TABOO AND GENETICS 121 



of her a mysterious being. Her fertility could 

 be explained only on the basis of her possession 

 of an unusually large amount of mana or creative 

 force, or by the theory of impregnation by 

 demonic powers. As a matter of fact, both 

 explanations were accepted by primitive peoples, 

 so that woman was regarded not only as imbued 

 with mana but also as being in direct contact 

 with spirits. Many of the devices for closing 

 the reproductive organs which abounded among 

 savage tribes were imposed as a protection 

 against spirits rather than against the males 

 of the human species. The tradition of impreg- 

 nation by gods or demons was not confined to 

 savage tribes, but was wide-spread in the days 

 of Greece and Rome and lasted into biblical 

 times, when we read of the sons of heaven having 

 intercourse with the daughters of men. 



In addition to this fear of the woman as in 

 possession of and in league with supernatural 

 powers, there was an additional motive to 

 avoidance in the fear of transmission of her 

 weakness through contact, a fear based on a 

 beHef in sympathetic magic, and believed with 

 all the " intensely reahzed, living, and operative 

 assurance " of which the untutored mind is 

 capable. Crawley masses an overwhelming 

 amount of data on this point, and both he and 

 Frazer show the strength of these behefs. 

 Indeed, in many cases violation proved to be 



