COURTSHIP IN MAN 33 



behind her, which she does by bending her back and 

 catching up the article with her lips. She has also 

 to pass her examination in the ritual dances. Should 

 she succeed in all such tests, her mother will clap her 

 hands and say, "My daughter is good;" but if she 

 fails, she is beaten. After all such ordeals are safely 

 overcome, the girl is taken into the tribe as a full- 

 grown woman, with all the rights and duties of that 

 station. 



The recurrent periods of menstruation are marked 

 by seclusion; for primitive folk look upon menstrua- 

 tion as " taboo," that is, a supernatural, uncanny 

 phenomenon which has to be guarded against. The 

 natural physical cause of the bleeding being unknown, 

 it is often attributed to the bite of a snake or other 

 reptile, or to evil spirits which have to be exorcised. 

 The belief in the unnaturalness of menstruation has 

 led to a great many superstitions, some of which 

 persist even nowadays. Thus a woman during 

 her period must refrain from many duties which 

 otherwise fall to her lot. She must not sow seed, or 

 the corn will wither; she must not bake bread, as it 

 will go sour; she must not churn milk and make 

 butter, for fear of its turning; and she must not at 

 any cost come near men going out to the hunt or to 

 battle, for fear of ill-luck pursuing them. Some of 

 these superstitions are not yet extinct, even among 

 so-called advanced people ; for the stigma of impurity 

 or unholiness during this period still lingers on. Thus 

 even now she is sometimes told not to water plants 

 or make pickles. There is also a general dread of 

 women taking a bath during menstruation, though 

 medical evidence shows that washing and bathing 



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