OF THE HUMAN FAMILY. (jl 



The second collateral line male on the father's side runs as follows : Paternal 

 uncle, son of paternal uncle, and son of son of paternal uncle. Another, and perhaps 

 more common form, is the following: Paternal uncle, cousin, son of cousin, and 

 son of son of cousin. The other branches of this line show the same forms with cor- 

 responding changes of terms. 



Assuming that the Finn system was originally purely descriptive, it will be seen 

 that it has developed in the precise direction of the Roman form and of the forms 

 among some other Aryan nations. In this respect the comparison is instructive, as it 

 tends to show: first, that however simple the ideas may be which express the connec- 

 tion of consanguinci, they serve to organize a family upon the bond itself, and thus 

 assume the form of a domestic institution ; secondly, that it is extremely difficult 

 to change essentially an established system, whether descriptive or classificatory ; 

 thirdly, that the inconvenience of the descriptive form tends to suggest the use of 

 the common terms found in the Finn, and English as well, which arise out of the 

 system by logical development; and lastly, that the direction this development 

 would take was predetermined by the logical trend of the ideas embodied in the 

 system. The phrase " father's brother" describes a person, but it also implies, as 

 elsewhere remarked, a bond of connection between that person and myself, which 

 is real and tangible. When the idea suggested by the phrase found a new birth 

 in patruus or seta, these terms superseded the former, and became the living 

 embodiment of the idea itself. It was not so much an overthrow of the descrip- 

 tive method as the realization of the conception it suggested in an improved as \vell 

 as concrete form. Centuries of time may have elapsed before this much of advance 

 was made. Having thus gained the relationship of paternal uncle, the Finns could 

 say, setani polled, " son of my paternal uncle," instead of " son of my father's 

 brother," which is slightly more convenient. The same remarks apply to the rela- 

 tionships of nephew and cousin. 



The third collateral line gives the following series: Paternal uncle of my father, 

 son of paternal uncle of my father, and son of son of the same ; or, in another form, 

 brother of my great father, cousin of my father, and son of cousin of my father. The 

 relatives of Ego in the remaining branches of this line are designated in a similar 

 manner. 



The marriage relationships are quite fully discriminated. There are special 

 terms for husband and wife, father-in-law, and mother-in-law, son-in-law and 

 daughter-in-law ; and also three different terms for the several brothers-in-law, and 

 two for the several sisters-in-law. Its nomenclature, therefore, is nearly equal to 

 the Roman. Fulness in the discrimination of the marriage relationships is also a 

 characteristic of the Turanian system. 



There are but five generalizations in the system of relationship of the Finns. 

 First, the several brothers of a father are generalized into a class, and the term 

 seta, parental uncle, is used to express the relationship ; secondly, the several 

 brothers of the mother of Ego are generalized into another class, and a different 

 term, eno, maternal uncle, is employed to distinguish it from the former ; thirdly, 

 the several sisters of his father and mother are generalized into a class, and a com- 

 mon term, idle, aunt, is used to indicate the relationship ; fourthly, the sons of the 



