230 Morgans Great Achievement. 



through precisely the same stages of develop 

 ment, either in general or, still less, in the details 

 of their social institutions. This is the TT/HWTOZ/ 

 iJreOSo? of the theory before us. And not only 

 does this baseless assumption determine the ini 

 tial stage of the theory, it colors it from begin 

 ning to end. 



Nevertheless, it is not possible to deny the 

 value of the facts collected by Morgan. It was, 

 indeed, a stupendous achievement to tabulate and 

 explain the systems of consanguinity and affinity 

 of one hundred and thirty -nine tribes and nations, 

 representing, numerically, four-fifths of the en 

 tire human family. And, in the comparative 

 study of institutions, the facts, if rightly under 

 stood, are of vital significance. They become 

 misleading only when, apart from history, they 

 are supposed to tell us anything about the order 

 of development of human institutions. Even if 

 it were granted that Morgan s &quot; conjectural solu 

 tion &quot; of the facts is correct, and that the several 

 systems of consanguinity really imply the correl 

 ative existence of several forms of the family, it 

 would have to be conceded that there is no evi 

 dence of the whole human family having passed 

 successively through all these stages, or, indeed, of 

 any very necessary connection between the stages 



