MOTHER-AGE CIVILISATION 99 



of the primitive Aryan, is to give up an epoch of woman's 

 predominance. 



Now I fancy that the philologists, however much they 

 may believe their conclusions to flow from the principles 

 of their science, have really adopted their interpretations 

 because they fitted in with an erroneous anthropological 

 conception, widely current when philology was in its in- 

 fancy, namely, that human civilisation arose with a fully 

 developed patriarchal system. This idea, shared by the 

 Grimms, and not a real science of language, has, I venture 

 to think, been the keynote to the philologists' interpreta- 

 tion of the Aryan words of relationship. They sought 

 to confirm a social system they had adopted on ex- 

 traneous grounds, and they evolved a delightful picture 

 of a primitive Aryan family, coloured by their acquaint- 

 ance with the Roman patriot, potestas and with the 

 Hebrew feeders of flocks. A little further investigation 

 might have shown them that Hebrew and Roman were 

 not general types but exceptions amid the populations 

 which surrounded them. 



In fact, philological interpretations appear to me to 

 neglect a sound anthropological principle, which I will 

 ask the reader of this essay to bear in mind throughout 

 the perusal of it, namely : For the primitive human being 

 the chief motives to action are the desire for food and the 

 instinct of sex. Hence the meanings of the early words 

 for relationship must be sought in the sex-functions of 

 their bearers the most primitive of all ideas and 

 not in their domestic or tribal occupations. 1 



1 It is instructive to note how very large a part of the specific cries of 

 animals have relation to the same motives. 



