742 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXIX. No. 749 



either before or after marriage, is the exception 

 among primitive peoples, who attempt not only to 

 regulate by complicated and rigorous marriage 

 systems the sexual desires of those who are com- 

 petent to marry, but actually to prevent any 

 intercourse at all of those who are not fully ini- 

 tiated members of the community (p. 1). 



As men's houses, or as survivals thereof are 

 cited the eramo of New Guinea, the Dyak 

 pangah, the Formosan palanglcan, the Dravid- 

 ian (Oraon) dhiimhuria, the Naga morang, 

 the Polynesian marae, the Bechuana hhotla, 

 the Unyamwezi iwanza, the Bororo (Brazil) 

 haitOj the Puehlo hiva^ the Hupa taikyuw, the 

 Eskimo kashim, etc., but the unitary origin 

 and service of all these is by no means 

 demonstrated. According to Dr. Webster, 

 "the presence in a primitive community of 

 the men's house in any one of its numerous 

 forms points strongly to the existence, now, 

 or in the past, of secret initiation ceremonies." 

 With some tribes the men's house " is used as 

 the center of the puberty initiation cere- 

 monies," and, "with the development of 

 secret societies, replacing the earlier tribal 

 puberty institutions, the men's house fre- 

 quently becomes the seat of these organiza- 

 tions and forms the secret ' lodge.' " The 

 men's house thus "serves a general purpose 

 as the center of the civil, religious and social 

 life of the tribe, and a special purpose as the 

 abode of unmarried males." The first secret 

 society is thus a "clan," which excludes 

 women and boys. Next comes, apparently, 

 the "puberty institution" with other sub- 

 divisions based on age and the recognition of 

 its value to the community. Here the elders 

 are in control and secret rites for the initia- 

 tion of young men, their subjection to ordeals, 

 and instruction in tribal wisdom and obedi- 

 ence (often in long periods of seclusion) ap- 

 pear to be "the characteristically social 

 feature' of primitive life," and " these myster- 

 ies, as the most conservative of primitive 

 customs, provide an effective means of social 

 control." These initiation ceremonies are 

 tribal and communal machinery organized 

 and conducted by the elders which can no 

 longer operate when obedience to the tribes 

 is replaced by obedience to the chief, and 



" initiation ceremonies, such as have been 

 studied, retain their democratic and tribal as- 

 pects only in societies which have not yet 

 emerged from that primitive stage in which 

 all social control is in the hands of the tribal 

 elders " (p. 75) . And, " with increasing so- 

 cial progress, the powers of control are 

 gradually shifted from the elders to the chiefs,, 

 and tribal societies charged with important 

 political and judicial functions arise on the 

 basis of the original puberty organizations." 

 The new order of things brings with it 

 limited membership, " degrees," " lodges,"' 

 elaborate paraphernalia of mystery, etc. 

 Secret societies may now " represent the most 

 primitive movement towards the establish- 

 ment of law and order," or may " embody the 

 inner religious life of the tribe " and gather 

 strength " from the pretended association of 

 their members with the spirits and ghosts of 

 the dead." Tribal secret societies arising 

 through " a process of gradual shrinkage of 

 the original puberty institution, in which,, 

 after initiation, all men of the tribe are 

 members," often survive as " organizations of 

 priests and shamans, in whose charge are thfr 

 various dramatic and magical rites of the 

 tribe" (p. 135). In connection with his argu- 

 ment at this point Professor Webster holds 

 that " among the northwest tribes (of Ameri- 

 can Indians) the clan organization is in de- 

 cay and secret fraternities in initial stages of 

 development," and " among the tribes of the 

 southwest the totemic clans have broken down 

 to be replaced by numerous and well-developed 

 magical fraternities," both statements open to 

 serious objections, as to fact and also as to 

 theory. In the rites of these magical fra- 

 ternities too many " survivals of primitive 

 puberty rites " are seen by the author ; and' 

 the diffusion of such rites is perhaps not so. 

 extensive as he believes. The list of tribes 

 possessing no puberty rites and, consequently, 

 none of the social paraphernalia held to be- 

 developed from them would be of interest 

 here. It is quite evident that even in primi- 

 tive society there is something more than 

 sex. It would be worth while knowing, as a 

 contrast to the " men's house," how wide- 

 spread and how "primitive," e. g., is the- 



