dge._ Washington, 1848 etc. 4^o.

54. SPENCER, B. and GILLEN, F.J., _Native Tribes of Central
Australasia._ London, 1898, 8^o.

55. SPENCER, B. and GILLEN, F.J., _Northern Tribes of Central
Australia._ London, 1904, 8^o.

56. STOKES, J.L., _Discoveries in Australia._ 2 vols., London, 1846, 8^o.

57. TAPLIN, G., _Folklore, Manners, Customs and Language of the South
Australian Aborigines._ Adelaide, 1878, 8^o.

58. _Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of South
Australia._ Adelaide, 1878 etc., 8^o.

59. VAN GENNEP, A., _Mythes et Legendes._ Paris, 1906, 8^o.

60. _West Australian._ Perth, 1886 etc., fol.

61. WESTERMARCK, E., _History of Human Marriage._ 3rd Edition, London,
1901, 8^o.

62. _Wiener Medicinische Wochenschrift._ Vienna, 1851 etc., 4^o.

63. WILSON, T.B., _Narrative of a Voyage round the World._ London, 1835,
8^o.

64. _Zeitschrift fur vergleichende Rechtswissenschaft._ Stuttgart, 1878
etc., 8^o.

INDEX TO ABBREVIATIONS.

_Allg. Miss. Zts._, 1
_Am. Anth._, 2
_Am. Phil. Soc._, 44
_Ann. Soc._, 3
_Aust. Ass. Adv. Sci._, 45
_Col. Mag._, 8
_C.T._, 54
_Ethn. Notes_, 35
_Fort. Rev._, 14
_J.A.I._, 23
_J.R.G.S._, 24
_J.R.S.N.S.W._, 25
_J.R.S. Vict._, 48
_Nat. Tr._, 54
_Nor. Tr._, 55
_N.Q. Ethn. Bull._, 6
_N.T._, 21
_Proc. Am. Phil. Soc._, 44
_Proc. R.G.S. Qn._, 46
_Proc. R.S. Vict._, 48
_R.G.S. Qn._, 47
_Sci. Man_, 52
_T.R.S.S.A._, 58
_West. Aust._, 60
_Zts. vgl. Rechtsw._, 64

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTORY.

Social organisation. Associations in the lower stages of culture.
Consanguinity and Kinship. The Tribe. Kinship groups; totem kins;
phratries.

The passage from what is commonly termed savagery through barbarism to
civilisation is marked by a change in the character of the associations
which are almost everywhere a feature of human society. In the lower
stages of culture, save among peoples whose organisation has perished
under the pressure of foreign invasion or other external influences, man
is found grouped into totem kins, intermarrying classes and similar
organised bodies, and one of their most important characteristics is
that membership of them depends on birth, not on the choice of the
individual. In modern society, on the other hand, associations of this
sort have entirely disappeared and man is grouped in voluntary
societies, membership of which depends on his own choice.