RISE OF FATHERRIGHT 3 



right however is probably the earliest mode of reckoning 

 kin by descent. It may be said without fear of contradic- 

 tion that while no case is known where matrilineal 

 reckoning betrays evidence of having been preceded 

 by paternal descent, the converse has been observed in 

 every part of the world. Cases may exist of tribes 

 reckoning descent through the father in which no trace 

 remains of reckoning through the mother. The mere 

 existence of such cases is wholly insufficient to disprove 

 a prior stage of motherright, or even to shift the 

 burden of proof. We may admit that where the man 

 takes a wife from among her own kin and brings her 

 to reside with his, the local community which results 

 is in effect a patrilineal kin, if the children continue 

 with the parents. This custom, where it has obtained, 

 has doubtless been one of the causes contributing to 

 the rise of fatherright. But it is by no means 

 universal ; that it is primitive has never been shown ; 

 and it is usually found qualified with customs and 

 institutions logically inconsistent with fatherright. 

 Nor is it sufficient of itself to displace the reckoning 

 of kinship through the mother. In fact, it is found so 

 frequently combined with matrilineal reckoning that 

 even anthropologists who reject the prior claims of 

 paternal descent have often assumed it to be the original 

 form of society and have been greatly embarrassed 

 thereby in their attempts to account for motherright. 



A brief consideration of some of the stages through 

 which the relations of the sexes have passed will, it 

 is hoped, throw light on the derivation of patrilineal 

 reckoning. Our inquiry will be limited to those more 

 or less permanent relations recognised by law or 

 custom and entailing rights and duties, however feeble 



