ADMINISTRATIVE RKI'ORT LXTX 



of society they are rooted in ili\inatioii or the universal long-ing 

 of niiinkiiul to know the causes of thing's and how effects may 

 be controlled. In savagery men play for effects and control 

 the causes, as they suppose, by necromantic figaires which they 

 carve or paint upon the pieces of the game. Thus, they try to 

 win by sorcery. In later stages of culture the sorcery to a 

 greater or less extent is abandoned and skill is recognized as 

 the true cause, but there yet remains an element of chance. 

 With primal man chance and sorcery are the elements of all 

 games, wliilc with civilized man chance and skill are its 

 elements. 



There is a secondary though potent motive in games which 

 inheres in the desire to take advantage for individual profit. 

 For this reason gaming is as universal among tribal men as 

 gambling, and it is common among civilized men. 



I have witnessed these games of sorcery among' the aboriginal 

 tribes of North America, and have seen groups of men or women 

 wager their ornaments and all their personal goods, even to 

 their articles of clothing, until their bodies were nude. As the 

 game proceeds, tlie villagers gathei' abovit and comment on the 

 incidents of the game, and reconuuend a variety of necromantic 

 feats, which tliey suppose will l)ring luck to their friends. 

 Sometimes the play does not stop foi- refreshment or sleep 

 until one or the other of the parties have lost all, yet will the 

 play proceed with hilarity and end with a feast and a re\elry 

 of intoxication. 1 have heard that civilized men gamble with 

 the same assiduity. 



Hunting and fishing are primeval industries, by which wild- 

 wood men obtain no small portion of their food. To some 

 extent, in civilized society, they still remain as industries. In 

 fact, fishing is yet a fundamental industry. But hunting and 

 fishing are now games, and the fruit of the play is called game. 

 Although these activities are often called sports, in science we 

 must call them games, as for success they depend on elements 

 of chance and skill, and the real gamester or sportsman looks 

 with some degree of contempt on the man who hunts or fishes 

 for food. 



