528 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



pages, in which Mr. Karl Knortz, under the title "Mythology and 

 Civilization of the North American Indians," gives the impression 

 made on him during a visit among the Indians. Having read such 

 books as we have on the subject, he has selected and briefly sketched 

 a few of the myths, drawing some deductions from them. In the sec- 

 ond part of the pamphlet he takes a rather favorable view of the 

 prospect of civilization among the remaining tribes. It will be a pity 

 if the book is not translated, as its pleasant style would make it pop- 

 ular reading among many who are not capable of taking it in the 

 present form. We call attention to this book as an indication that the 

 subject is receiving the attention abroad which it should have at home. 



In what follows, an attempt is made to indicate a direction in 

 which the Indian myths throw light on early religion. There is noth- 

 ing new in the view taken, though it is one which has not yet re- 

 ceived sufficient consideration. 



The civilization of Europe to-day is generally accepted as the re- 

 sult of passing through three stages of social growth : 



First, that of hunters, wandering over the country in search of 

 animal food for daily sustenance. 



Second, that of nomadic shepherds, moving about from pasture to 

 pasture with herds of domesticated animals, which supply food and 

 clothing more regularly and with less hardship than does the hunt. 



Third, the stage of agriculture, when the plow anchors man to the 

 spot of chosen land. Out of this has grown, after a long and tedious 

 struggle, our comjjlicated commercial civilization. 



The Indian belongs to the first of these stages, and in attempting 

 to civilize him we are trying to raise him to the third, without his 

 having passed through the second. To say the least, it is extremely 

 doubtful if even our assistance can accomplish a result which Nature 

 has denied everywhere else. However, to return, the Indian myths 

 are those of a hunter ; and the Aryan was once, long, long ago, a 

 hunter. This point of contact is what gives the myths their principal 

 interest. They preserve the religious feeling of what is considered 

 the earliest civilization, and are, therefore, valuable to a student of 

 the progressive growth of religion ; and this, however different an- 

 thropology and physiology may show the Aryan and Indian. 



In all religions there are two great omnipresent relations of man 

 to nature, to God, and of man to man. One is the worship side, the 

 other the moral side. Confining ourselves to the relation of man 

 to nature, what has the study of early Aryan myths shown to be 

 man's first conception of the nature around him? The Hindoos have 

 probably wandered less over the face of the earth, and suffered less, 

 than any other Aryan people. Their early religious records are con- 

 sequently the clearest and the best preserved. From these it appears 

 that the earliest religion was what is now called animisn. This is, 

 as you choose, the soul, ghost, or spirit theory of nature ; and is sup- 



