68 SEX-LORE 



We have just seen that certain groups of men are 

 allowed to marry only certain groups of women. 

 Now we frequently find that certain tribes altogether 

 forbid marriages within their own body, only per- 

 mitting a choice of mates from among other tribes. 

 This is called exogamy, and is supposed to have arisen 

 from the custom of wife-capture, which has ultimately 

 grown into a social law. On the other hand, it is 

 thought that exogamy is due to the desire of pre- 

 venting intermarriage between near kin, which is 

 considered harmful. 



Opposed to exogamy is the custom of endogamy, 

 which enjoins marriage only within the tribe. It 

 generally prevails among more peaceful tribes that 

 have no means of obtaining women outside the clan. 

 We see it, however, restricted to smaller groups 

 within the clan, when it seems to have the purpose of 

 keeping pure the various castes or classes. This 

 system is in vogue in India, where most elaborate 

 and rigid rules exist forbidding marriage outside the 

 caste. In ancient times, there was a barrier to the 

 intermarriage of slave or serf with free man or 

 woman; and the feeling of a class barrier has by no 

 means yet died out completely. 



2. PATRIARCHATE. 



The patriarchate is the earliest marriage system oi 

 which we have definite authentic records in the history 

 of the nations. Thus it is found to have existed 

 among all the ancient peoples that have been the 

 precursors of modern civilization. We need only 

 mention the patriarchs of the Bible. The patriar- 

 chate implies, in the first instance, the appropriation 



