Chapter 16

[126]ThusGiraud-Teulon(op. cit., 70), a zealous advocate of the theory of promiscuity, declares: "Avant d'accepter une semblable hypothèse, il convient cependant de reconnaitre que l'on n'a pas encore trouvé de peuplade vivant actuellement en état de complète promiscuité." But, he adds, the facts observed among living tribes "sont en tel nombre, en telle concordance, et confinent de si près à la promiscuité absolue, que ce n'est pas sortir du champ deshypothèses scientifiquement permisesque de supposer dans l'enfance de l'humanité un état de pur communisme." On the lack of positive proofcf.alsoKautsky, "Die Entstehung der Ehe und Familie,"Kosmos, XII, 198 ff.;Westermarck,Human Marriage, 41;Morgan,Ancient Society, 500 ff.;McLennan,Studies in Ancient History, I, 85 ff., 93 ff.;Spencer,Principles of Sociology, I, 662, 664;Hellwald,Die mensch. Familie, 130, 131.

[127]"Communal marriage" is the name introduced bySir John Lubbock,Origin of Civilization, 86, 98, 103, 104-9, whose theory is criticised byMcLennan,Studies, I, 329 ff. "Gruppen- oder Hordenchen" is the term employed byPost,Familienrecht, 57, 58;Grundlagen des Rechts, 200, 201;Anfänge, 10 ff. For the so-called Australian group-marriage seeFison and Howitt,Kamilaroi and Kurnai, 50 ff., 99 ff., 159 ff.; the criticism ofCurr,The Australian Race, I, 106-42, which should be compared withKohler, "Das Recht der Australneger,"ZVR., VII, 326 ff., 329 ff., 337 ff.; hisZur Geschichte der Ehe, 64 ff.;Cunow,Australneger;Spencer and Gillen,Native Tribes of Central Australia; andCrawley,Mystic Rose, 475 ff. In general, on group-marriage seeKulischer, inZFE., VIII, 140; X, 193;Bernhöft, "Altindisches Familienorganisation,"ibid., IX, 5 ff.;Schroeder,Das Recht in der geschlechtlichen Ordnung, 19 ff.

[128]On the horde seeBernhöft, "Zur Gesch. des eur. Familienrechts,"ZVR., VIII, 167;Westermarck,Human Marriage, 41, 52;Friedrichs, "Familienstufen und Eheformen,"ZVR., X, 194, 197, 198;idem,ibid., VIII, 378, 379;Kautsky, "Die Entstehung der Ehe und Familie,"Kosmos, XII, 193 ff. (theStamm);Post,Geschlechtsgenossenschaft, 4 ff.;Familienrecht, 57, 58;Kohler, inZVR., VII, 381;Mucke,Horde und Familie;Grosse,Die Formen der Ehe, 59, 62;Frerichs,Zur Naturgeschichte des Menschen, 106, 107;Hellwald,Die mensch. Familie, 121 ff., 153;Gumplowicz,Outlines of Sociology, 110 ff.; and the literature cited below on the Australian class-systems, and on the works ofMorganandSpencer.

[129]Westermarck,op. cit., 52.

[130]For this class of evidence, seeGiraud-Teulon,Les origines du mariage, 1 ff.:Post,Familienrecht, 57, 58;Anfänge, 17 ff.;Lubbock,Origin of Civilization, 69 ff., 104 ff.;Bernhöft, "Zur Geschichte des eur. Familienrechts,"ZVR., VIII, 161 ff.;McLennan,Studies, I, 83 ff.;Morgan,Ancient Society, 500 ff.,passim;Lippert,Geschichte der Familie, 168-80;Ploss,Das Weib, I, 331, 360 ff., 370 ff., 383 ff.;Kulischer, "Die geschlechtliche Zuchtwahl,"ZFE., VIII, 140, 141;Friedrichs, "Ursprung des Matriarchats,"ZVR., VIII, 370 ff.;Mucke,Horde und Familie, 65, 138 ff., who deny that these customs are evidences of promiscuity; as also doesSchmidt,Jus primae noctis, 36 ff.;Kohler, "Ueber das Negerrecht, namentlich in Kamerun,"ZVR., XI, 419, 422; "Studien über Frauengemeinschaft,"ibid., V, 334 ff.;Zur Urgeschichte der Ehe, 14, 64 ff., 146; and elsewhere in his various monographs;Hellwald,Die mensch. Familie, 187, 326-29;Kovalevsky,Mod. Customs and Anc. Laws of Russia, 6 ff.;Schneider,Die Naturvölker, I, 267 ff.; II, 413 ff., who, rejecting the doctrines of evolution and survival, holds to the biblical legend of the "fall of man."

[131]The result of the recent researches of Spencer, Starcke, Westermarck, Letourneau, and others will be discussed in the next chapter.

[132]Read especially the section ofBernhöft, "Zur Geschichte des eur. Familienrechts," 161-221, on "Askese und Hetärismus," who is criticised byMucke,Horde und Familie, 122;Guyot,Prostitution, 12 ff.;Mantegazza,Geschlechtsverhältnisse des Menschen, 366 ff.; and the detailed and learned monograph ofRosenbaum,Geschichte der Lustseuche im Alterthume(Halle, 1893). An examination of the whole subject is given byWestermarck,Human Marriage, chap. iv.

[133]In this connection are adduced the cases in which courtesans have been held in high esteem, sometimes in higher regard than married women, as in Athens and India:Giraud-Teulon,Les origines du mariage, 43-45;Lubbock,Origin of Civilization, 132, 133, 537, 538;Post,Geschlechtsgenoss., 31;Schroeder,Das Recht in der geschlechtlichen Ordnung, 244 ff.;Bernhöft, "Zur Gesch. des eur. Familienrechts,"ZVR., VIII, 172-74;Kohler, "Ueber das Negerrecht,"ibid., XI, 419;Westermarck,op. cit., 61 ff., 80, 81, who denies the inference of promiscuity from this custom and mentions many low tribes among whom chastity is observed.Cf.Friedrichs, inZVR., VIII, 374 ff.;Schneider,Die Naturvölker, II, 473, 474, who ascribes the custom to religious impulse—the consecration of virgins to the cult of Aphrodite.The custom, found among Egyptians, Tibetans, Wotjäken, American Indians, and other peoples, permitting girls freely to prostitute themselves before marriage is similarly put in evidence:Herodotus, II, 121, 124, 125, 126; IV, 176; V, 6;Post,Grundlagen, 187;Geschlechtsgenoss., 29-31;Familienrecht, 346;Buch,Die Wotjäken, 45 ff.;Kohler, inZVR., V, 335 (Wotjäken);Bernhöft,op. cit., 165, 166;Giraud-Teulon,op. cit., 52, 53;Unger,Die Ehe, 12, 13;Hellwald,Die mensch. Familie, 220 ff., 343;Waitz,Anthropologie, II, 112, 113 (Africa);Ratzel,Hist. of Mankind, II, 128 (Brazil and ancient Peru);Pratz,Hist. de la Louisiane, II, 386 (Natches Indians);Stevenson, inXI. Rep. of Bureau of Eth., 19, 20 (the Sia);Turner,ibid.XI, 189 (the Innuit).

The custom, found among Egyptians, Tibetans, Wotjäken, American Indians, and other peoples, permitting girls freely to prostitute themselves before marriage is similarly put in evidence:Herodotus, II, 121, 124, 125, 126; IV, 176; V, 6;Post,Grundlagen, 187;Geschlechtsgenoss., 29-31;Familienrecht, 346;Buch,Die Wotjäken, 45 ff.;Kohler, inZVR., V, 335 (Wotjäken);Bernhöft,op. cit., 165, 166;Giraud-Teulon,op. cit., 52, 53;Unger,Die Ehe, 12, 13;Hellwald,Die mensch. Familie, 220 ff., 343;Waitz,Anthropologie, II, 112, 113 (Africa);Ratzel,Hist. of Mankind, II, 128 (Brazil and ancient Peru);Pratz,Hist. de la Louisiane, II, 386 (Natches Indians);Stevenson, inXI. Rep. of Bureau of Eth., 19, 20 (the Sia);Turner,ibid.XI, 189 (the Innuit).

[134]On the so-called "Probeehen" or "Probenächte," seeBuch,Die Wotjäken, 50, 51, 53, 57;Kohler, inZVR., V, 346, 351, 338, 339;Post,Anfänge, 21;Düringsfeld,Hochzeitsbuch, 9;Schmidt,Jus primae noctis, 40;Weinhold,Deutsche Frauen, I, 261 ff.;Friedberg,Eheschliessung, 84; and especiallyFischer,Ueber die Probenächte der teutschen Bauernmädchen, who gives a detailed historical investigation from the early Middle Ages onward, with interesting examples.Cf.Kovalevsky,Mod. Customs and Anc. Laws of Russia, 12, 13 (theKirchgangorDorfgehenof Switzerland, Baden, and Würtemberg).Among the Todas, after a marriage is arranged, the bride has a proof-time of a night and a day. On the "expiry of this brief honeymoon," the damsel is required to make up her mind "either to accept or reject her suitor."—Marshall,A Phrenologist amongst the Todas, 212.

Among the Todas, after a marriage is arranged, the bride has a proof-time of a night and a day. On the "expiry of this brief honeymoon," the damsel is required to make up her mind "either to accept or reject her suitor."—Marshall,A Phrenologist amongst the Todas, 212.

[135]Strabo, II, 515;Lubbock,op. cit., 131;Giraud-Teulon,op. cit., 3;Post,Geschlechtsgenoss., 29, 43 ff;Anfänge, 21; especiallyHellwald'schapter entitled "Zeitehen und wilde Ehen,"Die mensch. Familie, 438 ff.; andKulischer, "Communale Zeitehen,"Archiv für Anthropologie, XI, 228 ff.;Waitz,Anthropologie, III, 105 (proof and temporary marriages among American Indians); II, 114 (same in Africa);Klemm,Kulturgeschichte, II, 78 (N. A. Indians);Turner, in XI.Rep. of Bureau of Eth., 189 (Innuit);McGee,The Seri Indians, inXVII. Rep. of Bureau of Eth., Part I, 280.

[136]Plutarch,Lycurgus, c. 15 (Sparta);Friedrichs, "Ursprung des Matriarchats,"ZVR., VIII, 372, 373;Post,Anfänge, 25;Geschlechtsg., 34 ff.;Nadaillac,L'évolution du mariage, 17 ff.;Lubbock,Origin of Civilization, 131, 132, who mentions the well-known case of Cato's lending his wife Marcia to his friend Hortensius;Buch,Die Wotjäken, 48;Kohler, inZVR., III, 398, note (India), 399 (Germans); V, 336 (Wotjäken), 342 (Alaska), 353 (Creeks); VII, 326 (Australia); VIII, 84 (Birma); XI, 422 (Kamerun);Jolly, inZVR., IV, 331, 332 (Hindus);Smith,Kinship and Marriage, 116;Waitz,Anthropologie, II, 114 (Africa);Nelson, "The Eskimo about Bering Strait," inXVIII. Rep. of Bureau of Eth., Part I, 292;McGee, inXV. Rep. of Bureau of Eth., 178 (Sioux);Westermarck,op. cit., 74 n. 1, mentions, with the sources of information, many tribes among whom wife-lending prevails."Exchange of wives" is common among the Eskimo. "For instance, one man of our acquaintance planned to go to the rivers deer hunting in the summer of 1882, and borrowed his cousin's wife for the expedition, as she was a good shot and a good hand at deer hunting, while his own wife went with his cousin on the trading expedition to the eastward. On their return the wives went back to their respective husbands." Sometimes in such cases the women are better pleased with their new mates and remain with them. "According toGilder(Schwatka's Search, 197) it is a usual thing among friends in that region to exchange wives for a week or two almost every two months."Egede(Greenland, 139) says such temporary exchanges take place at festivals. So also at Repulse Bay, at certain times there is said to be a "general exchange of wives throughout the village, each woman passing from man to man till she has been through the hands of all, and finally returned to her husband."—Murdoch, "Point Barrow Expedition,"IX. Rep. of Bureau of Eth., 413.Cf.Turner, "Ethnology of Ungava Dist.,"ibid., 189. The loaning of wife or daughter to a guest, or the prostitution of the wife for hire, appears among some South American tribes:Martius,Ethnographie, I, 118;idem,Rechtszustande, 65.

"Exchange of wives" is common among the Eskimo. "For instance, one man of our acquaintance planned to go to the rivers deer hunting in the summer of 1882, and borrowed his cousin's wife for the expedition, as she was a good shot and a good hand at deer hunting, while his own wife went with his cousin on the trading expedition to the eastward. On their return the wives went back to their respective husbands." Sometimes in such cases the women are better pleased with their new mates and remain with them. "According toGilder(Schwatka's Search, 197) it is a usual thing among friends in that region to exchange wives for a week or two almost every two months."Egede(Greenland, 139) says such temporary exchanges take place at festivals. So also at Repulse Bay, at certain times there is said to be a "general exchange of wives throughout the village, each woman passing from man to man till she has been through the hands of all, and finally returned to her husband."—Murdoch, "Point Barrow Expedition,"IX. Rep. of Bureau of Eth., 413.Cf.Turner, "Ethnology of Ungava Dist.,"ibid., 189. The loaning of wife or daughter to a guest, or the prostitution of the wife for hire, appears among some South American tribes:Martius,Ethnographie, I, 118;idem,Rechtszustande, 65.

[137]Lubbock,Origin of Civilization, 130-32, 536 ff.;Giraud-Teulon,Les origines du mariage, 5 ff., who says: "Le mariage (en prenant ce mot dans son sense étroit) apparaît chez les races inférieures comme une infraction aux droits de la communauté, et partant, comme la violation d'une loi naturelle: de là, à le considérer comme la violation d'une loi religieuse, il n'y avait qu'un pas." See the criticism byMcLennan,Studies, I, 335 ff., who rejects the theory of expiation for violation of communal right; because usually the woman does not belong to the husband's tribe, and because often the privileges are exercised by friends of both bridegroom and bride.Cf.Fison and Howitt,Kamilaroi and Kurnai, 149-56;Wake,Marriage and Kinship, 17, 34, 65, 245 ff.;Lippert,Geschichte der Familie, 169;Kohler, inZVR., VII, 327 (Australia);Mucke,Horde und Familie, 138-40, who rejects the theory; andKovalevsky,Mod. Customs and Anc. Laws of Russia, 10, 11, who refers to the promiscuous intercourse practiced at various festivals, resembling the assemblies on the Roumanian Gainaberg which Kohler has discussed inZVR., VI, 398 ff. These may be compared with the license practiced at certain gatherings among the Arunta and several other Australian tribes:Spencer and Gillen,Native Tribes of Central Australia, 96 ff.

[138]"Thus Herodotus states, in Babylonia, every woman was obliged once in her life to give herself up, in the temple of Mylitta, to strangers, for the satisfaction of the goddess; and in some parts of Cyprus, he tells us, the same custom prevailed. In Armenia, according to Strabo, there was a very similar law. The daughters of good families were consecrated to Anaitis, a phallic divinity like Mylitta, giving themselves, as it appears, to the worship of the goddess indiscriminately."—Westermarck,Human Marriage, 72;Herodotus, I, c. 199;Strabo, XI, 532. As to Babylon Herodotus may have been mistaken;cf.chap. iv, below. See further illustrations inBernhöft,op. cit., 169 ff.;Giraud-Teulon,op. cit., 7 ff.;Ploss,Das Weib, I, 383 ff.;Lippert,Geschichte der Familie, 171;Friedrichs, inZVR., VIII, 373, who enumerates the peoples where the custom has existed;idem,ibid., X, 215, 216;Hellwald,Die mensch. Familie, 356 ff.; andHoward,Sex Worship, 103-16, 201,passim, who holds that sacred prostitution, and many of the other sexual practices usually assigned as survivals of promiscuity, are evidences of phallicism.

[139]The monograph ofDr. Karl Schmidt,Jus primae noctis, is the most elaborate work on the subject. The author denies (41 ff., 365 ff., 379) that the custom existed in feudal Europe or elsewhere as aright; and he holds that the practices so called are not evidences of promiscuity. His views are sharply criticised byHellwald,Die mensch. Familie, 349 n. 4; and especially byKohler, inZVR., IV, 279-87.Schmidthas a supplementary discussion inZFE., XVI, 44 ff.; and is reviewed unfavorably byKohler,ZVR., V, 397-406. See alsoSchmidt'sSlavische Geschichtsquellen zur Streitfrage über das Jus Primae Noctis;Kohler,Urgeschichte der Ehe, 140;idem, inZVR., VII, 350, 351; VIII, 85;Schneider,Die Naturvölker, II, 471-73;Giraud-Teulon,op. cit., 32-41;Weinhold,Die deutschen Frauen, I, 300, 301;Letourneau,L'évolution du mariage, 56-62;Suggenheim,Geschichte der Aufhebung der Leibeigenschaft, 104, who believes the "right of the lord" existed in France far down into the Middle Ages;Bachofen,Mutterrecht, 12, 13, 17, 18,passim;Post,Anfänge, 17, 18;idem,Geschlechtsgenoss., 37;Kulischer, "Die communale Zeitehe," inArchiv für Anthropologie, XI, 228 ff., who refers to the recent existence of the alleged custom in Russia;Friedrichs, inZVR., X, 214, 215;Starcke,op. cit., 124-26. There is a learned discussion in the quaintDe uxore theotisca, cap. i, ofGrupen; the literature cited in Bibliographical Note II should be consulted; and Schmidt has appended a very full bibliography to his book. The termjus primae noctisis especially applied to the alleged "right of the lord" in feudal times; but the existence of even this custom as a legal privilege is still an unsettled question.

[140]The custom is for the men "to buy the women whom they marry of their fathers and relatives at a high price, and then to take them to a chief, who is considered to be a priest, to deflower them and see if she is a virgin; and if she is not, they have to return the whole price, and he can keep her for his wife or not, or let her be consecrated, as he chooses." In the same connection, Castañeda says, "among them are men dressed like women who marry other men and serve as their wives;" and he describes also a curious kind of legal or consecrated prostitution existing among the same people: see the translation of Castañeda's account inWinship's"Coronado Expedition, 1540-2,"XIV. Rep. of Bureau of Eth., 513, 514.Cf.Fawcett, "On Basivis: Women, Who, through Dedication to a Deity, Assume Masculine Privileges,"Jour. Anth. Soc.(Bombay), II (1891), 322-54.

[141]Westermarck,Human Marriage, 73, 74;Wake,Marriage and Kinship, 81, 82. The custom may possibly be accounted for by the slow growth of the sentiment upon which "conjugal attachment depends:"McLennan,Studies, I, 341. For an alleged "survival" seeSchmidt,Hochzeiten in Thüringen, 31. For the strictly regulated form of wife-lending among certain Australian tribes see the reference to the work of Spencer and Gillen below.

[142]Westermarck,op. cit., 72;McLennan,Studies, I, 341, 342. This is also the view ofClifford Howardin hisSex Worship, chaps. v, ix, x.

[143]Westermarck,op. cit., 78;Schmidt,Jus primae noctis, 41.

[144]Westermarck,op. cit., 73.

[145]McLennan,op. cit., I, 337;Westermarck,op. cit., 76.

[146]The well-known theory ofStarcke,op. cit., 121-27. It is not essential, according to this view, in early stages of development, that a child should be actually begotten by the father. It is enough that it should be borne by his legal wife and be accepted by him. Hence thejus primae noctis, exercised by a priest, king, or other distinguished person, is sometimes regarded as an honor:ibid., 125, 126;Westermarck,op. cit., 79.

[147]The first series of relationships is seen in the Arunta tribe, where "no man will lend his wife to anyone who does not belong to the particular group with which it is lawful for her to have marital relations—she is, in fact, only lent to a man whom she callsUnwana, just as she calls her own husband, and though this may undoubtedly be spoken of as an act of hospitality, it may with equal justice be regarded as evidence of the very clear recognition of group relationship, and as evidence also in favor of the former existence of group marriage." A native, it is true, will sometimes lend his wife "as an act of hospitality to a white man; but this has nothing to do with the lending of wives which has just been dealt with." It "does not imply the infringement of any custom." The second relationship in the series named is of a public nature, and it is strictly regulated by custom. It consists in the defloration of a girl just before her marriage by certain men who have access to her in a definite order. These men belong to forbidden groups; that is, groups into which the woman may not marry. "The ceremonies in question are of the nature of those which Sir John Lubbock has described as indicative of expiation for marriage;" and they may be regarded as "rudimentary customs" pointing back to a stage of wider marital rights than those which now exist in these tribes. The third relationship is the license allowed on "occasions when a large number of men and women are gathered together to perform certain corrobborees," the more important gatherings lasting perhaps "ten days or a fortnight." Every day "two or three women are told off to attend at the corrobboree ground, and, with the exception of men who stand in the relation to them of actual father, brother, or son, they are, for the time being, common property to all the men present." The explanations of similar usages advanced by McLennan and Westermarck, such as phallicism, are deemed inapplicable to these cases:Spencer and Gillen,Native Tribes of Central Australia, 92-111. Compare especiallyKohler,Zur Urgeschichte der Ehe, 64 ff.,passim, who finds in the totem groups and classificatory systems of relationship, existing in Australia, America, and elsewhere, evidence of former group-marriage.

[148]Mystic Rose, 236-66, 294-317, 347 ff., 468-85,passim.Cf.Lang,Social Origins, 87-111,passim.

[149]According toFriedrichs, "Familienstufen und Eheformen,"ZVR., X, 190 ff., the forms of the family are the following: (1) "die lose Familie;" (2) "die matriarchale, uterine Familie;" (3) "die patriarchale, agnatische Familie;" (4) "die moderne, zweiseitige Familie."

[150]Dargun,Mutterrecht und Raubehe, 12, 13. For exceptions, however, see hisMutterrecht und Vaterrecht, 29 ff., 35, 41, 46.

[151]Kohler, inZVR., III, 393; IV, 266 ff.

[152]Lippert,Geschichte der Familie, 4 ff., 218 ff.;idem,Kulturgeschichte, I, 76 ff., 90.

[153]Bernhöft, "Zur Geschichte des eur. Familienrechts,"ZVR., VIII, 401, 402.

[154]Kautsky, "Die Entstehung der Ehe und Familie,"Kosmos, XII, 338-48, especially 347;cf.Mucke,Horde und Familie, 172 ff.

[155]Friedrichs, "Familienstufen und Eheformen,"ZVR., X, 256-58.

[156]See below, chaps. iii, iv.

[157]"Wie die Ehe aus der Ueberwältigung der Frau durch den Mann hervorging, und wie sie sich von da aus zum Frauenkaufe gestaltete; wie sie zur religiösen Heilanstalt wurde und wie sie von da aus zum geläuterten Rechtsinstitute umbildete, indem die religiöse Feier nicht mehr obligat blieb, ... lehrt uns das indische Recht klarer, als jedes andere."—"Indisches Ehe- und Familienrecht,"ZVR., III, 342, 343.

[158]Hildebrand,Ueber das Problem einer algemeinen Entwicklungsgeschichte, 14 ff., 17 ff.;idem,Recht und Sitte auf den versch.Kulturstufen, 9 ff.

[159]Kautsky, "Entstehung der Ehe und Familie,"Kosmos, XII, 190-207, 256-72, 329-48.

[160]Kautsky's use of "hetairism" for "defective" monogamy is apt to become misleading.

[161]Kautsky, 339.

[162]According toKautsky, just as polygyny arises in aHerrschaftsverhältniss—the lordship of the man over the captured or purchased woman—so polyandry originates in an analogous relation of the woman to the man. Under gynocracy the woman chooses her husband, hence polyandry; 344-46.

[163]Kautsky, 347.

[164]Dargun,Mutterrecht und Vaterrecht, 60, 61, 127, 43-52.

[165]ForLippert's development of the family see hisGeschichte der Familie, and especially his excellentKulturgeschichte, I, 71-90; II, 1-165, 505-54.

[166]Hellwald,Die mensch. Familie, 121, 122, 126. "Was Platz griff, war wohl ungeregelte Polygamie, welche aber ziemlich naturgemäss Polyandrie nach sich zieht, und aus dieser Vermischung jenen ehelosen Geschlechtsverkehr schuf, für welchen noch die richtige Benennung fehlt."—Ibid., 129.

[167]Ibid., 146, 150;Lippert,Kulturgeschichte, I, 76;idem,Geschichte der Familie, 20.

[168]Hellwald,op. cit., 150;Frerichs,Zur Naturgeschichte des Menschen, 103, 104;cf.Lippert,op. cit., I, 76.

[169]Hellwald,op. cit., 151.

[170]Ibid., 151;Dargun,Mutterrecht und Raubehe, 3;Bachofen,Mutterrecht, as above quoted.

[171]Hellwald,op. cit., 158 ff., acceptingMorgan'smain conclusions in hisSystems of Consanguinity; and opposingSchneider,Die Naturvölker, II, 474-77.

[172]Lippert,Geschichte der Familie, 218, 219, who distinguishes between the "Alt- und Gesamtfamilie" and the modern "Sonderfamilie."

[173]Of course, only a bare outline of the author's able treatise is here given. See especiallyDie mensch. Familie, 176 ff. ("Exogamie und Clanbildung"), 197 ff. ("Entwicklungsbedingungen und Wesen des Matriarchats"), 227 ff. ("Die Bündnissformen im Matriarchat"), 274 ff. ("Der Frauenraub und seine Folgen"), 347 ff. ("Ausbildung des Patriarchats"), 529 ff. ("Die Altfamilie").

[174]"Niedere und Höhere Jäger, Viehzüchter, Niedere und Höhere Ackerbauer."—Grosse,Die Formen der Familie, 25, 26.

[175]Lippert,op. cit., 30 ff.;Kohler,Zur Urgeschichte der Ehe, 4, 5, where Hildebrand is criticised;Hellwald,op. cit., 197 ff., who declares that in the history of civilization it is "undoubtedly more correct to regard, not pastoral life and agriculture, but nomadic life and settled life as the marks of two diverse culture-phases."

[176]Grosse,op. cit., 29 ff.

[177]"Im Uebrigen aber bildet die Muttersippe auf dieser Culturstufe noch keine Lebens- sondern nur eine Namensgemeinschaft."—Grosse,op. cit., 64.

[178]Ibid., 84.

[179]Ibid., 244, 245.

[180]Mucke,Horde und Familie in ihrer urgeschichtlichen Entwickelung.Eine neue Theorie auf statistischer Grundlage(Stuttgart, 1895). Mucke is harshly reviewed byKohler,Urgeschichte der Ehe, 17-27.

[181]"Genossenschaft der Urzeit." He derives horde fromorta,orda= "local community," "Ortsgemeinschaft," hence "order":Mucke, viii, 40, 41, 43 ff.,passim.

[182]"Raumverwandtschaften,"Mucke, 1 ff., 20-43,passim.

[183]The details of the author's argument cannot here be given. First (erster Abschnitt) he appeals to the mental processes of the child. The spaces, and consequently the relationship, arise in the child's sense-perception, the impression obtained by the infant soul of the relative distance or remoteness of persons belonging to the different ages and generations. The very inadequate evidence adduced for the former universality of suchLagerarrangement (sechster Abschnitt) consists (1) of the alleged customs of modern Asiatic hordes; and (2) the remains of ship-shaped graves and dwelling-places discovered in various parts of the world. With wonderful ingenuity the author is able to explain by his theory nearly every problem connected with marriage and the family. Aside from the constructive part of his work, his criticism of other writers, though often unjust and intolerant, is sometimes acute and instructive.

[184]The brothers capture men for their sisters by way of reprisal and retaliation for stealing the latter:Mucke,Horde und Familie, 125, 126, 111, 113 ff.

[185]But at first the man and the woman are merely slaves—there is no sexual or marriage relation whatever:ibid., 117.

[186]Ibid., 178-82. In the fourth and fifthAbschnitte(155-247) the author discusses the dissolution of the horde through the influence of the two forms of the family. The argument is involved and almost entirelya priori. It is nearly impossible to discover his conclusion as to whether a purely patriarchal or matriarchal family is differentiated in the process.

[187]McLennan'sStudies in Ancient Historyappeared in 1876, being mainly a reprint of hisPrimitive Marriage, published January, 1865, four years later than Bachofen's book; but "it was in the spring of 1866," he says, "that I first heard ofDas Mutterrecht."—Studies, I, 319.Morgan'sLeague of the Iroquoiswas published in 1851, and in this he describes some of the essential facts connected with his theory. In 1857, he re-examined the subject and enlarged his views (Proceedings of the Am. Association for the Advancement of Science, Part II). But it was not until 1871 that his great work onSystems of Consanguinityappeared, though accepted for publication, January, 1868. This was followed by theAncient Society, 1877, in which his theory is fully elaborated. TheHouses and House-Life of the American Aborigines, 1881, was originally intended as Part V of theAncient Society.

Morgan'sLeague of the Iroquoiswas published in 1851, and in this he describes some of the essential facts connected with his theory. In 1857, he re-examined the subject and enlarged his views (Proceedings of the Am. Association for the Advancement of Science, Part II). But it was not until 1871 that his great work onSystems of Consanguinityappeared, though accepted for publication, January, 1868. This was followed by theAncient Society, 1877, in which his theory is fully elaborated. TheHouses and House-Life of the American Aborigines, 1881, was originally intended as Part V of theAncient Society.

[188]Referring to Lubbock's favorable view of Morgan's contributions to ethnological science,Dr. Starckedeclares: "With all respect for Morgan's diligence as a collector of facts, I am more disposed to agree with McLennan that his work is altogether unscientific, and that his hypotheses are a wild dream, if not the delirium of fever."—Primitive Family, 207, 208.Cf.McLennan,Studies, I, 269;Lubbock,Origin of Civilization, 162; andGrosse,Die Formen der Familie, 3 ff. This criticism is far too severe; seeKohler,Zur Urgeschichte der Ehe, 1 ff.;Cunow,Australneger, chaps. v-vii, 11 ff.;Hellwald,Die mensch. Familie, 158 ff.

[189]Ancient Society, 49-379;Houses and House-Life, 1 ff.

[190]Ancient Society, 227, 433 ff., 469. It is easy to see that this argument is fallacious, even when the rule of exogamy prevails.Cf.the criticism ofStarcke,op. cit., 275-77;Botsford,Athenian Constitution, 4-7.

Back to Index Next