To "break ground" for the study of the subject it may be well in the outset to read chaps. iii and iv of Posada's _Théories modernes_; Kautsky's "Entstehung der Ehe und Familie," in _Kosmos_, XII; Friedrichs, "Ursprung des Matriarchats," in _ZVR._, VIII, in connection with his "Zur Matriarchatsfrage," in _ZFE._, XX; and especially his "Familienstufen und Eheformen," in _ZVR._, X. The literature and the theories are also reviewed by Bernhöft, "Zur Gesch. des eur. Familienrechts," _ibid._, VIII; and Schurman gives an interesting summary and criticism in _Ethical Import of Darwinism_ (New York, 1888). For the works of Wake, Letourneau, Starcke, Westermarck, and other antagonists of the horde theory, see BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE III.] I. BACHOFEN AND HIS DISCIPLES In the same year with the _Ancient Law_ appeared a book which was destined to have an extraordinary influence in giving a new direction to speculation and research. This was the _Mutterrecht_ of the Swiss scholar Johann Jacob Bachofen, whose memory is revered by many followers.[93] The author shows a wide and minute acquaintance with classic literature and the early myths; but his work is fantastic and almost wholly devoid of scientific method.[94] The material is drawn mainly from two sources: the fragmentary notices of the rules of kinship and the matrimonial customs of various peoples handed down from ancient writers, supplemented slightly through similar accounts by modern travelers; and an interpretation of the supposed symbolism of religious myths, particularly those of the Greeks.[95] The inferences derived from this second source are often far-fetched and fanciful in the extreme. Though the general results of the investigation are summarized in a short introduction, the argument is so loose, the arrangement so confusing, and the style so obscure that it is with the utmost difficulty the author's meaning can be gathered. Nevertheless it is undeniable that he has created the terminology and developed the essential elements of the communistic and gynocratic theories even in their leading details. [93] See, for example, LIPPERT, _Geschichte der Familie_, 4, 5; KOHLER, in _ZVR._, IV, 266 ff., who regards Bachofen as the "Altmeister der ethnologischen Jurisprudenz;" and GIRAUD-TEULON, _Mariage et la famille_, 146 ff., _passim_. _Cf._ KAUTSKY, in _Kosmos_, XII, 348.