writing this, while staying in the country, I have had an
opportunity of watching these bands of female turkeys with their
young. Their fear at the approach of the strutting noisy male is very
manifest. On such occasions they at once seek shelter. I once saw them
fly into a church. The females invariably keep together. I have never
seen a single mother with her young.

[90] Letourneau, _Evolution of Marriage_, chapter on the "Family among
Animals," pp. 29-34, from which these cases are taken.

[91] Epinas, _Soc. animales_, p. 443. In this connection I may mention
the fact that in Southern Spain, where the women are noted for their
love of their children, I have often seen mothers sitting at their
doors for several hours, extracting lice from the heads and bodies of
their children. I once saw a beautiful _flamenca_ (Sevillian gipsy)
performing this task for her lover.

[92] Letourneau, _Evolution of Marriage_, p. 32.

[93] Darwin, _Descent of Man_, p. 399.

[94] _Ibid._, p. 234.

[95] _Ibid._, p. 455.

[96] J.G. Millais, _Natural History of British Ducks_, pp. 8, 13.

PART II

HISTORICAL SECTION

CONTENTS OF CHAPTER VI

THE MOTHER-AGE CIVILISATION

I.--_Progress from Lower to Higher Forms of the Family Relationship_

Primitive human love--The same domination of sex-needs in man as
among the animals--Different conditions of
expression--Acquisition of a new element--The individuation of
love--Sex uninterruptedly interesting--The human need for
sexual variety--The personal end of passion--Primitive
sex-customs and forms of marriage--Superabundance of
evidence--An attempt to group the periods to be considered--An
early period in which man developed from his ape-like
ancestors--Illustrations from primitive savages--First
formation of tribal groups--Second period--Mother-descent and
mother-rights--The position of women--The importance of this
early matriarchate--The transitional period from mother-right
to father-right--The assertion of the male force in the person
of the woman's brother--This alien position of the husband and
father--The formation of the patriarchal family--The change a
gradual one and dependent upon property--Civilisation started
with the woman as the dominant partner--Traces of
mother-descent found in all parts of the world--Evidence of
folk-lore as legends--Examples of