t among most ancient races, and is so
still among most savages and among many civilized nations; but it has
several varieties.

In Mexico, Peru, Japan and China a man only possesses one legitimate
wife, but has several concubines whose children are considered as
legitimate as those of his wife. Polygamy existed legally among the
Jews up to the Middle Ages. King Solomon possessed seven hundred wives
and three hundred concubines. In Islamite countries the Jews are still
polygamous. The Koran allows them four wives and as many concubines as
they please. The latter do not enjoy the protection of their father,
but apart from this they have the same rights as the legitimate wives.
The Hindus and Persians are polygamous. The Romans were strictly
monogamous, but they also had concubines.

In Christian Europe, polygamy has occasionally been allowed or
tolerated: St. Augustus did not condemn it. Luther allowed Philip of
Hesse to marry two wives; and after the treaty of Westphalia bigamy
was allowed because of the depopulation of Germany. The mistresses of
the present princes are a relic of polygamy. Jesus having said nothing
concerning polygamy, Luther did not prohibit it.

The Mormons have introduced it into their religion. The negro king of
Loango shows us what degree polygamy may reach among princes and
chiefs, for he possesses seven thousand wives, while the chiefs of the
Fiji Islands are content with twenty to one hundred.

Among savage races we find monogamy in the natives of the Andaman
islands, among the Touaregs, the Weddas, the Iroquois, the Wyandottes,
and even in some Australian tribes. With others, polygamy is only
permitted to the chiefs. But most of the population are monogamous
even among polygamous races, and there are very few peoples in which
all the men possess several wives. In India, 95 per cent. of the
Islamites are monogamous, and in Persia even 98 per cent. Polygamy is
nearly everywhere a privilege of princes, chiefs, and rich men.

The two following facts also show a tendency to monogamy among
polygamous races:

(1). One of the wives, generally the first, has prerogatives over the
others.

(2). In reality, the polygamous man nearly always gives sexual
preference to one only, or to a few of his wives. There are, however,
some polygamous races in which the husband has sexual intercourse with
each of his wives according to a regular programme, taking each of
them in turn for several days, weeks or