pattern of native behavior of which the ‘mushroom mad- 
ness’ is a culminating point unless he will see that he is 
in the presence of men and of a civilization intimately 
associated with Nature. They are a part of Nature just 
as the animal species are, and the behavior of the fauna 
actually influences the human behavior. Among the liv- 
ing creatures of the forest, the birds of paradise, by reason 
of their astonishing dress and also doubtless because of 
their equally astonishing courtship practices, offer a 
source of tempting inspiration. Their courtship dances 
present, as an aspect of the birds” emotional reaction, a 
shivering phase, the physiological mechanism of which 
is known, that is particularly spectacular. It is not sur- 
prising therefore that the word faz is linked with the 
name of the ‘madness’, since it is the name of one of the 
birds of paradise, the Raggiana, that exhibits this kind 
of agitation in its love-ballet. In our opinion it is not a 
question of the kinds of mushrooms that this bird eats— 
such a thing is highly improbable—but the obsessive 
simulation that the Kuma have achieved, in their own 
shivering, by observing the birds. The mimetic instinct 
of the Wahgi natives finds here an exceptional opportu- 
nity to introduce into their own theater a dramatic scene 
from Nature’s comedy. 
We can readily conceive that this interpretation, to 
which we will revert later, will meet resistance among 
the Europeans in contact with the Wahgi Valley natives, 
whose culture is impregnated with values distinct from 
our own, but values that are perhaps as defensible and 
even as solid as ours. Rare must be those missionaries, 
administrators, travellers, planters, merchants, who are 
ready for a comprehension so close to realities, who pos- 
sess the humility, the conscience, the breadth of spirit 
that is needed in judging these Wahgi Valley natives 
but that is seldom met with among those of advanced 
22 
