TABOO AND GENETICS 117 



against the inclusiveness of the concepts of 

 Dr. Frazer and of MM. Hubert and Mauss. 

 He says : "It is difficult to conceive of sym- 

 pathy, and sympathy only, as the continuous, 

 or even the originally efficient cause of the 

 avoidance." Mr Crawley had called attention 

 to the fact that savages fear womanly character- 

 istics, that is, effeminacy, which is identified 

 with weakness. While noting with great psycho- 

 logical insight the presence of other factors, such 

 as the dislike of the different, he had gone so far 

 as to express the opinion that the fear of effem- 

 inacy was probably the chief factor in the Sex 

 Taboo. This is probably the weakest point 

 in Mr. Crawley's study, for he shows so clearly 

 the presence of other elements, notably mystery, 

 the element that made woman the potential 

 witch against whom suspicion concentrated in so 

 tragical a fashion up to a late historical period. 

 Because of the element of mystery present in 

 taboo we are led to conclude that taboo is more 

 than negative magic if we accept so definite a 

 concept as " a false association of ideas." The 

 presence of power in the tabooed object turns 

 our attention to mana as giving us a better 

 understanding of why man must be wary. Mana 

 must however be liberally interpreted if we are 

 to see to the bottom of the mystery. It must 

 be thought of as including good as well as evil 

 power, as more than the " black magic " of the 



