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-rest in the tropics ; of life and death in the cold and 
temperate zones ; of barrenness and fertility in certain 
periodically irrigated deserts—exhibits a regularity and 
‘system, a dependence on causes and motives, which 
‘seem to be almost within the control of man, yet from 
time to time so baffling to all his endeavours as to keep 
his interests, hopes, and fears constantly alive. On 
is borderland, where man’s self-sufficiency utterly 
is him, yet where he perceives a clear order ; on this 
ay so vital to himself and so clearly subject to the 
play of some extraneous regularities or wills, here the 
ideas of magic and religion, always a cross-breed of 
‘reflection and emotion, flourish most abundantly. 
Especially where man begins actively to shape the 
forces of Nature in agriculture, magic ranges itself side 
by side with technical efforts and becomes a controlling 
factor of immense importance. 
_ It would be natural to expect, therefore, that among 
savages there exists public magic of fertility, and that, 
on the sociological side, this leads to the early forms of 
ieftainship and kingship, while on the side of belief it 
leads to important developments of ritual and cult. 
Here we touch on the sociological aspect of Frazer’s 
‘theories of early magic. He clearly recognises the 
existence of a special class, who, by their magical 
‘knowledge, can acquire social importance : “ the public 
Magician occupies a position of great influence, from 
which, if he is a prudent and able man, he may advance 
step by step to the rank of a chief or king.” The 
author further proceeds to show how very important 
ese specialised magicians are, both in that they per- 
form their services for the whole community, thus 
forming an integrating power, and also in that they are 
the first examples in the evolution of mankind of 
specialists freed from the ordinary burdens and occupa- 
tions of their fellow-tribesmen, and able to devote 
themselves to one pursuit. The evidence which Sir 
James is able to adduce in support of his theory of 
public magic and of its sociological importance is great, 
but not quite adequate to substantiate all his theories. 
Thus, among the forms of public magic, Sir James can 
find examples only by referring to sunshine, rain, and 
weather. Even this material does not allow him to 
demonstrate in detail how political power and social 
influence arise from the exercise of the magical functions. 
We are led to inquire: If vegetable and fertility rites 
are so important, how is it that there are no depart- 
mental magicians of agriculture on record ? Why does 
the public magician only control the conditions of 
fertility and not fertility itself? How can magical 
influence grow into political power? These questions 
seem at first sight to qualify and invalidate Frazer’s 
theories of early kingship and magic. Yet here again, 
NO. 2794, VOL. I11] 
NATURE 



recent results of field-work among primitive people 
allow us to settle these doubts and cavils in a manner 
once more triumphant for the book, which shows itself 
to have been ahead of the material at the author’s 
disposal. 
In ethnographical researches done among some Papuo- 
Melanesian tribes of Eastern New Guinea, I found 
myself at once in the thick of a social and psychological 
situation such as is postulated by the Golden Bough. 
The office of the chief coincides there with that of the 
public magician. To the control of rain and sunshine 
the chief owes an enormous proportion of his executive 
power, which he uses to strengthen his position and to 
enforce his general will. A faithful disciple of the 
Golden Bough, I turned my attention to the institu- 
tions associated with agriculture. Then gradually I 
began to see that Frazer’s theories of the sociologies of 
magic, of the réle of the public magician, of the depart- 
mental control of natural forces, rested on much more 
solid foundations than he himself had been able to 
realise with the material in hand, and that this can be 
demonstrated on the book’s own territory, that of vege- 
table cults. For not only do there exist in these tribes 
departmental magical rites of fertility, not only are 
they the most important ones, ranking even before the 
weather rites and always carried out by the chief, but 
also we can study there the sociological mechanism by 
which the garden magician obtains his political power. 
In each community we find a garden magician, who 
performs his ritual for public benefit. These functions 
are always vested in the headman of the community. 
In yillages which are capitals of a district and governed 
by a chief, he himself carries out the magic of vegetation. 
In this rdle, the headman or chief commands not only 
a high respect, as the man who has in his hands the 
forces of fertility and who knows how to tap them, but 
he also takes an actual lead in the practical pursuits 
accompanied by the magic. For the magical ritual is 
intimately bound up with the technical activities. It 
imposes a regularity in time, and compels people to 
work in order and in organised groups. This refers to 
several forms of public magic, such as canoe-building, 
fishing, and overseas expeditions, but most conspicu- 
ously to garden magic. In this, the magician controls 
the work of the whole community during the course of 
the year, gives the initiative to the various stages, has 
the right of reprimand and punishment, is regarded as 
the man responsible for success and failure, and receives 
tributes from his fellow-villagers. 
Here again we see that, starting from one of those 
theories of the Golden Bough which go far ahead of 
the available evidence, field-work reaches interesting 
and important discoveries. In this case it leads to the 
study of primitive economics, a chapter very much 
UI 
