1909] on Influence of Superdition on Growth of Institutions. 455 



taboo has the support of a powerful ghost or spirit. Here, too, super- 

 stition is a powerful eugine for the defence of private property. In 

 New Britain plantations, cocoanut trees, and other possessions are 

 protected against thieves by marks of taboo attached to them, and it 

 is thought that whoever violates the taboo will be visited with sick- 

 ness or other misfortunes. 



A system of taboo based on superstition prevails also all over the 

 Malay Archipelago, and here again superstition strongly enforces the 

 rights of private property. Thus in the island of Timor, as we learn 

 from Dr. Alfred Wallace, " a prevalent custom is the pomali, exactly 

 equivalent to the ' taboo' of the Pacific islanders, and equally respected. 

 It is used on the commonest occasions, and a few palm leaves stuck 

 outside a garden as a sign of the pomali will preserve its produce from 

 thieves as effectually as the threatening notice of man-traps, spring 

 guns, or a savage dog would do witli us." 



Again, in Africa, superstition is a priceless ally in the defence of 

 private property. On the coast of Guinea, for example, fetishes are 

 often inaugurated for the express purpose of detecting and punishing 

 certain kinds of theft, and not only the thief himself but any person 

 who knows of his crime and fails to give information is liable to be 

 punished by the fetish. Shadowy as the fetish may seem to us, its 

 protection is most efficient. In this part of Africa solitary patches of 

 corn in the depth of the forest and even articles of property left by 

 the way-side are quite safe if they are protected by a fetish or charm. 

 Similarly in Sierra Leone charms are often placed in plantations to 

 deter people from stealing, and we are told that a few old rags placed 

 on an orange tree will secure the fruit as effectually as if it were 

 guarded by the dragons of the Hesperides. Superstitions of the 

 same sort have been transported by the negroes to the West Indies, 

 where the bravest blacks tremble at the very sight of the ragged 

 bundle, the bottle, or the egg-shells which have been stuck in the 

 thatch or over the door of a hut to deter marauders. If a negro 

 has dared to steal from a house so protected, the owner applies to a 

 magician, who gives out that he has set a charm to catch the thief. 

 If the culprit hears of this and cannot find a more potent magician to 

 take off the spell which the other has cast upon him, his terrified 

 imagination begins to work, and he falls into a decline and dies. 

 Superstition has killed him. 



Many similar examples might be adduced, if time permitted. But 

 perhaps I have said enough to show that among many peoples, and in 

 many parts of the world, superstitious fear has operated as a powerful 

 motive to deter men from stealing. If that is so, my secondBproposi- 

 tion is proved, which is, that among certain races and at certain times 

 superstition has strengthened the respect for private property, and has 

 thereby contributed to the security of its enjoyment. 



III. I pass now to my third proposition, which is, that among 

 certain races and at certain times superstition has strengthened the 



YoL. XIX. (No. 103) 2 H 



