Myth and Science | Page 9

be true, as it undoubtedly is, and
since we are treating of the genesis of myth in its earliest beginning, we
will endeavour, with daring prompted by the theory of evolution, to
discover if the first germ of these representations may not have already
existed in the animal kingdom before it was evolved in man in the
fetishtic and anthropomorphic form. This is an arduous but necessary
inquiry, to which I am impelled by the doctrine of evolution, as it is
properly understood, as well as by the universal logic of nature.
If I were to consider myth as it has ultimately been developed in man, it
would be a strange and absurd attempt to trace out any points of
resemblance with animals, who are altogether devoid of the logical
faculty which leads to such development. But if, on the contrary, we
endeavour to trace the earliest, spontaneous, and direct elements of
myth as a product of animal emotions and implicit intelligence, such
research becomes not only legitimate but necessary; since the
instrument is the same, the effects ought also to be the same.
We have already said that the fact has been observed and generally
admitted that the primary origin of myth in its essential elements
consists in the personification or animation of all extrinsic phenomena,
as well as of the dreams, illusions, and hallucinations which are
intrinsic. It is agreed that this animation is not the reflex and deliberate
act of man, but that it is the spontaneous and immediate act of the
human intelligence in its elementary consciousness and emotions. It
must therefore be evident that this vague and continual animation of

things ought to be found also in animals, especially in those of the
higher types, in whom consciousness, the emotions, and the
intelligence are implicitly identical with those of man. Consequently,
that which is at first sight absurd becomes obvious and natural, and the
fact is only strange and inexplicable to those who have not carefully
considered it.
We must, however, declare that this primary fact is not irreducible, and
that science ought not to be content to stop there, but should endeavour
to explain and resolve it into its elements, so as to be able to say we
have reached the point at which the genesis of myth really begins. This
aim can only be attained by the decomposition by analysis of the
primitive fact. Since intelligence in its essential elements, and in its
innate and implicit exercise, appears to be the same in man and in
animals, it is necessary to reduce the analysis of animal nature to a
primary psychical fact, in order to see whether by this fact, which is
identical also in man, the generating element of myth is really revealed.
I propose to show that this research will reveal truths hitherto
unattained, and explain the general law, not merely of the extrinsic
process of science and of myth, but also of civilization.
Starting from this wide basis, we must trace, step by step, the dawn,
development, and gradual disappearance of myth. Since it is our
business to consider science as well as myth, and their respective
relations in the evolution common to both, we must, as briefly as
possible in the present work, pause to consider these two factors of the
human mind, observing the beginnings, conditions, and modes in which
the one arose and gradually disappeared, while the other advanced and
triumphed. We must not only regard the progress and transformation of
religions, but also of science, as it is revealed in the philosophic
systems of every age, in the partial or complete discoveries of genius,
and in the great and stupendous achievements of modern experimental
science. It would require a long treatise to fill so wide a field, which we
must restrict to the limits of a few pages. Since our readers are now
generally acquainted with the course pursued by human thought, and
with the progress of peoples, but few landmarks or formulas are

necessary to enable them to clear away obscurity and estimate facts at
their just value, so as to understand what civilization and science have
to do with the evolution of myth, and of science itself.
A great corollary also ensues from studies undertaken with the aid of
sociology, that is, the genesis, form, and gradual evolution of human
societies. These vary in character, in attitude, in power, form and
duration, with the different characters of races, and thus fulfil in various
ways the cycle of myth and science of which they are capable. It would
indeed be difficult to attain to a clear and adequate conception of the
universal evolution of myth and science, but for the existence of a
privileged race distinguished for its psychical and organic power,
which from its beginning until