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 798 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

same unseen company at death, these created fellowship " * in these early days. Thus in the first stages of assimilation, while differences are strongly accented, a degree of unity is attained, in spite of the rigid class system, through the identity of the attitude of all within the group toward the problem of existence and the future world. In all ancient civilizations the unknown plays so important a part that it is easier to establish " a set of fellowship feelings" 2 on the subject of religion than on any other. Adjustment is therefore easiest, and consequently first to occur, on the subject of religion. The establishment of a sub- conscious mind, as Mr. Fairbairn calls it, 3 is thus one of the early results of living together. The case of India offers a modern instance of this. There mixture of races has been greater than anywhere in Europe ; the differences of blood, descent, charac- ter, and custom have been preserved and sharply emphasized by the inexorable caste system, and yet a wonderful identity of thought among all castes exists on the attitude toward life and death. This sub-conscious Hindu mind is utterly impregnable to western ideas, and the same thing may be said of the sub-conscious Chinese mind. By means, then, of religion a certain amount of unity is established throughout the group, irrespective of class distinctions, and a group-homogeneity is produced sufficient to hold the different elements together for long periods.

II. THE PROCESS OF ASSIMILATION.

From the foregoing it is quite evident that the conditions necessary to assimilation are both psychic and social. The psychic prerequisite is some degree of "consciousness of kind" 4 in the elements involved ; the existence of a set of fellowship

1 E. A. Ross, " Social Control," AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY, Vol. II, P- 437-

Ibid., p. 436.

3 A. M. FAIRBAIRN, " Race and Religion in India," Contemporary Review, August, 1899.

4 GiDDiNGS, Principles, p. 17. According to Gumplowicz, "consciousness of kind" is "ein Gefiihl der Einzelnen, vermoge dessen dieselben sich an die eine Menschengruppe enger angeschlossen und naher angezogen fiihlen als an andere Menschengruppen." (Rasscnkampf, p. 244.)