Whether it began in the garden of Eden, as we are told in Scripture, or as an institution devised by kings and rulers at a remote period of antiquity for sociological or political purposes, is a matter with which we are not at present concerned; but a few theories respecting the origin of marriage may not be uninteresting. An early Sanscrit poem says that "formerly women roved about at their pleasure," independently of any restraint, and if they went astray they were guilty of no offence.3 The Emperor, Fou-hi, of China, is said to have first abolished promiscuous intercourse among his people; the ancient Egyptians make a similar claim as to Menés, their pharaoh;' and the Greeks trace the institution of marriage back to Cecrope, the founder of Athens.1 The legends of Lapland sing of Njawis and Attjis. who first instituted marriage, binding the wife by a most sacred oath ;* Brehm speaks delightfully and entertainingly of the marriage of monkeys and other animals,* and Mr. Powers and Mr. Schoolcraft have traced the institution among the American Indians to a very early source.7 Rowney has done the same as to the tribes of India,8 and Guizot," Lubbock,10 Moore,11 and Westermarck,111 have given us data sufficient to guide us to a fairly complete knowledge of both its beginnings and purposes; and to the conclusion that, however it may have been modified by the habits and needs of different races, the interests of the child, health, home and the peopling of the clan, lay at its foundation in primitive times.