restrictions arising out of consanguinity; but this right cannot be lawfully exercised until he has been formally admitted to the ranks of the men by passing through several initiations. When he is duly qualified, the great council, on the occasion of the next occurring circumcision ceremony (which he has long before gone through), allots to him a woman of that class-name and totem with which his own has connubium. This woman may be, and probably has been, already allotted to one or more other men, who also themselves have been allotted to other women. This is the marital arrangement which has been called by Mr. Fison and myself that of ". accessory husbands and wives." 1 It is at a still later period that a man acquires a "special wife.” It is quite evident that in this tribe the exercise of the potential right which arises under the social organisation is controlled by the local organization, as represented by the Great Council of the tribe.

Some of the tribes which I have herein considered have uterine, and some have agnatic descent, but it is evident that in all of them the marital privilege which accompanies birth, and which is attached to the inherited name, is restrained until the local organisation has permitted it to be exercised.2

I now shortly summarise the conclusions following from a study of the initiation ceremonies :

1. It is the local organisation which controls the initiation ceremonies.

2. The ceremonies confer the privileges, duties, and liabilities of manhood on the youths of the community.

3. Each epigamic moiety initiates the youths of the complementary moiety.

4. The knocking out of the tooth is the visible sign of the initiation of the individual.

5. The circuit in which the tooth is carried marks the extent of the epigamic community.

There are some other general conclusions which appear to me not to be without important significance.

The teachings of the initiation are in a series of "moral lessons" pantomimically displayed, in a manner intended to be so impressive as to be indelible. There is clearly a belief in a Great Spirit, or rather an anthropomorphic Supernatural Being, the "Master" of all, whose abode is above the sky, and to whom are attributed powers of omnipotence and omnipresence, or, at 1 "From Mother-right to Father-right." ("Journ. Anthrop. Inst.," August, 1882.)

2 In the Wiraijuri and Wolgal tribes, the totems are mostly epigamic-one totem of one class with one totem of the other class; but in the Wiraijuri case, at least, there are one or two totems which are privileged beyond their fellows in having connubium with two others of the corresponding class.

any rate, the power to " do anything and to go anywhere." The exhibition of his image to the novices, and the magic dances round it, approach very near to idol worship. The wizards who profess to communicate with him, and to be the mediums of communication between him and his tribe, are not far removed from an organised priesthood. To his direct ordinance are attributed the social and moral laws of the community. Although there is no worship of Daramulun, as, for instance, by prayer, yet there is clearly an invocation of him by name, and a belief that certain acts please while others displease him.

It has been said that the Australian savage is without any form of religion or religious beliefs. If religion is defined as being the formulated worship of a divinity, then these savages have no religion; but I venture to assert that it can no longer be maintained that they have no belief which can be called religious—that is, in the sense of beliefs which govern tribal and individual morality under a supernatural sanction.

DISCUSSION.

Mr. A. TYLOR observed that the writer of this paper offered an excellent illustration of the action of heredity. He evidently owed his lucidity of expression, and interest in the details of life, to his father and mother, those excellent writers, William and Mary Howitt. The paper was singularly interesting, and, if the ceremonies and spiritualistic views were quite free from any white influence, Australian primitive life threw a strong light on the præhistoric races of Europe. The Greeks may have developed their theatre, their refined art of acting, from similar rude ceremonies. The Greek Chorns appeared to us a superfluity, but the Greeks may have merely used the Chorus because it was an essential part of the primitive ceremonial acting of their ancestors, and, if so, it had a real meaning. Then the Australian custom of burying a live man in a sham grave had its counterpart in the initiation ceremonies of the Gnostics, known to us because frequently engraved on gems in the first and second centuries, A.D.

JANUARY 8TH, 1884.

Professor W. H. FLOWER, LL.D., F.R.S., President, in the Chair. The Minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed. The following presents received since the last meeting were announced, and thanks voted to the respective donors:

FOR THE LIBRARY.

From W. WHITAKER, Esq., F.G.S.-The Constitution of Man considered in relation to external objects. By George Combe. From Dr. A. B. MEYER.-Zur Dippel-Sprache in Ost-Australien. By A. B. Meyer and M. Uhle.

From the AUTHOR.-Suggestions on the Voice-formation of the
Semitic Verb. By G. Bertin, M.R.A.S.

A Sketch of the Modern Languages of Africa. By R. N.
Cust.

Sur les Copulæ intercostoïdales et les Némisternoïdes du
Sacrum des Mammifères. By M. le Professeur Paul Albrecht.
Sur la fente maxillaire double sous-muqueuse et les 4 os
intermaxillaires de l'ornithorynque adulte normal. By M. le
Professeur Paul Albrecht.

Epiphyses osseuses sur les apophyses épineuses des vertebres
d'un reptile. By M. le Professeur Paul Albrecht.

From the SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR, U.S.A.-Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to the Secretary of the Interior. 1880, 1881, 1882.

From the COLONIAL SECRETARY.-Statistics of the Colony of New Zealand for the year 1882.

From Professor ALEX. AGASSIZ.-Annual Report of the Curator of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College. 1882-3. From the GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY OF LISBON.-La Question du Zaire. By M. Luciano Cordeiro.

Stanley's First Opinions. Portugal and the Slave Trade. From the NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES AT CÓRDOBA.-Informe Oficial de la Comision Cientifica Agregada al Estado Mayor General de la Expedicion al Rio Negro. Ent. 1, 2, 3.

From the BERLIN ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY.--Zeitschrift für Ethnologie, 1883. Heft. 5.

From the ACADEMY.-Oversigt over det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskabs, 1883. No. 2.

Bulletin de l'Académie Impériale des Sciences de St. Péters-
bourg. Tom. XXVIII, No. 4.

Boletin de la Academia Nacional de Ciencias en Córdoba.
Tom. V, Entrega 1, 2.

Actas de la Academia Nacional de Ciencias en Córdoba. Tom.
IV, Entrega 1.

From the ASSOCIATION.-Proceedings of the Geologists' Association.
Vol. VIII, No. 2. July, 1883.

From the INSTITUTE.-Proceedings of the Canadian Institute. Vol. 1, No. 5.

From the SOCIETY.-Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of
Scotland. Vol. XVI.

Atti della Società Italiana di Scienze Naturali. Vol. XXIV,
Fas. 1-4; Vol. XXV, 1, 2.