260 REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE, ETC. 
totemism existed, but the instances given scarcely seem supported by 
sufficient evidence, though there seems reason to believe that the Ainu are 
totemic. The fortunate discovery by Dr. Munro of a secret girdle worn 
by all Ainu women which no man is allowed to see, has provided a clue to 
positive knowledge of clan organisation and perhaps acceptable evidence 
for totemism. 
While discussing magical measures against epidemic invasion, an ekashi, 
Rennuikesh, said that women, by waving their girdles, could restrain pakkoro 
kamui (demons of pestilence), conflagrations, and even tidal waves. He 
called these girdles upsoro tush, bosom or secret cord, and further inquiry 
revealed the fact that although he had never seen one it was stated in upash- 
koma (sacred traditions) that each kind of girdle was the gift of a special 
Ramuti (god, spirit), whence its magic potency. ‘I then recalled that when 
my house was burnt out last year a distant group of women, dimly lighted by 
the blazing house, were waving their arms to chase the wen kamut from the 
village. Suspecting that they were then waving their girdles, I found that 
every Ainu woman here wears one. Cordial relations established through 
medical treatment of children and urgent cases, combined with gentle 
persuasion, gradually elicited frank information. I even obtained two speci- 
mens and had copies made in my house singly by women, and these were 
compared with a sufficient number of originals to make sure that they were 
faithful copies. To make a long story short, my investigation in this 
direction has been verified by genealogical records containing over 250 
names. ‘These genealogies, selected from a total of over 400 names because 
they contain some infringements of the still operative prohibitions against 
incestuous marriage, have been sent to Prof. Seligman, who taught me the 
application of the genealogical method in elucidating social relations.’ 
Before stating the main conclusions derived from these genealogies, some 
further information concerning the girdle must be given.. The usual and 
more polite term for this is wpsoro kut, ‘ secret belt or girdle.’ In ancient 
traditions it is called a-eshimukep, or honourable (esteemed, revered) hidden 
thing. Each Ainu woman cherishes the belief that the length of cord is an 
invariable measure of identity given by a particular deity to a remote 
ancestress. Comparative measurements, however, show some difference 
between the lengths of cord attributed to one kamui. This is only what 
one would expect, seeing that an arm’s length is the standard. Ainu 
women, too, do not discuss their kut between each other, and rarely see 
another kut outside of the family. Their confidence, therefore, is unabated, 
all emphatically declaring that the length and pattern are completely identical. 
The varieties examined up to date are attributed to : (1) Kamui Fuchi, who 
is generally recognised as authorising other Ramui to bestow it; (2) Kim- 
un kamui, a female bear, who, taking human form, married an Ainu ; 
(3) Horokei kamui, wolf—female, of course, like the others ; (4) Rep-un kamut, 
in all probability a grampus, chief sea deity, whose sister married an Ainu ; 
(5) Isepo-kamui, the hare, given tentatively as insufficiently investigated. 
Others heard of, but not seen, are the fox and deer. 
Dr. Munro arrives at the following conclusions, combining the criterion 
of the upsoro kut with results obtained by the genealogical method. He 
considers these two lines of evidence so mutually confirmatory as to render 
his conclusions quite definite. 
(1) It was forbidden to marry anyone of the same upsoro kut, the objective 
criterion of the clan. For those daring to infringe this prohibition the 
penalty was formerly death. Later it was mitigated to a fine, with com- 
pulsory alteration in the kut, apparently by reducing the number of folds © 
in the cord, i.e., shortening the length of the distinctive line. Now, under 
