Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 10, 1899.djvu/409

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TRANSACTIONS OF THE FOLK-LORE SOCIETY.

Vol. X.] DECEMBER, 1899. [No. IV.

THE PLACE OF TOTEMISM IN THE EVOLUTION OF RELIGION.

BY F. B. JEVONS, M.A., LITT.D.

{Read at Meeting of April igth, 1899.)

The question as to the place totemism occupies in the evo- lution of religion is one which has of late been exhaustively- discussed by M. Marillier in a series of articles,^ which by their learning, power, and penetration have earned the gratitude, and will always command the respect, of all who are interested in the early history of religion. The question has also been touched on by Professor Tylor," whose lightest word carries with it all the weight which justly attaches to any utterance of one whom we all regard as the most eminent of anthropologists.

I am sorry to say that both writers are of opinion that I have greatly overrated the importance of totemism in the evolution of religion; and conscious though I am of their superior strength, still, when the Folk-Lore Society cour- teously offered me the opportunity to make reply, I felt that

' In the Revue de t Histoire des Religions, I., vol. xxxvi., no. 2 ; II., vol. xxxvi., no. 3 ; III., vol. xxxvii., no. 2 ; IV., vol. xxxvii., no. 3.

-Journal of the Anthropological Institute, vol. i. (New Series), pp. 138- 148.

VOL. X. 2 R