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First of all, let him imagine his world of man stationary. Let him plot out in turn the distribution of heat, of moisture, of diseases, of vegetation, of food-animals, of the physical types of man, of density of population, of industries, of forms of government, of religions, of languages, and so on and so forth. How far do these different distributions bear each other out?
It may be answered that the superiority of sight is not complete. In one particular this sense is inferior to smell. The leading agency in the development of the sense organs of animals has been the struggle for existence, including escape from enemies, and the perception of food-animals or material. In these processes acuteness of smell plays a very important part.
"In the light of totemistic ways of thinking we see plainly enough the relation of man to food-animals. You need or at least desire flesh food, yet you shrink from slaughtering 'your brother the ox'; you desire his mana, yet you respect his tabu, for in you and him alike runs the common life-blood.
But when the flesh partaken of at the feast is that of the Totem the guardian and presiding genius of the tribe or perhaps of one of its chief food-animals then clearly the feast takes on a holy and solemn character. It becomes a sacrament of unity of the unity of all with the tribe, and with each other.
They attempted to follow the times and the manners of England; but here they were in the Antipodes, where everything was exactly opposite to English conditions. There were no natural grain-crops; there were practically no food-animals good to eat. Even so it was in very limited supply. The early settlers ate kangaroo flesh gladly, but they were not able to get enough of it to keep them in meat.
But when the wolves were diminished in number, their wild food-animals, the prairie dogs, found their lot much bettered, and they have multiplied so rapidly that in some places they have become even more destructive than the wolves. One of the most remarkable illustrations is that of the rabbits introduced into Australia.
In the loneliness of the dreary country about Cape Horn I found myself in no mood to make one life less in the world, except in self-defense, and as I sailed this trait of the hermit character grew till the mention of killing food-animals was revolting to me.
These ceremonies they have named Intichiuma, and the name will probably stick, though there is reason to believe that the native word for them is really something different. Their purpose is to make the food-animals and food-plants multiply and prosper. Each animal or plant is attended to by the group that has it for a totem.
The real source of increased power and prosperity lay in the domestication of food-animals and food-plants. The man certainly had genius and pluck into the bargain who first trusted himself to the back of an unbroken horse.
But for my part, says he, 'I want either the fried oyster or the kind that grow in pie crust, like they have 'em at the restaurants. Actually said that. "Well, he driveled along for a while, talking the awfulest bosh; and pretty soon he asked me if I was fond of mock-turtle soup. Said that the commission had discovered the feasibility of adding the mock-turtle to the food-animals of our rivers.
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