Note 435.3 — Chapter XV · THE COUVADE AND OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE STRENGTH OF THE BLOOD-TIE—CONCLUSION OF THE INQUIRY INTO THE THEORY OF THE LIFE-TOKEN.

I have mentioned, in treating of witchcraft, a Dyak practice which exhibits close connection between the house and absent members of the family. It perhaps goes further, and displays the belief that the conduct of a family at home affects an absent member. Similar customs, pointing to such a belief, are recorded of the Thugs.435.3 And conversely, a tribesman of Lake Nyassa will eat no salt while on a journey, lest his wife misconduct herself at home.436.1 This mysterious effect can be due to nothing less than the essential solidarity of the family. The matter is put plainly by the I li, one of the sacred books of the Chinese, in the declaration that “father and son are only one body, and so are husband and wife, and elder and younger brothers.” And for this reason, we are told, the possessions of a family are held in common436.2—a subject on which I have no space to enter.