as a mixed
one; in general, however, it may be assumed that constant intercourse
with them revealed their great qualities and impressed on him the
necessity of securing their good will. This was especially true of those
of them that stood nearest to him and were of greatest importance for
his safety and convenience. These, invested with mystery by reason of
their power and their strangeness, were held in great respect as
quasi-gods, were approached with caution, and thus acquired the
character of sacredness. Gradually, as human society was better and
better organized, as conceptions of government became clearer, and as
the natures of the various animals were more closely studied, means were
devised of guarding against their anger and securing their friendship
and aid. Our earliest information of savage life reveals in every tribe
an inchoate pantheon of beasts. All the essential apparatus of public
religion is present in these communities in embryonic form--later
movements have had for their object merely to clarify ideas and refine
procedures.

+249+. The animals revered by a tribe are those of its vicinage, the
inhabitants of its hunting grounds. Some of these man uses as food, some
he fears. His relation to plains, mountains, forests, lakes, rivers, and
seas, influences his choice of sacred beasts. Usually there are many of
them, and the natural inference is that originally all animals are
sacred, and that gradually those most important for man are singled out
as objects of special regard.

+250+. Thus, to mention the principal of them: in Africa we find lion,
leopard, hyena, hippopotamus, crocodile, bull, ram, dog, cat, ape,
grasshopper; in Oceania, kangaroo, emu, pig, heron, owl, rail, eel,
cuttlefish; in Asia, lion, elephant, bear, horse, bull, dog, pig, eagle,
tiger, water wagtail, whale; in Europe, bear, wolf, horse, bull, goat,
swan; in America, whale, bear, wolf, fox, coyote, hare, opossum, deer,
monkey, tiger, beaver, turtle, eagle, raven, various fishes. The snake
seems to have been generally revered, though it was sometimes regarded
as hostile.[450] Since animals are largely valued as food, changes in
the animals specially honored follow on changes in economic organization
(hunting, pastoral, and agricultural stages).

+251+. Often animals are looked on as the abodes or incarnations of gods
or spirits: so various birds, fishes, and beasts in Polynesia (in Samoa
every man has a tutelary deity, which appea