heir action, and to conclude that association in
thought must involve similar connection in reality. He thus attempted to
discover, to foretell, and to cause events, by means of processes
which we now see to have only an ideal significance."(1) Secondly,
man endeavoured to make disembodied spirits of the dead, or any other
spirits, obedient to his will. Savage philosophy presumes that the
beliefs are correct, and that their practical application is successful.
Examples of the first of the two chief magical ideas are as common in
unscientific modern times or among unscientific modern people as in the
savage world.

(1) Primitive Culture, i. 14.

The physicians of the age of Charles II. were wont to give their
patients "mummy powder," that is, pulverised mummy. They argued that the
mummy had lasted for a very long time, and that the patients ought to do
so likewise. Pliny imagined that diamonds must be found in company with
gold, because these are the most perfect substances in the world, and
like should draw to like. Aurum potabile, or drinkable gold, was a
favourite medical nostrum of the Middle Ages, because gold, being
perfect, should produce perfect health. Among savages the belief that
like is caused by like is exemplified in very many practices. The New
Caledonians, when they wish their yam plots to be fertile, bury in them
with mystic ceremonies certain stones which are naturally shaped like
yams. The Melanesians have reduced this kind of magic to a system. Among
them certain stones have a magical efficacy, which is determined in each
case by the shape of the stone. "A stone in the shape of a pig, of a
bread-fruit, of a yam, was a most valuable find. No garden was planted
without the stones which were to increase the crop."(1) Stones with a
rude resemblance to beasts bring the Zuni luck in the chase.

(1) Rev. R. H. Codrington, Journ. Anth. Inst., February, 1881.

The spiritual theory in some places is mixed up with the "like to like"
theory, and the magical stones are found where the spirits have been
heard twittering and whistling. "A large stone lying with a number of
small ones under it, like a sow among her sucklings, was good for a
childless woman."(1) It is the savage belief that stones reproduce
their species, a belief consonant with the general theory of universal
animation and personality. The ancient belief that diamonds gendered
diamonds is a survival from these ideas. "A stone with little d