he similar customs and
manners which exist among the uncivilized, and still retain their
meaning. It is not necessary for comparison of this sort that the
uncivilized and the civilized race should be of the same stock, nor need
we prove that they were ever in contact.'[3] Similar conditions of mind
produce similar practices, apart from identity of race, or borrowing of
ideas and manners. In pursuing this method we have to compare the
customs and tales of the most widely separated races, whereas the
comparative mythologists, who hold it correct to compare Greek, Slavonic,
Celtic and Indian stories because they occur in languages of the same
family, and Chaldean and Greek stories because the Chaldeans and the
Greeks are known to have been in contact, will not compare Greek,
Chaldean, Celtic, or Indian stories with those of the Maoris, the
Eskimos, or the Hottentots, because these last belong to a different
language-family, and are not known to have ever been in contact with
Aryan races.

The 'bull-roarer,' a toy familiar to most children, is one example
selected by Mr. Lang. It is a long, thin, narrow piece of wood,
sharpened at both ends; attached to a piece of string, and whirled
rapidly and steadily in the air, it emits a sound which gradually
increases to an unearthly kind of roar. The ancient Greeks employed at
some of their sacred rites a precisely similar toy, described by
historians as 'a little piece of wood, to which a string was fastened,
and in the mysteries it is whirled round to make a roaring noise.' The
performers in the 'mysteries' at which this implement was used daubed
themselves all over with clay. Demosthenes describes the mother of
Aeschines as a dabbler in mysteries, and tells how Aeschines used to
assist her by helping to bedaub the initiate with clay and bran. Various
explanations have been offered of these practices, but let us see how
they tally with any prevailing customs. First, the bull-roarer is to be
found in almost every country in the world, and among the most primitive
peoples. It is so simple an instrument that it is within the scope of
the mechanical genius of the most degraded savages, and therefore it is
quite unnecessary to suppose that the idea of it was ever transmitted
from race to race. And as an instrument employed in religious rites or
mysteries, it is found in New Mexico, in Australia, in New Zealand and
in Africa, to this day. Its use in Australia is to warn the women to
ke