The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1891-08-09
SOME NEW BOOKS
Marriage a. a Produc. or c,~,nx.tsu,

SOME NEW BOOKS.
Marriage as q Product OF Civilization.
In The History Of Human Marriage tNacmil.
Ian 4 co., EDWARD WEsTERsAncK. Lecturer on
Sociology ut tho University OF Finland. He'-
sinRfors, has dirested An immense amount Of
material relating to the subject and presented
II In an instructive manner. 1t forms Coodly
eized octave volume. and the extent OF tho
authors researches may be estimated from
tho fact that the list OF works to which he re-
fsrs Nils nearly thirty pages and comprises not
much less than thousand titles. The in!orma-
tion thus garncred relates to the marriage In
stitutions OF every known tribe and nation.
and In every age Of which records are extant.
Although tho author Is foreigner. he writes In
excellent English and expresses himself with
perfect clsnrness. An Introductory note by
Mr.. Alfred II. Wallace vouches for the csrefu-
ness OF his Investigations and Tor bis right to
. rsspsctful hearing.
In his general treatment OF the subject. Mr..
IVES ermarck follows tho lines OF most pro-
vious writer's upon It, SUCH for example. as NJ.
Ietoutneau. whose Evolution OF Marriage
and OF tho Family" was lately noticed In these
columns. though In somo respects he differs
from them. The most important OF those diff
fsrsncss Is his denial that the flrst stage OF
human sexual relations was promiscuity and
hia assertion that, on the contrary. 1t was the
mating for longer or shorter periods OF one
man with ono or more women. In opposition
TO Mr.. Darwin also. he maintains that sexual
selection WAS governed BY racial psculinritics.
and did not produce them or. in other words.
that In the early ages men and W omen were
governed In their ch dice OF mates By likes and
1islikes caused by the results OF natural selec.
zion. and which did not contribute to It
As whole. however. Mr.. Westsrmarck only
Sustains and confirms what may now be taken
- the accepted theory OF the origin OF human
marriage IS an institution. 1t began In the
provocative instinct common to men as to
animals. and has gradually developed. through
successive stages and variations. into its
present form. That 1t has undergone modl-
flcation. even within the memory OF those now
living. is undenioble: andwhen We look back
over the whole long period covered By written
history tho changes TINT have taken place in
It are seen 10 be very considerable Generally
speaking, they have been favorable to woman.
From being an object OF prey to tho stronger
man. or. ut best. one OF sac and purchase. che
has risen TO al equality with him. and has
obtained tho uncontested right OF bestowing
herself upon the object OF her own choice.
What the marriage relation was in the pre-
historic ages must OF course. from the very
fact that they are prehistoric. be forever q
matter OF conjecture and OF inference. Usually
Investigators OF the subject, as. for example,
Mr. Herbert Spencer. give great weight to the
conclusions drawn from the practices OF con-
temporary snvages. They assume that, our
primitive ancestors having been savages, we
may learn from modern savages how they
probably conducted themselves. To this
method OF procedure Mr.. Westermarck with
great reason objects that tho savaGes OF our
day have been contaminated. like tho South
EAn Tall Inra fnr ,pln hu LA x,t, -
civizel nations and that they thus exhibit
qualities not natural to them. He prefers to
take as illustrations of primeval human mar
riaRes the sexual relations OF the higher AMI
mails who. while they may be less Intelligent
thnn savnges. have never been corrupted by
evil communications.
Animals OF the higher class so far from be.
ing promiscuous in their sexual relations,
have il is notorious. prediction almost
universal for pairing at the breeding eason
and for maintaining the unions thus ostab-
l!shed at least until the offspring Of them
roach maturity and are able to take care OF
themselves. In many cases. to be sure. the
males are polygamous. that is. they have moro
than one female mate. but often they have but
one. und always they fercely resent any at.
tempt by other malcs to interfere with their
monopoly OF ownership for the time being,
This, mnnifestly. grows out OF the necessity Of
maintaining the family inviolato until the
mr. n,oI. heinz ,bo s,ror ,ar -, ~. ..I. :.
rsadsJ 70 cnre for tho femals ana bar oran.i,s
dur,no o.s,o,ion ord for COW. I.no.h -, 49,.
tharaat,ar and +, ,bara war. ~ sn.aio, -.
insrra Tho ,rlnIm.nt a, ,hio dvtv ~. 80
would perish.
.ni,v NJ Wast.rnoro,. q = a. Il, ~ ,n.r, ,.s-
nr.w,,on.a anon nnimolsoh,u,s W. Iii ~.
hrm.n-o, nnn,h,t. h.t,n.on 49, $3.50
,osssss,nn y, ths ,nost d"s,uah. 1....is
tba oraanaI devalnnment tro,n .h,s $500
ths nmrch.s. -, rivas ~ mai. $500. -. ~
A.. ~ s'..",,e .Ao'i e"D.u' y, iot.o'
.,.r.,a.a .,stanas y, al a.,Sn ~ .,Is
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aa,anishtn,, vari.,n =, sosa 800 y, ., on
.nnnran.,n 1;nu...s,.a,i'1 eos 'n .n
othar. ,,mt ali nnnduo,nn - ~ go. .s...n
80 '1,,.d on .han ~. ,hn 0 va. o.. .na' Nv
go -, .h ,. W.
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