ,substantially--with         
qualifications  that will appear        
hereafter--this view of the matter is   
here accepted4  ,when one comes to argue
 it1 to produce the primitive facts is1 
of  course1 impossible4 ,it must even be
 admitted that such evidence as we  have
 amongst the few facts collected of late
 years concerning ancient  races of men1
 gives the earlier date to animistic    
ideas2 for if some of  the              

cave-paintings of ,aurignacian origin1  
in which1 for example1 wild  cattle are 
shown pierced with arrows1 may be       
interpreted as of magical  significance2
 on the other hand1 the burial at ,le   
,moustier1 still more  ancient1 shows a 
regard for the corpse1 in the disposal  
of it and in  the things left with it1  
such as usually goes with the           
ghost-theory4  ,these discoveries take  
us back some thousands of years before  
,menes2  but probably leave us far from 
the beginning of human ideas concerning 
the supernatural4    ,if ,magic preceded
 ,animism1 we must insert a stage of    
thought at  the beginning of ,comte's   
series1 making four instead of three2   
and  the suggestion may perhaps be made 
to appear plausible1 that the           
,metaphysical stage1 the reign of occult
 forces in explanation1 is not  a mere  
residue of ,fetichism after the spirit  
has departed1 but rather  the           
re-emergence into daylight of magical   
ideas of force1 that always  persisted1 

but for ages were kept in comparative   
obscurity by the vogue  of ,animism4    
#b4 ,,what ,,is ,,magic8    ,in his     
,development of ,moral ,ideas 7,,ii4    
#dg7 ,prof4 ,westermarck observes  that 
savages distinguish two classes of      
phenomena2 the natural or  familiar1 and
 the supernatural or mysterious4 ,the   
latter again are  divided into the      
mechanical 7,magic7 and the volitional  
7,animism74  ,this seems to be true3 it 
corrects the notion1 still common1 that 
the  savage explains all natural        
activities by ,animism2 recognises that 
he takes some phenomena as a matter of  
course1 as the animals do2  and1 as to  
events that are not a matter of course1 
rightly marks the  distinction between  
his conceptions of them as either       
mechanical 7due  to some uniformly      
acting force7 or volitional 7that is1   
arbitrary or  capricious74 ,with the    
savage1 then1 there are ongoings of     
things around  him that are perceived to
 be regular and continuous2 and there   

are  others between which connections   
are imagined to take place1 and  these  
either regularly or capriciously3 for   
thus ,i venture to interpret  the       
difference between the natural and the  
supernatural2 it is the  difference     
between perception-belief and           
imagination-belief4 ,common  sense1     
,magic1 ,animism--these are the three   
great congeries of ideas  that compete  
for the control of his thoughts and in  
his interpretation  of the world4       
,magic may be defined as a connexion of 
events imagined to be constant  and to  
depend upon the agency of some thing or 
activity possessing an  efficacious     
quality or force 7in fact unreal71 and  
not to depend 7as a  connexion7 upon the
 will of any particular person4         
,whether ,magic is ever wrought by the  
bare wish or will of a human  being will
 be discussed below 7 #f74 ,here1 the   
proviso that a magical  connexion does  
not depend upon the will of a person1 is
 meant to  exclude ,animism4 ,for pure  

,animism involves the belief that a     
ghost1  spirit1 or god 7though he may   
work by ,magic7 can produce an effect by
  his direct action1 without using any  
visible or invisible means other  than  
his own spiritual body and force4 ,this 
is not what a magician  does3 he works  
by means of a connexion of events known 
7so he thinks7  to himself and often to 
others4 ,the magical implement 7talisman
 or  spell7 that he uses has qualities  
that are magical facts1 just as  the    
qualities of his spear are physical     
facts4 ,he can make a stone  spear-head 
by means of another stone2 and he may be
 able to make a  talisman by means of a 
spell2 but the powers of the talisman or
 of the  spell are their own2 he cannot 
create ,magic1 but only discover and use
  it4 ,whether he shall use it1 depends 
upon his choice2 but its powers  do not2
 they are inherent1 like physical       
forces4 ,faust can conjure  the devil2  
but so can ,wagner1 if he knows the     
spell3 the power of the  spell is       

indifferent to the conjuror4 ,a man may1
 indeed1 be a source of  magical power  
because he is a chief1 or has the evil  
eye1 or is taboo  for unpurged homicide2
 but these things do not depend upon his
 will2 he  is in the same class with    
impersonal things that are magical4     
,a rule of ,magic1 as describing a      
uniform connexion of events1 resembles  
what we call a law of nature2 and       
further in this1 that it is not         
supposed to be absolute or              
unconditional1 but a tendency1 subject  
to  counteraction by hostile ,magic or  
7perhaps7 by demonic force4 ,but it     
differs from a law of nature in being   
wholly imaginary and incapable of       
verification4    ,to practise ,magic is 
to use some such rule in order to obtain
 an end  desired4 ,this can be attempted
 by any man1 so far as his knowledge    
reaches2 and the greater his knowledge  
the greater his power1 provided  he have
 the courage to act upon it4 ,all stages
 of proficiency may be  traced from the 

simple layman who swings a bull-roarer  
to raise the  wind1 to the wizard who   
lives by his art1 and is feared by all  
his  tribe and far beyond it1 or to the 
erudite magician who controls the       
demons and vies with the gods4          
,magical things1 objects or actions1 in 
their simplest forms1 are  charms1      
spells and rites2 and since the ends for
 which they can be used  are either to  
protect oneself or to exert power over  
other persons  or things1 each of these 
kinds of magic-thing may be defensive or
  offensive4 ,a defensive charm is      
called an amulet2 an offensive charm is 
a talisman4 ,for a defensive spell 7say1
 against sickness or accident7  there   
is1 ,i believe1 no appropriate name2    
offensive spells 7say1 to  control the  
weather or to curse an enemy7 may be    
called incantations  7but the usage is  
not fixed74 ,rites 7that is1 any magic  
actions that  are not spells7 may also  
be defensive 7as to touch wood71 or     
offensive  7as to point at a man72 but  

we have no names for these different    
intentions4 ,from these simplest        
beginnings the whole learning and       
mystery of ,magic seems to have         
developed4       #c4 ,,the ,,beginnings 
,,of ,,magic    ,the quest of origins is
 fascinating1 because1 if successful1 it
 will  help us to frame that outline of 
the history of the world which the      
philosophic mind regards as a necessary 
of life4 ,to discuss the  beginnings of 
,magic must necessarily be1 in some     
measure1 a speculative  undertaking2    
because the facts are lost4 ,if ,magic  
was practised in the  ,aurignacian      
culture 7say7 #bj1jjj years ago1 how can
 we get to the back  of it8 ,but        
speculation is not guess-work1 if we    
always keep in view  such facts as we   
have2 if we are careful to give notice  
whenever the  facts fail us2 if we guide
 ourselves by scientific principles2 and
 if  we make no assumptions merely to   
suit our case1 but only such as are     
generally admitted in all departments4  

,for example3    7#a7 ,we may reasonably
 assume that the simplest magical       
beliefs and  practices are of the       
earliest type3 and nothing can be       
simpler than the  belief in charms1     
rites and spells4 ,it is1 indeed1       
difficult to find  many of these        
practices--though some can be           
produced--in their simplest  forms in   
our records of backward peoples2 partly 
because they have  not been enough      
observed2 partly because ,magic is apt  
everywhere to  become saturated with    
,animism2 partly because charms1 rites  
and spells  are generally1 for greater  
efficacy1 compounded with one another4  
,but  these considerations do not affect
 the simplicity of the idea involved  in
 the magical beliefs2 which is merely   
this1 that a certain object by  its     
presence1 or that an action1 or an      
utterance1 by merely entering  into the 
course of events1 will serve our        
purpose4 ,a bare uniformity  of         
connexion--if ,a1 then ,b--in accordance

 with the familiar  ongoings of ,nature 
and our common activities1 is all that  
is assumed4  ,many kinds of obstacles   
stop an arrow or a dart2 carrion        
collects the  vultures3 so a patterned  
comb in one's hair stops the demon of   
disease2  a patterned quiver1 or a      
certain song1 brings the monkeys down   
from  the tree-tops4#ajb ,a spell       
assumes merely that certain objects1  or
 animals1 or spirits1 must always comply
 with a wish or command  expressed in   
words1 just as another human being often
 does4 ,it is their  supposed uniform   
coerciveness that makes the words       
magical4 ,if any  form of words ever    
seems to have been successful1 it must  
be repeated2  because to have the same  
effect the action must be the same4     
,immersed  in an indefinite mass of     
experiences1 the postulate that we call 
8cause  and effect0 7unformulated1 of   
course7 underlies every action1 and     
therefore underlies ,magic2 it is the   
ground of all expectation and of  all   

confidence4    7#b7 ,the types of ,magic
 that are the most prevalent are        
probably the  earliest2 and these are   
charms1 rites and spells4 ,they are     
found not  only amongst savages1 but the
 world over3 even in civilised countries
  most of the uneducated1 many of the   
half-educated1 and not a few of  those  
who have 8finished their education10    
employ them2 whereas more  complicated  
magical practices1 except such as have  
been taken up  into religious           
celebrations1 are apt to fall into      
desuetude4 ,what is  universal must be  
adapted to very simple conditions of    
existence2 these  beliefs1 therefore1 to
 mental wants and proclivities that are 
probably  primitive2 and what conditions
 can be more simple1 or more primitive1 
or more universal than ignorance of our 
fate and eagerness to clutch at         
anything that may give us confidence4   
,and not only are charms1 rites and     
spells in all ages and everywhere       
employed in their simplest forms2 but   

analysis of the most elaborate  ritual  
and of nominally animistic practices    
will discover the same  beliefs at the  
bottom of them4 ,the idea of the amulet 
or the talisman  is found in fetiches1  
beads1 praying-wheels1 and equally in a 
long  mimetic dance or a passion-play2  
whose central purpose always is to      
avert some evil or to secure some       
good--success in hunting1 or war1 or    
agriculture4 ,similarly1 the spell is   
involved in all rites1 so far as  verbal
 formul are used in them2 and in all    
curses or prayers1 so far  as their     
efficacy depends upon a sound form of   
words4    ,the persistence of magical   
beliefs amongst civilised people is1 in 
some  measure1 due to tradition2 though 
the tradition could not continue        
effective if there were not in every    
generation a predisposition to  accept  
it2 and how far it is due to tradition1 
how far to a spontaneous  proclivity1 in
 any one who is inclined to believe in  
charms1 rites  and spells1 he himself   

must judge as best he can4 ,superstition
 having  been at one time extremely     
useful socially1 there is some          
presumption  that tribes addicted to it 
7within limits7 had an advantage1 and   
that  the disposition became hereditary4
 ,it is a recent acquisition compared   
with the love of climbing2 but once     
ingrained1 it must remain till          
disutility breeds it out4 ,meanwhile1 it
 is a stain on the human soul4  ,so much
 of one's early life is always forgotten
 that no one can be sure  that he was   
not inoculated with such notions in     
childhood2 especially  when we consider 
that religious practices1 taught before 
they can be  well understood1 must often
 wear a magical habit to a child2 and   
that  medicines1 whose operations nobody
 used to understand1 were on the  same  
foot with ,magic4 ,for my own part1     
bating the last considerations1  ,i     
cannot remember ever to have heard in   
childhood any sort of ,magic  spoken of 
except with amusement2 yet magical      

beliefs have always  haunted me4 ,with  
,animism it was otherwise4 ,when six or 
seven years old1  ,i was told by a      
nursemaid--a convinced adherent of one  
of the many  little sects that have     
ramified out of ,wesleyanism in         
,cornwall--the  most appalling          
ghost-stories2 and these stories1       
exciting no doubt  an ancient           
disposition1 and reinforced by a        
visualising faculty that  nightly       
peopled the darkness with innumerable   
spectres1 entirely  overpowered the     
teachings of those whom there was better
 reason to  trust1 that ghosts are a    
superstition from which true religion   
has  for ever set us free4 ,the effects 
lasted into middle age4 ,andrew ,lang   
said of ghosts that 8he did not believe1
 but he trembled02 and that  precisely  
describes my own state of mind for many 
years4 ,now1 as to  ,magic1 my          
impression is that had it been suggested
 to me in a serious  way1 and not merely
 by casual allusions to 8luck10 the     

experience  would have stuck in my      
memory4 ,the first time that ,i can     
remember  practising rites1 ,i was      
between ten and eleven years old1 living
 at a  small boarding-school4 ,to keep  
off a dreaded event1 ,i used to go every
  morning to the pump1 fill my mouth    
with water and spurt it out in a        
violent stream--three times4 ,this went 
on for some weeks4 ,to the best  of my  
recollection1 the impulse was           
spontaneous1 and ,i cannot remember  why
 the particular rite was adopted3 to    
spout water out of the mouth  may have  
been symbolic of a pushing away of what 
was feared2 but ,i do  not think ,i was 
conscious of that meaning4 ,nothing     
further of the kind  recurs to me until 
about the age of fifteen1 when1 at      
another school1  the master-passion of  
my life was cricket2 and ,i always      
practised some  rite before going on the
 field1 and carried a charm in my       
pocket2 but ,i  cannot recall what they 
were4 ,at present1 a day rarely passes  

without  my experiencing some impulse to
 practise ,magic4 ,in lighting my first 
pipe in the morning 7for example71 if ,i
 remember how ,i lit it1 where ,i       
struck the match1 etc41 yesterday1 and  
if no misfortune has happened  since1 ,i
 feel an unmistakable impulse to 8light 
up0 again in the same  way4 ,no reason  
is distinctly present to me for acting  
so1 and therefore  it is hazardous to   
analyse the attitude2 but it is not     
merely incipient  habit3 to the best of 
my judgment it is this1 that such a way 
of  lighting my pipe was one amongst the
 antecedents of a quiet time1 and  that 
it will be well to reinstate as many of 
them as possible4 ,it is  more          
comfortable to do it than to alter it3  
one feels more confident4    ,inquiry   
amongst my friends shows that some have 
similar experiences1  and others 7both  
men and women7 have not4 ,a             
questionnaire on such  a point might be 
useful2 but difficult to arrange without
 giving  suggestion or exciting         

bias4#ajc    7#c7 ,there are causes     
originating the belief in charms1 rites 
and spells  so simple that nothing could
 be more natural to the primitive human 
mind4 ,what is more universally powerful
 in producing belief in the  connexion  
of events1 and consequent expectancy of 
repetition1 than an  interesting        
coincidence8 ,if1 says ,sir ,e4 ,f4 im  
,thurn1#ajd a ,carib  sees a rock in any
 way abnormal or curious1 and if shortly
 afterwards  any evil happens to him1 he
 regards rock and evil as cause and     
effect1  and perceives in the rock a    
spirit4 ,this is animistic2 but the same
  tendency to be impressed by           
coincidence underlies ,magic4 ,for      
example3  ,a hunting party of ,esquimos 
met with no game4 ,one of them went back
  to the sledges and got the ham-bone of
 a dog to eat4 ,returning with  this in 
his hand1 he met and killed a seal4     
,ever afterwards he carried  a ham-bone 
in his hand when hunting4#aje ,the      
ham-bone had become a  talisman4 ,such a

 mental state as the ,esquimo's used to 
be ascribed  to the association of      
ideas2 but it is better to consider it  
as an  empirical judgment4 ,other       
circumstances of the event may have been
  associated in his mind2 but as to the 
ham-bone and the kill1 he thinks  of    
them together1 and judges that they are 
connected4 ,then1 having  judged that   
the ham-bone influenced the kill1 he    
carries it with him in  future in order 
to repeat the conditions of success4    
,we may perhaps discern the moment when 
,magic first fastened upon the  human   
mind by considering how the use of      
weapons and snares by the  primitive    
hunter impaired his sense of the        
mechanical continuity of  the work4 ,in 
a struggle with prey body to body1      
success or failure  was thoroughly      
understood2 but with the use of weapons 
and snares it  became conditional upon  
the quality of these aids and upon his  
skill  with them3 more and more         
conditional as the number of steps      

increased  between the first preparation
 and the event2 at any one of which     
unforeseen occurrences might frustrate  
his plans4 ,hence an irresistible       
desire to strengthen and insure every   
step of his task2 and to gratify  this  
desire ,magic arose4    ,that ,magic    
should depend upon the assumption that  
8things connected  in thought are       
connected in fact0 seems unintelligible1
 until we  consider that the thought in 
which they are connected is a judgment  
concerning the facts4 ,but how is it    
possible to judge so foolishly8  ,absurd
 association is intelligible2 it cannot 
be helped2 but judgment  is not a       
passive process4 ,well3 a logician might
 interpret the case  as a fallacy in    
applying the inductive canons3 the      
,esquimo had two  instances3 7a7 no     
ham-bone1 no seal2 7b7 ham-bone1 seal3  
or1 again1  into the circumstances of   
his expedition he introduced a ham-bone1
  and the seal followed4 ,therefore1 the
 carrying of a ham-bone was the  cause  

of getting a seal4 ,he had not read     
,mill1 and did not know what            
precautions should be taken before      
adopting such conclusions4 ,the mind    
must have begun in this way2 and after  
many thousands of years1 the            
opportunities of error in empirical     
judgment began to be appreciated1  and  
the canons were formulated4 ,the        
experience of every man at every  stage 
of life1 personal or social 7probably   
evoking an inherited  disposition71     
continually impresses him with the      
belief in some  connexion of antecedent 
and consequent1 that each event arises  
out of  others4 ,but what it is in the  
antecedent that determines the event can
  never1 in practical affairs1 be       
exactly known4 ,in definite cases1 where
  method is applicable1 we may analyse  
the consequent into the tendencies  of  
forces in amount and direction2 or we   
may sometimes reproduce it by  an       
experiment exactly controlled4 ,but     
where these resources fail us1 as  they 

often do in practical affairs1 we are   
little confident of grasping  all1 or   
even the chief conditions of any event  
that interests us4 ,the  savage knows   
nothing of method1 and1 therefore1 feels
 less distrust4  ,he learns something of
 the conditions of success in hunting2  
this is  biologically necessary to him  
as it is to a tiger2 only those survive 
that learn them4 ,he knows that he must 
have weapons as efficient as  possible1 
must go to the habitat of his prey1 must
 not be heard1 or  seen1 or smelt4 ,but 
with all precautions he sometimes fails2
 therefore  there must be some other    
condition which he does not understand4 
,hence  anything observed1 or any word  
or action1 that happens to be followed  
by success1 may have been a means to    
that success4    ,and if it once has    
been1 it always will be3 not that he    
thinks of  it in this general way4 ,but 
even animals1 as soon as they have      
learnt a sequence1 trust to it4 ,dogs   
and cats learn faster than  guinea-pigs2

 monkeys faster than dogs and cats2 man 
quicker still4  ,but in no case would   
there be any use in learning1 if it did 
not  lead to action as if the experience
 had been generalised4 ,there is  no    
mystery in generalisation2 it is        
spontaneous1 and only waits for         
language to express itself2 the         
difficult thing to acquire is caution4  
,in default of method1 the only test of 
truth is relative constancy  in         
experience--per enumerationem           
simplicem--faulty but broadly           
effective2 which requires time and      
practice4 ,primitive ,magic is an       
incautious1 unexpressed generalisation2 
and the conditions are such  that the   
error cannot be easily detected4 ,as    
long as a savage follows  the           
instinctive1 traditionary and acquired  
knowledge that he has of  hunting1      
practices based on wrong judgments1 but 
not interfering with  the traditionary  
art1 such as the carrying about of a    
bone1 or a  crystal1 or having a special

 pattern on his quiver1 cannot impair   
his  success2 may add to it by          
increasing his confidence3 so that as   
long as  success lasts there is nothing 
to suggest the falsity of the judgment4 
,a series of failures may make the      
hunter throw away his talisman1 or  7at 
a later stage of ,magic7 take it to a   
medicine-man to be redoctored4  ,how    
many thousands of times may ,magic have 
begun in this way and lost  its hold    
again1 before the human mind became     
chronically infected with  it6          
,similarly with amulets1 anything       
unusual that a man happens to have      
about him1 when attacked by a leopard or
 snake1 from which he escapes1  may be  
kept as a safeguard against future      
perils4 ,and with rites3  any gesture or
 action1 however irrelevant1 that       
happens to precede  a successful effort1
 may be repeated in order to reinstate  
all the  antecedents of success4 ,so1   
too1 with the origin of spells4 ,it is a
  common impulse1 and quite spontaneous1

 to accompany an action with  words1    
incentive or expletive4 ,if a hunter    
does so in driving home  his spear      
successfully1 he will next time repeat  
the words3 they then  become a          
spell4#ajf ,first1 then1 there are      
practices of carrying  about charms1    
repeating words1 repeating actions2     
next1 along with  these practices1      
beliefs grow up as to the nature of     
their efficacy1  their virtue2 and much 
later it is discovered that some of the 
practices seem to involve certain common
 principles which the savage  had never 
thought of4    ,in trying to imagine    
ourselves in the place of such a man1 we
 must not  omit the emotional excitement
 that determines his judgment4 ,it is   
the  intensity of his desire for        
success1 his anxiety about it1 that     
makes  him snatch at1 and cling to1     
whatever may possibly be a means to it3 
he  does not see how it acts1 but will  
take no risks by omitting it4 ,since    
what is true of primitive hunting is    

true of all undertakings--that  we know 
some conditions of success but far from 
all--and since we are  all of us        
frequently in this position--the wonder 
is that we resort so  little to ,magic4 
,that many people do so in ,london is   
notorious4       #d4 ,,magical ,,force  
,,and ,,primitive ,,ideas ,,of          
,,causation    ,magic is a uniform      
connexion of events1 depending on some  
impersonal  force that has no real      
existence4 ,what causes make men believe
 in such  force8 ,in the first place1   
everything is necessarily conceived of  
by  everybody 7and probably in some dim 
way by the higher animals7 as a  centre 
of forces4 ,its weight1 when we try to  
lift it2 inertia1 when  we push it1 or  
when it is moving and we try to stop it2
 degree of  hardness1 when we strike or 
grasp it2 elasticity1 when the bent     
bough  of a tree recoils2 the sway of   
torrents and the lift of waves2 falling 
trees1 avalanches1 water-spouts1        
hurricanes3 all these things a man  must

 think of1 as he does of other men and  
animals1 in comparison with  his own    
strength or impotence4 ,into their      
actions and reactions he  reads such    
tension and effort as he himself feels  
in struggling with  them1 or in         
grappling one of his own hands with the 
other2 and as  their action is full of  
surprises he does not suppose himself to
 know  all that they can do4    ,but1   
further1 the strain exhibited by some   
objects1 especially trees2  the noises  
they make1 creaking and groaning in the 
wind2 the shrieking  and moaning of the 
wind itself1 the threatening and        
whispering of the  sea1 thunder and the 
roar of torrents3 all excite ,einfhlung 
or  empathy1 illusory sympathy with     
things that do not feel4 ,their voices1 
more than anything else1 ,i believe1    
endow them for our imaginations  with an
 inward life1 which ,mr4 ,marett has    
well called ,animatism1#ajg  and which  
must not be confounded with the ,animism
 that used to be  attributed to all     

children and all savages--the belief    
that every  object is actuated by a     
spirit1 or even that it has a           
consciousness  like our own4 ,what truth
 there was in that doctrine is fully    
covered by  ,animatism4    ,again1 the  
savage is acquainted with invisible     
forces some of which  seem to act at a  
distance4 ,the wind is the great type of
 invisible  force2 heat1 sound1 odour   
are also invisible1 and act at a        
distance2  the light of the camp-fire   
acts at a distance1 spreading across the
  prairie or into the recesses of the   
forest2 and lightnings issue from  the  
clouds4 ,in dreams1 one visits some     
remote hunting-ground and  returns      
instantly2 distance and time are        
distorted or annihilated2 and  if you   
can act where you dream1 why not where  
you intensely imagine  yourself8        
,hence there are abundant analogues in  
experience by which the savage  can     
conceive of his talisman as a           
force-thing that acts invisibly and     

acts at a distance4 ,australian         
medicine-men 8threw their joas 7evil    
magic7 invisibly1 #8like the wind1' as  
they said40#ajh ,the talisman  acts at a
 distance1 like a missile2 it acts for  
the person who owns it  as his spear    
does1 and is dangerous to others who    
have not practised  with it4 ,sometimes1
 indeed1 magic things have no owners1   
and are  dangerous to everybody3        
malignant influence radiating from them1
 like  the heat of a fire or the stench 
of a corpse4 ,such are two stones       
described by ,messrs4 ,spencer and      
,gillen#aji as marking the place  where 
an old man and two women died for       
breaking a marriage-taboo4  8,they are  
so full of evil magic that if any but   
old men go near1 it  kills them4 ,now   
and then a very old man goes and throws 
stones and  bushes upon the spot to keep
 down the evil magic40 ,it is as if one 
covered up a fire or a corpse4 ,and1    
further1 magical force may exist  in a  
diffused way1 like darkness1 heat1 cold1

 epidemic disease1 tribal  unrest1      
without necessarily attaching to any    
particular thing4 ,in the  ,western     
,isles of ,torres ,straits#aaj mishaps  
may be signs of an unlucky  state of    
things in general4 ,a fisherman1 usually
 successful1 having  once failed at his 
task1 was depressed2 but on two women   
dying in his  village soon after1 he was
 consoled2 since this showed that       
failure  was not his fault4 ,currents of
 this magical force1 favourable or      
unfavourable to things in general1 may  
be seen in the flow and ebb of  the     
tide1 the waxing and waning of the moon1
 and in the course of the  seasons4     
,from this way of thinking it is but a  
step to the conception  of mana1 as it  
is called in ,melanesia3#aaa orenda of  
the ,iroquois1  manitou of the          
,algonquin1 wakanda of the ,omaha4#aab  
,it is the  power of the wonderful and  
mysterious in the world1 which becomes  
especially manifest in ,magic and in the
 agency of spirits4 ,similar  notions   

are found in many regions at various    
stages of culture1 but  nowhere 7,i     
believe7 at the lowest stages2 so that  
it is unreasonable to  treat it as the  
first source of ideas of the            
supernatural4 ,it is too  comprehensive 
a generalisation to find expression     
amongst savages4 ,the  ,arunta have got 
as far as the generalisation of evil    
,magic under the  name of               
arungquiltha4#aac ,but mana is a        
generalisation of all the  imaginary    
forces of superstition1 vague and       
mysterious2 as 8cause10 in  popular use1
 is a generalisation of all the supposed
 8forces0 of nature4    ,rites also act 
at a distance by invisible force2 for   
this power belongs  to gesture-language1
 and the simplest rites are gestures4   
,and so do  spells2 for wishes1         
commands1 threats expressed in words1   
act upon  men at a distance by invisible
 force2 and spells are nothing but  such
 expressions conceived of in a          
particular way1 as having that  uniform 

efficacity which is ,magic4 ,spells1    
being thought of as forces1  are        
reified2 so that blessings or curses    
cling to their objects like  garlands1  
or like contaminating rags4    ,magical 
force1 then1 is a notion derived from   
experience of natural  forces and       
employed to account for events that are 
unusual1 wonderful1  mysterious1 not to 
be interpreted by that common sense     
which is the  cumulative result of usual
 occurrences4 ,it is superimposed upon  
the  older and wider presumption of     
causation1 and is expected to manifest  
itself with the same uniformity2 so     
that1 if the laws of it can be          
discovered1 it supplies a basis for the 
,art of ,magic4 ,so far is ,magic  from 
being the source of the belief in       
causation6 ,but ,i have spoken  of the  
8older and wider presumption of         
causation02 for 7as has been  shown7 the
 definite postulate that all the        
ongoings of the world may be  analysed  
upon the principal of cause and effect1 

can never come into  the minds of       
primitive men2 and even to ourselves it 
rarely occurs1  except in scientific    
discussions or logical exercises2 but we
 always  act as if we trusted in it1 and
 so does a savage1 and so does a dog4   
,the presumption is reinforced by every 
moment's ordinary experience2  and      
without it no consistency of life is    
possible4 ,this ungeneralised           
presumption determines all thoughts and 
actions1 mechanical1 animistic1  or     
magical4 ,that the forces implied in    
superstition are generalised  in such   
concepts as mana before the principle of
 causation obtains  expression1 is due  
to the prepotency of the unusual1       
wonderful1  mysterious in attracting    
attention4    ,in our modern analysis of
 mechanical causation there are four    
requirements3 7#a7 every event has a    
cause2 7#b7 causation is uniform2  7#c7 
the cause is the assemblage of the      
indispensable conditions of the  effect 
7and no others72 7#d7 the cause is      

proportional to the effect4 ,in  the    
savage's mind these requirements are    
also obscurely recognised3 7#a7  he     
seeks a cause for everything3 7#b7 he   
expects it to act uniformly3  7#c7 he   
believes in reinstating all the         
conditions of the effect1 as  appears   
from his preparations for hunting1 or   
war1 or marriage1 or  whatever he may   
have in hand2 but he is much more       
ignorant than we are  as to what        
conditions are indispensable and        
decisive3 7#d7 he knows  vaguely that   
the cause is proportional to the effect2
 for 7a7 he  succeeds in making         
effective weapons1 etc41 by mechanical  
means2 7b7  he is very susceptible to   
the 8size-weight illusion10 twice as    
much as  we are1#aad and this implies   
the adjustment of effort to a supposed  
weight2 7c7 he repeats a spell in order 
to strengthen it1 or unites  a talisman1
 a rite and a spell in one assault1     
implying that greater  force must be    
directed against greater resistance2 and

 so on4    ,causation1 then1 is         
universally assumed3 how do ,animism and
 ,magic  influence the latent           
conception8 ,as to ,animism1 7#a7 it    
palters with the  uniformity of         
causation2 for though the ghost or      
spirit acts from human  motives1 no one 
knows exactly what its motives are4 ,it 
may be cajoled1  implored1 even         
threatened2 but the result does not     
always answer  desire3 there is apparent
 caprice or free will1 with consequent  
loss of  confidence1 and an             
uncomfortable feeling that leads to a   
reaction in  favour of controlling the  
god1 or ghost1 by ,magic4 7#b7 ,the     
ghost is at  first merely a man-force   
disengaged from the visible body1 but   
still  having its own body through which
 it can produce various effects4 ,but   
the fear of a ghost immediately endows  
it with superhuman power2 and in  course
 of time it becomes more and more       
powerful1 even to omnipotence2  so that 
it can of itself bring about any event2 

and1 therefore1 the  8assemblage of     
conditions0 becomes unnecessary to      
causation3 there  need be no visible    
conditions3 miracles occur2 creation out
 of nothing  is possible4 7#c7 ,for such
 a power the 8proportionality of cause  
and  effect0 becomes almost meaningless2
 but not quite1 for there are  degrees  
of spirit-force2 and what one cannot do 
a stronger can4    ,as to ,magic1 it has
 the great merit of 7#a7 preserving the 
uniformity  of causation4 ,but 7#b7 it  
vitiates the presumption of causation by
  including in the total antecedent     
unreal conditions1 namely1 the forces   
of rites and spells2 and by generating a
 frame of mind that makes  it impossible
 to eliminate them4 ,the hunter uses all
 the resources  of his art in hunting2  
he also practises rites and spells4 ,to 
which  does he owe his success8 ,we     
might suggest that he should try the    
hunting without the rites2 but he is    
afraid to2 and should he try1 his       
positivism would probably break down at 

the first failure to kill4  ,well1 then1
 let him try the rites without the      
hunting2 but he is not  such a fool3    
and1 if he were1 the medicine-man would 
tell him that1  of course1 he must 8use 
the means40 7#c7 ,magic impairs the     
sense of  proportionality between cause 
and effect1 by recognising antecedents  
which are1 in their nature1             
immeasurable4 ,in their admirable work1 
,the  ,pagan ,tribes of ,borneo1        
,messrs4 ,hose and ,mc,dougall          
remark#aae that  it is sometimes said1  
that people of lowly culture have 8no   
conception  of mechanical causation1 and
 that every material object is regarded 
by  them as animated02 but they do not  
think that this could be truthfully     
said about any of the peoples of        
,borneo4 ,in the construction of houses1
  boats1 weapons1 traps1 they have a    
nice appreciation of the principles     
involved4 ,yet we find#aaf that these   
skilled artisans believe that  they can 
retard an enemy's boat by hanging under 

one of its benches a  quartz pebble4    
,similarly1 the ,boloki of the ,congo1  
having made a good  canoe1 before       
launching1 strike it on the stern with  
an axe 8to take  away the weight40#aag  
,and the ,fijians1 still better         
boat-builders1  believe that to put a   
basket of bitter oranges on a canoe     
reduces its  speed4#aah    ,inasmuch as 
the possibility of action at a distance 
is still in debate1  the savage cannot  
perhaps upon that tenet be confidently  
corrected4    ,if there is any truth in 
the foregoing account of the latent     
ideas1 or  presumptions1 of savages     
concerning causation1 it is plain that  
,magic  7and likewise ,animism7 did not 
help1 but hindered the development of   
these ideas4 ,notwithstanding 7or1      
perhaps1 because of7 certain specious   
resemblances to science1 ,magic is1 and 
always has been1 the enemy of  science4 
#e4 ,,magic ,,and ,,mystery    ,magic   
begins with ignorance of some of the    
conditions of a desired  event1 and the 

adoption 7on account of coincidence7 of 
anything that  fixes one's attention as 
contributing to the total antecedent4   
,as  the supposed conditions of events  
grow more and more miscellaneous1  the  
disposition increases to regard anything
 as a possible cause of  anything else4 
,hence unbounded suspicion whenever an  
interesting event  occurs whose         
antecedents are not familiar and        
manifest4 ,the more  unusual any        
occurrence1 the more it must excite     
attention and be apt to  arouse         
suspicion2 and the first arrival of     
travellers or missionaries  amongst a   
wild tribe is an event so unprecedented1
 that it is likely  enough to occasion  
exaggerated suspicions and behaviour    
which1 when  reported1 misrepresent the 
tribe's normal attitude of mind4 ,for   
this  allowance should be made4         
,however1 in ,magic the causation is    
never traceable2 therefore it  becomes  
mysterious4 ,the sense of mystery arises
 when something excites  wonder1 wonder 

gives place to curiosity1 curiosity is  
baffled1 and  wonder returns with fear4 
,the magical power of an inert object1  
such  as a black pebble or a shark's    
tooth1 or of a bone that is pointed     
towards a victim1 or of a spear that is 
swung but not thrown1 and  nevertheless 
inflicts a wound1 though an invisible   
one1 is something  unknown1 or          
mysterious4 ,that is to say1 it is a    
merely imagined action  which remains   
obscure and inscrutable1 in comparison  
with the perceived  action of a spear   
thrown at a deer and slaying it with a  
visible wound4  ,the savage has adequate
 practical knowledge of the latter      
process2 of  the former only a vague    
analogical image4 ,he feels the         
difference1 and  that the ,magic is     
mysterious2 and mystery1 being common to
 all magical  processes1 and deeply     
impressive 7especially in black ,magic71
 becomes  what we call a 8fundamental   
attribute0 of ,magic1 pervading the     
whole  apperceptive mass that is formed 

by a man's magic-beliefs4 ,therefore    
whatever excites the sense of mystery   
tends to be assimilated#aai  by this    
apperceptive mass and confirmed as      
magical2 just as the mass  of our       
scientific knowledge assimilates and    
confirms any proposition  that has the  
attributes of a scientific law4 ,hence  
the savage accepts  the mysterious      
remedies of an ,european doctor as      
magical2 and he is  ready to regard as  
magical1 and to fear1 anything--a rock1 
tree1 or  water-spout--that by any trait
 excites his sense of mystery4 ,magic1  
then1 does not arise from mystery2 but  
having come into existence1 it  appeals 
to the feeling of mystery2 and then     
whatever else is mysterious  tends to   
become magical4#abj    ,magic being     
mysterious1 the more mysterious the more
 powerful it must  be4 ,hence foreign   
,magic is more dreaded than the         
home-made2 ancient  ,magic is more      
powerful than modern2 muttered spells1  
or formul in  a strange language1 or in 

one whose meaning has been lost1 are    
more  efficacious than intelligible     
speech2 written characters and numbers  
have a subduing prestige2 verse is more 
subtle than prose 7for poets  are       
everywhere respected72 a wizard is more 
impressive in a mask than  when         
bare-faced1 in a fit than when sober2   
and operations in the dark1  that ought 
to excite scepticism1 enhance credulity4
    ,masses of ideas having this        
mysterious quality form relatively      
dissociated systems1 which offer        
resistance to all ideas that want it1   
and therefore to what we call           
8explanation40 ,hence the conservative1 
inexpugnable character of ,magic and its
 easy alliance with ,mysticism4         
,resistance to explanation may go the   
length of denying present  experience2  
as when a man is seen to be slain by a  
weapon or by a  falling tree1 and yet   
his death is ascribed to sorcery3 the   
fear of  sorcery having become a fixed  
idea4       #f4 ,,volitional ,,magic    

,magical power inheres in things1 rites 
and spells without regard to the  man   
who uses them2 they may be sold or      
taught1 and then serve the new          
possessor4 ,but much the greater part of
 all known magical operation  depends   
upon the agency of some person1 man or  
spirit1 who sets it  going2 and rites   
and spells are from the first1 by their 
nature1  personal actions4    ,in the   
later stages of ,magic1 no doubt1 it is 
held that a mere wish or  volition may  
be efficacious3 in ,cornwall they still 
tell you1 when you  are cold or tired1  
that you 8look wisht10 that is1 as if   
you had been  ill-wisht and were pining 
away 7this meaning is generally         
forgotten74  ,but it seems to me        
improbable that such an idea should be  
primitive4  ,people who1 in inflicting  
penalties1 do not discriminate between  
accidental and intentional offences1    
cannot be supposed to ascribe  power to 
a mental process as such2 and ,i have   
not been able to find  in reports of    

very backward tribes any case of        
wish-magic unsupported  by magical      
implements4 ,dr4 ,haddon says#aba that1 
among the eastern  islanders of ,torres 
,straits1 the power of words and the    
projection of  the will are greatly     
believed in4 ,a youth who makes love    
procures a  piece of black lava shaped  
significantly1 and anoints it with      
coco-nut  oil1 etc42 he also anoints his
 own temples1 and thinks as intently as 
possible about the girl1 and repeats a  
spell whenever he sees her1  using the  
names of ,sagaro and ,pikaro1 wife and  
mistress of the hero  ,sida4 ,now1 with 
this complex apparatus of talisman1 rite
 and spell1  how much is left to wishing
 or the projection of the will8 ,he     
thinks  hard about the girl1 no doubt2  
but that needs no voluntary effort3 at  
least1 in this climate1 voluntary effort
 is soon exhausted in trying to  think  
of anything else4 ,mr4 ,weeks1 in his   
book ,among ,congo ,cannibals1          
describing a people of somewhat higher  

culture1 and much more advanced         
,animism than the natives of ,torres    
,straits1 explains the nervousness  in  
the poison ordeal even of those who are 
innocent of any nefarious  practices1 by
 asking--8,for who has not at some time 
wished another's  death80--and by the   
admitted doctrine that a man may be full
 of evil  magic without knowing it4     
,from this it seems to be inferable that
 a  mere wish may be effective4 ,but not
 justly2 for a man full of evil  magic  
is an incarnate talisman2 and such a man
 may operate without  wishing1 as often 
happens with the evil-eye4 ,at any rate1
 these casual  ,congo wishes do not     
amount to volition2 the faintest        
velleity is enough  for the hair-trigger
 of such explosive personalities4 ,in   
,japan1 too1  the angry spirit of a     
living person may inflict a curse       
unknown to  himself4#abb    ,still1 with
 the progress of ,magic1 deliberate     
wishes may acquire  independent power4  
,a man practising evil ,magic1 and      

desiring secrecy1  has a strong motive  
to believe 7that is1 there is a cause of
 his  believing7 that his tacit wish has
 the power of invisible action at  a    
distance2 and the way by which he       
arrives at that belief is quite  clear3 
for a spell is a magical force2 it is   
also an expressed wish or  command2 and1
 if muttered1 is more rather than less  
powerful than when  uttered aloud4 ,why 
not1 then1 8sub-muttered10 or merely    
thought8    ,from this degenerate notion
 of will-work we must distinguish the   
personal power of an accomplished wizard
 in his whole magical activity4         
,whatever a man does with a talisman or 
a spell1 as it were with a  tool or a   
weapon1 may be done with more or less   
concentration of  energy and proficiency
 in the performance2 and one man will be
 plainly  superior to another4 ,success 
depends upon doing one's best2 therefore
  upon the will4 ,and ,magic often needs
 courage and resource2 but in the       
development of the art it depends still 

more upon knowledge2 wherein  the       
magician is wont to boast himself4 ,for 
wizardry is the most  reputable faculty 
of primitive scholarship3 to know all   
spells and  rites1 the arts of          
divination and medicine1 the ancestry   
and true name  of all dangerous things1 
which gives control over them3 and it is
 a  universal belief that knowledge is  
power4       #g4 ,,the ,,evolution ,,of 
,,magic--,,direct ,,magic    ,from the  
simple beginnings thus described1       
,magic1 like everything  else in the    
world1 proceeds to grow and             
differentiate4 ,it grows by  the        
lengthening of spells from the briefest 
wish or command to many  verses2#abc by 
the extension of rites from the waving  
of a bough  to raise the wind to the    
,australian ,intichiuma ceremonies that 
go on  for many days2 by the            
accumulating of charms by the bagful2 by
 the  compounding of rites with spells1 
and by repetition of them three  times  
or some other sacred number4 ,it        

differentiates by being applied  and    
adapted to more and more purposes3 from 
hunting 7if we suppose  it to begin     
there7 to war and love2 to birth1       
marriage and death2 to  the giving of   
diseases and the curing of them2 to the 
protection of  property and to the      
discovery 7or concealment7 of theft2 to 
navigation1  building1 agriculture1 the 
care of flocks and herds1 the procuring 
of  rain1 renewing the vigour of the sun
 and binding the influence of the       
,pleiades4 ,at the same time ,magic1    
originally practised 7we may presume7   
by individuals1 comes to engage the     
concern and co-operation of  families1  
clans and tribes2 and a distinction     
grows up between what we  call 8white0  
and 8black0 ,magic3 practices that are  
for the welfare of  the tribe1 or of    
some portion of it1 and practices       
designed to gratify  private passions   
without regard to their effect upon the 
community4    ,one may notice certain   
stages 7not always serial7 in the       

development  of ,magic3 ,first1 the     
simple and direct defence of oneself or 
fellows  against other persons or       
things1 storms1 diseases1 etc42 or1     
again1  direct attack upon such hostile 
powers--by means of charms1 spells or   
rites4 ,secondly1 indirect or dramatic  
,magic1 operating not upon persons  or  
things themselves1 but 7expecting the   
same effect7 upon imitations  of them1  
or upon detached parts or appurtenances2
 as in the well-known  device of making 
a waxen figure of a man and melting it  
in the fire to  his destruction4        
,thirdly1 the alliance of ,magic with   
,animism1 leading  to sorcery1 exorcism 
and ceremonies associated with          
,religion--discussed  below in the sixth
 and seventh chapters4 ,fourthly1 the   
confusion of  ,magic with ,science1 as  
in ,astrology and ,alchemy--referred to 
in the  seventh and tenth chapters4     
,direct magical rites begin in very     
simple ways1 probably with gestures3  as
 to point at a man in threatening2 to   

throw out the open hand in  warding off 
evil2 to claw the air behind a man's    
back1 as ,australian  women do4 ,it     
becomes more and more elaborate as the  
result of much  study devoted to a      
matter of supreme interest3 especially  
after the  rise of a professional class 
of medicine-men1 with whom inventions   
accumulate and become traditionary4     
,similarly1 spells are at first  merely 
wishes1 or commands1 or warnings4 ,an   
,australian ,wind-doctor  cries1 8,let  
the west wind be bound40#abd ,the       
southern ,massim of ,new  ,guinea have a
 spell to open a cave--8,o rock1 be     
cleft60 and1 again1  to shut the        
cave--8,o rock1 be closed60#abe ,nothing
 can be simpler4  ,how spells rise into 
poetry and are combined with rites and  
charms is  shown by a ,polynesian       
example3 a man being ill with           
consumption1 which  is called ,moomoo1 a
 medicine-man is sent for4 ,he comes1   
sits by the  patient1 and sings--       
8,o ,moomoo1 ,o ,moomoo6      ,i'm on   

the eve of spearing you40    ,then1     
rising1 he flourishes his spear over the
 patient's head1 and goes  away4 ,no one
 dares speak or smile4#abf    ,as to    
charms1 the simplest1 and perhaps the   
earliest1 are small  pebbles1 such as   
the ,australian 8bulks10 or             
crystals4#abg ,in ,papua  there are     
quartz charms so powerful that it is not
 safe for even the  owner to touch them4
 ,in that country the qualities that    
make a thing  suitable for a charm are3 
7#a7 similarity in contour1 or in other 
ways1  to the object to be influenced2  
7#b7 rarity2 7#c7 unusual shape in not  
very uncommon objects3#abh in short1    
whatever arrests attention4 ,dr4        
,codrington says3 8,a stone takes a     
man's fancy2 it is like something1      
clearly not a common stone2 there must  
be mana in it3 puts it in his  garden2  
and a good crop proves he was           
right40#abi ,among the ,esquimo1        
strange or curious objects never before 
seen are sometimes considered  to bring 

success to the finder2 and charms are   
carried shaped like  the animals        
hunted4#acj ,such a taste is very       
ancient1 if the same  purpose was served
 by those animal-shaped stones1         
retouched to increase  the resemblance1 
which have been found in considerable   
numbers in  ,france and ,england4#aca   
,in the bag of a ,west ,african sorcerer
 may be  seen a bit of leopard skin1 of 
snake's skin1 hawk's talons1 bone of a  
dead man1 leaves of certain plants1     
etc42 each having its own virtue1  and  
uniting their powers in the interest of 
the formidable owner4  ,the ,chanson de 
,roland describes a talisman to which   
the chief of  ,charlemagne's peers must 
have owed no small part of his          
prowess--his  famous sword3--           
8,ah6 ,durendal1 most holy1 fair indeed6
      ,relics enough thy golden hilt    
conceals3      ,saint ,peter's ,tooth1  
the ,blood of ,saint ,basile1      ,some
 of the ,hairs of my lord1 ,saint       
,denise1      ,some of the ,robe1 was   

worn by ,saint ,mary40#acb    ,i cannot 
call it fair fighting1 and wonder that1 
thus armed1 he should  ever have been   
mortally wounded by the miscreant hordes
 of ,mahum and  ,tervagant1 however     
numerous4    ,an influential outgrowth  
of primitive ,magic is the taboo4 ,taboo
 is the  dangerousness of a person1 or  
thing1 or action1 or word1 conceived of 
as a motive for not touching or uttering
 or meddling therewith4 ,the            
dangerousness may either lie in the     
nature of a person or thing1 or  be     
imposed upon it4 ,a chief1 for example1 
and everything belonging to  him1 is    
generally taboo by inherent sacredness3 
he is1 like ,mr4 ,weeks's  ,congolese1  
full of evil magic4 ,the idea of the    
talisman has thus been  extended to     
include certain men4 ,in many tribes it 
includes all women2  but since to make  
them always taboo is too much for human 
nature1 they  are treated as such only  
periodically1 or when a man is about to 
be  exposed to some further danger1     

which will be the more likely to injure 
him when already contaminated by evil   
magic4#acc ,this is very clear in  a    
case reported by ,prof4 ,seligman3#acd  
at ,yam warriors were forbidden  to     
sleep with their wives before battle2   
else 8bow and arrow belong  other fellow
 he smell you1 he shoot you1 you no got 
luck40 ,still1  physical consequences   
7which may explain the superstition7 are
 also  considered3 a diver for          
pearl-shell must similarly abstain2     
because1  else1 8man he sleepy40 ,the   
continence required of women to ensure  
the  safety of their husbands when away 
at war or hunting may be due to a       
belief in a 8sympathy0 or               
8participation10 as if husband and wife 
were  in some mysterious rapport2 but1  
deeper1 there may have been a fetch  of 
policy4 ,when magical taboos are        
generally recognised and feared1  it    
becomes possible to use them for social 
purposes3 one cannot be  sure that every
 magical observance had its origin in   

magical belief4  ,thus the food-rules of
 ,australian tribes consist of taboos   
upon the  enjoyment of certain foods by 
women and young men1 and are plainly    
devised in the interests of the         
gerontocracy3 so why should not a       
fiction be founded on ,magic in the     
interest of absent husbands8    ,the    
sanctity or dangerousness of the chief  
is probably due1 first1  to his being   
really dangerous2 but1 secondly1 to the 
biological  advantage to a tribe of     
respecting him1 which leads to a        
selection of  those tribes amongst whom 
respect for the chief arises4 ,as       
biological  adaptation is never more    
than a moving1 oscillating equilibrium1 
this  feeling sometimes becomes         
excessive1 even to the point of         
insanity4  ,everything the chief touches
 becomes taboo2 only a few sacred       
servants  can approach him2 he may be   
thus reduced to helplessness4 ,it is one
  of ,nature's checks upon tyranny4     
,such is the force of taboo1 that a     

,maori tribesman1 being hungry1 seeing  
some food by the wayside1 and  eating   
it1 on learning that it was the remains 
of the meal of a sacred  chief1         
immediately fell ill1 and died4 ,the    
offence was fatal--as soon  as it was   
known4 ,the dangerousness of women has  
been referred to their  weakness2       
association with them must be weakening1
 and is therefore  forbidden when       
exertion is needed4#ace ,prof4          
,westermarck traces it  to a 8horror of 
blood02#acf very probably2 but other    
things may  co-operate towards it4 ,the 
life of women separates them from men1  
and  brings them into a freemasonry and 
community of interests1 to which men    
are not admitted2 differentiates their  
mentality1 until the result is          
mysterious and therefore magical3 the   
sexual orgasm1 being more like  pain    
than anything that is not pain1 at once 
attractive and revulsive1  acquires the 
same character4 ,homicides and mourners1
 again1 are liable  to be taboo1 either 

because there clings to them the        
mysterious quality  and taint of death  
7a magical motive71 or because they are 
followed by  the ghosts of the departed4
    ,there are unlucky words which it is
 a social offence to utter3 words  of   
ill-omen1 but especially names of dead  
people1 demons and sometimes  gods2 for 
people are apt to come when they are    
called1 and1 if the call  is conceived  
of according to ,magic1 come they       
certainly will4 ,there  are likewise    
many actions that seem to us entirely   
innocent1 yet in  one or another tribe  
must be avoided by all who desire a     
prosperous or  only a tranquil life4    
,the ,papagoe ,indians of ,mexico forbid
 a girl at a  certain time to scratch   
her head1 or even to touch her hair with
 her  hand2 for which there may be an   
excuse in the sacredness of the head2   
but her brother comes at the same time  
under the same restriction4#acg  ,the   
case seems to be a type of many taboos1 
as being due wholly to  suspicion and   

anxiety3 an anxious mother who sees her 
boy scratch  his head is reminded of his
 sister who must not do so2 her fears   
are  excited1 and she prohibits the     
action that excites her fear3 it is     
taboo4 ,writing of a ,bantu tribe1 ,m4  
,jounod says1 8,most often taboos are   
inexplicable40#ach ,so are the penalties
 that await the breach of them3  the    
punishment rarely fits the crime4       
,premature baldness1 failure in  hunting
 or fishing1 boils1 lameness1           
dysentery--may avenge the eating  of    
wild duck or marriage within the        
forbidden circle4 ,and if any such      
thing happens to a man1 he is liable to 
be accused of having broken a  taboo2   
and that proves the truth of the belief 
in taboo4    ,besides things that are in
 their magical nature dangerous1 and    
therefore taboo1 things inoffensive in  
themselves can sometimes be made  taboo 
by merely declaring them to be so1 or by
 setting up a symbolic  notice that they
 are so1 or by laying a conditional     

curse upon anybody  who meddles with    
them4 ,they have then become dangerous4 
,this is the  common case of making a   
talisman by means of a spell1           
transferring to  it invisible power4    
,such practices1 especially common in   
,melanesia1 are  often useful as a cheap
 defence of property 7in gardens1 for   
instance71  but are also a means of     
exaction and tyranny4 ,the prevalence of
 taboo  amongst savages1 by the way1    
enables them readily to appreciate our  
great commandment to do no work on      
,sunday4#aci       #h4 ,,indirect ,,or  
8,,sympathetic0 ,,magic    ,the use of  
charms1 rites and spells1 having been   
established in one  department--say1    
hunting--may be extended to others by   
analogy1 and is  confirmed there in the 
same way1 namely1 by still doing one's  
best4  ,having obtained the charms and  
learnt1 or invented1 the rites and      
spells1 one applies them1 but at the    
same time makes war or love as          
cunningly as one can1 cultivates one's  

garden1 drives a bargain1 and so  forth1
 and ascribes all good results to the   
,magic4 ,at first1 ,i suppose1  all such
 action was direct1 discharged at the   
person or thing to be  influenced4 ,to  
slay an enemy a bone of a dead man was  
pointed1 or a  crocodile's tooth hurled1
 in his direction 7though1 probably1 not
 in  his sight74 ,to keep off evil      
,magic a wish was expressed--8,never    
sharp  barn catch me02#adj or to drive  
away a pest a command was issued1 as  in
 ,borneo3 8,o rats1 sparrows and noxious
 insects1 go feed on the padi  of people
 down river40#ada ,but a time came when 
,magic began also to be  carried out by 
practices indirect and purely dramatic1 
rites performed  and spells recited not 
at the person or thing to be affected1  
but upon  some substitute1 or           
representative1 or symbol2 and this must
 have  happened pretty early2 for       
dramatic ,magic is met with in          
,australia4  ,to this sort of ,magic    
belong the widely-diffused methods of   

operating  upon the image of a man or   
anything assigned to stand for him1 or  
upon  hair-clippings1 remains of food1  
or footprints instead of himself2 or  of
 tying knots to bind1 or untying them to
 release a curse4 ,with spells  the     
indirect method is less common1 but     
remarkable examples of it occur  at a   
low level of culture4 ,the ,yabim of    
,new ,guinea1 to promote the  growth of 
their taro1 tell a story3 8,once upon a 
time1 a man labouring  in his field     
complained that he had no taro-shoots4  
,then came two doves  flying from ,paum4
 ,they had devoured much taro1 and they 
perched upon a  tree in the field1 and  
during the night vomited up all the     
taro4 ,thus  the man got so many shoots 
that he was even able to sell some of   
them  to other people40#adb ,here1 then1
 a mere story of a wish fulfilled is    
substituted1 as a spell1 for the wish   
itself1 and expected to have the  same  
effect upon the crop2 and as that is1   
indeed1 true1 any failure  of it is no  

more liable to be detected4 ,but such   
practices seem to us  sillier and less  
promising even than direct ,magic4 ,what
 can be the  meaning of them8    ,the   
indirectness of a rite makes it more    
mysterious and magical1 and  that is a  
recommendation4 ,moreover1 its dramatic 
character gives  an imaginative         
satisfaction1 which must suffice to     
initiate such  pantomime again and      
again4 ,amongst ourselves many people   
are prone to  dramatise every situation 
of their lives2 to act in imagination   
their  loves1 their revenges1 their     
opportunities of self-display1 and to   
derive satisfaction from such           
imaginations even to the weakening of   
their will--satisfaction without effort 
or danger4 ,but although this  impulse  
may initiate pantomimic magic1 it can   
hardly maintain it in  the absence of   
any deeper satisfaction4 ,the belief in 
its efficacy1  again1 once established1 
the effect of suggestion upon a victim  
of  black ,magic 7who by some means is  

acquainted with what has been done      
against him7 may have consequences that 
seem to verify the rites2 but  this can 
only happen when a belief in the        
efficacy of such practices  already     
prevails4 ,the power of suggestion      
depends upon the belief2  it cannot     
create the belief4 ,we must fall back   
upon coincidence4  ,if1 indeed1         
immediate and complete coincidence were 
requisite1 if1  when one practised on an
 enemy's life1 nothing less than his    
speedy  death would do1 coincidences    
might be too rare to give the requisite 
confirmation4 ,but if some less injury  
will be acceptable1 and if it  need not 
follow immediately2 if a delay of not   
merely two or three  days1 but two or   
three months will bring the event within
 the limits  of satisfaction2 and if the
 degree of injury may vary from death to
  a bad fall1 or some failure in hunting
 on the victim's part1 or a  quarrel    
with his wife2 if even 7as often        
happens7 a misfortune to any  one of his

 family may suffice--the confirmatory   
coincidences will be  tolerably         
frequent4 ,there must1 of course1 be    
many disappointments2 but  these count  
for little1 because the particular      
practice is supported  by a general     
belief in ,magic2 because men desire to 
believe and are  afraid to disbelieve2  
because failures are explained by some  
error in  performing the rites1 or by   
the counteraction of superior ,magic1 or
 by  the intervention of hostile        
spirits4    ,special reasons for        
practising and believing in indirect    
operations of  black ,magic are their   
greater secrecy and1 therefore1 greater 
safety1  and greater gratification of   
the love of cunning3 which last 7,i     
think7  explains much of the elaboration
 that marks these performances4    ,in  
the development of indirect ,magic1 very
 many of its practices seem  to involve 
one or other of the assumptions often   
called the principles  of sympathetic   
,magic1 namely1 ,mimesis and            

,participation3 7#a7 that to  operate   
upon a likeness or representation1 or by
 analogy1 affects the  person1 or       
object1 or process imitated or          
represented as if it were  directly     
assailed2 and 7#b7 that a part or       
appurtenance of any one may1  in any    
magical undertaking1 be substituted for 
the whole4 ,among savages  these        
principles 7as has already been said7   
are only latent forms of  procedure1    
tacitly assumed1 not formulated1 and    
cannot have been the  source of the     
practices1 but must gradually have been 
established by  them2 but when notions  
of scientific arrangement came into     
vogue1  they were discovered and        
explicitly stated by the early          
physicians  and alchemists1 in whose    
thoughts ,magic and ,science were not   
clearly  differentiated4    ,it has been
 supposed that these principles are     
natural consequences of  the laws of the
 association 7or reproduction7 of ideas4
 ,according to  the 8law of similarity10

 an idea of one thing often makes us    
think of  another that resembles it3    
hence the thought of an enemy is        
supposed  to make me think of an image  
of him1 or the sight of his image makes 
me think of him4 ,according to the law  
8of contiguity10 any two things  having 
been seen or thought of together1       
thereafter the thought or  sight of one 
of them makes me think of the other3    
hence the thought of  an enemy makes me 
think of his footprint1 or his footprint
 reminds me  of him4 ,possibly4 ,but    
must there not have been a long         
preparation of  ideas before the thought
 of an enemy awakens in me these        
particular  associations rather than    
many others8 ,and if they should occur  
to me1  how do the laws of association  
explain my astonishing belief that to   
put his image in the fire1 or to thrust 
a thorn into his footprint1 or  to dig  
it up1 carry it home and put it in the  
oven1 will make him lame  or afflict him
 with some wasting disease8 ,there must 

be some system of  ideas to determine   
these particular judgments4    ,some1   
again1 suppose that savages cannot      
distinguish similarity from  identity1  
part from whole2 so that an image       
appears to them to be  in earnest the   
same thing as a man1 or his nail-parings
 the same as  himself4 ,yet it is       
certain that in their work-a-day life   
they do make  these distinctions1 and   
that otherwise they could not get on at 
all4  ,if1 then1 in certain cases1 and  
in ,magic 7which is all that concerns   
us now71 they act or speak as if unable 
to draw such distinctions1 it  must be  
from an acquired incapacity in that     
connection2 just as in some  cases they 
suffer from an acquired incapacity to   
recognise that their  beliefs are       
contradicted by experience2 that is to  
say1 some fixed  idea or dissociation   
prevents them from comparing the facts2 
though  sometimes it may be merely that 
customary forms of speech hinder the    
expression of distinctions that really  

exist among their ideas4    ,it has been
 suggested that the supposed force of   
mimetic ,magic rests  upon the belief   
that as a man's shadow or reflection    
implies his  presence1 so does his      
image4 ,and we shall see that1 in some  
cases1  this explanation is not far from
 the mark1 though it cannot serve for   
all cases2 inasmuch as the image        
operated upon in any rite need not be  a
 likeness 7of course it never is7--a    
stick will serve1 if declared  to stand 
for the victim2 and1 moreover1 his      
presence is not needed in  carrying out 
rites that act at a distance4 ,what     
truth there is in this  view has been   
better expressed by ,prof4 ,yrj         
,hirn3#adc namely1 that a  unity or     
solidarity exists between all persons   
and things that stand  to one another in
 a relationship of contact or           
similarity1 on account  of a certain    
magical virtue2 and that this solidarity
 is not destroyed  by any breach of     
physical continuity4 ,to take away a    

man's cloak1  or a lock of his hair1 or 
a remnant of his food1 does not         
interrupt  the magical continuity which 
contact has established with the man3   
something of him1 his virtue1 remains   
with it4 ,and in the same way an  image 
of him contains something of his virtue2
 for to the immature  mind1 images or   
pictures are nothing but radiations or  
decortications  of the thing itself1 an 
efflux1 like the ,epicurean 4 ,hence the
  bones of a saint and his picture      
convey his virtue to a devotee by the   
same process3 both are conductors of    
some emanation from himself4 ,there  is 
much truth in this theory4    ,when     
,animism is called in to explain ,magic1
 this virtue or emanation  of a man is  
apt to be explained as his soul1 or part
 of it4 ,a savage  dislikes being       
photographed1 lest you should take away 
his soul4  ,m4 ,jounod says the ,bantu  
regard a photograph as 8an unsheathing  
of  soul02#add ,mr4 ,dorsey says no     
,dakota would have his portrait taken   

lest one of his souls out of four should
 remain in the picture1  instead of     
going after death to spirit-land2#ade   
,mr4 ,carl ,lumholtz  says the ,papagoes
 refused to be photographed1 lest part  
of themselves  should be taken away1 and
 remain behind after death4#adf ,and it 
is  a trick with some sorcerers to keep 
a looking-glass1 in which they  pretend 
to catch the souls of their dupes2 and1 
of course1 shadows and  reflections are 
frequently confounded with the soul4 ,so
 if the use  of an image in ,magic does 
not imply the presence of the man       
himself1  generally it does imply the   
presence of a very important part of    
him4  ,and this explanation is          
strengthened by an apparent exception2  
for some  ,malays1 when they make an    
image of an enemy to compass his        
destruction1  think it necessary before 
operating to coax his soul into it by a 
potent spell4       8,hither1 ,soul1    
come hither6      ,hither1 little one1  
come hither6      ,hither1 bird1 come   

hither6      ,hither1 filmy one1 come   
hither60#adg    ,must we not infer that 
these ,malays have in some way lost the 
common  belief1 and so are put to this  
extra trouble8    ,if it be asked how   
this account of the matter can justify  
the use of  a stick or stone instead of 
a man's image1 merely assigning it to   
represent him1 the reply 7,i think7 is  
that the stick is a symbol4 ,since      
images are never much like the man1 and 
may be unlike in all degrees1  the stick
 is a sort of limiting case4 ,a symbol  
is always the remainder1  or reminder1  
of something that once had intrinsic    
value1 as an image1  shadow1 or         
reflection has by being or participating
 in the man's  soul4 ,besides1 it is    
perhaps a tacit assumption of ,magic 7as
 in other  departments of               
life--including ,philosophy71 8that     
whatever for one's  purpose it is       
necessary to assume1 is real or true03  
the situation  demands it4    ,as to the
 magical continuity between a man and   

whatever has been  in contact with him1 
the belief in it may with some          
confidence be  derived from the fact    
that it retains his odour2 and when an  
animistic  explanation is required1 it  
is naturally thought that this odour is 
his  soul or soul-stuff1 as the savour  
of a burnt-offering is its soul-stuff   
that regales the gods4    ,belief in the
 participation of an image1 or part or  
appurtenance of a  man in the man       
himself1 or in his virtue1 or in his    
soul1 must give to  rites of black      
,magic a great deal of the subjective   
satisfaction which  is a secret motive  
of all ,magic4 ,the images1 or          
nail-parings1 or what  not1 identify the
 man to be attacked2 they fix the       
wizard's attention1  vivify his         
imagination1 direct the spell whom to   
strike 7as a dog is  set upon a trail71 
and heighten the joy of imaginary       
revenge4    ,there are1 however1 many   
cases usually classed as 8sympathetic   
,magic0 that cannot without great       

violence be explained in this way2  and 
,i complain of the epithet              
8sympathetic10 as applied to all        
indirect ,magic1 that it implies this   
explanation4 ,consider the ,mandan      
buffalo-dances1 the hunting dance and   
the mating dance2 these are  imitations 
or dramatic representations of the      
hunting of buffaloes and  of their      
mating1 which they are designed to      
prosper3 can such dances  be interpreted
 as the efflux or decortications of the 
future hunt or  mating8 ,or1 again1 the 
story of the murna 7quoted above1 p4    
#aja7  and its resuscitation by the     
rising tide--is this a radiation of the 
budding of the taro which it is expected
 to expedite8 ,such cases1 which  are   
pretty numerous1 must be understood upon
 some other ground than                 
8participation40    ,many rites and     
observances seem to depend upon the     
notion of favourable  or unfavourable   
currents of invisible power1 which may  
be taken  advantage of1 or influenced1  

to obtain one's ends1 in hunting1 or in 
obtaining rain1 or in fertilisation of  
animals or crops4 ,it is good  to plant 
seed1 or begin any undertaking1 when the
 moon is waxing1 or  the tide rising2   
for these events show that the set of   
the current  is favourable to increase  
or prosperity4 ,again1 one may incite   
the  current or strengthen it1 as in    
bringing on rain by throwing water  in  
the air1 or by leaping to help the crops
 to grow4 ,to instigate or  assist in   
such ways the ongoings of ,nature is not
 the same thing as  to cause the event3 
a rain-wizard does not pretend to       
procure rain  in the dry season2 the    
times of ploughing1 sowing1 reaping     
7whatever  rites may accompany them7 are
 not decided by ,magic4 ,much pantomimic
  ,magic may be best understood as      
attempting to set up such currents of   
causation rather than as directly       
causative4 ,since instances of cause    
and effect are observed to repeat       
themselves1 a pantomimic murder1 or  a  

hunting dance1 or fertility-rites1 may  
be considered as setting an  example    
which ,nature is expected to follow3 the
 murna-spell promotes  vitality by      
merely describing an example of         
reinvigoration4 ,the ,kai of  ,n4,e4    
,new ,guinea hold that if a man1 by     
falling on a stump of bamboo in  the    
path1 wounds himself to death1 it is    
because a sorcerer1 having  obtained    
something infected with his victim's    
soul-stuff1 has spread it  over a pile  
stuck in the ground1 and pretended to   
wound himself upon  it and to groan with
 pain4#adh ,the belief implies that such
 practices  are in vogue2 and they seem 
to rely upon the assumption that 8what  
happens once will happen again02 and    
that who shall repeat the disaster  is  
determined by the presence1 among the   
conditions1 of something  belonging to  
the victim in default of himself4 ,it is
 not by sympathy  or participation that 
the 8something infected with his        
soul-stuff0  acts2 but by contributing  

to reinstate as far as possible all the 
circumstances of a cause like the cause 
of the man's death4    ,in other cases  
an exemplary cause may be constituted by
 the  substitution of similars that do  
not imply participation4 ,dr4 ,haddon   
tells us that in the western islands of 
,torres ,straits#adi the ,kuman  vine   
breaks up in dry weather1 and the       
segments look like human bones2  hence  
they are employed in ,magic4 ,similarly 
red ochre or some other  stain may be   
used instead of blood1 so that a        
skeleton may be coloured  with it as a  
means of keeping it alive4 ,in ,chinese 
popular religion1  before setting up a  
new idol1 it is first carried to the    
temple of  an older one1 who is besought
 to let a portion of his soul-stuff     
transmigrate into the new one2 then1    
carried to its own temple and           
enthroned1 its hands1 feet1 eyes1 mouth1
 nose and ears are smeared  with blood1 
or with red paint1 to open its senses   
and bring its  soul into relation with  

the outer world4#aej ,such a            
substitution of  similars is true in one
 sense2 red paint is a substitute for   
blood as  colour3 ,magic requires that  
it shall also be a substitute in other  
ways2 and1 therefore1 it is so4 ,thus1  
down and feathers thrown into  the air  
in ,australian rain-rites are a         
substitute for clouds2 in  ,mandan      
hunting-rites1 men disguised in         
buffalo-skins are a substitute  for     
buffaloes2 and thus1 by substitution1 a 
cause can always be  constituted which1 
once having been set to work1 ,nature is
 constrained  to repeat the operation4  
,ought we not1 then1 to recognise two   
kinds of indirect ,magic--the           
sympathetic1 and what may be called the 
exemplary8#aea           99       99    
99       99       99    ,the rise of the
 wizard as a professional authority     
introduces many  changes into magical   
practice1 and decisively alters its     
social  importance4 ,he sometimes       
experiments in new rites and spells or  

in  new versions of the old ones2 he    
decides some matters arbitrarily1  as in
 imposing taboos on food2 generally1 he 
develops the art in the  direction of   
his professional interests1 learning to 
conjure1 act1  ventriloquise1 suggest1  
hypnotise1 and to provide excuses for   
failure2  he begins to train novices1   
form a school and establish a tradition 
which influences the whole life of his  
tribe4 ,how far arbitrary  elements     
enter into rites it is impossible to    
say1 until some one  shall discover 7as 
some one may7 marks by which to         
distinguish them4  ,meanwhile1 there may
 be many rites1 or ritual elements1 that
 cannot be  explained on any known      
principles of ,magic1 because in fact   
they are  arbitrary3 still1 such things 
must usually be an imitation of other   
magical practices4 ,prof4 ,leuba        
suggests1 probably enough1 that rites   
may sometimes be adopted to relieve     
excitement1 such as the dancing  of     
women when the men are at war4#aeb ,it  

was the custom 7e4 g47 of  ,araucanian  
women2 and as they danced1 they swept   
the dust away with  their fans1 and     
sang3 8,as we sweep the dust away1 so   
may our husbands  scatter the enemy40   
,if this was arbitrarily invented1 it   
was by analogy  with much mimetic       
,magic3 they set an example of what     
should happen and  confirmed it with a  
spell4#aec      #i4 ,,the ,,dissolution 
,,of ,,magic    ,in spite of the human  
mind's strong proclivity to ,magic1 the 
art1 after  rising to a maximum power   
and reputation1 in course of time loses 
its influence1 and is to be found       
festering only in the backwater  and    
stagnant pools of society4 ,its power is
 not at the zenith in  primitive        
society1 but much later1 when there are 
men in command of  great wealth who feel
 insecure1 and turn for confidence to   
diviners and  thaumaturgists1 whom they 
bribe heavily to give what they most    
desire4  ,but by that time ,magic is    
confused with ,animism4 ,as civil order 

and  material civilisation prevail1     
,magic is no longer invoked to increase 
one's confidence1 because this is       
ensured by the regularity of ordinary   
affairs4 ,as positive methods in war1   
building1 commerce are learnt and       
practised1 the magical accompaniments of
 such undertakings1 without  being      
wholly disused1 may become less and less
 important--what we call  8survivals10  
such as the breaking of a bottle of wine
 on the bows when  launching a ship 7it 
is forgotten that the wine must be red74
 ,or they  may be lost altogether       
without injury to industry2 whereas in  
savage  economy there is some risk that 
a most useful craft1 such as pottery1   
weaving1 or canoe-building1 may be      
entirely discontinued1 if by the        
extinction of some group of men or women
 the rites and songs are  forgotten with
 which such labour had always been made 
good4#aed ,for  who would trust a pot or
 a canoe unconsecrated8    ,the great   
systematisations of ,oneiromancy1       

,alchemy1 ,cheiromancy1  ,astrology1    
necessarily come forward late in the    
day1 because they  involve the          
constitution of science2 but for that   
reason they are  soon discredited by    
being confronted with the positive      
sciences2  when1 without being          
forgotten1 they are relegated to what   
may be  euphemistically called 8select  
circles40    ,with the growth of        
,animism1 again1 pure ,magic becomes    
comparatively  rare2 its observances are
 interpreted according to the           
fashionable  creed1 no longer as setting
 occult1 quasi-mechanical forces to     
work1  but as requiring the intervention
 of a spirit or a god4 ,they become     
symbolic3 ritual now does nothing of    
itself1 but is a sign of what the  god  
does1 or is desired to do4 ,yet ,magic  
often has its revenge upon  ,animism3   
enchaining by mysterious uniformities   
the god himself4    ,in its own nature  
,magic comprises qualities that tend to 
weaken it  7at least1 to weaken each    

particular form of it7 and to bring     
about  its decline4 ,magical rites and  
spells1 on whatever scale performed1    
are things to be repeated1 and what is  
repeated is mechanised and  ceases to   
live4 ,custom can maintain a practice   
whilst dispensing with  its meaning2    
slowly the practice 7spell or ritual7 is
 slurred and  corrupted4 ,economy1      
8least effort10 is the enemy of all     
ceremonial4  ,there is also a tendency  
to the attenuation of rites on the      
principle  7unconscious1 of course7 that
 8the sign of a sign is a sign of the   
thing signified02 whereby a meaning may 
be disguised in a symbol  for the sake  
of secrecy1 or even for politeness4     
,prof4 ,westermarck  has shown how1 in  
,morocco1 the full rite for averting the
 evil eye  is to throw forward the hand 
with outspread fingers and to exclaim1  
8,five in your eye40 ,but as this is too
 insulting for common use1 you  may     
instead casually mention the number     
8five02 or if even that be  too         

plain-spoken1 you can refer to          
8,thursday10 which happens to be  the   
fifth day of the week4 ,in this process 
there is great risk of  forgetting the  
original meaning of the rite or spell2  
and when this  comes to pass1 we are    
left with the empty shells of           
superstition1 such  as a dread of       
8thirteen10 8,friday10 salt-spilling1   
walking under a  ladder2 for hardly a   
soul knows what they mean4              
,,footnotes3    #aja ,history of the    
,kingship1 p4 #ch2 cf4 also ,the ,magic 
,art1 ,i4 p4  #bce1 and footnote3 8faith
 in magic is probably older than a      
belief in  spirits40    #ajb ,skeat and 
,blagden1 ,pagan ,races of the ,malay   
,peninsula1 ,i4 p4  #dag4    #ajc ,in   
the ,american ,journal of ,psychology1  
p4 #hc 7#aiai71 ,e4 ,s4  ,conkling has  
an instructive article on ,superstitious
 ,belief and  ,practice among ,college  
,students4 ,of a large group examined   
#ec per  cent4 entertained some         
superstition 7#dj per cent4 ,m41 #ff per

 cent4  ,f474 ,at some time1 now or     
formerly1 #hb per cent4 had been so     
affected  7#gc per cent4 ,m41 #ij per   
cent4 ,f474 ,half assigned their former 
superstitions to the age from twelve to 
sixteen4 ,twenty-two per cent4          
attributed the disposition to the       
suggestion of elders1 #dg per cent4 to  
social suggestion1 #ae per cent4 to     
social inheritance1 and #ae per cent4   
to emotions and feelings beyond the     
control of reason4    #ajd ,among the   
,indians of ,guiana1 p4 #ced4    #aje   
,quoted by ,ames1 ,psychology of        
,religious ,experience1 p4 #fj4    #ajf 
,charms 7and possibly rites and spells7 
are sometimes revealed in  dreams       
7,howitt1 ,the ,native ,tribes of       
,south-,east ,australia1 p4 #cgh2  and  
,hose and ,mc,dougall1 ,pagan ,tribes of
 ,borneo1 ,i4 p4 #aaj74 ,but this  can  
only happen either where the belief in  
charms already exists 7as in  the cases 
cited71 or by the coincidence of the    
dream with good or bad  fortune4 ,the   

connexion of events must first of all   
present itself as  something observed3  
whether waking or dreaming is           
indifferent4    ,for further            
illustrations of the influence of       
coincidences in  establishing a belief  
in ,magic1 see ch4 viii4  #e4    #ajg   
,r4 ,r4 ,marett1 ,preanimistic          
,religion1 ,folk-,lore1 #aijj4    #ajh  
,a4 ,w4 ,howitt1 ,the ,native ,tribes of
 ,south-,east ,australia1 p4 #cga4      
#aji ,northern ,tribes of ,central      
,australia1 p4 #dgb4    #aaj ,a4 ,c4    
,haddon1 ,reports of the ,cambridge     
,expedition to ,torres  ,straits1 ,v4 p4
 #cfa4    #aaa ,coddrington1 ,the       
,melanesians1 pp4 #aah-ai4    #aab ,for 
a comparison of these allied notions see
 ,e4 ,s4 ,hartland's  ,ritual and       
,belief1 pp4 #cf-ea4    #aac ,spencer   
and ,gillen1 ,native ,tribes of ,central
 ,australia1 p4 #edh4    #aad ,w4       
,mc,dougall1 ,reports of the ,cambridge 
,expedition to ,torres  ,straits1 ,,ii4 
p4 #aii4    #aae ,vol4 ,,ii4 p4 #b4     

#aaf ,vol4 ,,ii4 p4 #abd4    #aag       
,weeks1 ,among ,congo ,cannibals1 p4    
#caa4    #aah ,thomas ,williams1 ,fiji  
and the ,fijians1 p4 #gi4    #aai ,tends
 to be assimilated--for if the          
presentation have some  special         
character of ,animism1 it will be       
assimilated to the animistic  system2 or
 if ,animism be the more active and     
fashionable theory in a  man's social   
group4    #abj ,it has been thought     
strange that such a thing as a whirlwind
  may excite in the savage either fear  
or anger4 ,to explain this we  must     
consider the nature of wonder3 it is an 
imaginative expansion  of surprise1     
temporary paralysis of the imagination1 
with emotional  disturbance1 but no     
progressive instinct of its own4 ,it    
either subsides  helplessly1 or gives   
place to curiosity1 or passes into some 
other  emotion that is connected with an
 instinct4 ,accordingly1 it usually     
passes into curiosity or else fear1 but 
sometimes into anger3 which of  these   

emotions shall be aroused depends1      
partly1 upon the character of  the      
person who wonders1 partly1 upon        
circumstances4    #aba ,reports of the  
,cambridge ,expedition to ,torres       
,straits1 ,,vi4 p4  #cba4    #abb ,w4   
,g4 ,aston1 ,shinto1 p4 #eb4    #abc    
,one may trace this process in the      
interesting collection of  spells in    
,skeat's ,malay ,magic4    #abd ,howitt1
 ,the ,native ,tribes of ,south-,east   
,australia1 p4 #cig4    #abe ,seligman1 
,melanesians of ,british ,new ,guinea1  
p4 #cgf4    #abf ,turner1 ,samoa1 p4    
#ach4 ,for further development of the   
spell1  see 7besides ,skeat1 op4 cit47  
the collected examples at the end of    
,sayce's ,religion of the ,ancient      
,babylonians4    #abg ,parker1 ,the     
,euahlayi1 p4 #bf4    #abh ,seligman1   
,the ,melanesians of ,british ,new      
,guinea1 pp4 #agc-e4    #abi ,the       
,melanesians1 pp4 #aah-ai4    #acj      
,turner1 ,ethnology of the ,ungava      
,district1 ,am4 ,b4 of ,ethn41 ,,xi4  p4

 #bja2 and ,murdoch1 ,ethnology of      
,point ,barrow1 ,am4 ,b4 of ,ethn41     
,,ix4  p4 #dcd4    #aca ,w4,m4 ,newton1 
,on ,palological ,figures of ,flint1    
,journ4 of ,b4  ,arch4 ,ass41 ,march    
#aiac4    #acb ,the ,song of ,roland1   
done into ,english by ,c4 ,scott        
,moncrieff1  ,,clxxiii4    #acc ,t4 ,c4 
,hodson1 ,the ,naga ,tribes of ,manipur1
 p4 #hh4    #acd ,reports of the        
,cambridge ,expedition to the ,torres   
,straits1 ,v4  p4 #bga4    #ace ,a4 ,e4 
,crawley1 ,j4,a4,i41 ,,xxiv4 p4 #abc4   
#acf ,development of ,moral ,ideas1 ,i1 
c4 #bf4    #acg ,carl ,lumholtz1 ,new   
,trails in ,mexico1 p4 #cej4    #ach    
,life of a ,south ,african ,tribe1 p4   
#ebh4    #aci ,see the exhaustive       
treatment of this subject in ,frazer's  
,taboo  and the ,perils of the ,soul4   
#adj ,a 8barn0 is a small spindle-shaped
 stick1 supposed to be  thrown in a     
magical attack by wizards4 ,howitt1 ,the
 ,native ,tribes of  ,south-,east       
,australia1 p4 #cgg4    #ada ,hose and  

,mc,dougall1 ,pagan ,tribes of ,borneo1 
,i4 p4 #aaj4    #adb ,quoted by ,frazer1
 ,spirits of the ,corn and of the ,wild1
 ,i4 p4  #aje4    #adc ,the ,sacred     
,shrine1 pp4 #cc-i4    #add ,life of a  
,south ,african ,tribe1 p4 #cdj4    #ade
 ,sioux ,cults1 ,am4 ,b4 of ,ethn41     
,,xi4 p4 #dhd4    #adf ,new ,trails in  
,mexico1 p4 #fa4    #adg ,skeat1 ,malay 
,magic1 p4 #dh4    #adh ,quoted by      
,frazer1 ,belief in ,immortality1 p4    
#bfh4    #adi ,reports of the ,cambridge
 ,expedition to the ,torres ,straits1   
,v4  p4 #cbe4    #aej ,w4 ,grube1 ,rel4 
u4 ,k4 d4 ,chinese1 p4 #aec4    #aea ,in
 the ,b4 of ,am4 ,ethn41 ,,xiii4 p4     
#cgd1 ,f4 ,h4 ,cushing1 describing      
8,zui ,creation ,myths10 says the       
dramaturgic tendency is to suppose that 
,nature can be made to act by men1 if   
8they do first what they wish the       
elements to do10 according 8as these    
things were done or made to be  done by 
the ancestral gods of creation40 ,the   
last clause is1 perhaps1  an animistic  

gloss of the ,zuis'1 who were1 of       
course1 very far from  primitive        
thought4    #aeb ,the ,psychological    
,study of ,religion1 p4 #afe4    #aec   
,cf4 ,s4 ,h4 ,ray1 8,people and         
,language of ,lifu10 ,j4,r4,a4,i4       
7,,xlvii471 p4 #bif1 who says1 a woman  
whose son or husband was away at  war   
would place a piece of coral to         
represent him on a mat1 move it  about  
with her right hand as he might move in 
fight1 and with her left  brush away    
imaginary evils4 ,this protected him    
7evidently by exemplary  ,magic74       
#aed ,w4 ,h4 ,r4 ,rivers1 ,the          
,disappearance of ,useful ,arts1 also   
,history of ,melanesian ,society1 ,,ii4 
p4 #dde2 and in ,turner's ,samoa  7p4   
#ade7 we are told that the practice of  
embalming died out with the  family of  
embalmers4          ,,chapter ,v        
,,animism       #a4 ,,what ,,is         
,,animism8    ,if1 when the cohesion of 
the hunting-pack had weakened1 belief in
 ,magic  by giving authority to elders  

became very influential and useful in   
primitive societies1 still greater in   
subsequent evolution has been  the power
 of ,animism4 ,for belief in ghosts led 
in time to the worship  of ancestors1   
and then especially to the worship of   
the ancestors of  chiefs or heroes1 some
 of whom became gods2 and the belief in 
gods  strengthened the authority of     
chiefs and kings who were descended from
  them1 and helped to maintain the unity
 of the tribe or nation from  generation
 to generation and from age to age4     
,in anthropology1 the term ,animism is  
usually employed to denote the          
proneness of savages and barbarians1 or 
people of unscientific culture1  to     
explain natural occurrences1 at least   
the more remarkable or  interesting--the
 weather1 the growth of crops1 disease  
and death--as  due to the action of     
spirits3 7#a7 ghosts 7that is1 spirits  
that have  formerly been incarnate72    
7#b7 dream-spirits1 that have           
temporarily  quitted some body during   

sleep or trance2 7#c7 invisible1 living1
  conscious beings that have never been 
incarnate4 ,this may be called          
,hyperphysical ,animism4 ,sometimes1    
however1 8,animism0 is used to denote  a
 supposed attitude of savages and       
children toward all things1 animate  and
 inanimate1 such that they spontaneously
 and necessarily attribute  to          
everything a consciousness like our own1
 and regard all the actions  and        
reactions of natural objects as         
voluntary and purposive4 ,and this  may 
be called ,psychological ,animism4      
,these two meanings of 8,animism0  are  
entirely different3 it is one thing to  
regard an object as moved  by its own   
mind1 another to attribute its movement 
or influence to a  separable agent which
 for the time possesses it2 it is one   
thing to  regard an object as having an 
anthropomorphic consciousness1 another  
to believe that that consciousness is a 
distinct power capable of  quitting it  
and sometimes returning1 or of surviving

 its destruction1  or of existing       
independently4 ,even if the doctrine of 
,animism in the  second sense were      
granted1 it would remain to be shown how
 men came to  conceive that the         
consciousness of a thing can be         
separated from it1  and exist and act by
 itself1 and even with greater powers   
than it had  before--contrary to the    
opinion of ,don ,juan1          8that   
soul and body1 on the whole1      ,were 
odds against a disembodied soul40       
,savages do not always regard a         
separable spirit as necessarily         
belonging even to human nature4 ,dr4    
,seligman writes that1 among the        
,veddas1 a few old men 8were by no means
 confident that all men on their  death 
became yaku0 7veridical ghosts74        
,influential men and mediums  would do  
so2 but for the rest1 at ,godatalawa it 
was determined by  experiment4 ,the     
ordinary man was invoked soon after     
death1 and desired  to give good success
 in hunting2 and if much game was then  

obtained1  he had become a yaka4#aee    
,messrs4 ,spencer and ,gillen tell us   
that1  according to the ,guanjis1 a     
woman has no moidna 7spirit part74#aef  
,major ,c4 ,h4 ,stigand says 8the ,masai
 have no belief in a future state  for  
any but chiefs02 the common dead are not
 even buried1 but merely  thrown out    
into the bush4#aeg ,among the ,omaha1   
though each person has  a spirit that   
normally survives the body1 still1 a    
suicide ceases to  exist4#aeh ,in ,tonga
 the souls of the lowest rank of the    
people 7,tooas7  died with their        
bodies4#aei ,the human spirit1 then1 is 
not necessarily  believed to enter upon 
a life after death2 still less is the   
spirit of  an animal4 ,on the other     
hand1 it is held by many tribes that    
something  inherent in weapons1         
utensils1 food and other objects1 a     
8soul0 or  soul-stuff1 may be separable 
from them and go to ,hades or serve as  
the  food of spirits1 although the      
things themselves are not regarded as   

having a spirit or intelligent life4    
#b4 ,,psychological ,,animism    ,andrew
 ,lang described savages as existing in 
8a confused frame of  mind to which all 
things1 animate and inanimate1 444 seem 
on the  same level of life1 passion and 
reason40#afj ,children and other        
immature people are often supposed to be
 in the same condition4 ,as  to         
children1 it is pointed out how deeply  
concerned they are about  dolls and     
rocking-horses1 how passionately they   
turn to strike a table  after knocking  
their heads against it4 ,but probably it
 is now admitted  that impulsive        
retaliation1 on a table or bramble or   
shirt-stud 7not  unknown to civilised   
men71 implies not any belief in the     
malignity  or sensitiveness of those    
objects4 ,animals behave in the same    
way4  ,th4 ,roosevelt reports that an   
elephant was seen to destroy in rage a  
thorn tree that had pricked its         
trunk2#afa and that in ,america he      
himself saw a bear that was burying a   

carcass1 and lost hold of it  and rolled
 over1 strike it a savage whack1 like a 
pettish child4#afb  ,moreover1 in       
children1 such behaviour is in large    
measure due to  suggestion2 inasmuch as 
the setting of them to beat the table1  
or what  not1 is an easy way of         
diverting them from their own pain4     
,and1 of  course1 the dealing with      
dolls1 or rocking-horses1 or            
walking-sticks1  as if alive1 is play4  
,such play involves intense imaginative 
belief1  which1 at first1 is not clearly
 differentiated from earnest4 ,but this 
stage corresponds with the play of the  
young of the higher animals1  whilst    
they are still physically incapable of  
completing the preluded  actions2 and   
the engrossing interest of their play   
expresses the  biological necessity of  
it as a means of developing their mental
 and  bodily faculties4 ,by the time    
that children are at all comparable with
  savages1 their play has become a      
temporary attitude1 compatible with     

brusque transition to matter-of-fact1 or
 even with actions which at  the height 
of play show that the illusion is       
incomplete4    ,in savages1 likewise1   
much of the behaviour that is supposed  
to betray  an illusionary animism1 even 
in their simple apprehension of things1 
is really an acquired way of acting1 in 
a temporary attitude1 under  the        
influence of imagination-belief1 and is 
compatible with other  actions that show
 how incomplete is the illusion4 ,andrew
 ,lang1 after  the passage above quoted1
 appears to limit the scope of it by the
 words  8when myth-making03 no doubt1   
when myth-making and in practising many 
rites1 savages speak or act as if they  
believed in the full sense that  the    
objects dealt with are sensitive        
intelligent beings2 and yet their       
effective conduct toward them is        
entirely positive4 ,they may1 for       
example1 feed the growing rice-plant    
with pap2 in harvesting it1 speak  a    
secret language that the rice may not   

understand them and be alarmed1  and    
proceed to cut it with knives concealed 
in their palms3 but they  do cut it4    
,they carry it home and garner it with  
honour1 and come from  time to time to  
take a portion for food with solemn     
observances3 but  then they cook and eat
 it4#afc ,their animistic attitude1     
therefore1  is not primitive1           
spontaneous1 necessary illusion1 but an 
acquired1  specialised way of imagining 
and dealing with certain things4 ,were  
it not possible to combine in this way  
the imaginative with the  practical1 all
 wizardry and priestcraft would be      
nothing but the sheer  cheating which it
 often seems to be to superficial       
observers4 ,normally1                   
imagination-beliefs that have only      
indirect biological utility 7say1 in    
maintaining customs in order to ensure  
the tribe's welfare7 are unable  to     
overcome immediate biological needs     
7say1 for food and shelter72 but  often 
they do so within certain limits1 or in 

certain directions1 as in  innumerable  
taboos of food1 customs of destroying a 
man's property at  his death1 starving  
or maiming tribesmen on the war-path4 ,a
 universal  taboo on rice is not        
inconceivable4 ,for these are           
social-pathological  cases2 like the    
self-destructive beliefs of individuals 
and sects  amongst ourselves1 such as   
the faith-healers1 who in sickness call 
upon  their god instead of a physician4 
,children1 savages and ourselves1 in    
some degree1 attribute  spontaneously to
 some inanimate things1 in our mere     
apprehension of  them 7for this has     
nothing to do with the metaphysics of   
,pampsychism71  something more than     
external existence3 regarding them as   
force-things  and1 by empathy1 as       
experiencing effort and quiescence1     
strain and  relief1 and sometimes       
emotion and pain4 ,it is for this       
attitude toward  nature that ,i adopt   
,mr4 ,marett's term 8animatism03 as not 
ascribing  to inanimate things1 or to   

plants1 in general1 anything like a     
human  personal consciousness2 but      
merely an obscure1 fragmentary1 partial 
consciousness1 enough to correspond with
 our occasional experiences  in dealing 
with them4 ,perhaps those observers who 
report in strong  terms universal       
,animism as the tenet of a tribe1 mean  
no more than  this2 for example1 the    
author above quoted as writing in the   
,american  ,bureau of ,ethnology1 who   
says 7p4 #dcc7 that according to the    
,dakotas1  everything--8the commonest   
sticks and clays0--has a spirit that may
  hurt or help and is1 therefore1 to be 
propitiated4 ,it would be unjust  to the
 adherents of psychological ,animism to 
accuse them of believing  that savages  
have universally made so much progress  
in 8faculty  ,psychology0 as to         
distinguish personality1 will1 passion  
and reason2  especially as they add that
 savages project these powers into all  
natural objects through incapacity for  
discrimination and abstraction2  and1 at

 the same time1 know very well that in  
some languages of the  most animistic   
tribes 7e4 g4 ,algonquin and ,naga7 the 
distinction of  animate and inanimate is
 the ground of grammatical gender4      
,we find1 accordingly1 that some        
explorers explicitly deny that1 in      
their experience1 savages regard all    
things as on the same level of  life1   
passion and reason4 ,dr4 ,coddrington   
says that1 in the ,banks'  ,islands1    
yams and such things are not believed to
 have any tarunga  7spirit7--8they do   
not live with any kind of               
intelligence02#afd  and that            
,melanesians do not fail to distinguish 
the animate and the  inanimate4 ,messrs4
 ,skeat and ,blagden report that with   
the ,semang of the  ,malay ,peninsula   
there is very little trace of animistic 
beliefs2 and  they relate a folk-tale of
 how a male elephant tells a female that
 he  has found a live stone 7pangolin   
rolled into a ball73 8,swine10 said  the
 female1 8stones are never alive40#afe  

,messrs4 ,hose and ,mc,dougall  tell us 
that the ,kayans hang garments and      
weapons on a tomb1 and seem  to believe 
that shadowy duplicates of these things 
are at the service  of the ghost1 but   
that such duplicates are inert          
7relatively7 and not  to be confused    
with the principle of intelligence4#aff 
8,soul0 does not  imply personality4    
,to be clear about ,animism1 it is      
necessary to bear in mind several  modes
 of belief3 7#a7 ,hyperphysical         
,animism1 that certain things  have1 or 
are possessed by a conscious spirit1 and
 that this spirit  is a separable       
entity2 7#b7 that things are themselves 
conscious 7or  semi-conscious71 but     
their consciousness is not a separable  
entity2  7#c7 that things are not       
conscious1 but are informed by a        
separable  essence1 usually called soul 
7better1 soul-stuff71 which may be eaten
  by spirits1 or may go to ghost-land   
with them2 7#d7 the extension or        
limitation of these beliefs to more or  

fewer classes of things4 ,unless  these 
distinctions are recognised1 any report 
upon savage beliefs can  hardly be clear
 and adequate2 but generally we may take
 it that when  a traveller tells us that
 such and such things are not believed  
to  have souls1 and says nothing of any 
belief as to their consciousness1  he   
means 7except with regard to animals7 to
 deny that anything like  human         
consciousness is attributed to them4    
,and when ,mr4 ,torday writes  that1    
according to the ,bahuana of the ,upper 
,congo1 there are two  incorporeal      
parts--doshi1 common to man1 animals and
 fetiches1 and  bun1 peculiar to man--he
 seems to leave it as a matter of course
  that plants and inanimate things have 
neither of these1 and are not  conscious
 beings2 though probably some of them   
have soul-stuff1 since  clothes1 weapons
 and food are buried with a corpse4#afg 
,the ,rev4  ,j4 ,h4 ,weeks says that the
 ,bakongo of the ,lower ,congo attribute
 a  spirit only to the nkasa tree 7from 

whose bark the ordeal poison is         
derived7 amongst plants2#afh and1       
similarly1 the ,baloki1 further up  the 
river1 attribute a spirit only to the   
nka tree4#afi ,since many  things are   
buried by these people in a grave1 or   
broken above it1 the  things may be     
supposed to have soul-stuff2 but from   
the denying of  spirits to plants1 and  
from silence as to psychological        
,animism1 it  may be inferred that      
neither plants nor inanimate things are 
regarded  as conscious beings4 ,sir ,e4 
,f4 im ,thurn tells us that material    
things  of all sorts are believed by the
 natives of ,guiana to have each a body 
and a spirit--evidently a conscious and 
malicious spirit2 8and that  not all    
inanimate objects have this dual nature 
avowedly attributed to  them1 is        
probably only due to the chance that 444
 the spirit has not  yet been noticed in
 some cases40#agj ,even with these      
,guiana ,indians1  then1 whose ,animism1
 in every sense1 is unusually active and

 extensive1  their attitude is an       
acquired1 specialised way of imagining  
and dealing  with things that draw their
 attention and excite their suspicions1 
not  a primitive1 necessary illusion2   
else there could be no exceptions4      
,the reasonable view1 therefore1 is that
 savages distinguish between  themselves
 and certain animals1 on the one hand1  
and1 on the other1 the  remaining       
animals1 plants and inanimate things2   
and raise the second  class to the rank 
of the first1 as conscious agents1 only 
when there  are special incentives to do
 so4 ,to find all the causes that excite
 the  animistic attitude toward things  
would be a difficult task1 but some  of 
them may be indicated4 ,beginning from  
,animatism1 which really is a  primitive
 and necessary illusion1 it is          
reasonable to expect3    7a7 ,that any  
plant or inanimate thing adopted as a   
,totem should1 by  that very fact1 be   
endowed with human consciousness2 though
 the savage  mind is too inconsistent   

for us to infer that this must always   
happen4    7b7 ,that whatever seems to  
move or act spontaneously1 like the     
winds  and streams and echoes1 the sun1 
moon1 planets1 and shooting stars1      
should be felt as a spiritual agency2   
especially if it cry out with           
empathetic reverberation1 as winds and  
cataracts do1 trees tormented  by the   
storm1 waves1 fire1 and the ice-floe    
when it breaks up in  spring2 or if it  
excite fear by being extraordinary and  
dangerous1 as  thunder and lightning    
are1 whirlwinds and whirlpools1         
waterspouts and  volcanoes4 ,dr4        
,speisser writes that at ,ambrym1 when  
the volcano is  active1 the natives     
climb to the top and bring sacrifices to
 appease  it1 throwing coco-nuts and    
yams into the crater4#aga    7c7 ,that  
whatever has been regarded as having    
magical force should  be treated--after 
the rise of the ghost-theory 7supposing 
this to be  of later origin7 has given  
vogue to a new principle of             

explanation--as  owing its virtue to a  
spirit1 either by immanence or          
possession 7two  modes of actuation     
which may or may not be distinguished71 
and so  become a fetich1 instead of     
being merely an amulet or talisman4     
7d7 ,that whatever is much used in      
ritual1 especially if often  addressed  
in spells or incantations1 should become
 an object of  reverence1 apt to be     
personified and raised to1 or even      
above1 the  human level as a conscious  
agent3 for example1 padi and rice in    
,indonesia1 the ordeal tree on the      
,congo1 already mentioned4 ,fire-sticks 
used in the ritual of sacrifice are     
often deified4 ,in ,india1 the conch1   
having for ages been used in religious  
rites1 8the people gradually  came to   
revere the instrument itself and to     
adore and invoke it40#agb  8,a strange  
religious feature of the ,rigveda       
pointing to a remote  antiquity is the  
occasional deification and worship even 
of objects  fashioned by the hand of    

man1 when regarded as useful to him4    
,these  are chiefly sacrificial         
implements40#agc ,the practice now      
extends in  ,india to nearly every tool 
and utensil4 ,amongst the very few      
inanimate  gods of the ,cherokees are   
the ,stone1 invoked by the ,shaman when 
seeking  lost goods by means of a pebble
 suspended by a string2 and the ,flint1 
invoked when about to scarify a patient 
with an arrow-head before  rubbing in   
medicine4#agd ,by the ,apache1 heddontin
 7pollen of the  cat-tail rush7 is used 
as the sacrificial powder in nearly all 
rites1  and is personified and prayed   
to4#age ,when spells are addressed to   
any object1 the analogy of address to   
human beings tends to cause that  object
 to be thought of as humanly conscious4 
7e7 ,stocks and stones have been        
worshipped1 as the dwelling-place of    
spirits in many parts of the world2     
having superseded in the mind of  their 
devotees the ghost of the men whose     
burial-place they formerly  marked1 but 

who themselves have been forgotten2 and 
probably1 on the  analogy of these      
stones1 others that no ghost ever       
haunted4    7f7 ,where ,animism is      
active amongst a timid and suspicious   
people1  whatever injures a man is      
believed to act of malice3 as amongst   
the  ,indians of ,guiana1 who are so    
timid that rather than go hunting alone 
they will take a woman or a child along 
with them4#agf    ,under such conditions
 as these a sort of acquired            
psychological  ,animism is very widely  
though very irregularly diffused2 but   
were it  universal and uniform1 it could
 not of itself account for hyperphysical
  ,animism--the doctrine that men 7or   
some men71 some animals1 plants1        
things1 places1 are possessed or        
informed by spirits that are capable  of
 separate existence4       #c4 ,,the    
,,ghost ,,theory    ,hyperphysical      
,animism may be easiest understood as   
having arisen with  the belief in human 
ghosts4 ,the causes of this belief have 

been fully  set forth by ,herbert       
,spencer#agg and ,sir ,e4 ,b4 ,tylor#agh
 in a way  that to my mind is           
convincing4 ,amongst those causes dreams
 predominate2  wherein the dead are met 
again as in the flesh4 ,the living body 
having  always been for the savage a    
conscious force-thing1 at death the     
conscious force leaves the thing or     
corpse4 ,this might be accepted by  him 
as a fact of the same kind as the loss  
of its virtue by a talisman  or amulet  
7which is known sometimes to happen71   
were it not for dreams  in which the    
dead still live4 ,that this conscious   
force that has left  the body is not    
visible except in dreams need excite    
little wonder1  since many forces       
natural and magical are invisible4    ,a
 dream not being common to two men at   
the same time1 the things that  are seen
 in it cannot be pointed out1 nor       
therefore directly named 7in  this      
resembling subjective experiences74 ,it 
was for ages impossible to  narrate a   

dream as a dream3 there was no way of   
distinguishing it from  external events1
 either for the dreamer himself or 7were
 that possible7  in reporting it to     
another4 ,he was far away and met his   
father1 yet had  lain by the fire all   
night6 ,hence to find names with which  
to describe  such things men turned to  
other ways in which they seemed to have 
a  double existence1 to shadows and     
reflections3 which in their sudden      
appearance and disappearance1 and       
sometimes faint1 sometimes distorted    
outlines1 bear some resemblance to      
dream-images2 and probably it is  felt  
to be significant that shadows and      
reflections disappear at night1  just   
when dreams occur4 ,shadows and         
reflections are not necessarily         
identified with the ghost derived from  
the dream-image1 because their  names   
are given to it2 but sometimes they     
certainly are2 so that a  man who1 on   
looking into water1 happens not to see  
his reflection may  believe that his    

spirit has gone away1 and that he       
himself must be  ill1 and accordingly he
 becomes ill2 or if at noon near the    
equator he  notices that he has no      
shadow1 he may think his soul is gone1  
and run  to a medicine-man to get it    
back2 and dead bodies may be believed to
  have no shadows4#agi ,inasmuch as a   
body even lying on the ground casts  a  
shadow1 except at tropical noon1 the    
belief that it does not do so  at any   
time implies an acquired inability to   
see what is before one's  eyes2 as      
sometimes happens in hypnosis and other 
conditions of negative  hallucination4  
,the idea of a separable conscious      
personal force1 or spirit1 that  leaves 
the body at death1 serves also1 as it   
gathers strength1 to  explain sleep1    
fainting1 epilepsy2 and sometimes every 
sickness is  attributed to the partial  
detachment or desertion of the spirit2  
which1  therefore1 it is the doctor's   
business to plug in1 or to catch and    
restore2 or 7if ,i rightly remember a   

report of ,miss ,kingsley's7 he may     
even supply another one from a basketful
 of souls kept at hand for such         
exigencies4    ,that the ghost theory   
arises not only from dreams1 but is also
  suggested by hallucinations and       
hypnagogic visions is very probable4    
,in various parts of the world savages  
have been described as having  visions  
of remarkably coherent and convincing   
vividness that seem not  to have been   
dreams4#ahj ,but such experiences1 even 
when artificially  induced by fasting or
 drugs 7as happens among many tribes71  
are rare  in comparison with dreams2 and
 to the influence of dreams upon these  
savage beliefs there is abundant        
testimony4 ,with some tribes dreams are 
treated as part of their objective      
experience2 so that to be injured  by   
your neighbour in a dream is just ground
 for avenging yourself as  soon as you  
wake2 and to see a dead man in a dream  
is1 therefore1 clear  proof of his      
continued existence1 and that either he 

has come to the  dreamer or the dreamer 
has gone to visit him4    ,thus ,sir    
,everard im ,thurn says of the native of
 ,guiana1 his dreams are  as real as any
 events of his waking life2 his         
dream-actions are done  by his spirit3  
in dreams he continues to see the       
dead--that is1 their  spirits4#aha      
,similarly1 the ,lengua ,indians 7,w4 of
 ,r4 ,paragua7 have  great faith in     
dreams2 wherein the spirit is believed  
to leave the body  and to do in fact    
what is dreamed4#ahb ,according to the  
,cherokees1 to  dream of being bitten by
 a snake requires the same treatment as 
actual  snake-bite2 else 7perhaps years 
later7 the same inflammation will       
appear in the wounded spot1 with the    
same consequences4#ahc ,the ,motu  hold 
that sua 7ghosts or spirits7 are seen in
 dreams1 and that when  a man sleeps his
 own sua leaves his body4#ahd 8,the     
,lifuans believe  in the reality of what
 is seen in a dream1 and are influenced 
by it4  ,their dead ancestors appeared  

in dreams40#ahe ,and the ,polynesians of
  ,manatuki thought that 8dreams were   
occasioned by the spirit going to  the  
places seen in them40#ahf ,many more of 
such witnesses might be  cited4    ,it  
is recognised by psychologists that     
dreams1 as immediate experience1  have  
more the character of perception than of
 imagination4 ,children are  apt to     
confuse dreams with reality4 ,it can    
only have been gradually1  with the     
growing knowledge of continuity and     
coherence in the course  of events1 and 
therewith the demand for corroboration  
of testimony1  that dreams were         
distinguished from the waking life4     
,when no longer  supposed to be all of  
them real1 some are still so regarded3  
the ,dieri1  amongst lower savages1     
distinguish between visions1 as         
revelations made  by ,kutchi 7an evil   
,spirit71 and ordinary dreams1 as mere  
fancies4#ahg  ,but so impressive are    
dreams to many people1 in their         
eagerness to know  more than sense and  

philosophy can tell them1 that they     
persist in  hoping1 and therefore       
believing1 that dreams1 if they give no 
knowledge  of this world1 may still be  
revelations of another1 perhaps more    
real2 or if not revelations1            
adumbrations by way of allegory1 which  
some learned or inspired ,daniel may    
interpret2 or1 at least1 omens  of good 
or evil1 which the ancient science of   
,oneiromancy undertakes  to explain4    
,there is now a new and more promising  
,oneiromancy that  interprets dreams as 
indicating not the future1 but one's own
 past1  chiefly a forgotten past1 and   
teaches to know oneself3 more promising2
  for what but experience can possibly  
be the source of dreams--at least1  of  
dream-elements8 ,some of the new        
principles of interpretation1  however1 
may compare for obscurity with the      
ancient4    ,that the dead are seen     
alive in dreams is1 then1 for the savage
 a fact  of observation2 and1 therefore1
 the continued existence of the dead    

is1 for him1 not in the first place     
supernatural2 although it may be  called
 hyperphysical1 because it is           
experienced only in dreams and not  by  
daylight1 and is exempt from ordinary   
conditions of time and place4  ,but it  
gradually becomes supernatural1 as the  
capricious incidents  of dream-life are 
felt to be 8uncanny10 as that which     
occurs only at  night is involved in the
 fears of the night1 and as a great     
cloud of  imaginations accumulates about
 the dead and obscures the simple facts 
of dream-perception in which the belief 
originated4 ,this cloud of              
imaginations1 by its mysterious         
character and by various alliances  with
 ,magic1 spreads and deepens until it   
overshadows the whole of  human life2 is
 generally1 indeed1 dispersed here and  
there by the  forces of biological      
necessity1 often by subterfuges         
laughable enough2  which have1 however1 
the merit of saving mankind from        
destruction3 but  sometimes it          

extinguishes the last ray of common     
sense1 impoverishes  the believer1      
enfeebles him1 fills his days and nights
 with terror1  gives him over to        
practices the most cruel or the most    
disgusting1  leads him to slay his own  
tribesmen1 his own children1 his own    
parents1  and to offer up himself in the
 sure hope of resurrection4       #d4   
,,extension ,,of ,,the ,,ghost ,,theory 
,,to ,,animals    ,spirits1 having once 
been conceived of as explaining the     
actions of  men and surviving their     
bodily death1 may by analogy be         
conceived to  explain the action of any 
other things in circumstances that      
suggest  a motive for the action1 and   
therefore to possess or inhabit such    
things1 and to be capable of separating 
from them1 like ghosts4 ,other  things  
are already1 by ,magic and ,animatism1  
force-things1 in some  degree conscious1
 whose forces may be capable of acting  
invisibly at  a distance2 and at the    
death of a man it is his conscious force

 that  leaves the body and becomes a    
ghost4 ,since1 then1 there is hardly any
  natural object whose action may not in
 some circumstances seem to be          
interpretable by motives1 especially    
amongst a timid and suspicious  people1 
how can we assign any necessary limits  
to the spread of  ,animism8 ,moreover1  
the causes most influential in          
establishing the  ghost theory for man  
directly require its extension to other 
things4  ,for not human beings only are 
seen in dreams1 but also their clothes1 
weapons and utensils1 and also animals1 
plants1 localities4 ,if1  then1 the     
dead1 because they are seen in dreams1  
are inferred still  to live under       
conditions in which they are not visible
 by daylight  to ordinary men1 how can  
the inference be avoided that all sorts 
of things1 artefacts1 animals1 plants1  
localities1 share in that  mode of      
existence--that all have their doubles8 
,and 8,why not80 the  savage might ask1 
since it is literally true of all       

things1 without  exception1 that they   
are sometimes visible1 sometimes        
invisible4#ahh  ,similar inferences seem
 to be justifiable from the alliance of 
ghosts  with shadows and reflections1   
and the fact that not man only but      
everything else has a shadow and a      
reflection1 and that their shadows  and 
reflections disappear at night1 just    
when the things themselves  sometimes   
appear in dreams4 ,moreover1 so far as  
the breath1 the pulse1  the shining of  
the eye1 which cease in the human       
corpse1 are sometimes  identified with  
the departed spirit1 the same processes 
likewise cease  at the death of animals2
 though1 it is true1 there is here no   
analogy  with inanimate things1 and the 
breathing and circulation of plants are 
beyond the savage's observation4        
,therefore1 although ,animism is an     
inferential construction1 were the      
construction entirely due to the  logic 
of analogy1 there would be nothing      
surprising in the discovery  that the   

belief 8that everything has a ghost0 is 
just as universal and  uniform in the   
human race as if it had been an innate  
or primitive  belief4 ,that1 on the     
contrary1 ,animism prevails very        
irregularly  amongst the tribes of men2 
that1 in all directions1 inferences that
  are analogically specious fail to be  
drawn2 that instead of a general  system
 of ,animism every tribe has its own    
,animism2 this is surprising  and needs 
to be explained4 ,the extension of the  
theory is easier to  understand than its
 irregular limitation4    ,bearing in   
mind that we are at present considering 
,animism as a belief  in ghosts1 not in 
spirits generally 7to which we shall    
come in ,sec4  #f71 ,i venture to think 
that1 although dreams1 shadows and      
reflections  certainly suggest a double 
existence of everything1 yet savages    
never  assign a true ghost to anything  
inanimate1 nor to plants1 nor even to   
animals1 unless there is a special      
reason for doing so2 because only  in   

the case of human beings is the         
suggestion interesting enough to  take  
hold of the social imagination4 ,hence1 
even though other things  appear in the 
ghost-world1 they have no significance  
there1 except in  relation to human     
ghosts 7or ghostlike spirits7 on whom   
they attend4  ,accordingly1 human ghosts
 have a place in the beliefs of every   
tribe1  because human beings excite     
affection1 admiration and fear1 have    
well-marked individuality2 are therefore
 remembered and have stories  told of   
them2 and if they are seen after death1 
it is1 of course1  reported4 ,the       
evidence makes it only too plain that   
the paralysis of  attention by fear is  
the chief 7though not the only7         
emotional factor  of belief in ghosts2  
and what other thing in all nature is to
 be feared  in comparison with one's    
fellow-man8    ,the belief in ghosts1   
escaped and roaming independent of any  
normally  visible body1 as a social     
belief1 is involved in the practice of  

reporting and discussing dreams1 which  
becomes the same thing as  telling      
ghost-stories--the first and most       
persistent motive of  literature4       
,stories can only be told effectively of
 things generally  interesting2 and1 at 
first1 such things must have been       
recognisable by  the hearers and must   
have had some individuality4 ,hence--   
7a7 ,animals that attain to such        
individuality may have ghosts3 7i7  ,an 
animal that occasions widespread fear1  
such as a man-eating tiger4  ,we must   
distinguish from such cases the frequent
 beliefs that tigers1  wolves1 sharks1  
snakes1 etc41 are1 or are possessed by1 
the spirits or  ghosts of men4 7ii7 ,an 
animal that comes to be upon terms of   
special  intimacy with men2 such as the 
very tame dogs and pigs that come when  
they are called among the ,bakongo2#ahi 
or hunting dogs that have been          
specially doctored among the            
,baloki4#aij    7b7 ,animals slain at   
funeral feasts to accompany the dead    

have ghosts  so far as necessary for    
that purpose2 but1 wanting individuality
 and  personal interest1 they make no   
further figure in ghost-lore2 they do   
not 8walk0 or revisit the glimpses of   
the moon4 ,thus the ,tanghouls say  that
 ghosts1 on reaching ,kazairam 7their   
,hades71 find the gates barred  against 
them by the deity ,kokto2 so at the     
burial feast of a rich man  a buffalo is
 killed1 that his mighty ghost may burst
 open the massive  gates of that abode4 
,poor ghosts must wait about outside1   
till a rich  one comes up with his      
buffalo2 when they all rush in behind   
him4#aia  ,but we hear nothing further  
of the buffalo4 ,in the ,banks'         
,islands1 pigs  killed at a funeral     
feast have no true ghosts to follow the 
dead to  ,panoi1 but only a sort of     
wraith2 because they only go for show1  
that  their master may be well received 
there4#aib    7c7 ,animals that are     
important prey to a hunting tribe are   
often  believed to have ghosts that may 

be hunted by dead tribesmen2 or that    
must be propitiated when one of them is 
slain3 the ghosts1 for example1  of     
seals and bears are bribed by the       
,esquimo to entice other seals and      
bears to come and be killed4 ,a seal    
desires above everything1 they  say1 a  
drink of fresh water2 so as soon as one 
is brought ashore a  dipperful is poured
 into his mouth2 else the other seals   
will not allow  themselves to be caught4
 ,the polar bear 7male7 desires crooked 
knives  and bow-drills1 or 7female7     
women's knives and needle-cases4 ,hence1
  when a bear is killed1 its ghost      
accompanies its skin into the hunter's  
hut2 and the skin is hung up with the   
appropriate tools for four or  five     
days4 ,then the bear-ghost is driven out
 by a magic formula1 takes  with it the 
souls of the tools1 and reports well of 
the hunter in  bear-soul land4 ,whilst  
in the hut1 as an honoured guest1       
nothing is  done that it dislikes in    
human customs4#aic    7d7 ,in the       

development of mythology1 animals and   
monsters of various  kinds may be found 
inhabiting shadow-land2 but these are   
not true  ghosts of any particular      
things that once died in this world4    
,this list of the ways in which animals 
may come to have ghosts is not  offered 
as exhausting all the cases4       #e4  
,,ghosts ,,and ,,soul-,,stuff    ,a     
ghost is a disembodied soul1 having a   
consciousness and power at1 or          
generally 7because it is feared7 above1 
the human level2 but there may  be      
disembodied souls1 or souls capable of  
disembodiment1 that have no             
consciousness1 or none above the level  
of ,animatism4 ,even if a living  thing 
have a consciousness1 its post-mortem   
apparition may not2 like  the ,banks'   
,islanders' pig1 which1 though 8a       
distinguished animal and  acknowledged  
to be intelligent10 has no true ghost4  
,among nearly all  tribes1 whatever is  
offered in sacrifice to gods or left in1
 or at1  the tombs of men deceased1 is  

believed to have some sort of soul2     
because1 plainly1 spirits do not eat or 
consume the visible food or  utensils2  
yet it is necessary to the success of   
the rites to suppose  that the spirits  
are satisfied2 they must1 therefore1    
take the souls of  the offerings4 ,and  
what can be more plausible reasoning    
than to argue  that1 as solid men eat   
solid food1 ghosts eat ghostly food8    
8,soul0 thus  appears as a sort of      
ghost-substance1 or ghost-body4 ,for1 in
 dreams1  the departed are seen as if in
 the flesh2 and moreover analogy        
requires  that the ghost consciousness  
and ghost-force shall have a body of    
some  sort1 and1 of course1 one that    
will maintain in ghost-land the same    
relations to other things that the      
mortal body did in this world4 ,in      
ghost-land1 or shadow-land1 or          
dream-land1 the substance of all things 
is this soul-stuff4 ,sometimes the force
 of analogy requires a tribe to  believe
 that1 in order that the souls of things

 7such as earthen pots  or weapons7 may 
be released to accompany a ghost to the 
underworld1  the things themselves must 
be 8killed10 that is to say1 broken2 but
  other tribes are not such consistent  
logicians2 and in some cases where      
things left exposed at a grave 7not     
buried7 are broken1 it may be to        
prevent their being stolen4             
,anything1 then1 may have 8soul0 after  
its kind3 relatively inert  things have 
relatively inert souls1 but never true  
ghosts2 some  animals may have ghosts1  
especially if they have attained to a   
certain  individuality1 but generally   
only in so far as they are imagined to  
attend upon human ghosts or spirits4    
,inasmuch as the word 8soul0  is often  
used as equivalent to 8ghost10 it would 
be convenient  always to speak of the   
soul which is ghost-food1 or ghost-body1
 8as  soul-stuff40#aid ,soul-stuff is   
conceived of as material1 though subtle 
and normally invisible4 ,a man's        
soul-stuff may be regarded not only  as 

permeating his body1 but also as        
infecting everything he possesses  or   
touches3 no doubt by analogy with his   
odour2 for a man's odour is  a personal 
quality1 distinguishable by dogs and 7,i
 believe7 by some  savages and hypnotic 
subjects2 and the stench of his         
putrefying corpse  may be supposed to   
convey his courage and skill to those   
who inhale  it4#aie ,and the savour of a
 burnt-offering is food for gods4       
,indeed1  ,ellis says explicitly that1  
in ,tahiti1 food was put to the mouth of
 a  chieftain's corpse2 because1 they   
said1 there was a spiritual as well  as 
a material part of food1 a part which   
they could smell4#aif    ,savage ideas  
are generally so little thought out1 and
 are so  irregularly thought out by     
different tribes1 that the relation of  
a thing to its soul-stuff varies widely 
from one tribe to another4  ,in many    
cases the extraction by ghost or god of 
the soul-stuff from  an offering may    
affect it so little1 that the devotee or

 the priest  proceeds to feast upon it2 
and ,i have nowhere met with the notion 
7which logic requires7 that such        
metaphysically eviscerated food can     
only nourish a man's body and not his   
soul4 ,however1 since the eating  of the
 sacrifice may be an act of communion   
with the ghost1 he then  naturally      
extracts the goodness only from his own 
share4 ,in other  cases1 the breaking of
 weapons and utensils buried with a     
corpse  implies an intimate unity       
between the wholeness of an object and  
its  soul-stuff2 and the ,rev4 ,j4 ,h4  
,weeks says of the considerable wealth  
put into a grave by the ,bakongo1 that  
only the shell or semblance of  anything
 is supposed to remain there4#aig       
,this conception of soul-stuff may have 
been an important contribution  to      
metaphysics4 ,the doctrine of material  
substance is reached by  abstracting all
 the qualities of things2 but then there
 would be  nothing left1 were it not for
 this venerable idea of something       

invisible and intangible in things in   
which qualities may 8inhere10  or which 
may serve as a 8support0 to them2 so    
that1 when it is taken  away there is   
only a shell or semblance of anything   
left4 ,but such a  tenet is uncommon4   
,along another line of speculation this 
soul-stuff  may become the ,soul of the 
,world4 ,when by philosophers spirits   
are  no longer conceived to have bodies1
 but to be the very opposite of  bodies1
 a spiritual substance must be invented 
to support their  qualities1 in order to
 put them upon an equal footing of      
reality with  corporeal things2 but as  
there is no spirit-stuff ready made by  
the  wisdom of our forefathers1 this    
concept remains uncomfortably empty4    
,to appear as ghosts and to have        
mechanical energy1 spirits may be       
invested with 8soul-stuff0 as a         
spiritual body2 but this is only subtle 
matter4 ,their own substance must be    
correlative with their proper           
attributes as pure conscious beings1 the

 very opposite of bodies2 and1          
therefore1 immaterial1 unextended1      
simple1 self-identical1 according  to   
the 8paralogisms of ,rational           
,psychology40 ,but such speculations    
are confined to philosophers and        
theologians3 some of whom1 however1     
maintain 7as if reverting to the        
original savage idea7 that spirit is    
the true substance of material things1  
at least that material things  depend   
upon a spirit1 or spirits1 for their    
existence4 ,monists1 again1  say there  
is one substance of both matter and     
mind1 which is not either  of these any 
more than it is the other4 ,locke very  
honestly calls it 8a  supposed ,i know  
not what40    ,in writing of ,magic1 ,i 
have indicated the origin of the notion 
of  force2 and if my view is            
justifiable1 it appears that those      
celebrated  abstractions 8force0 and    
8matter10 form and substance1 spirit and
 body1  may be traced to the savage     
mind4 ,that savages are incapable of    

general  and abstract ideas we have seen
 to be an illusion4 ,they are necessary 
to economy in the organisation of the   
mind4 ,when a tribe bases its           
grammatical gender on the distinction of
 ,animate and ,inanimate1 has  it in no 
sense corresponding ideas8 ,but an      
abstract idea results from  a long      
process of dissociative growth from its 
concrete sources1 and  must exist in    
some manner at all stages of that       
growth1 before its  distinctness is     
completed by an appropriate name2 and it
 is reasonable  to suppose that at every
 stage of growth it functions and       
influences  the course of thought4      
,accordingly1 it is plain that from very
 early  times thought has been greatly  
influenced by ideas of force1 form1     
spirit and the rest of them4       #f4  
,,ghosts ,,and ,,spirits    ,whilst of  
some tribes 7for example the ,indians of
 ,guiana7 it is said  that there is     
nothing to indicate that they 8know of  
any spirits1  except such as are1 or    

once were1 situated in material         
bodies10#aih  amongst others we are     
often told that not only ghosts are     
known but  also spirits that are        
declared never to have been incarnate4  
,an extreme  form of the ghost-theory   
maintains that all spirits were once    
ghosts  whose incarnation has been      
forgotten2 but this is needless1 and    
seems  not to be true4 ,it is enough    
that probably the original inhabitants  
of  the spirit-world were ghosts2 that  
some of those now believed not to  have 
been ghosts were once really so2 and    
that those spirits that were  never     
ghosts are later immigrants1 who have   
obtained domicile by having  been       
imagined in analogy with ghosts4 ,the   
following list indicates more  or less  
probable reasons why 7,a7 ghosts have   
sometimes come to be  regarded as       
non-human spirits1 and 7,b7 why certain 
non-human things  have come to be       
regarded as spirits1 or as possessed by 
spirits1 more  or less resembling the   

human4    ,a4 ,spirits that were        
formerly ghosts1 but are now declared   
not to  have been3    7a7 ,ghosts whose 
former life has been forgotten by mere  
lapse of  time4 ,the memory of the dead 
amongst many tribes does not extend     
beyond three or four generations4 ,if   
then the ghost of some unusually        
impressive personality happens to be    
remembered1 when all his relatives  and 
contemporaries have been forgotten1 he  
seems to be separated  from the human   
race4 ,and if his name was that of some 
natural object1  his ghost1 according to
 ,spencer's hypothesis1 may now be      
regarded as  the spirit of that         
phenomenon4 ,but as to ,spencer's       
hypothesis1#aii  although it gives such 
a plausible explanation of much         
nature-worship  by real facts as to the 
working of savage language and thought  
that it  seems to me unreasonable to    
doubt that it has had some of the       
effects  he traces to it1 yet it presses
 upon me more and more that most cases  

of nature-worship are to be explained by
 more particular causes4    7b7 ,to     
dissociate a ghost from mankind is      
especially easy if his  tomb has been   
forgotten1 or if he has no tomb4 ,as the
 drowned have no  tombs1 they easily    
become water-demons4 ,tombs must often  
be forgotten  in consequence of         
migrations4 ,in ,central ,melanesia both
 ghosts and  spirits are recognised2 but
 in the west worship is directed chiefly
  to ghosts1 in the east chiefly to     
spirits4 ,as migration has been from    
west to east1 the tombs of ancestors can
 no longer be pointed out by  the       
eastern islanders1 and so their ghosts  
may have become spirits4  ,in ,tumloo   
7northern ,new ,guinea7 there are       
temples of spirits 7all  female7        
distinct from ancestral ghosts1 and on  
the banisters of ladders  leading up to 
these temples there are ornamental      
figures of ape-like  animals2 the       
architecture of the temples points to a 
former superior  culture4#bjj ,as there 

are no apes in ,new ,guinea1 these      
figures and  temples may indicate a     
former residence under better conditions
 in  ,java or ,borneo2 and the spirits  
with which they are associated may  be  
ancestral ghosts whose tombs and other  
earthly vestiges have been  forgotten in
 the migration4    7c7 ,we may see      
another way in which a ghost may become 
a pure spirit1  if we suppose that as a 
ghost he had attained to some measure of
  worship1 but that with the rise of new
 gods 7by conquest1 or by the           
reputation of being more helpful71 or by
 his being himself too good  to be worth
 worshipping1 his rites have been       
neglected and his legend  forgotten4    
,then he is no longer remembered as a   
ghost1 or ancestor4    7d7 ,it may be   
thought honourable to a god to deny that
 he was ever a  man4    7e7 ,the        
construction of a world-myth makes it   
necessary to begin  somewhere with some 
one2 and whoever becomes the first      
being1 it  is necessary to deny that he 

was ever begotten4 ,but there may be    
inconsistent stories3 the supreme being 
of the central ,esquimo is  a woman1    
,sedna1 who created all things that have
 life2 but other  traditions give her a 
human origin4#bja ,similarly1 in drawing
 up the  genealogy of ancestral gods1 we
 come at last to one who was never      
begotten4 ,such is ,unkulunkulu of the  
,zulus1 generally said to have  sprung  
from a bed of reeds4#bjb    ,b4 ,spirits
 that were never incarnate1 but have    
been imagined by  analogy with ghosts   
already propitiated3    7f7 ,a ,totem   
may become a spirit2 whilst1 having     
himself no human  antecedents1 he can   
hardly be a ghost as of an ordinary     
mortal4 ,nothing  can be more irregular 
than the life of ,totemism3 with some   
tribes it  seems to die out early1 or   
leaves few and doubtful vestiges2 with  
others traces of it seem to remain even 
amidst conditions of high  culture4     
,apparently1 where it survives1 the     
,totem tends gradually to  lose his     

bestial or vegetal properties1 or most  
of them1 and to become  an              
anthropomorphic spirit with his myths1  
in analogy with heroic or  patriarchal  
ancestors4 ,he has attained to a        
considerable degree of  individuality2  
yet1 by association and tradition1 may  
still confer more  or less sacredness   
upon his animal kindred 7cf4 chap4 ix4  
#h74    7g7 ,to address any object with 
a spell1 as a man is addressed  in      
summons or command1 is 7as said above7  
an approach toward its  personification4
 ,hence corn1 rice1 padi1 nkasa1 or     
whatever has been  the object of tribal 
rites and spells--the sun and moon1 the 
earth1  fire1 wind1 clouds and          
rain--having perhaps long been          
influenced and  reinforced by           
,magic--are apt1 when ,animism has      
gained control of man's  imagination1 to
 become first the embodiment and then   
the possession  of spirits2 the spells  
become prayers1 and the rites religious 
ceremonies or mysteries4 ,such spirits1 

at first locally honoured1 may  with the
 evolution of the tribe or nation1 the  
increasing intercourse  of its villages1
 and the centralisation of its culture  
in some city1  be released from local   
conditions and generalised into         
transcendent  gods1 either each of its  
own kind--corn or wine--or of still     
wider  sway over agriculture or the     
weather4 ,the meteorological gods are   
not  impaired in strength by even wide  
migrations2 for they are found to  rule 
everywhere2 and this may be a reason of 
their predominance in the  higher       
religions4 ,plants from which           
intoxicants are obtained1 such  as soma 
or the vine1 bringing men to a condition
 resembling insanity  or the ravings of 
a sorcerer who is supposed to be        
possessed1 are  especially easy to      
understand as sources of inspiration4 ,a
 belief in  vegetation spirits1 having  
originated in any way1 may be extended  
according to the circumstances and      
mentality of a tribe1 until every  wood 

is populous with dryads4    7h7 ,natural
 objects that have1 at first1 been      
regarded with awe  and therefore endowed
 with magical powers--mountain-tops1    
ravines1  whirlpools1 ancient           
trees--under ,animism1 become the abode 
of spirits2  and these1 again1 may1 by  
analogy with others1 cease to be        
conceived as  merely local4 ,among the  
,moors1 8the jnn1 which form a special  
race  of beings created before ,adam1   
are generally supposed to be active on  
occasions or in places which give rise  
to superstitious fear1 and in  many     
cases they are personifications of some 
mysterious qualities in  persons or     
lifeless objects40#bjc    ,in each of   
these cases1 7f71 7g71 7h71 however1 an 
,euhemerist  explanation may be offered4
 ,as to 7f71 ,spencer1 of course1 argued
  that the ,totem-ancestor is always a  
man1 who bore the name of an  animal1   
and was confounded with it after death2 
and ,dr4 ,rivers has  suggested that    
some gods who seem to have been derived 

from ,totems may  really represent      
heroes who had such ,totems4#bjd ,as to 
7g71 ,grant  ,allen suggested that the  
spirit of the corn or vine is always at 
first  the spirit of the man upon whose 
grave the plant grew4#bje ,and as  to   
7h71 the spirit of a mountain may be the
 ghost of a man who was  buried on the  
top of it2 and the spirit of a whirlpool
 the ghost of  a man who was drowned in 
it4 ,indeed some spirits may have       
originated  in one of these ways1 others
 in another way2 and what happened in   
any  particular case can only be        
determined1 if at all1 by examination of
  its particular circumstances4    7i7  
,abstract ideas may1 at a very early    
stage of culture1 be  personified and   
treated as spirits4 ,the ,semang1       
according to ,messrs4  ,skeat and       
,blagden1 personify ,death1 ,hunger1    
,disease2#bjf and the  ,beloki1         
according to the ,rev4 ,j4 ,h4 ,weeks1  
attribute all personal  qualities to the
 aid of spirits2 so that if one man     

wrestles better  than another1 it is    
because the spirit ,embanda is in       
him4#bjg ,the  modern ,greeks of        
,macedonia personify and propitiate     
,lady ,small  ,pox4#bjh ,in the tenth   
and latest book of the ,rigveda1 8the   
deification of purely abstract ideas1   
such as ,wrath and ,faith1 appears  for 
the first time40#bji ,at a higher stage 
of culture we find ,fides1  ,fortuna1   
,concordia and many others4 ,such things
 are conceived of as  mysterious powers1
 and they have names2 and so far they   
resemble  demons4 ,why1 then1 should    
they not be personified and propitiated 
like  demons8    7j7 ,various ways have 
been pointed out in which the           
grammatical  structures of language1    
metaphors and other figures of speech   
may  influence the growth of mythology4 
7k7 ,animism having been generally      
adopted1 spirits may be freely  invented
 in explanatory myths4 ,the ,kalinis    
believe that thunder  and lightning are 
the clang and flash of bracelets on the 

arms of  ,kidilumai1 a girl who dances  
in heaven1 as formerly on earth1 for joy
  of the welcome rain4#baj ,it would be 
absurd to suppose that she must  once   
have lived on earth4 ,some amongst the  
,ekoi say that ,thunder is a  giant     
marching across the sky2 others that    
,thunder is the enemy of  ,lightning    
and1 on seeing it1 growls to drive it   
away4#baa ,if free  invention may       
originate myths1 it may modify old ones1
 with results  that cannot always be    
interpreted upon general principles4    
,finally1 any spirits that have been    
anthropomorphised in analogy with       
ancestor-ghosts may be further disguised
 by giving them mythical family         
connections with the ancestors and with 
one another1 as happened to  ,bacchus   
and ,demeter4       #g4 ,,how ,,ghosts  
,,and ,,spirits ,,are ,,imagined        
,ghosts and spirits have the same       
qualities and characters1 eat the  same 
food1 appear in dreams1 possess men and 
animals1 help sorcerers1  give diseases1

 determine the success of hunting or    
agriculture4 ,at  first1 they are solid 
things1 not truly incorporeal1 merely   
invisible  to ordinary people by        
daylight2 though dogs or pigs may see   
them even  then4 ,a ghost is so         
associated with its corpse1 that it is  
not always  clear which it is that      
escapes from the grave and walks2 and   
one may  judge whether a dead man has   
yet gone to ,hades or still haunts the  
neighbourhood1 by observing whether in  
the morning there are footprints  around
 his grave2 and to keep the ghost from  
walking1 one may fill  the belly of the 
corpse with stones1 or break its limbs1 
or bury it  deep and pile the earth upon
 it2 or one may burn it4 ,in            
,south-,east  ,australia1 ghosts can be 
heard at night jumping down from the    
trees or  from the sky4#bab ,they may be
 heard to speak or sing1 usually with   
thin voices1 like bats3 as              
8the sheeted dead      ,did squeak and  
gibber in the streets of ,rome40        

,spirits may have all the appurtenances 
of an animal body2 for two of  them     
waylaid an ,australian1 and made a      
wizard of him by taking out  his        
entrails and filling up the cavity with 
the entrails of one of  themselves4#bac 
,they may marry mortals1 as a devil     
begat ,caliban upon  a witch2 and not   
long ago the 8incubus0 was very         
troublesome throughout  ,europe4 ,in    
short1 a ghost or spirit can act        
physically1 just as a  man can1 because 
he has the same organs2 but with greater
 power1  because mysterious and more    
feared4 ,and such beliefs persist       
amongst  people whose culture is much   
higher than the ,australian1 as in      
,jacob's  wrestling with something at   
the ford ,jabbok1 and ,grettir's slaying
 of  the ghost of ,glam at              
,thorhallstad2#bad and ,euthymus1 the   
boxer1 having  put on his armour1       
defeated the ghost of ,lycas at         
,temesa4#bae ,to this  day1 in          
,macedonia1 there are vampires1 or      

animated corpses 7chiefly  ,turks71 that
 walk1 and throttle people and suck     
their blood4#baf 8,the  ,moslem corpse10
 says ,r4 ,burton1 8is partly sentient  
in the tomb40#bag  ,the ,karok of       
,california consider it the highest     
crime to utter the  name of the dead2   
for it makes the mouldering skeleton    
turn in its  grave and groan4#bah ,in   
fact1 it is difficult to think of one's 
own  future corpse as entirely          
inanimate1 and this adds some discomfort
  to one's thoughts of death4 ,according
 to ,wundt1 the ,krperseele1 as  eine   
,eigenschaft des lebenden ,krpers1 is a 
starting-point of ,animism  independent 
of1 and probably prior to1 the breath   
and the dream1 which  suggest the idea  
of a free separable soul4#bai ,this     
confusion of ideas  in popular ,animism 
seems to me due to 7#a7 the strong      
association of the  ghost with the      
corpse1 and the performance of rites    
7which must take  place somewhere1 if at
 all7 naturally at the grave or in      

connection  with relics2 7#b7 the       
manifestation of ghosts as visible1     
speaking1  tangible bodies in dreams2   
7#c7 the difficulty of imagining spirits
  to live and act except in the likeness
 of the body 7though non-human          
forms--usually animal--are sometimes    
substituted72 7#d7 the convenience  of  
such imaginations to the story-teller2  
7#e7 the convenience of  them to        
sorcerers and purveyors of mysteries1   
who rely upon such  imaginations in     
producing illusion by suggestion4 ,for  
ages a confusion  of ghost with corpse  
may exist in the popular mind along with
 the  more refined notion of soul-stuff 
in which a ghost becomes manifest1      
whilst there is no attempt to reconcile 
these imaginations2 and it  is only by  
metaphysical subtilties about 8mind0 and
 8matter10 or by  mystical aversion to  
sensuosity1 that the notion of pure     
incorporeal  spirit without even spatial
 limitations is at last freed from these
  primitive associations1 partially and 

amongst a few people4 ,a tendency  to   
abstract conception of the spirit is set
 up1 indeed1 in the ordinary  way of    
8dissociation0 by the belief in         
transmigration4 ,for if a spirit  may   
8possess0 all sorts of bodies--men1     
plants1 animals1 etc4--it is            
independent of any particular body2     
though it may still be thought to  need 
some body4 ,where the idea of pure      
spirit has been established  amongst    
educated people1 it becomes necessary   
for those who believe  in ghosts and    
have forgotten their soul-stuff to      
explain how a spirit  can manifest      
itself to eye1 ear1 nose1 hand1 without 
a physical body1  by 8materialising0    
itself1 as invisible vapour 7say one's  
own breath  on a frosty morning7        
condenses into a cloud or into dew2 for 
the power  of analogy as an aid to      
thought1 or as a substitute for it1 is  
not yet  exhausted4    ,the varieties of
 belief that occur here and there in the
 world cannot  be explained without a   

much fuller knowledge of local          
circumstances  than is usually          
available4 ,the ,semang say that souls  
are red1 like  blood1 and no bigger than
 a grain of maize2#bbj the ,malays that 
they  are vapoury1 shadowy1 filmy       
essences1 about as big as one's         
thumb2#bba  in both cases shaped like   
the owner4 ,elsewhere in the ,indian    
,archipelago1 8the animating principle  
is conceived of1 not as a tiny  being   
confined to a single part of the body1  
but as a sort of fluid or  ether        
diffused through every part40#bbb ,the  
less educated classes in  ,japan        
consider the soul as a small1 round1    
black thing that can leave  the body    
during sleep4#bbc ,amongst the ,ekoi1   
the soul is a small thing  dwelling in  
the breast1 whilst a man lives2 but at  
death expands into  the body's full     
stature4#bbd ,the difficulty of finding 
the soul in the  body leads some        
thinkers to suppose it must be very     
small1 others very  attenuated--thin as 

a shadow and as breath invisible4       
,whilst many savages believe1 like      
ourselves1 that the body entertains  one
 soul and gives up one ghost1 the ,ekoi 
believe in two1 one animating  a man's  
body1 the other possessing1 or changing 
into1 some animal in  the bush4 ,three  
souls1 the vegetative1 sensitive and    
rational1 are  well known to ,european  
philosophy4 ,the ,mandans thought that a
 man has  one black1 one brown1 and one 
light-coloured soul2 but that only the  
last returned to the ,lord of ,life4#bbe
 ,the observer who tells us  this also  
reports 7p4 #dhd7 that some of the      
,dakotas assign to each  man four       
spirits3 one that dies with the body2   
one that remains with1  or near1 it2 one
 that accounts for its deeds and at     
death goes to  the spirit-world2 and one
 that lingers with the small bundle of  
the  deceased's hair1 which is kept by  
relatives until they can throw it  into 
an enemy's country to become a roving1  
hostile demon4 ,in ,west  ,africa1 too1 

,miss ,kingsley found four souls3 one   
that survives the  body2 one that lives 
with some animal in the bush2 one1 the  
body's  shadow1 that lies down every    
night in the shadow of the great god1   
and there recovers its strength2 and1   
finally1 the dream-soul4 ,some  natives 
hold that the three last are functions  
of the first or true  soul2 but the     
witch-doctor treats all four            
separately4#bbf ,the  shadow of a man1  
his reflection1 his name1 his totem1 his
 breath1 his  dream-wraith1 his blood1  
his corpse1 supply natural              
starting-points  for such speculations4 
,some ,chinese philosophers held that   
8each of  the five viscera has its own  
separate male soul40#bbg ,i have found  
no belief in six souls2 but in ,siberia 
the ,altaians distinguish six  parts or 
7rather7 conditions or stages of the    
soul2 and this probably  is only another
 attempt to convey the same meaning4#bbh
 ,mr4 ,skeat  reports that1 probably1 in
 the old ,animism of the ,malays1 each  

man  had seven souls2 though now they   
talk of only one2 except in using       
spells1 when the souls are addressed    
separately4#bbi ,in the religion  of    
,osiris there seems to have been a still
 greater number of souls3  as of the    
name1 the shape1 the strength1 the      
shadow1 etc43 all  reuniting with the   
immortal counterpart of a man's mummy1  
if justified  at the last judgment4     
,prof4 ,wiedemann suggests that these   
beliefs  may have been collected from   
different local sources1 and preserved  
for fear of losing anything that might  
be true4#bcj ,whereas1 then1  the       
prescientific mind is often accused of  
confusing things that are  separate1 we 
see here the opposite tendency to reify 
abstract aspects1  and to separate      
things that are in nature united2 and   
one probable  cause of this is the      
practical interest of treating1 and     
therefore of  attending to and          
addressing1 separately1 certain aspects 
of a man in  rites of exorcism1         

lustration1 summoning1 reinforcing1     
propitiation4    ,the belief in an      
external soul that exists apart from    
oneself 7though  identified with oneself
 for good or evil7 in an animal1 in the 
bush1  or where not1 may have arisen    
from the connecting of the soul with the
  shadow or reflection4 ,the shadow is1 
indeed1 attached to a man by the  feet  
7except when he leaps71 if the whole is 
seen2 but it goes away  at night3 it    
stretches1 as the sun declines1 far     
across the plain1  and then disappears4 
,the reflection is quite separate1 and  
is seen  within a pool 7as in a mirror71
 not on the surface1 approaching us     
when we advance1 and withdrawing when we
 retire3 whence it is easy to           
understand that to take a man's         
photograph may be to take away his      
soul4 ,if this kind of soul may be some 
feet distant1 why may it not  be much   
further off1 if there be any motive     
7such as the desire of  secrecy7 to wish
 or think it so8 ,if it may reside      

within a pool1 why  not within anything 
else8 ,what1 in fact1 becomes of it when
 we turn  away8 ,that it should be in an
 animal in the bush is reasonable       
enough1  if one's ,totem 7even though   
imperfectly remembered as such7 is an   
animal in the bush1 and if oneself is in
 some sort that animal4       #h4       
,,origin ,,and ,,destiny ,,of ,,souls   
,beliefs as to the origin of souls      
sometimes bear the character of         
fanciful explanation myths4 ,the ,semang
 say that souls grow upon a  soul-tree  
in the world of ,kari 7their chief god72
 whence they are  brought by birds1     
which are killed and eaten by an        
expectant mother3  souls of fishes and  
animals are also obtained by the        
mothers' eating  certain fungi and      
grasses4#bca ,here the analogy of the   
growth of  fruits is adopted3 being so  
familiar as to need no further          
explanation4  ,leibnitz's suggestion    
that monads are fulgurations            
continuelles de la  ,divinit1#bcb is at 

about the same level of thought4 ,in    
other cases1  we see the struggling to  
birth of ideas that still seem          
plausible3  such is the widespread tenet
 that every present human soul is the   
reincarnation of an ancestor1 which we  
find in ,australia1 ,melanesia1         
,borneo1 ,manipur1 on the ,congo1 in    
,north ,america and elsewhere4 ,the     
,bakongo seem to base their belief in   
reincarnation partly on personal        
resemblance2 upon which ground a child  
may be thought to have the  soul even of
 a living man2 so that to point out such
 a resemblance is  displeasing1 since it
 implies that1 the child having his     
soul1 he must  soon die4#bcc ,another   
reason they give for their belief is    
that the  child speaks early of things  
its mother has not taught it1 and that  
this must be due to an old soul talking 
in a new body4 ,but ,bakongo  albinos   
are incarnations of water-spirits1 and  
greatly feared4 ,possibly  in some cases
 people began by naming children after  

their ancestors1  and later inferred    
that those who bore the same name must  
be the same  persons4 ,plato thought    
that1 by a sort of law of psychic       
conservation1  there must always be the 
same number of souls in the world3#bcd  
there  must1 therefore1 be              
reincarnation4 ,that nothing absolutely 
begins to  be1 or perishes1 though first
 explicit in the ,ionian philosophy1 is 
generally assumed in savage thinking2 so
 why should it not be true of  souls8   
,as to the destiny of souls there seems 
to exist amongst the tribes  of men even
 greater variety of belief than as to   
their origin4 ,they  may pass through   
more than one stage of development3 as  
in the western  isles of ,torres        
,straits one becomes at death1 first a  
mari1 and later  a markai with a more   
definite status2#bce or as with the     
,veddas1 one  is at first called1       
without much confidence1 8the living    
one10 and only  a few days later        
becomes1 after trial of one's virtue1 a 

yaka1#bcf  or authentic ghost4 ,often   
the dead will be reincarnated1 but the  
interval between death and rebirth may  
be passed in an underworld1 or  in a    
city in the forest1 or indefinitely in a
 land of ancestors4 ,they  may turn into
 plants2 as among the ,mafulu old       
people's ghosts become  large funguses  
growing in the mountains3#bcg but more  
frequently into  animals2 perhaps their 
,totems1 or 7with seeming caprice7 into 
such  things as termites or wild pigs2  
or 7because wings seem to suit the      
spirit7 into a butterfly or bee2 or into
 owls or bats that haunt the  night and 
dwell in caves that may be tombs2 or    
into deer or bear-cats1  because these  
are seen in the clearings near tombs2 or
 into snakes1  because these are seen to
 come out of tombs1 and often come into 
huts  as if returning to their homes1   
and1 moreover1 cast their skins and so  
typify the renewal of life4 ,they may   
also become stars1 or shooting  stars1  
or mere naked demons1 or white men4     

,it is only after ages of thought       
concerning the fate of our souls that   
there arises in any systematic form the 
doctrine of metempsychosis1  which now  
prevails over great part of southern and
 eastern ,asia1 and  was formerly known 
in ,egypt and even in ,greece4 ,but in  
the widely  diffused doctrines of       
reincarnation in men or in animals1 or  
even in  plants1 and in the general     
belief that a soul may wander and       
possess  any kind of body1 we see the   
sources from which this vast flood of   
superstition collected its waters4 ,the 
,buddhist belief that not the  soul     
wanders1 but its karma 7or character7   
creates a new body1 may be  considered  
as a retrogression from ,animism to     
,magic2 for what is it but  a law of the
 action of an occult force or virtue8   
,though the ghost survive the body1 and 
it may be said 7as by the  ,ekoi7 that  
it cannot perish1 and the reason may    
even be given 7as in  the ,bismarck     
,archipelago71 that it is of different  

nature from the  body1#bch it is by no  
means always immortal4 ,it may die1 as  
it were a  natural death1 by oblivion2  
or1 the next world being just like this1
  ghosts may fight together and kill one
 another2#bci according to the  ,tongans
 a ghost may be killed with a club2     
amongst the ,bakongo it may  be         
destroyed by burning its corpse4#bdj ,it
 has been thought that  to suppress the 
ghost was the original motive of        
cremation2 but the  western ,tasmanians 
cremated their dead1 and can hardly have
 done so to  be rid of such mild        
,animism as seems to have been          
entertained by the  eastern tribes1 who 
buried their dead or abandoned them4#bda
 ,however1  they seem to have been rid  
of it2 whereas1 in general1 ghosts      
survive  cremation1 because this process
 cannot put an end to dreams2 and it may
  then come to be believed that burning 
is necessary in order to set the  soul  
free from its body2 and1 therefore1 the 
wife of ,periander1 tyrant  of ,corinth1

 complained to him of being cold in the 
ghost world1 because  her clothes had   
been only buried in her tomb and not    
burnt4#bdb  ,according to the           
,egyptians1 the ghost participated in   
every mutilation  of the body1 and      
perished with its dissolution4 ,it may  
be held that  even the gods die if      
neglected1 and depend for their         
immortality upon  the perpetuation of   
their rites and sacrifices4#bdc         
,whilst the ghost's life endures1 its   
dwelling may be in the earth  or sky1   
sea or forest1 or in the land of the    
setting sun1 or in the  land of         
ancestors whence the tribe remembers to 
have migrated4 ,before  departing to    
that undiscovered country1 it may haunt 
the grave or the  old home1 till burial1
 or till the flesh decays1 or till the  
funeral  feast1 or till death has been  
avenged2 or it may roam the country1 a  
resentful demon1 if its funeral rites be
 not duly celebrated4 ,there  may be one
 place for all ghosts1 or two1 or more1 

according to their  age1 or rank1 or    
qualities 7as sociable or unsociable71  
or whether  or not their noses were     
bored2 or according to the manner of    
their  death1 by violence1 or suicide1  
or sorcery4 ,it is late before our      
posthumous destiny is thought to depend 
on moral character 7as it does  in      
metempsychosis72 and even then varies   
with the local conception  of the good  
man1 as observing custom or religious   
rites or1 finally1  the dictates of     
conscience4#bdd ,i remember how puzzling
 it was in  childhood to make out from  
sermons how far 8going to heaven0       
depended  on being good 7conscientious7 
or on faith4 ,both seemed very          
desirable2  yet there was a shadow of   
opposition between them1 and to be good 
was  a little dangerous4 ,but faith was 
indispensable1 and apparently the  more 
difficult of the two1 needing more      
elucidation1 exhortation and            
reiteration4    ,the journey of ghosts  
to their own world may be short or long1

 an  unadorned migration or rich in     
details of adventure4 ,they may begin   
the new life exactly as they finished   
this one1 or the old may be             
rejuvenated4 ,as to their manner of life
 there1 oftenest it is a  repetition of 
their earthly state1 perhaps better1 or 
even much  better1 perhaps worse4 ,and  
this conception is historically of the  
utmost importance3 for 7#a7 it seems to 
give the greatest confidence  in a      
hereafter4 ,hume ascribes what seemed to
 him the incredulity of  men with regard
 to a future life 8to the faint idea we 
form of our  future condition1 derived  
from its want of resemblance to the     
present  life40#bde ,and 7#b7 from this 
conception proceeds the development of  
ghostly polities3 presided over1        
according to tribes that have no        
chiefs1 by a headman1 such as           
,damarulum1 or by the greatest known    
hunt-leader1 like ,kande ,yaka of the   
,veddas2 under advancing political      
structures1 by chieftains1 amongst whom 

one may be paramount1 and  so become a  
king or lord of all4 ,these ghostly     
politics support the  earthly ones they 
imitate4 ,it is everywhere an edifice   
built by hope  and fear1 under the      
guidance of analogy1 and sometimes      
decorated by  caprice1 if this find     
acceptance with the tribe4       #i4    
,,the ,,treatment ,,of ,,ghosts    ,the 
behaviour of men toward the ghosts of   
their dead is chiefly  governed by fear4
 ,the human power that has left the     
corpse is now  invisible2 that power1   
rarely quite trustworthy whilst in the  
body1  especially when unobserved1      
retains its desires1 caprices and       
hatreds  that were partially controlled 
by social influences4 ,what controls    
them now that the man is exempt from    
observation8 ,how shall one defend      
oneself against him1 or procure his     
neutrality1 or even 7as sometimes  in   
the flesh7 his help8 ,the fear of ghosts
 has peculiar qualities3  the           
invisibility of a spiritual enemy       

produces a general objectless  suspicion
 and a sense of helplessness2           
associations with the physical          
conditions of the corpse and with       
darkness excite feelings very much  like
 those aroused by snakes and reptiles4  
,this fear explains why  savages1 such  
as the ,australians1 may believe in     
ghosts for ages  without ever venturing 
to pray even to father or mother        
deceased2 for  to pray is to invoke1 and
 they will come1 and1 on the whole1 they
 are  not wanted4 ,fear may make the    
survivors quit the neighbourhood of the 
dead2 sometimes makes them adopt means  
to induce the ghost to leave1  and      
invent stories of how and whither he    
goes1 which are believed by  biological 
necessity2 because1 unless they can be  
rid of the ghost and  the dread of him1 
or establish in some way the pax deorum1
 it is  impossible to go on living4     
,the ,yerkla-mining never bury their    
dead1 nor in any way dispose of  them4  
,on seeing death approaching a          

tribesman1 they make up a good fire  for
 him1 and leave the neighbourhood1 not  
to return for a considerable  time4#bdf 
,the ,sakai1 having buried the dead     
affectionately with  necklaces1 wallets1
 etc41 say to him3 8,do not remember any
 more your  father1 mother1 or          
relations4 ,think only of your ancestors
 gone to  another place4 ,your living   
friends will find food40 ,they then burn
 his  house and desert the settlement1  
even abandoning standing crops4#bdg     
,among the ,kikuyu1 8if a person dies in
 a village1 that village is  often      
burnt1 and the people trek off and build
 elsewhere10 though much  labour may    
have been spent on the surrounding      
fields4 ,sick people are  often         
deserted4#bdh ,where land is closely    
settled such flight becomes  impossible1
 and in any case it is very             
inconvenient2 so that if any one  can   
believe it possible to deceive the      
ghost1 or to frighten him away  by      
shouting at him1 beating the air with   

boughs or firebrands1 letting  off      
arrows or guns1 or to restrain him from 
walking by breaking the  corpse's legs1 
or by placing loaded 8ghost-shooters0   
7straws filled  with gunpowder7 around  
the grave1 so much the better4 ,many    
such plans  are adopted1 and they must  
be believed in4#bdi    ,affection1      
however1 has its part in the treatment  
of the dead3 it is  reasonable to       
attribute to affection the beginnings of
 the practices  of leaving food at the  
tomb1 burying weapons or ornaments with 
the  corpse1 celebrating funerary rites 
with lamentations2 though in time  this 
motive may be mixed with1 or superseded 
by1 fear of the ghost1  or by fear of   
being suspected of having murdered the  
deceased by  sorcery1 should rites be   
neglected or maimed4 ,it is not uncommon
 to  carry about some bones of the      
departed1 to hang round one's neck the  
skulls of infants untimely dead4 ,the   
wild ,veddas1 though1 having  covered a 
corpse with boughs1 they avoid the place

 for a long time  for fear of being     
stoned1 nevertheless have a strong      
feeling of good  fellowship for the     
spirits of their dead4#bej ,in the      
eastern isles  of ,torres ,straits1 the 
,miriam perform an eschatological       
mystery1 in  which the recently deceased
 reappear on their way to the other     
world4  ,the women and children take it 
for reality3 their affections are said  
to be gratified2 and at the same time   
their fears are allayed by the          
conviction that the ghosts1 having been 
seen on their way to ,hades1  will no   
longer haunt them4#bea ,the old         
,norsemen believed that the  dead were  
still united with the living by intense 
sympathy4#beb ,as  rites begun in       
affection may become propitiatory       
through fear1 and  after prayer has been
 instituted may be further extended to  
obtain the  aid of spirits or gods in   
hunting1 war1 revenge1 love1            
agriculture1  trade1 or any undertaking 
for subsistence1 riches or power1 every 

passion in turn seeks its gratification 
through ,animism4    ,extravagance in   
funerary rites1 often ruinous to the    
family1 may  sometimes be checked by    
considerations of economy or            
convenience4  ,thus some tribes of      
,south ,australia may burn all the      
property of the  deceased except their  
stone axes1 which are too valuable to be
 lost to  the survivors4 ,the ,nagas    
bury with the body the things most      
closely  associated with the dead2 but  
things of small value1 never the gun  or
 the cornelian necklace4#bec ,the       
,todas1 who burn their dead1 lay  the   
body on a bier with many valuable       
offerings and swing it three  times over
 the fire2 they then remove the money   
and the more valuable  ornaments and    
burn the rest with the corpse4 ,they say
 that the dead  still have the use of   
everything that was swung over the fire2
 and tell  a story to explain the       
ceremony2 but ,dr4 ,rivers observes that
 8this  symbolic burning has the great  

advantage that the objects of value  are
 not consumed1 and are available for use
 another time40#bed ,the  ,araucanians  
buried many things with the dead1 and at
 the grave of a  chief slew a horse4    
,but for all valuables--silver spurs and
 bits and  steel lance-heads--they left 
wooden substitutes4 ,as for the horse1  
the  mourners ate it1 and the ghost got 
nothing but the skin and the soul  of   
it4#bee ,economy may also induce the    
belief that ghosts are easily  deceived1
 or are unaccountably stupid in some    
special way3 as in the  widespread      
practice of carrying a corpse out of its
 house through a  hole in the wall2     
trusting that1 the hole having been     
immediately  repaired1 the ghost can    
never find his way back2 so soon does he
  forget the familiar door4 ,this is    
cheaper than to burn the house  down4   
,superstitious practices may be carried 
out with self-destructive  infatuation1 
or restricted at will3 in ,florida      
7,melanesia71 in a  certain stream1 a   

very large eel was taken for a ghost2 no
 one might  bathe in1 or drink at1 the  
stream--8except at one pool1 which for  
convenience was considered not to be    
sacred40#bef ,a conflicting desire      
creates a limiting belief4 ,whilst often
 the most painful or disgusting  rites  
are endured for fear of ghosts1 at other
 times they are assumed  to be so dull  
that we are tempted to say3 8,whatever  
is convenient is  credible40    ,if we  
desire to know the future1 ghosts are so
 wise that we consult  their oracles and
 pay handsome fees to their inspired    
priests2 but if  we dread their         
presence1 it is easy to accept any      
suggestion that they  are obtuse or     
infatuated4 ,they may 7e4 g47 be        
afflicted with what  psychiatrists call 
8arithmomania40 ,returning from a       
funeral1 strew the  ground with         
millet-seed3 then the ghost can never   
overtake you1 for he  must stop to count
 them4 ,or hang a sieve outside your    
window3 he cannot  enter until he has   

counted all the holes2 moreover1 his    
system of  numeration does not reach    
beyond 8two40 ,you can always block his 
path  by drawing a line across it and   
pretending to jump over the line as if  
it were a stream of water3 of course1 he
 cannot pass that4 ,or blaze  through   
the wood a circular trail1 beginning at 
his grave and returning  to it3 he must 
follow it around for ever1 always ending
 at the same  cold grave4 ,alas1 poor   
thin1 shivering thing1 that would go    
back to the  old hearth and sit close   
amongst the kinsmen by the fire1 and    
laugh at  the old jokes and listen to   
the old stories--chiefly about          
ghosts--have  you forgotten all the     
tricks that can be played upon your     
kind8 ,such is  the homopathy of        
superstition3 imagination creates the   
fear of ghosts1  and imagination cures  
it4    ,imagination-beliefs1 being      
swayed by moods and passions1 are       
necessarily inconsistent4 ,natives of   
the ,bismarck ,archipelago are          

cannibals and greatly fear the ghosts of
 those they devour4 ,whilst  feasting   
they hang up a slice for the ghost      
himself1 and afterwards  make an uproar 
to scare him away4 ,nevertheless they   
keep his skull and  jawbone1 which the  
ghost might be supposed especially to   
haunt2 so  easily do other passions     
overcome fear4 ,of the fear of ghosts   
sometimes  seems true that which ,bacon 
says of the fear of death1 that there is
  no passion in the mind of man so weak 
but it mates and masters it4            
,sacrilegious miscreants have always    
robbed tombs1 even the tombs of         
,pharaohs who were gods2 and timid      
lovers have kept tryst in graveyards4   
,the ,sia ,indians of ,north ,mexico had
 a masterful way of dealing with  the   
ghost of a slain enemy3 they annexed him
 together with his scalp2  for this     
having been brought to the village1 a   
shaman offered a long  prayer1 and thus 
addressed the ghost3 8,you are now no   
longer an enemy2  your scalp is here2   

you will no more destroy my people40#beg
 ,to  capture and enslave the ghost of  
an enemy is said to have been the  chief
 motive of head-hunting in ,malaya4     
,compare the conduct of the  ,romans in 
carrying off ,juno from ,veii and       
establishing her at ,rome4  ,the        
inconsistency 7sometimes met with7 of   
supposing a man's personal  qualities to
 go with his ghost1 and yet eating some 
part of his body to  obtain those       
qualities1 may be due to the latter     
practice having been  magical1 and      
having persisted after the rise of      
,animism4 ,some of the  ,esquimo have   
such control over ghosts by ,magic1 that
 they fear them  very little4 ,after a  
death1 the ghost remains peaceably in   
the house  four days 7if a man7 or five 
7if a woman71 and is then dismissed by  
a ceremony to the grave1 to wait there  
until a child is born in the  village1  
when it is recalled to be the child's   
tutelary spirit4#beh       #aj4         
,,evolution ,,and ,,dissolution ,,of    

,,animism    ,animism1 originating in   
the belief in ghosts of men1 tends to   
spread  as the explanation of whatever  
had formerly been attributed to ,magic  
7if we take this to have been earlier72 
although it is far from  occupying the  
whole region that thus lies open to it4 
,we have seen  that the extent of its   
prevalence as an explanatory principle1 
and  consequently as the basis of cults1
 differs greatly amongst different      
peoples4 ,but more interesting than the 
spread of belief as to the  agency of   
spirits so as to include more and more  
objects1 is the  gradual differentiation
 of some of them from common ghosts in  
power1  character and rank1 and their   
integration into families and polities1 
such as we see in the ,edda and the     
,iliad4 ,a process1 going on for  ages  
and varying with every people1 cannot be
 briefly described3 the  work of ,e4 ,b4
 ,tylor1 ,herbert ,spencer1 ,w4 ,wundt  
and others in this  department is well  
known4 ,in general it may be said that1 

allowing for  the influences of         
geographical conditions and tradition   
and foreign  intercourse1 the chief     
cause of the evolution of a spirit-world
 is  the political evolution of those   
who believe in it2 so that the          
patriarchies1 aristocracies1 monarchies 
and despotisms of this world  are       
reflected in heaven4 ,tribes of the     
lowest culture--some ,african  ,pygmies1
 ,fuegians1 ,mafulu1 ,semangs1          
,veddas--have the least ,animism2  at   
successive grades--,australians1        
,melanesians1 ,congolese1 ,amerinds1    
,polynesians--,animism increases and    
grows more systematic2 and it           
culminates in the barbaric civilisations
 of ,egypt1 ,babylonia and ,india1  and 
of ,mexico and ,peru4 ,but in           
civilisations of our modern type it     
rapidly loses ground4    ,the cause of  
such differences in the extension and   
elaboration of the  animistic hypothesis
 cannot be that some tribes have had    
more time  than others to think it out2 

since they have all had an equally long 
past4 ,animism is known to be very      
ancient1 and there is no reason  to     
think that some races adopted it later  
than others4 ,that1 in the  lower grades
 of culture1 men want brains to think it
 out1 is not a  satisfactory            
explanation2 because1 on contact with   
superior races1  backward peoples show  
themselves capable of much more than    
could have  been inferred from their    
original state4 ,improvement in culture 
depends  upon much besides native       
brains1 namely1 opportunities afforded  
by the  resources of their habitat1 and 
communication with other peoples4 ,the  
most backward peoples are the most      
isolated peoples4 ,the development  of  
,animism is entirely a matter of        
operating with ideas2 and it seems  to  
me that before men can build with ideas 
they must build with their  hands2 there
 must be occupations that educate1 and  
give advantage  to1 constructive power1 
as in the making of boats and the       

building  of houses and temples2 for to 
this day a nation's material edifices   
are always1 in clearness of plan1       
coherence and serviceableness1 much  in 
advance of their systems of theology and
 philosophy2 because they  must 8work10 
as the ,pragmatists say4 ,if you have   
ever gone over a  battleship1 compare   
her with the ,kritik d4 r4 ,vernunft4   
,secondly1  a suitable model for the    
edifice of ideas must be presented in   
the  world of fact2 and this1 as we have
 seen1 is supplied by the tribe's       
social and political structure2 which1  
again1 is clearly correlated  with the  
improvement of architecture in building 
the houses of chiefs  and gods4         
,thirdly1 a favourable condition of the 
working out of any  theory is to have   
the means of recording1 either in oral  
literature or  7still better7 in        
writing1 the advances already made2 and1
 fourthly--a  condition historically    
involved in the foregoing--the growth of
 a  class of men1 generally a priestly  

caste or order1 sometimes poets1  who   
have time to think1 and the education   
and vocation to bring the  accumulating 
masses of animistic--now                
religious--ideas into greater  order and
 consistency4 ,hence there are two      
stages in the development  of           
,animism--of course1 not sharply        
separated3 first1 a long period of      
irregular growth in the tribal mind2    
and1 secondly1 a much shorter  period1  
in which the extension of animistic     
theory depends more or less  upon       
quasi-philosophical reflection4    ,with
 the differentiation of superior        
beings--heroic1 ancestral or  other     
gods--from common ghosts1 ,religion     
arises4 ,as to the meaning of  the word 
8religion10 indeed1 there is no         
agreement3 some lay stress  upon the    
importance of beliefs concerning        
supernatural beings2 others  upon       
prayer1 sacrifice and other rites of    
worship2 still others upon  the emotions
 of awe and mystery4 ,to define         

8religion0 7as a tribal  institution7 by
 all three of these characters seems to 
me the most  convenient plan1 and the   
most agreeable to common usage4 ,that1  
on  the one hand1 pure ,buddhism 7if it 
ever was a living faith outside  of a   
coterie of philosophers and saints71    
and1 on the other hand1  the spiritual  
condition of a few savages1 may be      
wanting in one or  other mark1 is no    
serious objection4 ,the former case is1 
in fact1  exceptional and aberrant1 and 
the latter rudimentary2 not to give them
  the name of 8religion0 in a technical 
sense is no wrong to anybody4  ,thus    
understood1 then1 ,religion brings to   
the development and support  of ,animism
 many social utilities and other        
influences2 especially the  influence of
 dynasties supposed to have descended   
from the gods2 and of  priesthoods1     
whose sustentation and authority depend 
upon the supposed  necessity of their   
intervention in worship4 ,in their hands
 the free  popular development of       

animistic ideas comes to an end1 and    
gives place  to the co-ordination of    
ideas by reflection1 and to the         
dictation of  tenets and rites by       
policy4 ,the simple motives of hope and 
fear that  actuated popular ,animism are
 now supplemented by dynastic and       
priestly  interests and ambitions2      
beneath which lies1 faintly recognised  
and ill  served1 the interest of society
 in order4    ,this later sophisticated 
,animism1 so far as it obtains a hold   
upon the  people1 is imposed upon them  
by suggestion1 authority and deception2 
but being superimposed upon ancient     
popular traditions that are never       
obliterated1 it still appeals to the    
sentiments of awe1 consolation1  hope   
and enthusiastic devotion4 ,the part of 
deception in the history  of ,animism1  
indeed1 begins at the beginning1        
preceded1 perhaps1 and  prepared for by 
the devices of ,magic-mongers4 ,amongst 
the ,arunta1  women and children are    
taught that the noise of the bull-roarer

 during  initiation ceremonies is the   
voice of the spirit ,twanyirika4#bei    
,near  ,samoa ,harbour1 at harvest1 they
 offer some of the firstfruits in a bowl
  to the ghosts2 and1 whilst the family 
feasts on the remainder1 8the           
householder will surreptitiously stir   
the offerings in the bowl with  his     
finger1 and then show it to the others  
in proof that the souls  of the dead    
have really partaken40#bfj ,so early is 
the end supposed  to justify the means4 
,animism1 like ,magic1 strives to       
maintain its  imaginations by further   
stimulating the imagination2 and1 in    
both  cases1 such practices are1 with   
many men1 compatible with firm belief   
on the part of the practitioner2 who is 
merely anxious to promote the  public   
good by confirming the weaker brethren3 
himself weak in the  perception of      
incongruities4 ,but ,i am concerned     
chiefly with origins1  and will pursue  
this nauseous topic no further4         
,parallel with the development of       

,religion1 a change takes place in  the 
emotions connected with ,animism4 ,as   
the gods emerge from the  shadow of     
night and the grave1 and are cleansed   
from the savour of  corruption1 and     
withdraw to the summit of the world1    
they are no longer  regarded with the   
shuddering fear that ghosts excite2 as  
they acquire  the rank of chiefs and    
kings1 the sentiments of attachment1    
awe1  duty1 dependence1 loyalty1 proper 
to the service of such superiors1  are  
directed to them2 and since their power 
far exceeds that of  kings1 and implies 
the total dependence of man and nature  
upon their  support and guidance1 these 
sentiments--often amazingly strong      
toward  earthly rulers--may toward the  
gods attain to the intensest heat of    
fanaticism4 ,extolled by priests and    
poets1 the attributes of the gods  are  
exaggerated1 until difficulties occur to
 a reflective mind as to  how any other 
powers can exist contrary to1 or even   
apart from1 them3  so that philosophical

 problems arise as to the existence of  
evil and  responsibility1 and the       
doctors reason high--       8,of        
providence1 foreknowledge1 will and     
fate1      ,fixed fate1 free will1      
foreknowledge absolute1      ,and find  
no end1 in wandering mazes lost40       
,this is one cause of the dissolution of
 ,animism3 the power that  comprehends  
all powers ceases to be an object1 and  
becomes the  immanence of all things1   
good and evil4 ,another cause is the    
complexity  of theogonies1 or of        
spiritual kingdoms with their orders and
 degrees3  found too fanciful1 when     
hierarchic despotisms1 that furnished   
the  analogues1 give place to the       
simpler social structure of democracies2
  or1 to a certain type of democrat1    
even insulting1 a provocative           
disparagement of the sovereignty of the 
people4 ,and ,animism has other  enemies
 in the growth of ,positivism1 and      
sometimes in the resurgence of  ,magic4 
,,footnotes3    #aee ,the ,veddas1 pp4  

#abf-g4    #aef ,northern ,tribes of    
,central ,australia1 p4 #agj4    #aeg   
,the ,land of ,zing1 p4 #bai4    #aeh   
,j4 ,o4 ,dorsey1 ,american ,bureau of   
,ethnology1 #ahhi-ij1 ,,xi4 p4 #dai4    
#aei ,mariner's ,tonga1 p4 #aje4    #afj
 ,myth1 ,ritual and ,religion1 p4 #dh4  
#afa ,african ,game ,trails1 p4 #ccc4   
#afb ,outdoor ,pastimes1 p4 #gg4    #afc
 ,frazer1 ,spirits of the ,corn and the 
,wild1 ,i4 p4 #ahc4    #afd ,the        
,melanesians1 pp4 #bdi and #cef4    #afe
 ,pagan ,races of the ,malay ,peninsula1
 ,,ii4 p4 #bbb4    #aff ,pagan ,tribes  
of ,borneo1 ,,ii4 p4 #c4    #afg ,camp  
and ,tramp in ,african ,wilds1 p4 #agd4 
#afh ,the ,primitive ,bakongo1 p4 #bhc4 
#afi ,among ,congo ,cannibals1 p4 #bge4 
#agj ,among the ,indians of ,guiana1 p4 
#cee4    #aga ,two ,years with the      
,natives of the ,west ,pacific1 p4 #aii4
 ,as  to waterspouts and shooting stars1
 see the ,reports of the ,cambridge     
,expedition to ,torres ,straits1 ,,vi4  
p4 #beb4    #agb ,j4 ,hernell in the    

,quarterly ,journal of the ,mythical    
,society  7,bangalore71 ,,iv4 ,no4 #d1  
p4 #aeh4    #agc ,a4 ,a4 ,macdonell1    
,sanskrit ,literature1 p4 #aab4    #agd 
,j4 ,mooney in ,reports of the ,american
 ,bureau of ,ethnology1  #ahhe-f1 ,,vii4
 p4 #cda4    #age ,j4 ,e4 ,bourke in the
 ,reports of the ,american ,bureau of   
,ethnology1 #ahhg-h1 ,,ix4 pp4 #dii-ejg4
    #agf ,e4 ,f4 im ,thurn1 ,among the  
,indians of ,guiana1 pp4 #bhh1 #ced4    
#agg ,principles of ,sociology1 ,vol4   
,i4 chs4 viii4-xii4    #agh ,primitive  
,culture1 chs4 xi41 xii4    #agi ,j4 ,h4
 ,weeks1 ,among ,congo ,cannibals1 pp4  
#bfb-c4 ,my friend1 ,mr4  ,torday1 tells
 me this belief is very common in       
,africa4    #ahj ,see1 e4 g41 ,a4 ,w4   
,howitt1 ,native ,tribes of ,south-,east
  ,australia1 p4 #djf2 and ,p4 ,a4      
,talbot1 ,in the ,shadow of the ,bush1  
pp4  #hc-h4    #aha ,indians of ,guiana1
 p4 #cdd4    #ahb ,s4 ,h4 ,c4 ,hawtrey1 
8,the ,lengua ,indians10 ,j4,a4,i41     
#aija4    #ahc ,j4 ,mooney1 8,sacred    

,formulas of the ,cherokees10 ,am4 ,b4  
of ,ethn41  ,,vii4 p4 #ceb4    #ahd ,c4 
,g4 ,seligman1 ,melanesians of ,british 
,new ,guinea1 pp4 #aij-ia4    #ahe ,s4  
,h4 ,ray1 8,people and ,language of     
,lifu10 ,j4,r4,a4,i41 ,,lxvii4 p4  #bif4
    #ahf ,turner1 ,samoa1 p4 #bgg4      
#ahg ,a4 ,w4 ,howitt1 op4 cit41 p4 #ceh4
    #ahh ,spencer1 ,principles of       
,sociology1  #ec4    #ahi ,j4 ,h4       
,weeks1 ,the ,primitive ,bakongo1 p4    
#bch4    #aij ,j4 ,h4 ,weeks1 ,among    
,congo ,cannibals1 p4 #bcc4    #aia ,t4 
,c4 ,hodson1 ,the ,naga ,tribes of      
,manipur1 p4 #afj4    #aib ,coddrington1
 ,the ,melanesians1 p4 #bfi4    #aic ,v4
 ,stefnson1 ,my ,life with the ,eskimo1 
p4 #eg4    #aid ,hose and ,mc,dougall1  
,pagan ,tribes of ,borneo1 ,,ii4 p4 #c4 
#aie ,j4 ,g4 ,frazer1 ,belief in        
,immortality1 p4 #djc4    #aif          
,polynesian ,researches1 ,i4 p4 #ebc4   
#aig ,the ,primitive ,bakongo1 p4 #cga4 
#aih ,e4 im ,thurn1 op4 cit41 p4 #cfc4  
#aii ,principles of ,sociology1         

#afe-ic4    #bjj ,j4 ,g4 ,frazer1       
,belief in ,immortality1 p4 #bbj4       
#bja ,franz ,boas1 ,american ,bureau of 
,ethnology1 ,,vi4 #ahhd-e1 p4 #ehc4     
#bjb ,callaway1 ,religious ,system of   
the ,amazulu1 pp4 #a and #dj4 ,cf4      
,coddrington1 ,the ,melanesians1 p4     
#aej3 ,koevasi1 a spirit1 was never     
human1 yet in some way the originator of
 the human race4    #bjc ,e4            
,westermarck1 ,marriage ,ceremonies in  
,morocco1 p4 #cdc4    #bjd ,j4,r4,a4,i41
 #aiji1 p4 #afc4    #bje ,see his       
ingenious speculations in ,the          
,evolution of the ,idea of  ,god1 ch4   
xiii4    #bjf ,pagan ,races of the      
,malay ,peninsula1 ,,ii4 iii4 ch4 vi4   
#bjg ,among ,congo ,cannibals1 p4 #bgb4 
#bjh ,g4 ,f4 ,abbott1 ,macedonian       
,folklore1 p4 #bcf4    #bji ,a4 ,a4     
,macdonell1 ,sanskrit ,literature1 p4   
#dd4    #baj ,t4 ,c4 ,hodson1 ,the ,naga
 ,tribes of ,manipur1 p4 #abf4    #baa  
,p4 ,a4 ,talbot1 ,in the ,shadow of the 
,bush1 p4 #gc4    #bab ,howitt1 ,native 

,tribes of ,south-,east ,australia1 p4  
#dcg4    #bac ,spencer and ,gillen1     
,northern ,tribes of ,central           
,australia1 p4  #dhc4    #bad ,grettir  
,saga1 ch4 xxxv4    #bae ,pausanias1    
,,vi4 p4 #f4    #baf ,g4 ,f4 ,abbott1   
,macedonian ,folklore1 p4 #bag4    #bag 
,first ,footsteps in ,east ,africa1 p4  
#eb note4    #bah ,american ,bureau of  
,ethnology1 ,i4 p4 #bjj4    #bai ,mythus
 und ,religion1 #b ed41 p4 #gh4    #bbj 
,pagan ,races of the ,malay ,peninsula1 
,i4 p4 #aid4    #bba ,malay ,magic1 p4  
#dg4    #bbb ,spirits of the ,corn and  
the ,wild1 ,i4 p4 #ahc4    #bbc ,w4 ,g4 
,aston1 ,shinto1 p4 #ej4    #bbd ,in the
 ,shadow of the ,bush1 p4 #bcj4    #bbe 
,j4 ,o4 ,dorsey1 8,siouan ,cults0 in the
 ,american ,bureau of  ,ethnology1      
#ahhi-ij1 ,,xi4 p4 #eab4    #bbf ,west  
,african ,studies1 p4 #bjj4    #bbg ,j4 
,g4 ,frazer1 ,balder the ,beautiful1    
,,ii4 pp4 #aif-bjh2 where are  reported 
other beliefs in a plurality of souls2  
in one case thirty1 in  another         

thirty-six4    #bbh ,m4 ,a4 ,czaplicka1 
,aboriginal ,siberia1 p4 #bhb4    #bbi  
,malay ,magic1 p4 #dh4    #bcj ,religion
 of the ,ancient ,egyptians1 ch4 ix4    
#bca ,pagan ,races of the ,malay        
,peninsula1 ,i4 p4 #aid4    #bcb        
,monadologie1 #dg4    #bcc ,the         
,primitive ,bakongo1 p4 #aae4    #bcd   
,republic1 #faa;a4    #bce ,haddon1     
,cambridge ,expedition to the ,torres   
,straits1 ,vol4 ,v4 p4  #cee4    #bcf   
,c4 ,g4 ,seligman1 ,the ,veddas1 p4     
#acc4    #bcg ,r4 ,w4 ,williamson1 ,the 
,mafulu1 p4 #bff4    #bch ,j4 ,g4       
,frazer1 ,belief in ,immortality1 p4    
#cif4    #bci ,c4 ,g4 ,seligman1 ,the   
,melanesians1 p4 #feh4    #bdj ,j4 ,h4  
,weeks1 ,the ,primitive ,bakongo1 p4    
#bbd4    #bda ,ling ,roth1 ,the         
,aborigines of ,tasmania1 pp4 #eg-fa4   
#bdb ,herodotus1 ,v4 p4 #ic4    #bdc ,on
 the mortality of gods1 see ,frazer1    
,the ,dying ,god1 ch4 i4    #bdd        
,primitive ,culture1 ,,ii4 pp4 #ge-if4  
#bde ,treatise1 ,b4 ,i41 ,part ,,iii4   

#i4    #bdf ,howitt1 ,native ,tribes of 
,south-,east ,australia1 p4 #dej4       
#bdg ,skeat and ,blagden1 ,pagan ,races 
of the ,malay ,peninsula1 ,,ii4  pp4    
#ie-i4 ,for similar formul of dismission
 7which1 of course1 are  constraining   
spells7 see ,w4 ,ellis1 ,polynesian     
,researches1 ,i4 p4 #ebb2  and ,j4 ,o4  
,dorsey1 8,siouan ,cults10 ,american    
,bureau of ,ethnology1 ,x4 p4  #dbj4    
#bdh ,stigand1 ,the ,land of ,zing1 p4  
#bej4    #bdi ,for the practice of      
appointing certain seasons at which the 
whole  tribe or nation unites in driving
 out ghosts or demons by force of arms  
7sometimes with the help of cannon and  
elephants71 as obtaining at all  levels 
of culture1 from ,australian savagery to
 the enlightenment of  ,china and ,peru1
 and with more decorum at ,athens and   
,rome1 see ,frazer1  ,the ,scapegoat1   
ch4 iii4  #b4    #bej ,c4 ,g4 ,seligman1
 ,the ,veddas1 p4 #aca4    #bea         
,cambridge ,expedition to ,torres       
,straits1 ,,vi4 p4 #bec4    #beb        

,vigfussen and ,powell1 ,corpus         
,poeticum ,boreale1 ,i4 p4 #dag4 ,for   
further examples of affectionate        
interest in ghosts1 see ,primitive      
,culture1 ,,ii4 pp4 #ca-c4    #bec      
,hodson1 ,the ,naga ,tribes of ,manipur1
 p4 #ajj4    #bed ,the ,todas1 p4 #cfc4 
#bee ,e4 ,r4 ,smith1 ,the ,araucanians1 
p4 #agb4    #bef ,coddrington1 ,the     
,melanesians1 p4 #agg4    #beg ,miss ,m4
 ,c4 ,stevenson1 8,the ,sia0 in         
,american ,bureau of  ,ethnology1       
#ahhi-ij1 ,,xi4 p4 #aba4    #beh        
,stefnson1 ,my ,life among the ,eskimo1 
p4 #cig4    #bei ,spencer and ,gillen1  
,northern ,tribes of ,central           
,australia1 p4  #dig4    #bfj ,frazer1  
,belief in ,immortality1 p4 #bei4       
,,chapter ,,vi    ,,the ,,relations     
,,between ,,magic ,,and ,,animism       
#a4 ,,the ,,question ,,of ,,priority    
,magic and ,animism now everywhere      
flourish side by side1 or in confused   
association1 and1 by those who believe  
in them1 are not discriminated  as they 

may be by a spectator4 ,as to their     
origin1 we have seen that  both of them 
are prehistoric2 it is useless to       
inquire about it amongst  believers 7who
 can only tell you that they learnt     
these things from  their forefathers71  
or to look for any sort of direct proof4
 ,in ,chapter  ,,iv4 ,i mentioned       
general considerations in favour of the 
priority of  ,magic2 but said nothing of
 the opposite opinion1 that ,animism is 
prior  and ,magic derivative3 an opinion
 held by many and1 amongst them1 by     
,wundt1 whose treatment of the problem  
claims attention4    ,prof4 ,wundt holds
 that the idea of the soul is older than
 ,magic  and has three principal        
sources3 7#a7 the gebundene ,seele1 or  
,krperseele 7consciousness as an        
attribute of the body71 is  immediately 
given1 without the need of any          
reflection1 as a result of              
perception-associations2 for thinking1  
feeling and willing are constant        
elements of a living body4#bfa ,the     

influence of this idea is seen  in the  
practices of making offerings to the    
dead at their tombs1 of  preserving the 
body itself1 of treating the blood and  
various parts of  the body as vehicles  
of the soul1 the use of hair and        
nail-parings in  sorcery1 and so forth4 
,by contact1 this soul can be transfused
 into  other things4 ,but the freie     
,seele1 a being differing from and      
opposed  to the body1 is suggested 7#b7 
by breath and by the cessation of the   
body's living functions with the last   
breath--the ,hauchseele2 and also  7#c7 
by dreams and visions--the              
,schattenseele4 ,this third conception  
gradually subordinates the other two1   
and has the chief part in the           
development of ,animism and             
,mythology4#bfb ,as to sorcery          
7,zauber71 it  is1 at first1 always     
attributed to the human will2 inasmuch  
as this is  the original type of        
causation4 ,ordinary events raise no    
question of  causes for the             

,naturmensch2 but only extraordinary    
occurrences do so1  such as sickness and
 death4 ,even pain or death from wounds 
is a matter  of course1 for the         
antecedents are visible to him2 but pain
 or death  from sickness has no such    
customary antecedent2 so to explain them
 he  imagines an enemy who can operate  
at a distance by sorcery4 ,sorcery he   
conceives of as an operation of one soul
 upon another2 either directly1  or     
indirectly by various appliances1 such  
as pantomimic injury by means  of an    
image4 ,pantomime is at first believed  
to affect the victim's  soul1 and so to 
cause sickness in his body2 but the     
oftener such rites  are repeated1 the   
more the intervention of the soul is    
obscured4 ,for  in many-linked          
associations1 especially where the first
 and last links  stand as means and end1
 the middle links are apt to disappear2 
and  since these are1 in this case1     
ideas about the soul1 there remains1    
after their loss1 the indefinite idea of

 some incomprehensible action  at a     
distance by means of the pantomime3 it  
is then no longer ,sorcery  but ,magic4 
,similarly1 a fetich1 or a talisman or  
amulet 7which differs  from a fetich    
only in not being the object of a cult71
 originally owes  its power to an       
indwelling spirit1 but may degenerate   
into a magical  object4#bfc ,magic1     
therefore1 is always derivative and     
secondary2 and  ,animism is entirely    
independent of ,magic4#bfd    ,this     
theory is worked out with ,prof4        
,wundt's usual comprehensiveness  and   
methodical clearness2 and the exposition
 abounds with interesting  discussions2 
but it has not convinced me4 ,the       
,krperseele1 as an  attribute of the    
body1 is1 surely1 not a soul at all4    
,customary  perception of other men     
interpreted by self-consciousness1 with 
the  habitual treatment of others 7and  
of ourselves by others7 as conscious    
bodies--making it difficult to conceive 
that a corpse is really  dead--no doubt 

influences animistic rites2 for even    
though the soul  seen in dreams may be  
believed to live1 having the            
consciousness of  its former body in    
dreamland1 yet some consciousness seems 
to remain  with the body in the grave4  
,many rites performed at a tomb1        
however1  may also be understood in     
relation to a belief that the soul1     
though  having a separate existence as  
seen in dreams1 still desires to        
reinhabit its body1 or to protect its   
buried treasures1 and therefore1  though
 its new home be far away1 frequently   
returns and haunts the  neighbourhood of
 its tomb1 and will certainly return if 
summoned4  ,but it is not until the soul
 seen in dreams has become an object of 
popular belief1 that any idea can be    
formed of a body-soul--or more  properly
 of a soul within the body1 and thence  
of a soul-stuff of the  body--which     
leaves the body at death 7and under     
other conditions7 as  the vehicle of    
consciousness4 ,this soul-stuff which   

leaves the body at  death may easily    
come to be identified with the breath1  
but not until  the discussion of dreams 
has given rise to the belief in a       
separable  soul4 ,the fact that in cold 
weather the last breath 7or any other67 
may appear for a moment as a vapour1 and
 is never seen again1 cannot  by itself 
suggest a separate persistent existence 
like that of the  soul2 and over a      
considerable part of the earth such a   
vapour is seldom  formed by the breath4 
,the ,krperseele and the ,hauchseele1   
therefore1  are not independent sources 
of ,animism1 but are entirely dependent 
for  their imaginary existence upon the 
,schattenseele1 upon the growth of a    
belief in a separable soul as seen in   
dreams4    ,as to ,sorcery1 it may be   
defined as ,magic practised with the aid
 of  spirits2 and since its existence   
implies that a belief in spirits and    
their influence has already formed      
itself1 it may also be believed to      
operate1 in the first place1 on the     

souls of its victims and so1 in the     
second place1 on their bodies4 ,then1 as
 ,prof4 ,wundt explains1 a process  of  
retrogradation sometimes occurs1 in the 
course of which the spirits  are        
forgotten1 and only the mechanical rites
 remain as a residuum of  bare ,magic4  
,similarly1 a fetich sometimes becomes a
 merely magical  talisman or amulet4    
,this is hardly disputable2 but it does 
not prove  that the degeneration of     
,sorcery is the only source of ,magic1  
or  that ,magic has not 7for the most   
part1 indeed17 another1 independent     
origin4 ,the issue is difficult to argue
 upon the ground of facts1  because     
magical practices are of such high      
antiquity4 ,if1 for example1  one should
 urge that the intichiuma ceremonies of 
the ,arunta are not1  so far as we have 
evidence1 designed to operate by        
spiritual power upon  the souls of the  
emu or the witchettygrub1 but directly  
to promote by  ,magic the fertility of  
these objects1 it might be replied that 

such1  indeed1 may be their present     
character1 but that the original        
intention  must have been to promote    
fertility by first influencing their    
souls1  and that this has been          
forgotten4 ,or1 again1 if one should    
point to  the little stones--tied up in 
bark and believed by the ,kaitish to be 
stores of evil ,magic--as having no mark
 of the fetich1 no character  to        
indicate that their power is due to     
spirits1 so that they seem to  be merely
 magical1 the answer would be ready1    
that by long use and  retrogradation    
they may have ceased to be fetiches1 but
 that a good  theory requires them to   
have been of that nature aforetime4     
,thus any  case of apparently bare      
,magic may be treated as a residuum of  
lapsed  ,animism2 or1 should its origin 
be recent and ascertainable1 it may     
still be said to have been constituted  
by analogy with such residua4    ,we are
 driven1 therefore1 to rest the argument
 upon the psychological  conditions of  

such beliefs4 ,is the nature of the     
human mind1 so far  as we can interpret 
it at the savage level1 such that the   
belief in  ,animism necessarily precedes
 and 7later7 gives rise to the belief in
  ,magic2 or is it possible to indicate 
conditions that may independently  give 
rise to ,magic8 ,according to ,prof4    
,wundt1 as ,i have said1 ,sorcery       
precedes ,magic and1 at first1 is always
 attributed to human volition1  because 
this is the original type of causation4 
,contrary to ,hume's  doctrine 7he      
says71 the ordinary course of events    
does not excite in  the savage the idea 
of causation1 or the need of            
explanation4 ,customary  series of      
events belong to those matter-of-course 
properties of things  which he1 eben    
wegen ihrer ,regelmssigkeit1 unmglich   
hinweg denken  kann4#bfe ,it is the     
unusual occurrences--accidents1 storms1 
drought  7where rain is much desired7   
and especially sickness and death--that 
awaken in him the need of causal        

explanation4 ,he is accustomed to pain  
from wounds1 where he sees the          
conditions on which they always follow2 
but the pain of disease has no such     
antecedents1 and he supplies the  gap in
 routine by free associations1 imagining
 that this pain also  must be the work  
of some enemy4 ,for in the regular      
course of events  there is for him only 
one region in which an effect appears   
notwendig  verknpft mit dem             
,vorausgehende3 namely1 that of his own 
voluntary  actions4 ,the connexion is1  
indeed1 only a matter of fact2 but it   
includes the sensations and feelings of 
his own power ber den ,eintritt  des    
,ereignisses4 ,this1 as ,berkeley saw   
7says ,prof4 ,wundt71 is the  true      
origin of the notion of causality2      
though the true principle of  causality 
requires the elimination of this        
subjective ground of its  origin4#bff   
,it is true1 of course1 that the savage 
has no definite idea of the  principle  
of causation2 but he has obscure ideas  

of all its chief  marks--the need of    
some antecedent for every event1        
regularity of  connexion1 and           
proportionality2 and probably1 in the   
depths of his  mind1 the abstract       
principle has made some progress toward 
maturity4  7a7 ,the ground or source of 
such ideas1 according to ,hume1 is      
customary experience2 and that such     
experience includes its own  causation  
7and1 therefore1 needs no explanation7  
is proved by ,prof4  ,wundt's contention
 that it is the unusual which first     
demands causal  explanation2 because    
there the familiar causation is missing2
 so that  the savage tries to fill up   
the lacuna1 as best he can1 according to
  the type of what is usual4 ,but 7b71  
according to ,prof4 ,wundt1 there  is in
 the regular course of events only one  
region in which the idea of  causation  
7though illusory7 first arises3 namely1 
our own actions1 in  which we are aware 
of our own power over the beginning of  
the event4  ,and no one1 ,i suppose1    

doubts that the notion of power is      
derived  originally from the            
consciousness of our own exertions#bfg3 
read1 by  sympathy1 into the actions of 
other men and animals and1 by empathy1  
into the movements of trees1 stones1    
winds and waters4 ,all this1  however1  
occurs so early in the individual and in
 the race 7probably  in the higher      
animals7 that1 before the need of causal
 explanation is  felt1 the world is seen
 as if pervaded by forces1 which are    
manifested  in every usual course of    
events and not merely in voluntary      
actions4  ,again 7c71 power is only one 
character of the primitive belief in    
causation3 another1 not less important1 
is uniformity2 and the study  of our own
 actions is notoriously unfavourable for
 the discovery of  uniformity4 ,without 
any obvious reason for it1 our visceral 
activities  can hardly be controlled at 
all2 compound reflexes 7such as yawning1
  sneezing1 laughing1 weeping7 are very 
imperfectly controlled2 our  habitual   

actions1 once started1 go on of         
themselves1 and often  begin without 7or
 contrary to7 our wishes1 especially    
gestures and  expressions2 in fatigue   
control flags1 in disease is often      
lost2#bfh  we do not always give the    
same weight to the same motives1 nor    
fulfil  our intentions whether good or  
bad4 ,but if the relation of will to    
action is not apparently uniform1 it    
cannot be seen to be necessary2  so that
 volition is generally regarded as the  
peculiar region of  caprice4 ,this is   
very important in ,animism4 ,but1       
further 7d71 were  the connexion between
 volition and movement more constant    
than it is1  it would still be most     
improbable that ideas of causation      
should be  chiefly drawn from our       
consciousness of it2 for the interest of
 action  lies not in the mere control of
 our own movements1 or power over the   
beginning of events1 but in the         
attainment of our ends2 and there is  no
 department of nature in which the      

failure of connexion is nearly  so      
impressive4 ,it is because of this      
failure that the savage becomes         
fascinated by ideas of magical and      
7later7 of spiritual aid4 ,finally  7e71
 no control is exercised by the will    
over pain--headache1 colic1  rheumatism1
 etc42 yet we are told that the savage1 
when so afflicted1  refers his          
sufferings at once to the will of some  
enemy operating at  a distance4 ,such   
inferences are not primitive1 but the   
result of a  long growth of             
superstitions4 ,among ,australian       
aborigines1 disease  and natural death  
are generally believed to be caused by  
the magical  practices of an enemy1 not 
merely by his will4    ,we are not1     
then1 obliged to infer that1 because    
volition is the  type of necessary      
connexion1 ,sorcery1 or any other form  
of ,animism1  preceded ,magic4 ,on the  
other hand1 there are conditions that   
may have  given rise independently to a 
belief in ,magic4 ,the savage has       

frequent  experience of regular trains  
of event which1 for want of analytic    
ability1 he does not clearly understand1
 but which exist in his mind  as types  
determining his apprehension of other   
sequences4 ,when two  interesting events
 happen about the same time1 the later  
recalls the  earlier2 because the       
impression of the earlier1 having been  
deep1  perseverates1 and is apt to be   
re-excited by almost any occurrence4    
,an association is then formed between  
them1 and obtains as strong a  hold upon
 the mind as less interesting ones can  
by many repetitions4  ,the man judges   
them to be connected2 and expects the   
coincidence to  repeat itself as usual  
occurrences do2 and the more vividly the
 more  he desires or fears it4 ,such    
expectations1 together with the idea of 
invisible force and the oppression of   
mystery1 by degrees establish  the      
belief in ,magic4 ,probably no traveller
 amongst wild peoples1 or  observer of  
the unsophisticated at home1 will think 

that too much  stress is here laid upon 
the power of coincidence to create      
general  expectations4 ,even the        
,chaldean priests 7we are told7 had     
grasped but  imperfectly the idea of    
causation4 8,when two events had been   
noticed  to happen one after another1   
the first was the cause of the second4  
,hence their anxiety to record the      
phenomena of the heavens and the        
occurrences that took place after       
each40#bfi ,the ,egyptians1 says        
,herodotus1 8whenever a prodigy takes   
place1 watch and record the  result2    
then1 if anything similar ever happens  
again1 they expect  the same            
consequences40#bgj ,they had merely     
reduced to a system the  universal      
practice of unanalytic minds4       #b4 
,,magic ,,and ,,religion    ,the origin 
of ,magic1 then1 is independent of      
,animism2 and in the  history of human  
thought ,magic probably preceded        
,animism as an  imaginary agent in the  
explanation and control of interesting  

and  obscure events4 ,sir ,j4 ,g4       
,frazer1 in the ,history of the         
,kingship and  in the ,magic ,art1#bga  
says that ,magic1 as a means of         
gratifying  one's desires1 is prior to  
,religion conceived of as a means of    
attaining one's ends by the propitiation
 of spirits4 ,this is a much  narrower  
contention than that ,magic is prior to 
,animism 7which perhaps  he does not    
maintain71 and it is proportionally more
 defensible4 ,whilst  the priority of   
,magic to ,animism seems to me to have  
some low degree  of probability1 the    
priority of ,magic to ,religion1 as the 
propitiation  of spirits1 seems probable
 in a much higher degree2 since we have 
plain information that both the         
,australians and the ,indians of ,guiana
  practise ,magic extensively and also  
believe in ghosts and spirits  without  
propitiating them4#bgb    ,on the other 
hand1 ,sir ,j4 ,g4 ,frazer's explanation
 of how ,religion  superseded ,magic is 
questionable4 ,he conjectures 8that a   

tardy  recognition of the inherent      
falsehood and barrenness of magic set   
the more thoughtful part of mankind to  
cast about for a truer theory  of       
,nature and a more fruitful method of   
turning her resources to  account4 ,the 
shrewder intelligences must in time have
 come to perceive  that magical         
ceremonies and incantations did not     
really effect the  results which they   
were designed to produce10 and the      
wizard inferred  that1 8if the great    
world went on its way without the help  
of him  or his fellows1 it must surely  
be because there were other beings1     
like himself1 but far stronger1 who1    
unseen themselves1 directed its         
course40#bgc ,to these he addressed     
himself1 and sought by prayer what  he  
had formerly hoped to obtain by ,magic4 
,such is ,sir ,j4 ,g4 ,frazer's         
suggestion1 offered tentatively1 and    
7surely7 not agreeing well with  the    
facts which he has set before us4 ,for  
he has shown that no amount  of         

experience can discredit ,magic1        
generally1 in untutored minds2 that     
certain kinds of ,magic are sometimes   
pushed into the background by           
,religion1 but never forgotten2 whilst  
other kinds of ,magic become fused  with
 ,religion itself and constitute an     
essential factor in its rites2  so that 
they are indeed few who can be said to  
have betaken themselves  to ,religion   
instead of ,magic4 ,besides1 the only   
ground upon which  a penetrating mind1  
that had discarded ,magic as discredited
 by  experience1 could resort by        
preference to the worship of spirits    
must  be that experience showed prayer  
and sacrifice to be more efficacious    
than ,magic in attaining our ends4 ,is  
there reason to think that 7lucky       
coincidences apart7 this has ever       
happened8 ,must we not rather say  that1
 whether one relies on ,magic or on     
,religion1 experience of failure  counts
 for almost nothing8 ,so many excuses   
are at hand4    ,the matter presents    

itself to me in this way3 at first1     
belief in ,magic  arises as a means of  
obtaining good and averting evil4       
,grounded1 as ,sir  ,e4 ,b4 ,tylor      
says1#bgd in the desire 8to discover1 to
 foretell1 and to  cause events10 it is 
irresistibly attractive by its power of 
increasing  one's confidence1 of making 
sure4    ,secondly1 at some stage after 
the rise of ,animism1 religious         
practices  are added to the magical1 to 
make assurance doubly sure1 just as one 
magical practice may be added to        
another1 a rite to a spell4 ,at this    
stage1 there is no sense of opposition  
between ,magic and ,religion4  ,that1 in
 fact1 they are opposed in their nature1
 as an invariable  to a capricious      
force1 even if this difference were     
appreciated by  savages1 need not       
prevent their co-operation2 for ,magic  
is known to  be a tendency that may fail
 of the effect desired1 either by the   
counteraction of superior ,magic1 or by 
imperfection in the rites2 and  one sees

 no reason why a spirit should not be   
supplicated to supplement  the imperfect
 rites1 or to frustrate the superior    
,magic4 ,to supplicate  the intervention
 of spirits1 once they are fully        
believed in1 is an  act so simple and   
natural1 that we may wonder how it      
should ever be  omitted where ,animism  
prevails4 ,for what can be more         
spontaneous  than to ask the aid of     
one's father or friend1 and why not ask 
the  spirits disembodied as freely as   
those in the flesh8 ,in ,melanesia not  
every ghost is worshipped 7as not having
 mana72 but a man in danger  may call   
upon his father1 grandfather or uncle3  
his nearness of kin  being sufficient   
ground for it4#bge ,certainly3 and that 
this is not  always done where ghosts   
are rife can only be because it is      
believed  that the less one has to do   
with them the better6 ,probably1 this   
consideration restrains for ages the    
early impulses to pray4 ,primitive  man 
anticipates the advice of ,confucius3   

8,pay all respect to spiritual  beings1 
but keep them at a distance40#bgf       
,thirdly1 certain forms of ,magic come1 
after a time1 to be  discountenanced or 
punished3 black ,magic1 because it is   
anti-social  and criminal2 other forms  
of ,magic1 when carried on by private   
practitioners1 because they infringe the
 monopoly of supernatural  power that   
has now been claimed by dynasties and   
priesthoods2 or 7in  other words7       
because the public gods are jealous of  
all competitors4  ,legitimate ,magic has
 now been incorporated with ,religion4  
,and the  power of ,religion becomes    
greater than that of ,magic without     
,religion1  not only by the support of  
the influential classes1 but also       
because  ,religion1 whether as worship  
of the public gods or as sorcery or     
devil-worship1 afflicts the human mind  
with peculiar terrors2 and1  again1     
because ,religion1 should it clarify    
morally and sthetically1  appeals more  
and more to the affections--to the      

family affections  and to loyalty4 ,the 
impersonality of pure ,magic sets it 7as
 it does  ,science7 at a great          
disadvantage in this competition4       
,finally1 whilst the failures of ,magic 
always need to be excused1--as  by a    
mistake in the rites or by the          
opposition of stronger                  
,magic1--,religion brings with it a new 
excuse for failure1 namely1 the  caprice
 of the spirits or gods propitiated4 ,at
 their pleasure they  may reject the    
prayers and sacrifices4 ,persistence in 
such conduct on  their part is sometimes
 met by banishment1 deprivation of rank1
 or  other punishment--the civilised    
methods of ,china2 at other times by    
praying louder and sacrificing more     
extravagantly1 in the style that        
culminated in ,mexico together with the 
power of barbaric priesthood4  ,still   
the gods may be obdurate2 and1 probably1
 to excuse the failure  of propitiation 
by the caprice of the gods was1 from the
 first1 looked  upon as an eligible     

device3#bgg not observing that the      
caprice of the  gods was incompatible   
with the security of their worshippers2 
and1  therefore1 in conflict with that  
desire of security which is the root  of
 the whole supernatural structure1      
whether magical or religious4 ,this     
conflict must have consequences4        
,religion1 then1 very probably1 is of   
later growth than ,magic2 but  whether  
,animism1 as a belief in separable 7or  
separate7 spirits1 human  or other1 is  
later or not than ,magic1 there is      
insufficient evidence4  ,at any rate1   
their origins are independent4 ,perhaps 
my own preference  for the priority of  
,magic depends1 partly at least1 on the 
convenience  of that view in arranging  
the following considerations4       #c4 
,,ideas ,,and ,,practices ,,of ,,magic  
,,adopted ,,by ,,animism    7a7         
,fundamental in ,magic1 wherever        
practised1 is the idea of force1        
invisible and intangible1 which can     
operate at a distance without any       

visible or tangible vehicle4 ,the idea  
may have been formed 7as we have  seen7 
by analogy with several natural         
phenomena1 such as the wind1  radiant   
heat1 sound1 odour1 and it is involved  
in a savage's beliefs  concerning the   
efficacy of charms1 rites and spells4   
,when a man dies1  he lies speechless   
and motionless1 no longer exerts his    
accustomed  force in any way2 but1 if   
seen in a dream1 he still speaks and    
acts1  perhaps wrestles with the        
dreamer4 ,here1 then1 is that force     
which  had deserted the body3 it is     
visible and tangible in dreams only1 or 
perhaps sometimes by twilight2 or to    
gifted seers1 or to dogs or pigs4  ,the 
force exerted by the ghost or spirit is 
the same thing as force  magical1 except
 in one character3 its action is        
capricious1 depending  on the good or   
ill will of the ghost or spirit2 whereas
 purely magical  forces have uniform    
tendencies4 ,magic1 then1 prepares and  
partially  develops this idea of        

mysterious force1 without which the     
appearance of  a dead man in a dream1   
after his body has been buried or burnt1
 would  have no reality or practical    
consequences for the living4 ,comparison
  with shadows and reflections could not
 lend reality to dreams2 for they       
require the presence of the body1 and   
themselves have no mechanical           
significance4 ,their association with   
the spirit or ghost probably  follows   
the use of their names to describe the  
dream-imagery1 which  cannot at first   
have a name of its own4 ,the same names 
being used for  shadow or reflection and
 for spirit or dream-soul1 the things   
are in  some measure identified2 and    
then the idea of force may be associated
  with shadows and reflections2 so that 
the falling of a shadow upon a  man may 
injure or slay him4    ,magic-force and 
spirit-force being the same thing1 the  
question whether  mana is a magical or  
animistic notion is misleading4 ,it will
 be  conceived of by different tribes in

 one way or the other1 according to  the
 relative prevalence in one or the other
 tribe of the animistic or  of the      
magical mode of explanation4    7b7 ,it 
is reasonable to expect that1 as the    
ghost-theory spread1 the  magical force 
of things should sometimes be conceived 
of as spiritual2  so that amulets and   
talismans would come to be regarded as  
owing their  virtue either to a         
controlling spirit1 or to an indwelling 
spirit  peculiar to each3 in the latter 
case the charm is a fetich4 ,when a     
charm is thus considered1 its efficacy  
is no longer expected to be  uniform1   
but depends on the mood of the          
indwelling or controlling  spirit4 ,the 
fact that its efficacy1 though formerly 
presumed to be  uniform1 never was so1  
favours the new interpretation2 and this
 having  been accepted1 a cult 7or a    
discipline7 of the spirit is apt to     
follow4  ,thus the magician becomes a   
sorcerer or a priest4    ,in ,north     
,central ,australia1 short sticks or    

bones are used for pointing  at an enemy
 and directing magical force against    
him4 ,only the ,guangi  and other tribes
 of the ,gulf coast manufacture dead    
men's bones  7femur or fibula7 into     
pointers2 but these are traded          
southward1 and  are considered more     
potent than other pointers4#bgh ,a      
stick1 then1  is the primitive talisman1
 often 8sung0 with a spell in           
,alcheringa  words1 which the operator  
himself does not understand2 and it acts
 by  pure magic4 ,the dead man's bone is
 more potent1 at first perhaps only     
because it is more oppressively gruesome
 and terrifying2 we are not  told that  
it carries the power of its former      
owner's ghost2 but how  near the thought
 must be6 ,in ,south-,east ,australia1  
pointing with the  bone 7human fibula7  
is very common2 in pointing you name    
your victim  and say how he is to die2  
but that the efficacy of the rite does  
not  depend upon a spirit is shown by   
this1 that1 when pointing1 you tie a    

cord of human hair 7attached to the     
bone7 tightly around your upper  arm1 in
 order to drive blood into the bone4 ,in
 other rites1 however1 in  which the fat
 of a dead man is used1 the ghost of the
 dead is believed  to assist the        
operation2 for a man's fat1 especially  
kidney-fat1 is  the seat of his prowess 
and other virtues4#bgi ,an easy         
extension of  ideas by analogy would    
interpret a rite in which a dead man's  
bone is  used1 and which is on that     
account more potent1 as owing its       
superior  potency to the assistance of  
the dead man's ghost4 ,it seems easy2   
but resistance to the progress of       
explanation is not peculiar to the      
civilised mind4    ,again1 in           
,south-,east ,australia1 a bulk--a      
pebble1 usually black  and roundish--is 
carried by wizards as a powerful        
talisman4 ,a native  dreamt of seeing   
two ghosts by his camp fire1 and1 on    
waking1 found  a bulk where they had    
stood4#bhj ,how could such an impressive

  experience fail to raise a belief in a
 connexion between ghosts and  bulks3   
both so attractive to the imagination1  
and alike mysterious  and powerful8     
,many such situations must strongly     
indicate an extension  of the           
ghost-theory1 once it has been formed1  
to explain the influence  of charms and 
rites4 ,a time comes with some tribes   
when the activity  and ubiquity of      
spirits is so much a matter of course   
that every  mysterious power is apt to  
be ascribed to their presence4 ,if a    
person  or thing was originally taboo1  
either by inherent virtue or by force   
of a spell or curse--a talisman         
dangerous to every one who violated  its
 sanctity--,animism explains the danger 
by the wrath of a protecting  spirit4 ,a
 boundary having long been taboo1 a     
spirit is imagined to  protect the      
boundary1 and becomes the god ,terminus4
 ,diseases1 at first  attributed to     
,magic1 are later explained by ,animism2
 so that whilst an  ,australian wizard  

is content to suck a magically implanted
 stone or  splinter from his patient's  
body1 a priest of the ,dyaks1 having    
sucked  out a similar object1 calls it a
 spirit4#bha ,the wonder is that at     
this stage of thought any purely magical
 power can survive4    7c7 ,an ,omen is 
regarded as giving warning of some      
event1 although  between event and omen 
there is no traceable connexion--in this
  resembling many magical operations2   
and at first omens may have  been always
 so conceived of1 and only by degrees   
distinguished from  charms and spells4  
,but in most parts of the world omens   
have come to  be treated as divine or   
spiritual premonitions2 and the marks   
which  distinguish omens from the rest  
of ,magic are such as to favour a growth
  of the belief that they are sent by   
spirits4 ,this subject1 however1 is  so 
extensive that a separate chapter must  
be given to it4    7d7 ,inasmuch as     
spells addressed to any object tend to  
the  personification of it1 the         

personified object may1 as the          
ghost-theory  gains strength1 acquire an
 indwelling or controlling spirit1 and  
the  spell addressed to it may become a 
prayer4 ,not that this is the only  way 
in which prayer may originate2 for 7as  
remarked above7 nothing can  be simpler 
or less in need of explanation than the 
invoking of the  spirit of one's        
relatives 7the ghost-theory having been 
established7 to  help one or1 at least1 
not to persecute4 ,indeed1 it is not    
unreasonable  to suppose that this was  
often attempted1 and not persisted in   
for  want of obtaining an answer2 so    
that a long tentative age preceded  the 
settled custom of prayer4 ,nor is it    
easy to see how belief in  the efficacy 
of prayer 7beginning in this way7 could 
ever have been  established1 unless it  
were confirmed by coincidence--just like
  ,magic4 ,however1 the earliest form of
 prayer and of spell 7whichever  may    
have been the earlier7 being the same--a
 simple expression of  desire--whence   

prayer and spell have been              
differentiated1 it may be  impossible to
 decide whether a given ejaculation     
belongs to one class  or to the other4  
,thus ,mr4 ,r4 ,w4 ,williamson tells us 
that1 amongst the  ,mafulu of ,new      
,guinea1 when fishing in the river      
,aduala1 the fishers1  after forming a  
weir1 but before fixing their net1 all  
join in a sort  of prayer or invocation 
to the river3 8,aduala1 give us plenty  
of  fish that we may eat well40#bhb ,but
 he expressly says that1 whilst  they   
believe certain parts of the river1 such
 as a waterfall or deep  pool1 to be    
haunted by spirits1 they do not believe 
this of the river  itself1#bhc and that 
generally their ,animism is very        
backward4 ,the  ejaculation1 therefore1 
seems to be a spell4 ,compare with it   
the ,jakun  spell to bring monkeys      
within shooting distance3       8,come  
ye down with souls enchanted1           
,monkeys1 by my spells enchanted40#bhd  
,if1 then1 the original form of prayer  

and of spell is often the same1  the    
sole difference between them lies in the
 intention of the speaker4  ,one of the 
,kurnai1 to stop the gales1 cried3 8,let
 the ,west ,wind be  bound10#bhe and    
this is evidently a command and a spell2
 but if he  regarded the wind as        
controlled by a spirit1 a change of tone
 would  make it a prayer4 ,still1       
whether with the spread of ,animism a   
spell  shall become a prayer1 must      
depend upon whether the spirit addressed
 is  believed to be the more easily     
importuned or coerced4    ,the taboo    
that often attaches to the names of the 
dead and of other  spirits may easily   
have been derived from the magical      
practice of  summoning by name1 or of   
naming the victim of a rite4 ,to call a 
living  man by name draws his attention 
and often brings him to the spot2 a     
magical naming is 7from the temper of   
,magic7 uniformly effective2 so  that to
 avoid such control names are kept      
secret2 and when ghosts are  believed   

in1 naming has the same power over them 
and is1 therefore1  extremely dangerous4
 ,hence1 in ,sorcery 7a dangerous art71 
to introduce  the names of spirits into 
spells is to secure their presence and  
assistance3 and1 in prayer1 to use the  
true name of the spirit or god          
addressed may be indispensable2 the     
worshipper's intention is not  enough4  
7e7 ,with the spread of ,animism1       
magical rites often become religious4   
,this may occur by simply adding the    
invocation of a spirit to a magical     
rite 7as a spell may be added7 in order 
to strengthen it--the two  actions      
remaining quite distinct2 or some degree
 of fusion may take  place1 obscuring   
more or less the original character of  
the practice4  ,the ,kai 7,papuans of   
northern ,new ,guinea7 8make rain0 by   
muttering  a spell over a stone1 and at 
the same time calling upon ,balong and  
,batu to drive away ,yondimi1 a woman   
who holds up the rain2 and when  rain   
enough has fallen1 they strew hot ashes 

on the stone1 or put it  in the fire1 to
 stop the rain4#bhf ,the animistic      
invocation1 being  omitted from the     
process of stopping the rain1 seems to  
be merely  adscititious to the making of
 it4 ,again1 8,when rain is badly wanted
  in the ,oraon country1 the ,oraons of 
each village fix a day for the          
rain-making ceremony4 ,on the morning of
 the appointed day1 the women  of the   
village1 with the wife of the village   
priest or ,pahan at  their head1 proceed
 to the village spring or tank1 and     
there1 after  ablution1 each woman fills
 her pitcher with water1 and all proceed
  in a body to a sacred pipar-tree4444  
,on their arrival at the sacred  tree1  
all the women simultaneously pour the   
water in their pitchers  over the root  
of the tree1 saying #8,may rain fall on 
the earth like  this4' ,the wife of the 
village priest now puts marks of        
vermilion1  diluted in oil1 on the trunk
 of the tree4 ,after this the women     
depart1  and the ,pahan or village      

priest proceeds to sacrifice a red cock 
to  the god ,baranda at the spot4444 ,in
 this case1 apparently1 by direct       
alliance1 sacrifice and the anointing of
 the tree with vermilion have  been     
superimposed upon what was once1        
perhaps1 purely a ceremony of  imitative
 magic40#bhg ,mr4 ,warde ,fowler tells  
us that an ancient  ,iguvian document   
contains instructions for the lustration
 of the  people before a campaign3 the  
male population assembled in its        
military  divisions2 around the host a  
procession went three times2 at the end 
of  each circuit there was prayer to    
,mars and to two female associates of   
his power1 to bless the people of       
,iguvium and to curse their enemies3    
and he observes that religion has here  
been imposed upon the original          
magic-ceremony4 ,for the idea must have 
been that1 by drawing a magic  circle   
around the host1 it would be protected  
in the enemy's country  against hostile 
magic by being rendered holy4 8,a later 

and animistic  age would think of them  
7the soldiers7 as needing protection    
against  hostile spirits1 of whose ways 
and freaks they were1 of course1        
entirely ignorant40 ,hence the prayer to
 ,mars4#bhh    ,similarly1 rites        
connected with seed-time and harvest1   
originally  magical1 become religious1  
as beliefs grow up in spirits of the    
rice1  or corn1 or vine1 or in gods of  
agriculture or fertility4 ,thus1 as     
magical power is the same thing as      
spiritual power1 magical practices  may 
be not merely the antecedents but even  
the foundations of religious  practices4
 ,long after the development of         
,animism1 magical practices  are        
maintained by natural conservatism2 if  
priests exist1 they try1  of course1 to 
annex such practices to the worship of  
their god2 and  if the annexation is    
accomplished1 whether by priestly       
management or  by a popular movement1 no
 incongruity may be felt for a long time
  between the uniformity of ,magic and  

the caprice of ,animism2 the whole      
celebration is called ,religion1 and    
becomes suffused with religious         
feeling4       #d4 ,,retrogradation     
,on the other hand1 in all these cases1 
the animistic interpretation  of the    
power of fetiches1 omens1 prayers1      
rites1 whether original  7as ,prof4     
,wundt holds7 or acquired1 may be lost1 
and a magical  interpretation alone     
remain4 ,for one's mind becomes so      
engrossed with  objects or practices    
7such as fetich-things or prayers7 that 
are  regarded as necessary to the       
gratification of any masterful desire1  
that not only irrelevant ideas1 but any 
ideas not indispensable to the          
connexion between the objects or        
practices and the gratifications1  may  
be forgotten2 and as objects or         
practices acquire interest in           
themselves1 even the gratifications     
formerly desired may be forgotten4      
,just as such means as money or books1  
business or study1 may become  ends to  

the exclusion of further enjoyments1 so 
images or rites1 at  first subsidiary to
 the obtaining of demonic aid in love or
 revenge1  may be cared for with a      
fervour that excludes the thought of any
  intervening means to those ends       
7especially such means as a capricious  
spirit who may fail one71 and may even  
be employed under a vague fear  or      
discomfort in the omission of them1 when
 no particular purpose is  any longer   
remembered4 ,on the principle of least  
effort1 we attend only  to what is      
necessary4    7a7 ,a saint's            
finger-joint may at first be treasured  
as a fetich  having the power of the    
saint to save from shipwreck2 after a   
time  it may be carried as an amulet    
without any thought of the saint's      
interposition2 whilst the evil to be    
averted is more and more vaguely        
imagined4 ,seeing that spiritual and    
magical agencies are the same           
invisible1 unintelligible force1 how    
easy to interchange them6    7b7        

,similarly omens1 from being divine     
messages1 each relating to  a particular
 undertaking1 may come to be merely     
occurrences that  encourage or          
discourage a man1 or a tribe1 at any    
time2 because1 by  tradition1 they are  
lucky or unlucky4 ,or practically the   
same result  may be reached by          
philosophy3 as with those ,stoics who   
explained that  omens are prophetic not 
as sent by the gods1 but as involved in 
the  same procession of fatal events4   
,fate1 before any laws of nature had    
been discovered1 was nothing but        
all-comprehensive ,magic3 which left    
out or mediatised the gods1 because1 in 
a philosophical consideration  of the   
world1 they are worse than useless4     
7c7 ,as to prayers1 in any rational     
conception of them1 the form  of words  
conveying them cannot matter to a god1  
as long as they are  piously meant and  
devoutly meditated4 ,yet everywhere     
there has been a  tendency to reduce    
them to strict formul1 any departure    

from which  may1 it is feared1 impair   
their efficacy4 ,so far as this occurs1 
their  operation is magical2 they have  
become spells4 ,such is the result of   
custom1 with mental inertia too dull to 
think2 of an irreligious  temperament1  
getting quickly through an uncongenial  
task2 of a  superstitious unimaginative 
spirit1 afraid to omit any traditionary 
means of safety and for whom a          
praying-wheel is the way of peace4 ,to  
rob prayer of its religious meaning1    
there is the ever-present example  of   
the magical spells that operate by their
 own force4 ,a form of words1  whether  
magical or supplicatory1 that has been  
among the antecedents  of a time of     
peace or of gain1 seems to be amongst   
its causes1 and is  repeated that such a
 time may continue4 ,of the countless   
cases in which  prayers have degenerated
 into spells1 none is more instructive  
than  the one recorded by ,dr4 ,rivers  
in his account of the dairy-ritual of   
the ,todas4 ,the prayers offered during 

this ritual are uttered in the  throat1 
so that the words are undistinguishable2
 and they are divided  into two parts3  
first1 a list of sacred beings and      
objects mentioned  by sacred names1 much
 of it unintelligible2 and1 secondly1 a 
petition  for the protection and welfare
 of the buffaloes3 the former is now    
the more important2 the latter is apt to
 be slurred over1 or perhaps            
omitted4#bhi ,of the ,roman public      
prayers1 ,mr4 ,warde ,fowler says3      
8,the idea that the spoken formula      
7derived from an age of ,magic7 was     
efficient only if no slip were made1    
seems to have gained in strength        
instead of diminishing1 as we might have
 expected it to do with  advancing      
civilisation40#bij ,to justify the      
belief in formul it may  be asserted    
that the gods themselves prescribed     
them3 an excuse for  the superstitious  
dread of altering what is traditionary1 
and for the  persuasion that the form   
itself has mysterious virtue4    7d7    

,that other religious ceremonies1       
repeated from age to age1 have  the same
 tendency as prayers to become dead     
forms from which the  spirit of         
communion or devotion has               
departed--though under favourable       
conditions it may return from time to   
time--is too well known2 and  if in     
their emptiness they are still believed 
somehow to serve their  purpose1 it can 
only be as magical rites4 ,one may be   
surprised to find  at what an early     
stage of culture this tendency is fully 
realised4  ,william ,ellis1 the         
celebrated missionary1 says of the      
people of  ,raiatea3 8,the efficacy of  
their religious services consisted in   
the rigid exactness with which sacred   
days were kept1 and religious           
ceremonies performed1 without the least 
regard to the motives and  dispositions 
of the devotees4444 ,in their           
idol-worship1 however costly  the       
sacrifice1 and however near its close   
the ceremony might be1 if  the priest   

omitted or misplaced any word in the    
prayers1 or if his  attention was       
diverted by any means so that the prayer
 was broken1  the whole was rendered    
unavailing3 he must prepare other       
victims and  repeat his prayers over    
from the commencement40#bia ,how this   
concern  for details must be a relapse  
into magical notions may be read in the 
account of rites to stop the rainfall in
 ,torres ,straits2 where 7we  are told7 
if the wizard omit any detail1 the rain 
continues4#bib  ,perhaps the notion of  
the perfect definiteness of causation   
7though not  consistently adhered to in 
other matters7 arose from this          
meticulous  anxiety of superstition3 it 
also1 however1 furnishes excuses for    
failure both to priests and wizards4    
7e7 ,in ,magic there must be something  
deeply satisfying to the  average mind3 
it precedes ,religion1 supplies the     
basis and framework  of religious       
practices1 and remains when ,religion is
 in ruins2 and  when people change their

 ,religion1 they retain their ,magic4   
,among  the ,fijians1#bic those who were
 ,christianised lost their dread of     
witchcraft last of all the relics of    
their heathenism4 ,among the            
,cherokees1 8,gahuni1 like several      
others of their ,shamans1 combined the  
professions of ,indian conjuror and     
,methodist preacher40#bid ,in ,norway1  
after the general acceptance of         
,christianity1 ,lapland witchcraft was  
still valued4 ,the victory of the       
insurgents at ,stiklestad1 where  ,st4  
,olaf fell1 was thought to have been due
 to the magic armour of  reindeer-skin  
that ,thore ,hund had brought from      
,lapland2 though all ,st4  ,olaf's men  
wore the cross upon helmet and          
shield4#bie    ,since then the          
spiritualising of ,magic and the        
despiritualising of  ,religion are both 
real processes of evolution1 it may be  
difficult1  or even impossible1 to say  
of any given magical practice1 without  
particular knowledge of its history1    

whether it is primitive or  residuary4  
,sir ,e4 ,b4 ,tylor writes3 8,charm     
formulas are in very many  cases actual 
prayers1 and as such are intelligible4  
,where they  are merely verbal forms1   
producing their effect on nature and man
  by some unexplained process1 may not  
they1 or the types they were  modelled  
on1 have been originally prayers1 since 
dwindled into mystic  sentences80#bif   
,the circumstances of each case must    
guide our  judgment4 ,what shall we say1
 for example1 of the addresses to       
spirits  in ,melanesia1 where it is     
difficult to find in any dialect a word 
for  prayer1 8so closely does the notion
 of efficacy cling to the form of  words
 employed08#big ,are spells there rising
 into prayers1 or prayers  sinking back 
into spells8       #e4 ,,spirits ,,know 
,,magic1 ,,teach ,,it1 ,,and ,,inspire  
,,magicians    ,ghosts know ,magic1     
because they knew it in the flesh2 and1 
by analogy1  similar knowledge is likely
 to be attributed to spirits that are   

reputed never to have been in the flesh4
 ,as fear exalts all the powers  of a   
ghost above his former reach1 it may be 
expected to raise his  magical powers1  
especially if he had already been famous
 in that way4  ,and1 generally1 it does 
so2 but1 exceptionally1 we read that1   
among  the ,lengua ,indians 7west of the
 ,paraguay71 whilst any man may attempt 
,magic1 professional 8witch-doctors0 are
 numerous and powerful2 yet they  are   
not credited with extraordinary powers  
after death4#bih ,elsewhere1  however1  
the dead magician does not forget his   
art4 ,where ,shamanism  prevails and the
 power of ,magic or ,sorcery attains its
 greatest social  importance1 the spirit
 of a dead shaman makes some advance    
toward  deification4 ,among the         
,buryats1 dead shamans are worshipped   
with prayer  and sacrifice4#bii         
,according to the ,kalevala1 the famous 
collection  of ,finnish poetry1 in      
,tuonela 7,hades71 whither all dead     
shamans  descend1 their wisdom and      

magical power accumulate1 exceeding that
 of  any living adept2 so that even     
,vinminen1 the wizard hero1 goes down   
to learn there the magical words he does
 not know4#cjj    ,spirits1 knowing     
,magic1 also teach it1 and make         
magicians and prophets4  ,in            
,south-,east ,australia1 the profession 
of wizard may be hereditary in  the     
eldest son2 or obtained through         
initiation by another wizard--7a  corpse
 is dug up1 its bones pounded for the   
neophyte to chew2 he is  plastered with 
excrement1 etc41 till he becomes        
frenzied1 his eyes  bloodshot1 his      
behaviour maniacal72#cja or a man may   
become a wizard  by meeting a spirit who
 opens his side and inserts             
quartz-crystals1  etc42 or by deriving  
power from ,daramulun2 or by sleeping at
 a grave1  where the deceased opens him1
 and takes out and replaces his bowels4 
,here we have a list of the most usual  
ways in which magical powers  can       
anywhere be acquired--by inheritance1 by

 tuition1 by the aid of  ghosts or      
spirits2 and it suggests the hypothesis 
that at first the  magic art was        
inherited1 or learnt from a former      
wizard2 and that1 with  the growth of   
,animism1 it became in some cases       
preferable1 because  more impressive    
7and cheaper71 to acquire it from a     
ghost or spirit4  ,for this is more     
probable than that1 at the early stage  
in which  ,animism exists in            
,south-,east ,australia1 retrogradation 
should have  taken place2 so that the   
making of wizards1 formerly ascribed    
only to  spirits1 should in some cases  
have been remitted to inheritance or to 
professional tuition4 ,that in spite of 
the greater prestige that may  attach to
 a diploma obtained from spirits1 the   
right of practising by  inheritance or  
by tuition often still persists1 though1
 no doubt1 due  in part to dull         
conservatism1 may also be understood by 
considering  family and professional    
motives4 ,there are heavy fees for      

teaching  witchcraft1 besides the       
profits made in some tribes by selling  
the  control of familiar spirits2 the   
profession is lucrative1 and a wizardy  
family has an interest in its monopoly2 
which must be impaired1  if any man who 
loses himself in the bush may come back 
with some  cock-and-bull story about a  
ghost and his new metaphysical insides1 
and  straightway set himself up with the
 equivalents of a brass plate and  red  
lantern4 ,among the ,boloki on the      
,congo1 the careers of blacksmith  and  
witch-doctor are open only to the       
relatives of living adepts4 ,at  least1 
practically 7but for a few exceptionally
 cunning and rascally  interlopers who  
creep and intrude and climb into the    
fold71 the office  of witch-doctor is   
hereditary3 a father trains his son1 and
 will  train 7for a large fee7 any youth
 whose family has already produced a    
witch-doctor4 ,but a candidate without  
family connexion is told that  he must  
first kill by witchcraft all the members

 of his family1 as  offerings to the    
fetich of that branch of the profession 
to which he  aspires4#cjb    ,not only  
the spirits of primitive ,animism1 but  
likewise the gods of  maturer           
,religions1 know and teach ,magic4 ,in  
the ,maori mythology1  ,tumatauenga1 one
 of the first generation of gods1       
determined  incantations for making all 
sorts of food abundant and for          
controlling  the winds1 as well as      
prayers to ,heaven suited to all the    
circumstances  of human life2 and the   
god ,rongotakawin1 having shaped the    
hero  ,whakatau out of the apron of     
,apakura1 taught him ,magic and         
enchantments  of every kind4#cjc ,prof4 
,rhys tells us that the ,welsh god ,mth 
ab  ,mathonwy1 or ,math ,hn 7the        
ancient71 was the first of the three    
great  magicians of ,welsh ,mythology2  
and he taught ,magic to the culture     
hero1 ,gwydion ab ,dn1 with whose help  
he created a woman out of  flowers4#cjd 
,the ,teutonic equivalent of ,gwydion is

 ,woden1 or ,othin2  and he too was a   
magician1 8the father of spells10 who   
acquired his  wisdom by gazing down into
 the abyss1 whilst he hung nine nights  
on  the tree1 an offering to himself    
7and in other ways72 and1 in turn1 he   
teaches ,siegfried the omens4#cje ,he   
also taught the northern people         
shape-changing1 and by spells controlled
 fire and the winds4#cjf ,in  ,egypt    
,magic was taught by ,thoth1 in         
,babylonia by ,merodach1 and in ,japan  
by ,ohonomachi the earth-god4 ,indeed1  
whence1 unless from divine beings1      
could this precious wisdom be           
obtainable8    ,spirits also inspire or 
possess the magician1 so that through   
him1  as their mouthpiece or instrument1
 prophecies are uttered or wonders      
wrought4 ,we have seen that in          
,south-,east ,australia the rites of    
initiation to wizardry by a wizard1     
without the aid of spirits1 cause a     
candidate to become frenzied or         
maniacal4 ,with the growing fashion of  

animistic interpretation1 such behaviour
 is 7along with insanity7 put  down to  
possession by a spirit4 ,the common     
beliefs that a man's soul  can slip in  
and out of him and that a man may       
reincarnate the spirit  of an ancestor1 
facilitate this idea of possession4     
,dreams concerning  spirits also promote
 the belief that a miracle-monger owes  
to them  his supernatural powers4 ,the  
,tunguses of ,turnkhausk say that the   
man  destined to be a shaman sees in a  
dream the devil performing rites1 and   
so learns the secrets of his craft4     
,among the ,trans-,baikal ,tunguses1  he
 who wishes to become a shaman declares 
that such or such a dead  shaman        
appeared to him in a dream1 and ordered 
him to be his successor2  and he shows  
himself crazy1 stupefied and timorous4  
,the ,yakut shaman  is preordained to   
serve the spirits1 whether he wishes it 
or not3 he  begins by raging like a     
madman1 gabbles1 falls unconscious1 runs
 about  the woods1 into fire and water1 

injures himself with weapons4 ,then an  
old shaman trains him4#cjg ,on the      
,congo1 a man may become a wizard  by   
claiming to be the medium of a dead man2
 and a medium falls into a  frenzy1     
shouts1 trembles all over1 his body     
undulates1 sweat breaks  out1 foam      
gathers on his mouth1 his eyeballs roll3
 he speaks an archaic  language if he   
knows one4#cjh ,in ,santa ,cruz         
7,melanesia71 prophecy  is practised by 
men whose bodies are taken possession   
of1 and their  voices used1 by ghosts3  
they foam at the mouth1 writhe1 are     
convulsed  as if in madness2 and the    
mad1 too1 are believed to be            
possessed4#cji  ,similarly the          
,pythoness3 the behaviour of the        
possessed is everywhere  the same4 ,but 
as the same behaviour marks the youth   
training for  a wizard before the theory
 of possession or inspiration has been  
adopted1 it is plain that the animistic 
theory does not create the  phenomena1  
but is merely1 at a certain stage of    

thought1 the inevitable  explanation of 
them4    ,facility of falling into      
frenzy may be the test of fitness for   
wizardry2 the ,bokongo professor who    
trains a pupil1 beats his drum1  shakes 
his rattle1 and tries to drive the      
fetich-power into him2 if the  pupil    
remains stolid1 he is disqualified2 but 
if he sways to the music  of the drum1  
jumps about like a madman1 etc41 he     
passes4#caj ,these  antics at first     
astonish the beholder1 strengthen the   
faith of patients  in the witch-doctor1 
and of the witch-doctor in himself1 and 
often have  a sort of hypnotic          
fascination for both him and them2 and  
they gain in  value under ,animism by   
being also proofs of supernatural       
assistance or  control3 and being an    
essential mark of the adept at certain  
stages of  the art's development1 they  
are sometimes induced by rhythmic       
drumming1  singing and dancing1         
sometimes by fastings or drugs4         
8,black ,magic0 is1 at first1 merely the

 use of ,magic for anti-social          
purposes2 very early a distinction is   
recognised between wizards  who cause   
disease and those who cure it4#caa      
8,black0 and 8white0  wizards are       
sometimes at open strife4#cab ,when     
tribal gods come to be  recognised1     
8black0 wizards are those who are       
assisted or inspired by  inferior gods  
or demons1 who may be opponents and     
rivals of the high  gods4 ,hence the    
same god who1 whilst paramount1 aids or 
inspires in an  honourable way1 may1 if 
deposed or superseded1 become the       
abettor of  ,black ,magic--as happened  
to our own gods1 and to others1 before  
and  after the coming of ,christianity2 
for the ancient divine sources of  power
 and prophecy became devils and         
witch-masters4 ,the magicians of  our   
,middle ,ages1 of whom ,faustus is the  
type1 were 8black0 and1 in the  spirit  
of ,shamanism1 pretended to rule the    
devils2 but1 overshadowed by            
,christianity1 they--at least in popular

 belief--bought their power at a  price4
       #f4 ,,spirits ,,operate ,,by     
,,magic    ,spirits may operate through 
men whom they possess1 or by their naked
  soul-force1 or by words 7that is1 by  
spells71 or by merely thinking3    7a7  
,when a man is possessed by a spirit1 it
 is the soul-force of that  spirit which
 has entered him and taken command of   
his voice or limbs2  and we have seen   
that this soul-force is the same as     
force magical4  ,the spirit's action is 
the same as that of the bugin or wizard1
 who  boasted of having entered a horse 
and galloped off4#cac    7b7 ,by        
,animism1 prior to philosophical        
reflection1 the spirit is not  conceived
 of as strictly incorporeal2 its force1 
which is magical1 is  quasi-mechanical4 
,hence1 in ,south-,east ,australia1     
spirits can carry off  a man in a       
bag#cad 7made1 no doubt1 of             
bag-soul-stuff74 ,but spirits  may act  
upon a man very effectually without     
being mechanically felt2  as among the  

,ekoi1 where ghosts are either good or  
bad1 and generally  a good goes with a  
bad one to counteract his malevolence2  
but should a  bad one wander forth      
alone1 and should a man without the gift
 of seeing  ghosts 7which depends upon  
his having four eyes7 run against it in 
the  street1 the ghost will not step    
aside1 but strikes the man in the face2 
who then has lock-jaw1 and dies4#cae ,as
 we have reason to believe that  this is
 not the natural tiology of lock-jaw1   
the ghost's action is  plainly magical3 
like that of the corpse-candle which1   
not long ago1 on  a slope of ,plinlimmon
 one rainy night1 a man inadvertently   
ran against1  and was 8struck down dead 
as a horse40#caf ,the mere apparition of
 a  ghost 7at least1 to any one who has 
not four eyes7 is magical4 ,the  sending
 of a bird as an omen is magical4       
,this immediate power of the gods is    
nowhere shown more emphatically  than in
 their metamorphoses3 that these are    
sometimes wrought by  spells or other   

enchantments proves that the operation  
is magical4  ,australian wizards        
transform themselves into kangaroos and 
other  animals2 and1 in ,arunta         
mythology1 in the earliest ,alcheringa  
7period  of mythical ancestors71 the    
,ungambikula--so called from having     
arisen  out of nothing--with stone      
knives cut men out of rudimentary masses
  of unorganised matter 7inapertua71 and
 then transformed themselves  into      
little lizards4#cag ,so this sort of    
self-conjuring may be said  to begin at 
the beginning2 and it cannot be         
necessary to accumulate  examples of    
metamorphosis4    ,several explanations 
of this belief in the possibility of    
changing  the form of one's body1 or of 
having it changed by others1 have been  
offered3 none perhaps entirely          
satisfactory4 ,we are not here concerned
  with the passing of a soul from one   
body to another--from a man into  a wolf
 or into a serpent1 or conversely3 given
 the conception of a  separable soul1   

that is easy to understand4 ,what has to
 be explained  is the belief in a       
magical change of the body itself1 as in
 the common  ,european superstition that
 a man may turn into a wolf1 and back   
again1  like ,sigmund and his son in the
 ,volsung ,saga4 ,it has been pointed   
out 7i7 that the savage may observe     
striking changes in nature3 as  in the  
shape of clouds and smoke1 the burning  
of wood into flame1  smoke and ashes1   
the evaporation of water2 the turning of
 eggs into  caterpillars1 reptiles1     
birds1 or of a chrysalis into an imago2 
the  appearance of worms in putrefying  
bodies1 and so forth4#cah ,with  such   
facts before him1 why should not the    
savage imagine himself also  capable of 
transformation8 7ii7 ,dream-images1 too1
 pass one into  another in a marvellous 
way4 7iii7 ,since men are often called  
by the  names of animals1 how easy to   
suppose that1 at times1 they may really 
be those animals4 ,how easy to confound 
a man with his ,totem4 ,in many  savage 

dances1 animals are imitated1 and the   
imagination-belief in  the reality of   
the pantomime grows very strong4 7iv7   
,the savage1  when his imagination has  
been excited1 is not clever at          
penetrating  conjuring tricks and       
disguises2 and some men1 at first for   
their own  ends1 may have disguised     
themselves as animals and passed as     
animals2  and in support of this        
explanation it may be observed that the 
animal  into which men transform        
themselves is oftenest the most feared  
in  their neighbourhood--the wolf1      
leopard1 or tiger2 and1 of course1  one 
case believed in1 others follow by      
analogy4 ,the mere report of  such an   
happening might generate belief by force
 of fear4 7v7 ,in a  wild country1 a man
 7say one who is pursued7 often         
disappears and is  indiscoverable2 so   
that he may seem to have turned into a  
kangaroo1  or a stone1 or a tree that   
appears in his place1 as ,daphne hid    
successfully in a laurel-thicket3 or if 

such an occurrence did not  originate   
the belief in metamorphosis1 it may have
 helped to confirm  it4 7vi7 ,in mental 
disease1 the patient sometimes believes 
himself to  be some kind of animal1 and 
acts accordingly3 perhaps as a result of
  the popular belief1 but doubtless also
 confirming it4#cai ,weighing all  these
 hypotheses1 ,i lean to the view that1  
starting from the fact 7as  ground of   
analogy7 that astonishing changes are   
observed in nature and  in dreams1 the  
belief in metamorphosis as a magical    
operation rests  chiefly upon the       
deceptions and confident assertions of  
wizards that  they can1 and do1 change  
their form1 supported by their          
reputation for  wonder-working and by   
the fears of their neighbours4 ,now1 if 
wizards  can change their shapes1 of    
course the gods can4#cbj    7c7 ,spirits
 and gods are known to use amulets and  
talismans1 not  invented by poets as    
symbols1 but prized as the instruments  
of their  power1 as an enchanter values 

his wand4 ,such are the caduceus of     
,hermes1 the cestus of ,aphrodite1      
,thor's hammer ,mjlnir1 ,woden's spear  
,gunguir and his wishing staff4 ,the    
gods of ,egypt and ,babylon also wore   
charms4 ,since chieftains are frequently
 magicians1 and also become  gods1 it   
follows that the gods are magicians2    
though1 indeed1 as ,grimm  observes1    
their power is to be called miraculous  
rather than magical4  ,but ,magic1 being
 the highest power known to men1 and the
 most desired1  is of course attributed 
to spirits and to gods4    ,the most    
extensive powers of spirits1 however1   
depend on the use of  words or spells4  
,the hero of the ,western ,isles of     
,torres ,straits1  ,kwoiam1 employed    
magical formul4#cba ,the gods and       
demigods of the  ,maories carried out   
their extraordinary adventures by the   
power of  incantations4 ,maui1 by       
incantations1 fishes up dry land from   
the bottom  of the sea1 and turns his   
brother-in-law into a dog2 ,tawhaki and 

his brother ,karahi1 by incantations1   
make themselves invisible1 and  avenge  
their father ,hema upon his enemies2 and
 so forth4#cbb ,celtic  and ,teutonic   
deities worked wonders by songs and     
spells4 ,isis was the  greatest         
enchantress that ever lived4 ,she made  
from the spittle of ,ra  a serpent that 
bit and poisoned him2 and then she      
healed him by an  incantation1 having   
first compelled him to reveal to her his
 name1 to  the knowledge of which the   
god himself owed his power over gods and
  men2 so that she obtained the mastery 
over all the gods4#cbc    ,as spells1   
when used by men1 may be more           
efficacious when muttered and  whispered
 than when spoken aloud1 so they may    
retain their power when  silently wished
 or thought2 and it is the same with    
spirits3 to control  events it may be   
enough for them to think4 ,and this     
belief emerges at  no very high level of
 ,animism2 it needs no philosophical    
instruction  in the mysterious energy of

 ideas4 ,the ,sia ,indians 7,north      
,mexico7 have  a ,cougar ,society1 which
 meets for a two days' ceremonial1      
before a  hunting expedition1 to        
propitiate the cougar 7puma71 because he
 is the  great father and master of all 
game4 ,he is believed to draw all kinds 
of game to him by sitting still with    
folded arms and mentally demanding      
their presence2 and by the same means he
 sends game to whomsoever he            
favours4#cbd    ,apparently1 then1      
,magic is an art antecedent to the      
existence of  spirits and ready for     
their use2 and they stand in the same   
relations  to it as men do4 ,animistic  
usages are originally magical--spells1  
rites1 metamorphoses2 and all animistic 
ideas are magical1 except  one--the     
capriciousness of spiritual agency4     
#g4 ,,spirits ,,are ,,controlled ,,by   
,,magic    ,the savage imagination      
having created out of dreams and other  
strange  experiences a world of         
invisible and powerful beings who may be

  friendly or hostile1--so human that   
they must be accessible to prayers1  but
 often turn a deaf ear to them--must    
desire sacrifices1 yet often  reject    
them--capricious and inscrutable--it    
became necessary1 in  order to restore  
confidence in all the relations of life1
 that their  caprice should somehow be  
overcome2 and to accomplish this three  
ways were open3 first1 to increase the  
prayers and sacrifices until  their     
importunity and costliness should prove 
irresistible--and this  way led to all  
the magnificence and to all the horrors 
of religious  rites2 secondly1 to work  
upon the fears or vulnerability of      
spirits by  beating1 starving1 slaying1 
banishing or degrading them2 or1        
thirdly1  to constrain them1 as men are 
often constrained1 by magical rites and 
formul4 ,from the beginning this        
necessity is felt4    ,the constraint of
 spirits by fear or violence is         
characteristic of  ,fetichism4 ,the     
wizards of the ,congo catch spirits in  

traps2 or drive  them into animals1     
which they behead2 or spear them in some
 dark  corner1 and then exhibit their   
blood upon the spear-head4 ,passing from
  the ,congo through many ages of       
progress1 we arrive in ,china1 and find 
that in time of drought1 if the city-god
 neglects to put an end to it1  he is   
first of all entreated2 but that        
failing1 his idol is stripped  naked and
 put to stand in the sun2 or an iron    
chain is hung round his  neck--the mark 
of a criminal--till rain falls2 or he   
may be dethroned  altogether4#cbe ,with 
such crude practices1 however1 we are   
not now  concerned4    ,the control of  
spirits by ,magic1 especially by        
spells--or by other  spirits who1 in    
turn1 are controlled by spells--is in   
its earlier form  characteristic of     
,shamanism3 indeed1 it is the essence of
 ,shamanism2  though1 of course1 in many
 shamanistic tribes1 having intercourse 
with  peoples of different culture1     
other beliefs1 ascribing independent  or

 even superior power to spirits1 are    
often found4 ,spirits may be  so        
completely subdued by spells as to      
excite little fear4 ,among the  ,yurats 
and ,ostyaks1 the shamans treat their   
spirits without ceremony1  and even buy 
and sell them4#cbf ,so do the ,esquimo  
angekoqs4 ,in  ,greenland1 8all         
phenomena are controlled by spirits1 and
 these spirits  are controlled by formul
 or charms1 which are mainly in         
possession of  the medicine-men1        
although certain simple charms may be   
owned and used  by any one40 ,hence1    
8nothing like prayer or worship is      
possible02#cbg  for why supplicate      
spirits whom you can command8 8,the rule
 of man--not  of all men1 but of one    
specially gifted 7the shaman71 over     
,nature1  or over the superior beings   
who direct her1 is the fundamental idea 
of ,shamanism40#cbh ,the shaman's power 
depends on knowledge of the  names1     
natures and origins of all things and   
spirits1 and of the words  that control 

them2 but also on his own extraordinary 
personality1 as  manifested in orgiastic
 frenzy4 ,megalomania1 the vain         
imagination of  being a 8superman10 is  
generally characteristic of magicians4  
,nothing  can be more contrary than this
 attitude to what most of us understand 
by ,religion4    ,one condition of the  
prevalence of ,shamanism among any      
people1 or group  of peoples1 seems to  
be the absence from among them of       
chieftains  who have attained to any    
high degree of political power1 and the 
consequent non-existence of             
authoritative gods4 ,hence it spreads   
throughout the tribes of ,northern      
,europe and ,asia1 from ,finland to     
,kamtchatka1 and with a less intensive  
sway amongst the ,indians of ,north  and
 ,south ,america4 ,under such conditions
 the shaman is subordinate to  no one in
 this world2 nor1 therefore1 in the     
spirit-world4 ,but where  there are     
authoritative chiefs1 authoritative gods
 correlative with  them are approached  

by an order of men who are priests      
rather than  magicians--that is to say1 
are regarded as dealing less in magic   
than  in prayer and sacrifice4 ,and this
 state of affairs is apt to give rise   
to increasing pomp and extravagance of  
rites1 to which there is no  visible    
limit2 so that in some cases1 as in     
,ashanti and ,mexico1 worship  became   
homicide1 and a sort of national        
insanity was established4 ,for  from    
such practices there results no security
 in the satisfaction of  desire2 the    
caprice of the gods cannot by such means
 be overcome2 their  appetite grows by  
what it feeds on1 and so does the       
fanaticism of the  priesthood4    ,now1 
in political affairs something similar  
happens3 the caprice of  despotic rulers
 becomes intolerable2 and1 in some      
countries1 submission  to their tyranny 
has amounted to a sort of national      
insanity4 ,elsewhere  devices have been 
adopted to limit the power of rulers4   
,avoiding  assassination or revolution1 

it has been found possible to impose    
upon  a king restraints derived from his
 own sanctity and divine power4 ,one    
such device has been to surround him    
with innumerable taboos which1  at      
length1 prevent him from doing anything4
 ,it is true that the  ostensive reason 
for this was not the limitation of his  
power1 but  the preservation of his     
vitality1 upon which hung the welfare of
 the  whole world2 and probably this    
was1 at first1 the conscious purpose2   
but one effect of it was to limit his   
power1 and the utility of  this was its 
natural sanction4 ,there are many cases 
in human life in  which a great         
advantage has been gained for the race  
by means which  were intended by the    
conscious agents to have an entirely    
different  result4#cbi ,in several      
countries1 where the king has been bound
 by  taboos1 another man has by some    
pretext usurped his power2 so that this 
way of restraining despotism is not a   
good one4 ,but in ,japan1 where  it had 

been adopted by a political people1 the 
,tycoon1 who succeeded  to the power of 
the taboo-burdened ,mikado1 himself fell
 at last under  equivalent restrictions1
 whilst affairs were directed by his    
ministers4  ,such is the natural        
tendency of this device amongst         
positivists1 like  the ,japanese2       
elsewhere it may transfer the regal     
power to warriors or  to priests4#ccj   
,another way of restraining the king is 
to establish  the principle that he     
rules by the laws1 and that laws1 though
 made  by himself1 cannot be altered4   
,and this may have been the purpose  of 
the unchangeableness of the laws of the 
,medes and ,persians2 and  according to 
the ,book of ,daniel#cca it was used in 
this way2 though1  certainly1 the older 
authority of ,herodotus#ccb shows that1 
in some  cases1 the king's advisers     
could find a way out for their master4  
,our  own forefathers were no doubt the 
wisest people that ever lived2 and      
their plan was to acknowledge fully the 

divinity that doth hedge a  king1 to    
declare that1 in fact1 he could do no   
wrong1 and then to visit  all the       
iniquities of government upon his       
ministers4    ,if kings need restraint1 
much more do invisible gods3 and many   
nations  have sought to limit their     
prerogative1 either by ,magic or by     
legal  fictions which1 in relation to   
gods1 can have only a magical operation4
  ,whilst the tone of the ,rigveda is   
truly religious 7though even there  8the
 idea is often expressed that the might 
and valour of the gods is  produced by  
hymns1 sacrifices and especially        
offerings of soma071 8in  the ,yajurveda
 the sacrifice itself has become the    
centre of thought and  desire1 its      
correct performance in every detail     
being all-important4  ,its power is now 
so great that it not only influences but
 compels  the gods to do the will of the
 officiating priest40#ccc ,in ,egyptian 
rites of sacrifice and prayer1 the kind 
of victim and the manner of  slaying and

 cutting it up were minutely and        
unchangeably decreed4 8,the  formulas   
accompanying each act of the sacrificial
 priest contained  a certain number of  
words1 whose due sequence and harmonies 
might  not suffer the slightest         
modification even by the god himself1   
under  penalty of losing their efficacy4
 ,they were always recited with the     
same rhythm1 according to a system of   
melody in which every tone had  its     
virtue1 combined with movements that    
confirmed the sense and worked  with    
irresistible effect2 one false note1 a  
single discord between the  succession  
of gestures and the utterance of the    
sacramental words1 any  hesitation1 any 
awkwardness in the accomplishment of a  
rite1 and the  sacrifice was vain40#ccd 
,but if all was in order1 the god was   
bound to  grant the petition4           
,babylonian religious ceremonies 8had   
for the most  part the same end and     
object as the magical text used with    
them2 they  were not so much a communion

 with the deities of heaven1 as an      
attempt  to compel them by particular   
words to relieve the worshipper from    
trouble1 or to bestow upon him some     
benefit40 ,ceremonies1 therefore1  were 
useless unless accurately performed in  
word and deed2 8ritual was  a sort of   
acted magic40#cce ,these accounts of the
 religious ceremonies  of the highest   
barbaric civilisations are almost in the
 same words  as ,william ,ellis uses in 
his account of worship at ,raiatea about
 the  beginning of the nineteenth       
century2 except that ,ellis does not say
  that the ,polynesian gods were bound  
to grant the requests so presented4     
,accordingly1 ,i have treated the       
,raiatean example under ,retrogradation1
  and those of ,egypt and ,babylon as   
cases of half-conscious policy4 ,no     
doubt both retrogradation and policy    
were present in all cases2 but it  seems
 reasonable to suppose that the latter  
predominated where order  was more      
settled 7an analogue of the order       

required in heaven7 and  thought was    
better trained4    ,one may wonder why a
 magical ritual should be preferred and 
trusted  rather than genuinely          
devotional worship2 since it must1 in   
fact1 just  as often result in          
disappointment4 ,but1 first1 as to the  
priesthood1  an elaborate ritual1       
difficult to carry out1 is favourable to
 their  power1 because only             
professionals can execute it2 so that   
they must  necessarily be employed2 and 
the more elaborate and exigent it is1   
the more necessary they are4 ,but1 then1
 the more attention the  ritual demands1
 the less there is to spare for thinking
 of the gods4  ,secondly1 as to the     
people1 since the failure of worship in 
attaining  our ends may be due either   
7animistically7 to the caprice of the   
gods  or 7magically7 to an error of the 
priest1 it is not surprising that  men  
should trust the specialist whose       
education is well attested  rather than 
the god whose character is inscrutable4 

,thirdly1 a magical  ritual appeals to  
the expectation of uniformity1 the sole 
ground  of confidence concerning the    
future1 and therefore what men most     
desire4 ,nevertheless1 the religious    
form of the rites 7though empty of      
religious feeling7 is maintained2       
partly1 because the whole political  and
 ecclesiastical fabric rests upon the   
animistic tradition2 partly1  because   
,animism has such hold upon men's minds 
that a few remain  devout2 whilst even  
those who regard the rites as magical do
 not  perceive that magic is the        
antithesis of religion and rigidly      
excludes  it4 ,only a few natural       
positivists and philosophers regard     
public  worship as merely a political   
institution4    ,the idea of a          
transaction by which the gods are       
legally bound--so  much help for so much
 worship--may be present in all magical 
ritual2  but in some religions the      
analogy of human relations according to 
law  is explicitly extended to the      

relations of men with gods4 ,the ,jewish
  religion was based on a covenant2 and1
 according to some theologians1  so is  
the ,christian4 ,it has often been said 
that ,roman religion implied  a belief  
in legal obligation imposed upon the    
gods by rites duly  performed2 and ,mr4 
,warde ,fowler1 who thinks more highly  
than some have  done of the genuineness 
of religious feeling amongst the        
,romans1 at  least in private worship1  
yet says that in the vota publica we    
find  something like a bargain or       
covenant with the deity in the name of  
the  ,state4#ccf ,legal obligation      
implies effectual sanctions that may be 
brought to bear upon transgressors1 gods
 or men2 and at a low stage  of         
,animism1 when no spirit exceeds the    
rank of demon1 there may be no          
incongruity in bringing to reason a     
recalcitrant spirit by stopping  his    
rations or maltreating his image2 but   
when high gods have obtained  the homage
 of men1 to punish them calls for great 

audacity or very  subtle management4    
,the ,chinese have managed the matter to
 admiration4  ,the ,emperor of ,china   
acknowledged himself subject to the     
spirits of  ,earth and ,heaven2 but he  
himself was the son of ,heaven1 and all 
other  spirits were subject to him4 ,he 
ruled alike over the dead and the       
living4 ,he made deities and appointed  
them their functions2 promoted  them and
 distributed amongst them titles of     
honour1 if they did good  works2 or1 if 
they failed in their duties1 degraded   
them4 ,in the ,pekin  ,gazette one finds
 8the deities figuring1 not occasionally
 but very  frequently1 in every         
department of official business1 and    
treated much  as if they were highly    
respectable functionaries of a superior 
order1  promoted to some kind of upper  
house1 whose abilities and influence    
were nevertheless still at the service  
of the ,state40#ccg ,nowhere has  the   
unity of ,church and ,state been so     
completely realised1 and the  pax deorum

 so conclusively established4 ,one may  
interpret the facts  at discretion3 an  
animist may accept them literally and   
seriously2 a  devotee of ,magic may     
regard decrees in the ,pekin ,gazette as
 spells  that have coercive power in the
 spirit-world2 a ,confucian mandarin    
will think that an excellent plan has   
been devised for enlisting the          
superstitions of the simple-minded in   
support of law and order4 ,we may       
suppose that for him ,animism is but an 
episode in the history of human         
thought4    ,another way of excluding   
spiritual caprice1 which we might       
suppose to  have been discovered by     
philosophers1 but which appears to be   
older  than what we usually call        
8,philosophy10 is to subordinate the    
gods to  ,fate4 ,the idea has been      
attributed to the astronomers or        
astrologers  of ,babylon that ,fate must
 be above the gods as the constant      
heaven of  the fixed stars is above the 
planets3#cch an analogy characteristic  

of magical thought4 ,but the roots of   
the idea of ,fate are much  older and   
wider spread in the slow1 steady growth 
of the belief in  uniformity1 which is  
the common ground of ,magic and         
,science2 and 7as  ,i have said7 before 
laws of nature had been discovered1     
,fate was an  all-comprehensive ,magic4 
,fate reduces the gods to the status of 
wheels  in a machine2 omens and oracles1
 instead of being sent or inspired  by  
the gods1 are also part of the          
machinery1 and may point to their       
destruction2 prayers and sacrifices are 
other parts of the machinery  and1 at   
most1 may be a means of assuaging the   
anxiety of one's own  heart4 ,a stern   
way of envisaging the world3 but it     
gives not only  security against the    
gods1 but also resignation and          
tranquillity4    ,philosophical         
,christianity regards the actions of    
,god as always  manifested1 in the      
physical order1 through 8second causes10
 or1 in  other words1 in 8the laws of   

nature02 and1 in the spiritual order1   
as always observing the moral laws that 
are the principles of divine  ,reason2  
in either case there can be no          
variableness nor shadow of  turning4    
,magic1 like ,science1 believes in      
uniformities of nature1 and seeks  by a 
knowledge of them to control events2 but
 ,magic is so eager to  control events  
that it cannot wait to learn the true   
uniformities2  it is not moved1 like    
,science1 by curiosity as to the truth1 
but by  blind desire for present        
results4 ,the cult of spirits seeks to  
control  events not by knowledge of     
their natural causes1 but by appealing  
to  hyperphysical causes1 and it        
resembles the belief in ,free ,will1 by 
which men hope1 through the influx of   
some unknown energy1 to escape  the     
bondage of their own vices3 for ,kant   
rightly treated 8,freedom0 as  a        
cosmological problem1 the supposed      
intervention of a cause that is         
transcendent and not in the course of   

nature4 ,the intervention of ,free      
,will 7whether divine or human7 is      
sought in order to avert injurious      
fortune1 to realise our personal or     
social schemes more quickly and  cheaply
 than our own efforts can1 to avoid the 
consequences of our own  actions1       
amongst which is bondage to our own     
vices3 for all these1 give  us          
variability1 miracle1 caprice4 ,but to  
foresee and control events  physical or 
social1 including the conduct of others1
 to be confident  in the effects of our 
own actions according to our purposes1  
and in  the stability of our own        
character3 for all these1 there must be 
uniformity4 ,in the long run the latter 
considerations determine our  thoughts2 
and the necessity of uniformity to a    
rational life may be one  cause of our  
belief 7so far out-running the evidence7
 in uniformities  of causation and of   
space-relations and of all that we mean 
by natural  law4    ,,footnotes3    #bfa
 ,mythus und ,religion1 pp4 #gh1 #gi4   

#bfb ,op4 cit41 p4 #abe et seq4    #bfc 
,op4 cit41 p4 #bjb et seq4    #bfd ,this
 was also ,spencer's opinion1 op4 cit41 
#acc4    #bfe ,op4 cit41 p4 #bfc4       
#bff ,op4 cit41 p4 #bfg4    #bfg ,see   
above1 pp4 #ajj and #aai-bd4    #bfh    
,hume1 ,inquiry1  vii4    #bfi ,a4 ,h4  
,sayce1 ,religion of the ,ancient       
,babylonians1 p4 #cih4    #bgj ,book    
,,ii4 p4 #hb2 ,rawlinson's ,translation4
    #bga ,vol4 ,i4 ch4 iv4    #bgb ,but 
see the footnote at p4 #bce of ,the     
,magic ,art1 ,i43 8faith  in magic is   
probably older than the belief in       
spirits40 ,in the same  note1 a passage 
in ,hegel's ,philosophy of ,religion is 
referred to as  anticipating the        
doctrine of the priority of ,magic to   
,religion4 ,the  passage1 as translated 
in an appendix 7pp4 #dbc-f71 shows1     
however1  no conception of ,magic as    
akin to natural law1 as it is described 
in  several passages of ,the ,golden    
,bough1 but treats it as a belief in    
any human being 8as the ruling power    

over nature in virtue of his  own will40
 ,this is rather an anticipation of     
,prof4 ,wundt's doctrine  concerning    
,sorcery2 which ,hegel seems not to have
 distinguished from  ,magic4 ,i need    
hardly add that a belief in any human   
being as the ruling  power over nature  
in virtue of his own will has never been
 discovered  in any part of the world4  
#bgc ,op4 cit41 pp4 #bcg-i4    #bgd     
,primitive ,culture1 ,i4 #aaf4    #bge  
,r4 ,h4 ,coddrington1 ,the ,melanesians1
 p4 #abe4    #bgf ,h4 ,a4 ,giles1       
,chinese ,literature1 p4 #bjb4    #bgg  
,animism gave the priest another excuse 
for the failure of rites  7besides those
 enjoyed by a mere magician71 namely1   
that during1 or  since1 the celebration 
some fresh offence against the gods had 
been  committed4    #bgh ,spencer and   
,gillen1 ,northern ,tribes of ,central  
,australia1 pp4  #dec1 #dfc4    #bgi ,a4
 ,w4 ,howitt1 ,native ,tribes of        
,south-,east ,australia1 pp4            
#cei-cfa-cfg4    #bhj ,howitt1 op4 cit41

 p4 #cgh4    #bha ,e4 ,b4 ,tylor1       
,primitive ,culture1 ,,ii4 p4 #adh4     
#bhb ,the ,mafulu1 p4 #aic4    #bhc ,op4
 cit41 p4 #bgb4    #bhd ,extract from a 
spell in ,skeat's ,malay ,magic1 p4     
#ega4    #bhe ,howitt1 op4 cit41 p4     
#cig4    #bhf ,j4 ,g4 ,frazer1 ,the     
,belief in ,immortality1 p4 #bhh4 ,for  
similar  instances see the same work1   
pp4 #cce and #cge4    #bhg ,sarat       
,chandra ,roy1 8,magic and ,witchcraft  
on the ,chota ,nagpur  ,plateau10       
,j4,r4,a4,i41 ,,xliv4 p4 #ccj4 ,i have  
slightly altered the last  sentence1    
which seems to have been misprinted4    
#bhh ,religious ,experience of the      
,roman ,people1 p4 #bae4    #bhi ,the   
,todas1 pp4 #cj1 #bac4    #bij          
,religious ,experience of the ,roman    
,people1 p4 #bhf4 ,but whether  we      
should expect the idea to weaken with   
advancing civilisation must  depend upon
 whether intelligent belief in the gods 
was increasing4  ,perhaps this was not  
the case at ,rome4    #bia ,polynesian  

,researches1 ,,ii4 pp4 #add and #aeg    
7#ast ed474    #bib ,reports of the     
,cambridge ,expedition to ,torres       
,straits1 ,,vi4 p4  #aii4    #bic       
,thomas ,williams1 ,fiji and the        
,fijians1 p4 #bji4    #bid ,j4 ,mooney1 
8,sacred ,formulas of the ,cherokees0 in
 ,am4 ,b4 of  ,ethn41 ,,vii4 p4 #cad    
7#ahhe-f74    #bie ,heimskringla1 ,st4  
,olaf's ,saga1 chs4 cciv4 and ccxl4     
#bif ,primitive ,culture1 ,,ii4 p4 #bgc 
7#bnd ed474    #big ,codrington1 ,the   
,melanesians1 p4 #ade4    #bih ,s4 ,h4  
,c4 ,hawtrey1 8,the ,lengua ,indians10  
,journal of the ,royal  ,anthropological
 ,institute1 #aija4    #bii             
8,shamanism10 ,journal of the ,royal    
,anthropological ,institute1  ,,xxiv4   
7#ahid-e74    #cjj ,comparetti1 ,the    
,traditionary ,poetry of the ,finns1 p4 
#ahd4    #cja ,howitt1 op4 cit41 p4     
#djd4 ,is this type of the neophyte's   
behaviour1 which is conformed to on     
certain occasions by magicians  and     
inspired priests in every age and       

country1 itself conformed to  the       
natural type of insanity or epilepsy2   
and1 if so1 consciously or              
unconsciously8    #cjb ,j4 ,h4 ,weeks1  
,among ,congo ,cannibals1 pp4 #ade and  
#bgf4    #cjc ,grey1 ,polynesian        
,mythology1 chs4 i4 and vii4    #cjd    
,origin and ,growth of ,religion as     
illustrated by ,celtic  ,heathendom1 p4 
#bbe4    #cje ,corpus ,poeticum         
,boreale1 pp4 #bd1 #cd1 #aha1 #aif4     
#cjf ,heimskringla ,saga1 ,yuglingasaga1
 chs4 xvii4-xviii4    #cjg 8,shamanism10
 ,journal of the ,royal ,anthropological
 ,institute1  ,x41 ,,xiv4 p4 #he4       
#cjh ,weeks1 ,congo ,cannibals1 p4 #bfe4
    #cji ,the fullest and most dramatic 
account of such possession may be  found
 in ,williams' ,fiji and the ,fijians1  
p4 #aij4 ,see below1 p4 #bdc4    #caj   
,weeks1 ,primitive ,bokongo1 p4 #bae4   
#caa ,spencer and ,gillen1 ,native      
,tribes of ,central ,australia1 pp4     
#dhj-h4    #cab 8,shamanism10 ,journal  
of the ,royal ,anthropological          

,institute1  ,,xxiv4 p4 #acj4    #cac   
,howitt1 op4 cit41 p4 #cgd4    #cad     
,ibid41 p4 #dcg4    #cae ,p4 ,a4        
,talbot1 ,in the ,shadow of the ,bush1  
p4 #bcj4    #caf ,g4 ,borrow1 ,wild     
,wales1 ch4 lxxxviii4    #cag ,spencer  
and ,gillen1 op4 cit41 p4 #chh4    #cah 
,h4 ,spencer1 ,principles of ,sociology1
  #ee4    #cai ,e4 ,b4 ,tylor1          
,primitive ,culture1 ,i4 #cjh et seq4   
#cbj ,in a paper on ,leopard ,men of the
 ,naga ,hills1 read at a meeting  of the
 ,r4,a4,i4 7,december #i1 #aiai71 ,mr4  
,j4 ,j4 ,h4 ,hutton reported that  such 
men do not change into leopards2 but    
sometimes their souls  involuntarily    
pass into them4 ,if the leopard be      
injured or killed he  whose soul was in 
it suffers or dies--when he hears of it4
 ,such men are  not feared1 because     
their leopards do very little harm4     
,for this reason 7,i suppose7 the belief
 is not exploited by wizards1 who  have 
no use for innocent superstition1 and it
 remains pure folklore4  ,there may not 

be any connexion between this animistic 
doctrine of human  souls possessing     
animals and the magical doctrine of     
shape-changing4 ,if  they are connected1
 it is easy to see that in a certain    
atmosphere of  popular philosophy1 if   
shape-changing were believed in1 the    
possession  theory might be accepted as 
the true explanation upon merely being  
proposed4 ,indeed1 it would make        
intelligible such a case as this3 a     
man's leopard is seen on the skirts of  
the village2 but he himself is  known to
 be in his hut4    ,animistic           
explanation does not always follow      
culture3 ,europe adheres to             
shape-changing4 ,yet in the ,volsung    
,saga the superstition is already       
degenerate3 ,sigmund and his son change 
into wolves by putting on  wolf-skins   
belonging to two were-wolves whom they  
find asleep4 ,this is  a                
rationalisation--disguise as a step     
toward change4 ,an earlier step is  to  
say a man who would change must put on a

 belt of wolf-skin4    #cba ,haddon1    
,reports of the ,cambridge ,expedition  
to ,torres ,straits1  ,v4 p4 #cbi4      
#cbb ,grey1 op4 cit41 8,legends of ,maui
 and ,tawhaki40    #cbc ,wiedemann1     
,religion of the ,ancient ,egyptians1   
pp4 #ed-h4    #cbd ,m4 ,c4 ,stevenson1  
8,the ,sia10 ,am4 ,b4 of ,ethn41 ,,xi4  
p4 #aah4    #cbe ,w4 ,grube1 ,rel4 u4   
,k4 d4 ,chinese1 p4 #acb4    #cbf       
8,shamanism10 ,journal of the ,royal    
,anthropological ,institute1  ch4 xxiv4 
p4 #acc4    #cbg ,stephnsen1 ,my ,life  
with the ,eskimo1 p4 #cia4    #cbh ,d4  
,comparetti1 ,the ,traditional ,poetry  
of the ,finns1 p4 #bf4    #cbi ,natural 
and ,social ,morals1 ch4 ii4  #d4       
#ccj ,see many examples in ,j4 ,g4      
,frazer's ,taboo and the ,perils of the 
,soul1 ch4 i4    #cca ,ch4 vi4    #ccb  
,,iii4 p4 #ca4    #ccc ,macdonell1      
,sanskrit ,literature1 pp4 #gc and #ahc4
    #ccd ,maspero1 ,the ,dawn of        
,civilization1 p4 #abd4    #cce ,a4 ,h4 
,sayce1 ,religion of the ,ancient       

,babylonians1 p4 #cai4    #ccf          
,religious ,experience of the ,roman    
,people1 p4 #bjb4    #ccg ,alfred       
,lyall1 ,asiatic ,studies1 essays on    
,the ,state and  ,religion in ,china4   
,in a milder form this system has been  
adopted by  ,japan2 ,w4 ,e4 ,aston1     
,shinto1 p4 #bcg4    #cch ,franz        
,cumont1 ,astrology and ,religion4      
,,chapter ,,vii    ,,omens       #a4    
,,the ,,prevalence ,,of ,,omens         
8,when great disasters are about to     
befall a state or nation it often       
happens that there is some warning10    
says ,herodotus4#cci ,it happens1       
indeed1 not only to states and nations1 
but to eminent men1 or even to  common  
men1 children and old women4 ,an old    
woman who in ,england sees  the new moon
 for the first time through glass1 will 
not be surprised  when1 next morning1   
the market-basket drops from her arm in 
the middle  of the street4 ,in ,fiji1 if
 a woman putting bananas into a pot let 
one  fall on the outside1 or if the     

bread-fruit burst in roasting1 she wrung
  her hands in dismay and cried         
aloud4#cdj ,the whole world is full of  
such portents1 and has been many        
thousands of years2 and there is no     
clearer disproof of the vulgar error    
that age is the mother of wisdom  than  
this1 that the older the race grows the 
less it attends to them3  or rather1    
whilst it attends to them more and more 
sedulously up to a  certain critical    
hour--reached by the ,greeks 7say7 #djj 
,b4,c41 and by  ,western ,europe 7say7  
,a4,d4 #afjj--;it then begins to        
disregard1 rapidly  neglects them1 till 
in a comparatively short time what is   
called the  8enlightened0 part of       
mankind forgets to take account of them 
at all2  although it is well known that 
an eclipse of the moon a little before  
sunrise in the sign of ,leo was a token 
that ,darius should be defeated  at     
,arbela2 that on the first day that     
,julius ,csar sat on the golden  throne 
and wore the purple robe1 an ox1 having 

been sacrificed1 was  found to have no  
heart--at which ,csar himself was       
surprised1 and soon  after he was       
assassinated2 and that many signs and   
wonders announced  quite recently the   
coming of the ,spaniards into ,mexico2  
,montezuma had  visions and grew        
melancholy2 the idol of ,quetzalchoatl  
declared that a  strange people         
approached to possess his kingdom1 and  
so did witches  and sorcerers2 a stone  
spoke and warned him2 a lake overflowed 
its  banks2 a pyramid of fire was seen  
in the sky2 monsters were born with  two
 heads1 and there were other portents1  
all to no purpose4#cda    ,omens1       
enjoyed with fear and trembling by all  
men in all ages1 have  sometimes been   
conceived of as due to magical power1   
but much more  generally as the sendings
 of demons or gods2 although the fact   
that  they are rarely of any use to the 
recipient1 or even intelligible to  him 
until after the event1 makes it very    
improbable that they involve  the       

intervention of any intelligent cause4  
,and what are we to think of  the       
intelligence of mankind1 who in spite of
 their experience of omens  during so   
many ages1 were still eager to observe  
them8       #b4 ,,omens ,,and ,,natural 
,,signs    ,for the wild man seeking    
game or on the alert for enemies it is  
necessary to read every sign of the     
presence of enemies or of game in  the  
neighbourhood3 footprints1 broken twigs 
and bent grass1 droppings  of feathers1 
hair or dung1 remnants of food or marks 
of habitation  instantly catch his eye2 
noises or odours arrest his other       
senses4  ,his world is full of these    
signs1 and he must always be on the     
watch  for them3 the birds being        
suddenly silent1 on looking up he sees a
  hawk2 a change of wind1 or the aspect 
of clouds1 announces rain or  fair      
weather2 the coming and departure of    
certain birds--as with us  the swallow  
and the cuckoo--portend the change of   
seasons4 ,in all  these cases causation 

is active and sometimes obvious1 but    
often very  obscure3 the apparent may be
 the reverse of the real order3 for the 
coming of swallows is the antecedent of 
our enjoying the summer2 but in  the    
order of nature the course of the       
seasons determines the migration  of    
birds4 ,that the true relation may be   
misunderstood is shown by the  behaviour
 of certain ,australian natives who1    
noticing that plovers cry  before the   
coming of rain1 take their cry to be a  
cause of rain1 and  therefore imitate it
 when performing their rain-rites4#cdb  
,we may  observe how obscure is the     
distinction between sign and cause even 
amongst ourselves1 in the general belief
 that 8a change of the moon0 is         
connected somehow with a change of      
weather2 for what the relation is no    
one seems clearly to conceive4    ,the  
relation between natural signs and the  
events signified1 being  obscure1 may be
 mysterious2 and accordingly its        
obscurity has been made  use of to      

defend the belief in ,omens4 ,in the ,de
 ,divinatione#cdc  ,quintus1 who is     
unkindly given by his brother the post  
of apologist for  all that nonsense1    
7following1 ,i suppose1 the sophistry of
 some ,stoic7  quotes ,aratus'          
description of how certain movements of 
the sea presage  a coming storm2 the    
gull1 too1 and the crow by their        
behaviour3 and the  croaking of frogs   
and the snuffing of cattle foretell     
rain4 ,i cannot  explain1 he says1 how  
animals have such knowledge any more    
than ,i can  explain the divinations of 
augurs2 nor is it necessary to do so3 in
  both cases there are the facts4    ,no
 wonder1 then1 that the savage1         
depending for his life upon a  knowledge
 of signs1 driven by eagerness and      
anxiety to observe  them1 and unable to 
distinguish coincidence from causation  
and the  entanglements of causation1    
should imagine himself to have          
discovered  many more signs than are    
comprised in the order of nature4 ,thus 

in  ,torres ,straits1 the biro-biro     
announces by its arrival that yams are  
ready for eating 7which seems needless71
 and the cry of the koko  predicts fine 
weather 7which is credible72 but1       
further1 the sunbird  can foretell the  
coming of a boat1#cdd and that must be  
imagination4       #c4 ,,some ,,signs   
,,conceived ,,of ,,as ,,magical    ,very
 gradually1 we may suppose1 a difference
 came to be felt between  two classes of
 signs3 7#a7 those that are of a usual  
kind1 such as the  tracks of game1 the  
return of the swallows1 the croaking of 
frogs1  which are almost constantly the 
antecedents of interesting events1 such 
as the getting of food1 the coming of   
spring1 or of rain2 sequences  that     
recur again and again1 some of them     
being1 like the tracks of  game1 easily 
intelligible2 all which1 accordingly1   
are accepted as a  matter of course and 
incorporated with common sense4 7#b7    
,less usual  events1 such as strange    
animals1 lightning1 eclipses1           

shooting-stars2  which come to be       
considered as signs by being connected  
in imagination  with interesting events 
which happen soon after them1 such as a 
failure  in hunting1 an attack by       
enemies1 a death in the tribe1 the wreck
 of  a canoe2 though the connexions are 
irregular and never intelligible1  and  
are accepted not as a matter of course1 
but as mysterious1 magical  and         
portentous3 they are ,omens4 ,they      
acquire the hold upon men that  belongs 
to the growing body of superstition4    
,although irregular1 they  are classed  
with the connexions that are believed to
 be most regular1  and failures are     
overlooked4 ,to these are added and     
accumulated in  tradition1 by analogy or
 caprice1 innumerable other signs and   
warnings4    ,that ,omens obtain an     
inextricable hold in the tangle of      
superstitious  beliefs results from     
men's strong desire to foresee the      
future1  especially in social conditions
 full of dangers and uncertainties1     

without the settled organisation which1 
with us in ordinary times1  makes one   
year so much like another4 ,upon many   
people1 indeed1 this  desire has the    
same effect to this day1 and becomes    
more active in  troubled times like the 
present4 ,anxious to know whether they  
are to  marry1 or to hear of a death1 or
 to come into money or some other       
advancement1 they hope to find out by   
visiting ,mrs4 ,sludge in a stuffy      
chamber1 or 7as you may see in ,london7 
by consulting a canary at  the          
street-corner4 ,when a fixed idea of    
love or ambition or anxiety  possesses  
the mind and leaves it no peace1 we are 
ready to try any  device that promises  
to relieve the strain1 and we do things 
sillier  than could have been predicted 
even by those who knew us best4         
,belief in ,omens and the practice of   
observing them having been  established1
 the list of portentous events grows    
ever larger4 7a7 ,in  a depressed frame 
of mind the future looks gloomy2 in     

exhilaration1  cheerful4 ,a sensation1  
such as shivering1 or sweating1 that    
accompanies  fear is apt to excite fear4
 ,in fear or depression one acts feebly 
and fails2 in hope and confidence one   
acts vigorously and wins3 the           
expectations produced by such moods     
fulfil themselves1 and therefore  the   
moods are ominous4 ,this may be the     
reason why1 when men are at  strife and 
some ambiguous ,omen occurs1 he who     
first claims its favour  or denounces   
its menace upon his enemy1 gains an     
advantage2#cde for  the other may be    
daunted and unable to rally his forces4 
,but that  depends on character4        
,this subjective value of an ,omen1     
making its virtue a function of the     
recipient's disposition1 sometimes      
became so prominent as to obscure  its  
truly magical character2 according to   
which it must be indissolubly  connected
 in some way with the event and can have
 nothing to do with  the recipient's    
attitude4 ,thus it might be held that an

 ,omen1 if it  deeply affected a man's  
imagination1 would be fulfilled2 but1 if
  neglected1 it might not be4 ,pliny    
says#cdf that1 according to the  augurs1
 auspices had no import for one who in  
any enterprise declared  that he would  
not regard them4 ,or1 again1 the bearing
 of an ,omen may be  determined by the  
way in which it is accepted3 ,julius    
,csar1 landing in  ,africa1 fell2 and   
that must have seemed a very bad ,omen2 
but he1 having  the presence of mind    
7though not exempt from superstition7 to
 exclaim3  8,africa1 ,i lay hold of     
thee60 changed its significance2#cdg    
and1  doubtless1 greatly altered its    
effect upon the minds of his officers   
and soldiers and of all who heard of it2
 and that was the important  matter4    
,hope and desire and anxiety created    
,omens1 and they had also  the power to 
direct the incidence and corrupt the    
interpretation of  ,omens4 ,in fact1    
there were conventional formul for      
accepting good  ,omens and rejecting bad

 ones3 ,accipio omen1 ,absit omen1 ,tibi
 in caput  redeat2 which were           
counteractive spells2 and it is agreed  
that ,magic  may be overcome by stronger
 ,magic4    ,this attitude of mind that 
makes an ,omen subject to its           
acceptance1  may explain the otherwise  
absurd practice of taking the ,omens    
again  and again1 when the earlier have 
been unfavourable1 until one is         
obtained that flatters the inquirer's   
hopes4 ,not only amongst  sophisticated 
peoples1 who might be supposed to treat 
,omens in a  formal and perfunctory way1
 but even in the lower barbarism ,omens 
are  thus garbled4 ,the ,karens of      
,borneo1 consulting the liver of a pig  
to  authorise an expedition1 if with one
 pig the appearance is forbidding1      
sacrifice a second1 third1 or fourth2   
though without a satisfactory  forecast 
they will not set out4 ,then1 having set
 out1 they try to avoid  hearing the cry
 of the woodpecker 7which has two notes1
 the one of  good1 the other of evil    

augury71 lest it should be against their
 plans4  ,and the same simple-minded    
people believe in the magical efficacy  
of  the sign1 no matter how obtained4   
,vaticinating by the flight of a hawk1  
a man will try1 by shouting and by      
waving to it1 to turn its flight  toward
 the left1 that being with them the     
prosperous direction4#cdh               
,imagination-beliefs are saturated with 
insincerity2 their unconscious  maxim   
is1 8,believe as you list40    ,although
 it may be a general principle that     
savages are more impressed  by external 
than by internal experiences1 yet the   
suggestion of the  foregoing paragraphs1
 that the finding of ,omens in one's own
 sensations  is secondary to1 and       
dependent on1 the growth of a belief in 
,omens  presented by physical events1 is
 not one upon which ,i much rely4       
,possibly sensations and moods are a    
distinct and primitive source of  this  
superstition3 for it has been noticed in
 ,australia1 where the lore  of ,omens  

in general has made but little progress4
 ,whilst performing  tribal ceremonies  
under strong emotion1 the aborigines    
think that their  entrails sometimes    
acquire 8sight02 so that they know      
whether their  wives have been          
unfaithful1 or they feel the approach of
 danger4#cdi  ,in the ,western ,isles of
 ,torres ,straits shivering and uneasy  
feelings  are presentiments2 and in the 
,eastern ,isles1 a dryness of one's skin
  or sneezing3#cej in ,new ,guinea1 if  
the right shoulder ache1 expect  good   
news2 if the left1 bad4#cea ,and these  
simplest of all whims are  the longest  
lived2 for amongst ourselves many a     
woman suddenly has a  presentiment1 8as 
if some one were walking over her       
grave40    7b7 ,as a mood of elation or 
depression is itself ominous1 so is     
whatever excites such a mood4           
,depressing objects are cripples1 old   
women1 sick people1 timid hares1        
loathsome toads1 a snake coming to  meet
 a war-party1 discouraging words1 ugly  

dreams2 whereas pleasant  dreams1       
encouraging words1 a snake going before 
us as against the  enemy1 hawks1 wolves 
and blooming youth are all exhilarating3
 the list  varies from tribe to tribe4  
,many ominous things promise good or    
evil  according as they appear on the   
right hand or on the left3 the left     
being generally held inauspicious1      
because 7it is said7 the left hand  is  
the clumsier and weaker2 and this may be
 true4 ,but we have seen that  in       
,borneo the left is preferred2 and      
whereas the ,greeks followed the        
general rule1 assigning evil to the left
 hand1 the ,romans thought the  right   
hand was the direction of danger4 ,and  
this contrariety has been  explained as 
due to a difference of orientation in   
the formal taking of  ,omens2 for the   
,greek then faced northward1 and had the
 place of sunrise  upon his right hand2 
whilst the ,roman faced southward and   
had on his  right hand the place of     
sunset3 so that it was not anything to  

do with  his own body1 but the direction
 whence the sun appeared and advanced   
with growing power and splendour which  
each of them judged of good  hope1 in   
contrast with that whither the sun      
declined and weakened to  his death4 ,to
 illustrate these fancies would be an   
endless task1 and a  superfluous labour1
 since nothing is better known4    7c7  
,coincidence1 the occurrence near       
together of two interesting  events1 is 
sure to make people think there must be 
some connexion  between them2 and the   
earlier event will be classed1 according
 to  circumstances1 as either a cause or
 a sign of the later2 and if the        
connexion is mysterious1 it must be     
either a magical power like that  of a  
talisman1 or that special kind of ,magic
 which is an ,omen4 ,what  circumstances
 determine this distinction1 ,i will    
presently try to  show4 ,possibly all   
,omens that are not derived from        
subjective moods  and sensations1 or    
from things or events that excite such  

moods1  were originally founded upon    
coincidence4 ,upon this1 apparently1 the
  ,egyptians relied in the records they 
kept 7according to ,herodotus7 of       
,omens and their fulfilment2 and        
,quintus ,cicero is represented#ceb as  
believing that the ,babylonians kept    
such records for #dgj1jjj years3 so     
that it was1 in their view1 an inductive
 science2 but we never hear of  their   
having kept a record of failures and    
disappointments4    ,some ,omens having 
been established by subjective          
prognostication or  by coincidence1 many
 more may be added by analogy1 or by a  
sort of  reasoning4 ,an analogy with the
 contrast of right and left hand may  be
 noticed in all opposites3 the          
woodpecker in ,borneo1 for example1     
having two cries1 and one of them a     
warning1 must not the other  be an      
encouragement8 ,the belief in ,omens    
having taken hold of the  public mind1  
everybody is on the look-out for signs  
and wonders2 and  anything unusual seen1

 or heard1 or rumoured1 becomes a       
possible  ,omen of anything else1 and   
men ask one another what it portends4   
,the  superstitious imagination is      
greedy of its accustomed food4 ,under   
such conditions1 too1 ,omens are        
discovered by retrospection3 a public   
calamity1 such as the death of a king1  
the defeat of an army1 or a  pestilence 
7or in private life some private        
misfortune71 makes us  remember some    
foregoing event or events1 which must   
have forewarned  us1 had we had the     
skill to interpret the significance of  
,time's  progression4       #d4         
,,differentiation ,,of ,,omens ,,from   
,,general ,,magic    ,the savage mind1  
sensitive to the resemblance of         
relations1 cannot  overlook the analogy 
between signs and warning cries2 many   
,omens are  cries2 and with the spread  
of animistic explanation1 they came to  
be considered as the sendings of spirits
 or gods4 ,but1 at first1 by  mere      
magical thinking1 under the stress of   

anxiety to know the future1  and the    
helplessness of common sense to predict 
anything outside  the everyday routine1 
,omens are gradually separated from     
ordinary  probable signs 7such as the   
tracks of game7 as necessary infallible 
signs 7or tendencies7 if cunning can    
find them out1 connected by some        
supernatural law with the unknown future
 that certainly awaits us1 and  as a    
kind of ,magic4 ,the magical habit of   
mind may be supposed to have  resulted  
from the coalescence of beliefs         
concerning several imaginary            
operations--by charms1 spells1          
rites--each class of beliefs having its 
own occasions1 causes1 or fallacious    
grounds4 ,those operations had in       
common the marks of being connexions of 
events due to imagined forces  of a     
mysterious kind1 and therefore grouped  
themselves together in  men's minds as  
the ,magic apperception-mass4 ,omens had
 these marks and1  therefore1 were      
assimilated to ,magic4 ,an ,omen is an  

event regarded as  a magical sign of the
 good or ill success of some            
undertaking1 or of  the approach of good
 fortune1 or of calamity4 ,and on the   
principle that  ideas are differentiated
 from a confused matrix1 it is probable 
that  ,omens1 having at first been      
confused with other magical antecedents 
of events1 were only gradually again    
distinguished from them4 ,but  an       
important distinction existed and at    
last came to light3 charms1  rites and  
spells are causes of events2 whereas    
,omens are signs only1  not causes4 ,the
 difference is that whereas charms1     
rites and spells  directly exert their  
powers upon the course of things1 ,omens
 themselves  exert no power1 but show   
only that there is some power at work1  
which  will have such or such           
results4#cec    ,comparing ,omens with  
other modes of ,magic1 several          
peculiarities may be  noticed3 7a7      
,omens themselves 7apart from the       
preparation of victims1  etc47 imply no 

human intervention1 whereas rites and   
spells must be  performed or recited by 
some one1 and even charms are carried   
about  one1 or used in rites1 or        
solemnly affixed to doors1 animals or   
other  possessions4 7b7 ,partly as a    
consequence of this1 ,omens1 considered 
in themselves1 generally 7as ,i have    
said7 convey no suggestion of  force4   
,this cannot1 indeed1 be said of        
eclipses and thunderstorms2  but the    
note of a bird1 the appearance of       
entrails1 a mere shivering  or other    
change of feeling1 though ominous1      
suggests no energetic  operation2 whilst
 rites and spells are often carried out 
with much  expenditure of energy1 and   
even charms1 though not obviously       
active1  are necessarily believed to be 
powerful in some obscure way of their   
own4 7c7 ,omens are often so remote in  
time1 as well as in place1  from the    
events indicated that any               
quasi-mechanical determination  of the  
issue by them can hardly be thought of2 

but with rites and  spells1 though they 
may not operate openly in the hour of   
their setting  to work1 yet the delay is
 not expected to be great1 and 7as said7
  their impulsion or nisus is often very
 impressive2 and charms are  incessantly
 and immediately active4 7d7 ,omens in  
general do not  foretell precisely what 
is to happen1 but only the success or   
failure  of some enterprise 7not the    
8how0 of it71 happiness or misfortune2  
whereas rites and spells have some      
definite object1 and most charms        
inflict1 or guard against1 some one kind
 of evil1 disease or shipwreck2  though 
others 7it is true7 bring luck or loss  
at large4 ,thus ,omens are  very        
different from other magical conditions2
 and although it is not  likely that the
 ordinary savage or even the wizard ever
 consciously  draws these distinctions  
or sums them up1 still they have an     
effect  upon his mind1 and the          
observation of ,omens and the reading of
 them  becomes at last a special branch 

of the ,magic ,art--,divination4        
#e4 ,,omens ,,interpreted ,,by ,,animism
    ,omens1 then1 being only signs and  
not causes of future events1 having  no 
power in themselves1 must be connected  
with some efficient power1  or else the 
events prognosticated could not happen4 
,how is that  power to be understood8   
,for a long time1 probably1 there is no 
clear  conception of it3 the connexion  
is mysterious4 ,but there are two ways  
in which it may be interpreted3 7a7     
,following the impersonal magical  way  
of thinking1 we are led to the idea of  
currents of force in which  both ,omen  
and event are borne along2 and1 at last1
 to the conception  of a fatal order of 
the world in which all events have their
 necessary  places4 ,there ,a is always 
followed by ,b2 so that1 although ,a    
exerts no  power over ,b1 yet 7if we    
know the law of the sequence7 when the  
former  appears it is an infallible     
portent of the latter4 ,the power at    
work is  ,fate2 and to this idea ,i must

 return2 for in its full development it 
comes late in history4    7b7 ,the other
 and much simpler way of explaining     
,omens is to  attribute them to the     
intervention of spirits who1 whether    
they control  events or not1 at least   
foresee them1 and send messages of      
warning  to mankind4 ,with the spread of
 ,animism this is a matter of course4   
,a sophisticated age may ask how a      
spirit should be able to see the        
future2 and may answer that spirits1    
having greater knowledge than we  of the
 present state of the world and its laws
 of causation1 are able  to calculate   
the outcome1 just as an astronomer      
foretells an eclipse  of the sun4 ,a    
precious rationalisation6 ,to the       
untutored savage there  is no           
difficulty4 ,to foresee the future is a 
very common performance3  whenever we   
form an expectation which is fulfilled  
7and that happens  many times a day7 we 
accomplish this feat2 and for the most  
part we are  unconscious of the grounds 

upon which we formed the expectation4   
,the  savage is always in this position3
 he has not analysed the relation  of   
8ground and consequence0 nor examined   
the mental conditions that  precede an  
inference4 ,to him1 therefore1          
foreknowledge1 within a  certain range1 
is not even mysterious2 and1 of course1 
spirits have  the gift in a much higher 
degree4 ,in ,melanesia a vui 7spirit7   
knows secret things without seeing2#ced 
and here begins the rle of  intuition in
 ,philosophy4 ,later1 a high god may    
give warnings1 not  merely of what he   
foresees in the course of the world1 but
 of what he  of his own volition will   
bring to pass2 or a lesser god may      
announce  what he knows to be the will  
of the higher2 or1 later still1 all     
spiritual warnings may sink back into   
helpless incidents in the course  of    
,fate4    ,omens 7as has been mentioned7
 resemble warnings3 7a7 ,like warnings1 
they precede events1 but do not cause   
them4 7b7 ,they sometimes  precede an   

event by a considerable interval1 as if 
to give time for  precaution4 7c7 ,they 
do not announce the details of any event
 7which  a friendly counsellor may not  
know71 but only its character as good or
  evil4 ,then1 if they are warnings     
7implying foreknowledge71 since they    
are not the act of any man1 they must be
 given by some spirit or other          
intelligence4 ,so that once a belief in 
the intervention of spirits in  mundane 
affairs has become prevalent in any     
tribe1 nothing can be more  natural than
 to regard ,omens as spiritual messages4
 ,still1 this way of  thinking may have 
been preceded by a disposition to       
attribute ,omens  to the good will of   
animals1 especially ,totems2 for animals
 are often  wiser than we are4 ,in      
,australia the ,turbal tribe held that  
the chirping  of insects foretold the   
coming of blacks2 a ,wakelbwa who       
dreamed of  a kangaroo would expect one 
of the ,banbe subclass next day2 to     
dream  of old-man kangaroos sitting     

round the fire presaged danger4#cee     
,among the ,yuin 7,western ,australia7 a
 ,black-,duck clansman thought that     
black ducks warned him against enemies2 
and men of the ,kurnai1 who had         
personal ,totems1 thought they gave     
protection by warnings4#cef ,very       
early1 however1 ghosts or spirits       
sometimes come themselves to instruct   
us2 as amongst the ,kurnai1 the ,biraark
 7wizards7 hold sances at  night1 when  
ghosts attend1 and give news of enemies 
or of absent  friends4#ceg ,in ,new     
,guinea1 the ghosts of dead tribesmen   
send their  surviving relatives ,omens  
by fishes or birds4#ceh    ,by this     
animistic theory ,omens are intimately  
connected with ,oracles  and ,dreams2   
for these1 too1 are messages from the   
spirit-world4  ,dreams are the chief    
causes of belief in spirits1 and with   
many people  have not yet lost the      
character of supernatural visitations4  
,probably  for ages past there have been
 in each generation a few rationalists1 

who treated dreams in the manner of     
,artabanes 7as reported by              
,herodotus#cei--who1 however1 will show 
that the event refuted him71  holding   
that 8whatever a man has been thinking  
of during the day  is wont to hover     
round him in the visions of his dreams  
at night40  ,incensed against the       
diviners1 rationalists have1 in fact1   
too much  despised and neglected dreams4
    ,oracles and ,dreams are amongst the
 phenomena of 8possession40 ,spirits1   
demons1 gods1 roaming the world and     
indwelling or haunting various  bodies  
or localities1 sometimes take up their  
abode in stones or bags  of charms1     
which then become fetiches2 or attain   
greater dignity in  images and temples2 
or enter into men and women1 afflicting 
them with  diseases1 or else with       
dreams1 or drunkenness1 or madness1 or  
prophecy1  or poetry2#cfj for these     
things are hard to distinguish4 ,and    
sometimes  the people thus afflicted    
wander at large1 sometimes are to be    

found  only by some tree1 or spring1 or 
cave1 or temple1 where the spirit that  
makes them wise above others has chosen 
to reside1 perhaps because his  body was
 buried there4    ,omens1 ,oracles and  
,dreams have1 besides their dependence  
on spirits1  another trait in common1   
namely1 obscurity of meaning4 ,when you 
have  been favoured with one of these   
communications1 what does it promise or 
threaten8 ,to answer this question      
passes the wit of ordinary men2 and1    
therefore1 certain superior minds assume
 the important function of  ,diviners   
and1 to guide their judgment1 work out  
in course of ages with  infinite        
ingenuity the ,art of ,divination4      
#f4 ,,natural ,,and ,,artificial ,,omens
    ,before discussing ,divination we   
had better remind ourselves of the      
immense extension that the lore of      
,omens undergoes beyond the early       
recognition of mysterious natural signs 
7thunder or the behaviour  of birds1    
etc471 by the preparation in various    

ways of conditions  under which ,omens  
may be obtained at will 7throwing dice1 
roasting  shoulder-blades1 sacrificing  
pigs1 etc474 ,men are eager to know the 
future1 at least the general complexion 
of it as happy or unhappy2  and for this
 purpose they desire ,omens4 ,but       
natural ,omens do not  always appear    
when wanted1 though probably the mere   
desire of them  has multiplied them     
greatly2 it is1 therefore1 very         
convenient to  discover devices by which
 ,omens can always be obtained by any   
one for  any purpose4 ,a common practice
 is to toss a halfpenny1 and decide a   
doubtful choice of action by head or    
tail3 reinforcing imbecility  with      
superstition4 ,it is impossible we      
should ever learn how such  conventions 
originated1 but may assume that the     
earlier were suggested  by some         
accident1 and many of the later by      
analogy4 ,the ,warramunga have  a very  
simple plan1 when a man dies1 for       
discovering who it was that  by evil    

magic slew him4 ,they smooth the ground 
about the spot where  the death         
occurred1 and next morning come to      
examine it2 and if they  find there the 
trail of a snake1 they know that the    
murderer was a  man of the              
,snake-totem4#cfa ,it is reasonable to  
suppose that in the  first instance they
 found such a trail of snake or other   
animal upon  unprepared ground1 and     
thereafter smoothed the ground to make  
such  signs plainer3 thus they began the
 preparation of conditions for the      
taking of ,omens4 ,a ,new ,zealand      
wizard had a simple construction for    
discovering beforehand who would have   
the better of a battle3 he set  up two  
sticks near together1 one for his own   
party1 the other for the  enemy1 and let
 them fall3 whichever stick fell on the 
top of the other  the party it had stood
 for was to conquer in the fight4#cfb   
,as ages  go by and more and more       
intellect is concentrated upon the      
problem  of foreknowledge1 more and more

 ways are discovered of preparing the   
conditions of taking ,omens1 more and   
more expensive and complicated  ones2   
for the more difficult the preparation  
and interpretation1 the  more necessary 
it is to employ a professional augur4   
,the casting of  dice1 the drawing of   
lots1 the taking of one's chance with   
verses of  ,virgil or of the ,bible1 may
 seem easy1 but even such devices may be
  made difficult by accumulating rules  
of interpretation4 ,the sacred  chicken1
 whose vagaries in feeding occasionally 
relieve with grateful  diversion the    
strenuous page of ,roman ,history1      
cannot have required  highly skilled    
manipulation1 but to watch them a       
professional eye  was necessary2 and    
when sacrifices are employed as         
opportunities of  taking ,omens from the
 behaviour of the victims1 the manner of
 their  dying and the condition of their
 entrails1 a technical specialist of    
high training becomes indispensable4    
,this led to the intensive study  of    

entrails1 especially of livers          
7,hepatoscopy1 ,hepatomancy71 with  some
 gain of knowledge in ,anatomy4 ,the    
study was widely diffused2  but still   
more widely1 perhaps1 the art of        
prophesying by the lines  to be observed
 in shoulder-blades cracked by roasting 
over a fire  7,scapulomancy74    ,where 
nothing is or can be done to alter the  
physical conditions of  premonitory     
signs1 yet a painstaking analysis has   
been made of those  conditions in order 
to interpret them in a methodical way2  
and this  study may demand far greater  
skill than augury4 ,in ,cheiromancy the 
lines and eminences of the hand have    
been exactly mapped and defined1  and   
have had their several values and       
meanings assigned4 ,it is really a      
perplexing study1 not to be entered upon
 with a light heart1 yet simple  and    
obvious in comparison with ,astrology4  
,the ,astrologer who would  undertake to
 forecast the future fate of men or     
nations1 or to recover  forgotten facts 

of antiquity1 such as the date of a     
hero's birth 7for  it was understood    
that a difference of forward or backward
 in time  should not hinder scientific  
calculations71 had to take account of   
all  the visible furniture of heaven1   
the stars in their constellations1      
especially the signs of the ,zodiac2 the
 seven planets1 each with its  own      
qualities and powers assumed arbitrarily
 or by fanciful analogies1  all         
unquantified and all varying in the     
,twelve ,houses of ,heaven4 ,what       
learning1 what stupendous abilities were
 demanded for such a task6  ,in fact1   
any one who now hears of it1 immediately
 knows it to be  impossible4 ,but until 
many problems had been solved and the   
method of  them appreciated1 no one     
could understand what kind of problems  
are  insoluble4 ,meanwhile1 in this     
study1 for ages so honoured1 a mixture  
of genuine ,astronomy and a parade of   
systematic procedure 7of which          
philosophers well know the force7 made  

fatuity plausible4       #g4            
,,divination ,,and ,,oracles    ,omens  
and ,oracles are1 no doubt1 infallible  
premonitions of something1  if one can  
find it out2 but they are often so      
obscure or ambiguous that  one gets no  
guidance from them1 and indeed it is    
sometimes impossible  to judge whether  
they are ever fulfilled1 or not4 ,it is1
 therefore1  most important that some   
one should be able to expound them2 and 
here1  as in every department of human  
effort1 we may be sure that1 of the     
many who attempt interpretation1 one    
will be more successful than  others2   
and then to him all men flock for       
enlightenment1 especially if  he make   
one good guess about some ,omen or      
,oracle of general interest4  ,such a   
man was thereby constituted a ,diviner1 
and became the founder  of a profession1
 or 7at least7 of a branch or function  
of the great  wizardly profession4 ,it  
happened long ago2 for in savagery most 
wizards  are already ,diviners4    ,in  

course of time the profession can no    
longer be satisfied with  interpretation
 by guesswork1 but elaborates the       
principles of  the subject1 the ,art of 
,divination1 upon which1 perhaps1 as    
much  painstaking and ingenuity have    
been expended as upon industry and      
science put together4 ,the savants who  
carried out such work were  probably    
7many of them7 as honest as fanatics can
 be2 but the result  always was to raise
 the reputation of the profession for   
occult  knowledge and mysterious        
insight4    ,diviners are either free   
and independent seers1 soothsayers1     
fortune-tellers1 mostly poverty-stricken
 and disreputable1 though  sometimes    
eminent and influential1 like ,tiresias 
and ,epimenides2 or  else officials 7a  
much smaller party7 attached to some    
temple or  government4 ,official        
soothsayers have often exercised immense
 power  in society and politics4 ,they  
are not found1 of course1 at the bottom 
of the scale of culture1 where there is 

no government in ,church  or ,state2 but
 in the lower barbarism1 among the      
,bantu tribes 7for  example71 ,diviners 
have a highly influential station4 ,the 
chief of  a tribe usually has a         
specially trusted ,diviner1 and also    
consults  others in discovering         
sorcerers and in forecasting the        
future4#cfc  ,in the ,mazwaya clan of   
the ,thonga there is an official        
,diviner who  alone knows the exact     
composition of the royal 8medicine10 on 
which  the welfare of the whole tribe   
depends4 ,he is very much feared3 no one
  dares dispute with him2 and he has the
 right of cursing even the chief        
himself4#cfd ,such a powerful subject   
naturally excites the jealousy of  the  
chief1 who sometimes endeavours to get  
into his own hands all the  medicines   
and occult virtues possessed by any of  
his tribesmen4#cfe  ,the danger of      
opposition between ,church and ,state   
was also felt in  ,melanesia and        
,polynesia2 and in ,hawaii it was       

decisively overcome2 for  when the      
oracle was to be consulted1 the king1   
concealed in a frame of  wickerwork1    
gave the responses himself4#cff    ,in  
,greece 7sixth and fifth centuries      
,b4,c47 oracles were still more         
powerful3 the record may be read in     
,herodotus4 ,the most flourishing       
,states observed the ,omens1 and never  
ventured to go to war without           
consulting the ,oracles2 and the        
,oracles undertook to advise on war and 
peace and alliances1 to settle disputed 
claims to sovereignty and the           
constitution of ,states1 to sanction new
 laws and the foundation of  colonies1  
to order the erection of new temples and
 even the worship of  new deities--some 
of them of very dubious reputation3 to  
say nothing  of the infinite extent of  
their private practice4 ,their          
utterances  were often unintelligible2  
they were sometimes known to have       
accepted  bribes2 yet the most          
enlightened people in the world         

continued to  consult them3 whether in  
good faith1 or for their effect upon the
  vulgar both friends and enemies1 or   
perhaps to share responsibility for  an 
action with the gods1 or even because   
one then felt more comfortable  than in 
leaving them alone4 ,but the diffusion  
of philosophy was too  much for them2   
and1 as ,cicero says1#cfg even the      
,delphic ,oracle  declined in           
reputation1 not because with lapse of   
time the divine  virtue failed of those 
exhalations that inspired the priestess1
 but  when men became less credulous4   
,perhaps it was also because social     
life had become1 under ,roman           
government1 safer and more settled and  
regular2 so that a reasonable amount of 
foresight could be exercised  without   
supernatural aid4 ,still1 after the     
,oracles seemed to have been  struck    
dumb1 they revived from time to time for
 two or three centuries2  ,plutarch was 
far from incredulous2 and the equivalent
 of them will 7,i  suppose7 continue to 

revive now and then1 unless insane      
desire1 and  anxiety1 and pusillanimity1
 and wonder and confusion of mind shall 
one  day be extinguished4    ,in the    
great empires of the higher barbarism1  
the ,magi amongst the  ,medes and       
,persians1 and in ,egypt1 ,babylonia and
 ,india the priesthood  who practised   
soothsaying and vaticination with their 
other functions1  obtained still greater
 control over national life4 ,the       
development of  ,astrology has always   
been imputed to the ,chaldeans2 and the 
importance  of dreams and their         
interpretation in ,egypt and ,babylon is
 reflected in  the stories of ,joseph   
and ,daniel as well as in the profaner  
pages of  ,herodotus4    ,the character 
of ,omens and the way of obtaining      
,oracles and of being  inspired in      
,greece were merely modifications of    
those that have been  in vogue amongst  
savages4 ,imagination-beliefs1 in spite 
of their  extravagance1 have1 in fact1 a
 short tether and move in narrow        

circles1  perpetually renewing the same 
themes4 ,the ravings of the ,pythoness  
possessed1 which are said to have       
sometimes frightened the priests1  might
 have been studied in ,fiji4 ,this was  
what happened when a priest  was        
inspired3 he 8becomes absorbed in       
thought 444 in a few minutes  he        
trembles2 slight distortions are seen in
 his face1 and twitching  movements in  
his limbs4 ,these increase to a violent 
muscular action1  which spreads until   
the whole frame is violently convulsed1 
and the  man shivers as with a strong   
ague-fit4 ,in some instances this is    
accompanied by murmurs and sobs2 the    
veins are greatly enlarged1 and  the    
circulation of the blood quickened4 ,the
 priest is now possessed by  his god1   
and all his words and actions are       
considered as no longer his  own1 but   
those of the deity who has entered him4 
,shrill cries of ,koi  au6 ,koi au6     
#8,it is ,i6 ,it is ,i6' fill the air1  
and the god is supposed  thus to notify 

his approach4 ,while giving the answer  
the priest's eyes  stand out and roll as
 in a frenzy2 his voice is unnatural1   
his face  pale1 his lips livid1 his     
breathing depressed and his entire      
appearance  that of a furious madman4   
,the sweat runs from every pore1 the    
tears  start from his strained eyes2    
after which the symptoms gradually      
disappear4 ,the priest looks round with 
a vacant stare1 and as the god  says    
#8,i depart1' announces his actual      
departure by violently flinging  himself
 down on the mat1 or by suddenly        
striking the ground with a  club4444    
,the convulsive movements do not        
entirely disappear for some  time40#cfh 
,to become inspired by means of visions 
or dreams1 or endowed with the  powers  
of a prophet or diviner1 the obvious    
plan is to go to places  frequented by  
spirits1 namely1 tombs1 caves and       
temples4 ,the ,oracle of  ,trophonius in
 ,botia was situated in a cave into     
which the consultant  descended1 and    

there saw visions or heard strange      
noises1 and lost his  senses3 on        
returning to the upper air1 he sat in   
the ,chair of ,memory  and reported to  
the priests what had happened2 and they 
delivered him  to his friends           
8overpowered with fear1 and quite       
unconscious of himself  and his         
surroundings40#cfi ,afterwards he       
recovered his wits4 ,at ,oropus  was a  
sanctuary of ,amphiaraus1 who 7against  
his better judgment7 had  joined the    
expedition of ,adrastus against ,thebes 
and1 amidst the  general defeat of the  
army1 fled and was swallowed up in the  
earth4 ,his  death ought to have        
occurred where his sanctuary stood2 for 
it was a  famous ,oracle1 and to consult
 it you purified yourself and sacrificed
  a ram and1 spreading the skin under   
you1 went asleep there1 awaiting  a     
revelation in a dream4#cgj ,in the      
temple of ,pasiph1 too1 near  ,sparta1  
one might hope for a divine message in a
 dream2 and a shepherd1  sleeping by the

 grave of ,orpheus at ,libethra1 was    
moved to sing the  verses of            
,orpheus4#cga    ,to lose one's memory  
and afterwards recover one's wits is    
incidental  to many initiation          
ceremonies1 and the darkness and secrecy
 of  caves--which1 moreover1 are often  
burial-places--have always deeply       
impressed our imagination4 ,amongst the 
,arunta there is a way of  obtaining    
powers of ,magic and ,divination by     
going to sleep at the  mouth of a cave2 
when the ,iruntarinia 7a kind of        
spirits71 who live  there1 pierce the   
sleeper's head with lances1 drag him    
into the  cave1 disembowel him and give 
him new entrails4 ,he awakes dazed and  
silly2 and the spirits lead him home1   
where gradually he recovers his  right  
mind4#cgb ,amongst the ,kurnai1 again1  
one may become a wizard  and diviner by 
sleeping at a grave2 for in the night   
the dead man  disembowels one1 and      
provides new visceral organs4#cgc       
,elsewhere in  ,australia a candidate   

for the wizardly profession is tied down
 at night  in the tribal burial-ground  
and visited by spirits who force a stone
  into his head--apparently a kind of   
crystal1 by gazing into which a  wizard 
is able to see the past1 the distant and
 the future4#cgd    ,the seeking of     
enlightenment where spirits dwell in    
caves or graves1  loss of wits by       
contact with them and subsequent        
recovery--all this may  remind us of    
stories in ,pausanias2 but what of the  
disembowelling and  renewing of the     
viscera8 ,we are told by ,spencer and   
,gillen that during  the performance of 
certain traditionary ceremonies1 an     
,australian's  emotion is very great1 so
 that he says his inward parts get 8tied
  up in knots10 and sometimes acquire   
8sight0 and give omens2#cge and  ,howitt
 tells us that fat of the kidneys is    
believed to be the seat  of a man's     
prowess and other virtues4#cgf ,to      
extract and renew a  man's entrails1    
therefore1 is to renew his spirit1 just 

as we speak  metaphorically of a 8change
 of heart10 so that he has more vivid   
emotions1 firmer courage1 clearer       
insight4 ,in fact1 it is the magical    
equivalent of inspiration2 the crystal1 
too1 of the ,euahlayi is a magic        
source2 and this is as far as the       
,australians have got3#cgg gross        
materialism1 which the progress or 7at  
least7 the movement of animistic        
thought has happily superseded by       
conceptions more refined1 if not more   
truthful4       #h4 ,,apparent ,,failure
 ,,of ,,omens    ,though in their nature
 infallible1 ,omens are not always      
fulfilled--at  least1 their fulfilment  
is not always ascertainable4 ,but this  
is easily  explained2 for whatever an   
,omen may be in itself1 our knowledge of
  it depends on observation1 which may  
be superficial and incomplete1  so that 
we may not know what it was4 ,what kind 
of bird was it8 ,which  way did it fly8 
,how many cries did it utter8 ,these    
questions go to  the heart of the       

matter2 yet each of them points out an  
opportunity  of error4 ,but granting the
 observations perfect1 we have still to 
learn what the ,omen portends2 and      
although a simple mind1 trusting to     
simple rules1 may be ready offhand with 
an answer1 it becomes1 with the         
development of the art of ,divination1  
more and more complicated and           
difficult1 demanding long experience and
 profound erudition--something  worth   
paying for4 ,it is popularly known that 
dreams are perplexing as  the guide of  
life4 ,are they to be accepted at face  
value1 or do they go  by contraries8    
,what difference does it make whether   
they happen early  in the night1 or in  
the morning1 or whether we sleep in     
white or in  coloured night-clothes8    
,there is an extensive casuistry of this
 matter4  ,interpretations of ,omens    
proceeded generally by analogy3 the     
length  and direction of the cracks in a
 shoulder-blade indicate the length  and
 tenor of a man's life4 ,oracles1 again1

 were often distractingly  obscure2 from
 ,delphi much like riddles2 but those of
 ,zeus at ,dodona are  said to have been
 sometimes taken to ,apollo at ,delphi  
to ask what they  meant4 ,clearly1 then1
 besides possible errors of observation1
 there  were further pitfalls of        
interpretation2 if a physician or a     
pilot is  sometimes out in his          
reckoning1 why not also a diviner8 ,so  
that an ,omen  might very well be       
fulfilled without our knowing exactly   
what it was or  what it indicated4      
,but that is not all2 for we have seen  
that any kind of magical force  is only 
infallible as a tendency2 it may be     
counteracted1 and this  is generally    
thought to be the case with ,omens4     
,just as the rites of  one magician may 
be frustrated by the more powerful      
operations of  another1 so an ,omen     
indicates a course of events which may1 
perhaps1  be turned aside4 ,that which  
is foreseen by one spirit may be        
prevented  by another1 whose            

intervention was not foreseen2 for      
spirits are by no  means infallible4    
,hence1 however well observed and       
interpreted1 the  tendency of an ,omen1 
or of the force it manifests1 may be    
diverted or  reversed by some unknown   
cause4 ,moreover1 we ourselves are loth 
to  relinquish all control over affairs4
 ,we have seen that the efficacy of     
,omens depended 7not without reason7 on 
the way they were received2 and  that we
 may meet them with our own magical     
influence1 accepting them1  or rejecting
 with a spell4    ,and further1 we have 
seen that ,magic often works by symbols1
 and that  a symbolic action will cause 
or incite a real event2 and similarly it
  is believed that the event foreshown  
by an ,omen may be symbolically         
fulfilled2 that some harmless semblance 
of the event may be substituted  for it1
 absorb 7as it were7 the poison of the  
menace and let the  threatened man go   
free4 ,astyages dreamed a dream which   
the ,magi  interpreted to mean that the 

child of his daughter 7married to a     
,persian7 should reign over ,asia in his
 stead--implying that the kingdom  must 
pass from the ,medes4 ,he therefore took
 measures to have the child  destroyed2 
but by a series of happy chances ,cyrus1
 the child1 escaped  and grew up2 and in
 his boyhood ,astyages discovered who he
 was1 and was  greatly alarmed4 ,so he  
sent again for the ,magi2 but they1 on  
learning  that the boys in the village  
where ,cyrus had been reared had in     
games  appointed him their king1 decided
 that this fulfilled the dream2 for1    
said they1 8he will not reign a second  
time40#cgh ,so ,cyrus lived1 and  the   
lordship of ,asia passed to the         
,persians2 for the ,magi in this case   
overestimated the value of symbols4 ,but
 all these ways of frustrating  an ,omen
 are incompatible with the              
interpretation of them by the course  of
 ,fate1 and are only fit to be believed 
in by the weaker brethren4       #i4    
,,apology ,,for ,,omens    ,it may be   

some excuse for ,omens that the         
interpretation of them was  a sort of   
gymnastic for ingenuity1 and was a means
 by which the  quick-witted maintained  
themselves in a world of violence4 ,it  
is1  moreover1 the business of those who
 undertake such work to study social    
and political conditions1 just as       
rain-doctors study the weather4 ,their  
judgment1 therefore1 may often be better
 than that of men immersed  in affairs  
and biassed by particular interests4    
,even in the lower  savagery diviners   
manage to know more than others4 ,in    
,queensland1  when a big mob has        
assembled at a camp1 diviners are       
believed to keep  their eyes and ears   
open1 sleepless--to learn who have      
death-bones1  who has operated with one1
 who has been pointed at1 etc42#cgi and 
in ,south ,africa 7two or three steps   
higher in culture7 diviners take  pains 
to obtain information as a means of     
8opening the gates of  distance40#chj   
,at ,delphi1 also1 news was welcome from

 all parts1 and  men of capacity kept a 
steady eye upon the affairs of ,greece  
and ,asia4  ,of course1 ,divination1    
like every other superstition1 was      
exploited  by politicians4 ,the ,roman  
,government1 according to ,cicero1      
maintained  the ,college of ,augurs for 
the advantage of the ,state in civil    
affairs1  although in his time the      
leaders of armies had ceased to consult 
the  ,omens3#cha and ,polybius thought  
that religion was ,rome's most useful   
institution4#chb ,a law that the comitia
 should not be held when  ,jupiter      
thundered and lightened was especially  
convenient when that  assembly was      
inconvenient2 for the official whose    
function it was had  only to declare    
that he saw lightning1 and thereupon the
 comitia broke  up4 ,probably even those
 who thus abused a superstition1 yet    
believed  7at least in times of danger7 
8there was something in it40 ,omens and 
,oracles were sought after to allay fear
 and to gain confidence1 and  often they

 gave confidence and the strength that  
goes with confidence2  or perhaps the   
rashness and folly that go with         
confidence1 and so  betrayed the        
devotee2 or1 again1 they dashed the     
courage of brave men1  and spread       
dismay1 distrust and weakness4    ,no   
superiority of mere intellect seems to  
ensure men against  participating in    
these delusions4 ,many ,stoics1 though  
highly  disciplined in ,logic1 upheld   
the practices of ,divination and        
,astrology4  ,pantius1 indeed1 rejected 
them2 and ,epictetus on moral grounds   
discouraged ,divination4 8,for10 said   
he1 8what the diviner foresees is  not  
what really concerns us4 ,we have within
 us a diviner who tells  us what good   
and evil are1 and what are the signs of 
them4 ,does the  diviner understand     
that--after all his studies of the      
viscera8 ,not what  is to happen in the 
future1 but to do as we ought whatever  
happens is  our true concern40#chc ,but 
this genuine expression of ,stoic       

thought  was abandoned by most of the   
sect in their desire to defend as much  
as  possible the popular religion4 ,they
 even staked the existence of the  gods 
upon the genuineness of ,divination3    
arguing that if ,divination  exists     
there must be gods who send ,omens2 and 
that if ,divination does  not exist     
there can be no gods--since if there are
 gods who know the  future1 and have a  
regard for mankind1 and are able to give
 warnings1  they will certainly do so4  
,therefore1 no ,divination1 no gods4#chd
  ,there is1 indeed1 a widespread       
pitiful persuasion that some provision  
must have been made whereby a man may   
foresee his future2 and so1 in  a sense1
 there is2 for the existence of order in
 nature implies the  possibility of     
foresight2 and a fanciful mind might    
regard ,divination  as the anticipatory 
manifestation of an instinct in play    
before the  faculties became capable of 
serious exercise4 ,but the play was     
taken  too seriously2 and the worst of  

it was that its inane methods diverted  
attention from the only possible        
method--if not always on the part of    
the diviner1 at least on the part of the
 great multitude1 his dupes4  ,m4 ,h4   
,a4 ,jounod says of the ,bantu tribes1  
8,divination kills any attempt  to use  
reason or experience in practical       
life40#che ,and1 clearly1 this  is      
everywhere its tendency1 be it a        
question of consulting a canary at  the 
street-corner1 whether or not we should 
marry1 or an augur rather  than an      
experienced general whether or not now  
to engage the enemy4    ,seneca#chf     
treated ,omens as a necessary           
consequence of universal ,fate3  for if 
all events are factors of one           
predetermined order1 everything  in the 
present is a sign or omen of everything 
to occur in the future2  and some       
events1 such as the flight of birds1    
have been selected as  ,omens1 merely   
because the meaning or consequents of   
these happen to  have been observed2 and

 whether ,omens are respected or        
despised1 ,fate  determines the whole   
course of events4 ,by this way of       
thinking1 as it  was fated that the     
,romans should be defeated at ,lake     
,trasimenus1 it  was also fated that the
 ,omens should be declared unfavourable 
and that  the warning should not be     
taken2 and if it was fated that the     
,romans  should be defeated at ,cann1 it
 was also fated that the ,omens should  
be  declared favourable and that they   
should be accepted4 ,a belief in ,fate  
makes ,omens useless4    ,if1 however1  
instead of ,fate 7all-comprehensive     
,magic7 or  predestination 7by a supreme
 ,god71 we regard the course of the     
world  as determined by natural         
causation1 whether ,omens or ,oracles   
may be  useful or not 7supposing them   
possible7 depends on the nature of the  
event foretold--on whether it involves  
ourselves conditionally only  or        
unconditionally4 ,omens that warn us    
against events conditionally  may be    

useful enough1 and few will think it a  
serious fault that  they discourage the 
use of reason4 ,king ,deiotarus1 having 
set out on  a journey1 was warned by an 
eagle not to go forward with it1 and he 
turned back2 and that same night the    
house at which he was to have  slept    
fell down2 so he escaped4#chg ,the      
danger was conditional on his           
continuing the journey2 and1 in the     
course of causation1 a warning  of      
danger1 whether announced by an augur or
 by our own sagacity1 may  often enable 
us to avoid it4 ,the causes of the      
future are present1 and  7within certain
 limits7 are in our power4 ,if ,i have  
reason to believe  that there will be a 
fire at the ,opera to-night1 or have a  
presentiment  of some calamity there1 ,i
 need not go2 and1 then1 ,i shall not be
 burnt  alive4 ,whether the presage come
 to me by an ,omen1 or by a message from
  a god1 or in an anonymous letter from 
one of the incendiaries who  happens to 
be a friend of mine1 cannot matter4 ,no1

 if there were gods  with intuitions of 
futurity1 or with better knowledge than 
we have  of present fact and greater    
power of calculating the consequences1  
they might make themselves useful4 ,on  
this hypothesis there is not a  priori  
any absurdity in the doctrine of ,omens4
    ,but with ,omens or ,oracles of     
magical or divine authority1 that       
foreshadow our own fate unconditionally1
 the case is different4 ,if1  for       
example1 they tell a man that he will   
die by the fall of the roof  of his own 
house1 that must be his end2 and any one
 who examines his  career afterwards    
will find that all his efforts to       
escape1 all his  pusillanimous          
crouchings and windings1 were just so   
many steps of  causation upon the road  
to inevitable doom4 ,to convey such a   
presage  serves no purpose but to fill  
the victim's last days with anxiety and 
dread3 it is as bad as cruelty to       
animals4    ,the defence of ,omens is   
mere rationalisation4 ,they took        

possession  of men's minds not in an age
 of reason1 but when beliefs were freely
  born of hope and fear1 were entirely  
practical1 were never thought  out and  
never verified4 ,whether the connection 
of ,omen with event was  conceived of   
magically or animistically1 it was      
always mysterious1 and  on that account 
was the more impressive and acceptable4 
,the uniformity  of such connexions was1
 indeed1 assumed--otherwise they were   
useless2  the same bird's call on this  
hand or on that had always the same     
significance2 but each case at first    
stood by itself2 it was what  we call 8a
 miracle40 ,even such assumption of     
causation in ordinary  cases as common  
sense implies did not compel the        
reflection that each  cause must itself 
be an effect of other causes1 and so    
again1 and so  on for ever4 ,nor did the
 assumption that spirits could foresee  
the  future require that they should    
foresee the whole future1 so as to      
imply an inviolable order of the world4 

,such considerations were left  to amuse
 or perplex a later age4 ,a great       
advance is marked by the  saying of the 
,bechuana prince to ,casalis1 that 8one 
event is the son  of another1 and we    
must never forget the genealogy40#chh   
,but quite  recently amongst ourselves  
causation was so feebly appreciated1    
even by  the most educated1 that        
testimony concerning miracles could     
still be  appealed to as a ground for   
believing something further4 ,one       
reviews  all these wonderful fossils of 
the soul which are dead and yet alive1  
not without sympathy4 ,for myself1 ,i am
 free to confess1 as they used to  say  
in ,parliament1 that ,omens and         
presentiments still haunt the shadowy   
precincts of imagination with vague     
shapes and mutterings of evils to  come2
 which when they approach will be 7,i   
suppose7 as hard and definite  as       
daylight4    ,,footnotes3    #cci ,,vi4 
c4 #bg 7,rawlinson's ,translation74     
#cdj ,williams1 ,fiji and the ,fijians1 

p4 #aeb4    #cda ,de ,acosta1 ,history  
of the ,indies1 ,,vii4 c4 #bc           
7translated by  ,c4 ,r4 ,markham74      
#cdb ,spencer and ,gillen1 ,across      
,australia1 p4 #bbj4    #cdc ,book ,i4  
cc4 #g-aj4    #cdd ,reports of the      
,cambridge ,expedition to ,torres       
,straits1 ,,vi4 p4  #bfj4    #cde ,w4   
,r4 ,halliday1 ,greek ,divination1 p4   
#ae4    #cdf ,historia ,naturalis1      
,,xxvii4 p4 #d4    #cdg ,suetonius3     
,julius1 c4 #ei4    #cdh ,hose and      
,mc,dougall1 ,pagan ,tribes of ,borneo1 
,,ii4 pp4 #ef-fd4    #cdi ,northern     
,tribes of ,central ,australia1 p4 #bff4
    #cej ,reports of the ,cambridge     
,expedition to ,torres ,straits1 ,v4 p4 
#cfa2 ,,vi4 p4 #bei4    #cea ,seligman1 
,mel4 of ,b4 ,n4 ,g41 p4 #cji4    #ceb  
,de ,divinatione1 ,i4 c4 #ai4    #cec   
,an infallible sign is1 in ,formal      
,logic1 the same as a cause1  according 
to the scheme ,if ,a1 then ,b2 and it is
 conceivable that1  with strict         
thinking1 a belief in an ,omen may give 

rise to a magical  practice4 8,for10    
says ,lord ,avebury1 8granted that the  
fall of a stick  certainly preludes that
 of the person it represents1 it follows
 that by  upsetting the stick his death 
can be caused0 7,origin of              
,civilisation1  p4 #aff74 ,i do not see 
why such an inference should not be     
drawn1 but  can give no example of it4  
,the possibility shows how much         
community  there is between ,magic and  
the lore of ,omens2 but as to this      
particular  case1 the magical cast of   
mind is already implied in the original 
setting up of the stick whose fall      
should prelude that of a given          
individual4    #ced ,coddrington1 ,the  
,melanesians1 p4 #abc4    #cee ,a4 ,w4  
,howitt1 ,native ,tribes of ,south-,east
 ,australia1 p4 #dja4    #cef ,quoted by
 ,frazer1 ,totemism and ,exogamy1 ,i4   
pp4 #dhi and #die4    #ceg ,a4 ,w4      
,howitt1 op4 cit41 p4 #chi4    #ceh ,c4 
,g4 ,seligman1 op4 cit41 p4 #ahh4       
#cei ,,vii4 c4 #af4    #cfj ,the poet is

 closely allied at first to the wizard2 
for 7besides  that the greatest spells  
and oracles are versified7 the poet is  
inspired4 ,in ,australia poets are      
sometimes carried by ghosts into        
skyland1 where they learn songs and     
dances4 ,some compose awake2  but the   
belief prevails that they are inspired  
in dreams by dead  and kindred spirits4 
,their songs travel far amongst tribes  
that no  longer understand the language4
 7,howitt1 ,native ,tribes of           
,south-,east  ,australia1 pp4 #chi and  
#dac47 ,similarly in ,fiji 7,fiji and   
the  ,fijians1 p4 #ih74 8,the poem is   
too wonderful for me0--such is the      
poet's humility2 8it was made by the    
gods0--such is his arrogance4    #cfa   
,spencer and ,gillen1 ,native ,tribes of
 ,central ,australia1 p4 #ebf4    #cfb  
,tylor1 ,primitive ,culture1 ,i4 p4     
#abe4    #cfc ,casalis1 ,les ,bassoutos1
 pp4 #bii and #cdj4    #cfd ,jounod1    
,life of a ,south ,african ,tribe1 ,i4  
#cfa4 ,this 8medicine0  is the chief's  

great store of magical force3 its       
principal ingredients  are the nails and
 hair of chiefs deceased1 fixed together
 by a kind of  wax4    #cfe ,callaway1  
,religion of the ,amazulu1 p4 #dag4     
#cff ,w4 ,ellis1 ,polynesian            
,researches1 ,,ii4 p4 #bce4    #cfg ,de 
,div41 ,,ii4 c4 #eg4    #cfh ,thomas    
,williams1 ,fiji and the ,fijians1 p4   
#aij4    #cfi ,pausanias1 ,,ix4 c4 #aj  
7,frazer's ,translation74    #cgj       
,pausanias1 ,i4 p4 #cd4    #cga ,ibid41 
,,ix4 p4 #cj4    #cgb ,spencer and      
,gillen1 ,native ,tribes of ,central    
,australia1 p4 #ebc4    #cgc ,a4 ,w4    
,howitt1 op4 cit41 p4 #djd4    #cgd     
,langloh ,parker1 ,the ,euahlayi1 p4    
#be4    #cge ,northern ,tribes of       
,central ,australia1 p4 #aha4    #cgf   
,native ,tribes of ,south-,east         
,australia1 p4 #cfg4    #cgg ,this is   
unjust to the ,australians4 ,amongst the
 ,dieri 7,l4 ,eyre7  wizards with       
renewed entrails communicate with       
supernatural beings1  interpret dreams  

and discover murderers2 but they also   
recognise  spiritual communication with 
ordinary men in visions2 not ordinary   
dreams1 which are mere fancies1 but     
those that are repeated2 and these  come
 from ,kutchi1 an evil spirit 7,howitt1 
op4 cit41 p4 #ceh74 ,we may  be sure the
 ,greeks were mistaken in supposing that
 it was ,amphiaraus  who instituted     
divination by dreams4    #cgh           
,herodotus1 ,i4 cc4 #ajg1 #bh4    #cgi  
,w4 ,e4 ,roth1 ,ethnological ,studies1  
p4 #aed4    #chj ,kidd1 ,the ,essential 
,kafir1 p4 #aic4    #cha ,de ,div41     
,,ii4 cc4 #cc1 #ce4    #chb ,polybius1  
,,vi4 c4 #b4    #chc ,discourses1 ,,ii4 
c4 #g4    #chd ,de ,div41 ,,ii4 c4 #ag2 
cf4 c4 #di4    #che ,life of a ,south   
,african ,tribe1 p4 #eba4    #chf       
,questiones ,naturales1 ,,ii4 c4 #cb4   
#chg ,de ,div41 ,i4 c4 #ae4    #chh ,les
 ,bassoutos1 p4 #bdh4          ,,chapter
 ,,viii    ,,the ,,mind ,,of ,,the      
,,wizard       #a4 ,,the ,,rise ,,and   
,,fall ,,of ,,wizardry    ,in describing

 the occult arts and those who practise 
them1 terms are  so loosely used that it
 may be convenient to premise that by   
8,wizard0  7or ,medicine-man7 is here   
meant either a magician or a sorcerer2  
that  is1 either one who puts into      
operation impersonal magical forces 7or 
so far as he does so71 or one who relies
 upon the aid 7or so far as  he does so7
 of ghosts or spirits under magical     
control4 ,it is an  objection to this   
use of the word 8sorcerer10 that it is  
often applied  to those chiefly whose   
practice is maleficent3 but there seems 
to be no  word used only in the more    
general sense2 and the difference       
between  maleficent and beneficent      
wizards1 whether magicians or sorcerers1
 will  here be marked1 when necessary1  
by the familiar epithets 8black0 and    
8white40    ,in backward societies1     
wizardry is1 or may be1 practised by    
every  man or woman2 and1 indeed1 in its
 simpler operations or observances  this
 is true at every stage of culture4 ,but

 in every kind of task it  appears that 
some men can do it better than others1  
and they attract  the attention of the  
rest2 and probably this is the beginning
 of the  differentiation of the         
professional wizard3 he is at first     
merely  one whom others ask to help them
 in certain matters1 because they       
believe that he1 more than themselves1  
has the knack of it4 ,as the  occult    
arts become complicated and dangerous   
the superiority of the  master-mind is  
more manifest4 ,we are told that amongst
 the ,tasmanians  there were no         
professional wizards or medicine-men1   
but that some  people practised more    
than others4 ,from the beginning the art
 excites  wonder1 and wonder credulity2 
and an old fellow1 who was subject to   
fits of contraction in the muscles of   
one breast1 used this mysterious        
affection to impose upon his            
neighbours4#chi ,wonder and the         
deference  it brings with it1 with the  
self-delusion of power it generates1 are

  at first the wizard's sole recompense2
 and to the end they remain his  chief  
recompense4 ,in ,australia a wizard is  
initiated 7in fact or by  repute71 and  
is in some ways a man apart from others2
 yet in several  cases it is reported   
that he receives no fees4 ,for magical  
services  amongst the ,arunta 8no reward
 of any kind is given or expected40#cij 
,sometimes a wizard expects no fee      
unless he is successful1 as among the   
,tungus1 ,yakut and ,buryats4#cia       
,generally1 the wizard earns his living 
like other men1 and merely supplements  
it by fees and presents4 ,he  rarely    
attains the professional dignity of     
living solely by his art and  mystery4  
,nevertheless in simple societies the   
wizard is a leader or a chief4 ,the     
predominance of old men in council      
depends upon their occult powers  rather
 than upon their worldly wisdom3 even   
hereditary chiefs may  have greater     
prestige through ,magic than through    
royal descent4#cib  ,i conceive that    

after the organisation of the primitive 
hunting-pack  had1 by various causes1   
been weakened or destroyed1 it was      
through  belief in ,magic that some sort
 of leadership and subordination were   
re-established3 perhaps in many         
experimental social forms1 of which     
some specimens may be found in          
,australia and survivals of others in   
all parts of the world4 ,among the      
,massim of the ,trobriand ,islands1     
hereditary chieftainship is better      
developed than anywhere to the south  or
 west2 yet 8at the back of every chief's
 power over his people is the  dread of 
sorcery1 without which ,i feel sure he  
is little more than a  cypher40#cic ,or 
the medicine-man may appear as the      
chief's rival1 as  among the ,indians of
 the upper ,amazons described by ,capt4 
,whiffen1 who  observes that in a       
contest between the medicine-man and the
 chief the  odds are in favour of the   
former1 since to his opponents death    
comes  speedily 7by poison74 ,he has    

great influence over international      
policy3  war is never made without his  
advice4 ,here we see the beginning of   
that  struggle between the temporal and 
spiritual powers which continues  with  
alternate victory and defeat through the
 whole course of history4  ,callaway#cid
 describes a ,bantu chief as inducted to
 his office by  diviners that he may be 
8really a chief0 not merely by descent4 
,a  dangerous concession6 ,but other    
,bantu chiefs are themselves wizards1   
and strive to collect all the medicine  
of the tribe in their own hands2  and   
,chaka declared he was the only diviner 
in the country4#cie ,the  rise and      
spread of the political power of        
wizards1 however1 has been  fully       
illustrated by ,sir ,j4 ,g4 ,frazer in  
the sixth chapter of ,the  ,magic ,art4 
,as animistic interpretation prevails in
 any society1 so that the  marvels of   
,magic come to be attributed to         
spiritual causes1 magicians  tend to    
become sorcerers1 and1 being thus       

associated with spirits1  may not be    
easily distinguishable from priests4    
,among the ,buryat a  shaman was a      
priest1 as knowing the will of the gods 
and directing  sacrifices1 but he was   
also an exorcist and diviner4#cif ,the  
great  majority of those who deal with  
spirits rely1 more or less openly1  upon
 both coercion and propitiation3 but we 
may say generally that an  officiant is 
a sorcerer so far as he depends upon    
coercing spirits by  ,magic2 a priest so
 far as he relies upon propitiating them
 by prayer  and sacrifice4 ,the sorcerer
 is aggressive and domineering toward   
supernatural powers2 the priest         
professes humility4 ,in any case the    
character of a cult is liable1 in course
 of time1 to change from one  side to   
the other2 and at the same time1 two men
 may officiate in the  same rites and1  
at heart1 one of them may be a priest   
and the other a  sorcerer4 ,custom gives
 the name of priest to him who1 when a  
certain  stage has been reached in the  

development of ,animism1 when gods are  
recognised1 serves and sacrifices to the
 more public and reputable  spirits4 ,a 
conflict then breaks out between him and
 the sorcerer4    ,whilst magic-beliefs 
greatly strengthen chieftainship1       
religion1  without impairing the magical
 sanction1 reinforces it with other     
ideas1  and therefore has a political   
advantage4 ,a god is often the ancestor 
of the king and the ground of his       
sovereignty2 and the king himself1  or  
his brother1 may be high-priest4 ,the   
priesthood acquires commanding  dignity2
 it shares the culture of the highest   
social rank1 and may  become almost the 
sole repository of learning and art4    
,wizards then  lose their place in the  
sun4 ,the beneficent practice of        
wizardry 7or  ,white ,magic7 is more or 
less incorporated with religious rites2 
the  maleficent practice 7or ,black     
,magic7 is forbidden and punished3 under
  polytheism because 8it is destructive 
to human life or welfare02 under        

monotheism1 as offensive to ,god4#cig   
,the sorcerer is outlawed1 and  betakes 
himself to the secret performance of    
unholy rites in dark and  unwholesome   
circumstances4 ,he may be in full       
antagonism to the official  gods1       
invoking demons or old down-trodden gods
 not yet forgotten by  the people1 and1 
in the service of demons1 inverting and 
profaning  the rites of public worship4 
,but to forbid and punish the black art 
is to punish crime1 not to persecute    
,magic as such2 whose beneficent        
practices still flourish under another  
name4 ,prof4 ,yrj ,hirn has  shown that1
 during all the ignorant and            
superstitious prosecutions of  witches  
in ,europe1 the public religious        
ceremonies and observances  were        
permeated by magical ideas4#cih ,in     
spite of the antagonism  between priest 
and sorcerer1 there is not the full     
opposition between  ,religion and       
,sorcery that exists between ,animism   
and ,magic--between  the recognition of 

caprice and the belief in               
uniformity--since the  gods themselves  
work by ,magic and may be subject to its
 powers4 ,it is  not an antagonism of   
principle1 but partly of allegiance and 
partly of  ambition4    ,the influence  
of wizards is generally extended by     
means of clubs and  secret societies3   
wizards form a marked class1 are well   
aware of it1  and are naturally drawn   
into mutual understanding4 ,in          
,australia no  regular societies seem to
 have existed1 but the medicine-men     
recognised  one another1 initiated and  
trained new-comers into the profession1 
had an esoteric tradition of rites and  
methods and fictions1 and  sometimes met
 for consultation4 ,among the savages of
 ,torres ,straits1  the maidelaig meet  
together in the bush at night1 in order 
to perform  their sorcery1 and the body 
of sorcerers can control an individual  
maidelaig2 but they appear not to have a
 definitely organised  society4#cii ,in 
,melanesia1 however1 many regular       

societies exist2#djj  and among the     
,northern ,amerinds they were numerous  
and powerful4 ,the  ,midewinian society 
of the ,ojibways is typical of these    
institutions4  ,it was the club of the  
legitimate professionals1 in contrast   
with  private practitioners1 who were   
said 7of course7 to be favoured by evil 
manidos4 ,to join the society one must  
undergo instruction1 paying  fees and   
making presents to its members4 ,it     
comprised about one-tenth  of the tribe1
 and what with influence1 what with     
perquisites1 did very  well4#dja ,in    
,africa also such societies flourish4   
,every profession1 organised or         
unorganised1 provided there be an       
understanding amongst its members1 is   
prone to acquire anti-social  interests 
and to establish a secret tradition2 and
 as long as moral  sense is very        
imperfect1 the antagonism of the        
profession to the  public may be a      
virulent evil1 as we see in the history 
of wizardry  and priestcraft4 ,both the 

profession and its tradition begin with 
practices common to all members of a    
tribe2 and the tradition grows  by      
accumulating the discoveries and        
inventions of the professionals4        
,experiment and observation are employed
 by them 7according to their  lights7   
probably from the first4 ,dr4 ,haddon   
says that1 in controlling  the wind and 
rain1 the procedure of wizards in the   
eastern islands  of ,torres ,straits was
 subject to variation1 and so doubtless 
were  the spells1 and experts relied on 
their own variants2#djb and ,prof4      
,seligman#djc observes that1 in ,british
 ,new ,guinea1 the knowledge of  8the   
departmental expert0 7wizard controlling
 rain1 or fertility of  garden1 or what 
not7 is traditionary from father to son1
 consisting  partly of magical processes
 or formul1 partly of the results of    
years of observation and thought4 ,all  
improvements in science1 art1  industry 
and humbug are made by individuals4 ,the
 cumulative tradition  becomes more     

voluminous1 the spells more intricate1  
the rites more  elaborate2 because the  
possible membership of the profession is
 thereby  narrowed1 the self-valuation  
of the initiated is heightened1 the     
wonder  and credulity of the laity is   
enhanced3 so much of the doctrine and   
discipline being allowed to transpire as
 to make this last effect a  maximum4   
,whilst tribal belief in ,magic is the  
necessary ground of the  wizard's       
existence1 he--being once               
recognised--thenceforth confirms1  sways
 and guides the tribal belief4       #b4
 ,,the ,,wizard',s ,,pretensions        
,whilst societies are formed to promote 
the common interests of wizards1  too   
severe competition amongst themselves is
 in some measure avoided  by the        
specialisation of individuals in        
different branches of their  mystery4   
,in pure ,magic there is some room for  
the division of labour  to deal with the
 weather1 or fertility1 or disease1 but 
the spread  of ,animism and the         

multiplication of fetiches and demons   
open to  the sorcerers a wide field for 
the multiplication of specialists4      
,amongst the ,beloki1 says ,mr4         
,weeks1#djd there are eighteen classes  
of  specialists2 on the lower ,congo1   
fifty4    ,by spells and rites and      
charms wizards undertake the general    
control  of ,nature4 ,they cause rain or
 drought1 determine the rising of the   
sun  and1 for this purpose1 may go every
 morning to a hill-top to summon  him4  
,an ,australian wizard claimed to have  
driven away a comet by means  of his    
sacred stones4#dje ,the adept procures a
 favourable wind for  his friends1 or   
for his enemies an adverse2 prospers the
 crops or  blights them2 controls the   
game of the hunter1 and the cattle of   
the  herdsman4 ,the height of such      
claims may be read in ,medea's boast in 
the  ,metamorphoses4#djf    ,in his own 
person the wizard may have the power of 
shape-changing  into some animal1 or    
into any animal4 ,he can fly through the

 air to  skyland to visit ,daramulun2 or
 to help dull imaginations1 he throws up
  a rope and climbs up by it1 or throws 
up a thread 7like a spider's7  and      
climbs up by that4#djg ,or he may fly to
 the moon to be the guest  of the man   
whom we see there2#djh or to the region 
of death to visit  ,erlik ,khan4#dji ,by
 daylight he only flies in the spirit1  
during a  trance2 but when it is quite  
dark he can go bodily4 ,and probably    
this  points to the origin of such      
beliefs3 for to dream that one flies is 
not uncommon2 and as in dreams we visit 
distant places1 and on waking  seem     
suddenly to have returned by no known   
means1 the analogy of flight  offers the
 easiest explanation of such            
experiences4 ,to fly is one of  the most
 ancient and persistent exploits of the 
profession3 ,european  witches flew upon
 broomsticks 7degenerate from ,siberian 
horse-staves72  ,dr4 ,faustus upon his  
magical cloak2 and 8levitation0 has been
 exhibited  by recent 8mediums40        

,wizards cause and cure love and other  
forms of sickness2 slay1 or  recall the 
soul to its accustomed habitation2      
sometimes the same man  kills and cures2
 sometimes he works only evil1 or only  
against evil2  the ,black and the ,white
 ,magicians may become well-recognised  
hostile  sects4 ,wizards discover       
thieves and murderers1 or sell a fetich 
by  whose power an evil-doer walks      
invisible1 if he takes care not to be   
seen4 ,they administer the ordeal and   
have in their power the life of  every  
one who undergoes it4 ,they interpret   
dreams1 and prophesy by the  flight of  
birds1 the fall of dice1 the making of  
shoulder-blades and  the aspect of the  
stars4    ,the sorcerer communicates    
with the ghosts of the dead or with the 
spirits of nature and1 by their aid1    
accomplishes whatever can be done  by   
,magic4 ,he is possessed by them1 and   
operates or speaks by their  power or   
inspiration2 he drives them out of      
others whom they possess1  or sends them

 on errands1 controlling them either by 
the help of  stronger spirits or by his 
profound knowledge of enchantments4     
,many of  these things he is believed to
 do best during fits or ecstasy2 which  
he  produces in himself by rhythmic     
drumming and dancing1 or by drugs1 or   
by voluntary control of a disciplined   
temperament1 to the astonishment  and   
conviction of all beholders4    ,such   
are the wizard's pretensions1 so well   
known that a brief recital  of them     
suffices2 and whilst they seem to us too
 absurd for any one  to believe1 least  
of all the wizard himself1 yet observers
 assure us  that he often does believe  
in them1 and they are certainly taken to
 be  genuine by the majority of his     
tribesmen4 ,for them his performances   
are so wonderful as to put to shame the 
achievements of scientific  invention2  
and probably this partly explains the   
frequent reports that  savages are      
deficient in wonder4 8,it takes a good  
deal to astonish  a savage10 say        

,spencer and ,gillen2 8he is brought up 
on ,magic1 and  things that strike us   
with astonishment he regards as simply  
the  exhibition of ,magic more powerful 
than any possessed by himself40#daj     
,still the blacks were astonished by the
 phonograph4 ,similarly we  are told by 
,stefnson#daa that things unusual but of
 an understood  kind--a bow that shoots 
fifty yards further than any other--may 
excite  endless marvelling amongst the  
,esquimo2 but what seems miraculous--a  
rifle-shot1 or a binocular--is compared 
with the supposed powers of the  shaman1
 who can kill an animal on the other    
side of a mountain1 or see  things that 
are to happen to-morrow4 ,our surgery1  
too1 is very inferior  to the shaman's1 
who can take out a diseased heart or    
vertebral column  and replace it with a 
sound one4       #c4 ,,characteristics  
,,of ,,the ,,wizard    7#a7 ,observers  
generally agree that the wizard1 or     
medicine-man1 is  distinguished in his  
tribe for intelligence and penetration1 

or at  least for cunning4 ,he is apt to 
impress an unsympathetic witness as     
8some fellow with more brains and less  
industry than his fellows40  ,the wizard
 amongst the ,fuegians1 says ,fitzroy1  
is the most cunning  and deceitful of   
his tribe1 and has great influence over 
his  companions4#dab ,amongst the       
,bakongo1 the witch-doctors1 according  
to ,mr4 ,weeks1 have sharp eyes1 acute  
knowledge of human nature1 and          
tact4#dac ,the ,samoyed shamans 8are1 as
 a rule1 the most intelligent  and      
cunning of the whole race40#dad ,cunning
 is plainly necessary to  the wizard's  
life1 and1 for some of his functions1   
much more than  cunning4 ,in many tribes
 his advice is asked in every difficulty
 and  upon every undertaking4 ,sir ,e4  
im ,thurn reports that the peaiman  of  
the ,arawaks learns and hands down the  
traditions of his tribe  and is the     
depository of its medical and hunting   
lore4#dae ,the  surgical skill of       
,cherokee medicine-men in the treatment 

of wounds  was considerable4#daf ,still 
greater seems to have been that of  the 
,fijians1 with no mean knowledge of     
anatomy learnt during their  incessant  
wars4#dag ,medicine-men of the ,amerinds
 discovered the  virtues of coca1 jalap1
 sarsaparilla1 chinchona1 and           
guiacum1#dah  implying on their part    
superior curiosity and observation4 ,the
 ,bantu  doctors of ,s4 ,africa employ  
aloes1 nux vomica1 castor-oil1 fern1    
rhubarb and other drugs4#dai            
,livingstone says#dbj that the doctors1 
who inherit their profession1 have      
8valuable knowledge1 the result  of long
 and close observation10 and that they  
thankfully learnt from  him--when their 
patients were not present4 ,in all parts
 of the world  some knowledge of drugs  
and of certain methods of treatment1    
such as  sweat-baths and massage1       
ligatures1 cauterisation and            
fomentation1  seems to have been        
possessed by the magical profession4 ,as
  weather-doctors and crop-guardians1   

they laid out the first rudiments  of   
astronomy and meteorology4 ,all their   
knowledge of this sort is1 of  course1  
no ,magic1 but experience and common    
sense2 though science is  not derived   
from ,magic1 the scientist does descend 
from the magician3  not1 however1 in so 
far as the magician operates by ,magic1 
but in so  far as he operates by common 
sense4 ,among the ,lushai tribes the    
name  for sorcerer1 puithiam1 means     
8great knower10#dba the equivalent  of  
our 8wizard40 ,but sorcery degrades the 
magic art of medicine by  discouraging  
with its theory of 8possession0 every   
impulse of rational  curiosity1 and by  
substituting for empirical treatment    
7however crude7  its rites of exorcism  
and propitiation4    ,in parts of the   
world so widely separated as ,siberia1  
,greenland1 the  remote back-woods of   
,brazil and ,s4 ,africa1 wizards have   
discovered  the secret of ventriloquism4
 ,everywhere they have learned the art  
of  conjuring1 without which 7especially

 the trick of 8palming07 many  of their 
performances1 and notably the           
sucking-cure1 could not be              
accomplished4 ,their practice is        
generally clumsy and easily detected by 
sophisticated whites1 but imposes upon  
their patients and the native           
bystanders4#dbb ,in ,india it is carried
 to a much higher degree of  illusion4  
,wizards often have a practical         
knowledge of some obscure  regions of   
psychology2 such as the force of        
suggestion and various  means of        
conveying it1 and the effect of         
continuous rhythmic movements  and      
noises in inducing a state of exaltation
 or of dissociation4    ,a wizard's     
tribesmen1 of course1 believe him to    
possess knowledge  absurdly in excess of
 the reality4 ,he boasts of it as the   
foundation  of his power over nature or 
over spirits2 often as a supernatural   
gift  of spirits whom he has visited1 or
 who have visited him1 and who have     
initiated him2 or else as secret        

traditionary lore4 ,it is by knowledge  
of human nature that he rules his       
fellows2 and he asserts that  knowledge 
of the names and origins of things and  
of spirits gives him  the same control  
over them4 ,in ,mr4 ,skeat's ,malay     
,magic1 incantations  addressed by a    
miner to spirits or to metals1 adjuring 
the spirits to  withdraw from his       
8claim10 or the grains of metal to      
assemble there1  contain the            
intimidating and subduing verse3        
8,i know the origin from which you      
sprang60    ,the same compelling power  
was employed--if we may trust the       
,kalevala--by ,finnish wizards2 for     
8every thing or being loses its  ability
 for evil1 as soon as some one is found 
who knows1 who proclaims  its essence1  
its origin1 its genealogy40 8,tietaja1  
which etymologically  signifies wise1 or
 learned1 is ordinarily used for        
magician40#dbc  ,it was by profound     
science that medival magicians were     
believed to  control demons2 and anybody

 celebrated for science was suspected of
  sorcery3 such as ,grosseteste1        
,albertus ,magnus1 ,roger ,bacon1       
,aquinas1  and ,raymond ,lulli2 whose   
reputation supported the credit of such 
men as  ,paracelsus and ,john ,dee4     
,the fine arts in their rudiments owe   
much to the wizards4 ,incantations  in  
verse often reach a high pitch of lyric 
fervour4 ,the words rune1  carmen1      
laulaa bear witness to the magic of     
poetry4 ,virgil and  ,taliessin have    
been famous for more than natural gifts2
 that one by  superstitious repute1 and 
this by his own vaunting4#dbd ,dancing  
and  pantomime were cultivated for their
 magical virtues4 ,primitive carving    
and painting are in many cases          
undertaken in order to influence the    
spirits1 or the animals1 or the natural 
powers they represent2 and if  ,magic   
was the motive of the recently          
discovered animal paintings dating  from
 the old ,stone ,age1 its efficacy in   
encouraging art at that remote  period  

rivalled that of religious patronage in 
some later ages4    7#b7 ,in most tribes
 the wizard needs great force of will   
and persistency  of purpose--whether    
from deliberate choice or from          
infatuation with  the profession--to    
carry him through the severe training   
that is often  exacted from candidates  
for the office2 great audacity and      
courage to  impel and sustain him in the
 practice of his art1 pestered by taboos
  and 7the sorcerer especially7 always  
beset by supernatural terrors and  often
 by more real dangers2 and unusual      
presence of mind to extricate  himself  
from very embarrassing situations4 ,it  
is true that1 in some  cases1 where the 
office of wizard is hereditary1 or may  
be assumed by  alleging the favour of   
spirits1 or some other underhand        
device--perhaps  upon the evidence of   
visions1 or by mere fraud1 or by a      
mixture of  both--we hear little of     
really serious initiatory rites2 but    
often  these formalities are very       

painful or very expensive4 ,among the   
,arunta1  there are three classes of    
wizards3 the first and second1 made by  
spirits1 undergo no severe trial--except
 the boring of a hole in their  own     
tongues and the keeping of it open1 as  
evidence of a professional  story about 
spirits who slew them with spears1 cut  
out their entrails  and replaced them   
with a new set and certain magic stones4
 ,but the  third class are initiated by 
two wizards of the first and second     
class1 who pretend to force crystal     
stones#dbe into their bleeding  bodies  
from the front of the leg up to the     
breast bone1 into the crown  of their   
heads and under the nail of the right   
forefinger4 ,this they  must suffer in  
perfect silence1 three times a day on   
three consecutive  days1 with other     
tortures1 followed by various taboos2   
and1 after all1  they do not stand as   
well with the tribe as those whom the   
spirits  have initiated4#dbf ,can there 
be any doubt that the initiatory rites  

of the third class represent the older  
magical custom1 and that the  fabulous  
initiation by spirits is an overgrowth  
of ,animism8 ,there are  clear motives  
for the change2 since the latter method 
is easily carried  out by oneself1 is   
far less painful1 and is more           
stimulating to the  imaginative belief  
of the laity1 and therefore more        
imposing4 ,for the  inverse change there
 are no motives4 ,and therefore1        
probably1 wizards  of the third class   
are really less competent than the      
others2 for the  man who1 after the new 
spirit-path has been opened up1 still   
prefers  the old road through pain and  
privation must be 7comparatively7 an    
unimaginative1 dull1 honest1 inferior   
fellow4    ,old wizards of the          
,warramunga1 receiving a new candidate  
for the  profession1 allow him during   
the process no rest2 he must stand or   
walk until quite worn out1 when he      
scarcely knows what is happening  to    
him2 deprived for a long time of water  

and food1 he becomes dazed  and         
stupefied4#dbg ,in the western islands  
of ,torres ,straits1 a novice  was taken
 into the bush by his instructor1 who   
defcated into a shell  full of water and
 made him drink it with his eyes open2  
next he must  chew certain fruits and   
plants1 which made his inside bad and   
his  skin itch2 then shark's flesh1 and1
 finally1 the decomposing flesh  of a   
dead man full of maggots4 ,he became    
very ill and half frantic4  ,few cared  
to undergo these rites2 some gave up the
 undertaking2 some  died of it4#dbh ,in 
,british ,guiana1 an aspirant to        
wizardry undergoes  long fasts1 wanders 
alone in the bush 7full of terrors to   
the timid  ,indian71 and accustoms      
himself to take large draughts of       
tobacco-juice  mixed with water1 which  
cause temporary insanity4#dbi ,across   
the  watershed to the ,s4,w41 the office
 of medicine-man is hereditary2 yet     
,waterton reports that probationers have
 to endure exhausting ordeals  and      

tortures4#dcj ,the severe training of   
the ,bantu witch-doctor kills  many     
novices4#dca ,under such conditions1    
only men of unusual force  of will1 or  
constancy of infatuation 7qualities not 
always easy to  discriminate71 can      
become wizards4 ,preparatory ritual for 
the office  of shaman among the ,buryats
 of ,siberia is elaborate1 expensive and
  intimidating3 a candidate of poor     
family is helped by the community to    
get animals for sacrifice and objects   
necessary for the rites2 but many       
shrink from the trial1 8dreading the    
vast responsibility it brings2 for  the 
gods deal severely with those who have  
undergone consecration1 and  punish with
 death any serious mistake40 ,there are 
nine degrees in the  profession1 each   
requiring a special initiation4#dcb     
,thus1 in many  cases1 the ordeal of    
initiation turns away the weak and      
incompetent1  and keeps up the wizardly 
profession at a high level of resolution
  and endurance4 ,in more sophisticated 

societies a similar result is  obtained 
by the belief that the attainment of    
magical powers depends  upon the        
undergoing of prolonged austerity in    
study1 or in privations  and tortures1  
which give a mystical right to          
supernatural power3 the  superstition   
upon which ,southey raised ,the ,curse  
of ,kehama--least  unreadable of his    
romances4    ,as for the courage that   
may be requisite for carrying on the    
wizard's  practices1 when he is the     
terror of his neighbours1 their attitude
  towards him varies1 in different      
tribes1 from the tamest toleration to   
murderous antagonism4 ,thus1 in the     
western islands of ,torres ,straits1    
,professor ,haddon never knew the       
sorcerers mobbed or violently put to    
death on account of their magical       
practices4#dcc ,in ,new ,caledonia1     
when a sorcerer causes a general famine1
 the people merely make him  presents to
 procure a return of plenty4#dcd ,among 
the ,todas1 a man who  is the victim of 

a sorcerer pays him to have the curse   
removed4#dce ,in  such cases1 effrontery
 is all the sorcerer needs4 ,on the     
other hand1  near ,finsch ,harbour in   
,new ,guinea1 a dangerous sorcerer is   
often put  to death2 and so he is       
amongst the neighbouring ,kais4#dcf     
,such in  fact is the more general      
practice2#dcg and the wizard1 carrying  
on his  profession at the risk of his   
life1 must be supported by the sort of  
fearlessness that criminals often show4 
,confronted with supernatural dangers1  
the sorcerer's need of courage  must    
depend upon the sincerity of his own    
belief in them3 a matter to  be         
discussed in the fourth section of this 
chapter4 ,if his professions  are       
veracious1 the attitude of such a man   
toward spiritual powers  cannot be      
sustained by any ordinary daring4 ,in   
the ,n4,w4 ,amazons the  shaman is the  
only one of his tribe who dares go alone
 into the haunted  forest4 ,zulu        
doctors1 who specialise as              

8heaven-herds10 fight the  ,thunderstorm
 with spear and shield until he flees   
away4#dch ,everywhere  the sorcerer     
fights the demons of disease with       
reckless valour4 ,on the  ,congo he     
drives them into some animal1 and then  
cuts its head off4 ,in  ,north ,america 
he intimidates1 quells and exorcises    
them with furious  boasting4 ,in        
,siberia1 to capture the fleeting soul  
of a patient1 he  follows it over land  
and sea and into the regions of the     
dead4 ,the  ,innuit of ,greenland       
acknowledge ,sedna as the supreme ,being
 and the  creatress of all living       
things2 yet their angakoq subdue even   
her3  one lures her from ,adlivun with a
 magic song2 whilst another1 as she     
emerges1 harpoons her with a seal-spear1
 which is then found to be  smeared with
 blood4#dci ,to obtain assistance from  
even the highest  spirits the wizard    
deceives them2 or to slay an enemy he   
usurps their  powers4 ,the ,malay       
avenges himself by making an image of   

his victim in a  shroud1 and praying    
over it as over the dead2 then he buries
 it in the  path to his victim's house1 
and says3       8,peace be to you1 ho   
prophet ,tap1 in whose charge the earth 
is6      ,lo ,i am burying the corpse of
 7name of victim7      ,i am bidden by  
the prophet ,mohammed1      ,because he 
7the victim7 was a rebel against ,god4  
,do you assist in killing him4      ,if 
you do not kill him1      ,you shall be 
a rebel against ,god1      ,a rebel     
against ,mohammed4      ,it is not ,i   
who am burying him4      ,it is ,gabriel
 who is burying him4      ,do you grant 
my prayer this day3      ,grant it by   
the grace of my petition within the fold
 of the creed          ,la ilaha1       
etc40#ddj    ,one might suppose that the
 audacity of blaspheming could rise no  
higher  than this2 but an ,egyptian     
woman1 when in labour1 was taught to    
declare  herself to be ,isis1 and to    
summon the gods to her help4 8,should   
they  refuse to come1 #8,then shall ye  

be destroyed1 ye nine gods2 the heaven  
shall no longer exist1 the earth shall  
no longer exist1 the five days  over and
 above the year shall cease to be2      
offerings shall no more be  made to the 
gods1 the lords of ,heliopolis1         
etc4'0#dda ,if the facts  were not      
before us1 it would be incredible that a
 fixed purpose of  obtaining            
supernatural aid should thus exclude    
from the mind all  thoughts of the      
divine attributes and of one's own      
insignificance4    7#c7 ,what motives   
impel a man to adopt this strange and   
hazardous  profession1 or sustain him   
amidst all the dangers and              
disappointments  of exercising it8 ,in  
the first place1 some men are oppressed 
by a  vocation toward wizardry2 just as 
amongst ourselves some men have an      
irresistible vocation to be poets1      
though that way poverty stares them  in 
the face4 ,to ordinary people these seem
 to be cases for the asylum4  ,yet we   
may understand the 8votary of the       

,muses0 by considering that  the poet1  
as the master of rhythm1 the treasurer  
of tradition1 the  arbiter of fame1 has 
had a necessary place in the ancient    
culture of  the tribes1 and greatest in 
the noblest tribes4 ,a tribe that       
produces  poets has an advantage in the 
struggle of life2 and1 accordingly1  a  
strain of poet-blood is bred in the     
tribe1 and shows itself in a  certain   
number of youths in each generation4 ,i 
think the same must be  true of wizards4
 ,they are often 8called02 the ,altaians
 believe that  no man of his free will  
becomes a shaman4#ddb ,like poets1 they 
are  sacred and possessed4 ,they are    
also very useful3 their functions in    
several ways overlap those of the poet1 
as in cherishing traditions2  and often 
they themselves are poets4 ,they give   
confidence to their  fellows amidst the 
awful imaginary dangers of savage life4 
,their  nervous temperament may raise   
the vital level of a tribe4 ,they keep  
alive the beliefs in taboo and the like 

mysterious dangers1 on which  savage    
order and morality depend2 and in many  
cases they become leaders  and          
chieftains4 ,in this way1 belief in     
,magic and ,animism seems to have  been 
the necessary scaffolding of social     
life4#ddc ,and were this all1  the      
utility of wizards would be clear4 ,but 
they often do so much and  such horrible
 mischief1 prohibiting every improvement
 and spreading  general terror1 that it 
is difficult to judge1 in such cases1   
whether  their activities leave a       
balance of good or of evil4 ,perhaps    
sometimes  the evil may exceed1 and a   
tribe may degenerate and perish of it4  
,on  the whole1 however1 there is       
certainly a balance of good1 especially 
by leadership at early stages of social 
development2 and this accounts  for the 
flourishing from age to age of the      
wizardly profession1 and for  the       
attraction it has for those of wizardly 
blood who enter it1 because  it promises
 to satisfy an innate disposition4 ,even

 in a civilised  country1 this          
disposition still1 in a few people1     
manifests itself in  the old way2 but   
for the most part has been 8sublimated0 
into other  professions4 ,of course that
 which attracts the neophyte of wizardry
 is  not the utility of the profession1 
any more than the youthful poet is      
allured by the utility of poetry4 ,that 
which appeals to the wizard of  inbred  
genius is 7besides the indulgence of his
 personal powers7 the  mystery of       
wizardry2 which excites in his soul a   
complex1 consisting  chiefly of         
curiosity as to the unknown powers that 
control nature and  spirit1 the         
fascination of fear in approaching them 
and an exaltation  of self-consciousness
 at the prospect of attaining superhuman
 wisdom  and authority4 ,the article on 
,shamanism1#ddd which ,i have cited so  
often1 describes the shaman as sometimes
 profoundly convinced that he  was      
chosen for the service of the spirits2  
and says that some feel  a compulsive   

vocation1 and endure persecution for    
their faith2 they  cannot help          
shamanising4 ,one is mentioned as having
 been gifted with a  sensitive nature   
and an ardent imagination1 he had a     
strong belief in  the spirits and in his
 own mysterious intercourse with them4  
,men of such a temperament1 ,i take it1 
distinguishing themselves  above others 
when every man practised magic or       
sorcery1 founded the  profession1 and   
are always its vital nucleus1 though in 
time they  may become but a small       
proportion of its members4 ,under       
sincere  infatuation they established   
its observances--the fastings1          
sufferings1  austerities1 visions and   
frenzies of initiation1 whether into    
magical  knowledge or spiritual         
possession2 the working of themselves   
up1  whilst officiating1 into the       
orgiastic intoxication in which they    
felt  their own greatness and dominated 
their audience2 and they discovered     
some of the modes of operating by drugs 

and suggestion and some real  remedies4 
,but the profession1 once formed1 soon  
had attractions for  a very different   
sort of man1 impelled by very different 
motives2  who saw in it the road        
sometimes to wealth1 always to          
reputation and  power4 ,since1 amongst  
very primitive people there is little   
wealth  to collect1 and sometimes 7as we
 have seen7 remuneration of magical     
services is neither given nor expected1 
the earlier of these motives  must have 
been the love of causing wonder and     
fear1 of the power which  their fellows'
 fears conferred and of the reputation  
which consequently  spread far and wide4
 ,in ,mota 7,melanesia7 a man in control
 of magical  virtue will render services
 without reward1 merely to add to his   
reputation for the possession of        
mana4#dde ,at first they seem to  have  
had no privileges1 but power acquires   
privilege3 so that1 among  the          
,warramunga1 wizards are free from      
sexual taboos2#ddf in ,guiana no        

tribesman dares refuse the sorcerer     
anything1 not even his wife2#ddg  among 
the ,boloki1 the sorcerer is never      
charged with injurious  witchcraft and1 
therefore1 is never in danger of the    
ordeal4#ddh    ,sometimes1 indeed1 the  
wizard may not be respected in private  
life1  but only in the exercise of his  
office4 ,fear and wonder1 in fact1 do   
not always entirely blind the eyes of   
neighbours to his shortcomings4         
,spencer and ,gillen tell us that the   
,magic of distant places1 being  the    
less known1 is the more feared4#ddi ,the
 ,rev4 ,j4 ,h4 ,weeks even  says that on
 the ,congo the village medicine-man is 
seldom engaged at  home2 for the people 
know that his fetich cannot protect him 
or his  from harm and1 therefore1 hire  
some one from another village of whom   
they know less4#dej ,similarly1 a tribe 
is apt to fear its own adepts  less than
 those of another tribe of lower        
culture1 whose ways are less  known and 
more mysterious3 as ,malays fear        

especially the ,jakuns2#dea  formerly   
the ,swedes the ,finns1 and the ,finns  
the ,lapps2 the ,todas the              
,kurumba2#deb and in ,macedonia         
,mohammedan monks enjoy a far higher    
reputation for ,magic than the          
,christian4#dec    ,still1 the wizard1  
whether of home or foreign growth1      
becomes necessary  in every crisis of   
life1 at birth and marriage1 in         
misfortune1 sickness  and death2 in     
every undertaking--hunting1 agriculture 
or commerce2  and by his omens and      
auguries may determine war and peace4   
,after his  own death1 he may sometimes 
look forward to being deified4 ,with    
such  powers1 surrounded by intimidated 
and dependent crowds1 and often         
enjoying a long career of conscious or  
unconscious imposture1 he seems  to     
himself1 as to others1 a 8superman02 his
 ,selbstgefhl rises to  megalomania1 and
 his boasting becomes monstrous and     
stupefying4    7#d7 ,the more to impress
 the imagination of all spectators and  

enhance  his reputation1 the wizard     
usually affects a costume1 or behaviour1
  or strange companionship of animals1  
that distinguishes him from the  rest of
 his tribe4 ,not always2 for ,miss      
,czaplicka#ded says that in  ,siberia   
the shaman is in everyday life not      
distinguished from others1  except      
occasionally by a haughty demeanour2 but
 the rule is otherwise4  ,a4 ,w4        
,howitt#dee relates that one ,australian
 medicine-man obtained  influence by    
always carrying about with him a        
lace-lizard four feet  long2 another    
cherished a tame brown snake2 and an old
 woman kept a  native cat 7,daysurus73  
8familiars0 that correspond to the black
 cats  and goats of our own witches4    
,the ,arunta medicine-man bores a hole  
in his tongue1 appears with a broad band
 of powdered charcoal and  fat across   
the bridge of his nose and learns to    
look preternaturally  solemn1 as one    
possessing knowledge hidden from        
ordinary men4#def ,in  the forest of the

 upper ,amazons1 the medicine-man does  
not depilate1  though the rest of his   
tribe do so to distinguish themselves   
from  monkeys2 and he attempts to       
present in his costume something        
original  and striking4#deg ,in ,s4     
,africa1 too1 the witch-doctor's dress  
is often  very conspicuous4 ,so it is   
throughout history3 the thaumaturgist1  
by  his wand1 robes1 austerities1       
demeanour1 advertises himself as a man  
apart from the crowd4 ,rites of         
initiation mark this superiority3 as    
tribal initiation separates a man from  
women and boys1 so the wizard's         
initiation makes him a 8superman40      
7#e7 ,such a temper cannot endure       
opposition1 and is jealous of  rivalry2 
the man whom it actuates lives in       
constant fear of failure  and discredit 
and is1 therefore1 full of suspicion and
 cruelty4 ,in  ,s4 ,africa1 professional
 hatred is pushed to its last limits    
amongst  magicians4 ,they test their    
colleagues1 steal each other's drugs1 or

  pray to the gods to make their rival's
 art inefficient4#deh ,the savage       
sorcerer looks with no kindly eye upon  
the ,european2 who1 too plainly1        
possesses extraordinary ,magic4 ,captain
 ,whiffen says#dei of the  sorcerer     
amongst the ,south ,amerinds1 who has   
much knowledge of poisons1  that to     
maintain his reputation1 if he has      
declared that he cannot cure  a patient1
 he poisons him4 ,of the sorcerer of the
 ,lower ,congo1 ,mr4  ,weeks says1 that 
8his face becomes ugly1 repulsive1 the  
canvas on which  cruelty1 chicanery1    
hatred and all devilish passions are    
portrayed with  repellent accuracy40#dfj
 ,an extreme case perhaps2 but1 leading 
up to  it1 there are all degrees of     
rancour and malignity toward those who  
hinder our ambitions2 and it can only be
 in exceptional magicians that          
megalomania is reconcilable with        
considerateness and magnanimity4    7#f7
 ,since the greater part of the wizard's
 practice is imposture  7whether he     

believes in himself or not71 he must be 
an actor2 and his  success must greatly 
depend on the degree in which he        
possesses the  actor's special gifts and
 temperament3 an audience must be a     
stimulus  to him and not a check2 he    
exhibits himself not unwillingly4 ,to   
the  shaman1 ,miss ,czaplicka tells     
us1#dfa an audience is useful3 though   
the presence of an ,european is         
depressing4 ,a ,chuckchee shaman without
  a sort of chorus considers himself    
unable to discharge his office3  novices
 in training usually get a brother or   
sister to respond to their  exercises4  
,and1 indeed1 a wizard's exhibitions    
often provide without  design the same  
sort of social entertainment as those of
 an actor4  ,one cannot read of the     
shaman's performance of a pantomimic    
journey  on horseback to the ,south1    
over frozen mountains1 burning deserts1 
and along the bridge of a single hair1  
stretched across a chasm over  foaming  
whirlpools1 to ,erlik ,khan's abode1 and

 then home again on the  back of a      
flying goose1 without perceiving that in
 the wilds of ,siberia  such an         
entertainment1 whatever other virtues it
 may have1 supplies the  want of        
theatres and music-halls1 and that in   
such displays a dramatic  profession    
might originate4    ,but there are two  
kinds of actors2 and they correspond    
well enough with  the two kinds of      
wizards already described--the          
vocational and the  exploitative4 ,some 
actors are said to identify themselves  
with their  assumed character and       
situation so profoundly as to           
substantiate the  fiction3 concentration
 of imagination1 amounting to           
dissociation1 makes  the part they play1
 whilst it lasts1 more real than        
anything else2 and  raises them1 for    
that time1 in energy of thought1 feeling
 and action1  much above their ordinary 
powers2 so that they compel the         
attention1  sympathy and belief of the  
audience4 ,but others study their part  

and  determine beforehand exactly what  
tones1 gestures1 expressions are the    
most effective reinforcement of every   
word1 and thereafter carry out  upon the
 stage in cold blood the whole dramatic 
lesson which they have  taught          
themselves4 ,perhaps more common than   
either of these extreme  types is the   
actor who begins by studying under a    
sort of inspiration1  and after         
experimenting for a few nights1 repeats 
what he has found to  answer best4 ,we  
need not consider those who can do      
nothing but what  they have been taught 
by others4 ,well1 the wizard by vocation
 probably  behaves like the first kind  
of actor3 enters upon any office to     
which  he may be called in exclusive    
devotion to his task2 works himself into
  a frenzy1 groans1 writhes and sweats  
under the possession of his demon2      
chants incantations in an archaic       
tongue2 drums and dances by the  hour1  
and falls into speechless               
trance--according to the professional   

pattern--all in what may be described as
 dramatic good faith4 ,by native        
disposition and by practised            
self-suggestion he obtains a temporary  
dissociation4 ,the opposite sort of     
wizard1 exploiting the profession1  sees
 all this1 and imitates it with such    
improvements as he may be  able to      
devise4 ,of the intervening crowd of    
charlatans1 who mingle  self-delusion   
with deceit in all possible proportions1
 no definite  account can be given4     
,according to ,diderot1#dfb the greatest
 actors belong to the second  class1 to 
the deliberate and disciplined artists4 
,we may be sure the  gods in the        
gallery1 if they understood what was    
going on under their  eyes1 would always
 prefer the inspired performers4        
,probably these are1  in fact1 the      
greatest in their best hours1 but less  
to be depended on1  less sure of being  
always equal to themselves4 ,and the    
same may be  true of the corresponding  
sorts of wizards4 ,the lucid impostor1  

at any  rate1 is less likely to be      
abashed by unforeseen difficulties and  
by  the awkwardness of failure1 less    
likely to be mobbed and murdered and    
pegged down in his grave with aspen     
stakes4    7#g7 ,wizards are very often 
people who manifest an hysterical or    
epileptoid diathesis2 and candidates for
 the profession who show signs  of it   
are often preferred by the doctors4     
,according to ,miss ,czaplicka1         
hysteria 7common in ,siberia7 is at the 
bottom of the shaman's vocation3  but it
 is not merely a matter of climate2 for 
the ,rev4 ,e4 ,t4 ,bryant  writes of the
 ,zulus--8the great majority of diviners
 being clearly of  neurotic type02#dfc  
and on all sides we obtain from         
descriptions of  wizards the same       
impression4 ,the word 8shaman0 comes    
not1 as usually  supposed1 from the     
,sanskrit 7ramana  work1 a religious    
mendicant71  but from saman1 which is   
,manchu for 8one who is excited1 moved1 
raised40#dfd ,the effect on the audience

 of shamanising depends in  great       
measure upon the fits1 ecstasy1         
convulsions introduced at some  stage of
 the performance and attributed to      
possession by the spirits4  ,similar    
exhibitions have been reported by all   
observers of wizardry4  ,professor ,otto
 ,stoll of ,zurich has described#dfe the
 phenomena as they  occur in all        
countries and all ages2 and he          
attributes them1 as well as             
hallucinations and analgesia 7as in the 
fire-walk71 which wizards also  have at 
command1 to the power of self-suggestion
 acquired by practice  and training1 on 
the basis 7of course7 of a natural      
disposition4  ,cagliostro declared that 
he could smell atheists and blasphemers2
 8the  vapour from such throws him into 
epileptic fits2 into which sacred       
disorder he1 like a true juggler1 has   
the art of falling when he  likes40#dff 
,the wizard's fits are voluntarily      
induced2 but from the  moment the attack
 takes place the development of its     

symptoms becomes  automatic4 ,between   
the fits1 however1 says ,miss           
,czaplicka1 he must be  able to master  
himself1 or else he becomes incapable of
 his profession3  nervous and excitable 
often to the verge of insanity1 if he   
passes that  verge he must retire4#dfg  
,in short1 his ecstasy is the           
climacterical  scene of his dramatic    
performance1 the whole of which must be 
rendered  with the disciplined accuracy 
of an artist4 ,we are not to think of   
the  shaman as an hysterical patient3 if
 he were1 there would be greater1  not  
less1 reason to suspect him of deceit4  
,no doubt the training which  gives     
control of the nervous attack protects  
the subject from its  unwholesome       
consequences2 there seems to be no      
special liability to  disease or to a   
shortening of life4 ,formerly in        
,siberia1 before the  power of the      
profession was broken by immigrant      
beliefs and practices1  it was necessary
 that the shaman should be              

well-developed mentally  and physically 
7as has often been required of priests72
 and such a  constitution is by no means
 incompatible with an intense histrionic
  temperament4    ,a necessary          
complement to the suggestive devices of 
a wizard is the  suggestibility of his  
clients4 ,there is such a thing as an   
assenting or  a dissenting              
disposition--suggestibility or          
contrasuggestibility2 but  the latter   
is1 like the former1 a tendency to react
 without reflection1  and may be as well
 controlled by appropriate suggestions4 
,the power  of any given suggestion to  
control the course of a man's thought   
and  action depends upon the resistance 
7apart from contra-suggestibility7      
which it meets with in his mind2 and    
this depends upon the extent1  quality  
and integration of his apperceptive     
masses1 and upon the  facility with     
which they come into action4 ,upon the  
perceptual plane a  savage's mind is    
well organised1 and accordingly his     

suggestibility is  low2 but upon the    
ideational plane it is in most cases ill
 organised1  poor in analysis1          
classification1 generalisation1 poor in 
knowledge1  abounding in                
imagination-beliefs about ,magic and    
,animism2 so that1  except in natural   
sceptics 7who1 as we shall see1 exist   
among savages71  the suggestions of the 
wizard meet with little resistance from 
common  sense and with ready acceptance 
by magical and animistic prejudice4     
,but even with a man of common sense1 a 
suggestion1 however absurd1  may for a  
time prevail1 if his mental reaction is 
slow2 although1  with time for          
reflection1 he will certainly reject it4
 ,the art of the  wizard consists in    
getting such hold of his client's       
attention that1  as in hypnosis1 the    
power of reflective comparison is       
suspended and  criticism abolished4     
,there are many masters of this art4    
,the client's  state of mind is very    
common in the effects of oratory1 the   

theatre1  ghost-stories and generally in
 the propagation of opinion1 suspicion  
and prejudice4       #d4 ,,the ,,wizard 
,,and ,,the ,,sceptic    ,inasmuch as   
the wizard's boasting1 conjuring1       
ventriloquising1  dramatising and       
practising of all the arts of           
suggestion1 seem  incompatible with     
sincerity1 whilst nevertheless he is    
devoted to his  calling1 some observers 
have declared him a calculating         
impostor1  whilst others maintain that  
he1 in various degrees1 believes in     
himself  and shares the delusions which 
he propagates4 ,examples may be found in
  support of either position4    ,some  
say that the wizard believes in himself 
because all others believe  in him2 that
 at a certain level of culture1 there is
 an universal  social obsession by      
certain ideas1 from which the individual
 cannot  escape1 and for whose          
consequences1 therefore1 he is not      
responsible4  ,according to this theory1
 a sort of tribal insanity prevails4    

,dr4  ,mercier says that1 in the        
individual1 paranoia is characterised   
by systematised delusion3 8there is an  
organised body of 7false7  knowledge1   
and it differs from other delusions in  
the fact that it  colours the whole life
 of the patient2 it regulates his daily 
conduct2  it provides him with an       
explanation of all his experiences2 it  
is his  theory of the cosmos40 ,and1    
again1 8as long as the highest level of 
thought is intact1 so that we can and do
 recognise that our mistakes  are       
mistakes and our disorders1 whether of  
mind or conduct1 are  disorders1 so long
 sanity is unaffected1 and our mistakes 
and disorders  are sane4 ,as soon1      
however1 as we become incompetent to    
make this  adjustment 444 insanity is   
established40#dfh ,these passages       
exactly  describe the condition of a    
wizard and his tribe afflicted with     
social  paranoia3 their theories of     
,magic and ,animism and of the wizard's 
relations with invisible powers1 may    

truly be said to form an organised  body
 of 7false7 knowledge1 to colour all    
their lives1 to explain  everything that
 happens to them2 and their mistakes and
 disorders to  be incorrigible by       
reflection or experience4 ,such         
conditions of the  social mind have1 ,i 
believe1 existed 7and may still exist71 
tending  toward1 and sometimes ending   
in1 a tribe's destruction4 ,that1 in    
such  a case1 there should be unanimity 
is not necessary2 it is enough that  the
 current of belief1 in certain          
directions1 be overwhelming4 ,but such  
extreme cases are rare4 ,normally there 
may be found1 even in backward  tribes1 
a good deal of incredulity and of what  
may be called primitive  rationalism or 
positivism4    ,considerable sections of
 a tribe sometimes co-operate in        
imposture1 the  men against the women   
and children1 or the old against the    
young2 and  it cannot be supposed that1 
where this occurs1 anything like        
universal  delusion prevails4 ,the      

,arunta1 who teach their women and      
children that  ,twanyiriki is a spirit  
living in wild regions1 who attends     
initiations1  and that the noise of the 
bull-roarer is his voice2 whilst they   
reveal  to the youths when initiated    
that the bundle of churinga is the true 
,twanyiriki1#dfi cannot be blind to the 
existence of social fictions4  ,the     
discovery by initiated youths in some   
parts of ,new ,guinea1 that  ,balum1 the
 monster that is believed to swallow    
them during initiation1  is nothing but 
a bug-a-boo1 and that his growl is only 
the bull-roarer1  must be a shock to    
their credulity4#dgj ,indeed1           
disillusionment as  to some popular     
superstition is a common characteristic 
of initiation  ceremonies4#dga ,on the  
mainland of ,new ,caledonia1 a          
spirit-night is  held every five months2
 when the people assemble around a cave 
and  call upon the ghosts1 supposed to  
be inside it1 to sing2 and they do      
sing--the nasal squeak of old men and   

women predominating4#dgb ,there  is not 
in such cases any natural growth of     
social delusion1 subduing  the          
individual mind1 but prearranged        
cozenage2 and a wizard with such        
surroundings1 instead of being confirmed
 in the genuineness of his art1  only   
reads there the method of his own       
imposture in large type4#dgc            
,home-bred wizards1 who are less trusted
 than those who live further  off1 or   
than those of an inferior tribe1 do not 
derive self-confidence  from the        
unanimous approval of their neighbours4 
,again1 the general prevalence of       
delusions in a tribe does not  suppress 
the scepticism of individuals4 ,it is   
reasonable to expect  such scepticism to
 be most prevalent amongst men of rank1 
who are  comparatively exempt from the  
oppression of popular sanctions2 and    
probably this is the fact4 ,such        
exemption1 by preserving a nucleus  of  
relatively sane people1 is one of the   
great social utilities of  rank4 ,the   

,basuto chief1 ,mokatchan1 surrounded by
 people grossly  superstitious1 lent    
himself to their practices2 but in      
paying his  diviners he did not hesitate
 so say 8that he regarded them as the   
biggest impostors in the world40#dgd ,in
 ,fiji1 it is doubtful whether  the high
 chiefs believed in the inspiration of  
the priests1 though it  suited their    
policy to appear to do so4 ,there was an
 understanding  between the two orders3 
one got sacrifices 7food71 the other    
good  oracles4 ,a chieftain1 on         
receiving an unfavourable oracle1 said  
to  the priest3 8,who are you8 ,who is  
your god8 ,if you make a stir1 ,i will  
eat you0#dge--not metaphorically4 ,in   
,tonga1 8even seventeen years  before   
the arrival of the first missionaries1  
the chiefs did not  care to conceal     
their scepticism40 ,in ,vavou1          
,taufaahan1 having long  been sceptical 
of his ancestral faith1 on learning of  
,christianity1  hanged five idols by the
 neck1 beat the priestess1 and burned   

the  spirit-houses4#dgf ,the ,vikings1  
like the ,homeric heroes1 are said  to  
have fought their gods2 and at other    
times to have declared  entire disbelief
 in them4 ,hence the easy conversion of 
the ,north to  ,christianity4           
,scepticism may have been fashionable at
 court much  earlier3 8,it is scarcely  
possible to doubt10 says ,mr4 ,chadwick1
  8that familiarity1 not to say levity1 
in the treatment of the gods            
characterised the ,heroic ,age          
,teutonic--,a4,d4 #cej-eej just as much 
as  that of the ,vikings40#dgg ,the     
burlesque representations of the gods   
in some passages of the ,iliad are a    
sort of atheism3 in astonishing         
contrast with the sublime piety         
elsewhere expressed4 ,and the inadequacy
  of such a literary religion 7like that
 of ,valhalla7 may explain the  facile  
reception 7or revival7 of the ,mysteries
 in the sixth century  ,b4,c4 ,history  
abounds with examples of rulers and     
priests who1 in  collusion1 have used   

religion for political convenience1 in a
 way that  implied their own disbelief  
and opened unintentionally the doors of 
disbelief to others4    ,but it is not  
only chiefs and heroes whose minds are  
sometimes  emancipated from popular     
superstitions4 ,an old ,australian whose
 duty  it was to watch the bones of a   
dead man and to keep alight a fire near 
them1 sold them for some tobacco and a  
tomahawk1 in great fear lest  it should 
be known to his tribesmen2 but he       
8evidently suffered from  no qualms of  
conscience03#dgh that is to say1 he     
feared the living1  but not the dead4   
,w4 ,stanbridge says of the aborigines  
of ,victoria  that 8there are doctors or
 priests of several vocations2 of the   
rain1  of rivers and of human diseases  
444 but there are natives who refuse  to
 become doctors and disbelieve          
altogether the pretensions of those     
persons40#dgi ,john ,matthew writes of  
the tribe with which he was best        
acquainted--8whilst the blacks had a    

term for ghosts and behind these  were  
departed spirits1 444 individual men    
would tell you upon inquiry  that they  
believed that death was the last of     
them40#dhj ,near ,cape  ,king ,william  
in ,new ,guinea1 there is a general     
belief in spirits and  ghosts and also  
in one ,mate2 but some whisper that     
there is no such  being4#dha ,the       
,bakongo villagers do not believe in all
 witchcraft2 but  respect some          
sorcerers1 and regard others with more  
or less contempt3  every man1 however1  
must profess belief1 or else 8his life  
will be made  wretched by accusations of
 witchcraft40#dhb ,before missionaries  
came  amongst the ,baloki1 many people  
had no faith in the medicine-men1 but   
would not oppose them for fear of being 
charged with witchcraft4#dhc  ,the      
religious convictions of the ,zulus were
 very shallow2 belief in  the           
spirit-world depended on prosperity3    
8fullness declares the ,itongo  exists2 
affliction says it does not exist40 444 

8,for my part1 ,i say  the ,amadhlozi of
 our house died forever40#dhd ,capt4    
,whiffen reports  of the tribes of ,s4  
,amerinds whom he visited that1 8among  
individuals  there are sceptics of every
 grade40#dhe ,whilst all ,dakotas       
reverence  the great1 intangible1       
mysterious power ,takoo-,wahkon1 as to  
particular  divinities1 any man may     
worship some and despise others4 8,one  
speaks  of the medicine-dance with      
respect2 another smiles at the name40   
,the  ,assiniboin generally believe that
 good ghosts migrate to the south  where
 game is abundant2 whilst the wicked go 
northward2 but some think  that death   
ends all4#dhf ,at ,ureparapara 7,banks  
,islands7 food is buried  with a corpse2
 and 8if there be too much1 some is hung
 above the grave1  whence the bolder    
people take it secretly and eat it40#dhg
 ,disbelief  is expressed in actions    
more emphatically than in words2 the    
plundering  of tombs has been universal4
 ,an idol-maker of ,maeva assured ,ellis

 that1  8although at times he thought it
 was all deception and only practised   
his trade for gain1 yet at other times  
he really thought the gods he  himself  
had made were powerful beings40#dhh ,in 
,tonga it was orthodox  that chiefs and 
their retainers were immortal1 doubtful 
whether men of  the third rank were so1 
certain that those of the lowest rank1  
,tooas1  were not2 their souls died with
 the body2 yet some of these ,tooas     
ventured to think that they too would   
live again4#dhi ,a sceptical  ,kayan    
could hardly believe that men continue  
to exist after death2 for  then they    
would return to visit those they love4  
8,but10 he concluded1  8who knows80 ,the
 traditionary lore of the ,kayans       
answers many deep  questions2 but the   
keener intelligences inquire            
further--8why do the  dead become       
visible only in dreams80 etc4#dij ,a    
,tanghul told me1 says  ,mr4 ,t4 ,c4    
,hodson1 that no one had ever seen a    
,lai 7deity73 when things  happened men 

said a ,lai had done it4 8,in his view  
clearly a ,lai was a  mere              
hypothesis40#dia    ,of such examples of
 the occurrence of 8free-thought0 in all
 parts of  the world1 no doubt1 a little
 investigation would discover many more4
  ,everywhere some savages think for    
themselves2 though1 like civilised      
folk1 they cannot always venture to avow
 their conclusions4 ,we must  not       
suppose that belief is as uniform as    
custom or conventional  doctrine3 custom
 and convention hinder thought in dull  
people1 but  do not enslave it in the   
8keener intelligence40 ,without the     
enviable  advantage of personal intimacy
 with savages1 ,i have1 by reading about
  them1 gained the impression that they 
enjoy a considerable measure of         
individuality--as much as the less      
educated ,europeans--and are not mere   
creatures of a social environment4      
,the most backward savages have a large 
stock of common sense concerning  the   
properties of bodies1 of wind and water 

and fire1 of plants and  animals and    
human nature2 for this is the necessary 
ground of their  life4 ,this common     
sense has certain characters which are  
in conflict  with their superstitions2  
the facts known to common sense are     
regular1  proportional1 the same for    
all2 not often failing and needing      
excuses1  not extravagant and           
disconnected1 not depending on the      
presence of some  fantastic mountebank4 
,savages do not draw explicitly the     
comparisons  that make this conflict    
apparent2 but it may be felt without    
being  defined4 ,some of them1          
especially1 are 7as amongst ourselves7  
naturally inclined to a positive way of 
thinking2 their common sense            
predominates over the suggestions of    
,magic and ,animism1 and they1  more    
than others aware of the conflict1      
become the proto-sceptics  or           
rationalists4 ,lecky observes that      
beliefs and changes of belief  depend   
not upon definite arguments1 but upon   

habits of thought4 ,in the  seventeenth 
century a new habit of thought overcame 
the belief in  witchcraft and           
miracles2#dib and in many other         
centuries it has  everywhere done the   
same for those in whom the 8apperceptive
 mass0 of  common sense became more or  
less clearly and steadily a standard of 
belief1 repelling the apperceptive      
masses of ,magic and ,animism with all  
their contents and alliances4 ,they had 
more definite ideas than others1  little
 love of the marvellous1 little         
subjection to fear1 desire1             
imagination4    ,sometimes the dictates 
of common sense are imposed by          
necessity4 ,the  ,motu 7,papuasian7 were
 accustomed to rub spears with ginger to
 make  them fly straight4 ,it had1      
however1 been discovered that no amount 
of ,magic would turn a poor spearman    
into an accurate thrower4#dic           
,spear-throwing is too serious a concern
 not to be judged of upon its  merits1  
however interesting the properties of   

ginger4 ,a whole tribe may  in some     
vital matter1 whilst practising a       
superstitious rite1 disregard  its      
significance3 like the ,kalims1 who hold
 a crop-festival in ,january1  and      
afterwards take the omens as to what    
ground shall be cultivated for  next    
harvest2 8but this seems a relic of old 
times1 for the circle of  cultivation is
 never broken1 let the omens be what    
they may40#did ,that  is a tacit triumph
 of common sense4    ,the bearing of all
 this on the character of the wizard is 
as follows3  since everywhere sceptics  
occur1 and some individuals go further  
than  others in openly or secretly      
rejecting superstitions1 why should not 
the wizard or sorcerer1 who is amongst  
the most intelligent and daring  of his 
tribe1 be himself a rationalist and1    
therefore1 a conscious  impostor8 ,that 
much of his art is imposture no one     
disputes2 and so far  as it is so1 he   
sees it as part of the ordinary course  
of experience4  ,the sorcerer on the    

,congo who drove a spirit into the dark 
corner of  a hut1 stabbed it there1 and 
showed the blood upon his spear1 having 
produced the blood 7as his son confessed
 to ,mr4 ,weeks7 by scratching  his own 
gums1 was by that action himself        
instructed in common  sense4#die ,he saw
 in it quite plainly an ordinary course 
of events1  the 8routine of experience02
 whilst the spectators were mystified4  
,must  he not1 then1 have more common   
sense than other people8    ,in fact1 he
 recognises the course of nature and his
 own impotence1  whenever an attempt to 
conjure would endanger his reputation4  
,the  ,arunta medicine-men exhibit great
 dramatic action in curing various      
diseases2 but waste no antics on        
recognisable senile decay4#dif ,the     
medicine-man of ,torres ,straits admits 
that he cannot make a 8big wind0  from  
the south-east during the north-west    
season4#dig ,the ,polynesian  sorcerers 
confessed their practices harmless to   
,europeans2#dih--who  were not          

suggestible on that plane of ideas4     
,shamans amongst the  ,yakuts would not 
try to cure diarrha1 small-pox1         
syphilis1 scrofula  or leprosy1 and     
would not shamanise in a house where    
small-pox had  been4#dii ,these         
miracle-mongers sometimes know a hawk   
from a handsaw4  ,it seems reasonable1  
then1 to assume that wizards have more  
common  sense than other people2 since1 
besides the instruction of common       
experience1 they know in their          
professional practice 7at least in  a   
superficial way7 the real course of     
events1 which is concealed  from the    
laity4 ,and1 no doubt1 of those whose   
art is deliberate  imposture1 this is   
true4 ,but the infatuation of those who 
are wizards  by vocation may be         
incorrigible by any kind of evidence3   
especially  as to the genuineness of    
another's performance4 ,dr4 ,rivers     
speaks of  the blindness of the man of  
rude culture to deceitful proceedings on
  the part of others with which he is   

familiar in his own actions4#ejj  ,for  
the wizard there are established        
prejudices1 professional and  personal  
interest1 fear of trusting his own      
judgment1 supernatural  responsibility1 
desire of superhuman power1 sometimes   
even a passionate  desire to alleviate  
the sufferings of his tribesmen1 and    
everything  else that confirms the will 
to believe4      #e4 ,,the ,,wizard',s  
,,persuasion    ,many practices of      
wizards involve a representation of the 
course of  events as something very     
different from the reality2 and there is
  no doubt that frequently1 or even in  
most cases1 wizards are aware  of this1 
as in performing the sucking cure or    
visiting the man in  the moon4 ,but some
 anthropologists dislike to hear such   
practices  described as 8fraud10        
8imposture0 or 8deceit02 and for certain
 classes  of wizards it seems 7as ,i    
shall show7 unjust to speak in these    
terms  of their profession4 ,still1     
taking the profession and its actions on

  the whole1 it is difficult to find in 
popular language terms more  fairly     
descriptive4 ,we meet here the          
inconvenience that other social or      
moral sciences find when they try to use
 common words in a specially  restricted
 sense4 ,in ,economics1 e4 g41 8rent10  
8wages10 8profits0  have definite       
meanings very different from their      
popular acceptance4 ,in  ,ethics1 what  
controversy1 what confusion in the      
defining of 8virtue0  and 8the good06   
,in ,metaphysics1 what is the meaning of
 8cause02 what is  the meaning of       
8intuition08 ,the terms must be defined 
in each system4  ,if then1 in these     
pages1 the conduct of a man who1 on his 
way to cure  a sufferer of 8stitch in   
the side10 conceals in his mouth a piece
 of  bone or pebble1 and after dancing1 
and sucking hard enough at the          
patient's belly1 produces that bone or  
pebble as the cause of pain--is         
described as 8fraud10 or 8imposture10 or
 8deceit10 the words are used  to       

describe the fact only1 without any such
 imputation upon the man's  character as
 they convey in popular usage4          
,scientifically considered1  the man and
 his circumstances being such as they   
are1 his actions are a  necessary       
consequence2 in this limited region of  
thought moral censure  is irrelevant4   
,there are some wizards1 as it were in  
minor orders1 such as ,professor        
,seligman calls 8departmental experts10 
especially the man who blesses  gardens1
 so earnest and harmless that no one    
will abuse them4 ,they  visit the garden
 at the owner's request1 practise a     
little hocus-pocus1  mutter a few       
spells1 take a small fee and go         
peaceably home4 ,the owner  indeed      
supposes himself to buy fertility1 and  
obtains only peace of  mind--a greater  
good say the moralists4 ,the wizard has 
done what he  learnt of his father1 what
 respectable neighbours approve of2     
there  is always some crop to justify   
his ministry1 and many an evil power  to

 excuse occasional blight or drought4   
,if he is convinced of being a  really  
indispensable man1 it is easily         
intelligible4    ,as to the profession  
in general1 a small number of           
wizards--wizards  by vocation--may be   
strongly persuaded of the genuineness of
 the art2  a much larger body mingles   
credulity in various proportions with   
fraud2 and not a few are deliberate     
cheats4 ,some of the greatest  masters  
of wizardry are dissatisfied with their 
own colleagues3 that  eminent shaman    
,scratching ,woman said to ,bogoras the 
traveller1 8,there  are many liars in   
our calling40#eja ,on the other hand1   
the wizard  who demonstrated the        
8pointing-stick0 to ,messrs4 ,spencer   
and ,gillen1  and having no object upon 
which to discharge its ,magic1 thought  
it  had entered his own head and        
thereupon fell ill1 was certainly a     
believer2#ejb and so was the wizard who 
felt that he had lost his  power after  
drinking a cup of tea1 because hot      

drinks were taboo  to him4#ejc ,now a   
cheat needs no explanation--at least no 
more on  the ,yenisei than on the       
,thames2 and the variety of those who   
mingle  credulity with fraud is too     
great to be dealt with4 ,what chiefly   
needs  to be accounted for is the       
persuasion of those who--in spite of so 
many  circumstances that seem to make   
disillusion inevitable--are in some     
manner true believers--in the manner1   
that is to say1 of imaginative  belief1 
founded on tradition and desire1 unlike 
the perceptual belief  of common sense4 
7a7 ,men under a vocation to wizardry1  
of course1 begin with full  belief in   
it4 ,probably they are possessed by the 
imaginative and  histrionic temperament1
 which we have seen to be favourable to 
eminence as a wizard4 ,their vocation   
consists in the warm sympathy  and      
emulation with which1 before their own  
initiation1 they witness  the feats of  
great practitioners1 and which generally
 imply a  stirring of their own latent  

powers2 just as many an actor has begun 
by being 8stage-struck40 ,a man of such 
temperament is prone to  self-delusion  
not only as to his own powers1 but in   
other ways4 ,the  wizard often begins by
 fasting and having visions2 thereby    
weakening  his apprehension of the      
difference between fact and phantasy4   
,the  fixed idea of his calling begets  
in his imagination a story of what      
happened at his initiation1 manifestly  
false1 but not a falsehood--a           
8rationalisation0 according to wizardly 
ideas of what he can remember  of that  
time4 ,if initiated with torture1 which 
he endures for the sake  of his         
vocation1 he is confirmed in it4 ,when  
called upon to perform1  he 8works      
himself up0 by music1 dancing and       
whatever arts he may have  learned or   
discovered1 into a state of             
dissociation1 during which his  judgment
 of everything extraneous to his task is
 suspended2 and his  dramatic demeanour 
uninhibited by fear or shame1           

unembarrassed by any  second thoughts1  
makes1 by vivid gestures and contortions
 and thrilling  tones1 a profound       
impression upon patients1 clients and   
witnesses4 ,his  performances may derive
 some original traits from his own      
genius2 but  must generally conform to a
 traditionary pattern and to the        
consequent  expectations of the         
audience4 ,by practice he acquires--as  
for their  own tasks all artists1 poets 
and actors must--a facility in inducing 
the state of dissociation 7more or less 
strict71 in which work goes  smoothly   
forward under the exclusive dominance of
 a certain group  of ideas and          
sentiments4 ,whether1 in this condition1
 he believes in  himself and his        
calling1 or not1 is a meaningless       
question4 ,whilst the  orgasm lasts     
there is no place for comparison or     
doubt4 ,and since he  really produces by
 his frenzy or possession a great effect
 upon the  spectators--though not always
 the precise effect of curing a patient 

or  of controlling the weather at which 
he aimed--we need not wonder if he      
believes himself capable of much more   
than he ever accomplishes4 ,the         
temperament1 most favourable to a       
wizard's success is not likely to be    
accompanied by a disposition to the     
positive or sceptical attitude of  mind4
 ,moreover1 to the enthusiast for whom  
belief is necessary1 it is  also        
necessary to create the evidence4 ,that 
the end justifies the means  is not his 
explicit maxim1 but a matter of course4 
,gibbon comments on  8the vicissitudes  
of pious fraud and hypocrisy1 which may 
be observed1  or at least suspected1 in 
the characters of the most conscientious
  fanatics40#ejd ,after failures1       
indeed1 or in the languor that follows  
his transports1 there may come many     
chilling reflections2 only1  however1 to
 be dispersed by an invincible desire to
 believe in his own  powers and in the  
profession to which he is committed4    
,the 8white0 wizard may pacify a        

troubled conscience by reflecting  that 
at any rate he discharges a useful      
social function2 as1 in fact1  he does1 
so far as he relieves the fears of his  
tribesmen and gives  them confidence4   
,to understand the 8black0 wizard1 we   
must turn to  the dark side of human    
nature4 ,that a man should resort to    
magic or  sorcery to avenge himself or  
his kinsmen1 or to gratify his          
carnality1  jealousy or ambition1 is    
intelligible to everybody2 but that he  
should  make a profession of assisting  
others for a fee to betray1 injure1 or  
destroy those with whom he has no       
quarrel1 seems almost too unnatural  to 
be credible4 ,yet it admits of a very   
easy explanation4 ,the love  of injuring
 and slaying is deeply rooted in us3 men
 afflicted with  homicidal neurosis are 
known to the asylums and to the criminal
 courts  of all civilised nations2      
assassins on hire have often been       
notoriously  obtainable4 ,to slay in    
cold blood by violence1 or even by      

poison1  seems1 however1 less revolting 
than to slay by sorcery and obscene     
rites4 ,but the fascination of this     
employment may be further understood  by
 considering the attraction that secret 
power and the proof of their  own       
cunning has for many people4 ,to slay is
 sweet2 but the ancient  hunter depended
 more upon strategy than upon the       
frontal attack2 and no  strategy is so  
secret or needs so much skill as the    
,black ,art4 ,finally1  if sorcery is   
persecuted1 it excites the              
contra-suggestibility which  in some    
neurotics becomes a passion capable of  
supporting them at the  stake4 ,hence   
the malevolent wizard may feel a        
vocation1 may believe in  his own       
powers2 and1 of course1 he will be      
confirmed in his belief by  the fear    
excited wherever his reputation spreads4
 ,if you put yourself  in his place     
whilst practising some unholy rite1 you 
may become aware  that the secrecy1 the 
cunning1 the danger1 the villainy and   

the  elation of it exert a peculiar     
fascination1 and that this is enhanced  
by foul and horrible usages1 such as    
appeal to the perverted appetites  of   
insanity4    7b7 ,the deceit employed by
 a wizard in conjuring1 ventriloquising1
  dressing up1 keeping a 8familiar10    
choosing favourable opportunities  for  
his sance and inciting himself to       
frenzy1 seems incompatible  with        
sincerity2 but whilst he knows such     
proceedings to be artifices1  he also   
knows them to be necessary to the effect
 which he produces4  ,for that effect1  
so far as it depends upon wizardly      
practices1 not on  such means as        
massage1 or poisons1 or drugs1 is always
 subjective--an  influence on other     
men's belief4 ,are we not demanding of  
him greater  discrimination than he is  
likely to enjoy1 if we expect him to see
  the hollowness of his profession1     
because some of the means by which  he  
operates are not what his clients       
suppose them to be8 ,if it be  said that

 the wizard's stock excuses for         
failure--that there has been  a mistake 
in the rites1 or that another wizard has
 counteracted his  efforts--are those of
 a man who has anticipated detection in 
fraud and  prepared a way of escape1 it 
may be replied that1 according to       
accepted  tenets concerning wizardry1   
these excuses are reasonable and not    
necessarily subterfuges4    ,the        
professional attitude may induce a man  
to exonerate himself and  his colleagues
 in certain dubious dealings1 for the   
sake of the public  utility of their    
office on the whole2 which is so        
manifest to him and  to them1 and is    
also acknowledged by the public4 ,for a 
wizard's belief  in his art is supported
 by the testimony of other wizards1 in  
whom he  also believes1 and by the      
belief of the tribe generally in the    
power of  the profession1 even though he
 himself be not greatly esteemed4 8,who 
am  ,i10 he will ask1 8that ,i should   
have a conscience of my own80 ,and if   

this attitude is inconsistent with keen 
intelligence and megalomania1  such     
inconsistency is not inconsistent with  
our experience of human  nature4    7c7 
,the effects produced by charms1 spells 
and rites1 simple or to  the last degree
 elaborate1 purely magical or reinforced
 by spirits1 are  always subjective1 but
 are believed to have a much wider      
range4 ,the  wizard seems to make the   
sun rise when he summons it just in time
 every  morning2 to cause clouds to     
gather in the sky when he invokes them  
just  before the rainy season2 and so   
on4 ,such performances convince others1 
but seem to us poor evidence for any one
 who is in the secret4 ,he is  not1     
however1 left without further evidence  
of three kinds3    7i7 ,from the effects
 of natural causes that form part of his
  professional resources4 ,some of a    
wizard's practices are really good2  e4 
g4 in curing the sick he may employ     
massage1 or sweat-baths1 or  skilful    
surgery1 or medicinal drugs1 or         

suggestion1 and thereby succeed  without
 any ,magic2 whilst he is incapable of  
clearly distinguishing  these means from
 useless rites and incantations4 ,he    
does not understand  intimately why any 
method is efficacious1 and therefore    
cannot  understand the limits of his    
power4 ,his whole art is empirical4     
,even  in modern science explanation    
always ends sooner or later 7and often  
pretty soon7 in pointing to some        
connexion of phenomena which we are     
obliged to accept as a fact3 the wizard 
is always brought to this pass  at the  
first step4 ,he has no generally        
acknowledged public standard  of what   
may possibly happen3 it is only in the  
mind of a natural  positivist that a    
standard of common sense grows up by    
experience  without explicit            
generalisation2 and this standard is    
incommunicable4  ,hence the wizard is   
always trying experimentally to extend  
his  power--of course on the model of   
his traditionary art2 always desiring   

power1 and believing that he has        
obtained1 because he desires it4    7ii7
 ,the wizard's arts are justified by the
 action of natural causes  set in motion
 by his clients4 ,he prepares the hunter
 and his weapons  for an expedition2 the
 hunter does his best1 and his success  
swells the  reputation of the wizard4   
,similarly in agriculture1 and in war4  
,and in  all these cases nothing is     
really due to the wizard1 except the    
greater  confidence his clients derive  
from his ministrations3 the hunter's    
hand is steadier2 the sower and the     
reaper work more cheerfully2 and  the   
warrior fights more courageously in the 
belief that his enemies  are surely     
devoted to the infernal gods4 ,but the  
wizard1 with general  acquiescence1     
claims far more than this1 and rises in 
his own esteem  as well as in the esteem
 of his tribe4    7iii7 ,the persevering
 wizard is often aided by coincidences4 
,an  ,australian squatter at ,morton's  
,plains1 after a drought1 promised  a   

native rain-maker half a bullock1 a bag 
of flour and some tea1  if he would fill
 his new tank for him before the morrow 
night4 ,the  rain-maker set his rites   
and spells to work1 filled the tank and 
got  the reward4#eje ,whilst ,messrs4   
,spencer and ,gillen were with the      
,urabunna tribe1 8the leading rain-maker
 performed a ceremony and within  two   
days there was a downpour--possibly     
connected with the fact that  it was the
 usual time for rain to fall in that    
part of the country40  ,the reputation  
of the rain-maker was firmly            
established1 and1 no  doubt1 his        
self-confidence4 ,the ,australian wizard
 already mentioned1  who thought that   
his ,magic had entered his own head1    
claimed to have  driven away a comet by 
means of his magic stones4 ,certainly   
the comet  disappeared1 and what other  
cause could any one point out8 8,at one 
time  the gusts were very unpleasant and
 one of the men told a wind-man to  make
 it stop4 ,accordingly he shouted out to

 the wind1 and in a minute  there was a 
lull2 and no one doubted that this was  
due to the power of  the wind-man40#ejf 
,many similar cases might be given4#ejg 
,striking  coincidences are not very    
rare3 there is an illogical prejudice   
that  they are rare because they excite 
wonder4 ,moreover1 as ,i have observed1 
so remote a resemblance to the event    
shamanised or prophesied may be         
regarded as a fulfilment1 that          
fulfilment is not uncommon4 ,in the     
interpretation of omens1 where there is 
only the alternative of good  or ill    
success1 half the guesses must be right2
 and by the glozing of  doubtful cases1 
more than half will seem to be right4   
,and as for the  effect of coincidence1 
,mr4 ,basil ,thompson says1 8,tongans   
never admit  coincidences0#ejh--that is 
to say1 in our sense of the word3 for   
them1  in what we call coincidence1     
there must be causation2 and this seems 
to be generally true of the untutored   
mind4 ,among the ,churaches1 the        

profession of shaman is generally       
hereditary2 but a man may become a      
shaman against his will4 ,it is enough  
8to make a lucky guess as to  the issue 
of some event1 and people flock to him  
for advice from all  parts40#eji ,how   
many failures are necessary to discredit
 one lucky  guess8    ,these three kinds
 of evidence in favour of the wizard's  
power--natural  causes set in motion by 
himself1 natural causes introduced by   
his  clients1 and sheer favourable      
coincidences--have so much the air of   
perceptual proof1 or of an appeal to    
common sense1 that the savage           
positivist who is able to resist them   
must have a more solid judgment  than   
most of our educated civilised people4  
,judgment is an innate  individual      
character1 on which education has little
 effect1 except in  the special         
department of a man's training4 ,a      
scientific expert1 for  example1 may be 
an excellent judge of evidence in his   
own pursuit1  and elsewhere quite       

helpless2 for where he is strong it is  
not a set  of rules but the mass of his 
special experience that guides him4     
,that  out of the mass of general       
experience1 so disorderly and           
fragmentary  as it is1 some minds should
 have the power of extracting common    
sense1  in spite of the                 
misrepresentations of ,magic and        
,animism1 is very  remarkable1 and very 
fortunate for the rest of us4    ,that  
the three kinds of evidence which serve 
so well to confirm belief  in wizardry  
are all of them--as to the connexion    
between a wizard's  rites or spells and 
the event--entirely coincidental1 gives 
some  support to the hypothesis that    
coincidences are the foundation of the  
belief in ,magic4    ,bearing in mind1  
then1 that a wizard's practices         
sometimes include real  causes1 and that
 his shallow knowledge disables him for 
discriminating  between causation and   
hocus-pocus2 that ,magic or ,sorcery is 
generally  believed in by those about   

him1 who seek his aid1 or the aid of    
others of his class2 that both they and 
he earnestly desire that  his           
pretensions should be well founded2 that
 he produces striking  subjective       
effects2 that in such cases his         
artifices are a condition of  his       
success1 and that a good many           
coincidences1 complete or partial1  seem
 to prove that his art has further      
extraordinary influence upon men  and   
nature--it is no wonder that some       
wizards are deluded along with  their   
dupes1 especially neurotic enthusiasts  
or men of an imaginative  and histrionic
 temperament4    ,to explain the        
possibility of some men being sincere in
 witchcraft is  not to palliate the     
profession1 much less the anti-social   
practices  of witchcraft4 ,for the most 
part those practices are deceitful4     
,they  are not the invention of savage  
society2 society invents nothing2  only 
the individual invents4 ,they are the   
invention and tradition of  wizards1 who

 keep the secret so far as it is to     
their advantage3 of  wizards growing    
more and more professional1 and trading 
upon the fears  and hopes1 the anxiety  
and credulity of their fellows4 ,the    
spirit of  superstition is common to the
 tribe1 but its professional            
exploitation  is the work of those who  
profit by it4    ,observing with        
satisfaction that1 even amongst savages1
 the positive  mind can sometimes free  
itself from popular superstitions and   
penetrate  the disguise of              
mystery-mongers1 one asks why ,nature   
could not produce  whole tribes of men  
so minded1 and spare the folly and      
horror and  iniquity which take up so   
much space in the retrospect of human   
life4  ,because common sense is only    
related to actual experience1 and could 
not appreciate the necessity of         
government and social co-ordination  as 
the condition of all improvement in     
human life1 until it already  existed4  
,such co-ordination had1 therefore1 to  

grow up without being  understood2 and  
it did grow up under the protection of  
certain beliefs  that induced the tribes
 of men to hold together and subordinate
  themselves to leaders3 amongst which  
beliefs the superstitions  exploited by 
wizards had no small part4              
,,footnotes3    #chi ,ling ,roth1 ,the  
,aborigines of ,tasmania1 p4 #fe4       
#cij ,spencer and ,gillen1 ,across      
,australia1 p4 #ccf4    #cia ,czaplicka1
 ,aboriginal ,siberia1 p4 #agg4    #cib 
,the political importance of the wizard 
seems to have been first  noticed by    
,spencer1 ,principles of ,sociology1    
,,ii4 p4 #agh 7 #dgd74    #cic ,bellamy1
 quoted by ,seligman1 ,melanesians of   
,british ,north  ,guinea1 p4 #fid4      
#cid ,religion of the ,amazulu1 p4 #dj4 
#cie ,dudley ,kidd1 ,the ,essential     
,kafir1 p4 #aad4    #cif ,czaplicka1    
,aboriginal ,siberia1 p4 #aia4    #cig  
,e4 ,westermarck1 ,the ,origin and      
,development of ,moral ,ideas1 ch4      
xlix4    #cih ,the ,sacred ,shrine4     

#cii ,report of the ,cambridge          
,expedition to ,torres ,straits1 ,v4 pp4
  #cbb-c4    #djj ,rivers1 ,history of  
,melanesian ,sociology4    #dja ,am4 ,b4
 of ,ethn41 ,,vii41 8,ojibway           
,medicine10 by ,w4 ,j4 ,hoffman2  ,,xi41
 8,the ,sia10 by ,m4 ,c4 ,stevenson2    
,,xiv41 8,the ,menomini ,indians10 by   
,w4 ,hoffman4 ,for a collection of the  
facts see ,frazer1 ,totemism and        
,exogamy1 ,,iv4 ch4 xix2 and ,hutton    
,webster1 ,primitive ,secret ,societies4
    #djb ,report of the ,cambridge      
,expedition to ,torres ,straits1 ,,vi4  
p4  #bjj4    #djc ,op4 cit41 p4 #bgh4   
#djd ,among ,congo ,cannibals1 p4 #bea4 
#dje ,spencer and ,gillen1 ,across      
,australia1 p4 #cbf4    #djf ,book      
,,vii4 ,the witch1 imitated from ,circe 
and ,medea by ,ariosto1  ,tasso1        
,spenser1 became a traditionary1        
romantic motive4    #djg ,howitt1       
,native ,tribes of ,south-,east         
,australia1 p4 #chh4    #djh ,stefnson1 
op4 cit41 p4 #djc4    #dji ,czaplicka1  

op4 cit41 p4 #bdj4    #daj ,across      
,australia1 p4 #ea4    #daa ,op4 cit41  
p4 #ahd4    #dab ,voyages of the        
,adventure and ,beagle1 ,,ii4 p4 #agh4  
#dac ,the ,primitive ,bakongo1 p4 #baf4 
#dad ,journal of the ,anthropological   
,institute1 ,,xxiv41 8,shamanism10  p4  
#add4    #dae ,among the ,indians of    
,guiana1 p4 #cce4    #daf ,am4 ,b4 of   
,ethn41 8,sacred ,formulas of the       
,cherokees10 by ,j4  ,mooney1 p4 #cbc4  
#dag ,w4 ,mariner's ,account of the     
,tonga ,islands1 ch4 xxi4    #dah ,am4  
,b4 of ,ethn41 ,,ix41 8,medicine ,men of
 the ,apache10 by ,j4 ,e4  ,bourke1 p4  
#dga4    #dai ,dudley ,kidd1 ,the       
,essential ,kafir1 p4 #ace4    #dbj     
,travels and ,researches in ,south      
,africa1 ch4 i4    #dba ,j4             
,shakespeare1 ,the ,lushai ,kuki ,clans1
 p4 #hj4    #dbb ,hose and ,mc,dougall1 
,pagan ,tribes of ,borneo1 p4 #abj1 and 
,am4 ,b4  of ,ethn41 ,,xi4 p4 #dag2     
,,xiv4 pp4 #ig1 #adh4    #dbc ,d4       
,comparetti1 ,the ,traditional ,poetry  

of the ,finns1 pp4 #bg and  #be4    #dbd
 ,rhys1 ,celtic ,heathendom1 pp4        
#edh-ej4    #dbe ,the crystals forced   
into a wizard's body1 whether by spirits
 or  by other wizards1 are essential to 
his profession1 and if they leave  him  
his power is lost4 8,it is the          
possession of these stones which  gives 
his virtue to the medicine-man0         
7,spencer and ,gillen1 ,northern        
,tribes of ,central ,australia1 p4 #dhj 
note74 ,john ,mathew says that1         
according to the belief of the ,kabi    
7,queensland73 8,a man's power in  the  
occult art would appear to be           
proportioned to his vitality1 and  the  
degree of vitality which he possessed   
depended upon the number of  sacred     
pebbles and the quantity of yurru 7rope7
 which he carried  within him0          
7,eagle-hawk and ,crow1 p4 #adc74       
8,rope0 was the property  of the higher 
grade of medicine-men 7substitute for   
snakes871 who had  obtained it from the 
,rainbow in exchange for some of their  

pebbles4  ,certain pebbles1 especially  
crystals1 are independent magic-powers  
throughout ,australasia and elsewhere1  
probably of much older repute  than the 
profession of wizardry2 and the wizard  
gets his personal power  by having them 
inside him4 ,similarly1 ,jounod         
describes ,bantu wizards  as 8endowed   
with magical power1 or rather possessing
 enchanted drugs0  7,life of a ,south   
,african ,tribe1 p4 #bic73 whereas we   
are often told  that the occult art     
begins with the extraordinary           
personality of the  wizard4    #dbf     
,native ,tribes of ,central ,australia1 
pp4 #ebb-i4    #dbg ,spencer and        
,gillen1 ,northern ,tribes of ,central  
,australia1 p4  #dhe4    #dbh ,haddon1  
,reports of the ,cambridge ,expedition  
to ,torres ,straits1  ,v4 p4 #cba4      
#dbi ,e4 im ,thurn1 ,the ,indians of    
,guiana1 p4 #ccd4    #dcj ,thomas       
,whiffen1 ,the ,north-,west ,amazons1 p4
 #aha4    #dca ,dudley ,kidd1 ,the      
,essential ,kafir1 p4 #aef4    #dcb     

,journal of the ,anthropological        
,institute1 ,,xxiv41 8,shamanism10  pp4 
#hg-ij4    #dcc ,reports of the         
,cambridge ,expedition to ,torres       
,straits1 ,v4 p4  #cbb4    #dcd ,j4 ,g4 
,frazer1 ,belief in ,immortality1 p4    
#ccd4    #dce ,w4 ,h4 ,r4 ,rivers1 ,the 
,todas1 pp4 #bef-g4    #dcf ,belief in  
,immortality1 pp4 #bdi1 #bfi4    #dcg   
,for examples see ,weeks1 ,the          
,primitive ,bakongo1 p4 #bjd2 ,dudley   
,kidd1 ,the ,essential ,kafir1 p4 #adi2 
,callaway1 ,religion of the  ,amazulu1  
p4 #cia2 ,hose and ,mc,dougall1 ,the    
,pagan ,tribes of ,borneo1  ,,ii4 p4    
#aae2 ,turner1 ,samoa1 p4 #cdb2         
,shamanism1 p4 #acj2 ,carl  ,lumholtz1  
,new ,trails in ,mexico1 p4 #bd2 ,t4 ,a4
 ,joyce1 ,south ,american  ,archology1  
p4 #bde2 ,e4 ,westermarck1 ,origin and  
,development of ,moral  ,ideas1 ,,ii4   
pp4 #fej-b4    #dch ,callaway1 ,religion
 of the ,amazulu1 pp4 #chd-f and #djd4  
#dci ,franz ,boas1 8,the ,central       
,esquimo10 ,am4 ,b4 of ,ethn41 ,,vi4    

7#ahhd-e71 p4 #fjc4    #ddj ,w4 ,w4     
,skeat1 ,malay ,magic1 p4 #ega4    #dda 
,a4 ,wiedemann1 ,the ,religion of the   
,egyptians1 pp4 #bgc-d4    #ddb ,a4 ,m4 
,czaplicka1 ,aboriginal ,siberia1 p4    
#agh4    #ddc ,j4 ,g4 ,frazer1 ,psyche's
 ,task4    #ddd ,pp4 #ach-i4    #dde    
,rivers1 ,history of ,melanesian        
,sociology1 ,,ii4 p4 #aef4    #ddf      
,spencer and ,gillen1 ,northern ,tribes 
of ,central ,australia4    #ddg im      
,thurn1 op4 cit41 p4 #cci4    #ddh ,j4  
,h4 ,weeks1 ,among ,congo ,cannibals1 p4
 #ade4    #ddi ,across ,australia1 p4   
#cej4    #dej ,primitive ,bakongo1 p4   
#bhe4    #dea ,skeat1 ,pagan ,races of  
the ,malay ,peninsula1 ,i4 p4 #efc4     
#deb ,rivers1 ,the ,todas1 p4 #bfc4     
#dec ,abbot1 ,macedonian ,folk-,lore1 p4
 #bbe4    #ded ,op4 cit41 p4 #bjc4      
#dee ,native ,tribes of ,south-,east    
,australia1 pp4 #chg-h4    #def ,spencer
 and ,gillen1 ,across ,australia1 pp4   
#ccd-e4    #deg ,whiffen1 op4 cit41 pp4 
#ahb-c4    #deh ,jounod1 ,life of a     

,south ,african ,tribe1 ,,ii4 p4 #def4  
#dei ,whiffen1 op4 cit41 pp4 #fd and    
#afh4    #dfj ,primitive ,bakongo1 p4   
#baf4    #dfa ,aboriginal ,siberia1 pp4 
#bcj1 #bdj4    #dfb ,paradoxe sur le    
comdien4 ,mr4 ,william ,archer1 some    
years ago1  published ,masks and ,faces1
 an entertaining and very instructive   
book1  in which he 7as a genuine though 
unprofessional psychologist7 discusses  
this paradox in the light of evidence   
obtained1 by questionnaire and          
otherwise1 from actors then living4     
#dfc ,man1 ,september #ahag1 p4 #add4   
#dfd ,aboriginal ,siberia1 p4 #aig4     
#dfe ,suggestion und ,hypnotismus in der
 ,vlkerpsychologie4    #dff ,meiners1   
,briefe ber die ,schweiz 7quoted by     
,carlyle in essay on  ,count            
,cagliostro74    #dfg ,aboriginal       
,siberia1 pp4 #afi1 #agb4    #dfh       
,text-book of ,insanity1 pp4 #bha and   
#gi4    #dfi ,spencer and ,gillen1      
,northern ,tribes of ,central           
,australia1 p4  #dig4    #dgj ,j4 ,g4   

,frazer1 ,belief in ,immortality1 pp4   
#bej-fj4    #dga ,for another example   
see ,rivers1 ,history of ,melanesian    
,sociology1 ,,ii4 p4 #daa4    #dgb ,g4  
,turner1 ,samoa1 p4 #cdf4    #dgc ,for  
the most elaborate of all such          
performances1 see the  initiation into  
the ,ghost ,society of the ,kwakintle   
,indians1 in ,frazer's  ,totemism and   
,exogamy1 ,,iii4 p4 #ech4    #dgd       
,casalis1 ,my ,life in ,basuto ,land1 p4
 #ahe4    #dge ,basil ,thompson1 ,the   
,fijians1 p4 #aeh4    #dgf ,basil       
,thompson1 ,diversions of a ,prime      
,minister1 pp4 #bja and #cdf4    #dgg   
,the ,heroic ,age1 p4 #dac4    #dgh     
,spencer and ,gillen1 ,across           
,australia1 pp4 #cgd-e4    #dgi         
8,aborigines of ,victoria10             
,transactions of the ,ethnological      
,society1 ,new ,series1 ,i4 p4 #cjj4    
#dhj ,eagle-hawk and ,crow1 p4 #adf4    
#dha ,j4 ,g4 ,frazer1 ,belief in        
,immortality1 p4 #bci4    #dhb ,j4 ,h4  
,weeks1 ,the ,primitive ,bakongo1 pp4   

#bhd and #bhe4    #dhc ,j4 ,h4 ,weeks1  
,among ,congo ,cannibals1 p4 #bic4      
#dhd ,callaway1 op4 cit41 pp4 #bi-cj4   
#dhe ,the ,north-,west ,amazons1 p4     
#bah4    #dhf ,j4 ,o4 ,dorsey1 8,siouan 
,cults10 pp4 #dca-b and #dhe1 ,am4 ,b4  
of  ,ethn41 ,,xi4    #dhg ,coddrington1 
,the ,melanesians1 p4 #bgj4    #dhh     
,polynesian ,researches1 ,,ii4 p4 #bjd4 
#dhi ,john ,martin1 ,w4 ,mariner's      
,account of the ,tonga ,islands1 ,,ii4  
pp4  #aje and #acg4    #dij ,hose and   
,mc,dougall1 ,the ,pagan ,tribes of     
,borneo1 ,,ii4 pp4 #dh and  #bad4       
#dia ,the ,naga ,tribes of ,manipur1 p4 
#abf4    #dib ,introduction to ,the     
,rise of the ,spirit of ,rationalism in 
,europe4    #dic ,c4 ,g4 ,seligman1     
,melanesians of ,british ,new ,guinea1  
p4 #agi4    #did ,t4 ,c4 ,hodson1 op4   
cit41 p4 #aga4    #die ,among ,congo    
,cannibals1 p4 #bhd4    #dif ,spencer   
and ,gillen1 ,native ,tribes of ,central
 ,australia1 pp4  #eca-b4    #dig       
,haddon1 ,reports of the ,cambridge     

,expedition to ,torres ,straits1  ,,vi4 
p4 #bja4    #dih ,ellis1 op4 cit41 ,,ii4
 p4 #bcb4    #dii ,shamanism1 p4 #ib4   
#ejj ,history of ,melanesian ,society1  
,,ii4 p4 #ajg4    #eja ,a4 ,m4          
,czaplicka1 ,aboriginal ,siberia1 p4    
#ahj4    #ejb ,across ,australia1 p4    
#cbf4    #ejc ,spencer and ,gillen1     
,northern ,tribes of ,central           
,australia1 p4  #dha4    #ejd ,decline  
and ,fall1 ch4 xvii--discussing the     
character of ,julian4    #eje ,howitt1  
,native ,tribes of ,south-,east         
,australia1 p4 #cih4    #ejf ,across    
,australia1 pp4 #ad1 #cbf1 #cff4    #ejg
 ,see ,haddon1 ,reports of the          
,cambridge ,expedition to ,torres       
,straits1 ,,vi4 p4 #baj2 ,stefnson1 ,my 
,life with the ,esquimo1 p4 #hh2        
,murdoch1 ,ethnological ,results of the 
,point ,barrow ,expedition1 in ,ninth   
,ann4 ,report of ,am4 ,bureau of ,eth41 
p4 #dca2 ,frazer1 ,psyche's ,task1 p4   
#ee2 ,risley1 ,the ,people of ,india1 p4
 #gg2 ,langloh ,parker1 ,the ,euahlayi  

,tribe1 pp4 #dh1 #di1 #hb1 #ij2 ,dudley 
,kidd1 ,the ,essential ,kafir1 p4  #aaf2
 ,e4 ,casalis1 ,les ,bassoutos 7#bnd    
ed471 pp4 #cjb-c2 ,w4 ,e4 ,roth1        
,ethnological ,studies in ,north-,west  
,central ,queensland1 p4 #aed4    #ejh  
,diversions of a ,prime ,minister1 p4   
#bde4    #eji 8,shamanism10 ,journal of 
the ,anthropological ,institute1 ,,xxiv4
 p4  #aed4          ,,chapter ,,ix      
,,totemism       #a4 ,,meaning ,,and    
,,scope ,,of ,,totemism    ,of very much
 less importance in the history of      
culture than ,animism or  ,magic1       
,totemism interests us by its           
strangeness4 ,to be descended from  a   
crocodile1 or blood-brother to the crow1
 or 8the same as a kangaroo0  must be1  
we think1 the grotesque notion of a     
lunatic4 ,we never meet  people who     
believe such a thing2 it has no         
stronghold in our own  breasts4 ,so much
 the more surprising that it should1    
nevertheless1 be  widely entertained4   
,it is1 indeed1 far from universal among

 mankind1  probably much less ancient   
than ,animism and certainly far less    
enduring4 ,where it has prevailed it is 
sometimes quite forgotten2 and  in the  
higher stages of human development it   
has no influence4 ,but  every student of
 early institutions finds it necessary  
to give himself  some intelligible      
account of its nature and sources4      
8,a ,totem10 says ,sir ,james ,frazer1  
8is a class of material objects  which a
 savage regards with superstitious      
respect1 believing that  there exists   
between him and every member of the     
class an intimate and  altogether       
special relation40#eaj    ,this         
definition is scientifically drawn so as
 to include what is common  to all      
,totems and not to include any character
 that is not universally  connected with
 them4 ,it is true of the ,totems of    
individuals 7or  guardian genii71 very  
common among the ,northern ,amerinds2 as
 well as  of the ,sex-,totems 7say ,bat 
for men and ,owl for women7 which occur 

in  ,australia2 and of the ,totems of   
clans found in many parts of the world1 
of which the ,australian may be supposed
 most nearly to represent the  original 
institution4 ,when one speaks of ,totems
 without qualification1  one means these
 ,clan-,totems1 being incomparably the  
most important3  others probably derive 
from them4    8,the ,clan-,totem0 7to   
quote the same source7 8is reverenced by
 a body  of men and women who call      
themselves by the name of the ,totem1   
believe  themselves to be of one blood1 
descendants of a common ancestor1 and   
are bound together by common obligations
 to each other and by a common  faith in
 the ,totem40#eaa ,this definition is   
also strict3 whereas it  is not uncommon
 for writers on ,totemism to include in 
their notion  of the ,totem other       
characters which are accidents more or  
less often  associated with it3 as that 
the clan believes itself descended from 
the  ,totem2 though in many cases the   
clan traces its origin to something     

that was neither ,totem nor man1 or     
regards the ,totem animal as  descended 
from their own human ancestress1 or     
tells some story of the  transformation 
of a man into an animal1 or of an animal
 into a man1 or  of an ancestor's       
friendship with the ,totem animal2 for  
the institution  is a copious source of 
explanatory myths4 ,again1 it may be    
written that  no member of a clan may   
kill or injure the ,totem1 or eat1 or   
utilise  it 7if an animal or plant72 and
 this is often1 but not always true4 ,if
  the ,totem is water1 or the most      
important food in the district--dugong1 
turtle1 coconut1 sago--abstention is    
impossible or intolerably  inconvenient4
 ,hence among the ,kaitish a ,water     
clansman when alone may  drink2 but if  
others are with him he may drink only   
when water is  given him by a man of    
another ,totem4 ,and to eat a little of 
the ,totem  sacramentally1 in order to  
confirm one's identity with it1 may be  
allowed or 7rather7 required4 ,among the

 ,warramunga the ,snake clan may  kill  
snakes4 ,it may even be the clan's duty 
to destroy or drive away  their ,totem2 
as happens with the ,mosquito clan of   
the ,kakadus in ,north  ,australia1 and 
with the ,reptile clan amongst the      
,omahas4 ,similarly1 the  clan          
sometimes1 but by no means always1      
imitate the ,totem in character1  in    
costume1 in dances1 or bear in tattoo or
 otherwise its badge to  manifest the   
community of nature4 ,they may be       
thought to have special  magical powers 
to influence its fertility or to control
 its actions  7actions of game or wind  
or rain71 and may use these powers for  
the  benefit of the tribe4 ,at death the
 soul of a clansman may pass into1  or  
may appear as1 the ,totem animal4 ,the  
,totem may be the protector of  its     
clansmen1 and in some cases it seems to 
have become a god4 ,these  accidents of 
,totemism1 however1 are very irregularly
 diffused and some  of them are rare4   
,most important socially is the         

connexion between ,totemism and         
,marriage-customs4 ,in the great        
majority of cases1 men and women  of the
 same ,totem may not intermarry2 the    
,totem clans are said to  be exogamous2 
but there are exceptions even to this   
rule4 ,in many  parts of the            
world--,america1 ,africa1 ,india1       
,indonesia1 as well as                  
,australia--tribes are divided into     
non-intermarrying or exogamous  classes 
7moieties or phratries72 sometimes the  
classes are subdivided1  and even the   
sub-classes again 7in parts of          
,australia71 so that in  all the        
exogamous classes are eight2 and the    
rules concerning these  classes are such
 as to prevent the marriage of brothers 
and sisters1  parents and children and  
first cousins4 ,the ,totem clans are    
usually  distributed amongst the        
,marriage-classes2 being probably the   
older  institution 7whether or not      
originally exogamous71 they may be said 
to have been subordinated by the        

formation of the classes2 and in  the   
matter of marriage they follow the class
 rules4 ,but the ,arunta  with some     
neighbouring tribes of ,central         
,australia1 though divided  into eight  
exogamous classes1 have not subordinated
 the ,totem clans2  which1 accordingly1 
are not exogamous4 ,if ,exogamy was     
originally the  vital utility of        
,totemism1 the institution is undermined
 by the  ,marriage-classes1 whether the 
clans are subordinated to the classes   
and merely repeat their rules1 or are   
not subordinated and lose their         
,exogamy4 ,this may explain why the     
classes prevail more widely than        
,totems1 and may be found where         
,totemism seems to have become extinct4 
#b4 ,,of ,,the ,,origin ,,of ,,totemism 
,it has already been said that ,totemism
 does not prevail universally  amongst  
mankind4 ,there is very little evidence 
of its having existed  amongst the      
ancestors of the ,indo-,european        
peoples2 and it seems to  be unknown to 

many of the most primitive of surviving 
tribes--the  ,boschmans1 ,veddas1       
,puranas 7,borneo71 ,andamanese1        
,yaghans 7,tierra del  ,fuego7 and      
,californian ,indians4 ,it is not1      
therefore1 something founded  in human  
nature itself1 but must have originated 
7whether in one or in  several places7  
under particular conditions4    ,there  
is some probability that the earliest   
,totems were animals4  ,wherever ,totems
 are found most of them are animals4 ,a 
list of ,totems  recognised in ,north   
,australia1 given by ,spencer and       
,gillen1#eab  comprises #bjb altogether3
 ,animals #afd1eac ,plants #bb1         
,inanimate #af4  ,the animals 7except   
insects7 and plants are nearly all      
edible4 ,to  hunters animals must have  
been of all things the most interesting2
  next1 certain plants1 especially to   
women4 ,animals lend the greatest       
plausibility to any notion of           
blood-relationship4 ,the inanimate      
,totems  include some which it is very  

desirable to control by ,magic1 such as 
,water1 ,wind1 ,fire1 ,sun1 ,moon and   
the ,boomerang4    ,generally1 no doubt1
 ,totemism is ancient2 but in some cases
 the  existing ,totems must be recent1  
as among the ,bahima of ,uganda4#ead    
,nearly all their ,totems are different 
coloured cows1 or some part  of a cow1  
and must have been adopted since the    
advance to pastoral  life--at a stage of
 culture1 therefore1 much above the     
,australian4  8,split ,totems10 arising 
on the division of a clan by dividing   
its ,totem  7as the ,omahas comprised   
,buffalo-heads1 ,buffalo-tails1         
etc4#eae71  were probably formed by     
deliberate agreement1 and had the       
incidental  advantage that a clansman's 
food-taboo did not extend to the whole  
buffalo1 the staple food of the tribe1  
but only to the head or tail4           
,amongst the ,australian aborigines1 the
 group of beliefs and practices         
included in1 or connected with1         
,totemism are of such intense and       

widespread social importance1 that it   
must have prevailed amongst them  for   
many generations4 ,the northern         
,amerinds are so much in advance of  the
 ,australians in social organisation1   
culture and mentality1 that  if their   
,totemism has descended to them from a  
time when they lived  at the ,australian
 level1 its history must go back not    
merely for many  generations but for    
thousands of years4 ,and if ,egyptian   
gods1 such  as ,hathor and ,anubis1 were
 formerly ,totems1 the retrospect       
becomes  still longer4 ,i am not aware  
of any direct evidence of the           
prehistoric  existence of ,totemism1    
such as we have1 in some ancient        
burials1 of the  existence of ,animism2 
but some palolithic carvings or         
paintings may  have had totemic         
significance4    ,it follows that any   
account of the origin of ,totemism can  
only be  hypothetical4 ,were this all1  
indeed1 it would be on the same foot    
with ,magic and ,animism2 but it is not 

all4 ,that ,magic should arise  from    
belief in mysterious forces and from    
confusing coincidence with  causation1  
or that ,animism should result from a   
confusion between  dreams and objective 
experience 7with the help of            
,magic-ideas7 is  highly probable2      
because such errors are active to this  
day1 and they  seem to spring up in     
primitive minds by psychological        
necessity2  though it may not be        
intrinsically necessary that the errors 
should  be perpetuated and systematised 
as1 in general1 they have been4 ,but    
the case of ,totemism is different2 for 
we do not see--at least1 no one  has yet
 shown--any sort of necessity why in    
certain cases clans should  have borne  
the names of certain animals3 and this  
is the root of the  whole matter4       
,indeed1 this practice1 not being       
universal1 cannot be  necessary2 and it 
may have had several different origins4 
,any relevant  hypothesis1 therefore1   
can claim no more than to agree with the

 known  facts better than rival         
hypotheses2 we cannot expect to deduce  
it from  laws of human nature2 whilst   
still another hypothesis just as good   
may  any day be put forward by some     
speculative genius2 and the doubt must  
always remain whether some important    
facts of ,totemism have not been  lost  
which1 could they be recovered1 would   
prove all our guesses to  have been made
 in vain4    ,in spite of these         
discouraging considerations1 several    
hypotheses have  been proposed3 this    
also is for us a sort of psychological  
necessity4  ,they may be grouped into   
two classes1 according as they assume   
the  totemic names to have been         
originally names of individuals or of   
whole  clans4 ,all seem to assume that  
one explanation must hold good for all  
the cases4    ,of hypotheses that trace 
totemic names to individuals there is1  
first1  ,spencer's2 namely1 that the    
name of an animal or plant was first    
given  to an individual1 and then       

inherited by his family2 who after a    
time  forgot his personality1 remembered
 only their descent from such a name1   
and assumed that their ancestor must    
have been an animal or plant such  as   
still bore that name4 ,secondly1 there  
is the explanation offered  by ,prof4   
,franz ,boas1 that the first ,totems    
were guardian spirits of  individuals1  
and that these became ,clan-,totems of  
their descendants4  ,for this account it
 may be said that among the ,northern   
,amerinds the  belief in guardian       
spirits of individuals 7generally some  
animal7  is universally diffused1 and   
perhaps of greater importance than the  
,clan-,totems1 seeing that these are    
subordinate to the ,marriage-classes3   
moreover1 the ,totems are rarely1 if    
ever1 believed to have been  ancestors4 
,on the other hand1 in ,australia1      
guardian spirits of  individuals are    
rare1 whilst ,totemism is universal4 ,so
 that1 if we  suppose only one origin of
 the institution1 it is more reasonable 

to  view the guardian spirit as derived 
from the ,clan-,totem4 ,in ,borneo we   
find the guardian spirit with some      
traits similar to the ,american1 but    
much less generally1 whilst there is now
 no plainly marked ,totemism3  but there
 are several beliefs akin to those of   
,totemism which may be  marks of its    
former existence2 and1 if so1 the       
guardian spirit may  also be one of its 
relics4#eaf ,thirdly1 ,frazer's         
hypothesis1 that  ,totems originated in 
the fancies of pregnant women1 who1     
ignorant of  physiological causes1      
supposed that that which stirred within 
them must  be some animal or plant that 
had entered them2 so that the child when
  born could be no other than that      
animal or plant4    ,of hypotheses which
 regard totemic names as from the first 
names of  groups we have1 first1 ,max   
,mller's1 that they originated with clan
  marks4#eag ,but in ,australia clan    
marks are not often to be found4        
,secondly1 ,professor ,f4 ,b4 ,jevons'1 

that the ,totem was originally some     
animal adopted by the tribe as a        
friendly natural power1 aiding them  in 
the struggle for existence4#eah ,but1 if
 so1 this character seems  to have been 
lost1 or greatly attenuated in          
,australia1 and in ,america  belongs to 
the guardian spirit rather than to the  
,totem4 ,thirdly1 ,dr4  ,haddon's1 that 
the ,totem name was derived by a group  
from the animal  or plant which was its 
principal food2 but cases to support    
this  suggestion are very few4          
,fourthly1 ,andrew ,lang's1 that group  
names were  obtained in some            
way--perhaps imposed upon each group by 
others1 and  accepted2 and that names of
 animals or plants having been obtained 
in  any way1 and the origin forgotten1  
just such beliefs concerning the        
relation of the group to its namesake   
would be likely to arise1 as in  fact we
 find amongst ,totemists4#eai    ,for   
want of space to discuss all these      
doctrines ,i shall deal chiefly  with   

those of ,frazer and ,lang4       #c4   
,,the ,,conceptional ,,hypothesis       
,sir ,j4 ,g4 ,frazer1 after very        
candidly relinquishing two early        
suggestions--by no means                
fanciful--concerning the origin of      
,totemism1 as unsupported by sufficient 
evidence1 has put forward  a            
third--8conceptional ,totemism0--which  
occurred to him upon the  discovery by  
,messrs4 ,spencer and ,gillen of the    
doctrine of totemic  descent prevalent  
amongst the ,arunta and allied tribes4  
,these tribes  are said not to be aware 
of the connexion between sexual         
intercourse  and pregnancy4 ,they say   
that a child is the result of the entry 
into  a woman of the spirit of some     
pre-existing tribesman of this or  that 
,totem2 which1 therefore1 will also be  
the child's4 ,what ,totem  it is depends
 upon the place where the woman first   
becomes aware of  quickening2 for there 
are certain places known to the natives 
where  the people of such or such a     

,totem 8went into the ground0 perhaps   
were buried2 and in passing such a place
 any woman is liable to  be impregnated 
by one of the discarnate spirits2 who   
are always  on the look-out for an      
opportunity to re-enter the mortal      
state4  ,this is the real cause of      
pregnancy1 for which marriage is merely 
a  preparation4#ebj ,a young woman who  
does not desire the dignity of  a       
matron1 when passing such haunted       
ground1 runs crouching by1 and  cries   
out that she is an old woman2 for       
facility in being deceived  is a saving 
grace of spirits4 ,in modified forms    
this doctrine of 8no  paternity and     
re-incarnation0 is professed by tribes  
throughout the  centre and north of the 
continent1 in ,queensland and in parts  
of ,west  ,australia4#eba    ,the       
,arunta doctrine of conception by animal
 or plant spirits cannot1  however1 be  
the origin of ,totemism2 because1 as    
,sir ,james ,frazer  points out1 the    
impregnating spirits are already        

totemic4 ,one must1  therefore1 suppose 
7he says7 an earlier state of things1 in
 which a  woman1 ignorant of the true   
causes of childbirth1 imagined at the   
first  symptoms of pregnancy 7by which  
the quickening seems to be meant7  that 
she had been entered by some object1 or 
by the spirit of some  object1 which had
 been engaging her attention at the     
time1 or which she  may have been       
eating--a wallaby1 emu1 plum or         
grass-seed--and later  believed that the
 child she bare must be1 or be an       
incarnation of1 that  object or spirit1 
and in fact nothing else than a wallaby1
 emu1 plum  or grass-seed with the      
appearance of a human being4 ,if other  
women  had similar experiences in       
connexion with other animals or plants1 
and if the descendants of their children
 remembered the stories1 and  considered
 themselves to be wallabies1 grass-seed 
and so forth1 the  hypothesis would     
fully explain that identification of    
groups of men  with groups of things    

which is characteristic of ,totemism2   
and the  other characters naturally     
follow4 ,such is the conceptional theory
 of  ,totemism1 deriving that           
institution from 8the sick fancies of   
pregnant  women40#ebb    ,circumstances1
 which ,sir ,james ,frazer regards as   
very similar to those  which he imagined
 as having prevailed at some former time
 amongst the  ,arunta1 have been        
discovered by ,dr4 ,rivers at ,mota and 
,motlar in the  ,banks ,islands4 ,there 
many people are 8by the custom of the   
island0 not  permitted to eat certain   
animals or fruits or even to touch      
certain  trees2 because they are        
believed to be those animals or         
plants--their  mothers having suffered  
some influence from such animals or     
plants at  conception or at some        
subsequent period of pregnancy4 8,the   
course of  events is usually as follows3
 a woman1 sitting down in her garden1   
or in the bush1 or on the shore1 finds  
an animal or fruit in her  loin-cloth4  

,she takes it up and carries it to the  
village1 where she  asks the meaning of 
the appearance4 ,the people say that she
 will give  birth to a child who will   
have the characters of this animal1 or  
even  7it appeared7 would be himself or 
herself that animal40#ebc ,she takes  it
 to its proper home1 tries to keep it1  
and feeds it2 but after a  time it will 
disappear1 and is then believed to have 
entered into her4  ,there is no belief  
in physical impregnation by the animal1 
nor of its  invading the woman as a     
physical object2 such an animal seems to
 be  considered as 8more or less        
supernatural1 a spirit-animal1 from the 
beginning40 8,the belief is not         
accompanied by any ignorance of the     
physical rle of the human father40      
,apparently the prohibition against     
eating animals or plants thus connected 
with oneself rests on the idea  that it 
would amount to eating oneself--a sort  
of cannibalism4 ,one  partakes of its   
physical and mental characters4 ,but the

 resemblance  to1 and the taboo on      
eating1 a certain animal are individual 
matters2  there is no belief in their   
being passed on to one's descendants4   
,in  this alone the belief at ,mota     
falls short of ,totemism4 8,yet it      
occurs  in a people whose social system 
has no totemic features at the present  
time1 whatever it may have had in the   
past40#ebd ,possibly former             
,totem-clans have been merged in secret 
societies1 but there is no  clear       
evidence of it4 ,in ,melanesia1         
,totemism occurs in ,fiji1 ,shortland   
,islands1 ,bismarck ,archipelago        
7probably71 ,reef ,islands1 ,santa      
,cruz1  ,vanikolo and in some regions of
 the ,solomon ,islands1 but not in the  
,banks ,islands nor in the ,torres      
,islands to the south4           99     
99       99       99       99    ,this  
hypothesis that ,totemism is derived    
from the fancies of women  concerning   
the causes of their own pregnancy       
suggests several adverse                

considerations4 ,in the first place1 it 
is to me incredible that the  ,arunta   
are really ignorant of paternity2 young 
women and children  perhaps may be1 but 
not the seniors4 ,my reasons for        
thinking so are set  out at length in   
the ,j4,r4,a4,i41 #ahai 7p4 #adf71      
namely1 that the facts  of childbirth   
are too interesting to be overlooked or 
misconstrued1 and  are well within the  
grasp of savage understanding2 that     
those who think  the ,arunta capable of 
such stupidity have attended too        
exclusively to  particular incidents of 
pregnancy1 especially the quickening1   
and have  not considered that there is a
 definite series of closely connected   
incidents2 that there is testimony1 not 
to be lightly put aside1 that  the old  
men know the truth in the case of human 
beings1 and that  knowledge of the      
parallel phenomena amongst animals is   
shared even by  the ,arunta children2   
that it is possible for knowledge to be 
repressed  by dogma without being       

extinguished2 that this is an old man's 
dogma1  and that we must not assume that
 in ,australia1 any more than in        
,europe1  what people are accustomed to 
say is good evidence of what they really
  believe2#ebe that other tribes at the 
same level of culture1 in  ,south-,east 
,australia1 are so convinced of the     
importance of paternity  that they say  
the child proceeds entirely from the    
father2 that those  who deny paternity  
show by their customs and myths that    
they are  secretly aware of it2 and1    
finally1 that in some cases they have   
clear  motives for maintaining the dogma
 and suppressing the truth4             
,secondly1 the observations of ,dr4     
,rivers in the ,banks ,islands give  not
 the slightest support to the           
conceptional hypothesis4 ,for 7a7  the  
,banks ,islands belief 8is not          
accompanied by any ignorance of the     
physical rle of the human father40 7b7  
,the belief is that the child  born to a
 woman who has been visited by a plant  

or animal is in some  way 8influenced0  
by the experience2 not1 as with the     
,arunta1 that it  is entirely due to it 
7except for some 8preparation0 by the   
father74  7c7 ,before the ,banks        
,islands belief can give rise to        
,totemism  there must be a belief in the
 continuous inheritance of the plant or 
animal influence2 and not only is this  
absent1 but there is a strong  tendency 
to prevent it4 ,a woman having been     
influenced by an eel1 her  child is an  
eel2 but if that child be a girl1 there 
is no further  transmission of eel-like 
qualities2 the girl1 on becoming        
pregnant1 may  be influenced by a yam1  
and then her child will be a yam4 ,this 
hinders  the formation of a group of    
human beings mysteriously allied to an  
animal or plant1 such as ,totemism      
implies4 ,but 7d7 the conceptional      
hypothesis refers the origin of         
,totemism to the ignorant imaginings of 
women themselves1 who think they have   
been entered by this or that2  whereas  

in the ,banks ,islands a woman's belief 
in the influence of an  animal or plant 
upon her offspring is not prompted by   
her own fancy1  but by a popular        
superstition4 ,for when she carries the 
thing found in  her loin-cloth to the   
village1 8the people say0 she will give 
birth to  a child who will have the     
qualities of1 or even will be that      
thing2 and  a child afterwards born may 
not eat or touch that thing 8by the     
custom  of the country40 ,had the       
,arunta1 then1 of pre-totemic days such 
a  superstition and custom for the      
guidance of mothers8 ,if so1 the history
  of that superstition and custom must  
be more obscure than ,totemism  itself4 
,but in the ,banks ,islands their origin
 may admit of a wide  solution2 for     
although it is said that no manifest    
traces of ,totemism  are to be found    
there now2 yet1 seeing that the         
,australians1 ,papuans1  ,polynesians   
and the ,melanesians to the north all   
have ,totemism or  plain vestiges of it1

 the improbability that ,melanesians in 
the ,banks  ,islands never had it is    
very great2 and it is reasonable to     
suppose  that the superstition          
concerning the influence of animals or  
plants  upon pregnant women1 and the    
taboo upon the eating of such an animal 
or  plant by the offspring1 represent   
not a possible origin of ,totemism1  but
 a survival of it4    ,these            
considerations raise a further question 
as to the employment  of the            
,comparative ,method4 ,natives of the   
,banks ,islands are far in  advance of  
the ,arunta in all the arts of life1 as 
well as in relation  to ,totemism which 
they seem to have outlived4 ,is it      
admissible to  take some trait of their 
life as an example of what may have     
existed  amongst the ,arunta at a stage 
of culture which is generally assumed   
to have been inferior even to the       
present8 ,when the antecedents of  an   
institution have been lost amongst any  
given people1 and we set  out to supply 

them from parallel cases amongst other  
peoples1 must  we not require the same  
relative order of development8 ,if a    
social  phenomenon is found in the      
,banks ,islands1 its possibility is     
proved2  but strictly it was possible   
only where it occurred3 elsewhere we can
  expect only something similar1        
according to the similarity of other    
relevant circumstances4 ,comparing the  
,banks ,islands and their people  with  
,central ,australia and its people1 one 
discovers hardly anything  common to    
them4 ,and ,arunta tradition 7whatever  
worth7 shows no sign of  anything like  
the southern ,melanesian culture3 the   
,alcheringa ancestors  are represented  
as having been already ,totemists4 ,to  
assume1 however1  that the former       
condition of the ,arunta was even lower 
than the  present1 may not be           
justifiable3 social degeneration is not 
uncommon4  ,there would be something to 
guide our judgment if we knew how       
recently  the desiccation of their      

country approached its present severity4
 ,but1  in any case1 can we suppose it  
to have been at all like the            
,melanesian8       #d4 ,,andrew         
,,lang',s ,,hypothesis    ,in some very 
remote age--to summarise ,lang's        
statement--at a level of  culture       
inferior to that of existing            
,australians1 distinctive names  were   
acquired by small groups of mankind4    
,since a group needs names  for other   
groups more than for itself 7for itself 
it consists of  8men0 as contrasted with
 other kinds of animals71 names may at  
first  have been bestowed upon each     
group by some other1 or others1 in its  
neighbourhood--probably names of animals
 or plants--and accepted by  each2 for  
no opprobrium attaches to such names4   
,in ,social ,origins  ,lang offers      
evidence concerning names 7even         
depreciatory and mocking  names7 having 
been conferred in this way and accepted2
 but in ,the  ,secret of the ,totem1#ebf
 he says that how groups got their names

 is  not essential to his theory4 ,they 
may have been given1 or adopted1 on     
account of a group's staple food        
7,haddon72 or because of some animal  or
 plant characteristic of a group's      
territory2 or for some fancied          
resemblance of its members to some      
animal4 ,the important point is  that1  
from the first1 they were names of      
groups--not derived from the  names of  
individuals4 ,at the early period       
assumed for these events  there was not 
a long enough memory of individuals to  
make their names  traditionary2 and1    
indeed1 the reckoning of descent in the 
female line  7which ,lang regards as    
universally the most ancient custom7    
must have  prevented the inheritance of 
the names of male ancestors4            
,whatever may have occasioned the first 
fixing of names1 with the flight  of    
time the circumstances were forgotten2  
and groups of men and women  found      
themselves with names--the names of     
animals or plants--without  knowing why4

 ,the bearing of a name in common with  
an animal or plant  inevitably suggested
 to the savage a mysterious connexion   
with the  species--perhaps that they had
 the same sort of soul4 ,it gave rise to
  an explanatory myth1 and the analogy  
of family relationship suggested  a     
blood-bond3 the animal or plant must be 
one's ancestor1 brother1 or  primal     
ancestral form4 ,from this idea follows 
a regard for it1 respect1  reverence3 it
 must not be killed1 or eaten1 or used  
in any way2 it may  be protected1 may be
 helpful2 it is a ,totem4    ,the       
connexion of ,totemism with ,exogamy    
7the custom of marrying outside  the    
group or kin7 ,lang conceives of in this
 way4 ,adopting a suggestion  of        
,darwin's1#ebg and the scheme of his    
cousin1 ,j4 ,j4 ,atkinson in  ,primal   
,law1 that the primary human group      
consisted of a powerful  male with one  
or more wives and their children1 he    
argues that the  jealousy of the head of
 this family imposed the rule--8,no male

 to touch  the females in my camp40 ,the
 sons1 therefore1 as they grew up1 were 
driven out1 and must find wives         
elsewhere4 ,this was the beginning of   
,exogamy1 and it may have preceded the  
rise of ,totemism2 but ,totemism1  once 
established1 strengthened the custom of 
,exogamy by mysterious  sanctions4 ,as  
the ,totem might not be eaten1 or in any
 way used or  touched1 so a woman of the
 same ,totem could not be married2 and  
that  not only within their immediate   
family-group1 but not even by a male of 
any group having the same ,totem4       
99       99       99       99       99  
,in maintaining this hypothesis against 
those who would derive ,totems  from the
 names and traditions of individuals1   
,lang seems to me to  lay too much      
stress upon the difficulty of           
establishing a tradition  of descent    
amongst people who trace descent 7as he 
would say7 8on  the spindle side40 ,if  
the tradition began from a woman 7as it 
might  do71 there is no difficulty2 and 

even if it began from a man1 it is      
conceivable that his women-folk should  
adopt it4 ,moreover1 in the  opinion of 
both ,westermarck and ,frazer1 it has   
not been shown that the  reckoning of   
descent in the female line is original  
and universal4  ,still1 the further we  
push back the origin of ,totemism the   
more  difficult it is to understand the 
growth of a tradition of the descent    
and inheritance of the name and personal
 qualities of an individual2  and this  
difficulty is avoided by an hypothesis  
which derives ,totemism  from the       
animal- or plant-names of groups of men 
and women4 ,that such  names were       
conferred upon each group by others in  
the neighbourhood is  a reasonable      
conjecture2#ebh being the earliest names
 of groups they  cannot be called       
nicknames2 and the names of animals or  
plants need in  no way have been        
offensive4 ,it is still more reasonable 
to urge that1  having been adopted by a 
group1 the circumstances of their       

acquisition  would1 in a few            
generations1 be forgotten1 and that they
 would then  become the ground of myths 
and mysterious totemic beliefs4 ,but    
does any  one think that it will now    
ever be possible to decide with         
confidence  where1 when1 how or why the 
names were given at first8 ,i do not4   
,as to the origin of ,exogamy1 ,i cannot
 believe that the primitive human       
groups were such as ,lang described2    
and1 if not1 some other origin of  that 
custom must be sought4       #e4        
,,totemism ,,and ,,marriage             
,generally men and women of the same    
,totem cannot marry4 ,tribes1 such  as  
the ,arunta1 that do not observe this   
rule are so few that it  is reasonable  
to consider them aberrant2 so that in   
each case the  non-coincidence of       
,totemism and ,exogamy is a distinct    
problem4    ,nevertheless1 there is     
reason to think that these institutions 
have not  the same origin4 ,for several 
primitive tribes1 some of them inferior 

in culture to the average ,australian1  
have customs of ,exogamy1 or  7at least7
 forbidding marriage between individuals
 of some certain  description1 who have 
not1 and are not known ever to have     
recognised  ,totemism4 ,many tribes1    
again1 who by their ethnological        
position may  be supposed once to have  
entertained ,totemism1 have abandoned   
it1 but  still maintain ,exogamy by     
means of ,marriage-classes 7phratries7  
or  otherwise4 ,further1 many nations of
 advanced culture cannot be shown  ever 
to have been totemists1 but have always 
7as far back as can be  traced7 enforced
 ,exogamy so far as to prohibit marriage
 within certain  degrees of kindred4    
,and that the connexion between         
,totemism and ,exogamy  is not original 
but acquired1 is indicated by the       
consideration that  the most obvious    
tendency of ,totemism would be to favour
 ,endogamy  7the practice of not        
marrying outside certain limits71 on the
 obvious  principle that as an animal   

kangaroo mates with an animal kangaroo1 
so  a human kangaroo should marry a     
human kangaroo4 ,this is so obvious     
that the opposite rule that a human     
kangaroo must not marry another  one1   
but 7zoological paradox67 only an emu or
 a witchety-grub1  seems perverse1 and  
only to be explained by the influence of
 some  superstition or incidental       
custom4 ,according to ,arunta tradition1
 their  ancestors in the ,alcheringa    
were endogamous4    ,whether ,exogamy   
originated in the days of the           
hunting-pack--which  is so far probable 
that the ,boschmans observed it--or     
during the  reconstitution of society   
after the breaking up of the packs1 or  
even  later1 or in some regions at one  
period1 in others at another1 is1 ,i    
fear1 beyond our power of verifiable    
guessing4 ,the best hypothesis as  to   
the grounds of the custom is            
,westermarck's1 namely1 that an instinct
  of mutual avoidance grew up between   
near kin4 ,this requires that at  the   

time of its origination promiscuity of  
sexual relations should not  have       
prevailed in the human stock1 since that
 would have destroyed the  conditions   
necessary to the rise of such an        
instinct4 ,if promiscuity  was ever     
widely practised1 it must have been     
after the breaking up of  the           
hunting-packs4 ,that at some stage of   
human life1 and apparently  with some   
,australian tribes not a remote one1    
promiscuity was  established1 has been  
argued 7on the ground of some           
,australian customs7  with much         
plausibility2 but in his ,history of    
,human ,marriage1#ebi  ,westermarck has 
examined this opinion very carefully1   
and concludes  that it is not tenable4  
,his reasoning seems to me good         
throughout2 and1  having nothing        
important to add to it1 ,i refer the    
reader to his work4    ,whether amongst 
anthropoids any instinctive avoidance   
prevails1  preventing what we conceive  
of as incest1 nobody knows4 ,with their 

solitary families1 the growth of such a 
disposition may be more  difficult than 
amongst gregarious animals 7such as our 
ancestors had  become long before they  
could be called 8human071 who find other
  families at hand to intermarry with2  
though the primitive human bands        
probably were not large4 ,savages now at
 the lowest level1 such as the  ,veddas 
or ,yaghans1 rarely form parties of more
 than thirty or forty4  ,the ,boschmans1
 before their tribal habits were        
destroyed in the early  years of last   
century1 though sometimes assembling in 
large numbers  for the great hunts by   
means of stockade traps1 yet were       
usually  scattered in groups of a few   
families4 ,it is not likely that their  
remote forefathers consorted in larger  
numbers3 eight or ten families  may have
 been enough to co-operate in hunting1  
or in mutual defence4  ,within each     
family constituting such a band the     
tendency to ,exogamy may  first have    
manifested itself4    ,westermarck's    

hypothesis concerning ,exogamy was first
 published in  the ,history of ,human   
,marriage1#ecj and has been re-stated in
 ,the  ,origin and ,development of      
,moral ,ideas4#eca ,in the former work  
he  fully discusses the evidence as to  
the effects of the inter-breeding  of   
near kin1 and concludes that it is      
probably injurious4 ,the evidence  is   
conflicting1 but his conclusion seems to
 me justifiable4 ,and he  rightly points
 out that if1 amongst civilised nations1
 the mischief of  inbreeding is not     
always manifest1 it was probably much   
greater amongst  primitive savages3 7#a7
 because the blood of the stock was     
purer2 for in  modern ,europe 7e4 g47   
every marriage brings together many     
different  strains4 7#b7 ,because       
communities were then much smaller2 so  
that  under endogamous conditions       
whatever vice may beset inbreeding      
would1  generation after generation1 be 
perpetuated and exaggerated without     
relief4 ,it may be added that with      

,endogamy the young folk are likely  to 
begin to breed earlier--perhaps by two  
or three years--than they  would with   
,exogamy2 and there is no doubt that the
 marriage of immature  individuals is   
highly injurious to the race4    ,but if
 inbreeding was injurious1 ,natural     
,selection favoured any  family or band 
that practised ,exogamy4 ,that any      
should have done  so on rational        
grounds1 to avoid the observed evil     
effects of  inbreeding1 cannot be       
supposed4 ,the motive must have been    
blind to the  consequences1 and may have
 taken the form of coldness toward those
 of  opposite sex with whom one had     
grown up from infancy1 or of aversion   
to the idea of marrying them4 ,such     
dispositions ,natural ,selection        
preserved1 and they have descended to   
ourselves2 for such was the  beginning  
of the abhorrence of incest4    ,i      
conjecture that this feeling first      
showed itself within the family1  and   
led the families of a band to exchange  

their daughters2 and that  later it     
extended to all members of the same     
band1 and that wives were  then sought  
from other bands4 ,probably wives were  
obtained sometimes  by capture or       
enticement1 sometimes by exchange so far
 as amicable  relations with neighbours 
prevailed3 for the evidence is far from 
showing that 8marriage by capture0 was  
ever a general custom2 whilst  our      
knowledge of the ,australians and       
,boschmans shows that neighbouring      
bands of savages are not always hostile4
    ,such a state of things may have    
existed for ages before the rise of     
,totemism1 and amongst races that never 
adopted ,totemism4 ,when names of       
animals were first given to1 or adopted 
by1 various groups1 ,totemism  somewhere
 7perhaps in several places7 resulted1  
as a belief in the  magical or spiritual
 connexion between men and animals of   
the same  name4 ,but the bands that     
adopted ,totemism were already          
exogamous1  having an aversion to       

marriage with others of the same band2  
and the  practice of ,exogamy was thus  
brought under the mysterious sanction of
  totemic ideas4 ,it would then be      
further extended to bar marriage with   
those of the same ,totem in other       
groups4    ,totemic sanctions may have  
been useful in confirming the ,exogamy  
of  some groups1 but all superstitious  
aids to right conduct are liable to     
perverse issues1 and at best they are   
second best4 ,totemism prevents         
consanguineous marriages1 but also      
prevents marriage with thousands of     
people where no blood-relationship is   
traceable4 ,if any races were able  to  
perceive that the interest of ,exogamy  
was the prevention of marriage  between 
near kin1 and then to keep account of   
kinship and govern  themselves          
accordingly1 they chose the better part4
    ,some exceptions to the rule that   
,totem-clans are exogamous may1         
perhaps1 be explained by supposing that 
certain bands had not adopted  ,exogamy 

when they became totemists--may not this
 have happened amongst  the             
,arunta8--and that they have since      
learnt ,exogamy under other  conditions 
from neighbouring people1 or by         
conquest4 ,amongst the  other possible  
conditions there are the remarkable     
,marriage-classes1  or phratries that   
prevail in ,australia1 ,north ,america1 
and less  regularly in other parts of   
the world4 ,these ,marriage-classes are 
considered by some ethnologists to be of
 deliberate institution--a  reform for  
the regulation of ,exogamy2 and ,spencer
 and ,gillen1 who  knew the ,australians
 so intimately1 thought such a          
law--though its  intricacy astonishes   
most ,europeans and stumbles many--was  
not beyond  their power of excogitation4
 ,upon that point it would be absurd of 
me  to have any opinion4 ,but to suppose
 deliberate intention is contrary  to   
the usual method of interpreting savage 
institutions3 a savage  language is a   
system of customs much more intricate   

and refined than  the ,marriage-classes1
 and not generally believed to have     
originated  with the deliberate         
enactment of rules of grammar4 ,i       
conjecture  that those classes resulted 
at first from a grouping of exogamous   
,totem-clans which grew up by custom1   
and that the only deliberate work       
consisted in some minor adjustments of  
clan-relations4 ,marriage of  cousins is
 prevented in ,central and ,north       
,australia by the recognition  of eight 
sub-classes2 but the same result is     
obtained in other tribes  by a custom   
which merely forbids it4 ,exogamous     
classes having been  established in some
 tribes1 may have been imitated in      
others4    ,one result of the           
classificatory marriage system1 however 
it grew up1  is the extended use of     
names of kinship to denote all          
individuals of  the same or             
corresponding generation--8father0 for  
all men who might  by custom have       
married your mother2 8brother0 and      

8sister0 for all men  and women         
descended from those whom your father or
 mother might have  married2 8husband0  
or 8wife0 for any man or woman whom1    
according to  custom1 you might have    
married4 ,when further progress has been
 made  in culture1 distinctive names are
 used to express blood-relationship  and
 class-relationship4 ,it may be worth   
considering whether1 in  ,australia1    
some of the customs which have been     
supposed to bear witness  to an original
 state of promiscuity are not really    
results of the  classificatory system of
 naming relationship3 marital rights    
having  been claimed on the ground of   
the names 8husband0 and 8wife0 as used  
in that system4       #f4 ,,the         
,,clansman ,,and ,,his ,,totem    ,the  
relationship of ,clansman to ,totem may 
be conceived of as one of  friendliness1
 protection1 consanguinity1 or even     
identity2 and this  last ,i take to be  
the case in the age when ,totemism is   
most alive and  powerful4 ,but in what  

sense can a man be the same as an emu8  
,he may be  of the same name2 but by    
itself that would be nothing4 ,it is not
 the  name1 but the identity which the  
name has come to signify that must be   
considered4 ,some light may be shed upon
 the problem by the saying of  a native 
to ,spencer and ,gillen1 pointing to a  
photograph of himself3  8,that one is   
just the same as me2 so is a kangaroo40 
,the photograph  might be 8the same0 as 
himself in the sense of resemblance2 but
 in that  sense the kangaroo is not the 
same4 ,some1 indeed1 who have speculated
  on the savage mind suppose that it is 
not only incapable of reasoning1  but   
even of perceiving the facts before it1 
when under the influence  of some strong
 belief2 and ,i admit that this is      
sometimes true4 ,but  all a savage's    
actions in relation to his ,totem show  
that he is aware  of the difference3 not
 least his efforts on certain occasions 
to help  his imagination to establish   
identity by disguising himself and by   

imitating the actions of this strange   
other self1 and by eating a  little of  
it to insure physical identity at least 
to that extent4 ,he  also seeks to      
multiply it that others may eat their   
ration1 and for any  theory of his      
identity with the ,totem1 this must be a
 puzzle4    ,but a photograph may be the
 same as oneself in another sense than  
mere  superficial resemblance3 it may1  
like a shadow or reflection1 be 7or     
contain7 a man's soul1 or part of it4   
,and similarly a kangaroo or other      
,totem may be conceived to be the same  
as a man1 that is1 as having the  same  
soul4 ,perhaps this is as near as we can
 get to the ,australian's  meaning in   
the above-quoted confession of faith4   
,it is reconcilable  with the ceremonial
 eating of some part of the ,totem2 for 
that will  convey spiritual as well as  
physical properties3 and to reconcile it
  with the multiplication of the ,totem 
that others may eat1 ,i point to  the   
biological necessity that each clan's   

,totem should be food for the  other    
tribesmen4 ,where all edible animals and
 plants are ,totems1 how  else can they 
subsist8 ,but we have several times seen
 that biological  necessity will place  
limits to a belief1 and that excuses can
 be found  for necessary actions which  
are in conflict with a belief4 ,that the
  clansmen give their own ,totem to the 
tribe 7since they cannot defend  it7 is 
an ingenious compromise4    ,it is      
reported that amongst the ,euahlayi     
tribe occur personal ,totems  7or       
guardians1 rare in ,australia7 called   
,yunbeai1 possessed chiefly  by wizards4
 ,a man may eat his hereditary ,totem1  
but not his ,yunbeai2  which in this    
privilege seems to have supplanted the  
,totem4 ,his spirit  is in the ,yunbeai1
 and its spirit is in him4#ecb ,they    
have1 then1 the  same soul2 and1        
although this belief is not strictly    
,totemism1 it is  probably derived from 
it4 ,a clansman of the ,yuin tribe      
7,west ,australia7  had as his ,totem   

the ,black ,duck1 which warned him      
against enemies2  and he related that   
once1 whilst he slept1 a ,lace-,lizard  
man sent  his ,totem1 which went down   
his throat and almost ate his ,black    
,duck  residing in his breast2 so that  
he nearly died4#ecc ,were not his ,black
  ,duck and his soul the same8    ,this 
hypothesis agrees very well with a      
belief that one's body and  soul descend
 from the same ancestor as the ,totem's2
 and that at death  one goes to1 or     
becomes1 the ,totem2 and excuses the    
fiction that the  quickening of a       
pregnant woman may be caused by the     
entry into her of  the spirit of some   
totem-plant or animal4    ,on the ,gold 
,coast and elsewhere in ,west ,africa1 a
 man has more than  one soul1 it may be 
as many as four2 and one of them dwells 
with some  animal in the bush3 thence   
called his 8bush-soul40 ,sir ,james     
,frazer's  first hypothesis concerning  
,totemism was that it may have been     
derived  from the notion of an external 

soul which may be deposited in anything 
7as thus in an animal in the bush7 for  
safety4 ,he now thinks the  connexion of
 the 8bush-soul0 with ,totemism         
uncertain4#ecd ,if there  has been any  
connexion1 may it not be that the       
8bush-soul0 is derived  from ,totemism1 
and that every ,totem is a sort of      
8bush-soul0--that is1  it has a soul    
which is the same 7at least1 of the same
 kind7 as the  clansman's8       #g4    
,,totemism ,,and ,,magic    ,the        
identity of a man with his name1 as     
usually assumed by savages1  whether his
 personal or his totemic name1 is not   
itself a magical  belief1 but an        
inevitable result of mental association 
at a low level  of intelligence3 perhaps
 earlier than any notions that can      
properly be  called magical4 ,the name  
of a man1 always thought of along with  
his  other properties1 seems to be as   
much one of them as a scar on his neck  
or any peculiar trait of visage or      
length of limb4 ,this must be as old  as

 naming4 ,but such a complication of the
 name with other marks having  been     
formed1 it becomes the ground of magic  
beliefs and practices4  ,to mention the 
name of a man or spirit insures his     
presence and  participation in any rite1
 either acting or suffering2 or where   
writing  is known1 his name on a piece  
of paper is as good as his nail-parings4
  ,the use of the name is not a mere    
animistic summons 7which might be       
disobeyed71 but an immediate instatement
 of the given individual4 ,such  magic  
may enter into totemic observances4     
,the descent of the clan from the       
,totem-animal1 or of the animal from  a 
forefather of the clan1 or of both from 
a tertium quid1 involves  metamorphosis2
 and this1 again1 is not itself a magic 
idea2 for real  metamorphoses are common
 in the life of birds1 amphibia1        
insects1 and  it would be unreasonable  
to expect savages to perceive clearly   
that  these are not parallel cases4     
,there is a difference1 however1 between

  transformations that may be observed1 
such as that of a chrysalis into  a     
butterfly1 and those that have never    
been observed1 but are merely  imagined 
and asserted4 ,the latter are more      
mysterious1 and mystery  is one         
character of magic4 ,for example1 the   
,witchety-,grub clan among  the ,arunta 
have as their mate a bird1 the          
chantunga1 which they will  not eat     
because1 they say1 of old some          
full-grown witchety-grubs  were         
transformed into these birds4#ece ,this 
change has a magical  character1 though 
no magical agency is assigned4 ,but if  
any attempt  were made to explain how   
the great change took place1 recourse   
might  be had to powers of magic4 ,even 
when agency is assigned1 it is not      
always magical4 ,in the earliest        
,alcheringa the two ,ungambikula 78out  
of nothing07 saw in groups by the shore 
of the salt water a number of           
inapertwa1 rudimentary men1 mere        
roundish masses1 without organs or      

means of feeding1 and these they cut out
 into men with stone knives1  therefore 
not by magic4#ecf ,but1 again1 a tribe  
on the ,darling ,river  7,wathi-wathi7  
have traditions concerning ,bookoomuri  
who lived long ago1  excelled in ,magic1
 and transformed themselves into        
animals2 and here  the magical power is 
asserted1 though the manner of its      
operation is  indefinite4 ,but the ,bear
 clan of the ,tshimshians 7,british     
,columbia7  explain their position by   
the story that once upon a time an      
,indian1  whilst hunting1 met a bear1   
which took him to its home1 where he    
stayed  two years4 ,on returning to his 
village he looked like a bear2 but1     
having been rubbed with medical herbs1  
recovered human shape4#ecg  ,and here   
the magic is as explicit as in any      
recipe for a were-wolf1  or that        
fallacious ointment with which ,lucius  
achieved his memorable  transformation4 
,nor1 further1 has the prohibition to   
slay1 injure or eat the ,totem  in the  

first place any magical significance2   
for it merely puts the  ,totem in the   
position of a clansman4 ,but the        
situation1 being strange  and           
mysterious1 acquires a magical          
atmosphere2 and the enforcement of  the 
taboo by penalties is unmistakably      
magical4 ,the ,untmajera 7,north        
,central ,australia7 have a legend of a 
,beetle-,grub man of former times  who  
ate beetle-grubs1 and thereupon broke   
out in sores1 wasted away and  died4 ,or
 one's hair may turn grey2 or1 according
 to the ,samoan belief  7not strictly   
totemistic71 the forbidden food may grow
 inside one into  the whole animal or   
plant to the destruction of its host4   
,such beliefs1  resting on the analogy  
of poisons and their physiological      
consequences1  are magical imaginations3
 the taboo has the same character as a  
conditional curse4    ,similarly1 the   
prohibition of marriage within the      
,totem-clan1 if it  originated 7as ,i   
have supposed7 with the fusion of       

,totemism and ,exogamy  in the customs  
of various early groups of men and      
women1 is not based  on ,magic2 but the 
penalties for breaking the taboo are    
magical4 ,thus  amongst the ,euahlayi   
and their neighbours men and women of   
the ,iguana  clan cannot intermarry1    
though coming from different parts of   
the  country and without any traceable  
consanguinity2 because1 if they  did1   
their children1 inasmuch as their       
ancestors on both sides were  the same  
animal1 would 8throw back0 to the form  
or attributes of the  iguana4#ech ,a    
grotesque anticipation of scientific    
ideas4    ,but the most remarkable      
connexion between ,totemism and ,magic  
occurs  in those rites by which clansmen
 in several parts of the world1 but     
especially in ,australia1 believe       
themselves able to influence their      
,totems3 when these are edible1 to      
multiply them2 when noxious1 to  drive  
away or destroy them2 or1 as with the   
wind and rain1 to control  them for the 

general good4 ,spencer and ,gillen#eci  
give astonishing  descriptions of the   
rites of multiplication 7or             
,intichiuma71 carefully  prepared and   
regulated1 including disguisings of     
clansmen in the  likeness of the        
,totems1 drawings of the ,totems on the 
ground1 dances1  incantations and       
ceremonies1 sometimes representing      
traditional  history--by which the      
tribesmen discharge this function of    
theirs4  ,they rely chiefly on mimetic  
7exemplary7 ,magic which1 by dramatising
  some natural process1 brings it into  
real operation4 ,in identifying         
themselves with the ,totem1 they exert  
their imaginations to the  utmost1 and  
to this end may eat a little of the     
,totem1 at other  times forbidden4 ,this
 assumption that by eating a little of  
any  animal1 plant or human being1 you  
become one with it1 or acquire its      
qualities1 or1 further1 that two men by 
eating together of the same  food become
 allied 7which is in a manner materially

 true1 but absurdly  interpreted71 is   
another of those notions simpler than1  
and antecedent  to1 ,magic1 which       
provide a base for magical              
operations4#edj ,these  solemnities last
 for months1 and are carried out with   
conscientious  diligence and            
earnestness3 the infatuation is profound
 and universal4  ,here1 as at most of   
the higher stages of culture1 we find   
the most  intense emotions of which men 
are capable excited by participation in 
communal imaginative exercises that have
 directly1 in relation to their         
expectations1 absolutely no result4     
,indeed1 pre-occupation with vain       
employments tends to exclude all ideas  
that might be useful1 that might  lead  
7e4 g47 to the increasing of food by the
 cultivation of plants  or domestication
 of animals4 ,sir ,james ,frazer has    
pointed out that a  passage of the rites
 of the ,grass-seed clan1 in which      
grass-seeds are  scattered about upon   
the ground1 might have led to           

cultivation3 but the  mental state of   
the clan is unfavourable to cool        
observation4 ,as for  animals1 it is    
some excuse for the backwardness of     
,australian culture  that the           
,marsupialia do not comprise a single   
species that would  repay domestication4
 ,indirectly and undesignedly these     
performances  have very useful          
consequences3 they annually restore the 
unity of the  tribe assembled from all  
parts for the great occasion2 promote   
mutual  good-will and a spirit of       
co-operation1 for which they afford the 
chief  opportunity2 maintain the social 
organisation and the tradition of       
customs by increasing the influence of  
the ,headmen1 who have a leading  part  
in everything that happens1 and on whose
 authority all order and  discipline    
depend2 interrupt the monotony of savage
 life with variety  of interests2       
stimulate ingenuity1 and fill up the    
time1 that might  else be wasted in     
idleness or quarrelling1 with artistic  

and dramatic  recreation4    ,upon these
 rites for the multiplication and       
control of the ,totems1  ,sir ,james    
,frazer based his second hypothesis     
concerning the origin of  ,totemism1    
namely1 that it was a system of         
co-operation amongst sections  of a     
savage tribe for the magical supply of  
food1 etc43 the ,emu clan  multiplying  
emus1 the ,kangaroo clan kangaroos1 the 
,witchety-,grub clan  witchety-grubs1   
and so forth4#eda ,but he afterwards    
reflected that  such a design was beyond
 the conception of savages4 ,and1 no    
doubt1 as a  plan thought out and       
deliberately adopted as a whole1 most   
ethnologists  would consider it above   
the capacity of ,australian aborigines4 
,but if  so--though not more difficult  
than the invention of the               
,classificatory  ,marriage ,system--it  
shows what complex arrangements1        
simulating  design1 may come into       
existence by the growth of custom2 for  
the clans  certainly do co-operate in   

the magical supply of food4    ,whatever
 may have been the origin of ,totemism  
the institution seems to  have been     
utilised by some tribes in an ambitious 
attempt to control  all nature by       
grouping 7on very obscure principles1 if
 on any7 various  classes of phenomena  
with the ,totems1 so that one clan or   
another is  responsible for everything4 
,short of this1 it is plainly necessary 
to  control the wind1 rain1 hail and    
lightning4 ,the control of an animal    
,totem is not always benevolent toward  
the animals themselves4 ,in the  ,kakadu
 tribe it is the duty of the ,mosquito  
clan to save the rest  from mosquitoes2 
they make imitation mosquitoes1 dance   
and sing1 and  imagine they are killing 
them4#edb ,in ,north ,america similar   
beliefs  and practices have been found  
both for encouraging and for            
discouraging  the ,totem1 but           
occasionally and irregularly4 ,the ,bird
 clan of the  ,omahas1 when birds       
threatened the crops1 prevented their   

devastations  by chewing corn and       
spitting it about over the fields2 when 
mosquitoes  were troublesome1 the ,wind 
people flapped blankets to raise a wind 
and  blow the pests away2 when worms    
attacked the crops1 the ,reptile clan   
7worms and reptiles are confused in     
primitive ,zoology7 countermined  their 
approaches by pounding up some of them  
with a little corn into  a soup and     
eating it4#edc ,the most remarkable     
,american rites for  the increase of    
food--the ,buffalo-dances and           
,corn-festivals of the  ,mandans--were  
not totemic1 but carried out by the     
whole tribe4 ,the  buffalo hunting-dance
 to bring the herd within reach1 was    
continued1  if necessary1 for weeks--in 
fact until the animals came2 so that the
  ,magic was always effectual4       #h4
 ,,totemism ,,and ,,animism    ,if the  
unity of clansmen with their ,totem is  
very early conceived  of as consisting  
in having the same1 or the same sort of1
 soul1 it  is thenceforward essentially 

animistic4 ,yet this idea seems only    
very slowly to have led to any sense of 
dependence on the ,totem as a  spiritual
 power1 or to any expectation that it   
would help or succour  the clansmen1 or 
7consequently7 to the making of any     
appeal to it1  except by magical        
coercion4 ,perhaps the earliest way in  
which the  ,totem was supposed to aid   
its clansmen was by omens2 as a ,black  
,duck  man of the ,yuin tribe 7,west    
,australia7 thought that black ducks    
warned  him against his enemies2 but    
this is more characteristic of guardian 
spirits than of ,clan-,totems4          
,occasionally in ,australia we meet with
  something like a prayer to a ,totem4  
,on the ,tully ,river 7,queensland7  we 
are told by ,mr4 ,w4 ,e4 ,roth that     
before a man goes to sleep1 or on       
waking in the morning1 he utters in a   
low voice the name of the animal  whose 
name he bears1 or which belongs to his  
group2 and that then1 if  edible1 he    
will be successful in hunting it or1 if 

dangerous1 it will  not hurt him without
 warning4    ,professor ,durkheim has an
 elaborate theory of the growth of      
divinities  from ,totems in ,australia1 
especially in the example of ,bungil1   
the  ,eagle-,hawk1 a great phratry      
name-animal in several tribes4#edd ,he  
is a persuasive writer1 but perverse and
 ingenious4 ,bungil receives  neither   
prayer nor sacrifice 7these1 indeed1 in 
the author's view  are not necessary to 
religion71 and there is nothing to show 
that he  differs from the other         
glorified ,headmen who are found in     
,australia4  ,the most plausible of     
these superior beings is ,byamee of the 
,euahlayi1  who is not a ,totem1 but the
 source of ,totems1 which are derived   
from  different parts of his body4 ,at  
funerals prayers are addressed to him   
for the souls of the dead2 and1 again1  
at the close of the ,boorah  7initiation
 rites7 for long life1 inasmuch as the  
tribesmen have kept  his law4#ede ,we   
are told that the nearest               

mission-station is a hundred  miles off1
 and recently established2 but on       
reading further that only  those who    
have been initiated can go to ,byamee's 
sky-camp1 and that  gross sinners are   
punished in the next life in ,eleanbah  
,wundah1 a place  dark but for          
fires1#edf we cannot help reflecting    
that missionaries  are not the only     
channels of sound doctrine4    ,the most
 authentic example of the rise of a     
,totem to something like  divine rank is
 the ,wollunqua1 the great snake of the 
,warramunga1  which differs from other  
,totems in being not a real animal but a
  mythological monster4 ,it is not      
approached with prayer or sacrifice2    
but is the object of rites in part      
propitiatory1 in part coercive1 and  is 
certainly regarded with superstitious   
awe much as a demon might  be4 ,to      
please the ,wollunqua1 the clan build a 
long mound and draw its  representation 
upon it2 which1 however1 afterwards     
meets with 8savage  destruction40 ,on   

approaching ,thapanerlu1 the sacred pool
 where it  lives1 they whispered to it  
8to remain quiet and do them no         
harm40#edg    ,on the whole1 funeral    
ceremonies1 in ,australia1 to provide   
the dead  with necessaries1 food1       
utensils1 warmth--even precautions      
against  ghosts--come nearer to         
religious ideas than anything connected 
with  ,totemism4 ,among the ,jupagalk   
7,victoria7 a person when in great pain 
would call on some dead friend to come  
and help him1 to visit him in a  dream  
and teach a song against the evil magic 
that hurt him4#edh    ,in ,yam ,island  
7,torres ,straits7 there is a cult of   
two brothers1 ,maiou  and ,sigai1 who   
are said to have come from ,australia4  
,they have shrines  within a fence2     
women and uninitiated youths are not    
permitted to  enter1 and do not know    
that ,maiou is the crocodile 7,kodal71  
and ,sigai  the hammer-headed shark     
7,kursi72 for they are always addressed 
and  spoken of by their names as heroes1

 and not by their animal or ,totem      
names4 ,the shrines contain effigies    
made of turtle-shell representing  the  
animals2 and under each effigy is a     
stone in which the life or  spirit of   
the ,totem-hero resides4 ,the natives1  
in the north-west  monsoon1 danced and  
sang before them for fine weather2 and  
also on  going to war1 praying3 8,o     
,totem ,sigai and ,totem ,maiou1 both of
 you  close the eyes of these men so    
that they cannot see us40#edi ,this  is 
indisputably ,religion2 it is not1      
however1 pure ,totemism1 but  apparently
 a fusion of hero-worship with the      
,totemism of the heroes4  ,another hero 
of more recent date1 ,quoiam1 is        
worshipped in the  neighbouring island  
of ,mabuaig4 ,he came from ,north       
,queensland2 and  his house and cairn   
are still shown on a hill-top4 ,his     
,totem was the  shovel-nosed skate1 but 
he has undergone no fusion with that    
animal4 ,we  may be inclined to infer   
that the hero can stand alone1 whilst a 

,totem  needs the alliance of a hero to 
anthropomorphise it4    ,such an        
inference is1 on the whole1 confirmed by
 the state of religion  in ,fiji4       
,there1 amongst the coastal tribes1     
,totemism is decadent and  irregular2   
though even on the coast of ,viti ,levu 
there are deities  with animal          
attributes1 and especially with the     
power of changing into  animals2 and the
 animal connected with a god must not be
 eaten by  people of the district where 
he is worshipped4#eej ,in the           
mountainous  interior ,totemism still   
flourishes1 and animal-gods are         
worshipped  which have been assumed to  
have originated in ,totems4 ,dr4 ,rivers
 tells  us#eea that he formerly assumed 
this1 but is inclined to revise his     
opinion4 ,the ,fijian ,snake-god        
,ndengei was1 according to tradition1 a 
man who came to the island from         
elsewhere2 probably he made a great     
impression and was apotheosised4 ,his   
character as a ,snake-god may be        

derived from the snake's having been his
 ,totem4 ,probably god-like  beings in  
,fiji were in many cases heroes1 but a  
close relation with  their ,totem endued
 them with something of the animal      
nature4 8,the  evolution would not be   
simply from ,totem to god1 but from hero
 and  ,totem together to god40    ,gods 
present in animals1 sometimes in plants1
 were acknowledged in  ,samoa1 ,tahiti1 
,hawaii1 ,tonga2 and1 in fact1          
,polynesia is the region  where1 if     
anywhere1 ,totems contribute largely to 
the divine population4  ,rivers will not
 deny 7loc4 cit47 that direct evolution 
of gods  from ,totems may have taken    
place2 but he points out that in ,samoa1
  for example1 the ,octopus-god 7,ole   
,fe'e7 was1 according to tradition1     
brought to the island by a ,fijian      
chief4 ,was then the mollusc or the     
chief the root from which the god grew  
up8 ,in ,savaii there were gods         
incarnate in men3 one in an actual man  
who was a cannibal propitiated  with    

human flesh2 another1 invisible to the  
people1 though seen by  strangers as a  
handsome young man wearing a girdle of  
leaves1 was  called the ,king of ,fiji  
7,tuifiti74 ,other gods described by    
,turner#eeb  are ,ole alii ,fiti 7chief 
of ,fiji71 who was manifest in an eel2  
and  ,tinalii 7,king of chiefs71 who was
 associated with the sea-eel1 octopus1  
mullet1 and the ends of banana leaves4  
,fusion seems to have been common4      
,it must not1 of course1 be assumed that
 all animal gods are ,totems4  ,among   
the ways in which animal gods may have  
arisen we cannot deny  some place to    
,spencer's hypothesis1 that heroes have 
sometimes been  worshipped as animals   
because they bore animal names2 and1    
after their  death1 the eponymous       
animals1 ever present to men's eyes1    
superseded  the heroes1 and were        
connected with and transformed their    
legends4  ,it is also conceivable that a
 hero has been worshipped in the form   
of an animal or plant1 because he had   

announced that1 after death1  he would  
be in such an animal or plant2 for at   
,ulawa 7,solomon ,isles7  bananas were  
buto1 things that might not be eaten1   
approached or  beheld 7according to ,dr4
 ,coddrington#eec71 because an          
influential man  had prohibited the     
eating of them1 saying that1 after      
death1 he would  be in the banana2 and  
with so much influence he might1 in     
favourable  circumstances1 have become a
 ,banana-god4 ,and1 again1 in ,professor
  ,westermarck's opinion1 8the common   
prevalence of animal worship is1  no    
doubt1 due to the mysteriousness of the 
animal world2 the most  uncanny of all  
creatures1 the serpent1 is also the one 
most generally  worshipped40#eed    ,but
 these considerations strengthen the    
probability that a ,totem may  sometimes
 become a god2 having the general       
respect of the clan to  begin with4     
,some ,totems having been deified with  
the assistance of  heroes1 others may   
perhaps be elevated by the force of     

analogy2 or1  once the conception of a  
spiritual being has been                
reached--chiefly 7as  we suppose7 by    
reflection on dreams--and animals and   
even inanimate  things have been thought
 to have spiritual doubles1 if then the 
,totem  is conceived to have a spirit1  
and even the same as the clansman's     
soul1 if it is appealed to for          
assistance1 if it sends omens1 listens  
to prayer and accepts sacrifice1 what is
 it but a god8    ,in ,north ,america   
the ,totem seems nowhere to have been   
worshipped2 and  any tendency that may  
have existed to propitiate it was       
diverted by  the superior fascination of
 the personal guardian-genius1 to which 
sometimes costly sacrifices were made   
and even self-mutilations2  as among the
 ,mandans1 who often cut off a finger to
 secure its  favour4#eee ,on the other  
hand1 a class of spirits was recognised 
in the 8elder brother0 of each species  
of animal 7or of the most  interesting  
species--bear1 deer1 snake1 etc4--all of

 the totemic  class71 a being 7in the   
words of an early missionary1 #afcd7    
8who is  as it were the principle and   
origin of all the individuals10 and     
8marvellously great and powerful03#eef  
it watches over the species and  avenges
 its wrongs4 ,in ,north-,west ,america  
and throughout ,siberia the  ,bear and  
the ,raven are objects of religious     
reverence2 not1 indeed1 as  clan-totems1
 but for all men4 ,among the ,gulf      
nations the ,yuchis are  ,totemists1 and
 a youth at his initiation is put under 
the care of his  clan-totem1 instead of 
a personal guardian-genius as among the 
northern  tribes2 he looks for          
protection1 however1 not to the living  
animals of  the ,totem species1 but to  
superior beings1 like the 8elder        
brothers0  of the species4#eeg ,similar 
to these must be the ,beast-gods of the 
,zuni ,indians1 to whom they offer a    
portion of all game1 praying that  they 
will intercede for them with the        
,sun-,father4 ,in ,south ,america1  too1

 the ,patagonians and ,araucanians teach
 that each species of animal  has a     
guardian spirit1 who lives in a cave1   
and that the ,indians  themselves at    
death go to live with him4 ,we can      
hardly doubt that in  all these cases1  
the spirit-animals are in some way      
connected with  totemic beliefs3 if not 
gods1 they are at least divine beings1  
and they  exemplify a noble sort of     
mysticism that is natural to the        
,amerind  imagination4#eeh    ,africa is
 the principal home of ,zoolatry4 ,the  
religion of the ,bantu  nations of      
,south ,africa is1 indeed1              
ancestor-worship2 and their             
serpent-cult seems to be an outgrowth of
 ancestor-worship 7for they  think that 
their dead return as serpents of various
 species according  to rank72 unless1   
indeed1 it has been diverted to such a  
subordinate  place from some more       
ancient superstition4 ,in ,west ,africa 
there are  many ,beast-gods1 especially 
the leopard1 hyena1 crocodile and       

python4  ,they do not1 however1 give    
much indication of totemic origin2 and  
,sir  ,james ,frazer observes that1 as  
the hereditary worship of animals in    
certain districts 7as of the hyena at   
,accra7 was not totemic1 nor need       
similar practices have been so          
elsewhere4#eei ,hence that the          
,egyptians  worshipped certain animals1 
and that in the district of any animal's
  worship it was not killed or eaten1   
cannot prove that the worship  was      
totemic1 unless it be shown that        
,totemism is the only road to           
,zoolatry2 for1 if there are other ways1
 any animal that becomes divine  will1  
naturally1 not be killed or eaten4 ,on  
the other hand1 that the  ,egyptians    
were not ,exogamists does not prove they
 were not ,totemists2  since some known 
,totemists are not ,exogamists4 ,the    
natural impression  of a student who    
merely comes amongst other things to    
,egyptian ,religion  is that ,totemism  
was one of its sources2 but it is a     

subject on which1  more strictly than on
 most1 only a few specialists can form a
 judgment4    ,on the whole1 the        
contribution of ,totemism to religion   
seems to  have been greatly exaggerated4
 ,compared with the influence of dead   
heroes and ancestors1 or with the       
personification of the greater          
manifestations of nature--,sky1 ,sun1   
,thunder--it has been ineffective1      
falling short of the production of high 
gods2 or if1 as in ,polynesia1  it seems
 sometimes to have come near to that    
achievement1 it may be  suspected that  
its success owed much to an alliance    
with hero-worship4    ,,footnotes3      
#eaj ,totemism and ,exogamy1 ,i4 p4 #c4 
,the definition occurs in a  reprint of 
an earlier essay4 ,a later definition   
7,,iv4 p4 #c7 runs3  8,totemism is an   
intimate relation which is supposed to  
exist between  a group of kindred people
 on the one side and a species of       
natural  or artificial objects on the   
other side1 which objects are called    

the totems of the human group40 ,the    
relation appears to be one of           
friendship and kinship1 on a footing of 
equality1 not religious in  ,australia4 
,i have1 in this chapter1 drawn freely  
upon the great mass of  facts and       
speculations collected in ,totemism and 
,exogamy2 believing  that in that work  
the author not only intended to present 
the evidence  for his own conclusions1  
but had also the benevolent purpose of  
assisting the labours of those who might
 come after him4 ,a heavy debt  of      
gratitude is due2 which1 indeed1 causes 
some embarrassment if ever  one feels   
obliged to differ from him in opinion4  
#eaa ,totemism and ,exogamy1 ,i4 p4 #d2 
cf4 ,,iv4 pp4 #c1 #d4 ,perhaps the      
author no longer approves of the word   
8reverenced40 ,totem and clan are       
rather on a footing of equality4    #eab
 ,northern ,tribes of ,central          
,australia1 ,app4 ,b4    #eac ,the      
animals are3 ,human #b1 other ,mammalia 
#ca1 ,birds #df1 ,reptiles  #ea1        

,amphibia #a1 ,fishes #h1 ,insects #bd1 
,mollusca #a4    #ead ,totemism and     
,exogamy1 ,,ii4 p4 #ece4    #eae        
,totemism and ,exogamy1 ,,iii4 pp4      
#ij-ajj4    #eaf ,hose and ,mc,dougall1 
,pagan ,tribes of ,borneo1 ,,ii4 pp4    
#if-aaj4    #eag ,contributions to the  
,science of ,mythology1 ,i4 p4 #bja4    
#eah ,introduction to the ,history of   
,religion1 p4 #aja4    #eai ,secret of  
the ,totem and ,social ,origins4    #ebj
 ,spencer and ,gillen1 ,northern ,tribes
 of ,central ,australia1 p4  #ccj4      
#eba ,native ,tribes of ,northern       
,territory of ,australia1 p4 #bfc4      
#ebb ,totemism and ,exogamy1 ,,iv4 pp4  
#eg-fc4    #ebc ,journal of the         
,anthropological ,institute1 #aiji1 p4  
#agc4    #ebd ,journal of the           
,anthropological ,institute1 #aiji1 p4  
#age4    #ebe ,in the ,gazelle          
,peninsula of ,new ,britain1 a man      
applies the name  of 8mother0 to his    
real mother and also to his maternal    
aunts1 who  accept the relationship and 

may assert3 8,we all three of us bore   
him0  7,totemism and ,exogamy1 ,i4 p4   
#cje note74 ,is this what they believe1 
or  what 7following their system of     
class-nomenclature7 they are accustomed 
to say8    #ebf ,page #abe4    #ebg ,see
 above1 ch4 ii4  #c4    #ebh ,it is     
reasonable to suppose that a group named
 other groups  to distinguish those     
around them1 before needing to name     
itself4 ,it  follows that probably each 
group sometimes bore a different name   
when  spoken of by each of several      
neighbours4 ,how amidst such confusion  
could single names be fixed8 ,perhaps   
because the group designated  adopted   
one of them2 or by the elimination of   
the other names through  many causes in 
course of time1 in generations1 in      
hundreds of years4  ,the march of       
progress was leisurely in those days4   
#ebi ,chs4 iv41 v41 vi4    #ecj ,chs4   
xiv41 xv41 ,prohibition of ,marriage    
between ,kindred4    #eca ,ch4 xl41     
,marriage4    #ecb ,langloh ,parker1    

,the ,euahlayi ,tribe1 p4 #ba4    #ecc  
,totemism and ,exogamy1 ,i4 p4 #dhi4    
#ecd ,ibid41 ,,iv4 p4 #ed4    #ece      
,totemism and ,exogamy1 ,i4 p4 #bed4    
#ecf ,native ,tribes of ,central        
,australia1 p4 #chh4    #ecg ,totemism  
and ,exogamy1 ,,iii4 p4 #ac4    #ech    
,langloh ,parker1 ,the ,euahlayi1 p4    
#bb4    #eci ,native ,tribes of ,central
 ,australia1 ch4 vi42 ,northern ,tribes 
of ,central ,australia1 ch4 ix4    #edj 
,there is1 however1 another possible    
reason for the eating by the  clan or by
 its ,headman of some portion of the    
food which they profess  to supply to   
the rest of the tribe--namely1 that it  
expresses a prior  claim to some sort of
 proprietorship1 which is then waived4  
#eda ,totemism and ,exogamy1 ,,iv4 pp4  
#ee-g4    #edb ,spencer and ,gillen1    
,native ,tribes ,north4 ,ter4 ,aust41 p4
 #cbd4    #edc ,totemism and ,exogamy1  
,,iii4 pp4 #ajd-e4    #edd ,the         
,elementary ,forms of the ,religious    
,life1 ,,ii4 ch4 ix4    #ede ,langloh   

,parker1 ,the ,euahlayi ,tribe1 pp4     
#deh1 #dgh1 etc4 ,in  ,eleanbah ,wundah1
 they hold their right hands pressed    
against their  sides1 which ,a4 ,lang   
thought a remarkable image4 ,it is1 ,w4 
,e4 ,roth  tells us1 gesture-language   
for sickness4 7,ethnological ,studies in
  ,north-,west ,central ,queensland1 p4 
#ij47    #edf ,the ,euahlayi1 pp4 #d to 
#h1 and #gh4    #edg ,north4 ,ts4 of ,c4
 ,aust41 p4 #bec4    #edh ,howitt1      
,northern ,tribes of ,south-,east       
,australia1 p4 #dce4    #edi ,haddon1   
,reports of the ,expedition to ,torres  
,straits1 ,v4 pp4 #cg1  #ch4    #eej ,w4
 ,h4 ,r4 ,rivers1 ,j4 ,a4 ,i41 #aiji1 p4
 #aeh4    #eea ,j4 ,a4 ,i41 #aiji1 p4   
#afc4    #eeb ,samoa1 chs4 iv41 v42     
especially pp4 #bh1 #dh1 #fb-c1 #gj1    
#ge4 ,fiji  had in some way deeply      
impressed the ,samoan imagination4      
#eec ,the ,melanesians1 p4 #ca4    #eed 
,origin and ,development of ,moral      
,ideas1 ,,ii4 p4 #eij4    #eee ,totemism
 and ,exogamy1 ,,iii4    #eef ,quoted by

 ,tylor1 ,primitive ,culture1 ,,ii4 p4  
#bdd4    #eeg ,totemism and ,exogamy1   
,,iii4 p4 #caa4    #eeh ,on species-gods
 see ,tylor's ,primitive ,culture1 ,,ii4
 pp4 #bdb-f4    #eei ,totemism and      
,exogamy1 ,,ii4 p4 #egd4                
,,chapter ,x    ,,magic ,,and ,,science 
#a4 ,,their ,,common ,,ground    ,it is 
not infrequently said that ,science is  
derived from ,magic1 and  the tenet is  
strengthened by eminent names2 nor is it
 displeasing to  some bystanders whose  
attitude toward ,science is one of      
imperfect  sympathy2 but it seems to me 
to involve a misunderstanding of the    
matter4 ,magic and ,science have1       
indeed1 some common ground2 for both    
are products of our poor human mind1    
which is sorely pestered in  explaining 
its experiences by the notion of        
8forces0 that somehow  bring about      
events1 and which cannot get on at all  
without assuming  uniformities of       
relation4 ,magic supposes constant      
connexions of events  due to the agency1

 force1 influence or virtue of charms1  
rites and  spells2 which connexions1    
however1 are found only to be tendencies
 of  some events to excite others1      
inasmuch as they may be frustrated by   
counteracting charms1 rites or spells4  
,this reads like a caricature  of       
scientific ideas4 ,not long ago1 too1   
8forces0 had a considerable  vogue      
amongst scientists2 and such mysteries  
as 8vital force0 and  8psychic force0   
are still to be met with4 ,but it is    
plain that we never  know more than that
 under certain conditions a change takes
 place2  and when we try to explain the 
change by analysing the conditions1  we 
never find any 8force0 distinct from the
 collocation and motion  of bodies or   
particles4 8,force0 may be technically  
and formally used  in various           
propositions1 but the idea never        
contributes anything to  the explanation
 of events2 whilst the fact that with   
many people it  seems to do so1 often   
makes it a nuisance4 ,that it seems to  

carry some  explanation with it is due  
to the continuous influence of ,magic   
which1  though always the antithesis of 
,science1 was yet for very many ages    
associated with ,science4 ,magic is     
entirely constituted by notions  of     
force1 sometimes violent1 as in the     
discharge of an enchanted  spear2       
sometimes subtle1 like the efficacy of  
an opal2 intangible1  invisible1 and    
operating at a distance through space   
and time1 like a  witch's spells that   
eclipse the sun or moon4 ,these forces  
have only a  one-sided relation to the  
workaday world2 they meet with no       
resistance  from what we take to be the 
8properties of matter10 such as weight  
and impenetrability2 but are themselves 
entirely exempt from natural  law3 what 
we call the 8real world0 has no hold    
upon them2 they live  in a world of     
their own4 ,they are absolutely         
immeasurable2 and hence  the causation1 
which is certainly implied in the notion
 of their  operation1 is indefinite1 and

 becomes vaguer and vaguer as the       
magical  system develops2 and all this  
is the opposite of what happens in the  
history of ,science4 ,in spite of having
 a necessary common ground in the  human
 mind1 ,magic and ,science are          
contrasted from the first1 in their     
development grow wider and wider apart1 
in their methods and ideas  more and    
more opposed4 ,if either can be said to 
precede the other1 it  is ,science 7at  
least1 in its earliest and crudest form7
 that precedes  ,magic4    ,we had      
better begin1 however1 by considering a 
third something which is  earlier than  
either of them1 and which ,i have called
 ,common-sense3 ,i  mean the            
accumulation of particular items of     
positive knowledge 7which1  as such1 is 
the first form of ,science7 acquired by 
primitive man1  and in less measure by  
the higher brutes3 facts about cold and 
heat1  sunshine and rain1 the powers of 
water and fire1 the life of trees and   
animals1 the properties of wood and     

stone1 and so forth1 which are          
unfailingly confirmed by further        
experience4 ,examination of the life  of
 savages discovers that this positive   
knowledge of theirs amounts  to a great 
deal1 and that they are able to use it  
8and reason not  contemptibly40 ,from   
this ,common-sense ,science and a good  
deal of ,magic  are differentiated1 and 
they expand at very unequal rates in    
opposite  directions4 ,each of them     
starts from it2 but whilst ,magic       
rapidly  distorts1 perverts and         
mystifies it out of recognition in      
innumerable  imaginations1 ,science     
slowly connects its fragments together1 
corrects1 defines and extends it1       
without ever altering its original      
positive character4 ,the difference     
between ,magic and ,science lies 7as  we
 have seen7 in the causes that establish
 belief in them2 in the  character of   
their ideas--respectively1 incoherent   
and vague1 coherent  and definite2 and1 
as a consequence1 in their respective   

falsity and  truth4       #b4 ,,the     
,,differentiation    ,whilst ,magic1    
amongst savage and barbarous people1 is 
practised  more or less by almost       
everybody1 it is especially developed by
  the professional wizard1 and in his   
art and tradition it is most            
conveniently studied4 ,the wizard1 or   
7at least7 a leader amongst  wizards1 is
 a man of superior ability1 penetration 
and enterprise2  liable to be misled by 
a sanguine and ambitious temperament    
into  extravagant imaginations and      
impostures1 but with much more real     
knowledge than the rest of the tribe4   
,he often takes pains to increase  his  
knowledge1 for it is the true basis of  
his power3 8the power of  the ,angoqok10
 says ,mr4 ,turner1 writing of the      
,esquimo1#efj 8has some  basis in       
experienced weather-lore1 and knowledge 
of the habits of  animals1 by which he  
advises hunters40 ,but this knowledge is
 often the  starting-point of his       
delusions1 not altogether by any fault  

of his  own1 but as a result of his     
attempts to apply knowledge to new cases
  without any appreciation of the need  
of caution or of the conditions  of     
sound inference and of proof and        
disproof4 ,he never knows why he  is    
right or why he is wrong4 ,hence1 beside
 the modest edifice of his  real        
knowledge1 he builds out in one         
direction a few genuine additions       
warranted by sound inference and        
observation2 whilst in the other        
direction he raises1 largely by analogy1
 with the help of 8sympathy0  and       
spiritual powers1 a towering structure  
of imaginations1 which  throws his      
little hut of ,common-sense quite into  
the shade4    7a7 ,for example1 the     
wizard is often literally a medicine-man
 or  physician1 and knows the use of    
certain drugs2 and he may discover      
other drugs and more uses for them1 and 
in that direction lies  ,pharmacology4  
,but in the other direction he adopts on
 altogether  fanciful occasions a great 

many other recipes that serve no purpose
 but  charlatanry and mystification4    
,pliny1 much of whose ,natural ,history 
is a handbook of ancient medicine1      
describes hundreds of remedies  derived 
from animals1 vegetables and minerals2  
and ,burton#efa cites  ,galeottus as    
having enumerated #hjj medicinal herbs  
and other drugs4  ,some of these were   
good and are still in use1 but most were
 useless  or worse than useless4 ,the   
difference between these two classes of 
drugs depended on a difference of method
 in determining their uses3 a           
difference that existed but was not yet 
understood 7namely71 on the one  hand1  
proof by experience1 giving in the      
smaller class the rudiments  of medical 
science2 and1 on the other hand1        
acceptance on the strength  of          
superficial likeness1 or of the doctrine
 of qualities1 virtues and  signatures1 
which made the larger class essentially 
magical4    ,thus all sorts of precious 
stones and metals were believed to be   

medicinal1 not because they had been    
known to cure any disease1 but  because 
it seemed obvious in those days that    
precious things must  have all sorts of 
desirable effects by some occult virtue4
 ,gold1 the  most perfect of all        
substances 7according to the            
alchemists71 must in  particular be a   
propitious and powerful restorative4 ,so
 ,chaucer says of  his ,doctour of      
,phisik3       8,for gold in phisik is a
 cordial1      ,therefore he lovede gold
 in special40    ,and throughout ,india 
at the present day gold is a trusty item
 in any  prescription4 ,belief in the   
virtue of precious stones probably goes 
back to very early times2 since we find 
that in ,australia crystals are  not    
only magically powerful but the great   
primary sources of ,magic1 by  having   
which inside him the wizard acquires and
 maintains his power4    ,with herbs1   
again1 whilst the utility of some1 such 
as quinine or  senna1 was a matter of   
experience1 others were equally prized  

out  of pure fancy4 ,dracunculus1 a     
plant spotted with various colours1     
like a viper's skin1 was supposed to be 
a remedy for all kinds of               
snake-stings4#efb ,the ,cherokees gave  
their children a concoction of  burs to 
strengthen their memories2 for as a bur 
will stick to anything1  the mind of a  
man with bur inside him will cling to   
all kinds of useful  information4 ,the  
same ,amerinds had other remedies which 
illustrate  the character of magical    
physic4 ,they concocted a vermifuge of  
the  red fleshy stalks of chickweed1    
which somewhat resemble worms1 and      
therefore must have some influence upon 
them2 and they steeped in  this         
concoction a flint arrow-head1 that its 
sharpness1 communicated  to the brew1   
might cut the worms in pieces4          
,biliousness1 marked by  the vomiting of
 yellow bile1 was cured by four         
herbs--all yellow in  root1 or stalk1 or
 flower4 ,to ward off smallpox they ate 
the flesh of  the buzzard3 that bird    

being1 in their opinion1 exempt from    
smallpox1  because its foul stench keeps
 the disease-spirit at a distance4 ,to  
cure  snake-bite1 they said1 rub the    
place in the direction contrary to that 
in which the snake coils itself 7to the 
right72 because this is the  same as    
uncoiling it4#efc ,but here there seems 
to be some hiatus in  the thought1 for  
how does uncoiling the snake counteract 
its poison8  ,one easily appreciates the
 exultation of the wizard to whom this  
idea  first revealed itself1 and his    
contempt for the dull process of working
  it out1 when its place in the harmony 
of things was self-evident4    ,in some 
of these cases we find the assumption   
7tacit with primitive  practitioners1   
but explicit in ,medival ,medicine7 that
 8like causes  like03 the adhesiveness  
of the bur is communicated to the       
memory1 the  sharpness of the flint     
arrow-point to the vermifuge1 the       
buzzard's  immunity from smallpox to the
 eater of the buzzard4 ,and this is     

intelligible3 because1 first1 there are 
many examples 7superficially            
considered7 of like causing like1 such  
as animal generation1 the  spread of    
fire2 hot things heat1 and cold things  
cool1 and so forth3  and1 secondly1     
qualities such as stickiness and        
sharpness1 are thought  of by savages as
 fine material1 like curses and ghosts1 
which may  be transferred from one thing
 to another4 ,but in other cases it is  
assumed that 8like cures like10 as      
chickweed cures worms1 and yellow  herbs
 biliousness 7as in ,europe turmeric was
 long believed to cure  jaundice72 and  
this is a very different                
matter--equivalent to 8like  expels or  
annuls like40 ,in ordinary experience1  
there seem to be no  obvious examples of
 it3 but in primitive medical practice  
it is found  that fomentation reduces   
inflammation1 rubbing with snow is good 
for  frost-bite1 an emetic cures        
sickness1 and castor oil diarrha2 and   
such  may be the experiential ground of 

these magico-medical fancies4    ,the   
power of herbs may depend upon rites    
observed at their gathering3  when a    
,cherokee wizard pulled up a plant for  
medicine1 he dropped a  bead into the   
hole to compensate the earth for the    
theft2#efd and  when a ,greek physician 
gathered the ,panaces ,asclepion1 which 
was  a remedy for all diseases1 he      
filled the hole with various kinds of   
grain by way of expiation4#efe ,in      
employing medicinal herbs it is  also   
important to remember when they should  
be procured1 as on the  eve of the      
summer solstice1 at the new or the full 
moon1 or at the  turn of the tide2 by   
whom--a child or a virgin2 and where--on
 a  mountain-top or at a grave4         
,hierabotane was so potent that whoever 
rubbed himself with it obtained whatever
 he desired2 and in gathering  it1 you  
first offered honey to the earth in     
expiation1 then traced  a circle around 
it with iron1 and--taking care that     
neither sun nor  moon should shine upon 

it--at the rising of the ,dog ,star1 you
 pulled  it up with the left hand1 and  
dried separately in the shade the root1 
the stem and the leaves4#eff ,indeed the
 conditions under which a  drug can be  
legitimately obtained so as to ensure   
its efficacy1 may  be so numerous1      
minute and exigent as to make the       
satisfying of them  almost impossible2  
so we need not wonder if the remedy     
sometimes fails4  ,prescriptions often  
include the flesh or juices of dead     
bodies1 or  their pounded bones1 or     
other foul and repulsive ingredients    
related to  ,black ,magic--much trusted1
 and still traditional in some strata of
 this  country1 where the belief is     
inexpugnable that medicine1 the nastier 
it  is1 is the more efficacious4    ,if 
any one wonders how such prescriptions  
can have held their ground  for ages1 it
 was because patients did not always    
die4 ,recovery was  credited to the     
drastic medicine1 and death to evil     
,magic2 and the vis  medicatrix natur1  

that staunch ally of honest physic1 was 
sometimes  too strong for the wizard's  
whole pharmacopia4    7b7 ,again1 the   
wizard is a surgeon1 and knows something
 of the  construction and working of the
 human body1 and this is the beginning  
of ,anatomy and ,physiology4 ,he was    
especially well informed in these       
matters in such a country as ,fiji1     
where he had access to two great        
sources of anatomical                   
knowledge--frequent wars and            
cannibalism4 ,he  also knows certain    
ways of treating wounds and other       
lesions1 such  as bandages1 ligatures1  
splints1 slings1 massage and            
fomentations1  which all admit of       
rational development and have been      
continuously  practised to this day4    
,could he be content to abide by the    
facts1 all  might be well2 but he is    
tempted to extend his methods in various
  directions to cases which1 on very    
slight grounds1 he believes to be       
similar4 ,the best known example of the 

erroneous extension by analogy  of a    
sound method is the sucking-cure4 ,it   
is1 or has been1 practised  all over the
 world1 and obviously rests on the      
proved utility of  suction in extracting
 from the flesh thorns or poisons4 ,in  
,australia  snake-bite is sometimes     
cured by sucking the wound and rinsing  
the  mouth with water4#efg ,but the     
operation is gradually applied to other 
cases until1 whatever pain you suffer1  
it is attributed to something  like     
poison1 or a thorn 7or1 later1 a        
spirit71 that has got inside  you1      
though by an invisible wound1 and may be
 sucked out4 ,the wizard1  accordingly1 
undertakes to suck it out1 and he       
sometimes exhibits it to  you--a piece  
of wood or bone1 which he brought to    
your bedside in his  waistband4         
,sometimes a medicine-man enjoys great  
suctorial powers by  having a lizard in 
his own body4#efh    ,for getting a     
foreign body out of a man a method      
alternative to suction  is pressure4    

,mr4 ,howitt#efi reports a remarkable   
prescription for  curing headache4 ,cut 
out of the ground a circular turf1 place
 the  sufferer's head in the hole and   
the turf upon his head2 then sit or     
stand upon it4 ,he may presently declare
 that he feels relief2 but  perhaps he  
only desires it4 ,it is a fact that a   
patient sometimes feels  better after   
such treatment1 though the cause of his 
pain was nothing  that could possibly   
yield to suction or pressure3 that is to
 say1 his  mind yields to suggestion4   
,but not all savages are equally        
suggestible1  any more than we are4 ,dr4
 ,coddrington says#egj that1 in         
,pentecost  ,island1 witches profess to 
cure pain with a leaf-poultice1 and in  
taking it off to remove with it the     
cause of pain1 perhaps a snake  or a    
lizard4 8,but10 said a native1 8no one  
sees the things but the  woman1 and the 
pain remains0--one of those troublesome 
sceptics6 ,yet  it is possible that had 
he just undergone the operation1 he     

would not  have denied that the pain was
 better4 ,there is a state of mind      
between  suggestibility and sane        
judgment1 namely1 assentation3          
unwillingness or  unreadiness to form or
 state one's own opinion1 and1          
consequently1 an  appearance of         
acquiescing in another's assertion4     
,there is confusion  and conflict1 from 
which assent is the easiest relief4     
,this state of  mind for the immediate  
purpose of medicine-man or orator may   
serve as  well as suggestibility2 but   
may soon pass off when the patient      
recovers  his faculties1 and should be  
distinguished from the suggestibility   
that takes a relatively permanent       
impression from the pretensions of a    
mountebank4 ,the power of suggestion1   
however1 is one of the facts that  the  
wizard has observed1 and he counts upon 
its aid4 ,he has also learnt  to        
practise hypnotism2 and seeing how      
mysterious these things have been  to   
the most enlightened moderns1 we need   

not wonder that he employs  them in     
magical therapeutics--dancing1 drumming1
 shouting to overpower  his patient and 
to incite himself to put forth his      
utmost energy4  ,nowhere1 probably1 in  
the whole range of his art1 is the      
difference  between ,reality and ,magic 
so obscure to himself4    ,the wizard1  
then1 acquired in his medical functions 
7and in others7 a  certain empirical    
knowledge of some obscure facts in      
,psychology1 and  this knowledge        
persisted in his profession in shady    
quarters to our own  time2 but with the 
growth of positive ,science1 its        
mysteriousness was  mistaken for        
quackery1 until quite recently1 when the
 facts forced  themselves on the        
attention of some men1 who needed great 
courage  to confess their conviction4 ,a
 crude ,physiological ,psychology1 too1 
resulted from savage observation of a   
connexion between the agitations  of    
body and mind4 ,very early sundry mental
 powers--skill1 courage1  affection--are

 located in special parts of the        
body--the heart1 spleen1  kidneys1      
bowels--as they still are in popular    
language4 ,apart from the  bare         
observation that the bowels and heart   
are disturbed during emotion  7which is 
true and important71 these doctrines are
 not ,science2 nor  are they exactly    
,magic1 but belong to the region of     
ideas ancillary to  ,magic--ideas of    
qualities as material things4 ,the      
savage1 always eager  to apply his      
supposed knowledge to practice1 utilises
 his ,physiological  ,psychology for the
 improvement of his mind1 and misses no 
opportunity  to make a meal upon an     
enemy's 7or perhaps a relative's7 heart 
or  spleen or kidney or tongue or eye1  
in order to appropriate the quality  for
 which the deceased had been            
conspicuous4    7c7 ,savages 7as we have
 seen in the chapter on ,omens7 are     
familiar  with a great many natural     
signs by which to judge of things not   
now  present1 but that have happened1 or

 are about to happen4 ,every hunter     
must have a great stock of such         
knowledge1 inasmuch as the pursuit of   
game entirely depends upon it4 ,this    
knowledge of natural signs is1 on  the  
one hand1 a genuine contribution to     
,natural ,history2 it increases1  is    
handed down from generation to          
generation1 and forms the nucleus  of   
,botany and ,zoology4 ,but1 on the other
 hand1 there is reared upon  it1 under  
the influence of hope and fear1 the     
belief in ,omens that  give warning of  
good or ill success in all the affairs  
of life4 ,omens1  at first merely signs 
mysteriously connected with events1 are 
later  regarded as the sendings of      
spirits or gods1 whose oracles forecast 
the  fate of heroes and nations4 ,at    
first1 perhaps1 the wizard may do no    
more than other tribesmen to promote    
this particular superstition2 but  it is
 he who works out the great art of      
,divination1 without which ,omens  would
 have been a matter of much less        

consequence4    ,the most famous branch 
of ,divination1 namely1 ,astrology1 was 
the  invention of a comparatively late  
age1 and it was1 of course1 long        
preceded by the discovery of the        
rudiments of ,astronomy as part of  the 
common sense of agriculture3 some       
knowledge of the regularity of  the     
motions of the sun and moon and of the  
constancy of the stars  in contrast with
 the planets4 ,this is plainly          
presupposed by the  comprehensive system
 of predictions based on sympathetic    
,magic1  arbitrary assumptions and      
fanciful analogies which1 for the last  
four  or five thousand years1 has       
promised to disclose to any mother the  
career of her infant1 or to any monarch 
the future of his kingdom4 ,but  what   
now seems fanciful or arbitrary once    
seemed reasonable4 ,the sun  manifestly 
rules all things2 the waxing and waning 
of the moon must  strengthen and weaken 
all things2 the signs of the ,zodiac are
 certainly  connected with the seasons2 

the planets partake of the nature of the
  gods4#ega ,if there are gods they     
must1 as the ,stoics argued1 have some  
way of communicating with men2 and what 
way can be more congruous with  their   
nature than by writing on the face of   
the heavens8 ,but generally  the ideas  
of ,astrology were magical rather than  
animistic4 ,having  determined the      
powers and dispositions of the heavenly 
bodies1 let us  consider only what must 
necessarily follow from their influences
 in  conjunction or opposition and      
various relations in trine1 quartile and
  sextile4 ,thus they dreamed and       
speculated1 but at the same time made   
many exact observations on the sky4 ,and
 so ,astronomy made some progress  in   
spite of ,magic4    7d7 ,more widely    
prevalent than ,astrology and far more  
ancient is the  art of controlling the  
weather1 especially rain2 for rain1 from
 its  uncertainty in many countries and 
its indispensableness1 is a matter of   
deeper interest and anxiety than even   

the sun himself4 8,rain-making10  as it 
is called1 common in ,australia and     
other regions of lowly  culture1        
survives when society has risen to      
higher levels1 becomes the  function of 
the most eminent wizards or priests1    
sometimes the duty of  kings1 and is not
 extinct amongst ourselves4 ,but from   
what knowledge of  fact or common sense 
can 8rain-making0 be derived8 ,i        
conjecture it was  from facts observed  
in the behaviour of fire4    ,the making
 of fire was the first great chemical   
experiment and the  foundation of all   
,chemistry4 ,having made fire1 the most 
wonderful of  all achievements1 there   
would be little excuse for astonishment 
if men  had then thought they could also
 make rain2 but probably they never     
thought so4 ,it seems to me a           
misconception of rain-rites to describe 
them as endeavours to 8make0 rain2 for  
they plainly aim not at making1  but at 
inducing1 instigating or propagating it4
 ,the ,swazies1 we are  told explicitly1

 try to procure rain by throwing water  
high into the  air1 expecting that the  
falling drops will stimulate the clouds 
in  sympathy with them4#egb ,savages may
 be said to 8make0 fire2 for until  they
 rub their sticks1 or knock their flints
 together1 it does not  exist4 ,but in  
the so-called 8making0 of rain there is 
nearly always  some water to begin with2
 and the essence of a rain-rite is the  
splashing of water into the air1 or the 
pouring of it out1 sometimes on  a      
particular stone1 or on a particular    
person1 with many variations4  ,in rare 
instances the water has been forgotten3 
the ,kurnai1 instead  of water1 let     
blood1 and throw down into the air for  
clouds2 but in  another rite they fill  
their mouths with water and squirt it   
out in one  direction or another        
7according to the clan7 and sing a      
spell3 to stop  the rain they throw up  
fire-sticks4#egc ,those who practise    
such rites  hope that the spilling of a 
little water will bring on a great      

downfall  or outpouring of water1       
namely1 rain2 and this agrees with the  
fact  that a wizard will not operate    
except when the rainy season approaches4
  ,now this inducing of much by little  
is not1 indeed1 analogous to the  making
 of fire2 but it is analogous to the    
spread or propagation of  fire2 when1   
having produced a few sparks1 these     
spread through tinder  to the firewood1 
and thence a conflagration may be       
communicated to the  prairie or to the  
forest4 ,my conjecture is1 then1 that   
not the making  7which is never         
attempted7 but the inducing1 or         
propagation of rain is  based on the    
analogy of the propagation of fire1 and 
belongs to the  class of exemplary or   
incentive rites2 which are to be        
understood not  as intending the direct 
causation of events1 but rather as      
instigating  ,nature to bring it about3 
the class described in ,chap4 ,,iv4  #h1
 such  as the furthering of crops by    
fertility-rites1 or the ensuring of     

successful hunting or warfare by a      
dramatic dance4    ,rain-rites being    
very apt to fail of their purpose1 the  
wizard is in  danger of losing his      
reputation1 or of some worse fate4 ,his 
attention  is1 therefore1 drawn to the  
signs of the weather1 the character and 
course of the seasons1 the connexion of 
rain with the aspect of the  sky and    
direction of the wind2 so that he learns
 to operate for rain  only when rain may
 reasonably be expected4 ,he has then   
laid out the  rudiments of ,meteorology1
 but by observation1 not by hocus-pocus4
       #c4 ,,why ,,magic ,,seems ,,to   
,,be ,,the ,,source ,,of ,,science      
,in no case1 then1 is ,science derived  
from ,magic1 but ,science on the one    
hand and ,magic on the other are        
differentiated from ,common-sense1#egd  
and ,science is much nearer akin to     
,common-sense than ,magic is1 being  of 
the same substance and only formally    
different4 ,and in that sense  it is    
earlier than ,magic1 and sometimes      

formally earlier1 as in the  case of    
,astronomy and ,astrology4 ,the illusion
 that ,magic is the earlier  is due to  
the misinterpretation of two facts3 7a7 
,magic and ,science  are1 for the most  
part and during many ages1 worked out by
 the same  men--magicians or priests2   
and all that they do is mistaken for    
,magic1  even by themselves4 ,and 7b7   
,magic in most of its branches undergoes
  immense development1 whilst the       
,sciences remain rudimentary2 grows old 
and even decrepit1 whilst they are still
 in infancy2 so that1 on first  emerging
 into public notice1 they seem to issue 
from the matrix of  ,magic4    ,the     
reasons for the relative backwardness of
 ,science1 again1 are  chiefly three3   
7a7 ,for ages it is in the hands of     
wizards who1 though  highly valuing     
knowledge1 are mainly eager for power   
and prophecy4 ,it  is true that ,science
 gives power1 and the hope of power is a
 reasonable  incentive to the study of  
,science2 but it must be a remote       

incentive1  in the actual work of       
research rigorously excluded4 ,there1   
unless  truth is the sole end in view1  
the procedure will not be clean1 will   
be confined to immediate utility4 ,but  
this is a recent discovery4 ,the  wizard
 has no such ideas3 he is governed by   
his desires and traditions4  ,hence for 
verification he is content with         
coincidences2 negative  instances he    
neglects1 or regards failure merely as  
an occasion for  excuses4 ,he accepts   
connexions of events remote in space and
 time1 and  is very slow to see the     
necessity of connecting events in the   
closest  possible sequence4 ,moreover1  
having no understanding even of the     
facts  he knows 7such as the making of  
fire71 the mysteriousness of any        
relation of events constitutes no       
objection to his acceptance of it2 as   
the magical side of his practice grows1 
so does its mystery2 until at  last     
mysteriousness is a strong              
recommendation1 and becomes a character 

of the apperceptive mass that           
assimilates and confirms all magical    
beliefs4 ,this state of mind always     
offers strong resistance to positive    
explanation4    7b7 ,another reason of  
the backwardness of ,science is the slow
  elucidation of the idea of            
,causation--long obscured by the        
impressiveness of coincidence and by    
fallacious imaginations of magical  and 
spiritual forces3 a process still       
incomplete4 ,until this idea had  made  
considerable progress in definiteness   
7in antiquity1 say1 with  ,archimedes1  
and in modern times with ,galileo71 it  
was impossible that  the                
indispensableness of analysis and       
elimination should be understood1  that 
absolute respect should be felt for     
negative instances and that  any gap in 
a series of events should always be     
regarded as an instant  problem4 ,and1  
finally 7c71 for scientific progress it 
was necessary  that reasoning by analogy
 should be abandoned1 and a methodology 

discovered of parallel and equational   
reasoning1 with the apparatus  that     
makes exact investigation possible4     
,as the ,sciences grow in               
comprehensiveness1 precision and        
solidarity1  they constitute their own  
apperceptive mass1 assimilation with    
which  is the supreme test of all       
relevant beliefs2 and this1 together    
with  a methodology that has become a   
habit of mind1 tends to establish a     
social atmosphere in which ,magic is no 
longer thinkable4 ,exact habits  of     
thought in commerce and industry        
contribute greatly to this result4  ,so 
we are tempted to ridicule our benighted
 predecessors2 but a study  of the      
conditions of their life shows that     
darkness was no more their  fault than  
illumination is our merit4    ,the      
nearest approach that can be truthfully 
made to the position that  ,science is  
derived from ,magic1 is to say that the 
scientist is derived  from the wizard   
7or wizard-priest71 on that side of his 

activity in  which he relied upon       
fragments of positive knowledge2 but    
this was1  in nature1 always opposed to 
his ,magic4 ,in the course of thousands 
of  years some men grew more interested 
in the positive than in the magical     
side of their profession1 and became    
scientists2 whilst others adhered  to   
the fanciful and mystical4 ,it is       
remarkable that1 as sceptics occur  in  
the most unsuspected quarters1 so pure  
scientists may sometimes  be found as an
 institution in barbarous or even savage
 communities4  ,in a ,bantu tribe there 
is a class of doctors that claim no     
powers by  the aid of spirits or ,magic1
 but without any ceremony dispense a few
  well-known drugs--aloes1 nux vomica1  
castor-oil1 fern-root1 rhubarb1  and the
 bark of various trees1 purgative or    
emetic4#ege ,the ,kanyahs of  ,borneo   
have a weather-prophet to determine the 
right time for sowing2  he is not       
expected to cultivate padi1 but is      
supplied with it by the  rest of the    

village4 ,not knowing how many days     
there are in a year1  and finding that  
the seasons do not correspond with any  
certain number  of lunar months1 he     
depends entirely upon observation of the
 altitude  of the sun by means of an    
upright pole1 whose upper end is carved 
into  a human figure4#egf ,except the   
carving on his pole1 there is nothing   
to indicate that either ,magic or       
,animism perturbs the method of this    
,astronomer ,royal4 ,hence the          
adventure1 though most wonderful1 is not
  unexampled in a humbler world1 by     
which eminent citizens amongst  the     
,greek laity1 with minds almost free    
from ,magic and ,animism1  established  
for ever ,philosophy and the ,sciences  
as liberal studies4       #d4 ,,animism 
,,and ,,science    ,animism is opposed  
to ,science1 as well as to ,magic1#egg  
by its  rejection of uniformity4 ,a     
spirit1 indeed1 has some character      
7though  it may be very faintly marked72
 for he is1 or is assimilated to1 a     

human ghost4 ,but although he is        
supposed to have reasons or motives  for
 his actions1 they are often            
unintelligible4 ,until he is brought    
under the control of magical rites and  
formul1 he may reject offerings  and    
prayers1 as if by pure caprice or       
free-will4 ,his interventions  are      
incalculable4 ,hence he may be the      
unseen agent in anything that  happens2 
and the habit is formed of putting upon 
him1 or one of his  kind1 every         
occurrence whose cause is not obvious3  
diseases1 deaths1  storms1 droughts1    
noises in the forest1 unusual behaviour 
of animals4 ,a  spirit-being with its   
body of soul-stuff capable of taking any
 shape1 a  material thing exerting      
mechanical power1 there is nothing that 
may not  be imputed to it4 ,but being   
entirely imaginary1 its supposed agency 
can  only satisfy the imagination by the
 assimilation of each intervention  by  
the animistic apperceptive mass4 ,it is 
never seen or known to do any  one of   

the actions attributed to it2 for the   
understanding1 based on  perception and 
the classification and analysis of      
perceptions1 it is  nothing4 ,moreover1 
so far as the actions of a spirit are of
 free-will1  or motiveless1 or pure     
caprice1 there is no distinct           
imagination of  even a spiritual cause4 
,when a man1 suffering from disease1 or 
hearing  an unfamiliar noise1 refers it 
to a spirit1 there is usually nothing in
  his mind but the word of vague meaning
 and a feeling of awe1 wonder1  or      
dread4 ,he gets no further in the       
understanding of the fact1 and          
curiosity is paralysed4 ,to say 8a      
spirit did it0 becomes1 therefore1  a   
means of avoiding the labour of         
explanation2 it is a good example  of   
the 8principle of least effort40 ,but in
 another direction his wits  may get to 
work4 ,he is full of fear1 and          
objectless fear must invent  a danger1  
which is easily done by supposing that  
the spirit has  been actuated by wrath4 

,then something must have been done to  
enrage  him3 a taboo has been broken1   
his rites have been neglected1 sin has  
been committed--according to the        
customary ideas of the tribe4 ,there    
must be lustration1 propitiation1       
expiation1 perhaps with horrible        
cruelty4 ,again1 then1 shall we say the 
man has been diverted from the          
important inquiry into the causes of    
disease or drought8 ,but this is        
laughable3 how can he set about such a  
task8 ,it is the tragedy of the  world  
that for thousands of years the         
speculative powers of man--of  some     
men--expanded without any power1 except 
in the classical age1 of  discriminating
 sense from nonsense4 ,therefore1       
looking back1 we see  everywhere else   
superstition and the kingdom of         
darkness4    ,animism can never have    
directly enriched ,science with a single
 natural  law2 but1 indirectly1 it has  
instigated many investigations4 ,with   
the  development of ,religion1 the      

building of temples and the regulation  
of sacrifices and festivals according to
 their seasons1 necessitated  at least  
the empirical study of ,geometry1       
,arithmetic and ,astronomy2  and the    
preservation of the ancient language of 
the sacred formul of  ritual required a 
knowledge of prosody1 phonetics and     
grammar4 ,for  thousands of years       
erudition was confined to the priestly  
orders4  ,they also practised1 or were  
the chief patrons of1 all the fine arts1
  ,architecture1 ,sculpture1 ,painting1 
,music and ,poetry2 and by their        
connexion with government they left in  
,egypt and ,assyria1 in monuments  and  
inscriptions1 ,history1 or the materials
 of ,history4 ,indirectly1  the progress
 of mental culture1 both in learning and
 in sthetics1 has  depended almost      
entirely on the development of ,animism2
 and this in  turn has depended on the  
aid which ,animism gave to government   
and to  the extension of law and order1 
however imperfect1 over wide regions  of

 the earth4 ,this is the fundamental    
utility which1 first1 ,magic and1       
afterwards1 ,animism subserve1 and for  
the sake of which--unconsciously1  of   
course--they arise and prevail4 ,mankind
 has been subdued through  imagination2 
because the peoples that had the cast of
 imagination  requisite for their       
political organisation and co-operation 
had an  advantage over others4    ,we   
must qualify this by observing that     
other imaginations1 such as  devotion to
 the ,family and ,patriotism1 with a    
much surer hold than  ,animism has upon 
experience1 have had a great and growing
 influence  upon the solidarity and     
civilisation of some branches of the    
human  race1 especially the ,nordic4    
,philosophy has derived from ,animism   
most of her problems--free-will  and    
predestination1 final causes1 creation  
and miracles1 emanation  and intuition1 
idealism and materialism1 immortality1  
the being and  attributes of ,god1      
eternity1 infinity--in some of which1   

indeed1  magical ideas are deeply       
concerned3 all of them the exercise of  
the  most eminent minds1 exercise so    
delightful and so disappointing4        
,considering their source1 we cannot    
wonder that these problems remain       
problems1 and that philosophical        
discussion has1 of late years1 turned   
from them to questions concerning the   
theory of knowledge4           99       
99       99       99       99    ,a     
student of human origins is under no    
obligation to predict the  future4      
,fortunately3 for several considerations
 make the task appear  altogether       
impossible4 ,of these ,i will mention   
three3 7a7 ,whereas  nations have       
hitherto submitted to1 and enforced1 law
 and order1 and  undertaken costly works
 of utility or splendour1 in large      
measure under  the influence of         
animistic illusions1 it is now          
everywhere noticeable  in the more      
civilised countries1 that these         
illusions are being  dissipated1 and it 

is very difficult to judge how people   
will behave  when they are gone4 ,it is1
 indeed1 true that our ordinary working 
life  has always depended chiefly on    
common sense1 a knowledge of facts      
within the range of ordinary experience 
and memory4 ,animistic or  magical rites
 and ceremonies associated with the     
working-life may have  increased the    
confidence and encouraged the           
co-operation of labourers1  but were not
 indispensable2 although the association
 of ,magic with  industry seems         
sometimes to have become so close1 that 
to forget the  ,magic was to destroy the
 industry4 ,when1 however1 we turn to   
those  conditions of social life that   
are beyond the purview of common sense1 
such as the preservation of tribal      
tradition and solidarity1 and future    
prosperity1 loyalty to the king and     
obedience to his officers1 it is  plain 
that something else than common sense   
was needed to reinforce  the interest of
 the whole against the tendency of the  

individual's  self-assertion to overcome
 his social dispositions1 and that this 
control was found chiefly in ,religion4 
,it is also true that at present1       
whilst some beliefs concerning          
supernatural things are being lost1     
others are being resuscitated2 but the  
lapsing beliefs are noble and  venerable
 and have exerted great public power and
 authority2 whilst  those now eagerly   
propagated1 are the raw infatuation of  
quacks1 on a  level with the ,animism of
 an ,australian medicine-man and1       
indeed1 much  inferior to his1 as having
 no moral influence or authority4 ,what 
must  come of this is so dubious1 as to 
discourage one about the future of  the 
world4    7b7 ,reflection on the levity 
with which imagination-beliefs are let  
slip and lost1 or received and adopted1 
upon no evidence either way1  from mere 
shallowness of soul1 brings forward a   
second consideration  that makes the    
future impredictable1 namely1 the low   
average  development of mankind in both 

intellect and character4 ,this is the   
consequence of our having depended1     
probably from the very beginning1  on   
leaders4 ,a pack or tribe needed enough 
variability to produce able  leaders and
 enough average ability to follow and   
support them in a  crowd4 ,natural      
,selection1 therefore1 has operated     
first in producing  variability2 and all
 tribes1 even the lowest1 produce       
relatively  eminent men4 ,the average   
intelligence or ability of the crowd1 in
  which individuality is liable to be   
lost1 is much less important4 ,the      
result is that each nation has its      
military affairs1 organisation of       
industry1 science1 invention1 literature
 and art provided for it by  a small    
number of citizens2 the rest fill the   
ranks1 and learn what  they are taught4 
,thus arranged1 the leading nations have
 of late years  made wonderful progress 
in science and in everything that can be
 done  by machinery2 but there is no    
reason to suppose that anything has     

been done towards raising the average   
intelligence and character2 and  in     
default of that1 in my judgment1 nothing
 has been done to advance  civilisation4
 ,the world is no safer against war1    
revolution1 demagogy1  despotism1       
degeneration4 ,the greatest improvements
 have been made in  means of            
destruction2 next we may put the        
invention of flying machines2  and their
 chief use has been destruction4        
,destruction now pauses1 not  because   
the antagonists are satiated2 they are  
only exhausted2 and  there is more      
hatred in the world than was ever known 
before4 ,how then  shall we judge of    
things to come8    7c7 ,speaking of the 
average man1 we usually think of the    
,european and  ,north ,american average2
 but in considering what changes may be 
expected  in the world1 the people of   
,india 7#hjj1jjj1jjj71 ,china           
7#cej1jjj1jjj71  and the millions of the
 rest of ,asia1 the ,eastern            
,archipelago1 ,africa  and ,south       

,america cannot be left out2 and to     
include them does not  raise the        
average4 ,what will be their            
contribution to history8 ,there  are two
 rational proposals for raising the     
average1 namely1 eugenics  and          
deliberate elimination of the unfit2 and
 there are #a1fjj1jjj1jjj on  whom to   
operate4    ,any one who anxiously      
desires to foresee the future of our    
race is in  a position to sympathise    
with the ancients4 ,go1 inquire at      
,delphi or  ,dodona2 or sleep in        
,stonehenge1 or at the tomb of ,merlin1 
or by the  barrows at ,upsala1 and dream
 of things to come2 or consult the      
stars1  cast the nativity of            
,lycopithecus1 and read in heaven the   
fate of his  posterity4 ,if these       
methods are not very hopeful1 any one of
 them is as  good as guessing4 ,the only
 safe reflection is that he who lives   
longest  will see most4    ,,footnotes3 
#efj 8,ethnology of the ,ungava         
,district10 ,am4 ,b4 of ,ethn41 ,,xi4 p4

  #aie4 ,other examples ante1 ch4 viii4 
#c4    #efa ,anatomy of ,melancholy1    
,part ,,ii4 ,sec4 ,,iv4 ,mem4 #a1       
,subsec4 #c4    #efb ,pliny1 ,,xxv4 c4  
#f4    #efc ,j4 ,mooney1 8,sacred       
,formulas of the ,cherokees10 ,am4 ,b4  
of ,ethn41  ,,vii4 pp4 #cbc-ci4    #efd 
,j4 ,mooney1 op4 cit4    #efe ,pliny1   
,,xxv4 c4 #aa4    #eff ,ibid41 ,,xxv4 c4
 #ei4    #efg ,a4 ,w4 ,howitt1 ,native  
,tribes of ,south-,east ,australia1 p4  
#chd4    #efh ,spencer and ,gillen1     
,across ,australia1 p4 #cci4    #efi    
,native ,tribes of ,south-,east         
,australia1 p4 #cha4    #egj ,the       
,melanesians1 p4 #aii4    #ega ,for     
,proclus' defence of ,astrology see     
,whewell's ,history of the  ,inductive  
,sciences1 ,book ,,iv4 ch4 iii41 #ast   
ed41 pp4 #bih-cjj4    #egb ,dudley      
,kidd1 ,the ,essential ,kafir1 p4 #aad4 
#egc ,a4 ,w4 ,howitt1 ,native ,tribes of
 ,south-,east ,australia1 pp4 #cig-i4   
#egd ,i do not mean that ,magic is      
always a direct derivative of           

,common-sense3 we have seen 7ch4 vi4    
#e7 that it sometimes comes from        
,animism by retrogradation1 and         
7elsewhere7 often from coincidences4    
#ege ,dudley ,kidd1 ,the ,essential     
,kafir1 pp4 #acd-e4    #egf ,hose and   
,mc,dougall1 ,pagan ,tribes of ,borneo1 
,i4 p4 #ajf4    #egg ,ante1 ch4 vi4  #c4
          ,,index      ,a      ,abstract
 and general ideas in lower culture1    
#ii-ajb1 #afc-d2      personified1 #afh 
,actor and ,wizard1 #bgb-c              
,adaptation1 #cj1 #fg    ,affection for 
the dead1 #agi    ,aggressiveness1 #dc  
,agriculture1 neolithic1 #ej2      as   
affecting natural selection1 #fd        
,allen1 ,grant1 on plant-spirits1 #afg  
,analogy1 #ig-h    ,animals give ,omens1
 #bcf    ,animatism1 #abj1 #adi1 #aea1  
#aeg    ,animism1 #ce2      evil effects
 of1 #fg2      good effects1 #fi2       
,chap4 ,v4 7#ade-hf71 see ,contents2    
and ,magic and ,common-sense1 #aaj2     
extended to plants and lifeless things1 
#aej-c2      development of1 #ahc-d2    

deception in1 #ahe2      how related to 
,magic1 ,chap4 ,,vi4 7#ahg-bhd71 see    
,contents2      political advantage over
 ,magic1 #bee2      and ,totemism1      
#cai-be2      and ,science1 #cda2       
and ,fine ,art1 #cda2      and          
,philosophy1 #cdb    ,anthropoids1      
habitat of1 #e2      mentality and      
habits1 #ca-b2      skull capacity1 #ej2
      character1 #fa    ,apperceptive   
mass of ,science and ,common-sense1 #ha2
      of ,magic and ,animism1 #hb1 #abf 
,arbitrary ,magic1 #acc1 #adb2          
taboos1 #acc2      myths1 #afh          
,archer1 ,w41 ,masks and ,faces1 #bgc n4
    ,asia1 southern1 probable locus of  
,man's origin1 #bc-d    ,astrology1     
#bci1 #bdb1 #cce    ,atkinson1 ,j4 ,j41 
on ,primal ,law1 #ch1 #cjf    ,avebury  
on making fire1 #aa2      baking clay1  
#ac2      omens and ,magic1 #bcc n4     
,b      ,baboons1 #eh    ,belief1 ,chap4
 ,,iii4 7#ga-ajg71 see ,contents        
,belt1 ,th41 on hairless dogs1 #ae2     
habits of monkeys sleeping1 #ag         

,berkeley on causality1 #aia    ,black  
,magic1 #ajg1 #abe1 #abi1 #ace-f1 #aci1 
#aif1 #baa1 #bee1 #bhg    ,boas1 ,franz1
 on savage language1 #ajj2      on      
,totemism1 #bih    ,bogoras on the      
,shaman1 #bhe    ,book of ,daniel1 #bai 
,brain development in ,man1 #g1 #bf1    
#ej2      in child and savage1 #ia      
,brehm on baboons1 #eh    ,bryant1 ,e4  
,t41 on ,south ,african diviners1       
neurotic1 #bgd    ,buddhist karma1 #age 
,burton1 ,r41 on ,moslem corpse1 #agj   
,burton's ,anatomy of ,melancholy on    
drugs1 #cbi    ,butler1 ,j41 on         
,conscience1 #fd      ,c      ,callaway 
on chiefs and diviners1 #bed            
,cannibalism1 #ah    ,canteleu1 ,c4 de1 
on wolves1 #db    ,casalis on           
,bassoutos1 #bea    ,cats in the        
,oligocene1 etc41 #bf    ,causation     
tacitly assumed by savages1 #aja2       
confused with coincidence1 #aja1 #abb2  
implied in ,magic1 #aac2      how the   
idea affected by ,animism and ,magic1   
#abc2      origin of idea1 #ahh-ib2     

its slow development1 #cch    ,causes of
 belief1 #hj-d    ,chadwick on treatment
 of ,teutonic gods1 #bgh    ,charms1    
#aaa1 #aac1 #acj-a1 #aih    ,chaucer on 
the ,doctour of ,phisik1 #cbi           
,cheiromancy1 #bci    ,chief's taboo1   
#acb    ,chronology of geologic ages1   
#c1 #di    ,cicero on the ,delphic      
,oracle1 #bdb2      on the ,augurs1 #bdh
    ,coddrington on savage thought1 #hi2
      in ,banks ,islands1 #adi2      on 
buto1 #cbb    ,coincidence confused with
 causation1 #aja2      source of belief 
in ,magic1 #aaf-h1 #abd1 #acf1 #aic2    
in ,omens1 #bca-b2      confirms        
,wizard's pretensions1 #bij-a           
,common-sense1 #fg2      its            
limitations1 #fi1 #bib2      unlike     
superstition1 #gb1 #aaj2      makes     
sceptics1 #bha-b1 #bia2      forced upon
 ,wizard1 #bhb-c2      relation to      
,magic and ,science1 #cbg1 #ccg         
,comparative ,method1 #cjd    ,comte on 
early hunting life of ,man1 #d n42      
on stages of culture1 #ajh-i            

,confucius on attitude toward spirits1  
#aif    ,conkling1 ,e4 ,s41 on          
superstitious beliefs among students1   
#aae n4    ,conscience1 growth of1 #fb-d
    ,constructive impulse in anthropoids
 and men1 #ec    ,contra-suggestibility1
 #hd    ,co-operation1 in hunting1 #h2  
the ground of language1 #i2      amongst
 wolves1 #de    ,criticism of beliefs   
hindered by relative dissociation1 #ij  
,crystal a ,magic source1 #bde1 #bfc n4 
,cushing1 ,t4 ,h41 on dramaturgic       
,magic1 #adb n4    ,czaplicka1 ,a4 ,m41 
on ,siberian shaman1 #bgj1 #bgb1 #bgd   
,d      ,darwin1 ,c41 on teeth and jaws 
of ,man1 #g2      on sexual selection as
 cause of naked skin1 #ad2      on      
vermin as possible cause1 #af2      on  
growth of moral sense1 #fc    ,de       
,divinatione1 #bbg1 #bcb    ,deniker on 
races of ,men1 #bj    ,desire as cause  
of belief1 #hc    ,diderot on actors1   
#bgc    ,diet of ,primates and hunters1 
#b    ,differentiation of ,man began in 
the ,oligocene1 #c1 and note2      of   

,omens from other ,magic1 #bcb-c        
,diviners1 #bcd1 #bch1 #bdj1 #bda1 #bdg1
 #bdi    ,dogs1 naked varieties1 #af2   
primitive1 #be2      likeness to ,man1  
#dj1 #dc1 #dd1 #df1 #eg1 #fd    ,dorsey1
 ,j4 ,o41 on ,dakotas1 #ach1 #adi2      
on ,omaha1 #adf    ,dramatic ,magic1    
#acd-e    ,dreams and ghosts1 #aec-f1   
#aei2      and ,omens1 #bcg1 #bde n4    
,durkheim on ,totem divinities1 #cai    
,e      ,edda1 #ahc    ,ellis1 ,w41 on  
spirit-food1 #afb2      on ,religion in 
,raiatea1 #bjf1 #bbj2      the          
idol-maker1 #bhj    ,emotion as cause of
 belief1 #hc1 #hf2      in religion1    
#ahe1 #ahf    ,emulation within the     
pack1 #dd2      in games1 business1     
etc41 #ei    ,endogamy1 #cjg            
,eoanthropus1 #di1 #ee1 #ff1 #fg        
,eoliths1 #ej1 #ec    ,epictetus on     
divination1 #bdh    ,erect gait of ,man1
 #e    ,evil eye1 #abh    ,exemplary    
,magic1 #adj-b1 #ccf    ,exogamy and    
,totems and ,marriage ,classes1 #bie1   
#cje1 #cjg-aa    ,external soul1 #agc   

,f      ,fate and ,magic1 #bbc2      and
 ,omens1 #bce1 #bdi2      and           
,causation1 #bdi-ej    ,fear a cause of 
superstition1 #hc2      gives power to  
ghosts1 #abc2      of the dead1 #agh-i  
,feeling as cause of belief1 #hc        
,fetichism1 #ajh    ,fire1 how first    
made1 #aa    ,force1 idea of1 #ajj-a1   
#aai-bb1 #afc2      force and ghosts1   
#aig-h2      in ,magic and ,science1    
#cbf-g    ,forms of thought in primitive
 mind1 #id1 #ie    ,fowler1 ,ward1 on   
,iguvian ,magic1 #bjb1 #bjc2      on    
,roman prayers1 #bje1 #bba    ,fraud1 in
 what sense attributed to ,wizards1 #bhd
    ,frazer1 ,j4 ,g41 on ,magic and     
,animism1 #aji2      on driving out     
ghosts1 #agi n42      on ,magic and     
,religion1 #aic1 #aie2      on power of 
,wizard1 #bhd2      on ,totemism1 #bic1 
#bii1 #cjd2      first ,hypothesis on   
,totemism1 #cac2      on ,grass-seed    
,rites1 #cag2      second ,hypothesis on
 ,totemism1 #cag2      on ,zoolatry1    
#cbd    ,free-will and ,animism1 #bbc   

,freud on ,totem und ,tabu1 #ch         
,funerary rites1 extravagance and       
economy1 #ahj2      and ,religion1 #cbj 
,g      ,galton1 ,f41 on dog and man1   
#dj2      moroseness of savages1 #df    
,garner1 ,r4 ,l41 on speech of          
chimpanzee1 #i2      on polygamy of     
apes1 #cb n4    ,general ideas at savage
 level1 ,chap4 ,,iii4  #g2      present 
though unnamed1 #ajj    ,generic        
consciousness of ,primates1 #cj         
,gesture1 #ed1 #ajj1 #aba2      and     
,magic1 #abi    ,ghosts and spirits     
alike1 #afi2      how imagined1 #afi1   
#agc2      and corpse1 #agj2      may   
die or be killed1 #agf2      their way  
of life1 #agg1 #ahc2      easily        
deceived1 #aha2      and ,magic1 #aii   
,ghost-theory1 #afc-g2      extended to 
animals1 #aeg-fj2      and soul-stuff1  
#afa-d2      and spirits1 #afd-i        
,gibbon on fanatics1 #bhg    ,gods from 
tools1 etc41 #aeb2      from plants and 
meteors1 #aff-g2      from abstract     
ideas1 #afh2      subject to death1     

#agf2      act by ,magic1 #bac-e2       
controlled by ,magic1 #bai-bc2          
teach ,magic1 #cji1 #caj2      from     
ancestors1 #fi1 #bee2      and ,totems1 
#cba-d    ,gregariousness1 #h1 #cd1 #db 
,grimm1 ,j41 on divine power1 #bae      
,h      ,haddon1 ,a4 ,c41 on ,magic in  
,torres ,straits1 #abg1 #ada1 #aej1     
#bef2      on treatment of ,wizard1     
#bfe2      ,totemism1 #bii              
,hallucination1 #hi1 #ib1 #aee          
,hartland1 ,e4 ,s41 #aba n4             
,hartmann1 ,r41 on character of         
anthropoids1 #fa    ,hegel on sorcery1  
#aid n4    ,hepatoscopy1 #bci           
,herd-life1 the character it develops1  
#dh    ,herodotus on the army of        
,xerxes1 #ea2      on ,egyptian         
prediction1 #aic2      on ,persian law1 
#bai2      on ,omens1 #bbe1 #bcb2       
on ,dreams1 #bcg1 #bda1 #bdb    ,hirn1  
,yrj1 on sympathetic ,magic1 #ach2      
,magic and ,religion1 #bec    ,history  
of ,human ,marriage1 #cjh-i    ,hodson1 
,t4 ,c41 on a ,tanghul sceptic1 #bha    

,hose and ,mc,dougall on ,pagan tribes  
of ,borneo1 #abd    ,howitt1 ,a4 ,w41   
prowess in kidney-fat1 #bde2      on    
,medicine ,man1 #bga2      to cure      
headache1 #ccb    ,hudson1 ,w4 ,h41 on  
wolves1 #dd2      on dogs1 #de          
,humanity1 growth of the sentiments1    
#fa-b    ,hume1 ,j41 ,natural ,history  
of ,religion1 #ajh2      on future life1
 #agg2      on causation1 #aij1 #aia    
,hunting-life1 influence of1 #a1 #b1    
,chap4 ,i4  #b1 #c 7see ,contents71     
#cc1 #ce1 #cg1 #ci1 ,chap4 ,,ii4  #d    
7see ,contents72      on intelligence1  
#dg1 #ff    ,hunting-pack1 its          
organisation1 #cf1 #da1 #de2            
organisation lost1 #fh1 #fi    ,hutton1 
,j4 ,j4 ,h41 on ,leopard men1 #bad n4   
,hyperphysical ,animism1 #ade1 #aej     
,i      ,iliad1 #ahc1 #bgi    ,images or
 mental pictures1 #gc2      vivid in    
savages and children1 #hi               
,imagination1 ,chap4 ,,iii4  #d 7see    
,contents72      as unverifiable        
representation1 #gd                     

,imagination-beliefs1 #fg1 #gf2         
mimic perception-beliefs1 #ajc2         
their power overrated1 #ajc-d2          
allied to play-belief1 #ajd-f1 #adh2    
often inconsistent1 #aha-b    ,indirect 
,magic1 #abi1 ,chap4 ,,iv4  #f1 #g 7see 
,contents7    ,industry and ,magic1 #adc
    ,initiation of ,wizard1 #bjc1 #baa1 
#bfc-e n42      and disillusion1 #bgg   
,intelligence of ,man1 how developed1   
#aj1 #dg-h2      of ,anthropoids1 #ca-b2
      its influence on morals1 #fe      
,intichiuma1 #abi1 #caf    ,intuition1  
#bce      ,j      ,jevons1 ,f4 ,b41 on  
,totemism1 #bii    ,jounod1 ,h4 ,a41 on 
taboos1 #acc2      on photograph-soul1  
#ach2      on divination1 #bdi2      on 
,magician's power1 #bfc n4      ,k      
,kalevala1 #bjh1 #bfb    ,kant on       
free-will1 #bbc    ,keith1 ,a41 on epoch
 of ,man's differentiation1 #c n42      
on length of intestine1 #ac2      on the
 genealogical tree of the ,primates1    
#di2      capacity of skulls1 #ej2      
on ,neanderthal species1 #eb2      on   

speech-organs of ,pithecanthropus and   
,eoanthropus1 #ef1 #ff-g    ,kingsley1  
,mary1 on soul-doctors1 #aee2      on   
four souls1 #agb      ,l                
,lamentation and weeping1 #fa    ,lang1 
,a41 on ghosts1 #aad2      on ,animism1 
#adg1 #adh2      on ,totemism1 #bii1    
#cjd-g    ,laughter1 #fj    ,laws of    
,association of ,ideas1 #acg    ,lecky  
on ,belief1 #agd    ,leibnitz1 #agd     
,leuba1 ,j4 ,h41 #adb    ,levy-,bruhl on
 the primitive mind1 #he-f              
,livingstone on ,south ,african game1   
#bg2      on ,south ,african doctors1   
#bfj    ,love of the chase1 #da         
,lyall1 ,alfred1 ,asiatic ,studies1 #bbb
    ,lycopithecus1 #h1 #ah2      his    
stature1 #be1 #bf1 #bi      ,m          
,mac,bride1 ,e4 ,w41 on specialisation  
of ,man1 #d n4    ,mc,dougall1 ,w41 on  
self-abasement1 #dd1 #abd4 ,see also    
,hose and        ,mc,dougall    ,magic1 
#ce1 ,chap4 ,,iv41 see ,contents2       
relation to government1 #fh-fi1 #bec-d2 
relation to ,animism1 ,chap4 ,,vi41 see 

,contents2      to ,fine ,art1 #bfb2    
to ,religion1 #aid-g1 #bed-e2      to   
,omens1 #bbg-cd2      its equivalent for
 inspiration1 #bde2      relation to    
,totemism1 #cad-h2      to science1     
#aaa1 ,chap4 ,x4  #a1 #b1 #c1 see       
,contents2      to ,medicine1 #bfj1     
#cbh-ca    ,major premise of primitive  
reasoning1 #id1 #ie1 #ih    ,mana1 #aba1
 #abb1 #aic    ,marett1 ,r4 ,r41 on     
,animatism1 #abj1 #adi    ,marriage1    
seasonal1 #ac2      and ,totemism1      
#cjg-aa    ,mathew1 ,j41 on source of   
magical power1 #bfc n4    ,maxim1 ,h4   
,s41 on precedence1 #de    ,memory and  
,belief1 #gc1 #hj    ,mercier1 ,c41 on  
paranoia1 #bgf    ,metamorphosis1       
#bac-ad1 #cad-ae    ,methodology1 none  
for the primitive mind1 #hb1 #aag       
,mill1 ,j4 ,s41 on ,comte1 #ajh2      on
 induction1 #aag    ,mimesis1 principle 
of1 #acf    ,minor premise not          
understood in primitive reasoning1 #ie-f
    ,mousterian culture1 #ac    ,mller1 
,max1 on ,totemism1 #bii      ,n        

,natural selection of best hunters1 #d2 
of the gregarious1 #h2      of the      
intelligent1 #aa2      adapted ,man to  
the hunting life1 not to civilisation1  
#ea2      except partially1 #fd2        
within limits favoured the              
superstitious1 #gj1 #aad    ,neanderthal
 ,man1 #di1 #ej1 #eb    ,neolithic      
culture1 #ej1 #ea    ,nordic ,race1     
#ai-bj      ,o      ,odour as           
soul-stuff1 #aci1 #afb    ,oligocene    
supposed age of the differentiation of  
,hominid1 #c1 #bd2      landscape1 flora
 and fauna then1 #bb-h    ,omen1 magical
 or spiritual1 #bjj1 #bjd1 ,chap4       
,,vii41 see ,contents    ,oracles1      
dreams and omens1 #bcf-g2      in       
,greece1 #bda-c2      in ,fiji1 #bdc2   
often obscure1 #bdf    ,origin and      
,development of ,moral ,ideas1 #aji1    
#cji      ,p      ,palolithic ,culture1 
#ej    ,pantius on ,divination1 #bdh    
,participation1 principle of1 #acf      
,pausanias1 #bdd    ,pawnee chief on the
 good man1 #fd    ,pekin ,gazette1 #bbb 

,perception as source of belief1 #gi1   
#he2      among savages1 #cf1 #acg      
,philosophy and ,animism1 #cdb          
,photograph and soul1 #cab              
,pithecanthropus1 #di1 #ee    ,pliny    
7the ,elder7 on ,ancient ,medicine1     
#cbi1 #cca    ,plutarch1 #bdb    ,poet  
respected1 #abf2      inspired1 #bcg n42
      and wizard1 #bfg    ,polybius on  
,roman ,religion1 #bdh    ,positivism1  
#ajh    ,possession1 #baj-aa1 #bab1     
#bcg1 #bdb-c    ,prayers1 at first seem 
dangerous1 #aie-f2      from spells1    
also spontaneous1 #bjj1 #bja2           
become spells1 #bjd1 #bje    ,precedence
 in the hunting-pack1 #dd2      amongst 
,australians1 #de    ,priest1 #fh-i2    
and sorcerer1 #bed-e2      and learning1
 #cda    ,primal ,law1 #ch1 #cjf        
,property1 #dc1 #ef-h    ,psychology of 
the hunting-pack1 ,chap4 ,,ii4  #d      
7#dj-h7    ,psychological ,animism1     
#ade1 ,chap4 ,v4  #b 7#adg-ec7      ,r  
,races of ,men1 #ai    ,rain-rites1     
#bjb1 #cce-g    ,ray1 ,s4 ,h41 on the   

,lifuans1 #adb n41 #aef    ,reason and  
imagination1 #gd-e2      in immature    
minds1 ,chap4 ,,iii4  #f    ,reflection 
and ghost1 #aed1 #aeh    ,reinach1 ,s41 
on sex-taboo1 #ef    ,reincarnation1    
#agd    ,relations in savage thought1   
#aja    ,religion1 #fi2      meaning of 
word1 #ahd2      and ,magic1 #aic-g2    
and ,totemism1 #cba-e                   
,retrogradation1 ,ch4 ,,vi4  #d 7#bjc-g7
    ,rigveda1 #aeb1 #afh1 #bai          
,rivera1 ,w4 ,h4 ,r41 on suggestibility 
in savages1 #hf2      on savage thought1
 #hi1 #ajj2      on ,totemic gods1 #afg1
 #cba-b2      on ,toda prayers1 #bje2   
blindness of savages to deceit1 #bhc2   
on a custom at ,mota1 #cja1 #cjc        
,roosevelt on dogs1 #dd1 #de2           
elephant and bear1 #adg    ,roth1 ,w4   
,e41 on prayer to ,totem1 #cai    ,roy1 
,s4 ,c41 on ,oraon rain-rites1 #bjb     
,s      ,sanderson1 ,g4 ,p41 on ,indian 
wild dogs1 #dc    ,scapulomancy1 #bci   
,schopenhauer on female beauty1 #ae     
,scientists in barbarism1 #cci          

,secret of the ,totem1 #cje    ,seligman
 on sex-taboo1 #aca2      on            
departmental experts1 #beg1 #bhd        
,selous1 ,f4 ,c41 on the hunter's joy1  
#da    ,seneca on ,omens1 #bdi          
,seton1 ,thompson1 on ,indians' love of 
killing1 #da2      on wolves1 #db1 #dd1 
#ef    ,sexual selection as cause of    
naked skin1 #ad    ,shadow and ghost1   
#aed1 #aeh    ,shaman derivation of     
word1 #bgd    ,shamanism1 #bag-h1 #bed  
,skeat and ,blagden on the ,semang1     
#adi1 #afh2      on ,malay ,magic1 #agb1
 #bfa    ,skin naked1 #ad-ah    ,skull  
changes in1 #g2      capacity of1 #ej   
,social life of ,primates1 #g1 #cb2     
of ,man1 #h1 #cd-f1 #cg-h    ,social    
,origins1 #cje    ,societies of         
,wizards1 #bef    ,sollas on geological 
time1 #c n41 #di n4    ,sorcerer and    
,magician1 #beb2      and ,priest1 #bed 
,sorcery1 #abi2      defined1 #ahi      
,soul and soul-stuff1 #adg1 #aea1 #aed1 
#aee1 #afa-c1 #aga2      how many1 #agb2
      origin and destiny of1 #agd-g2    

of ,totem and clansman1 #cab1 #cac      
,southey1 ,r41 ,the ,curse of ,kehama1  
#bfe    ,species of ,man1 #ca    ,speech
 in apes and men1 #i1 #ed1 #ee          
,speisser on ,animism in ,ambrym1 #aeb  
,spell1 #fh1 #aaa1 #aac1 #acj2          
tends to personify1 #aeb1 #aef2      and
 prayer1 #bjj1 #bja    ,spencer1 ,h41   
,pol4 ,institutions1 #h1 #ei2      on   
,laughter1 #fj2      ,sociology1 #ajh2  
on ,animism1 #aec1 #afe1 #afg1 #ahc2    
on ,totemism1 #bih    ,spencer and      
,gillen on savage imagination1 #hc2     
on ,guanjis1 #adf2      on magic stones1
 #abj-a1 #bfc n42      emotions of      
,australians1 #bdd2      foreign ,magic1
 #bgj2      account of a ,wizard1 #bhe2 
list of ,totems1 #bif    ,spirits and   
ghosts1 ,chap4 ,v4  #f-g 7#afd-gc72     
power of1 #bab-c2      controlled by    
,magic1 #baf-bd2      and ,omens1 #bcd-h
    ,stages in development of ,magic1   
#abi    ,stanbridge1 ,w41 on aborigines'
 scepticism1 #bgi    ,standard of truth 
for savages1 #hi    ,stefnson on        

,esquimo1 #afj    ,stigand1 ,g4 ,h41 on 
the ,masai1 #adf    ,stoics and         
divination1 #bdh    ,stoll1 ,otto1 on   
self-suggestion1 #bgd    ,struggle over 
prey1 #de-f    ,substitution in ,magic1 
#ada    ,suggestibility1 #hd1 #bge      
,superstition1 ,chap4 ,,iii41 see       
,contents2      utility of1 #fi2        
its dark side1 #ajg2      innate        
disposition to1 #aad1 #aec    ,syllogism
 and savage thinking1 #ib-g    ,symbols1
 #aci2      may fulfil ,omens1 #bdf     
,sympathy1 perceptive1 contagious1      
effective in the pack1 #dh2      and    
moral sense1 #fc-d      ,t      ,taboo1 
#fh2      on persons and things1 #aca-b2
      on words1 #acc2      names of dead
 and of spirits1 #bja2      on kings1   
#bai2      connected with ,totemism1    
#cae1 #caf    ,talisman1 #fh1 #aca1 etc4
    ,testimony1 #hj1 #hb    ,thompson1  
,basil1 on ,tongan rejection of         
coincidence1 #bia    ,thurn1 ,e4 ,f4 im1
 on savage belief1 #aaf1 #aea1 #aee2    
on the peaiman1 #bfj    ,torday1 ,e41 on

 ,bahuana1 #aej2      dead cast no      
shadow1 #aed n4    ,totemism1 #fh1 #aea1
 #aff1 #afg1 #agc2      ,chap4 ,,ix4    
7#bic-cbe71 see ,contents               
,transmigration1 #aga1 #age    ,trotter 
on herd-instinct1 #fd    ,turner1 ,g41  
on ,samoan gods1 #cbb    ,turner 7,am4  
,b4 of ,ethn47 on ,esquimo ,angoqok1    
#cbh    ,tylor1 ,e4 ,b41 ,primitive     
,culture1 #ajh2      on ,animism1 #aec1 
#ahc2      on motivation of ,magic1     
#aie2      on spell and prayer1 #bjg    
,tyndall on the ,scientific ,uses of the
 ,imagination1 #gd      ,v              
,ventriloquism practised by ,wizard1    
#bfa    ,vocation of ,wizard1 #bfg-i1   
#bhe    ,volsung ,saga1 #bac1 #bae n4   
,voluntary action as cause of belief1   
#hc2      supposed source of idea of    
cause1 #ahh1 #aib      ,w      ,wallace1
 ,a4 ,r41 on place of ,man's origin1 #d 
n42      on human brain1 #aa2           
nakedness1 #af2 the ,orang1 #cb1 #cc1   
#dg    ,war1 #eh-i    ,weeks1 ,j4 ,h41  
on ,congo ,cannibals1 #abg1 #aca2       

the ,bakongo1 #acj1 #afb1 #afh2         
specialists in ,magic1 #beg2      on    
character of wizard1 #bfj1 #bga2        
sorcerer not honoured at home1 #bgj2    
his trickery1 #bhb    ,westermarck1 ,e41
 on seasonal marriage1 #ac2             
primitive monogamy1 #ef2      on moral  
ideas1 #fd2      savage classification  
of phenomena1 #aji2      on sex-taboo1  
#acb2      on averting the evil eye1    
#add2      descent in female line1 #cjf2
      ,totemism and marriage1 #cjh-i2   
animal worship1 #cbc    ,whiffen1 ,th41 
on chief and medicine-man1 #bed2        
medicine-man's unscrupulousness1 #bga2  
sceptics1 #bhj    ,wiedemann on         
,religion of ,ancient ,egyptians1 #agc1 
#bfg    ,williamson1 ,r4 ,w41 on the    
,mafulu1 #bja    ,wizard1 #fh-i1 #abh2  
the mind of1 ,chap4 ,,viii4 7#beb-ib71  
see ,contents2      and government1     
#bec-d2      societies1 #bef2      his  
utility1 #bfh2      and ,pharmacology1  
#cbh1 #cca2      ,anatomy and           
,physiology1 #ccb2      ,psychology1    

#ccc-d2      ,botany and ,zoology1 #ccd2
      ,astronomy1 #cce2                 
,meteorology1 #ccg    ,wollunqua1 #cbj  
,wolves1 #h1 #aa1 #be1 #cf1 #cg and     
note1 #da1 #db1 #dd1 #de1 #eb1 #ec1 #fd 
,wundt1 ,w41 on ,krperseele1 #agj1 #ahc2
      on ,animism and ,magic and idea of
 cause1 #ahg-ib2      or retrogradation1
 #bjc          ,transcriber's note      
,words in italics have been surrounded  
by underscores1 and words in  small     
capitals changed to all capitals4       
,footnotes were renumbered and  moved to
 the end of the chapter they belong to4 
,some minor corrections were made       
without note1 such as missing           
punctuation and missing page numbers in 
the index4 ,also the following          
corrections were made1 on page       #ac
 8probaby0 changed to 8probably0        
7probably very much earlier7     #ic    
8critisism0 changed to 8criticism0      
7incapable of comparison and            
criticism7    #bbd 8shephered0 changed  
to 8shepherd0 7and a shepherd1 sleeping 

by        the grave of ,orpheus7    #cdh
 8,mc,dougal0 changed to 8,mc,dougall0  
7,see also ,hose and ,mc,dougall7       
#cej 8unscupulousness0 changed to       
8unscrupulousness0 7medicine-man's      
unscrupulousness7    #cej 8,wiedermann0 
changed to 8,wiedemann0 7,wiedemann on  
,religion of        ,ancient ,egyptian74
    ,otherwise the original was         
preserved1 including inconsistent       
spelling1  hyphenation1 capitalization1 
and possible errors in foreign words4   
,additional3 ,the names of some of the  
quoted authors were spelled             
inconsistently in the original1 for     
example ,codrington was spelled most  of
 the time with two d's4 ,also the name  
of ,vilhjlmur ,stefnsson 7who  was born 
as ,william ,stephenson7 was spelled in 
several different ways4  ,these have not
 been corrected4 ,the also mentioned    
,stevenson is somebody  else4 ,also3    
,the index has not been checked for     
errors1 besides the ones  in the list   
above4