Note 468 — Chapter XX · ART AND MAGIC

See literature on the Couvade, and on the precautions to be observed by men who expect to become fathers. We cannot here dwell on the interesting theories, according to which totemistic doctrines and regulations ought to be interpreted as based upon the conception of a quite material substratum, connecting for eternity with each other all individuals and generations of the same family. However fantastic they may have appeared, the probability of these views has undeniably been increased by the publication of those hitherto unknown details of Australian ceremonialism that have been brought to light by Messrs. Spencer and Gillen. But in questions like these it seems almost impossible to discriminate between symbolical ideas and actions on the one hand, and magical practices based on a real belief on the other.