188 PROFESSIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 



666. While the medicine-man is distinctive of small 

 and undeveloped societies, the priest proper arises along 

 with social aggregation and the formation of established 

 government. In the preceding division of this work, Chap 

 ters III, IV, and Y, we saw that since originally propitiation 

 of the ghosts of parents and other members of each family 

 is carried on by relatives, implying that the priestly func 

 tion is at first generally diffused; and since this priestly 

 function presently devolves on the eldest male of the fam 

 ily; and since, when chieftainship becomes settled and in 

 heritable, the living chief makes sacrifices to the ghost of 

 the dead chief, and sometimes does this on behalf of the 

 people ; there so arises an official priest. And it results that 

 with enlargement of societies by union with subjugated 

 tribes and the spread of the chieftain s power, now grown 

 into royal power, over various subordinated groups, and the 

 accompanying establishment of deputy rulers in these 

 groups, who take with them the worship that arose in the 

 conquering tribe, there is initiated a priesthood which, grow 

 ing into a caste, becomes an agency for the dominant cult; 

 and, from causes already pointed out, develops into a seat 

 of culture in general. 



From part of this culture, having its origin in preceding 

 stages, comes greater knowledge of medicinal agents, which 

 gradually cease to be conceived as acting supernaturally. 

 Early civilizations show us the transition. Says Maspero of 

 the ancient Egyptians: 



&quot; The cure-workers are . . . divided into several categories. Some 

 incline towards sorcery, and have faith in formulas and talismans only 

 . . . Others extol the use of drugs; they study the qualities of plants 

 and minerals . . . and settle the exact time when they must be pro 

 cured and applied . . . The best doctors carefully avoid binding 

 themselves exclusively to either method . . . their treatment is a 

 mixture of remedies and exorcisms which vary from patient to patient. 

 They are usually priests.&quot; 



Along with this progress, there had gone on a differentia 

 tion of functions. Among the lower classes of the priest- 



