390 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



opinions, customs, and peculiar notions of ours which require an 

 explanation for their presence and which represent an older period 

 of culture." * The Hindu, for example, continues to use the primi- 

 tive fire-drill for kindling the sacred fires, although the lucifer 

 match is used for all other purposes. Catlin noticed a similar 

 custom among many Indian tribes of North America. The ancient 

 Eygptians continued the use of the stone knife in the religious 

 rite of circumcision long after the introduction of the metals. 

 The institution of marriage to-day offers us illustrations of cere- 

 monies which seem a necessary part of the institution ; and yet, if 

 we were asked for rational explanations of them, we should be at 

 a loss to explain, were we not able to appeal to the evidence of 

 history and call them survivals. 



How can we explain the wedding cake, the bridal tour, the 

 storm of rice and old shoes accompanying the departure of -he 

 happy couple, without an appeal to the customs of the past ? The 

 coyness of the maiden to-day is fully equaled by that of the sav- 

 age maiden. It is customary with the latter to manifest opposi- 

 tion to entering the paths of matrimony, though that opposition 

 in some cases is merely feigned. This probably originated as 

 most writers agree among nations who were in the habit of cap- 

 turing their wives from hostile tribes, but it has lingered as a 

 conventional observance in cases where the change of state is not 

 distasteful. Marriage by capture is not uncommon, and prevails 

 among some of the Hindu tribes, Circassians, and the primitive 

 races of Australia, New Zealand, and America ; and survivals of 

 this custom to-day would seem to indicate traces of this institu- 

 tion among the early Aryan and Semitic races. The rape of the 

 Sabines affords a good illustration of this custom among the 

 early Romans. 



The primitive form of marriage by capture, however, gave 

 way later to the ceremony of marriage by purchase, a price being 

 paid by the groom to the parents of his bride, and the marriage 

 contract being settled generally without the latter's consent. In 

 this second stage, where the bride was secured by a more peaceful 

 method, the violence accompanying the former mode of securing 

 a wife still lingered in the form of a survival. In turn, the cus- 

 tom of purchasing a bride passed from the stage of reality to the 

 ceremonial stage. Among the New-Zealanders a bride is only 

 secured after a prolonged struggle between the friends of the 

 groom and the friends of the bride. Among certain tribes of 

 India the groom is obliged to overcome a strong man who is ap- 

 pointed to defend the bride. A curious parallel to this is noted 

 among the Eskimos. The youthful candidate to matrimony is 



* Tylor's Primitive Culture, vol. i, chap. iii. 



