Magic Science and Religion 29 



The second question then opens : Can this primitive know- 

 ledge be regarded as a rudimentary form of science or is it, on the 

 contrary, radically different, a crude empiry, a body of practical 

 and technical abilities, rules of thumb and rules of art having no 

 theoretical value ? This second question, epistemological rather 

 than belonging to the study of man, will be barely touched upon 

 at the end of this section and a tentative answer only will be given. 



In dealing with the first question, we shall have to examine 

 the " profane " side of life, the arts, crafts and economic pursuits, 

 and we shall attempt to disentangle in it a type of behaviour, 

 clearly marked off from magic and religion, based on empirical 

 knowledge and on the confidence in logic. We shall try to find 

 whether the lines of such behaviour are defined by traditional 

 rules, known, perhaps even discussed sometimes, and tested. We 

 shall have to inquire whether the sociological setting of the 

 rational and empirical behaviour differs from that of ritual and cult. 

 Above all we shall ask, do the natives distinguish the two domains 

 and keep them apart, or is the field of knowledge constantly 

 swamped by superstition, ritualism, magic or religion ? 



Since in the matter under discussion there is an appalling lack 

 of relevant and reliable observations, I shall have largely to draw 

 upon my own material, mostly unpublished, collected during a few 

 years' field-work, among the Melanesian and Papuo-Melanesian 

 tribes of Eastern New Guinea and the surrounding archipelagoes. 

 As the Melanesians are reputed, however, to be specially magic- 

 ridden, they will furnish an acid test of the existence of empirical 

 and rational knowledge among savages living in the age of polished 

 stone. 



These natives, and I am speaking mainly of the Melanesians 

 who inhabit the coral atolls to the N.E of the main island, the 

 Trobriand Archipelago and the adjoining groups, are expert 

 fishermen, industrious manufacturers and traders, but they rely 

 mainly on gardening for their subsistence. With the most 

 rudimentary implements, a pointed digging-stick and a small axe, 

 they are able to raise crops sufficient to maintain a dense population 

 and even yielding a surplus, which in olden days was allowed to 

 rot unconsumed, and which at present is exported to feed planta- 

 tion hands. The success in their agriculture depends — besides 

 the excellent natural conditions with which they are favoured — 

 upon their extensive knowledge of the classes of the soil, of the 



