SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
BY S. HEKBERT, M.D., M.K.C.S., L.R.C.P.
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SEXUAL LIFE
OF
PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
BY
H. FEHLINGER
:> Gesc^i;
TRANSLATED BY
S. HERBERT, M.D., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.
AUTHOR OF "AN INTRODUCTION TO THE PHYSIOLOGY AND
PSYCHOLOGY OF SEX," "FUNDAMENTALS IN SEXUAL ETHICS," ETC.
AND
MRS. S. HERBERT,
AUTHOR OF "SEX LORE."
A. & C. BLACK, LTD.
4, 5 & 6 SOHO SQUARE, LONDON, W. i
1921
595289
9. (0.54
PREFACE
To most lay people the established order of sex
relationships and marriage seems something so self-
evident and stable that they cannot conceive the
possibility of a variation in the established order.
Yet here, as in all things, the law of evolution applies.
Our sexual system is the outcome of a long continuous
series of changes beginning with the very dawn of
human history. To understand the modern sex
problem rightly it is essential to know its origin and
gradual development.
Most of the material about the sex life of primitive
people is inaccessible to the ordinary reader, being
hidden away in learned treatises and ponderous
scientific works. The translators are, therefore, glad
to have found in Fehlinger's book a short comprehensive
outline of the subject, which may serve as a convenient
introduction.
S. H.
F. H.
MANCHESTER,
July y 1921.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. MODESTY AMONG PRIMITIVE PEOPLE . . I
II. PRE-MARITAL FREEDOM AND CONJUGAL FIDELITY 13
III. COURTSHIP CUSTOMS 34
IV. MARRIAGE ....... 46
V. BIRTH AND FETICIDE 76
VI. IGNORANCE OF THE PROCESS OF GENERATION . 93
VII. MUTILATION OF THE SEX ORGANS . . . 103
VIII. MATURITY AND DECLINE .... IIQ
IX. BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 128
SEXUAL LIFE OF
PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
i
MODESTY AMONG PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
IN cold and temperate climates, it is necessary to
clothe the body as a protection against cold. In hot
parts of the world, the need for protection against the
effects of the weather by means of clothing disappears,
and therefore in those regions primitive " people go
about naked. It is only when they come under the
influence of foreign civilisation that they put on cloth-
ing. It is erroneous to assume that clothing came into
use because of an inborn sexual modesty. In Australia,
in the Indonesian and Melanesian islands, in tropical
Africa, and in South America, there are still many
peoples that go about naked. It is true that many of
them cover their sex organs ; but the contrivances
used for this purpose are not in reality intended to
hide the sex region, though to our mind they seem to
do so.
Primitive people do not cover their bodies out of
modesty ; " the sinfulness of nakedness " is unknown
to them. Karl von den Steinen (pp. 190, 191) says
2 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
that the naked Indian tribes of the Xingu region of
Brazil know no secret parts of the body. " They joke
about these parts in words and pictures quite
unabashed, so that it would be foolish to call them
indecent. They are envious of our clothing, as of some
precious finery ; they put it on and wear it in our
presence with a complete disregard of the simplest
rules of our own society, and in complete ignorance
of its purpose. This proves that they_still possess the
pristine guilelessness of Adam and Eve in Eden. Some
of them celebrate the advent of puberty in members of
both sexes by noisy festivals, when the ' private parts '
come in for a good deal of general attention. If a man
wishes to inform a stranger that he is a father, or a
woman that she is a mother, they gravely denote the
fact by touching the organs from which life springs, in
a most spontaneous and natural manner. It is, there-
fore, not possible to understand these people properly
unless we put aside our conception of ' clothing/ and
take them and their manners in their own natural
way."
The absence of sexual modesty in our sense also
struck von Steinen when questions about words arose.
If he asked about a word which to our minds might
give cause for shame, the reply was given without
hesitation or any semblance of shame. Nevertheless,
conversations about sexual subjects gave the Indians,
men and women, decided pleasure ; but their merry
laughter was " neither impudent, nor did it give the
MODESTY AMONG PRIMITIVE PEOPLE 3
impression of hiding an inward embarrassment. It
had, however, a slightly erotic tone, and resembled the
laughter aroused by the jokes in our own spinning-
rooms, by games of forfeits, and by other harmless
jokes exchanged in intercourse between the sexes,
although the occasions and accompanying circum-
stances must be so very different among truly primitive
people."
Naked savages are, however, not devoid of sexual
modesty. It shows itself immediately when any
remark addressed to them can be construed as an
invitation to sexual intercourse, or when coarse jokes
are made about sexual subjects. This is clearly shown
in an account by Koch-Griinberg (I., p. 307). His
European companion wanted to perform a kind of
stomach dance before some savage Indians of the
Upper Rio Negro, such as is danced in places of ill
repute in Brazilian towns. The very indecent move-
ments of the dancer caused the women and girls to
retire shyly. The European in his attempt to " enter-
tain " the company failed completely. Yet one can
converse quietly with these Indians on all sexual sub-
jects so long as they are natural ; it is only obscenity
that shocks them.
According to Eylmann, the Australians, at least the
men, show no modesty in sex matters, though they
are by no means devoid of it in other respects. Thus,
e.g., they are ashamed of any mutilation of their bodies.
Young men do not cover their sex organs, but the old
B 2
4 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
ones do so, because they seem to be aware that this
part of the body, of which they were once so proud,
bears signs of old age. The women also rarely make
use of an apron, yet they show clearly marked sexual
modesty. A woman is always very careful not to
expose the external sex organs when she sits or lies
down in the presence of men. The greatest decency is
observed during the time of menstruation.
In Indonesia the feeling of modesty among those
tribes that are in constant contact with Europeans
is essentially different from that of the tribes less under
foreign influence. Thus Nieuwenhuis (I., pp. 133,
134) mentions, for instance, the Bahaus and Kenyas
of Central Borneo. Of these the latter are only slightly
influenced by the Mohammedan Malays, the former,
however, relatively much more so. Although members
of both tribes bathe completely naked, yet the Bahaus
dress immediately after the bath, whilst the Kenyas
go naked to and from the bath. The Kenya women
also go naked to the spring to bring water and to bathe
their children. Whilst getting the boats through the
rapids the Kenya men take off their loin-cloths, but
the Bahau men never do this. When Nieuwenhuis'
expedition stayed some time among the Kenyas, it
was noticed that the people got out of the habit of
going about naked at times. This was only because
the Malays and Bahaus belonging to the expedition
had told the Kenyas that the white people objected to
the naked appearance of the natives (which was not
MODESTY AMONG PRIMITIVE PEOPLE 5
correct). Nieuwenhuis adds: "It can thus be seen
what a great role acquired modesty plays in the evolu-
tion of clothes." The clothing of the present-day
Dyaks serves as a protection against the heat of the
sun, and in the mountains against cold, and as a preven-
tion of the darkening of the skin (which, particularly in
women, is considered ugly) ; it is also used as an orna-
ment and to scare enemies, but never for the conceal-
ment of the body. The Dyaks show shame when made
embarrassed before other people ; on such occasions
they blush right down to the breast. Nieuwenhuis
made use of this circumstance in the case of the Bahaus
in order to make them keep their promises and do
their duties (II., p. 296).
The Eskimos in the far north of America are, as a
rule, thickly clothed ; but it is quite usual for them to
go about naked in their snow huts without any thought
of offending against decency.
Whoever lives for a time among naked savages
becomes accustomed to their nakedness, and does not
feel anything objectionable in it. .ZEsthetically there
is this disadvantage, that the sick and the aged look
very repulsive in their decline ; but then again youth
and strength show off to great advantage in nakedness.
If the origin of clothing is not due to sexual modesty,
it would at first appear strange that so many naked
savages cover their sexual organs either completely
or partly, wearing a pubic apron or some similar
arrangement. The contrivances used are sometimes
6 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
so small that they can hardly have been intended as
coverings. Thus the women of the Karaib, Aruak,
and Tupi tribes in the Xingui region all wear a triangular
piece of bark bast not more than 7 centimetres wide
and 3 centimetres high. The lower end of the triangle
runs" into a perineal strip of hard bark about 4 milli-
metres wide. Two narrow cords coming from the two
upper ends pass along the groins, and meet the narrow
perineal strip coming from the lower end of the triangle.
These uluri only just cover the beginning of the pubic
cleft, pressing tightly on it. The triangle does not
reach the introitus vaginae, which is, however, closed,
or at least kept inwards, by the pressure exerted by the
tightened strip of bast running from front to back.
Similar binders are used by the Indian women of
Central Brazil. The binder used by the Trumai
women is twisted into a cord, serving still less as a
cover. In fact, none of these binders serve as covers,
but they are intended to close up and to protect the
mucous membrane. This also applies to the binders
used by the various peoples living on the islands of the
Pacific Ocean, as, e.g., by the Mafulus of Papua.
Various contrivances are also to be met with among
many primitive men which seem to have the purpose
of protecting the penis, and which really achieve that
end. Among certain tribes of Brazil penis wraps
made from palm straw are worn ; other tribes use a
T-shaped bandage, which is also very common in
Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia. The penis is
MODESTY AMONG PRIMITIVE PEOPLE 7
pulled up by means of the T-bandage, the testicles
remaining free. Sometimes old men use a broad band,
under which they can also push the testicles. In the
New Hebrides, New Caledonia, and other places, the
penis is tightly bandaged, and is drawn up and fastened
to the girdle by means of a cord or band, the testicles
hanging free. Calabashes are also used to protect the
penis. In Melanesia the penis pin goes with the
calabash. Georg Friederici (p. 155) says about its
use : " The penis pin, which is the shape of a wooden
knitting needle, is stuck into the hair near the comb,
and is often brought into use. The calabash, which
serves the purpose of protecting the penis against
injury in the bush and attacks from insects, has the
disadvantage of easily becoming loose and filling
quickly with water during swimming and wading.
After every passage of a river reaching above the pubic
region a halt had to be made, during which my men
took off their calabashes and emptied them ; then they
put a new layer of green leaves into the round opening,
stuck the penis in, and, with the help of the penis
pin, pushed it in until it had completely disappeared
and the calabash lay close to the abdomen." When
sitting round the camp fire, and at other times, the
men can be seen drawing the pins from their hair and
making their toilet. The covering of the penis is
undoubtedly intended as a protection of the sensitive
glans. Thus in the Brazilian forest the penis becomes
endangered by spines of leaves being brushed off the
8 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
branches and boring themselves deeply into the flesh ;
tKe spines get torn when pulled out, and cause painful
inflammations. For warding off insects the women
of many Indian tribes have tassels hanging in front of
the sex organs. In the Northern Territory of Australia
both men and women wear such tassels. There are
still greater dangers in the wilderness. In Brazil there
exists a small fish (Cetopsis candiru) which has a
tendency towards boring itself into any of the exposed
orifices of the body. It slips into the urethra, and is
prevented by its fins from getting out again, and thus
may easily bring about the death of the victim, to
whom nothing remains but to attempt an impromptu
operation by slitting open the urethra with his knife.
Friederici remarks that it is just in those regions of
tropical America where the protection of the penis is
most prevalent that fish with sharp teeth (Pygocentrus
species) are to be found which have a tendency towards
attacking protruding unprotected parts of the body,
thus often causing castration in men.
There is no foundation for the assumption of Adolf
Gerson that men invented the apron or resorted to
binding up of the penis in order to hide its erection,
which would make them appear ridiculous, for sex
matters do not appear ridiculous to primitive people.
In fact, such contrivances cannot hide sexual excite-
ment. Many peoples who use them do not even have
the wish to keep their excitement secret. Habit uation
to nakedness ultimately lessens the stimulus to excite-
MODESTY AMONG PRIMITIVE PEOPLE 9
rnent. The following fact, stated by Friederici, is
worthy of notice : " During the many months in which
I lived exclusively among the natives I never saw
even the slightest sign of an erection in sleeping men,
nor have I ever heard or read that any one else has
noticed such a thing among naked primitive peoples,
untouched by civilisation. Clothing has nothing to
do with sexual feelings or modesty among primitive
people. To the people living in the tropics clothes are
essentially ornamental ; they are worn for reasons of
vanity, not out of modesty. This can be well observed
in those cases where loin-cloths which actually cover
up the pubic region are raised without any consideration
for people present, if there is any danger of their
becoming soiled or injured. The Malay women in the
central part of Luzon (Philippines), when working in
the fields, discard their wrappings without worrying in
the least if observed by the men. It is the same in
other places.
As has been said before, among some naked peoples
it is the custom for the men to fasten up the penis
without any covering under a hip band. In other
places they tie up the foreskin with a thread. By this
means protection is also given to the glans, but it is
questionable whether this was always the origin of this
custom. In fact, it is doubtful whether the need for
protection was always the only reason for the wearing
of sheaths, binders, etc., for at least among some of
the people it is connected with some ceremonial which
io SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
implies its sexual significance. In the case of women,
another factor may have played a role, viz., the fact
. that menstruation is considered an illness, as may be
seen in the widespread custom of treating girls medi-
cally during menstruation. The binder may have
been intended to counteract the loss of blood. The
stretching of the foreskin which results from the use
of penis wraps, penis binders, etc., may be looked upon
as a precaution against phimosis, serving the same
purpose as circumcision does among numerous peoples.
Sexual modesty with regard to the naked body
* cannot be considered innate in mankind, for it is
unknown among many naked peoples. On the other
hand, there is an instinctive tendency in man to hide
from his fellows the effluvia of the sexual and digestive
organs. Thus H. Ellis (p. 40) gives a good explana-
tion of the, impulse towards concealment during the
sex act t j^_BoJth male and female need to guard them-
* selves during the exercise of their sexual activities
from jealous rivals, as well as from enemies who might
take advantage of their position to attack them. It
is highly probable that this is one important factor in
the constitution of modesty, and it helps to explain
how the male, not less than the female, cultivates
modesty and shuns publicity in the exercise of sexual
functions." The idea, begotten from fear, that sexual
intercourse must be kept secret, became easily extended
to the feeling that such intercourse was in itself
. wrong. The mystery surrounding sexual intercourse
MODESTY AMONG PRIMITIVE PEOPLE n
has certainly been one of the factors leading to its con-
cealment. \ Primitive man has a tendency towards
endowing with supernatural powers all processes that
he cannot understand ; they become sacred, and hence
have to be carried out in privacy. The feeling of dis-
gust may perhaps be an additional reason for the
concealment of the sex act. The objects arousing
disgust vary among different peoples according to the
conditions of their lives ; but almost everywhere
dangerous things are classed under this category, to
which belong, according to the notion of primitive
people, the discharges from the sexual and digestive
organs. It thus comes about that primitive man is
ashamed of urinating and defsecating even before
persons of his own sex. Even the lowest savage will
seek out a very secluded spot for the fulfilment of these
functions. Thus Koch-Griinberg, for instance, says :
' The Indian goes deep into the wood for a certain
business, comparing favourably in this respect with our
own peasants." Friederici writes of the Melanesians
that they are not at all ashamed to show the sexual
parts, but are extremely shy of exposing the anus, and
will always avoid letting themselves be seen during
defsecation. In the central districts the people betake
themselves for this purpose early in the morning to
some outlying place, while those living near the sea
go to the beach, each person keeping as far away as
possible from his neighbour. The Africans that have
not yet become spoiled by contact with strangers
12 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
also seek remote places (Weule and Schweinfurth) .
The negroes, however, who are under Mohammedan
influence, approach in this respect the beasts of the
field.
The tales of licentiousness among primitive people
that are to be found in old works of travel are mostly
invented or grossly exaggerated. Looseness and laxity
do not exist anywhere, though the unwritten laws
which regulate the behaviour of the sexes are different
from ours. Unbridled indulgence is nowhere to be
found ; the public performance of the sex act takes
place only exceptionally among some peoples, and then
for ceremonial purposes. Even where, on festival
occasions, marital intercourse takes place as a matter
of course, the couples disappear into the darkness.
So far as can be judged from ethnological literature,
Europeans have rarely had the opportunity of observ-
ing the sex act, and then nearly exclusively among the
African negroes, who must be reckoned the most
sensual of all existing peoples." {See the works of Leo
Frobenius and Georg Schweinfurth.)
II
PRE-MARITAL FREEDOM AND CONJUGAL FIDELITY
TRAVELLERS and missionaries, seeing things merely
from the standpoint of European civilisation, have
for a long time attributed to primitive people concep-
tions of sexual behaviour like our own. But the real
truth could not be hidden for long. It is now firmly
established that the moral ideas of primitive people
differ as widely from ours as does their sense of modesty.
They do not consider sexual intercourse per se as
immoral, and generally allow unmarried people full
liberty. It is only where a more advanced civilisation
leads to material considerations in the matter of sex
relationship that, as a rule, this liberty is restricted or
entirely in abeyance. ^Should any consequences ensue
from the practice of free love, the lover is generally in
duty bound to marry the girl. Among some tribes,
however, no such obligation exists ; the lover may
break off his connection with the pregnant girl. Fre-
quently in cases of pre-marital pregnancy abortion is
resorted to, which is very prevalent among primitive
races. Among some people, on the contrary, a girl
who has had a child gets married the more easily, for
she has given proof of her fertility. Besides, the child
will be an additional worker in the house.
14 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
Most peoples demand conjugal fidelity from their
married women, though we shall hear of some excep-
tions. It is certainly not correct, as Buschan (1912,
p. 237) says, that the rules concerning sexual inter-
course are stringent throughout for women, and that
only in a childless marriage may a woman take up with
another man.
Among many peoples, living so far apart as Asia,
Australia, Oceania and Africa, we find that married
men and women are in certain cases allowed inter-
course with other persons. The full meaning of this
arrangement is as yet unknown.
The idea of sexual purity is not innate nor unchange-
able. Ethnographical research has fully proved that
purity in our sense of the term is unknown even to-day
among many peoples, and that there exist no restric-
tions upon sexual intercourse except for the preven-
tion of cohabitation among blood relations. A greater
or less degree of sexual liberty before marriage prevails
among most of those peoples in Asia that are not under
the influence of Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism.
Indeed, it even exists among some uncivilised Hindu
tribes, as, e.g., among the lower Hindu castes of Kash-
mir and of the Punjab mountains, the various lower
castes of Agra-Oudh, in the Central Provinces and
Berar, and in Southern India ; but they restrict
pre-marital relationship to persons of their own com-
munity. Most Dravidian races, however, forbid inter-
course between members of the same exogamic group,
PRE-MARITAL FREEDOM 15
though it takes place at times in spite of this. The
Mongolian races generally show indifference in this
respect. Thus T. C. Hudson (p. 78) says of the Nagas
in Manipur that they are conspicuous for their excep-
tionally loose pre-marital relationship, although they
demand strict fidelity in marriage. Pre-marital inter-
course between persons to whom marriage is forbidden
is not considered improper, which may be due to the
fact that the Nagas, like the Australian tribes, are
ignorant of the process of generation.
Among many native Indian tribes the grown-up
children do not sleep in their parents' huts, but in
houses of their own, in which they commonly visit
each other by night. Should a girl become pregnant,
the probable father is expected to marry her. If he
refuses, he has to pay damages, and the girl is at
liberty to marry some one else, which she can do with-
out any difficulty. Sometimes abortion is resorted to,
especially when both persons belong to the same
exogamic group, the members of which are not allowed
to intermarry. The tribes of Baroda, the Maduvars
of Madras, and the Ghasyas of the United Provinces,
permit a probationary period of cohabitation. It is
considered no disgrace for a girl if the trial marriage
does not result in a permanent marriage. Among the
Garps it is an unwritten law that after certain great
festivals young men and women may sleep together.
Otherwise these Garos, like the tribes and castes
previously referred to, are strictly monogamous.
16 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
Sexual promiscuity often occurs after feasts, and it is
not restricted to the unmarried (Playfair, p. 68).
It is only seldom that unfaithfulness on the part of
married women is tolerated. But there are exceptions.
Gait states that in the Djamna mountains the women
of the Thakkar, Megh, and other low castes lead just
as unrestrained a life after marriage as before. The
Djats of Baluchistan are in ill repute because they
incite their married women to unfaithfulness, if any
advantage can be obtained thereby for the men.
Certain nomadic castes, such as the Mirasis, prostitute
their women, and the love affairs of married women
of the servant class meet with no opposition, whatever.
In the eastern region of Djamba, in the Punjab, the
husband is expected to allow a guest free entrance to
the women's chambers. In the western part of this
province the Djats and Pathans will often take back
married women who have eloped, and not rarely a
husband will recognise as his own a son who may have
been born while the woman was away.
InJ>outhern India married women enjoy a great deal
of sexual freedom, especially in those communities
where the descent is reckoned in the female line.
Where marriage between cousins is customary, grown-
up girls are often married to quite young boys. During
the immaturity of the husband the wife is allowed to
have sexual relations with the father of her child
husband or another near relation, sometimes even
with any one member of the caste chosen by her.
PRE-MARITAL FREEDOM 17
This custom also exists in Kashmir, not only among
the Ladakhis, but also among other low Hindu castes,
and is also to be found in other parts of the world.
Many South Indian castes allow their married women
much freedom with the relatives of their husbands.
The Tootiyans go so far as to forbid a husband to enter
his house if he finds the door locked and a relation's
shoe before it. The Maloyali, a mountain tribe, accept
unfaithfulness on the part of their wives quite lightly,
unless the partner belongs to another caste ; if a
woman lives for a time with a lover and has children
during this time, the husband will on her return
recognise the children as his own. The state of affairs
is similar among the Kudans and Parivarams. Many
low Hindu castes in North Kanara allow their women
extra-marital intercourse with men of their own or of
a higher caste. Among some castes, such as the
Irulas and Kurumbas, formal marriage is completely
unknown, an almost unbridled sexual promiscuity
taking its place. A Korawa of Madras who has debts
to pay either pawns or simply sells his wife. The
Todas and other polyandrous communities of South
India do not know jealousy (Rivers, 1906, p. 592 ;
Iyer, I., p. 136). /An exception to the rule that faith-
fulness in marriage is more strictly enforced than
purity before marriage is to be found among the
Pongalakapus of Madras, who allow extra-marital
intercourse of married women, but punish that of
unmarried girls and widows (Gait) .
S.L. C
i8 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
The Veddahs of Ceylon, who, according to Paul and
Fritz Sarasin, are physically and intellectually of the
lowest human type, practise monogamy, which lasts
until the death of one of the partners. Marital unfaith-
fulness is rare, and leads to heavy punishment of the
offending rival, who, as a rule, is assassinated. Only
where foreign influence has become apparent is there
a tendency to dissolve marriage before death (Paul
and Fritz Sarasin).
Hose and MacDougall mention that among the
nomadic hunting tribes of Inner Borneo " the women
are chaster after marriage than before." Apparently
neither sex practises much restraint. A girl's preg-
nancy generally results in her marriage with the father
of the expected child. Amongst the settled tribes of
Borneo a young man seeks a love affair as soon as he
is attracted to the other sex ; he may have relations
with several girls one after another, but generally
marries early. The marriage age of the men is about
twenty, of the girls still earlier. There is no informa-
tion about their marital fidelity.
The Dutchmen Hinlopen and Severijn state that in
1852 they found on the Poggi Islands, on the west
coast of Sumatra, a state of complete promiscuity.
Some of the men are said to get married, but only very
late, between the ages of forty and fifty, when their
detailed tattooing is completed ; it is only seldom that
a young man takes a separate wife. G. A. Wilken
enumerates the following East Indian communities
PRE-MARITAL FREEDOM 19
as living in sexual promiscuity : the Lubus, the
Orang-Sakai of Malacca, the Olo-Ot, and other Bornean
tribes ; the inhabitants of the island Peling. He
adduces no evidence, however; and his statement is
certainly incorrect as far as the Sakai of Malacca are
concerned. Among the non-Christian tribes of the
Philippine Islands considerable pre-marital liberty
prevails. Among the Igorotes, e.g., the dormitory
of the unmarried girls (the olag) serves also as the
pairing place of the marriageable young people. In
the villages young people, joking and laughing, can
frequently be seen going about wrapped in one blanket
and with their arms round each other. There is no
secrecy about the wooing ; it is carried on mainly in
the olag. Marriage rarely takes place without previous
intercourse, and seldom before the girl is pregnant.
An exception to this rule only occurs when a rich man
marries a girl against her will at the parents' wish.
Not infrequently a young man has affairs with two or
three girls at one and the same time. The girls quite
openly and unmistakably invite the men to go with
them into the olag. As soon as a girl becomes preg-
nant, she at once joyfully informs the father of the
child, for these people are very fond of children. If
the man refuses to marry the girl, there is likely to be
tears, but no one is much concerned about the infidelity
itself, because the girl can find a husband later on in
spite of her having borne a child ; indeed, the more so,
as there can be no doubt of her fertility. It is not
c 2
20 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
customary for married men to enter the olag. A
young man, however, can go there if his former love
has remained single and welcomes him, because she still
has hopes of becoming his wife, for it is easy to get a
separation, and if a man can afford it, he may have
two or three wives, though polygamy is rare. A man
whose wife is pregnant does not visit the olag, for it
is feared that this may bring about a premature birth
and cause the death of the child. Married women
apparently remain always faithful (A. E. Jenks, p. 66).
Ferdinand Blumentritt makes a statement, based on
Spanish information, that the girls' houses of the
Igorotes serve the purpose of ensuring pre-marital
purity. This, however, is incorrect.
Very similar customs prevail among the Naga
tribes of Assam (Peal, pp. 244 et seq.).
The pure Senoi and Semang tribes of the Malay
Peninsula practise strict monogamy. Marriage takes
place at an early age, sometimes between boys of
fourteen and girls of thirteen. Even betrothals of
children seem to occur. Marital unfaithfulness is
punished with death (Martin, 1905, p. 864).
In many districts of Australia, indeed, among the
majority of the natives of the Australian continent,
- there exist two forms of sexual union side by side.
The one form consists in a girl's being given in mar-
riage to one man without regard to the difference in
ages, and also without any consideration for feelings
e
PRE-MARITAL FREEDOM 21
of personal sympathy. Indeed, such is hardly possible,
for the girls are given to the men at a very young age.
The main cause of these unions is apparently economic.
It ensures the man a housekeeper for himself who has
to gather the largest share of provisions, for the result
of the man's hunting yields only a very small part of
the absolutely essential food. A man may have,
according to his social position, one or more such
housekeepers. In addition, each man and woman may
form a union with one or more" ofthe other sex merely
for the purpose of sexual intercourse. Unlike the
" marriages " previously mentioned, these unions do
not take place without any formality there is a
special ceremony for the occasion. They do not last
for life, at least among some of the tribes, but are
regulated from time to time. This form of sexual
union is generally called pirauru in ethnographical
literature, after the designation in use among the tribes
of the Dieri, where this kind of sex community was
first observed. The men of a pirauru group are either
consanguineous or collateral brothers, members of one
and the same subdivision of the tribe ; similarly, the
women of a pirauru group are consanguineous or col-
lateral sisters. Sexual intercourse with a pirauru wife
is allowed during the absence of the husband who
is her usual mate, and also at special festivals. When
a man's housekeeper dies, her children are cared for
by one of his pirauru wives until he gets another
housekeeper. "Without the institution of pirauru, the
22 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
younger men would be barred from sexual intercourse.
Many of them are without housekeepers, as most of
the young women are in the possession of the older
influential men. It has been said that the old men are
often killed by the young men on this account (Spencer,
p. n).\ The majority of the tribes that have the institu-
tion of pirauru are ignorant of the connection between
sexual intercourse and conception (see Chapter VI.).
It is therefore not the production of progeny which
seems to be the purpose of a common house-
hold between man and woman, nor of the pirauru
Institutions similar to the Australian pirauru also
exist outside Australia. Codrington (p. 22) has estab-
lished the fact that in the Solomon Islands and in other
parts of Melanesia a woman of an exogamic group who
is not yet married to one particular man may legiti-
mately have sexual intercourse with all men of another
exogamic group who are her potential husbands. The
exogamic groups play a far more important role than
individual marriage. In the Fijian Islands every man
has the right to sexual intercourse with his wife's
sisters. On special ceremonial occasions intercourse
is permitted between those groups of men and women
who stand in the relationship of possible conjugal
partners (Thomson, p. 185).
Pre-marital sexual freedom of both sexes exists, or
did exist, all over the South Sea islands before the
advent of European influence. Thus, e.g., Robert W.
PRE-MARITAL FREEDOM 23
Williamson (pp. 172 176) writes of the Mafulus, in the
mountains of New Guinea, that unmarried youths and
maidens are allowed to associate with each other
without any precautions. There exists a good deal of
" immorality." Even after marriage (which takes
place with an elaborate pretence of bride capture)
husband and wife are, as a rule, not faithful to each
other, the marriage bond being very loose. But it is
said that unfaithfulness on the part of the women
(though not of the men) is considered a great offence.
The injured husband used to have the right of killing
the guilty man, which he did, as a rule, until the British
authorities put an end to the practice. Nowadays the
deceived husband is generally satisfied if he receives a^
pig or some other article of value from the guilty rival.
In Africa sexual community is allowed at certain
periods among the Hereros (Brinker, p. 88). Among
many other Bantu tribes sexual communism is custp;
mary, particularly at the initiation of the young
people. The girls, too, are allowed to choose male
partners for a time, and among many tribes of South
Africa it was customary for the girls who refused to
be^giyen to men against their will. The Colonial
Government has now put a stop to this^ (Theal).
The statements about the Hottentots of South
Africa vary. But the custom of sore, which is found
among them, seems to point to the existence of an
institution similar to the Australian pirauru. Schultze
24 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
(pp. 299, 319) thinks that illicit love was punished
among the Hottentots before the extensive immigra-
tion of the white people into South Africa led to the
overthrow of their old customs. Either the guilty couple
were beaten, with the consent of the parents, or the
lover received, in addition to his own, his sweetheart's
share of punishment. But Schultze mentions also that
the institution of sore, intended ostensibly for the
exchange of love gifts, really means in many cases a
secret agreement for intimate extra-marital relation-
ship, though it is generally quite honourable. This
institution is by no means an innovation.
The Hamitic tribes of East Africa, who belong to
the most warlike races of mankind, permit pre-marital
intercourse of both sexes. A. C. Hollis (1909, pp. 16,
77) says of the Nandi : " The unmarried warriors, as
many as ten, sleep in the huts called sigiroinet, where
the girls visit them and remain with them a few days,
living with them in free love." Married women are not
allowed to enter these huts. When the warriors go
away for a time or go to war, their sweethearts keep
the huts in order. Real " family life " is unknown,
for the bigger boys and girls also live alone in special
huts or together with the old women ; the little boys
who serve the warriors sleep in their houses. There
is no publicly recognised punishment for adultery ;
but if a husband discovers another man not belonging
to his mat (one of the subdivisions of each of the seven
age classes) with his wife or one of his wives, he beats
PRE-MARITAL FREEDOM 25
him severely. Adultery is also not considered wrong
when it concerns a couple that have previously lived
together in free love in the warriors' house, even when
the woman does not belong to a mat comrade. When a
Nandi travels and wishes to remain somewhere over-
night, he must first of all apply to another member of
his mat in the place. If there is one, and both men are
married, the latter gives hospitality to the guest, com-
missions his wife to fulfil his wishes, and leaves the
hut in order to sleep elsewhere. The wife pours water
over the hands of the guest, brings him a stool and
food, puts his weapons into a place of safety, and spends
the night with him. Should there be no member of
his mat in the place, the traveller betakes himself to a
member of the nearest mat; and, after having explained
the situation, he is treated exactly as if both men
belonged to the same mat. Members of different
age classes do not offer each other hospitality or
expect it. If the traveller is unmarried, he spends
the night in the warriors' hut. Children born before
marriage are killed by the Nandis, .only one group
making an exception to this rule.
The Masai have when travelling the same customs
as the Nandis. Sexual intercourse with a girl or woman
of the same age class is not considered wrong. A
warrior marries the girl he makes pregnant. Children
born before marriage are considered a disgrace. A
person who has relations with a woman belonging to
the paternal age class must beg pardon of the older
26 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
men and give as reparation two oxen or a commen-
surate quantity of honey wine. An old man who has
sexual intercourse with his daughter or with another
girl of her age is severely punished, if the affair comes to
light : he is beaten, his kraal is pulled down, and his
cattle are killed ad libitum (Hollis, 1905, pp. 287,
312, 313)-
Of the conditions existing among the Baganda in
East Africa the missionary John Roscoe (p. 10) gives
us the following picture : " Neither the men nor the
women controlled their sexual cravings unless insur-
mountable obstacles came in the way. Women, how-
ever, could only attain their aims by stratagem. If
an unmarried girl became pregnant, the guilty man had
to pay a fine, and he was induced to marry the girl.
If a husband discovered his wife with another man,
he had the right to kill them both. Nevertheless
the married women kept in strict seclusion used to
receive lovers, which even the most dreadful punish-
ments for adultery could not prevent." It has to be
noticed that the social formation of classes was already
greatly developed among the Baganda at the time
described by Roscoe. The wealthy men were in a
position to have as many wives as they could support,
so that there was a scarcity of women for the remaining
men. It is not remarkable, therefore, that these tried
to meet this fact by force and cunning. Although
married women were secluded, single girls had a fair
amount of liberty.
PRE-MARITAL FREEDOM 27
Among the Bushmen of South Africa, now nearly
extinct, husband and wife remained faithful to each
other for life. But if they became tired of each other,
no hindrance was put in the way of separation and
remarriage. A second husband, however, or a second
wife was most probably never accepted into the family ;
their passionate temperament was against it (Theal).
About the Indians of North-west Brazil Koch-Griin-
berg relates : "Whilst young girls enjoy the greatest
liberty, their purity not being necessarily above sus-
picion, marriage itself is generally on a higher plane ; a
married couple are rarely unfaithful to each other."
Koch-Griinberg has never noticed even the semblance
of indecent behaviour between married people, nor
under normal circumstances any serious quarrels or
ugly scenes. The same or similar conditions prevail
nearly all over South America where European influence
is not yet predominant. Karl von den Steinen (p. 501)
mentions one exception to this rule. The Bororos,
who live on the St. Lourenco river, and who were visited
by him, have greatly degenerated, thanks to the
civilising arts of the Brazilians. A marriage is con-
cluded without any formality and without the consent
of the parents. The young wife remains with her
children in her parents' house. The young husband
only spends the night there ; during the day he lives
in the men's house when he is not hunting. The
young couple have a hearth for themselves, the grand-
28 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
mother with the grandchildren sitting somewhat
apart. Thus it remains up to the death of the grand-
parents. The grandmother suckles the child when the
young wife accompanies her husband on the hunt or
fetches palm nuts from the woods ; she still has milk
when her children marry. Young unmarried men live
together in special men's houses. They look out
betimes for wives. There are two customs which
deserve our interest. A girl's ear-lobes are bored by
her future husband. If he himself does not marry her,
his son does so. Furthermore, the man who puts the
penis cuff on a boy becomes related to him and marries
his sister or his aunt. Girls were taken to the men's
house quite openly by day, or were caught at night.
These girls were not married to one man ; any children
born were fathered on those men with whom the girl
had had relations. This state of affairs is the result of
the overweening power wielded by the older men. The
women are their possession, and a regular income of
arrows and trinkets is earned by hiring out the girls
to the men's house. Unnatural intercourse is not un-
known in the men's house, but it occurs only when there
is an exceptionally great scarcity of girls. According
to a statement of a native, the same conditions prevail
in the remote villages, where some only of the members
of a tribe have permanent possession of the women.
But such information given by the natives must be
accepted with great caution. No similar customs have
become known anywhere else in South America.
PRE-MARITAL FREEDOM 29
In North America the young people also had great
liberty, but the married women dared not break their
faith. Among many tribes, especially the nomadic
hunting tribes, there existed patriarchal conditions,
with complete subordination of the women. Inter-
course with any one but their rightful husbands was
taken in bad part. Nowadays the Indians of North
America, with the exception of a small remnant living
in the Canadian Tundra, have come under the influ-
ence of Christianity. The probable existence of an
earlier sex communism among the North American
Indians has been described in full by L. H. Morgan.
F. Nansen reports that among the Christian Eskimos
of the west coast of Greenland the girls do not
consider pre-marital motherhood as a disgrace. The
green hair-band which the unmarried mothers have to
wear is put on by them long before it is necessary.
The young Greenland girls do not deem any conceal-
ment of their love affairs necessary. In East Greenland,
which has nojt_yet been reached by Christianity, it is
customary for a man who wants a wife simply to abduct
the girl from her house or tent. The abduction is often
only a pretence, for the couple have settled it all
between themselves. Formerly this form of marriage
was in vogue all over Greenland. The relations look
on quietly, for it is all a private affair of those imme-
diately concerned. Should the girl really not wish to
have the suitor, she will defend herself until she
quietens down or the wooer renounces her. Divorce
30 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
also takes place without any difficulties ; but generally
the marriage is continued if there is a child, par-
ticularly if it should be a boy. If a man covets the wife
of another, he will take her without any hesitation, if
he is the stronger. Among the non-Christian Eskimos
most of the skilful hunters have two wives, but never
more. The first__wife is generally looked upon as the
superior. Temporary exchange of wives occurs up
to the present time even among the Christians on
the west coast, especially when the people have to
spend the summer hunting the reindeer in the interior
of the country. As a rule, married people live on
exceptionally good terms with each other.
Among the Netchili Eskimos near the Magnetic
North Pole, however, conjugal harmony is, according
to Roald Amundsen, not of the best. As a rule, the
wife only escapes being beaten when she is stronger
than the man. Exchange of women is quite common.
Most of the girls are destined from birth for certain
men, though sometimes things do not turn out as the
parents wish it. When the girl is fourteen years old
she seeks out her bridegroom, or he comes to her.
There is no wedding. Amundsen doubts whether the
couple have, as a rule, any tender feelings towards each
other. The girl is just given to the man by the parents,
the man marrying her in order to have one more
domestic drudge, for in reality the wife is nothing
more nor less than a domestic animal. Most Eskimos
offer their wives to any one.
PRE-MARITAL FREEDOM 31
Among the Kamchadales, Chukchee, Jukagiers
and Tunguses of North Asia the girls have pre-
marital liberty, and there exists no marital fidelity.
W. Bogoras (p. 602) describes " group marriage " among
the Chukchee, which seems to be an institution similar
to the Australian pirauru. There are groups, consisting
of up to ten men or women, that have the right to
sexual intercourse with each other ; " but this right is
comparatively rarely taken advantage of, only when a
man has for some reason to visit the camp of one of
his group companions. The host then gives up to him
his place in the sleeping room, and if possible leaves
the house for the night, going, for instance, to his flock.
Afterwards the host generally seeks an opportunity
of returning the visit, so as to exercise his rights in
turn." The sex communities are generally composed
of neighbours and friends. The offspring of brothers
and sisters in the second and third generations are, as
a rule, united in the same sex community, but not
brothers. Bogoras thinks that the communities were
originally limited to members of a group who were
related, and were only later extended to other people ;
the ceremonies at the formation of a group seem to
imply this. The persons concerned bring sacrifices and
anoint themselves with blood, first in the one and then
in the other camp. The admission into a group of
persons who greatly diverge from each other in age
is not welcomed, and single men are also not willingly
admitted. The inhabitants of one and the same camp
32 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
are seldom willing to form a sex community, for
reciprocal relationship is intended as an exception
rather than the rule, though there are deviations from
this rule. Every individual family of the Chukchee
belongs in practice to some sex community. Should
a family keep to themselves, it would indicate that
they had no friends and no protectors in time of need.
The children of members of a sex community are
reckoned as near blood relations, and may not marry
one another.
It is quite different among the Koryaks, the neigh-
bours of the Chukchee. They demand abstinence
from the girls before marriage, and there is rarely any
transgression against this law. Pregnancy before mar-
riage is a disgrace, and unmarried mothers are forced
to give birth in the wilderness. Children born before
marriage are killed. After the advent of puberty the
girls sleep in their " combinations/' which are fashioned
in such a way as to exclude undesirable intercourse.
Intercourse between engaged couples is also looked
upon as sinful. Sometimes the girl lives with relatives
in another place for a time, or is kept hidden until the
bridegroom works off at her parents' home the service
which he owes to them. Incest is strictly avoided, for
it is feared that the evil-doers must die in consequence
of it. The various prohibitions existing at the present
day with regard to the marriage of certain consan-
guineous or adopted relations are only of recent date ;
they were unknown formerly (Jochelson, p. 733).
PRE-MARITAL FREEDOM 33
Perhaps the other existing sexual customs are also the
result of missionary activities.
The above examples, chosen at random, plainly
show that the conceptions of sexual morality generally
held by primitive people are different from those
prevalent under European civilisation. Very often
these primitive customs have been greatly influenced
or altogether exterminated by the example or the power
of the European colonists. Whether this was of benefit
to the races cannot be discussed here.
After all, European morality is not so very superior
to that of the " savages." As Georg Friederici (p. 85)
pertinently says : " Almost everywhere in our society
we shut our eyes to the fact that our young men do
what is forbidden to them, but is permitted to the
Melanesian and Polynesian girls. We admit the State
regulation of prostitution or, to avoid greater scandal,
even street prostitution ; yet we set out in moral
indignation to reform the customs of primitive peoples
which have proved their value and are consistent
with their moral laws. Having nothing better to put
in their place, we merely introduce among them what
happens to be our own canker."
Everywhere the fight against the traditional moral
ideals has resulted merely in the introduction of prosti-
tution, with all its corruption. We should therefore
refrain from reforms that are misplaced, and should
not attack customs that cannot be replaced by better
ones, and that do not stand in the way of colonisation.
S.L, D
Ill
COURTSHIP CUSTOMS
VERY often we find among primitive people that
marriage is preceded by a pretended bride capture,
though the couple themselves and their relations have
agreed to the union. This gave occasion to the belief
that the capture of women was formerly a widespread
and original form of marriage. The pretended capture
does not, however, seem to imply the existence of true
" marriage by capture," but rather seems to indicate
the fact that formerly brides were often given to men
against their will and had to be forced to go with them.
The fact that often the abducting bridegroom is in fun
beaten by the brothers or other male relations of the
girl does not exclude this conclusion, for the thrashing
may be a later embellishment of the game of abduction,
its purpose being to increase the pleasure of the guests
by satisfying their spectacular desire. It is worthy of
note that in Assam among the matriarchal Garos
there is a pretended capture of the bridegroom. It
would be a mistake to conclude from this that formerly
mother-rule actually existed among the Garos. In the
report on the ethnographical survey of the Indian
Central Provinces (V., p. 53) it is stated that it was
COURTSHIP CUSTOMS 35
formerly customary among the Kulams to capture
men for those of their girls who would otherwise have
remained unmarried.
Among the peoples whose girls are married at a very
young age no wooing is customary, as, e.g., among the
Dravidian Indians, the Australians, their near relations,
and others. Marriage in these cases takes place without
any or with very little ceremony (Jagor, Spencer,
Howitt). It has been impossible so far in India to
check the evil custom of child marriage ; on the con-
trary, it is becoming more prevalent among the
animistic tribes.
Child engagements rather than child marriages are
prevalent among many peoples, as among the Asiatic
Polar races and the Eskimos of North America. But
among most of these peoples free courtship exists.
Thus Jochelson writes about the Koryaks in the
extreme north-east of Asia : " If a Koryak falls in love
with a girl, he generally sends a match-maker to the
father of the girl ; but this is not always the case, and
particularly so if the parents do not agree to the son's
choice. Frequently the young man, without telling
anybody of his intentions, goes to the girl's home and
does all the work there which is seemly for a man.
The father-in-law accepts his services also in silence.
If he is pleased with the bridegroom, he entrusts him
with commissions ; otherwise he lets him feel that he
must leave the house. The bridegroom's service lasts
from six months to three years. This service cannot
D 2
36 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
be conceived as ' payment ' for the bride, for the
wealthier of the Konaks could pay with reindeer
instead of working off the price of the bride. Besides,
the bride receives a dowry of reindeer, which is worth
much more than the service given by the son-in-law.
This service is only an empty formality, if the wooer
is an older man. It rather seems as if the main pur-
pose of the service is to put the bridegroom to the test,
for it is not the actual work done that is of most import-
ance, but the harsh treatment that he has to endure
and the meagre and laborious life that he is forced to
lead. The service comes to an end whenever the
father-in-law decides. The man then leads his bride
home without any formality, although she at first
pretends to struggle against it ; she gives up this
pretence as soon as the man succeeds in touching her
sex organs. Should a girl really not care for the
man intended for her, she will attempt to escape in
reality ; but she is ultimately forced by her parents
into marriage. Often, however, the girl's inclination
is taken into consideration before she is given into
marriage."
Among the inland tribes of Borneo young people
get married as soon as they have reached maturity.
The young man sends a confidential friend to the parents
of the girl desired, who, as a matter of form, make
objections and invent all manner of excuses. Only
after the second or third visit of the go-between is the
matter taken at all seriously and a decision arrived at.
COURTSHIP CUSTOMS 37
If the parents agree, they receive from the go-between
presents sent by the bridegroom, and the girl sends
her lover strings of pearls. The time of the new moon
is considered the best time for marriage. The wedding
day is kept count of by both parties having strings
with an equal number of knots, from which one knot
is cut off each day. The marriage is celebrated with
festivities, the bridegroom and guests appearing in
war dress ; there is great feasting and much ceremony
(Hose and McDougall, II., pp. 171 et seq.}.
Among the Mafulu, a hill tribe of New Guinea, child
engagements are frequent, but the courting of adults
seems to predominate. R. W. Williamson writes
(p. 170) that in one case known to him a girl of sixteen
or seventeen years old was looked upon as married to
the yet unborn son of a chief. When the boy died in
early childhood, the girl was reckoned to be his widow.
If a young Mafulu youth wishes to 'marry and does not
know where to look for a bride, he will sometimes
light a fire outside the village ; he will wait to see in
which direction the next gust of wind will blow the
smoke, and there he will turn to seek a wife. Often
the youth carries about with him a bag with small
pieces of wood and stone. He rubs a piece of tobacco
between two pieces and sends it to the girl of his choice
by one of her female relatives. He believes that by
this procedure the girl's heart will be turned towards
him through some mysterious power. The young men
often obtain the necessary pieces of wood or stone
38 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
from a magician. The offer of marriage is also made
through a third person, generally a woman. The
consent of the parents is necessary ; the marriage
takes place without any special ceremony.
Among the pigmy races of Asia and Africa child
marriage exists side by side with adult courtship. Of the
Negritos of Zambales (Philippine Islands) W. A. Reed
(p. 56) says that the suitor has to pay a price for the
bride. The parents try to bargain for as much as
possible, and it is only when these demands have been
fulfilled that the daughter has any choice in the matter.
The young man who has found a suitable girl informs
his family of the fact ; they decide how much the girl
is worth and how much must be paid for her. There-
upon the suitor or a relative inquires of the girl's
family whether they agree to the marriage. If they
do, the purchase price is brought within a few days,
and in case this proves satisfactory to the parents
these give their consent. In many cases the girls are
already in early youth promised to the boys chosen
by the parents, but the children remain with their
parents until maturity. Sometimes little girls are
given to grown-up men, so that the difference in ages
is great, and the girls very unwillingly obey their
parents' will. When two families have daughters and
sons the girls are exchanged as wives without either
of the families paying a price. It is said that slaves and
stolen strange children are given as payment for the
bride. It is doubtful, however, according to W. A. Reed,
COURTSHIP CUSTOMS 39
whether this still occurs. In many parts of the country
the settlement of the price is followed by feasting and
dancing, at which pretended capture of the bride plays
a great rdle.
Among the Hamites of East Africa the custom exists
of assigning girls still far from mature as wives to
certain adult men. If, e.g., a Masai wishes to marry,
he courts a very young girl, whose father receives
presents repeatedly. After the ritual operation is
performed upon the girl the young man goes to live
in the house of his father-in-law, bringing with him as
gifts three cows and two oxen. When the time comes
for taking the bride home, an additional present of
three sheep is made. The girl puts on her bridal dress
and follows the man without further ceremony. A
man who possesses a big herd of cattle can have many
wives, some rich men having as many as ten or twenty
wives (Hollis, 1905, pp. 302, 303).
Among the negroes adult people have the right to
choose their mates, though choice is restricted through
various traditional considerations. Child engagements
are not uncommon. Thus among the Bantus it is
even to-day often customary to assign children at an
early age to each other for marriage. Weule (p. 58)
says of the Jaos in East Africa : " It is a general custom
for a woman who has just given birth to a child to say to
a pregnant neighbour : ' I have a daughter ' (or r a son ') ;
if your child proves to be a son ' (or ' a daughter ') , ' they
shall marry each other.' The other generally agrees.
40 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
and this arrangement is adhered to later. For adults
there exist no special rules in the choice of mates
nowadays, and it is doubtful whether such existed
previously. If a serf wants to marry, he tells his
father, who informs the master. The latter then speaks
with the father of the chosen girl. If the father agrees,
the daughter is brought in and asked for her opinion.
If she is not willing to marry the suitor, the affair is
at an end. If she agrees, the relatives, with the
master at the head, consult together, and the decision is
then made. Among the Mokondes in the north of the
Rowuma river the young man looking out for marriage
lets his parents negotiate with the girl's parents. It
they come to an agreement, the bridegroom gives the
bride's parents a present, which makes the affair
binding. Among the more conservative classes the
eldest brother of the girl's mother also has a voice
in the matter, getting a share of the bridegroom's
presents. In olden times a Makonde boy lived after
his circumcision with one of his maternal uncles, into
whose family he afterwards married. If there were
no girls in the family, he waited for a cousin. The
young man had to do all the work at his uncle's house
until the daughter grew up. Among the Makuas the
suitor himself goes to the girl's father, who again must
get the consent of the mother's eldest brother. Often
all the brothers, instead of one, must be consulted.
The suitor goes the next day for his answer. If the
answer is ' Yes,' the time for the wedding is appointed,
COURTSHIP CUSTOMS 41
at which well-meant speeches are made, and advice is
given to the bridal pair. As a rule, the couple are
more or less of the same age, but it sometimes happens
that young girls are married by men much older than
themselves."
Of the Hottentots Schultze (p. 297) writes : "A man
who wishes to get a confession of love from the girl of
his choice gives her a little piece of wood. If the two
have come to an agreement, they break it, each holding
at one end, and then they throw the broken pieces at
each other's chest. The couple then commence court-
ing, during which time they are not allowed to speak
a word with each other or to reach each other any-
thing. An intermediary acts between them for this
purpose. Transgressions have to be expiated by
presents. It is all an amorous game of hide-and-seek,
which has hardened into a rigid custom. It can
continue thus for months or for a year, and longer,
before the affair ripens. This can happen in two ways :
either openly by the parents' consent being asked,
or secretly by means of a symbolic action which
expresses the girl's agreement to complete surrender.
The young man draws off one of his skin shoes
and throws it to the girl in private. If she dis-
regards the shoe, the proposal for an early union
is rejected ; in the contrary case she gives the shoe
back. When the wedding is to come off, the parents
negotiate with each other for some time, but more
in pretence than real earnest. When an agreement
42 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
has been reached, the marriage is celebrated with
feasting."
Among the Indians marriage is entered into by free
courtship, though girls in particular, just as with us,
are greatly dependent upon the will of their parents.
The girls marry sometimes at a very early age, but
marriage before maturity seems non-existent.
Koch-Grunberg (I., pp. 181, 182) says of the Siusis
that the choice of partners is not always the affair of
those directly concerned. Often the parents, or the
father alone, choose the husband for the daughter.
The parents have no such strong influence on the son's
choice. The wedding is celebrated by dancing, which
goes on for several days at the house of the bride's
father. At the end of the festivities the latter makes
a long speech to his son-in-law, and gives him over
his daughter as wife, wherewith the marriage is
consummated. The young wife goes to her husband's
house, which, as a rule, also serves as the home
of her parents-in-law. The trousseau is generally
small.
Among the Kobeua Indians of the Upper Rio Negro
a young man wishing to marry asks the permission of
the father of his bride-elect. If he consents, the
bridegroom remains for five days in the house of his
parents-in-law, and a big dance and banquet is
held, in which many guests take part. At the end
of the feast the father gives over his daughter to his
son-in-law, whereupon the couple go off, the father
COURTSHIP CUSTOMS 43
breaking out into a ceremonial lament. Amongst
some races capture of women is said to be still cus-
tomary. In any case the wife has to be from another
tribe. Evidence of woman capture is still to be found
in the tradition of the tribe (Koch-Griinberg, II.,
pp. 144, 145).
The Bakairis have no wedding celebrations. The
marriage is discussed by the parents. If they come
to an agreement, the bride's father receives some
trifles as a present. The bridegroom hangs up his
hammock above that of the girl, and everything is
settled. It is only where the tribe has fallen into decay
that great differences in the ages of the married people
occur, and that older men in particular have the privi-
lege of possessing young wives (compare Chapter II.).
Divorce can be got without difficulty, even when
the man is unwilling.
Among the Paressis the marriage is arranged by the
parents on both sides, and the bride, after having
received a few presents, is led by her parents without
any formality to her bridegroom's hammock (von den
Steinen, pp. 331, 434).
The custom of paying a price for the bride, prevalent
among many races all over the world, is frequently
spoken of as marriage by purchase. The price is very
varied, and its value very unequal, but as a rule it is
relatively small, and not infrequently it is so small as
to have no economic value for the parents-in-law.
Among the animistic tribes of British India, who, as a
44 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
rule, pay a price for the bride, the sum may be as much
as 200 rupees. Generally more is paid for a virgin than
for a widow ; but there are some Indian castes of manual
labourers among whom the woman takes a share in the
industrial work, and among whom the reverse is the case.
It sometimes happens that the price is adjusted accord-
ing to the age of the bride. Often brides are exchanged
between two families, so that the payment of a price
is dispensed with. " Marriage by service " still per-
sists in various places, especially in Asia. Here the
future son-in-law, instead of paying a price for the
bride, has to work a certain number of years for the
father of the bride. Among most primitive people the
woman represents labour power in the house, as the
men, either wholly or to a large extent, occupy them-
selves with social concerns (E. Hahn). Domestic
prosperity depends wholly on the women's work.
Thus it can easily be seen how the custom came about
of demanding some service from the man who wanted
a wife. Real purchase of a wife occurs only excep-
tionally among primitive people. It is never the rule,
nor is the woman a real object of barter. If actual
sale of women occurs in some cases, it is only an excep-
tion. Such cases are only frequent where the influence
of Islam is most pronounced.
The bride price is wholly or partly paid back should
the wife run away, or even if she meets with an early
death. If there are sisters, the forsaken husband or
widower may sometimes forego the restitution of
COURTSHIP CUSTOMS 45
the price paid and accept one of the sisters as his
wife.
In India a price for the bridegroom is paid, not only
among the upper castes of the civilised races, but also
occasionally among the lower castes and among the
primitive natives.
IV
MARRIAGE
BY far the greatest numberjof primitive peoples are
monogamous. Only in relatively few cases is there
polyandry. Polygyny often occurs among persons
who are specially favoured, either economically or
socially ; but it is nowhere the form of marriage of the
majority of the population. The polygyny reported
among certain tribes generally refers only to chiefs,
magic doctors, or some other special persons who
have more than one wife. Sexual group communism
at the side of monogamy or polyandry has been found
in various places, but it is wrong to speak of it as
" group marriage/' This is evident from the previously
quoted examples of the pirauru in Australia, the sex
communities among the Chukchee, the Nandi, Masai,
and others. It is possible, of course, that monogamy
' which now co-exists with certain cases of sex com-
munism may have been a later addition, but this is
not proven. It is more likely that the pairing instinct
(not identical with the instinct of procreation) is
characteristic of our sub-human ancestors. In fact,
even in the animal world there are numerous examples
of monogamy (P. Deegener).
It has been established that in Africa, Indonesia,
MARRIAGE 47
Melanesia, and elsewhere, the small children remain
with their parents, while the bigger children are lodged
together in special boys' and girls' houses, and are, as
it were, brought up communally. The relationship
of the children to their own parents is not notably
closer than that between them and other persons of
the same age class. We must not look upon this child
communism solely as a curiosity, but as the relic of a
very ancient primitive institution. Most likely there
is some connection between child communism and the
interchange of children which is customary, for example,
among the Dravidian races of India (" Ethnographical
Survey of the Central India Agency ") and on the
Murray Islands, in the Torres Straits (Australia) .
According to W. H. R. Rivers (1907, p. 318), the
interchange of children between families is very
frequent here without the peoples being able to give
any explanation of it. Nor do other social and religious
institutions offer any indication as to the origin of this
custom. Rivers surmises that it has been preserved from
a social organisation in which " children were largely
common to the women of the group so far as nurture
was concerned." At any rate, this adoption en masse
will help civilised man to understand that less civilised
peoples have ideas about parenthood different from
those that exist among us, and also that group mother-
hood is not absurd. The existence of group motherhood
among primitive communities whose members were
much more dependent on each other in the struggle for
48 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
existence than are the members of much more advanced
societies must often have been of considerable advan-
tage to these communities. On the assumption of
" group motherhood " it is easily explainable that
children use the same mode of address for their own
sisters and brothers as for all the other children of the
group, and that all the women of equal ages are called
" mother." Hence the classificatory system of rela-
tionship ceases to be puzzling. It becomes clear why
under this system whole groups of persons designate
each other as husbands and wives, and why the children
of all the persons of these groups call each other
brothers and sisters, etc. The assumption is justified
that man in a low state of civilisation knew only group
relationship ; further distinctions were derived only
later from these relationships, the present-day classifica-
tory system arising ultimately from them. Among the
peoples where Rivers could examine this system there
were indications of a development in the direction of
using it rather for the distinction of real blood and
marriage relationship than for the distinction of social
position, for which it was originally intended. A
connection between marriage regulation and the
classificatory system of relationships exists not only
among the Dravidian races, but also among the
North American Indians, and certainly among other
branches of the human race. Rivers says : " The
classificatory system in one form or another is spread
so widely over the world as to make it probable that
MARRIAGE 49
it had its origin in some universal stage of social develop-
ment " ; and further he says :/"JThe kind of society
which most readily accounts for its chief features is one
characterised by a form of marriage in which definite
groups of men are the husbands of definite groups of
women." ' Rivers does not mean thereby institutions
like the piraum, but a permanent group marriage.
It may be objected against this latter assumption that
permanent (not occasional) sex communism does not
necessarily need to be connected with communism of
children. It is quite possible that monogamy and
child communism may exist side by side, as, e.g., among
the Murray Islanders.
But even if group marriage did really exist in some
places, and if the existence of child communism would
prove this, it still cannot be asserted that it is a phase
of development through which all human races have
passed. For the assumption of a parallel development
of all races is untenable. It is true the basic psychic
organisation is the same for all human beings, being
due to the common descent of mankind. But owing
to the continual adaptation to changing environmental
conditions, it was not preserved, but underwent different
changes. There is no ground for the assumption that,
while environmental changes brought about bodily
modifications, mental changes did not take place also,
therewith leading at the same time to differences in
social culture. On the contrary, we must rather
assume that together with anthropological variations
S.L. B
50 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
among the races there also arose variations in social
development, the different civilisations resulting from
differentiated mental dispositions and deviating more
and more from each other. Certain elements of the
original primitive civilisation have been preserved in
the various later developments, but not everywhere the
same elements, nor were the differentiations that did
take place all of the same degree. Certain fundamental
conceptions may remain unchanged for long periods,
and may produce analogous phenomena in different
civilisations. Since deviations from monogamy are
extremely rare among primitive peoples, the assump-
tion is justified that monogamy^ is one of the funda-
mental factors of human civilisation. How could its
practically universal occurrence be explained other-
wise ? There can be no question of convergence, nor
has a world- wide transmission of a cultural element that
has arisen later been proved up to the present.
The opinion, first expressed by L. H. Morgan, that the
classificatory relationship system is evidence of the exist-
ence of group marriage (not merely in the form of pirauru
existing at the side of monogamy) , is contradicted by the
etymological meaning of the terms used by primi-
tive people, which are generally translated by " father,"
"mother," " grandfather," "brother," "sister, ""child,"
etc. These collective names show nowhere an allusion to
procreation, but only to age differences : father and
mother are the " elder," the " big ones," the " grown-
ups " ; the children are the " little ones," the " young
MARRIAGE 51
ones " ; brothers and sisters are the " comrades." We
often find that among the Australian negroes and the
South Sea islanders no distinction is made between
father and mother. All persons of an older generation
of a horde or a totem (or of a phratry respectively)
are simply the " elder," the " big ones." If a native
wishes to indicate more clearly the sex of a person of
an older class, he must add the word " man " or
" woman " (or the adjective " male " or " female ").
It often happens that grandparents and grandchildren
use the same form of address, which in no way refers
to descent (Cunow). Other facts point to the same
conclusion. Where the pirauru exists in Australia,
the same form of address is used for persons standing in
piraunt relationship to the speaker as for members
of the same age class who have no such relationship.
This could not be so if the appellation had originated
from common sexual relationship. Cunow rightly
concludes : " Sexual communities can be proved to
exist here and there among primitive peoples, but the
nomenclature of the classificatory relationships has
not grown out of such group relationships. These
so-called group marriages are rather adventitious
growths, playing only a secondary role in the history
of the family."
Buschan (1912, p. 254) looks upon the pre-marital
sexual freedom of girls among many primitive peoples
(most probably among the majority of them) as a
relic of communal marriage from earlier times. He
E 2
52 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
assumes that the girls had promiscuous relationships
with the other sex. This, however, is not the case.
As a rule, couples meet together for a time, and only
rarely does a person have relationship with several
persons at the same time. The conditions are essen-
tially the same as in Europe, except that amongst
" savages " a love affair going as far as intercourse is
not considered immoral. The assumption of many
authors that man is polygynous is far from being
proved, at least not in the sense that the majority of
men are inclined to have relationship with several
women at the same time. It cannot, however, be
disputed that after some time the relationship between
two people tends to lose its attraction, often causing
a breaking of the marriage vow.
There is a custom among many peoples that a man's
widow falls to his younger brother (or cousin) the
levirate. According to another custom, a man has
the right to marry the sisters of his wife. Both these
customs have been explained as being relics of a form
of marriage in which brothers married several sisters
or sisters married brothers at the same time (Frazer,
II., p. 144). But it seems much more likely that
we have here before us merely a case of property
rights.
Even if constancy in marriage is not the rule, espe-
cially among primitive people, yet we must still regard
the permanent living together of one man and one
woman as a state that has always prevailed amongst
MARRIAGE 53
human beings (Westermarck) . Many of the specula-
tions, at first sight so learned, about the apparently
intricate paths in the development of marriage, remain
merely speculations which cannot stand the test
of modern ethnological research. Heinrich Schurtz
(p. 175) makes the pertinent remark that nothing
excited the hostile camps of the sociological idealists
and naturalists more than the dispute about promiscuity
in primitive times. While the one party painted with
zest the indiscriminate and irregular sex relationship
of primitive races, claiming it as an established original
stage in human development, the adherents of idealism
rose in indignation against a theory that places primitive
man far below the level of the higher animals, and that
leaves the riddle unsolved how such a chaos could lead
to the idea of sexual purity and a spiritualisation of
the sexual impulse. In this battle for and against
promiscuity even facts were unfortunately too often
not respected, attempts being made to disregard them
at any cost. This cannot be good for the ultimate
victory of truth. Facts should not be passed over, but
should be taken into full consideration. In this con-
flict of opinions the institution of pirauru especially
has fared particularly badly. Some anthropologists
wanted to do away with it altogether at any price (for
instance, Josef Miiller) ; others drew conclusions from
it that are utterly unjustified. But even if this were
not so, even if the pirauru could be used as a proof of
previous sexual promiscuity, it still does not follow
54 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
that it was a general custom in man, for the majority
of the peoples show no trace of it.
First of all, it must be noticed that even the pirauru
possesses various restrictions upon marriage with
persons outside certain groups, which alone exclude
unrestrained promiscuity. Furthermore, individual
marriage, the binding force of which is undoubtedly even
stronger and closer, is well known to exist beside it.
There is a good deal of probability for the assumption
of Schurtz that marriage regulations establishing the
right of several men to one wife may first have arisen
from mere friendly acts, or the original sexual
licentiousness may have developed occasionally under
specially favourable circumstances into the institution
of pirauru, while at other places such a systematic
development did not take place. It is easily to be under-
stood that lower civilisations will show a looser standard
of the merriage bond than those where many interests of
a rich cultural development require the strengthening
of this bond. Sexual needs may also have brought
about the origin of the pirauru institutions. Thus
there exist in Australia. tribes among which the loan
of wives was customary owing to the scarcity of women.
There is only one step from this state of affairs to the
pirauru. Among many tribes complicated marriage
restrictions make a " legitimate " marriage very
difficult, and this may easily lead to other sex relation-
ships taking the place of marriage.
It is a mistake to assume hastily that customs
MARRIAGE 55
among primitive people that appear strange to us
must therefore be ancient and be relics of a primitive
state. Every primitive race has a long history behind
it, and it is not likely that it has remained static all the
time. Primitive people are not stationary in develop-
ment ; there is much change among them in the course
of generations. This applies also to customs and
habits which seem absolutely stable. External condi-
tions may produce new developments, or result in
foreign influences. Not everything, therefore, that is
peculiar to uncivilised races of the present day must be
look upon as primitive.
Polyandry deserves our special consideration. As a
recognised social institution it has so far been definitely
established only among the Indian peoples and castes,
as well as in Tibet, on the borders of Northern India.
In exceptional cases polyandry occurs among the
Eskimos and the Asiatic Polar races. The older
accounts of polyandry occurring in Australia are not
confirmed by the new ethnographical literature. The
reports about polyandry among the American Indians
are also incorrect. John Roscoe (1907, pp. 99 et seq.)
has proved its existence among the Bahima and Baziba
tribes of Central Africa, though here polyandry is not
the rule, but is only practised occasionally. If a man
is poor, if he cannot get together the number of cows
required for the bride price, or if he is unable to support
a wife, he can combine with one or several of his brothers
and take a wife in common with them. It is easy to
56 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
get the women for this purpose. Furthermore, among
these tribes the housewife may be claimed by a guest,
while exchange of wives also occurs.
In India polyandry is prevalent among the peoples
of the Himalayan mountains and among some Southern
Indian tribes. Some cases of this curious form of
marriage are already mentioned in the ancient Indian
literature. It may be assumed, therefore, that it was
more prevalent formerly than at present. This institu-
tion was certainly never very general nor of great
importance in the life of the people of India. At the
present time it is restricted to a number of compara-
tively small tribes and castes. Two forms of polyandry
can be distinguished among them, namely, the fraternal
form, where several brothers or cousins have one wife
in common, and the matriarchal form, where a woman
has several husbands, not necessarily related to each
other.
In Northern India polyandry is general among the
Tibetans and Bhotias of the Himalayan border districts.
Here, when the oldest of several brothers takes a wife,
she has the right but not the duty to have sexual
relationship with the other brothers living in the same
household. If a younger brother also marries, the
other still younger brothers have the choice in which
household they wish to live. The surplus women
become nuns. This system is said to be due to the
poverty of the country. The Himalayan peoples,
being intent on preventing the increase of the popula-
MARRIAGE 57
tion and a further reduction of the means of existence,
consign many women to celibacy and childlessness.
Yet at the same time they make it possible, by this
system, for the socially privileged man to satisfy his
sexual needs. The children of polyandrous marriages
belong, as a rule, legally to the oldest brother. But
it also occurs that each brother in turn, according to
his age, has a child assigned to him regardless of
whether the brother concerned was on the spot at
the time of the child's conception. Sometimes the
mother has the right to name the father of each of her
children.
Fraternal polyandry also exists in Cashmir and
among certain Sudra castes of the Punjab mountains.
In the Punjab, however, the Rajputs and other castes
of that neighbourhood are also influenced by polyandry.
The ceremonies which take place at marriage in the
Punjab bear traces of " marriage by capture/' The
dwellings of the polyandrous castes of this district
consist of two rooms, one for the woman and one
for the group of brothers. In Tibet, as also among
the polyandrous Southern Indians, they have, however,
mostly one room. The surplus women in the Punjab
become objects of commerce. In the native State of
Bashar, for instance, an active export trade is carried
on with the surplus women, for whom sums up to 500
rupees are given.
Among the Dyats in the Punjab, the Gudyars in the
United Provinces, as among all the Hindu castes in the
58 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
mountain districts of Ambala, polyandry existed until
lately ; but it is said not to do so there any longer.
In Ambala not only brothers, but also first cousins,
were considered to be husbands of the oldest brother's
wife.
Further, in East India the Santal caste (2,138,000
persons in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa) is the only
community among which a similar custom exists.
Among the Santals not only have the younger brothers
access to the wife of the older brother, but the husband
also may have relations with the younger sisters of his
wife. This state of affairs may perhaps be looked upon
as sexual communism among a small group. In
Ladakh, too, and in other places of Cashmir, the wife
common to several brothers may bring with her her
sister into the marriage as co-partner. In the Punjab
the fraternal husbands may also marry a second and
third wife.
Among Indian migratory labourers it seems to have
been formerly the rule that the brother remaining at
home served as a conjugal substitute for the husband
temporarily absent. Nowadays this custom has almost
disappeared.
In Southern India polyandry is a recognised institu-
tion among the Toda and Kurumba of the Nilgiri
mountains, as also among a number of the lower
castes, especially on the coast of Malabar. Here
polyandry and polygyny occasionally co-exist side by
side.
MARRIAGE 59
The polyandry among the Toda has been described
in detail by W. H. R. Rivers. The whole tribe is
divided into two endogamous groups, which, again, are
split up into a number of exogamous sub-groups. The
husbands shared in common by a woman are in most
cases brothers ; they are rarely other members of the
same exogamous group and of the same age class.
When the husbands are brothers, there never ensue
any quarrels about access to the wife. All the brothers
are reckoned as fathers of a child. Yet it often
occurs that a Toda only calls one man his father. It
is exclusively external circumstances that are here
decisive ; often one of the fathers is more influential
and more respected than his brothers, and naturally
the sons prefer to speak of him as their father. If only
one of the fathers is alive, the offspring always describe
him as their father. If the husbands are not real
brothers, they live, like these, in one household, but the
children are allotted to single definite fathers. That
man is considered the father of a child who in the
seventh month of the mother's pregnancy has gone
with her through the ceremony of the presentation of
bow and arrow (which is also customary in fraternal
polyandry). The husbands may take turns in the
practice of this ceremony at every pregnancy ; it
results, therefore, frequently that the first two or three
children belong to one and the same man, the other
husbands acquiring formal father-right only at the
later births. If the husbands separate and give up
60 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
the common household, each one takes with him the
children belonging to him by right of the bow-and-
arrow ceremony. As everywhere else in India, poly-
andry has fallen into decay among the Toda. It may
happen that several men have in common several
wives, or that of a group of brothers each has his own
wife. But polyandry has remained up to the present
time the prevalent form of marriage among these hill-
folk. The surplus girls used formerly to be killed
without exception ; and it is certain, says Rivers, that
girl infanticide is still practised to some extent, although
the Toda themselves deny this. It must be noted that
child marriage exists among the Toda.
Matriarchal polyandry, which, in contradistinction to
fraternal polyandry, goes with descent through the
mother, still occurs among the Munduvars of the
Travancore plateaus, the Nayars in some parts of
Travancore and Cochin, the Western Kalian, and also
among some other Southern Indian communities.
Among numerous other races having mother descent, but
not among all, relics of the former existence of matri-
archal polyandry have been established. The secular
authorities, and no less the European missions, are
trying hard to exterminate this form of marriage.
It is difficult to trace any connection between the
polyandry in the north and that in the south of India.
It is most probable that this custom was carried into
Southern India by the Tibetan conquerors in ancient
times. Many Southern Indian polyandrous races,
MARRIAGE 61
like the Toda and the Nayar, are distinguished from
their real Dravidian neighbours by their more powerful
build, lighter colouring, higher noses, etc. Further-
more, the architecture of the Malabar temples bears
traces of Tibetan influence. The demon masks carved
thereon show almost the same faces as the Tibetan
masks. Among the Kalian the tradition of northern
descent has been preserved up to the present time,
and they bury their dead with their faces turned towards
the north.
Exogamy is the custom which forbids the choice
of partners for marriage within a certain group, and
which has the effect of preventing near relations from
sexual intercourse. It is found very frequently among
primitive people, and is very prevalent, as Sir J. G.
Frazer shows in his book " Totemism and Exogamy."
This, however, does in no way justify the assumption
that it was a general stage of civilisation of all mankind,
and that it once existed even in those places where it
is not found to-day.
Although European travellers, colonists and scientists
had long been in contact with coloured races, it was the
Scotsman J. F. McLennan who first discovered the
existence of exogamy. He was led to this discovery
by the study of that peculiar marriage custom which
consists in the pretence of forcible bride capture,
though the marriage of the couple concerned has been
agreed to by both families beforehand. McLennan
62 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
tried to find an explanation for this custom, and came
to the conclusion that capture of women, which only
took place in pretence, must once have been practised
in reality to a large extent. In searching for facts con-
firmatory of this assumption, he was struck by the
fact that among savage and barbarous people the men
married women not of their own, but of another, tribal
group. He described this as " exogamy/' in contradis-
tinction to "endogamy," by which marriage partners are
restricted in their choice to their own group. In a tribe
or other social group both sexual arrangements may
exist side by side, in such a manner that the tribe is
closely endogamous and is divided into several exo-
gamous groups.
The theory put forward by McLennan as an explana-
tion of the origin of exogamy is very simple and on
superficial examination very convincing. He assumed
that exogamy arose from a scarcity of women, which
forced men to obtain wives by capture from other
groups and thus gradually led to a general preference
for strange women. The cause of this assumed scarcity
of women was considered to be the infanticide of new-
born females, which was carried on systematically, for
savage people foresaw that in the struggle for existence
it would be a hindrance to have a great number of
women, who could take no share in the battle with
enemies, and who presumably would contribute less
to the food supply than the men.
H. Cunow also traces back the origin of exogamy
MARRIAGE 63
to the scarcity of women and wife capture. He starts
from the assumption that among the Australian and
other uncivilised races the number of persons in a
horde is very limited. " If one assumes that the
number of members of a horde is sixty, the youngest
class would contain, according to present-day reckon-
ing, about twenty-five persons, the middle class
twenty, and the oldest class about fifteen persons. In
the middle class there would, therefore, be only about
ten women. Among these a young man entering the
middle class would often not find a single woman that
he could take for his wife, for, after pairing marriage
had become general, the few existing women had
already found a spouse ; they had already been dis-
posed of. There was nothing left for the young man
but to capture a woman from a strange horde as soon
as possible, or to try to persuade a comrade of the same
age class to let him share in his marriage relationship
on the understanding that his hunting bag would
contribute towards the ' household of the three.'
This multiple conjugal partnership is customary among
most of the Australian tribes even to-day." To this it
must be added that the man needs to show much less
consideration for a captured strange woman than for
one of his own tribe, who would run away if badly
treated. Nor can the young man remain single, for
he himself would then have to drag his property about,
which would hinder him in the hunt and expose him
to the ridicule of his companions. (In reality there
64 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
are many unmarried men even in Australia.) The
search for wives led ultimately, according to Cunow,
to wife capture and exogamy.
Infanticide, which McLennan assumes, is at present
a rare exception among primitive people. Almost all
explorers praise their great love for children, and even
malformed children are not always killed. Even
where infanticide does occur, the sex of the child is
certainly not the factor that decides whether it is to be
killed or not. The assumption that scarcity of women
is brought about by girl infanticide is not correct. The
female sex is, indeed, in the minority among un-
civilised natives where they have been counted ; but
the excess of men is only small. Mutual capture of
women could not alter this disparity, for it is unlikely
that some tribes permitted the capture of their women
without retaliation. Besides, even among primitive
people men are careful in risking their lives. Capture
of women is, therefore, nowhere the rule, but is every-
where the exception. Had it been the rule anywhere,
the continuous fighting would have led to the exter-
mination of the tribes in question. Frazer is right
when he says : " If women are scarce in a group, many
men will prefer to remain single rather than expose
themselves to the danger of death by trying to capture
women from their neighbours/* This is what really
happened among many tribes of the Australian natives
who lived on a friendly footing with each other. It
even happens that the old men who claim the women
MARRIAGE 65
expressly forbid the young men to steal women from
other tribes, because that will lead to bloodshed.
Further, scarcity of women is most likely overcome, as
previously mentioned, by several men's sharing one
wife, which arrangement, unlike the capture of women,
avoids arousing the hostility of neighbours. Among
peaceable tribes, therefore, a numerical preponderance
of men results not in exogamy, but in polyandry. But
admitting that a warlike tribe has not sufficient women
and therefore captures them from their neighbours, it
is still unexplainable why the men should altogether
avoid sexual relationship with their own women, few
as they are, and have no desire for them whatso-
ever. This will certainly not be the result ; on the
contrary, the few women obtainable without force will
be all the more in demand.
Frazer thinks that the origin of exogamy has been
rightly explained by the American ethnologist L. H.
Morgan, who for many years lived among the exogamic
Indians as one of them, and thus came into direct
contact with exogamy. Morgan assumed that sexual
promiscuity was general at a very early period in the
history of mankind, and that exogamy was instituted
for the deliberate purpose of preventing cohabitation
between blood relations, particularly between brothers
and sisters, as was previously customary. This struck
promiscuity at the root ; it removed its worst pecu-
liarity, and resulted at the same time in a powerful move-
ment towards the establishment of sexual monogamy.
66 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
Frazer, in supporting Morgan's theory, relies exclu-
sively on the Australian natives, who, according to
him, though extremely primitive savages, " carry out
the principle of exogamy with a practical astuteness,
logical thoroughness, and precision such as no other
race shows in its marriage system."
Frazer finds that the effects of the Australian
marriage class system are in complete harmony with
the deeply rooted convictions and feelings of the
natives as regards sexual intercourse, and concludes
that the successive tribal subdivisions have been
brought about deliberately in order to avoid marriage
of blood relations. According to him, it is not going too
far to assert that " no other human institution bears
the stamp of deliberate purpose more clearly than the
exogamous classes of the Australians. To assume that
they serve only accidentally the purpose that they
actually fulfil, and which is approved by them un-
reservedly, would be to test our credulity nearly as
much as if we were told that the complicated mechanism
of a watch has originated without human design."
Nearly all Australian tribes have the system of
division into marriage classes. Every tribe consists of
two main groups (called in ethnographical literature
phratries or moieties), and each of these groups is
again divided into two, four, or eight classes. Some-
times the phratries and classes have special names, but
not always. In the latter case it may be assumed that
the names have been lost, while the division of the
MARRIAGE 67
tribes into marriage groups remains. These groups
are strictly exogamous. In no case are the members of
the main group of the tribe (phratry) or of the same
class allowed to marry each other. Only members of
two given classes may marry, and their children are
again assigned to given classes. Among some of the
tribes there exists paternal descent, among others
maternal descent. Which of the two modes of descent
prevails in Australia can hardly be determined. Among
some tribes property is inherited in the female line.
Other rights of the female sex connected with mother
descent are unknown. An example of the Australian
marriage classes is given here, namely, that of the
tribe Warrai, who live on the railway line running from
Port Darwin to the south. Among this tribe indirect
paternal descent is the custom; i.e., the children
belong to the main group (phratry) of the father,
but to other marriage classes.
Phratry I.
Adshumbitch
*Aldshambitch
Phratry II.
Apungerti
*Alpungerti
Apularan
*Alpularan
Auinmitch
*Alinmitch
The female marriage classes are marked with an
asterisk.
Each member of a certain male marriage class may
F 2
68 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
only marry a member of a marriage class of the other
phratry, placed opposite in the table. Thus, for
instance, an Adshumbitch man marries an Alpungerti
woman, an Apungerti man an Aldshambitch woman,
etc. The children always belong to the phratry of the
men, but to another marriage group of theirs. Thus,
for instance, the boys born from the union of an
Adshumbitch man with an Apungerti woman belong
to the Apularan class, and the girls born of this
marriage belong to the Alpularan class. Further com-
plications arise in consequence of the totem system,
which exists among most of the Australian tribes. As
the local groups of a tribe are numerically weak and
consist of members of all marriage classes, the choice
of mates is restricted to quite a small number of per-
sons, being further limited to a great extent by the
marriage of girls in childhood. But even when adults
marry, they can rarely decide according to their own
will, but are dependent on the circumstances of relation-
ship. On the northern coast of Australia the marriage
class system does not exist, but exogamy exists there,
the members of certain local groups not being allowed to
marry each other. The now extinct tribes in the south-
east of the continent also had no marriage class system.
But it still remains a mystery how it was found out
that marriages of blood relations were harmful. One
objection is, that some of the Australians are ignorant
of the process of generation ; they do not even know
that pregnancy is the result of cohabitation. It is also
MARRIAGE 69
doubtful whether the Australian natives can in any
case be considered as typical representatives of primi-
tive man. If this were so, all mankind would still be
in a very low state of civilisation, for the Australians
appear incapable of progressive development. And
further, if exogamous classes were purposely instituted
in order to prevent cohabitation between blood rela-
tions, how is it that other people also are excluded
from sexual intercourse who are not blood relations ?
Frazer's comparison with a watch is also badly chosen.
We must take into consideration the intellectual stage
of development of mankind at the time when exogamy
arose, and when the watch was invented. Even if we
do not admit that exogamy was instituted with a con-
scious purpose, this does not by any means, as Frazer
says, do away altogether with will and purpose from
the history of human institutions. There is no need to
doubt that the Australian system of exogamy became
more and more complicated through the deliberate
action of man.
Frazer himself assumes that the Australians had an
aversion to cohabitation between brothers and sisters
even before it was definitely fixed by binding rules.
Sexual aversion between parents and children, according
to him, is universal among them, whether there be in
vogue the two-, four- or eight-classes system, i.e., whether
incest between parents and children is expressly forbidden
or not . "In democratic societies like those of the Austra-
lian natives, the law sanctions only thoughts that have
70 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
already been long the mental possession of the majority of
people . ' ' Hence the agreement of the marriage class sys-
tem with the feelings of the people becomes~explainable.
Since the aversion to sexual intercourse within
certain classes was already in existence before the
formation of marriage classes, the classificatory system
being merely the formal expression of it, we have to
Jind some explanation for it. For the appearance of
this aversion marks the real beginning of exogamy,
which cannot be explained by the complicated system
of the Australians. It is possible that the sexual
aversion towards blood relations is already a charac-
teristic trait of the human race before its truly human
development, and that it may have to be looked upon
as an instinct. This is the opinion of F. Hellwald,
which has also been upheld of late by A. E. Crawley.
It is assumed that among brothers and sisters, as
among boys and girls who have lived together from
childhood, the pairing instinct generally remains in
abeyance, because the conditions are wanting that are
likely to awaken this instinct. Courting the favour of a
person of the other sex is the process that gradually
brings about the sexual excitement necessary for
union. The possibility of sexual excitation between
people who have lived together from childhood is
decidedly lessened through habituation, if not com-
pletely inhibited. In this respect brothers and sisters
reach already at puberty that state towards each
other to which people married for a long time approach
MARRIAGE 71
gradually, through the constant living together and
the exhaustion of youthful passion. If brother and
sister sometimes show passion for each other, it is
generally the result of the same circumstances that
are necessary to arouse it under normal conditions,
e.g., a long separation. As the absence of sexual
attraction between brother and sister who have grown
up together is a natural thing, it is strange that co-
habitation between them should have to be specially -
prohibited and enforced by strict measures among
primitive peoples. The explanation, according to
Crawley, is simple. " In many departments of primi-
tive life we find a naive desire to, as it were, assist
Nature, to affirm what is normal and later to confirm
it by the categorical imperative of custom and law.
This tendency still flourishes in our civilised com-
munities, and, as the worship of the normal, is often a
deadly foe to the abnormal and eccentric, and too often
paralyses originality. Laws thus made, and with this
object, have some justification, and their existence
may be due, in some small measure, to the fact that
abnormality increases pan passu with culture. But it
is a grave error to ascribe a prevalence of incest to the
period preceding the law against it." All the facts
tend to show that the most primitive people procured
their wives by friendly arrangements. From this
standpoint it would be most practical if each tribe
were divided into two groups, the men of each group
marrying wives from the other group. This state of
72 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
affairs is actually to be found among many uncivilised
peoples that are divided into two exogamous groups
or phratries. It has still to be discovered how this
bipartition arose. It is unthinkable that a division
into two groups was intentionally brought about by
the members of the groups for the purpose of preventing
marriages between blood relations of a certain grade.
No tribe has ever been divided in such a manner ; the
division must therefore be explainable in another way.
The phratries are large families (in the broad sense of
the word); they descend from families (in the narrower
sense of the word), reciprocally supplying each other
with wives. The names of the phratries are generally
unintelligible, in contradistinction to the names of the
totem groups, and therefore most probably older. The
totem groups, of which a phratry consists, are to be
considered as younger branches of the original double
family, which have arisen through wives being taken
from other groups whose children again received the
name of their mothers. If it should be asked why the
members of two phratries should constantly inter-
marry, it should be pointed out that among communities
in the lowest stage of civilisation women are not easily
procurable, and the force of external circumstances
would favour the unions just mentioned (Crawley,
pp. 54 et seq.).
A biological explanation of the origin of exogamy is
given by Herbert Risley. Without basing it on the
assumption that primitive people have a knowledge of
MARRIAGE 73
the harmf ulness of incest, he gives the following exposi-
tion : " Exogamy can be brought under the law of
natural selection without extending it too far. We
know that among individuals or groups of individuals
there exists a tendency to vary in their instincts, and
that useful variations (such as are suitable to the condi-
tions of life) tend to be preserved and transmitted by
inheritance. Let us assume now that in a primitive
community the men varied in the direction towards
choosing wives from another community, and that
this infusion of fresh blood was advantageous. The
original instinct would then be strengthened by
inheritance, and sexual selection would be added in the
course of time. For an exogamous group would have
a greater choice of women than an endogamous one,
. . . and la, the competition for women the best would
fall to the strongest and most warlike men. In this
way the strengthened exogamous groups would in time
exterminate the endogamous neighbours, or at least
take away their best marriageable maidens. Exogamy
would spread partly through imitation, partly through
the extermination of endogamous groups. The fact that
we cannot explain how it came about that the people
varied in the aforesaid direction is not fatal to this
hypothesis. We do not doubt natural selection in the
case of animals because we cannot give the exact cause
of a favourable variation."
E. Westermarck holds a similar theory about the
cessation of incest. He thinks that " among the
74 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
ancestors of man, as among other animals, there was,
no doubt, a time when blood relationship was no bar
to sexual intercourse. But variations here, as else-
where, would naturally present themselves ; and those
of our ancestors who avoided in-and-in breeding would
survive, while the others would gradually decay and
ultimately perish. Thus an instinct would be deve-
loped which would be powerful enough, as a rule, to
prevent injurious unions. Of course it would display
itself simply as an aversion on the part of individuals
to union with others with whom they lived ; but these,
as a matter of fact, would be blood relations, so that
the result would be the survival of the fittest. Whether
man inherited the feeling from the predecessors from
whom he sprang, or whether it was developed after
the evolution of distinctly human qualities, we do not
know. It must necessarily have arisen at a stage when
family ties became comparatively strong, and children
remained with their parents until the age of puberty
or even longer."
It may be surmised that the impulse towards the
appearance of the exogamous tendency arose through
economic progress, which led to an increase of the
means of existence, and this in its turn produced a
more friendly relationship between neighbouring groups
that previously had quarrelled about food. The men
thus came into contact with strange women, and this
awakened a heightened sexual feeling, in other words
the instinct which is said to have led to the avoidance
MARRIAGE 75
of incest. Thus among the peoples on a very low eco-
nomic level (e.g., the Pigmies) no laws for the preven-
tion of incest are to be found, a fact that may be held
to confirm this idea. Primitive people could in any
case not understand the harmfulness of incest, while it
is certain that strange members of the opposite sex
could exert a stronger attraction, and thus render the
sexual impulse permanent, which previously was
periodical, as among the animals.
BIRTH AND FETICIDE
THE slow increase in the population of primitive
peoples, which is also to be noticed wherever the
conditions of life have not been influenced by European
settlers and missionaries, is chiefly due to the want of
proper midwifery, and no less to the frequent practice
of abortion. The opinion is often met with, particularly
in older writings, that among primitive people child-
birth is extremely easy. But more extended know-
ledge has shown how dangerous childbirth is for the
primitive mother also. Though childbirth is a natural
physiological process, it does not always pass off
quite without danger, no less under natural conditions
than among highly civilised peoples. Primitive people
know full well that the hour of childbirth is the hardest
time in a woman's life, but not all have progressed far
enough in the knowledge of physiology to be able to
render efficient assistance to the woman in labour.
Some people leave her, incredible as it may seem to
us, without any assistance, either through indifference
to life or through a superstitious fear of the mystery of
life. Such cases are, however, very rare exceptions.
Sometimes means are used for furthering the birth
that are not only inefficacious, but actually injurious.
BIRTH AND FETICIDE 77
Often, however, delivery is actually furthered by the
assistance given. Internal manipulation is seldom
resorted to, and operations are still more rare. R. W.
Felkin's report about the operation of Caesarian section
among the negroes in Uganda seems to be unique.
Ploss and Bartels have compiled a great deal of informa-
tion about childbirth among primitive people. We
add here some examples from the later literature.
Feticide occurs most likely among all primitive
peoples to a larger or lesser degree, and injures them
accordingly. The reasons are the same as with us :
inability to support a large number of children or
aversion to the worries of child-rearing. Unmarried
girls procure abortion usually because the child might
be a hindrance to a future marriage, particularly when
the father of the expected child jilts the mother. Still
pre-marital births are not always considered a disgrace
among primitive people. The abortives resorted to
are generally inefficacious, though some native peoples
have discovered really effective remedies. Kulz (p. 18)
says quite rightly, "It is to be assumed that woman
everywhere, even in a low state of civilisation, has her
attention directed to the occurrence of involuntary
premature birth by often recurring effective causes.
Such external causes are not very remote from the
mechanically and medically produced abortions. We
only need to think of the fact that among all primitive
peoples the chief work in the fields falls to the women,
and that it is just heavy labour that has the tendency
78 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
to interrupt pregnancy. It required only some little
thought to discover this frequently observed coinci-
dence and to learn from the involuntary interruption
of pregnancy how to produce it voluntarily. ... In
the same way the production of abortions by poisons
can easily be derived from a rational application of
chance remedies producing corresponding involuntary
effects. . . . Just as primitive man discovered many
medicinal plants by repeatedly partaking of them, so
he also found out the specific use of some of these for
feticide. This could happen the more readily as
among abortive remedies in use there were many that
in a way served him as food and condiment, such as
nutmeg, or the papaia kernels, or others that he used
at the same time for poisoning fish, or others, again,
like the aperient Cajanus indicus, which in moderate
doses acts medicinally, in large doses, however, as an
abortive."
The use of poisons and mechanical feticide not only
brings about limitation of offspring, but often results
in the death of the mother. Where they are very
prevalent they contribute greatly to the scarcity of
women, with all its attendant biological disadvantages.
The contact of primitive people with Europeans
generally increases the frequency of abortions. This is
due partly to the desire for hiding the results of sexual
intercourse with strangers, partly to the incitement to
loose living which the acquaintance with European
culture sometimes brings about.
BIRTH AND FETICIDE 79
How defective the state of midwifery is among
primitive people is shown by many accounts in newer
works of ethnology. Thus the missionary Endle
writes (p. 41) : " The native tribes of Assam and Burma
have no special mid wives. Every old woman may
perform the duties of a midwife, and she does it with-
out payment. There is no information about the
treatment of the woman during parturition. The
navel cord is generally cut off with a bamboo knife.
The Katshari do not perform this with one cut, but
make five cuts in the case of a boy and seven for a girl.
The mother is considered unclean for several weeks
after her confinement. This is also the case among
many races of Southern and Eastern Asia, and in other
parts of the world. ' Isolation even before the confine-
ment sometimes occurs, and is due to the belief that
women in this state are unclean, j
Among the savage tribes of Formosa the birth of a
child passes off so lightly that the lying-in woman is
able to go on with her work on the following day.
She_only avoids heavy labour in the field for a month.
After the birth certain superstitious ceremonies,
according to old customs, are performed, such as
driving away the devil, etc. Among many tribes
twins are held to be a misfortune, and the second
child is therefore killed. This also occurs frequently
in other places (W. Miiller, p. 230).
Among the Igorots of Bontoc (Philippines) the
woman works in the field almost to the hour of her
8o SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
confinement. There are no festivities or ceremonies
connected with the birth. The father of the child,
if he is the husband of the woman, is present, as is also
the woman's mother, but no one else. The parturient
woman bends her body strongly forward, holding
firmly on to the beam of the house, or she takes up an
animal- like position, so that hands and feet are on the
ground. Medicines and baths are not resorted to for
hastening the labour pains, but the people present
massage the abdomen of the labouring woman. About
ten days after the birth her body is washed with warm
water. There is no special diet, but the mother refrains
from field work for two or three months. If twins are
born, it is believed to be due to an evil spirit who has
had connection with the woman whilst she was asleep.
No blame is attached to the mother, but the quieter of
the children (and when both children are quiet, the
longer one) is buried alive near the house immediately
after birth. Abortion is practised by married women
as well as by single girls, if for some reason the child
is not wanted. The mother warns her unmarried
daughter against abortion, telling her that a girl who
produces abortion will not get a faithful husband, but
will become the common partner of several men. The
foetus is driven off in the second month of pregnancy
by hot baths and massage. Abortion is not considered
a disgrace (Jenks).
Among the Kayan of Borneo there are everywhere
older women who serve as midwives. One of them is
BIRTH AND FETICIDE 81
called in good time to the pregnant woman. She
examines her abdomen from time to time, and pretends
to be able to give the child the right position. She
hangs some magical remedies about the living room,
and applies various remedies externally. The pregnant
woman follows her usual occupation until the labour
pains commence. Then the midwife and other old
relatives or friends assist her. The husband may also
remain in the room, but he is prevented by a screen
from seeing the parturient woman, who gets hold
tightly of a cloth hung over or in front of her. The
pains are generally of short duration, rarely lasting
more than two or three hours. In order to prevent
the rising of the child, the women bind a cloth tightly
round the abdomen of the parturient woman, and two
of them press firmly on the womb on either side.
After the delivery of the child the navel cord is cut
with a bamboo knife. If the after-birth does not
follow soon, the women become anxious ; two of them
lift up the patient, and if that has no result, the navel
cord is fastened to an axe in order to prevent it from
re-entering the body, and presumably also to hasten
the delivery of the after-birth. Internal manipula-
tions are not resorted to. The after-birth is buried.
If the child is born with a caul, the caul is dried, pounded
into powder, and used in later years as medicine for the
child. If the labour pains are exceptionally severe or
long-lasting, or if an accident happens, the news
travels rapidly. Everybody is overcome by fear, as
S.L. G
82 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
the death of a parturient woman is particularly dreaded.
The men and the boys take flight. If death actually
ensues, most of the men remain in hiding for some
time, and the corpse is quickly buried by old men and
women who are least afraid of death.
The pregnant women of the Punan of Borneo con-
tinue with their usual work until the arrival of labour
pains, and they resume it immediately after the con-
finement. To assist delivery the body is tightly bound
above the womb. Nothing further is known about
special help (Hose and McDougall, II., pp. 154, 185).
The Papua women are said to give birth easily, as a
rule, but difficult deliveries and fatal cases do occur
exceptionally. The custom exists in various places
for the mother to throw the after-birth into the river
or the sea after confinement (Williamson, p. 178 ;
Seligmann, p. 85). Of the Mafulu Williamson says
that when the after-birth is thrown into the river the
mother gives the new-born child some water to drink.
If the child partakes of it, it is considered a good omen ;
otherwise the child is believed not to be viable and is
drowned. Williamson thinks that the purpose of this
custom is to enable the mother to choose whether she
wishes to keep the child alive or not. It also may
happen that a childless woman accompanies the
mother to the river and there adopts the child. Wilful
abortion also occurs very often, not only in single
girls, but also in married women, who thus keep
their families small.
BIRTH AND FETICIDE 83
Among the Barriai in New Pomerania the woman is
confined whilst sitting on a log of wood, being massaged
from above downwards by an older woman. The
husband is not allowed to be present. The birth
generally passes off quite easily. The navel cord is cut
off with an obsidian knife. The parents may not eat
pork and certain kinds of fish until the child has begun
to walk. Disregard of this prohibition is believed
to bring about the death of the child. The parents
abstain also during this time from sexual intercourse.
Abortives do not seem to be known, though mis-
carriages sometimes occur through the rough treat-
ment of pregnant women by men (Friederici, p. 89) . In
Polynesia abortion is generally produced by women
professionally. This is brought about by the use of
certain foods or drinks, by the application of mechanical
means, etc. How widespread feticide is in Melanesia
can be seen from a statement of Parkinson, according *
to whom in New Mecklenburg quite young girls make '
no secret of having produced abortion three or four
times. Among the Jabim (Finschhafen) the mothers
present their daughters with abortives when they get
married (Buschan, I., p. 62).
On the eastern islands of the Torres Straits
(Australia) the women chew as a prevention of preg-
nancy the leaves of Callicarpa, or of a Eugenia
species called sobe, also the leaves of a large shrub
called bok ; but these remedies are inefficacious.
Medicines and mechanical methods are used for abor-
G 2
84 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
tion. Among the former are the leaves of the con-
volvulus, of Clerodendron, Pouzolzia microphylla, Maca-
ranga tanarius, Terminala catappa, Eugenia, Hibiscus
tiliaceus, and Callicarpa. If these do not help, the
abdomen is beaten with large stones, with a rope or
twigs or a wand, or a heavy load is put on it. Some-
times the woman leans with her back against a tree,
and two men grasp a wand and press it against her
abdomen, so as to bring about the delivery of the
foetus. This often results in the death of the mother.
On the Easter Island, in the Eastern Pacific Ocean,
there were several men with a knowledge of midwifery,
but recently only one of them has survived. Nowadays
older women act as midwives. Walter Knoche writes
(1912, pp. 659 et seq.) : "' The birth takes place either
in the open or in the house, the woman standing with
legs spread out, or recently in a sitting position. The
accoucheur stands behind the parturient woman,
embracing her abdomen. The thumbs are spread out,
and touch each other in a horizontal position somewhat
above the navel, while the remainder of the hand is
turned diagonally downwards. In this way massage
is applied by a slow, rhythmical, strong and kneading
movement vertically from above downwards. When
the birth is sufficiently advanced, the child is drawn
out ; the assistant bites off the navel cord (among some
Brazilian Indian tribes the husband does this, but on
the Easter Island he takes no part in the delivery) ;
then a knot is made a few centimetres from the navel.
BIRTH AND FETICIDE 85
The after-birth is not specially dealt with ; it is buried.
The navel cord, however, is placed in a calabash, which
is buried or put under a rock. After the event the
lying-in woman lies down upon a mat in the house, and
warm, flat, fairly heavy stones are applied to the
abdomen. Perhaps this is the reason why even women
who have had difficult confinements still preserve a
good figure. The infant remains at the mother's breast
for about a year." Knoche also heard that the women
sometimes pass a piece of an alga into the vulva right
up to the womb before intercourse with a stranger,
believing this method to be a very safe one. It could,
unfortunately, not be ascertained whether this pre-
caution was formerly, as seems likely, resorted to
generally in order to limit the number of children, or
whether its use was only intended to keep the tribe
untainted by foreign blood. The latter assumption is
contradicted by the fact that " the Easter Island women
have children from strangers living for some time on
the Easter Island, and that nowadays the use of contra-
ceptives in the case of strangers who come and go
quickly may simply be due to the circumstance that at
the birth of a child there would be no man to support
it. It is most probable that the use of preventives had
its origin in Malthusian principles. The little island,
whose population has been variously estimated by
travellers of the eighteenth and the first half of the
nineteenth century at a few thousand, must herewith
have reached its maximum number of inhabitants,
86 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
which could of necessity not be exceeded. Deaths
and births had therefore to balance. This employ-
ment of contraceptives in Polynesia is unique, and it
may be truly reckoned as a sign of a higher civilisation,
together with other facts, such as the existence of a
script, of stone houses and of large stone idols, the
Moai, which have made this lonely little island so
famous. On the other Oceanic Islands, as, for instance,
on the westward-situated Tahiti, infanticide, committed
by the mother as many as ten times in succession,
served to limit the number of children, either on account
of economy or for reasons of convenience. Contracep-
tives are otherwise unknown in Oceania."
Of the Jao in East Africa Karl Weule relates
(p. 61) : " During the delivery the parturient woman
lies upon her back on a mat on the floor of the hut.
The older children and the husband are not allowed to
be present, but a number of older women are there,
amongst whom there is always a near relative of the
husband, who takes special note of any evidence of
extra-marital intercourse given by the parturient
woman. It is the chief business of the midwives to
submit the woman to a very strict questionnaire:
' How many men have you had, three, or four, or even
more ? Your child will not come until you have men-
tioned the right father. Yes, you will die, if you do
not tell us how many men you have had.' Such
speeches are hurled at the woman from all sides. No
mechanical help is given her. She rolls about in pain,
BIRTH AND FETICIDE 87
under great bodily and mental torture, and shrieks
and cries until all is over. The navel cord is cut off
by an old woman. Ancient instruments, such as are
used by the East African Bantu tribes, are unknown
among the Jao. The cutting of the navel cord seems
to be performed clumsily, for umbilical rupture,
which has become an ideal of beauty in many places
in Eastern Africa, is here frequent. The after-birth and
the navel cord are buried, if possible without a witness.
They are considered effective magical remedies. The
new-born child is washed and then wrapped in a cloth
or a piece of bark fabric. A real lying-in is not kept up ;
the mother gets up again the same or the following
day. Sex intercourse can only be resumed again with
the permission of the village elder. It is only given
when the child can sit up, or when it is six or seven
months old. Children are welcome ; twins are no less
joyfully received. But infanticide is said to occur.
If, however, children are not wanted, married women
as well as girls resort to abortion. Plant juices are
generally used for this purpose, though sometimes
mechanical means are resorted to. Abortion is in no
way considered reprehensible. In order to prevent
conception, the woman puts herself into communication
with a fundi, who understands something of making
knots. The fundi goes into the wood, seeks out two
different barks, and twists them together into a cord.
Into the cord he rubs the yolk of an egg, for to the
Jao the curse of infertility abides in the egg. He knots
88 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
into the cord three knots, saying at the same time,
' You tree are called thus and thus, and you thus ; but
you egg, you become a living animal. But now I do
not want anything living.' He then twists the final
knot. This cord is worn by the woman round her
body. Boots are also placed under her head at night to
prevent conception. If the woman wishes to become
pregnant again, she needs only to untie the knots in
the cord, to put it into water, and then drink the water.
Afterwards the cord is thrown away."
Among the Makua, on the Makonda plateau in East
Africa, at the first sign of labour pains the woman lies
down upon her back on a mat in the house. A cloth is
put under her back by the helping women, which is
drawn tightly and pulled up when the pains become
stronger. After the birth the navel cord is cut, not
with a knife, but with a splinter from a millet stalk.
Here, as in other phases in the life of man, an ancient
implement has survived for sacred purposes long after
the period of its common use. The navel cord is not
tied, but dries off. The removed part is buried. The
lying-in woman remains at home three or four days.
Among the Masai an old woman is always called
in as midwife. If the birth goes on normally, no
superstitious or useless operations are undertaken
(Merker, pp. 189 et seq.). Should an increase of labour
pains appear necessary, the parturient woman is led
round by the women for a few steps, and if this does
not produce the desired result light massage is applied.
BIRTH AND FETICIDE 89
Only when these remedies prove to be inefficacious an
extreme step is taken : the labouring woman is slowly
lifted up by her feet by several women until her body
hangs perpendicularly and her head touches the
ground, whereupon the midwife massages the body in
the direction of the navel. Medicaments are seldom
used for hastening the delivery. Internal manual or
operative manipulations do not seem to be practised
anywhere. In the case of a narrow pelvis preventing
birth, no help is available ; mother and child perish.
The confinement takes place on all fours or in a sitting
position ; in the latter case the legs and the back are
pressed against the posts of the hut. For the produc-
tion of abortion a decoction of dried goat dung or of
cor dia quarensis or some other remedy is used.
Of the Hottentots it has sometimes been reported
that the women have easy births. According to
Schulze's inquiries (p. 218), this is not always the case.
The birth takes place in the side position. During
very difficult births the women attempt to widen the
vulva of the parturient woman. If that does not help,
the perineum is deliberately torn up to the anus. No
attempt is made to cure the perineal tear, for the belief
exists that it would hinder the passage of the next
child. All manipulations are carried out beneath the
skin rug under~ which the woman lies. The navel cord
is cut without delay ; no ^one troubles about the
delivery of the after-birth. The woman resumes her
occupation generally on the seventh or eighth day.
go SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
Feticide is not unusual among the Hottentots. A hot
decoction of badger urine, drunk, if necessary, for several
days in succession, is considered an effective abortive
remedy. The procedure itself is characteristically
called " drinking and falling " (Schulze, p. 320).
Among the Uti-Krag Indians of the Rio Doce
(Espirito Santo, Brazil) the woman goes through the
labour alone. She disappears in the bush, and herself
bites off the navel cord ; after the delivery she goes
to the nearest stream to wash herself and the child,
and rejoins her tribe immediately (Walter Knoche,
1913, P- 397).
Among the Indians of the Aiary, when a woman is
taken with labour pains all the men leave their house,
which is common to several families. The woman lies
in her hammock in her part of the house, which is
securely closed by a lattice railing. All the women
remain with her and help at the birth. The navel cord
and after-birth are buried immediately on the spot.
After the birth the mother and the child remain strictly
secluded for five days. The husband remains in the
house during the lying-in period, but there is no real
couvade (the male lying-in custom).
The women of the Kobeua Indians give birth in the
common family house, or in an outlying hut, or even
in the wood, with the assistance of all married women,
who first paint their faces red for the festive occasion.
The navel cord is cut off by the husband's mother
with a blade of scleria grass, and is immediately buried,
BIRTH AND FETICIDE 91
together with the after- birth. Of twins the second
born is killed, or the female if they are of different
sexes. After the birth, the witch doctor performs
exorcism. The parents keep up a five days' lying-in,
and eight days after the birth a drinking feast is held
(Koch-Grunberg, L, p. 182 ; II., p. 146).
Among the Bakairi of Brazil, according to Karl von
den Steinen (p. 334), abortion is said to occur frequently.
The women are afraid of the confinement. They
prepare for it by drinking tea, and mechanical measures
are also resorted to. The women are delivered on the
floor in a kneeling position, holding firmly to a post.
The hammocks must not be soiled. Women who have
had experience declared with emphasis, and showed
by pantomime, that the pains were great. But they
soon get up and go to work, the husband going through
the famous couvade (the man's lying-in), keeping strict
diet, not touching his weapons and passing the greatest
part of his time in his hammock. He only leaves the
house to satisfy his physical needs, and lives completely
on a thin pogu, manioc cake crumbled into water.
There exists the belief that anything else might injure
the child, as if the child itself ate meat, fish or fruit.
The couvade only ends when the remainder of the
navel cord falls off.
Among the Bororo, according to the same author
(p. 503), the woman is delivered in the wood. The
father cuts the navel cord with a bamboo splinter, and
ties it with a thread. For two days the parents do not
92 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
eat anything, and on the third day they may only
partake of some warm water. If the man were to eat
he and the child would become ill. The after-birth is
buried in the wood. The woman is not allowed to
bathe until the reappearance of menstruation ; but
then, as generally after menstruation, she does it fre-
quently. Abortion by the help of internal means is
said to be frequent, especially among the Ranchao
women. If the mother wishes to stop suckling, they
squeeze the breasts out, and " dry the milk over the
fire, whereupon it keeps away." Medicine for sick chil-
dren, which the chemist had prepared, was swallowed by
the parents, as among the Bakairi.
Among the Paressi the woman is confined in a
kneeling position, being held by her mother under her
breast. The couvade is also customary among them.
VI
IGNORANCE OF THE PROCESS OF GENERATION
THE mentality of the different branches of mankind
varies a great deal. A good example of this is the fact
that there are peoples who do not know the connection
between cohabitation and conception. There are
other tribes, again, who, as we have reason to assume,
did not possess this knowledge previously. In fact,
Ferdinand von Reitzenstein thinks that there was a
time when the connection between cohabitation and
pregnancy was unknown to all mankind, and he adduces
examples which show that traces of such a state are
to be found in the legends and customs of many peoples*
And, says von Reitzenstein, we need hardly be surprised
at this ignorance of the generative process when we
consider that " it is only since the days of Swammerdam,
who died in 1685, that we know that both egg and
spermatozoon have to come together for fertilisation,
and only since Du Barry (1850) that we know that the
spermatozoon must penetrate the egg." The belief in
supernatural conception has been preserved, not only
in the Christian Churches, but also in the myths of the
gods in most religions. Originally man could not
conclude from the mere appearance of a pregnant
woman that the cohabitation which had occurred
94 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
months ago was the cause of her condition. Primitive
people do not bring into causal connection phenomena
separated by wide intervals.
Von Reitzenstein writes that primitive people, who
generally marry their girls before the advent of puberty,
must have been turned aside from seeing the connection
between cohabitation and pregnancy because these girls
had no children at first in spite of having sexual inter-
course. But to this it may be objected that even the
lowest races must have noticed that pregnancy only
* .occurs after the advent of the first menstruation. The
appearance and abeyance of menstruation must have
formed a step towards the understanding of the genera-
tive process. It is otherwise with von Reitzenstein 's
objection that by far the largest number of cohabita-
tions do not lead to pregnancy. Even among com-
paratively enlightened races this observation led to the
assumption that some additional supernatural process is
necessary for fertilisation. Among the Australians, the
least developed race of man, the necessity of cohabita-
tion for pregnancy is totally unknown. Baldwin
Spencer and Frank J. Gillen have shown (1899,
pp. 123 et seq. ; 1904, pp. 145, 606) that among the
natives of Northern and Central Australia there exists
the general belief that the children penetrate into the
woman as minute spirits. These spirits are said to
come from persons that have lived once before and
are reborn in this manner. The belief in rebirth,
together with the ignorance of the generative process,
IGNORANCE OF GENERATION 95
is very widespread in Australia, e.g., among many
tribes in Queensland, in Southern Australia, in the
Northern Territory and in Western Australia. It is now
too late to get reliable information in this matter from
those parts of Australia where the natives are in regular
contact with whites. Spencer takes it as certain that
the belief in asexual propagation was once general in
Australia.
Among all those tribes by whom this belief has been
preserved up to the present the traditions concerning
the tribal ancestors are quite definite. Among the
Arunta, for instance, who live in the district of the
transcontinental telegraph line between Charlotte
Waters and the McDonnel mountains, and among
whom ignorance of the process of generation was first
discovered, there exists the tradition that in bygone
times, called altcheringa, the male and female
ancestors of the tribe carried spirit children about
with them, which they put down in certain places.
These spirit children, like the spirits of the tribal
ancestors, themselves enter into the women and are
borne by them. The Arunta believe that at the death
of a person his spirit returns to a special tree or rock,
out of which it came, and which is called nandcha.
It remains there until it thinks fit once more to enter
into a woman, and thus go amongst the living. All
these spirits are called iruntarinia. But before the
first rebirth of an iruntarinia there arose another
spirit from the nandcha, which is the double of the
96 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
iruntarinia, and is called ammburinga. This arum-
buringa never becomes embodied, but remains always
a spirit, which accompanies its human representative
whenever inclined, and, as a rule, remains invisible.
Only specially gifted people, particularly witch doctors,
can see ammburinga; they can even speak with them.
Among other Australian tribes which believe in rebirth,
no belief in spirits like the armnburinga has been traced
(compare B. Ankermann, "Totenkult und Seelen-
glauben bei Afrikanischen Volkern," Zeitschrift fur
Ethnologic, Jahrgang 50, pp. 89 et seq.).
There is, however, general agreement in the belief
that the ancestral parents brought into the world the
spirit children, who are continually reborn. Among
many tribes, as the Dieri and the Warramunga, it is
believed that the sex changes at every rebirth, so that
the ancestral spirit once takes the form of a male and
the next time that of a female. The conditions are such
among the Australians that their ignorance of the
connection between sexual intercourse and propaga-
tion is not at all surprising. Spencer points out that
among the Australians there are no " virgins," for as
soon as a girl is sexually ripe she is given to a particular
man, with whom she has sexual intercourse right through
life. In this respect there is no difference among the
native women ; yet the people see that some women
have children and others none, and also that the
women with children have them at unequal intervals
that have no connection with sexual intercourse.
IGNORANCE OF GENERATION 97
Besides, the women know that they are pregnant only
when they feel the quickening, and that is often at a
time when they have had nothing to do with a man.
Therefore they attempt to explain the origin of chil-
dren in some other manner, which is in accordance with
the very primitive mode of thought of these unpro-
gressive people. In this connection it may be men-
tioned that the Australian mothers attribute the birth
of half-castes to their having eaten too much of the
white man's flour. Therefore old Australians accept
without question as their own the half-caste children
of their wives, and treat them as such. Though the
natives of Northern Queensland know that the animals
propagate sexually, they dispute this as regards human
beings, because man, in contradistinction to the
animals, has a living spirit, a soul, which could not
be begotten by a material process. A. Lang thinks
that with regard to the genesis of mankind the psycho- "*
logy of these primitive people has obscured their know-
ledge of physiology. According to him, the idea that
there is no connection between cohabitation and genera-
tion cannot be considered as primary in man.
A proof of this ignorance of the fertilisation process
among the Australians is the splitting of the penis
practised by them. Otherwise these tribes, which
have a scarcity of women and children, and which
desire progeny, would not perform an operation by
which the semen fails to fulfil its function in the
majority of cases of cohabitation. It is becoming
S.L. H
98 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
more and more certain that this splitting of the
penis serves exclusively the purpose of lust, and is
least of all intended as a deliberate birth preventative
(von Reitzenstein) .
Evidences of the ignorance of generation are also to
be found elsewhere in cases where the above-mentioned
objection of Lang does not apply. In Melanesia the
connection between cohabitation and conception seems
to have been unknown until lately. R. Thurnwald
says that among the tribes on the Bismarck and
Solomon Islands visited by him this connection is well
known nowadays, but the causal relationship is not
so clearly conceived as by our psychologically trained
physicians. As a natural phenomenon conception
sometimes occurs and sometimes not. Intentional
and real forgetting, inexact calculation of time, and
the strangeness of men towards women, who are held
- as inferiors, all make it appear logically probable that
conception can take place without cohabitation. To
this must be added the weirdness of the whole process,
which is therefore given a mysterious interpretation,
and also that mode of thought which connects the
young product with the place where it is found, with
the fruits of a plant, and with the young ones of a bird,
etc. Codrington reports the same conditions among
the Banks Islanders.
Many tribes of Central Borneo, being mentally and
economically far above the Australian natives, assume
that pregnancy only lasts four or five months, namely,
IGNORANCE OF GENERATION 99
as long as it is recognised externally in the woman, and
that the child enters the body of the woman shortly
before the sign of pregnancy. These tribes of Borneo
also do not know that the testicles are necessary for
propagation (Nieuwenhuis, p. 144).
In Africa it has been established, at least of the
Baganda, that they believe in the possibility of concep-
tion without cohabitation. Conceptional totemism,
the assumption of impregnation by the animals
venerated as totems, which exists among the Bakalai
in the Congo region, points to a similar belief. Concep-
tional totemism also exists among the Indian tribes of
North-western America (Frazer, Vol. II., pp. 506, 507,
and 611, 612).
Among the ancient Mexicans there existed, according
to von Reitzenstein, the belief that the children come
from a supernal habitation, the flower land, to enter into
the mother. Various objects were thought to carry the
fcetal germs, especially shuttlecocks and green jewels.
For this reason these were placed on the mat for the
Mexican bridal pair after the marriage ceremony.
The rattle club is perhaps also considered as the bearer
of fertility. In India various trees play a role in
fertilisation ideas.
Noteworthy is the belief found in various places that
only the nourishment of the child is supplied by the
mother before birth, while the germ of the new being
comes from the father. This is the opinion of certain
tribes of South-east Australia described by Howitt
H 2
ioo SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
and the same belief exists among South American
tribes who have the well-known couvade. Karl von
den Steinen writes regarding this : " One might be
tempted to explain this curious custom, which is very
advantageous to the women, by the hunting life.
But even if the custom suits the women, it is not
evident why the men should have submitted to it.
The father cuts oft the navel cord of the new-born
child, goes to bed, looks after the child, and fasts
strictly until the rest of the navel cord falls off (or even
longer). One might consider him as the professional
doctor who also fasts like the student medicine-man,
as otherwise his cure would be endangered and the
child harmed. But not only the Xingu, but many
other tribes, say that the father must not eat fish, meat,
or fruit, as it would be the same as if the child itself
ate them ; and there is no reason to doubt that this is
the real belief of the natives. The medicine-man of
the village is always at disposal, and he is called in in
all cases when the mother or child falls ill. The father
is the patient in so far as he feels himself one with the
child. Nor is it difficult to understand how this comes
about. The native cannot very well know anything
about the egg cell and the Graafian follicle, and he
cannot know that the mother harbours elements
corresponding to the bird's egg. For the native the
man is the bearer of the egg, which, to put it clearly
and concisely, he lays into the mother, and which she
hatches during pregnancy." This idea of the couvade
IGNORANCE OF GENERATION 101
is confirmed by linguistic peculiarities : there are the same
or similar words for "father," "testicle," "egg," and
1 ' child. " The child is considered part of the father, and
therefore, as long as the child is at its weakest, the
father must keep diet, and must avoid anything that
the other could not digest. The child is considered
the reproduction of the father, and " for the sake of
the helpless, unintelligent creature, representing a
miniature copy of himself, he must behave as if he
were a child to whom no harm must come. Should
the child happen to die in the first days, how could the
father, with such views as he has, doubt that he is to
blame, seeing that he has eaten indigestible things,
particularly as all illnesses are due to the fault of
others ? What we call pars pro toto prevails in all
folk belief in connection with witch or healing magic,"
though it cannot be assumed " that the magic worker
has a clear conception of the ' part ' with which he
works. The couvade proceeds according to the same
logic, only that in this case the whole stands for the
' part.' It comes to the same whether the enemy's
hair is poisoned, and he is thus brought into a decline,
or whether food is eaten which is harmful to the child
detached from one's own body, because it could not
digest it, at least not during the time when the detach-
ment takes place."
Besides South America and Australia, the couvade
is also frequent in Asia and Africa. Previously it
existed also in South-western Europe. Hugo Kunike
102 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
who gives a survey of the prevalence and literature of
the couvade, thinks that this custom arose from
prohibitions which the man was subject to in matri-
archal families. The prohibitions condemned the man
to inactivity for some time after the birth, so that he
took to his hammock. There resulted an external
condition which led to an analogy with the lying-in
period. There can, according to Kunike, be no ques-
tion of an imitation of the woman's lying-in, for with
the South American Indians and other primitive
peoples among whom the couvade is found no lying-in
of the women occurs.
VII
MUTILATION OF SEX ORGANS
MUTILATIONS of the sex organs are performed by
many primitive peoples for religious reasons. They '
occur much more rarely for the purpose of sex stimula-
tion, as, e.g., the artificial lengthening of the small
labia among the Hottentots and the negro women
and the slitting of the penis among the Australians.
The most frequent mutilation is the abscission of the ,
foreskin of the penis. Circumcision of boys is wide-
spread in Asia, Africa, and Australia. Among the
Mohammedan tribes of Asia and the negroes of
Northern and Middle Africa it is mostly performed
with a razor. In Indonesia a sharp bamboo splinter
serves as the instrument for operation ; in other places
sharp stone splinters are used. In addition to the
familiar circular abscission of the foreskin, numerous
primitive peoples practise incision of the foreskin,
which is split downwards in its full length. Bleeding
is stopped generally by very simple means, either by
some kind of tampon or by styptic powders. In
girls, as, for instance, on some of the Indonesian
Islands, the operation often merely consists in the
abscission of a small piece of the preputium clitoridis.
Among the East African tribes, however, parts of the
104 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
mons veneris and of the large labia are removed,
generally with a dirty razor. After the removal of the
labia the two wounds are made to coalesce by letting
the girl lie in a suitable position, or sometimes by a
suture, which serves the purpose of closing up the
vagina. A little tube is inserted to allow for micturi-
tion. The united parts are again partly severed for
marriage, and completely in case of confinement.
After the recovery from confinement partial occlusion
is again resorted to (Bartels, p. 271).
Among the natives of Southern Asia living under
the influence of Islam circumcision of boys is practised
universally, but it is also customary among many
peoples that are quite free from Islamitic influence.
Circumcision of girls is practised by various Islamitic
peoples of Western Asia and India. The operation is
performed by old women. In Baroda and Bombay
the clitoris is cut away, ostensibly in order to lessen
the sensuality of the girls. In the province of Sindo
the circumcision of girls is fairly prevalent, especially
among the Pathan and Baluchi tribes. It is performed
shortly before marriage by the barber's wife or a female
servant, who uses a razor, and it is said to make the
confinement easier. Among many tribes in the North-
western border province the girls are also circumcised
at the age of marriage, and here, besides the clitoris, the
small labia are also sometimes cut away. In Balu-
chistan among some peoples the tip of the clitoris is
pinched off ; while among others the labia are slashed,
MUTILATION OF SEX ORGANS 105
so that scars are formed. The operation is performed
partly in childhood, partly on the bridal night ; in the
latter case it assures the requisite flow of blood at the
first coition. Among some tribes, in place of circum-
cision or in addition to it, the hymen is torn on the
bridal night (should it still exist), and the vaginal
entrance is wounded, so that bleeding is sure to take
place at cohabitation. In Sind the castes which
prostitute their women are said to practise partial
infibulation for contracting the vagina. It is reported
from the Punjab that formerly men leaving their home
for a time used to close up the sex passage of the wives
they left behind.
On the Philippine Islands circumcision is frequently
practised by the non-Christian natives, but not every-
where. The Igorots of Luzon incise the foreskin of
boys from four to seven years old at the upper side of
the glans with a bamboo knife or the edge of a battle
axe. They say this is necessary in order to prevent
the skin from growing longer and longer. No other
reason is now known to them for this operation.
Circumcision is practised by the Mohammedans of
the Southern Philippine Islands.
Incision of the foreskin is customary on the Indo-
nesian Islands, thus, e.g., on Buru, Ceram, the Watu-
Bela Islands, in the Minahassa, partly also in the
remaining North and Central Celebes, also on Ambon
and Halmaheira. Circumcision is customary on the
Aru and Kei Islands, on the Ceram Laut and Goram
io6 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
group, in certain parts of Central Celebes, Ambon, etc.
It is doubtful whether circumcision here is due to the
influence of Islam.
Incision is practised on various islands in the Western
Pacific Ocean, according to Friederici (p. 45), for
instance, on New Guinea, on the south-east coast,
among the Jabim and on the Astrolabe Bay. In wide
districts of New Guinea, however, the inhabitants are
not circumcised. On the island Umboi, between New
Guinea and New Pomerania, incision is customary,
also in various places on the north coast of New
Pomerania, on the Witu Islands, some islands of the
Admiralty group, etc. If incision is performed at a
very early age, the result is similar to that of circum-
cision. Frequently, however, only completely mature
young men are circumcised ; in such cases the cut
foreskin hangs down as an ugly brown flap. It is
questionable whether this intensifies the women's
excitement. As many people as possible are circum-
cised, in order to have the opportunity for a great
festival. This is the result of the liking for numbers
shown by primitive people, which is to be met with
everywhere. For the operation, the person is laid on his
back and held down by relatives. The boys scream
and wince at the moment of cutting; but the adults
are ashamed before the women, and take an areca
nut, into which they bite. Among the East Barriari
on the north coast of New Pomerania, the operator
a wise man, but not the priest pushes an oblong piece
MUTILATION OF SEX ORGANS 107
of wood under the preputium of the patient, and cuts
it from the top downward with an obsidian splinter.
The custom of incision is widespread in the New
Hebrides, New Caledonia (with the exception of the
Loyalty Islands), and also in Fiji.
While with the Empress Augusta River expedi-
tion in New Guinea, A. Roesike found the fore-
skin cut among a number of men. It was not
a circumcision, nor an incision of the foreskin, but a
deep cut into the glans about i to ij centimetres
long, sometimes a single one, sometimes a double
one crosswise.
Among some tribes of Indonesia a mutilation is
customary, which is most likely intended to intensify
the lust of the women. It consists in a perforation of
the glans or the body of the male organ, into which a
little stick is inserted. These little sticks are called
palang, ampallang, utang or kampion, and are replaced
on journeys or at work by feather quills. Among some
tribes several little sticks are stuck through the penis.
Nieuwenhuis describes this operation as follows : "At
first the glans is made bloodless by pressing it between
the two arms of a bent strip of bamboo. At each of
these arms there are openings at the required position
opposite each other, through which a sharp pointed
copper pin is pressed after the glans has become less
sensitive. Formerly a pointed bamboo chip was used
for this purpose. The bamboo clamp is removed, and
the pin, fastened by a cord, is kept in the opening until
io8 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
the canal has healed up. Later on the copper pin
(utang) is replaced by another one, generally of tin,
which is worn constantly. Only during hard work or
at exhausting enterprises is the metal pin replaced by
a wooden one." Exceptionally brave men have the
privilege, together with the chief, of boring a second
canal, crossing the first, into the glans. Distinguished
men may, in addition, wear a ring round the penis,
which is cut from the scales of the pangolin, and studded
with blunt points. It may hence be concluded that
the perforation of the penis is not intended as an
endurance test for the young men, but that the pin is
introduced for the heightening of sexual excitement.
Many natives assert that the insertion of a pin in the
perforated penis has the purpose of preventing pede-
rasty, which is very frequent among the Malays
(compare Nieuwenhuis, Vol. I., p. 78 ; Kleiweg de
Zwaan, p. 301 ; Meyer, p. 878 ; Hose and McDougall,
Vol. II., p. 170 ; Buschan, 1912, p. 240).
Among the Australians the slitting of the male
urethra is frequently practised. Formerly it was
believed that this custom was intended to prevent
conception. But as the Australians who are not under
European influence are ignorant of the process of
generation, this cannot be its meaning. The operation
is generally performed in boyhood or early youth, but
even adult men undergo it. Where this operation on
the urethra is customary, the hymen of the girls is cut,
the cut often going through the perineum. Many
MUTILATION OF SEX ORGANS 109
tribes practise simple circumcision. Among the
Australian tribe Worgait, for instance, certain relatives
decide about the circumcision of the boys. After a
previous elaborate ceremonial the boy who is to be
circumcised is laid on the backs of three men lying on
the ground ; another man sits on his chest, one holds
his legs apart, and the sixth performs the operation
by drawing the foreskin forward and cutting it off with
a sharp splinter of stone. The group is hidden from
the view of the women by a screen made of pieces of
bark. Afterwards the youth is instructed by old men
how he must behave as a man, and he is informed about
the matters kept secret from women. He remains for
another two months under the supervision of two sons
of his maternal uncle, and has further to go through a
number of ceremonies. Other tribes of the Australian
North Territory have similar customs.
Circumcision among the Hamites of East Africa is
particularly elaborate. As an example we may take
the pastoral tribe of the Nandi. These people used to
circumcise boys every seven and a half years, and
celebrated the occasion with great festivals. Since
1905 circumcision takes place at shorter intervals. The
usual age for circumcision is from the fifteenth to the
nineteenth year. Younger boys are only circum-
cised if they are rich orphans, or if their fathers are
old men. The ceremony begins at the time of the first
quarter of the moon. Three days before the operation
the boys are given over by their fathers or guardians
no SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
into the charge of old men, called moterenic, as many
as ten boys going to two of these men. The moterenic
and their boys betake themselves to a neighbouring
wood, where they build a hut, in which they spend the
six months after the circumcision. The boys have
their heads shaved and are given a strong aperient of
Arsidia sp. Warriors visit the hut, and take away all
the boys' clothes and ornaments. Then young girls visit
the boys and give them a part of their clothing and orna-
ments. After the boys have put these on they inform
their relations of the forthcoming circumcision. There
is dancing on the next day, after which the warriors
draw the boys aside to discover from their expressions
whether they will behave cowardly or bravely at the
circumcision. After this examination the boys receive
necklaces from their girl friends, with which they deco-
rate themselves. After sunset they must listen to the
sharpening of the operating knife. Warriors are present,
and tease the boys. Later on all undress, and a pro-
cession is formed with a moterenic at the head and rear
of it. Four times they have to crawl through a small
cage, where warriors are stationed at the entrance and
exit with nettles and hornets. With the former they
beat the boys in the face and on the sex organs ; the
hornets they set on their backs. A fire is kept burning
in the middle of the room, around which old men are
seated. Each boy has to step before them and beg for
permission to be circumcised. He is questioned about
his early life ; and if the old men think that he has told
MUTILATION OF SEX ORGANS in
an untruth or is hiding something, he is put among
nettles. If the old men are satisfied with his words,
the price of the circumcision has to be arranged,
whereupon the boys are led back to their huts. There
the warriors and elders assemble the next morning, and
at dawn the circumcision begins. The boy to be circum-
cised is supported by the senior moterenic, the others
sitting close by and looking on. The operator kneels
before the boy, and with a quick cut performs the first
part of the operation ; the foreskin is drawn forward
and cut off at the tip of the glans penis. The sur-
rounding men watch the boy's face in order to see
whether he winces or shows any sign of pain. If this
is the case, he is called a coward, and receives the dis-
honourable nickname of kilpit ; he is not allowed to be
present at later circumcisions nor at the children's
dances. The brave boys receive bundles of ficus from
the women, who welcome them with cries of joy when
they return the necklaces which they have previously
received from their girl friends. The foreskins are
collected and placed in an ox horn. Friends and rela-
tives make merry together, while the second part of
the operation begins. At this only sterile girls may be
present, and also women who have lost several brothers
and sisters at short intervals. Many boys become
unconscious during this part of the operation. The
wounds are only washed with cold water, and the boys
are led back to their huts, where they spend some weeks
quietly. During the first four days they are not allowed
H2 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
to touch food with their hands ; they must eat either
out of a half-calabash or with the help of some leaves.
They get what they like, also milk and meat. But,
apart from their moterenic, nobody may come near
them for four days. Afterwards the hand- washing
ceremony is performed ; the foreskins are taken out of
the ox horn, sacrificed to their god, and then buried in
cowdung at the foot of a croton tree. Now the boys
may eat with their hands again, but still no one may
see them except the young children who bring them
food. Three months later, when the boys are quite
well again, they have to go through a new ceremony,
during which they have to dive repeatedly into the
river. If one of them should meet with an accident,
his father has to kill a goat. Only now may the boys
move about freely, but they still have to wear women's
clothes (as hitherto) and a special head-dress that hides
their faces. They must not enter a cattle kraal nor
come near the cattle, nor are they allowed to be out-
doors when the hyena howls. This period of semi-
seclusion lasts about eight weeks. Its conclusion is
celebrated by a feast. Still more ceremonies follow,
and again a feast, after which the boys finally enter the
status of manhood.
Girls are circumcised when some of them in the
settlement have reached marriage age. They are
shaved, given aperients, have to put on men's clothes,
which they receive from their lovers, and take their
clubs, loin bells, etc. After three days' ceremonial the
MUTILATION OF SEX ORGANS 113
circumcision is performed in the morning, at which the
mothers and some old women are present ; men are
only admitted when they have lost several brothers
and sisters in succession. The mothers run about
crying and shouting during the operation. Only the
clitoris is cut out. If a girl behaves bravely, she may
return the clothes and other things of her lover, other-
wise they are thrown away. The girls, too, must not
touch food with their hands for four days ; afterwards
they are put into long dresses with a kind of head mask,
and have to go through a period of seclusion. After
the completion of various other formalities they are
fit for marriage (Hollis, 1909, pp. 52 et seq.).
No satisfactory explanation has so far been forth-
coming of the purpose of these elaborate circumcision
customs. Similar customs are observed by other
Hamites of Eastern Africa.
Among the Masai there exists the belief that circum-
cision was introduced by the command of God (Merker,
p. 60). After the circumcision boys and girls are
considered grown up. The former have to be circum-
cised as soon as they are strong enough to take part in
a war expedition. The circumcision of sons whose
parents have no property and of poor orphans takes
place last of all. For the meat banquet which the
newly circumcised hold every one present has to
supply an ox. Poor boys must first acquire it by
working for it. The circumcision is a public affair,
and is arranged by the witch doctor in certain years.
S.L.
H4 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
The old men consult in all the districts, and fix a day
for the circumcision of the first batch of boys. All the
boys circumcised during a certain number of years
form an age class with a particular name (as among
the Nandi). Several weeks before the circumcision
the boys, adorned with many ornaments, dance and
sing in their own and neighbouring kraals, in order to
express their joy at their approaching admission into
the warrior class. On the day before the circumcision
the boys' heads are shaved. On the appointed day
itself the boys and the warriors who are present at the
operation assemble before dawn at the place chosen
by the operators. The boys pour cold water over each
other, so as to become less sensitive. After the opera-
tion the wounded member is washed with milk ; no
remedy for stopping the bleeding is applied. Later on
all the men of the neighbourhood assemble in the kraal,
where they are regaled with meat and honey beer by
the parents of the newly circumcised boys. The girls
are circumcised as soon as signs of puberty become
evident, sometimes even earlier. The operation con-
sists in a complete abscission of the clitoris. The
wound, as with the boys, is washed in milk. The girl
remains in her mother's hut until the wound is healed.
As soon as the man to whom the girl is promised as
bride hears of her recovery he pays her father the
remaining part of the bride-price, and nothing more
stands in the way of the marriage.
Among the Somals in North-east Africa the boys
MUTILATION OF SEX ORGANS 115
are circumcised when six years old, and the girls are
infibulated at three or four years of age. The infibula-
tion is preceded by the shortening of the clitoris and
the clipping of the external labia. The operation is
performed by experienced women, who also sew up
the inner labia (except for a small aperture) with horse-
hair, bast, or cotton thread. The girls have to rest for
several days with their legs tied together. Before
marriage the above-mentioned women or the girls
themselves undo the stitching, which, however, is in
most cases only severed completely before the con-
finement (Paulitschke, p. 24).
In Western Africa most peoples practise the circum-
cision of boys. The age at which this takes place
varies greatly. The Duala in Cameron have the boys
circumcised when four or five years old, the Bakwiri
as late as the twelfth to fourteenth year, and the
Dahomey even postpone the circumcision to the
twentieth year. But it always takes place before
marriage, as women would refuse to have relationship
with uncircumcised men (Buschan, " Sitten," III., p. 40).
A peculiar disfigurement of the sex organs is cus-
tomary among the Hottentots, Bushmen, and many
Bantu tribes of Middle and South Africa. This con-
sists in the artificial elongation of the small labia.
It was first observed among the Hottentot women,
and therefore the elongated labia were called the
" Hottentot apron." Among the Jao, Makonde, and
other East African Bantu tribes, the girls at the ages
I 2
n6 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
of seven, eight, or nine years are instructed by old
women about sex intercourse and their behaviour
towards grown-up people. At the same time they are
encouraged to systematically alter the natural shape
of the genital organs by continually pulling at the
labia minora and thus unnaturally lengthening them.
Karl Weule has seen such disfigured organs from 7 to 8
centimetres long. According to the assertion of
numerous male natives, the elongated labia assume
such dimensions that they hang half-way down to the
knee. The main purpose of this disfiguration seems
to be erotic ; it is said to excite the men. The assump-
tion that the labia minora are naturally exceptionally
large among the Hottentots is certainly wrong. Karl
Weule is right when he definitely maintains that his
proof of the artificial elongation of the labia among the
East Africans establishes it as an indubitable fact
that the famous Hottentot apron is also an artificial
product. Le Vaillant established this independently
almost 100 years before Weule ; but the error dragged
on from decade to decade, chiefly because nobody
troubled or had the good fortune to study the puberty
rites as Weule did. It is time at last to give up this
erroneous idea.
Among the Jaos the operation of the boys consists
in a combination of incision with circumcision so that
only a tiny piece of the under-part of the preputium
remains. The boy must show courage at the opera-
tion. Screams, if they occur, are drowned by the
i
MUTILATION OF SEX ORGANS 117
laughter of the bystanders. Bleeding is stilled by
bark powder. The boys have to lie down for about
twenty days or more, until healing has taken place.
As usual, circumcision is combined with instruction
about sex behaviour.
In former times the Jaos are said to have imposed
castration as a punishment on men for misbehaviour
with the chief's wife (Weule, pp. 29, 35). Castration
still takes place for this reason among other negro
races, especially the Mohammedan Sudanese.
In North America the few Indians still living in a
state of nature do not practise mutilation of the sex
organs. In South America circumcision exists among
the linguistically isolated tribes and the neighbouring
Aruake and Karaib tribes of the north-west, also
among the tribes on the Ucayali and the tributaries
of the Apure (W. Schmidt, p. 1048). The Kayapo
Indians on the Araguay river cut the frenulum of the
penis with a taquara splinter, and the penis cuff is
fastened on to the rolled-up foreskin (W. Kissenberth,
P- 55).
The purpose of circumcision is probably to prolong
the sex act, for the bare glans is less sensitive than the
covered one. Friederici says (p. 89) that the black
boys congregating on the stations and plantations
frequently discuss these matters amongst themselves ;
they know that the glans of the circumcised is much
less sensitive than that of the uncircumcised. Many
authors are of the opinion that the abscission or
n8 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
incision of the foreskin in boys has the purpose of
making cohabitation easier in later years, as this is
often made difficult by phimosis (tightness of the fore-
- skin). Kiilz (p. 40) found that among the youthful
plantation workers in New Mecklenburg nearly a
quarter were afflicted with phimosis, and often to such
a degree that normal sex functioning was quite im-
possible. But such a condition does not seem to
prevail among most of the primitive peoples practising
circumcision. And, further, of what use would mutila-
tions be that had nothing to do with tightness of the
foreskin ?
The prolonged festivals and elaborate ceremonials
which are so often connected with the circumcision of
boys and of girls, or with their admission to the state of
manhood and womanhood (without accompanying cir-
cumcision), are intended to preserve the event in the
memory. The long ceremony is deeply impressed upon
the mind, and forms a firm nucleus round which other
memories cluster which otherwise would be lost in the
humdrum of ordinary life. How could the time of entry
into manhood remain without ceremonious festival ?
This seems all the more necessary because the growth
into manhood is gradual and almost unnoticeable, and if
there were no ceremony, it would pass without making
any impression. It is therefore the intention not only
to give expression to the beginning virility, but above
all to the admission into the league of youth (Schurtz,
PP- 95, 96).
VIII
MATURITY AND DECLINE
AMONG all human races the signs of maturity appear
later and less distinctly in the male than in the female.
In Europeans the period of puberty coincides with the
second period of increased bodily growth, which ceases
in the male between the sixteenth and the eighteenth
year, and in the female between the fourteenth and the
sixteenth year. The end of the puberty period may,
however, in individual cases, be postponed for some
years. The exact time of the advent of sex maturity,
which, on account of their menstruation, can be fixed
much more readily in girls than in boys, varies not only
individually, but racially. The same applies to the
difference in time between the advent of maturity
and the cessation of bodily growth. Sexual maturity,
as well as the cessation of bodily growth, takes place
much earlier in Europeans than in some of the primitive
peoples. Among other primitive peoples, however,
maturity occurs comparatively late, and bodily growth
ceases shortly after. To the latter belong certainly
some of the peoples living in the tropics.
The opinion still prevails that climate has a consider-
able influence on the advent of maturity. Rudolf
Martin (1915) remarks : " Races living in the tropics
120 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
grow more quickly and mature earlier than the races
living in temperate zones. This is undoubtedly due
to the earlier advent of puberty."
As regards the Japanese, E. Baelz had already in
1891 disputed the statement that they mature early.
He found, however, that the growth of both sexes
ceases in Japan earlier than in Europe; still sex
maturity in the female does not occur earlier. Accord-
ing to the concordant statements of female teachers of
various girls' schools, the Japanese girls, in fact, reach
maturity later than European girls, and half-caste
girls take a medium position.
Since then reliable data about the advent of maturity
among non-European races have seldom been given,
but those to hand show that most probably even
among coloured primitive people puberty generally
occurs late.
Very important material has been collected by
O. Reche in Matupi (New Pomerania, Melanesia), with
the assistance of the Catholic mission of the place. He
found that the rhythm of growth of the Melanesians
corresponds on the whole to that of the Europeans,
except that the growth ceases altogether a few years
earlier. Development in height is finished on the
whole in girls at the beginning of the seventeenth year,
and in boys in the eighteenth year. But, as regards
the advent of puberty, Reche 's researches led to the
surprising result that all Matupi girls, with the excep-
tion of those seventeen years old, had not yet men-
MATURITY AND DECLINE 121
struated. Reche remarks that this strikingly late appear-
ance of menstruation is also known to the missionaries,
because in order to prevent early marriages they only
consent to the marriage of a girl after the first menstrua-
tion has taken place. Reche 's experience is in strong
contradiction to the belief formerly taken for granted,
for puberty occurs among these inhabitants of the
tropics not only not earlier, but, on the contrary, later
than with the Europeans living in temperate climates.
Of importance is the fact that in the Matupi natives
puberty coincides with the highest point of the curve
of growth, namely, with the end of the development
in height. Puberty commences when growth ceases.
It almost seems as if the advent of maturity absorbs
all the strength and hinders further growth. It is
quite different with Europeans in this respect : the
beginning of puberty falls with them in the second
period of growth (in boys the twelfth to the sixteenth,
in girls the eleventh to the fourteenth year), and there-
fore long before growth ceases altogether.
It would seem that the conditions existing among
Europeans are the primitive state, as with the majority
of animals also puberty begins before the cessation of
growth.
Reche reports further that, corresponding to the late
puberty, the secondary sexual characteristics also
appear exceptionally late in Matupi children. This
is the chief reason why the boys and girls, especially
as they are small, appear remarkably young even
122 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
shortly before maturity, and why their age seems much
less than it actually is. The first beginning of the
change from the areola mamma to the budding breast
shows itself among the Matupi girls not before the
sixteenth year ; the development of the breast seems
to coincide with the first menstruation. Axillary
hair did not appear in sixteen-year-old Matupi girls,
with one exception ; and it was scanty in those seven-
teen years old, though it is generally copious in adults.
There was also no trace of a beard in seventeen-year-
old boys, though it is well developed in the older men.
It must be added that the late differentiation of
secondary sexual characteristics is also noticeable
among other coloured races, as, e.g., among the Philip-
pines and other Indonesian races.
Among the Papuans of New Guinea also sex maturity
occurs late. As Richard Neuhaus wrote, according to
information given by missionaries who have lived for a
long time among the natives on Tami and among the
Jabim, the first menstruation generally appears in the
fifteenth to sixteenth year. Young males look very
undeveloped up to the sixteenth year. Neuhaus
thought this late maturity was the result of bad
feeding, though it does not appear from his other
descriptions that the economic conditions of the Papuans
are especially unfavourable.
A. E. Jenks reports of the Igorots on Luzon that
boys as well as girls attain puberty at a late age,
generally between fourteen and sixteen years. The
MATURITY AND DECLINE 123
civilised Ilkano people settled among the Igorots
definitely declare that the girls do not menstruate
before they have reached the sixteenth or seventeenth
year. A considerable error as regards their age seems
to be excluded with these people, who have lived a
long time under European influence.
Of the Andamanese, a pigmy race, Portman and
Molesworth write that puberty appears in boys and
girls round about the fifteenth year. Bodily growth
is finished at eighteen years, and is in any case after
maturity very trivial.
Eugen Fischer makes the following statements
about the Bastards in German South-west Africa :
" In one family five out of six daughters menstruated
for the first time at the age of fifteen, one at the age of
sixteen. One Bastard woman had first menstruated
at the age of seventeen, three of her daughters at
thirteen, the fourth, who was anaemic, at seventeen.
Another Bastard woman, who herself had her first
menstruation at fifteen, had two daughters from a
white man who had reached puberty at sixteen and
seventeen years of age. A girl with distinct anaemia
stated that she had had her first period at sixteen
years, her sister even as late as eighteen." Fischer
knows of three girls that became mature at sixteen,
fourteen, and thirteen years. L. Schultze reports
that with the Hottentots the first menstruation appears,
as a rule, between the ages of thirteen and fifteen.
There is, unfortunately, no information to be had
124 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
about the negroes with regard to this subject. The
puberty rites practised by them give no clue to the
real age at the advent of puberty.
Ales Hrdlicka (pp. 125 129) tried to determine the
age of puberty among Indian girls of the south-west
of the United States by their height, as definite state-
ments of age are not to be had. This method is not
without objection, for it is certain that individuals
who have attained puberty are decidedly taller than
persons of the same age who have not reached maturity.
Hrdlicka found that of those examined in the twelfth
or thirteenth year one-third of the Apache girls and
as many as three-quarters of the Pima girls had already
menstruated. In the age class of thirteen to fourteen
years four-fifths of the Apache and nine-tenths of the
Pima girls had already menstruated, while of forty-six
older girls only one had not yet attained puberty.
The first signs of breast development were noticed by
Hrdlicka in clothed Indian maidens whose ages he
estimated to be from eleven to twelve years. But
it was only between fifteen and seventeen that the girls
acquired the typical womanly form ; until then they
have, as Hrdlicka says, " a somewhat male appearance."
In youths the beard begins to grow at the fifteenth
or sixteenth year. The climate is moderate in the
country of the Apache and Pima Indians ; the days are
decidedly hot in the low-lying regions, but the nights
are generally cold in these regions, even in summer.
In comparison it may be noted that, according to
MATURITY AND DECLINE 125
H. P. Bowditch's investigations in Boston, nearly
four-fifths of the white girls born in America mature
between the thirteenth and seventeenth year. Puberty
is reached relatively most often between the ages of
fourteen and fifteen, though over 40 per cent, of 575
girls examined had not yet menstruated at the com-
pleted fifteenth year.
Within one and the same race the conditions of life
seem to have a great influence on the age of puberty and
bodily development. Unfavourable conditions produce a
retardation of puberty ; favourable conditions accelerate
it. This may be the chief cause why the beginning of
puberty varies individually by several years.
There exists so far no definite explanation of the
racial differences in the age of puberty. Reche says,
"It is conceivable that the characteristically late
maturity of a tropical race (like that of the Melanesians)
may gradually have been acquired by the unfavourable
influence of too hot a climate or of continual under-
feeding acting on many generations."
It is remarkable that, in contradistinction to the
Melanesians, the Indians become mature very early,
and the same applies most likely to the Australians.
In India, as in Australia, sexual intercourse is begun
at a very youthful age, among the girls often long
before the first menstruation. It is possible that on
account of this the age of puberty is lowered, so that
girls who mature late are more easily injured and
perish in greater number than the girls maturing
126 SEXUAL LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLE
earlier, who are less injured by the premature sexual
intercourse. The male sex may have been influenced
in the same direction through heredity.
Just as physical maturity, so is the cessation of
generative power and bodily decline more marked in
women than in men. In Middle and Northern Europe,
procreation generally ceases with women of an age
between forty-five and fifty years. Numerous birth
statistics from all countries of this continent show that
birth in women over fifty years old is very rare. It
is not quite clear how the case stands in this respect
among the coloured races. Hrdlicka reports of the
North American Indian women that with them the
climacterium occurs apparently at about the same age
as with European women. It must be taken into
consideration that accurate statements of age are
wanting, and that the age of Indian women can easily
be greatly overrated. Otherwise it has generally
been reported of coloured women that they age rapidly,
and that their reproductive period is comparatively
short. In North-west Brazil the Indian girls marry
as soon as in their tenth to twelfth year, on account of
their rapid development. Early maturity and marriage
may be one of the chief causes of their rapid decline.
The Indian women are generally beyond their prime
at the age of twenty. Their straight figure is frequently
covered with a disgusting accumulation of fat, and the
elasticity of movement gives way to indolence. Other
women become very thin after several confinements,
MATURITY AND DECLINE 127
their features become sharp and bony, and among old
women one often comes across real hag-like creatures
with half-blind, running eyes (Koch-Griinberg, II.,
P- 149).
In India the women of the Dravidian as well as of
the Mongolian races age rapidly. Their generative
power rarely lasts longer than the beginning of the
forties. Among the pigmies the time of procreation
is said to be equally short (Portman and Molesworth).
Spencer and Gillen say that with the Australian women
a rapid bodily decline takes place as early as the
twenty-fifth and at the latest in the thirtieth year, which
cannot be attributed to exceptional privations or harsh
treatment. The Australian women apparently reach
the age of fifty years or more only exceptionally.
Jochelson (pp. 413 et seq.) writes that the Koryak
women age very rapidly. They cease to bear children
at about the age of forty. Other travellers have made
statements about the great age that the Koryaks are
said to attain. Jochelson 's thorough-going investiga-
tions showed that of 284 persons only thirteen could
possibly have been over sixty-five years old, and among
them there was only one really old man.
Schultze (p. 297) mentions two Hottentot women
who had given birth at the age of forty-seven, and
another who still had her period at fifty-five. Among
the negresses late births also occur. Unfortunately,
ethnographical literature only rarely gives facts with
regard to this subject.
IX
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PART I
LOVE AND MARRIAGE
THE LOVE OF TO-MORROW
A NOVICIATE FOR MARRIAGE
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MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE
EUGENICS AND THE MYSTICAL OUTLOOK
EUGENICS AND SPIRITUAL PARENTHOOD
BLOSSOMING-TIME
LOVE AS A FINE ART
PART II
THE NEW CIVILISATION
DEMOCRACY IN THE KITCHEN
THE MASSES AND THE CLASSES
THE MATERNAL IN DOMESTIC AND POLITICAL LIFE
POLITICAL MILITANCY: ITS CAUSE AND CURE
WAR: AN ANCIENT VIRTUE AND A MODERN VICE
THE NEW CIVILISATION
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
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