504 GENERAL BIOLOGY 



ferocious beasts in the belief that thus he assumed their 

 powers. His imagination peopled the world with spirits; 

 mostly evil ones, with fearful powers for harm, demanding 

 to be propitiated by sacrifices, offerings or worship, or con- 

 trolled by magic. These spirits might enter into human bodies, 

 producing demoniacal possession, witchcraft, disease, or 

 death. This, in brief, is animism. It appears to have been 

 the earliest form of both philosophy and religion of all 

 savage tribes. It has practically no moral purpose or 

 effect. It appeals mainly to men's fears; for although it 

 peoples the world with both good and evil spirits, the evil 

 ones are mainly worshipped, because fear is a more powerful 

 emotion than reverence. 



Some of the specialized manifestations of animism are, 

 i) Spiritism, the belief in the existence of free spirits: 

 ghosts, etc. 2) Fetichism, the belief that the spirit resides 

 in an object, which then becomes a fetish, and is treasured 

 for the magic power it possesses; charms, etc., such as the 

 rabbit's foot, the old horse-shoe, and the four-leaved clover. 

 3) Magic, the belief that the spirit is controlled (or that some 

 supernatural result is wrought) through the performance of 

 some act. 4) Ancestor worship, the belief in the presence 

 and supernatural power of the good spirits of dead ancestors, 

 etc. A little study of the harmless survivals (psychic ves- 

 tigial relicta) of these things should be convincing that 

 animism has left its permanent records with us, and that 

 these records are of interest and value as landmarks of 

 an evolving culture. 



Study 64. The survivals of animism in our own times. 



The materials for this study will be furnished out of our 

 experience, and out of the behavior of the people we have 

 known. Illustrations of fetishism and of magic will be most 

 available. A dozen or more examples of each of these 



