MC gee] THE BEGINNING OF MA THEM A TICS 667
familiar stall, by human and equine nostalgia, and by the bar- barian longing for burial in native soil. Moreover, both animals and men reveal indications of instinctive placement of the Sides in the individual organism ; and the indications consistently point to persistent intuition of Face and Back as the essential factors of Self. Yet there is a significant diversity in the assign- ment of the Sides of the organism to the Sides of the Good-Bad cosmos: In general it appears that among the lower and the more timid the Back stands for or toward the Evil, the Face toward the Good, and that among the higher and more aggressive the Face is set toward the danger ; e. g., defenseless birds- and sheep huddle with heads together, savages sleep with heads toward the fire, and timid tribesmen tattoo talismans on their backs, while litters of young carnivores lie facing in two or more directions, self-confident campers sleep with feet to the fire, and higher soldiery think only of facing the foe. The interesting and sig- nificant growth of self-confidence need not be followed ; it suffices to note that the primeval concept of the organic Ego, as revealed in the conduct of animals and men, appears to be that of a Face- Back (and not bilateral) unity, with the two Sides set toward the two aspects of a cosmos conceived in fear-born philosophy.
The passage of the primeval concept of a Face-Back Ego into that notion of two cardinal points suggesting a Cult of the Halves is happily represented among those Polynesian tribes who, accord- ing to Churchill, 1 have a system of geographic coordinates domi- nated by two cardinal directions, primarily seaward and landward, and secondarily northward and southward, respectively ; while the language and customs connote a corresponding pantheon, capri- ciously malevolent on the sea-side and mildly benevolent on the
1 Personal communication. While United States Consul at Samoa, Mr Churchill collected voluminous linguistic and other data well worthy of publication, though not yet issued. Conformably, Lesson and Martinet note that in Tahiti north and south are distinguished by.denotive terms bearing a suggestive relation to tempestuous and milder winds, while east and west are without denotive designations, and are indicated only by descriptive phrases (Les Polynisiens* vol. 11, 1881, p. 314).
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