TRANSITION FROM TRIBAL SOCIETY 281 



tain circumstances where game had become scarce, it was 

 discovered, at first by mere accident, that a less precari- 

 ous food supply could be secured by preserving various 

 animals and caring for their increase, rather than by de- 

 vouring at once the entire produce of the chase. "Do- 

 mestication of animals was a discovery of momentous 

 import, and with their multiplication first for food, then 

 for transport, and finally for clothing, protection and 

 pleasure, we have the conditions for the transition to the 

 pastoral stage. ' ' 8 The chief result of the domestication 

 of animals was assurance of a permanent food supply, 

 and henceforth man, in place of relying on natural pro- 

 duction, gorging himself in one season, starving in 

 another, was able to store his food supply into flocks and 

 herds, thereby securing a constant and abundant source 

 of flesh and milk. 9 Thus there was afforded an oppor- 

 tunity to accumulate wealth which stimulated the ambi- 

 tion of man to devote himself to activities other than 

 those of war and the chase. "In the pastoral life was 

 born the desire to multiply herds and herdsmen, and to 

 transmit property to sons." 10 Male children of the wife 

 by capture, proved an asset of considerable importance 

 to the strong man who had plundered his foe's herds. 

 Consequently there was an economic motive to reinforce 

 the social usage of wife capture and retain possession of 

 children. 



"Under these new conditions courage and vigor were 

 in demand, since the race had of necessity to be brave 

 in the defense of its wealth and aggressive against rob- 

 ber bands and carnivorous beasts. The inert and the 

 cowardly were killed, or as slaves received life in return 

 for labor. In this way developed a breed of masterly 



s Seligman, op. cit., p. 71. Dealey, op. cit. 10 Giddings, op. cit. 



