New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-12-02
EUROPEAN ORIGINS.
. rpANs1ArroN OF IHER1NGs BOOK ON
THE ARYAN VIBRATIONS

r EVOLUTION OF THE ARTAN By Rudf pPnck Sno
Iser.ns- pn Tr s,a,i. Az Henry HOl, Co
ar. r.,o,.- has done good service In transa..s
,.ar,y.. nosthumous work 1t Is hot ns,,s,.
,a,,ae IN militant feelings against inc p' On
a.. .rnbos,ze the value OF studies IN p To-,
t,ou,,ies by a man deeply verseo u" '' .r,rho.
-. .c,ence ia crammed with relics anu - ,'r,
1ha' 3D. No., When man could 90 into ooa.'
Oh 80, ,or q ship a clod to represeh. ~"
w.. ga co On. he must have had the law, ~ 600
..or,al custom TO be able to keep 81 ae
The Romans themselves we arc -. v,thout
80 .ber aucurs could look al eacn o. 90 Leo
,,,a Tho resonant title whicn oeio"es ia
Iaueni'e' o,oseor of the high priest Oh o
Aiii' "o -. Max,nus means nothing mo'. ~.
- -, The chief bridge-buider ihei"s .,,u
zoos NO, make anv pretence 10 nu v,on he re.
,hs general effect OF the analysis W u,,ot,on to
49, The grand actions OF Roman eN .,nr naked
nrosaic realities IN the life Oh avsr 20 call
romsds 4. humorous His prac"ee -, exn.ana-
"',,,,,n, ~ philosophy or science for an 80.
o w. % ,y,bIne until he has exhaus -.
o a, ordinary life. He rarely "a ~
a,vin,tv as long as there Is man ~ ,s takes
o,a nrinciple IS enough for his pup .h.+ NAV
N.wton.s advice and rejects all o -. 81. one
.r,sas, themselves But he searches ~ rverv
SUCCESS ,,, nth the utmost care fVe.y
s-, -, SYMBOLISM that he taxes w ..,,
accounted for not SYMBOL ou' - .,.cts At
800 real IN the life OF men, he"0o ' 80 I, "a
tho outset the notion, once more 'o .S. 600. from
now. OF high civilization IN the r.,n,n.
,,c, s,rang the modern nations OF Eu'op -.
W., -, be. r. be scanned closely 70 n"e W.
80, .haorv Of tradition. He does no' oe
90, r,,nr where his thinking oes"n' -, hook
-. :, ended Then. near the coSe 49, u.h,.
,h,ch was lefs incomplete at MS oea'" orrm.nt
~ 49,. rart,cular usage and tho uniaue .o'' -,
upoN Inv .r,,,c philosopher. which guioeu nm
- al h,s investigations Into inc cay ~
80. g, roman law One Of the curious i7'e
nractice, Of the Romans was the ca =, ths
no q class OF priests trained 10 INC 'a' mr.
,n,ss,,rss Of animals slaughtered TOT saeI'"'e -
-nwa,ou. cancellations Of this practice were VI ~,
feNsio"s ,o,,,v that II was supposed to be OF d.
Gin Ever since the gods OF the no,ha"
,aon,s sx,,ted they had always manites'eo %
uv,u IN this way. Occasionally son'eoou. w. g.,
,,o,der why the deity chose to interest," hiN "
tha digestive organs Of four-footed creature go,
aI,sr vent 40 far as TO say that this was INNS
80 .oor. NOR worthy Of the gods. The natura'
,rf.rencs would be that the gods mao h''"is "
40 With the BUSINESS. but the anclen's VIZ ~
comnie.ely taken In by the euperha'uIa' 60,
The, they could .hink OF nothing eise' Even 49,.
who was far from being nioeoouno ~ VI.
,hnrsht the auspices divine In their origin n'
,wabsd AZ Democritus, who said that the inspect
.,or q, the internal organs Of animals had onsnaNy
~ other purpose than to discover the hea'hiui'
ne.s or unhealthfuness OF q given oistr'c' VI ''N'
try. 49,. ne.
iheripe has no hesitation IN saying thA. -
rrocr,tus was precisely right In tho matter vi
80. n c,ceros time when the Greek ana Iahan
.-he. had been settled for countless generations !"
the,r historic places. and had come TO the conciu
sion that their ancestors were porn ns". ''ee
from TIE soil or the trees. or from Some ia'o.''.
token like the H.rpnian wolf there was no neeo OF
testing the country in this way But says lneiihs'
Democritus was looking back to other coho'.ons
W. IVA. certain that the earliest Greeks ana the
earliest Italians mad been strangers 10 'he SOIL "o
that they had to find out by experiment 'no eio's
where their herds would thrive. II they "aiteo
long enough, the cattle would show by dying tha'
the mace was bad but II they killed ono or two
end made an inspection. they would not nave 10
wait Those who reject this explanation. ados
Iher.ns, "can take refuge only In the notion tha'
IN remote antiquity the people believed that the
deity revealed himself In the belly OF an OK. he
declares his Indebtedness to this hint from Democ-
Ii,us for his whole theory OF tho early history OF
Roman law.
After this remark the reader can anticipate
Iherings scheme in a general way even before ne
has read this book though he would have to be
man o. almost boundless learning to work out that
scheme for himself in its details without help.
Iherng traces to the same simple origin the Ro-
man religious practice Of divination by the feeding
of fowls In the first place. the question was
whether new plants and strange fruits were nj to
eat II the fowls ate these things and lived. then
the people might DO the same. Then, again. there
from which chosen magistrate looked at mid
night for the signs Of the sky. 1t was very
solemn religious performances with the Romans
gradually degeneratng into . consecrated phrase
which served to postpone a national assembly, NJ
matter what was the appearance OF the heavens
Rut II the conditions Of a tented multitude on th'
march be looked to- II will be seen that the mag
fstrate had good practical reason for scanning INT
sky at midnight. as to avoid striking tho tenu
IN the morning with . prospect OF bad weather
ahead
Another species Of dvtnation by the move
ments Of animals These were called pedes
trian signs. though the snake was included which
never walks But the Romans never called an,
animal a pedestrian. II was taken for grantee
that animals went afoot, since they were not cap
able Of riding Man was called pedestrian wher
ne walked, because he might sometimes be seer
going when he was not on foot So. says Ihering
these pedestrian signs meant not that the animal
were afoot. but that the men who saw them wer'
afoot members Of q migrating horde Thus TIT
solemn divnatio IL reduced TO the simple act o.
people In a strange country looking out for danger
GUS creatures This pretext. however. viii not serv
to explain the Roman habit Of quartering the SIX!
and watching the flight Of birds Iherings theor!
in regard to this Is that the Romans preserved un
consciously O device Of times when birds wer
their only guides through mountain passes ant
across trackess plains. from watercourse to water
course To the Roman the nisht Of birds had onl
imaginary value as a portent TO his remote
ha!f-clad ancestor It had the practical value 0
compass and chart.
OF course all this raises the question a. to wha
these ancient migrations by which Italy and tn
rest Of Europe were settled resembled In character
Those who have read a certain wel-known DOCK Q
De Quincy are familiar with the movement whic
whole nation shares. Common observation show
how a migration almost mperceptible may MI up
continent like America or Australia. But Iherin
holds that the original movement from Asia Int
Europe different from these In the first plac
I, must have been slow. with long intervals
settled life. and yet It must have been an organize
movement in every case. Otherwise people woul
never have learned to keep sacred practices ths
were trivial in a settlement, but vitality necessar
on the march. But there IL specific evidence this
the mnyement was one dominated by q strict o.