258 PRIMITIVE PATERNITY 



Among the Samoyeds early marriages were formerly 

 very common. A bride-price was paid, and girls were 

 disposed of often as young as six or seven years, in 

 order that the bridegroom might be sure of his bride's 

 virginity. 1 A similar reason is given by Plutarch in 

 his comparison of Numa and Lycurgus for the Roman 

 fathers' practice of giving their daughters in marriage 

 at the age of twelve or under. But in early times 

 Roman brides were probably taken much younger than 

 that. As a juridical writer has pointed out, a con- 

 sideration of the regulations for the profession of 

 vestal virgins leads to the conclusion that Roman girls 

 were taken as brides as young as six years of age. 

 Numa's traditional legislation raised the age to the 

 twelfth year ; but seeing that the year at that time 

 numbered only ten months, even that legislation 

 legalised marriage in the bride's tenth year. It is of 

 course possible that consummation was postponed ; 

 but was it always postponed until after puberty ? 2 We 

 may note that even down to the Reformation and 

 later girls were sometimes married before puberty. 

 Illustrations are to be found in all collections of 

 European laws and all literatures. 



Passing to the East Indian Islands, we are told 

 that in the Dutch possessions long before maturity 

 children indulge in sexual intercourse, and it is by no 

 means uncommon for brother and sister to commit 

 incest at five or six years old. 3 On the island of 



1 Kahle, Zeits. des. Vereins^ xi. 442, citing de la Martiniere, a 

 traveller of the seventeenth century. It does not appear that 

 consummation immediately followed; but it probably took place 

 before maturity. 



2 S. Brassloff, Zeits. vergl Rechtsw. xxii. 144. 



8 Ploss, Weib> i. 301, citing vaguely van der Burg. 



