ORIGIN OF TOTEMISM 411 



Then it is an almost universal belief among women that certain 

 medicine or other means adopted will prevent conception. 

 Whether these are effective or not is of no importance. What the 

 practice shews is that other primitive peoples clearly understand 

 the part played by the male, and, presumably, have always done 

 so. I write under correction ; but, so far as I know, there are few, 

 if any, other peoples who are ignorant " of the physical process by 

 which men and animals reproduce their kinds " in addition to 

 these few Central Australian tribes ; and it will be well to wait 

 a while longer for more definite information before deciding that 

 in the manners and customs of these peoples we have a definite 

 explanation of the origin of totemism. 



Summary. 



1 . I have endeavoured to show that it is in the belief and practice 

 of magic that we find the origin of totemism ; that it dates back to the 

 time when man first became conscious of a power greater than 

 himself, with which, however, he was intimately connected, and 

 which he could use for his own advantage or for the benefit or 

 injury of others. 



2. That in order to make manifest the reality of this connection 

 and the alleged control of supernatural powers, there must be some 

 outward and visible means of communication between them, and 

 that an animal, plant or other object was chosen for that purpose. 



3. That in the case of some men their continued assertion of 

 supernatural power and of their means of communication with that 

 powe ■ by the animal or bird chosen, aided often by some lucky 

 apparent confirmations of these assertions and claims, would 

 naturally give them great influence ; that they would also be able 

 to transmit some of their prestige and influence to members of their 

 families who would naturally adopt the same totem, and so it gradu- 

 ally became hereditary. 



4. That in other cases the individual totems did not become 

 hereditary, or only continued so for the limited time or period in 

 which the fame and influence of the original proprietor was known 

 and felt ; whilst in others they were adopted as the totems of secret 

 societies, and so became permanent. The Iniat Society in New 

 Britain have stone or wooden images of pigs, iguanas, sharks and 

 other animals. These represent the animals which they are for- 

 bidden to eat, and which I think were their totems formerly, if they 

 are not so now. So far as I know these prohibited animals are not 

 now the totems of any individuals or families outside of the Iniat 

 Society. They represent totemism in decay and show how the 

 process of degeneration has been carried on in other years. 



5. That the totemic clans and the exogamous classes were of 

 separate and different origin, and that in those cases in which some 

 particular animal or plant became the totem of, or was specially 



