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Rh certain specific arts and trades, etc. While these were often hereditary to definite social groups, we frequently encounter the idea that the right can be sold or conveyed at will. Perhaps closely associated with this is the custom of formally presenting gifts which in some localities is so systematized that it becomes a mere exchange of presents. In fact, we find in the North Pacific area under the name "potlatch", a very complicated system of gifts on a loan and credit system.

As to the rules of inheritance, little need be said here. Our previous discussions have shown that both male and female inheritance are recognized according to the respective social areas. Since land cannot well be alienated from the initial group, the rules of inheritance can only apply to personal property and privileges. As to the latter, while there is some tendency to recognize the rights of the son to his father's or maternal uncle's position in the tribe, as the particular system may require, the usual procedure is to exercise some kind of selection from the several descendants as a guarantee that a competent incumbent will be secured. This is plainly noticeable in the Inca and Nahua systems and can be safely taken as another of the fundamental elements in the social structure of the New World.

As in other parts of the world, one cannot marry back into his own family nor among the immediate relatives of his parents. Beyond this, the restrictions vary as has been suggested in the preceding chapter, becoming in the main mere conventions. Chastity before marriage seems not to have been required, but in many places was regarded as essential to certain religious functions, indicating that, after all, it was an ideal. On the other hand, adultery was severely punished when the woman was the offender, while in many tribes the male offender was regarded as innocent.

One prominent trait among the Eskimo is the exchange of wives, indulged in chiefly as a matter of hospitality. This is also found among many of the Déné tribes of Canada and an analogous custom is found in parts of the bison area. In most