The principal features of this remarkable system, so elaborate, yet so rude, are indicated in the second Column of Table I. I have already mentioned that there is no word for father or mother; for the latter they say "parent female," for the former, "parent male;" but the term "parent male " is not confined to the true parent, but is applied equally to the father's brother, and mother's brother; while the term "parent female" denotes also father's sister and mother's sister. Thus, uncleships and auntships are ignored, and a child may have several fathers and several mothers. In the succeeding generation, as a man calls his brother's and sister's children his children, so do they regard him as their father: again, as a mother's brother and a father's brother are termed parents male, a mother's sister and father's sister, parents female; their sons are regarded as brothers, and their daughters as sisters. Again, a man calls the children of these constructive brothers and sisters, equally with those of true brothers and sisters, his children; and their children, again, his grandchildren.

The term "parent male", then, denotes not only a man's father,

while the term "parent female" in the same way denotes

There are, in fact, six classes of parents; three on the male side,

and three on the female.

The term, my elder brother, stands also for my

Mother's brother's son,

Mother's sister's son,

Father's brother's son,

Father's sister's son,

while their children, again, are all my grandchildren.

Here

there is a succession of generations, but no family. We find here no true fathers and mothers, uncles or aunts, nephews or nieces, but only

Grandparents,
Parents,

Brothers and sisters,
Children, and

Grandchildren.

This nomenclature is actually in use, and, so far from having become obsolete, being in Feejee combined with inheritance through females, and the custom of immediate inheritance, gives a nephew the right to take his mother's brother's property: a right which is frequently exercised, and never questioned, although

apparently moderated by custom. It will very likely be said that though the word "son", for instance, is used to include many who are really not sons, it by no means follows that a man should regard himself as equally related to all his so-called "sons." And this is true, but not in the manner which might have been à priori expected. For, as many among the lower races of men have the system of inheritance through females, it follows that they consider their sister's children to be in reality more nearly related to them, not only than their brother's children, but even than their very own children. Hence we see that these terms, son, father, mother, etc., which to us imply relationship, have not strictly, in all cases, this significance, but rather imply the relative position in the tribe.

Additional evidence of this is afforded by the restrictions on marriage which follow the tribe, and not the terms. Thus the customs of a tribe may, and constantly do, forbid marriage with one set of constructive sisters or brothers, but not with another.

The system shewn in column 2 is not apparently confined to the Sandwich Islands, but occurs also in other islands of the Pacific. Thus, the Kingsmill system, as shown in column 3, is essentially similar, though they have made one step in advance, having devised words for father and mother. Still, however, the same term is applied to father's brother, and a mother's brother as to a father; and to a father's sister and a mother's sister as to a mother: consequently, first cousins are still called brothers and sisters, and their children and grandchildren are children and grandchildren. The habits of the Southsea Islanders, the entire absence of privacy in their houses, their objection to sociable meals, and other points in their mode of life, have probably favoured the survival of this very rude system, which is by no means in accordance with their present social and family relations, but indicates a time when these were less developed than at present. We know as yet no other part of the world where the nomenclature of relationships is so savage.

Yet a near approach is made by the system of the Two-Mountain Iroquois, which is, perhaps, the lowest yet observed in America. In this tribe a brother's children are still regarded as sons, and a woman calls her sister's children her sons; a man, however, does not regard his sister's children as his children, but distinguishes them by a special term; they become his nephews. This distinction between relationships, which we regard as identical, has its basis in, and is in accordance with American marriage customs. Unfortunately, I have no means of ascertaining whether these rules occur among the tribe in question, but they are so general among the Indians of North America that in all probability it is the case. One of these customs is that if a

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man marries a girl who has younger sisters, he thereby acquires a right to those younger sisters as they successively arrive at maturity. This right is widely recognised, and frequently acted upon. The first wife makes no objection, for the work which fell heavily on her, is divided with another, and it is easy to see that, when polygamy prevails, it would be uncomplimentary to refuse a wife who legally belonged to you. Hence a woman regards her sister's sons as her sons; they may be, in fact, the sons of her husband: any other hypothesis is uncomplimentary to the sister. Throughout the North American races, therefore, we shall find that a woman calls her sister's children her children; in no case does she term them nephews or nieces, though in some few tribes she distinguishes them from her own children by calling them stepchildren.

Another very general rule in America, as elsewhere, is that no one may marry within his own clan or family. It has been shown in Maclennan's Primitive Marriage, and in the Origin of Civilisation, that this rule is general in North America, and widely prevalent elsewhere. The result is, that as a woman and her brother belong to one family, her husband must be chosen from another. Hence while a man's father's brother and sister belong to his clan, and his mother's sister, being one of his father's wives, is a member of the family -one of the fire-circle, if I may so say-the mother's brother is necessarily neither a member of the fire-circle, nor even of the clan. Hence while a father's sister and mother's sister are called mother, and a father's brother father, throughout the Redskin tribes the marriage rules exclude the mother's brother, who is accordingly distinguished by a special term, and in fact is recognised as uncle. Thus we can understand how it is that of the six classes of parents mentioned above, the mother's brother is the first to be distinguished from the rest by a special name. It will however be seen by the table that among the TwoMountain Iroquois his son is called brother, his grandson son, and so on. This shows that he also was once called "father" as in Polynesia, for in no other manner can such a system of nomenclature be accounted for. All the other relationships, as given in the table, are, it will be seen, identical with those recognised in the Hawaiian and Kingsmill system. Thus only in two respects, and two, moreover, which can be satisfactorily explained by their marriage regulations, do the Two-Mountain Iroquois differ from the Pacific system. It is true that these two points of difference involve some others not shown in the table. Thus while a woman's father's sister's daughter's son is her son, a man's father's sister's daughter's son is his nephew, See "Arch. Amer.", vol. ii, p. 109.

because his father's sister's daughter is his sister, and his sister's son, as already explained, is his nephew. It should also be added that the Two-Mountain Iroquois show an advance as compared with the Hawaiian system in the terms relating to relationships by marriage.

The Micmac system, as shown in column 5, is in three points an advance on that of the Two-Mountain Iroquois. Not only does a man call his sister's son his nephew, but a woman applies the same term to her brother's son. Thus, men term their brother's sons" sons", and their sister's sons "nephews"; while women, on the contrary, call their brother's sons "nephews", and their sister's sons "sons"; obviously because there was a time when, though brothers and sisters could not marry, brothers might have their wives in common, while sisters, as we know, habitually married the same man. It is remarkable also that a father's brother and a mother's sister are also distinguished from the true father and mother. In this respect the Micmac system is superior to that prevailing in most other Redskin races. For the same reason, not only is a mother's brother termed an uncle, but the father's sister is no longer called a mother, but is distinguished by a special term, and thus becomes an aunt. The social habits of the Redskins, which have already been briefly alluded to, sufficiently explain why the father's sister is thus distinguished, while the father's brother and mother's sister are still called respectively father and mother. Moreover, as we found among the Two-Mountain Iroquois that although the mother's brother is recognised as an uncle, his son is still called brother, thus pointing back to a time when the father's brother was still called father; so here we see that though the father's sister is called aunt, her son is still regarded as a brother; indicating the existence of a time when, among the Micmacs, as among the Two-Mountain Iroquois, a father's sister was termed a mother. It follows as a consequence that, as a father's brother's son, a mother's brother's son, a father's sister's son, and a mother's sister's son, are considered to be brothers, their children are termed sons by the males; but as a woman calls her brother's son a nephew, so she applies the same term to these constructive brother's sons.

If the system of relationship is subject to gradual growth, and approaches step by step towards perfection, we should naturally expect that, from differences of habits and customs, the various steps would not among all races follow one another in precisely the same order. Of this the Micmacs and Wyandots afford us an illustration. While the latter have on the whole made most progress, the former are in advance on one point, for though the Micmacs have distinguished a father's brother

from a father, he is among the Wyandots still termed a father; on the other hand, the Wyandots call a mother's brother's son a cousin, while among the Micmacs he is still termed a brother.

Here we may conveniently consider two Asiatic nations-the Burmese and the Japanese-which, though on the whole considerably more advanced in civilisation than any of the foregoing races, are yet singularly backward in their systems of family nomenclature. I will commence with the Burmese. A mother's brother is called either father (great or little) or uncle: his son is regarded as a brother; his grandson as a nephew; his great-grandson as a grandson. A father's sister is an aunt; but her son is a brother, her grandson is a son, and her great-grandson a grandson. A father's brother is still a father (great or little); his son is a brother; his grandson a nephew; and his great-grandson a grandA mother's sister is a mother (great or little); her son is a brother; her grandson a nephew; and her great-grandson a grandson. Grandfathers' brothers and sisters are grandfathers and grandmothers. Brothers' and sisters' sons and daughters are recognised as nephews and nieces, whether the speaker is a male or female; but their children again are still classed as grandchildren.

son.

Among the Japanese a mother's brother is called a "second little father"; a father's sister a "little mother" or "aunt"; a father's brother a "little father" or "uncle"; and a mother's sister a "little mother" or "aunt." The other relationships shown in the table are the same as among the Burmese.

The Wyandots, descendants of the ancient Hurons, are illustrated in the eighth column. Their system is somewhat more advanced than that of the Micmacs. While, among the latter, a mother's brother's son, and a father's sister's son, are called brothers, among the Wyandots they are recognised as cousins. The children of these cousins, however, are still called sons by males, thus reminding us that there was a time when these cousins were still regarded as brothers. A second mark of progress is, that women regard their mother's brother's grandsons as nephews, and not as sons, though the great-grandsons of uncles and aunts are still, in all cases, termed grandsons.

I crave particular attention to this system, which may be regarded as the typical system of the Redskins, although, as we have seen, some tribes have a ruder nomenclature, and we shall presently allude to others which are rather more advanced. A mother's brother is termed uncle; his son is a cousin; his grandson is termed nephew, when a woman is speaking, son in the case of a male. In either case his grandson is termed grandson. A father's sister is an aunt, and her son a cousin; but her grandson and great-grandson are termed, respectively, son and grandson,