第44章 THE MENTAL CONDITION OF SAVAGES--CONFUSION WITH NA

and for Melanesia， Codrington， while for New Zealand we have Taylor. For the Jakuts， along the banks of the Lena in Northern Asia， we have the evidence of Strahlenberg， who writes： "Each tribe of these people look upon some particular creature as sacred， e.g.， a swan， goose， raven， etc.， and such is not eaten by that tribe"though the others may eat it. As the majority of our witnesses were quite unaware that the facts they described were common among races of whom many of them had never even heard， their evidence may surely be accepted as valid， especially as the beliefs testified to express themselves in marriage laws， in the blood-feud， in abstinence from food， on pillars over graves， in rude heraldry， and in other obvious and palpable shapes. If we have not made out， by the evidence of institutions， that a confused credulity concerning the equality and kinship of man and the objects in nature is actually a ruling belief among savages， and even higher races， from the Lena to the Amazon， from the Gold Coast to Queensland， we may despair of ever convincing an opponent. The survival of the same beliefs and institutions among civilised races， Aryan and others， will later be demonstrated. If we find that the mythology of civilised races here agrees with the actual practical belief of savages， and if we also find that civilised races retain survivals of the institutions in which the belief is expressed by savages， then we may surely infer that the activity of beasts in the myths of Greece springs from the same sources as the similar activity of beasts in the myths of Iroquois or Kaffirs. That is to say， part of the irrational element in Greek myth will be shown to be derived (whether by inheritance or borrowing) from an ascertained condition of savage fancy.

See some very curious and disgusting examples of this confusion in Liebrecht's Zur Volkskunde， pp. 395， 396 (Heilbronn， 1879).

De Abst.， ii. 26.

Nineteen Years in Polynesia， p. 238， and Samoa by the same author. Complete totemism is not asserted here， and is denied for Melanesia.

Journ. Anthrop. Inst.， "Religious Practices in Melanesia".

New Zealand， "Animal Intermarriage with Men".

Description of Asia (1783)， p. 383.

Professor Robertson Smith， Kinship in Arabia， attempts to show that totemism existed in the Semitic races. The topic must be left to Orientalists.

第一章THE MENTAL CONDITION OF SAVAGES--MAGIC--METAMORPHOSIS--METAPHYSIC--PSYCHOLOGY.

Claims of sorcerers--Savage scientific speculation--Theory of causation--Credulity， except as to new religious ideas--"Post hoc， ergo propter hoc"--Fundamental ideas of magic--Examples：

incantations， ghosts， spirits--Evidence of rank and other institutions in proof of confusions of mind exhibited in magical beliefs.

"I mean eftsoons to have a fling at magicians for their abominable lies and monstrous vanities."--PLINY， ap. Phil. Holland.

"Quoy de ceux qui naturellement se changent en loups， en juments， et puis encores en hommes？"--MONTAIGNE， Apologie pour Raymond de Sebonde.

The second feature in the savage intellectual condition which we promised to investigate was the belief in magic and sorcery. The world and all the things in it being conceived of vaguely as sensible and rational， are supposed to obey the commands of certain members of each tribe， such as chiefs， jugglers， or conjurors.

These conjurors， like Zeus or Indra， can affect the weather， work miracles， assume what shapes， animal， vegetable， or inorganic， they please， and can metamorphose other persons into similar shapes. It has already been shown that savage man has regarded all THINGS as PERSONS much on a level with himself. It has now to be shown WHATKIND OF PERSON HE CONCEIVES HIMSELF TO BE. He does not look on men as civilised races regard them， that is， as beings with strict limitations. On the other hand， he thinks of certain members of his tribe as exempt from most of the limitations， and capable of working every miracle that tradition has ever attributed to prophets or gods. Nor are such miraculous powers， such practical omnipotence， supposed by savages to be at all rare among themselves. Though highly valued， miraculous attainments are not believed to be unusual. This must be kept steadily in mind. When myth-making man regards the sky or sun or wind as a person， he does not mean merely a person with the limitations recognised by modern races. He means a person with the miraculous powers of the medicine-man. The sky， sun， wind or other elemental personage can converse with the dead， and can turn himself and his neighbours into animals， stones and trees.