tudies. The author has collected a great number of
observations in order to avoid erroneous conclusions. He warns the
reader against a hasty generalization, which attributes without proof
certain customs of living savage tribes to our primitive ancestors.

ORIGIN OF MARRIAGE

In the previous chapter we have considered the phylogeny of love in
general. We have seen that some of the lower animals, such as the ants
and bees, give evidence of an instinctive social altruism much greater
than that of man, while other animals, such as birds, are superior to
us as regards monogamous conjugal fidelity. But it is a question here
of analogies due to phenomena of convergence, and these animals are of
interest to us only as remote objects of comparison.

As regards marriage in primitive man, we can only compare ourselves
with the living animals most closely allied to us, viz. the
_anthropoid apes_.

In most mammals, marriage (if we may give this name to their sexual
union) is only of very short duration, depending on the time necessary
for the procreation of a single brood of young. After copulation the
male generally pays little attention to the female, beyond protecting
her for a certain time. In the anthropoid apes (orang-utan,
chimpanzee, gorilla and gibbon) however, we find monogamous marriage
and the institution of family life. The male protects the female and
the young, and the latter are often of different ages, showing the
existence of conjugal fidelity extending beyond one birth. While the
female and the young remain in their nest, perched on a tree, the male
takes his place at the foot of the tree and watches over the safety of
the family.

According to Westermark this was probably the same in primitive man.
Formed by the father, the mother and the children, the family was in
primitive man a general institution, based on monogamy, polygamy or
polyandry. The wife looked after the children, and the husband
protected the family. No doubt, the husband was not particularly
anxious for the welfare of his wife and children, but concerned
himself chiefly in the satisfaction of his sexual appetite and his
pride. He was useful, however, in building the nest, or hut, in
procuring the necessary food, and in defending his family.

Most legends relate that primitive man lived in promiscuity with
women, without marriage, and that marriage was instituted by some god
or by some law. But this opinion, which is still held by most m