[133] In this connection are adduced the cases in which courtesans have been held in high esteem, sometimes in higher regard than married women, as in Athens and India: GIRAUD-TEULON, _Les origines du mariage_, 43-45; LUBBOCK, _Origin of Civilization_, 132, 133, 537, 538; POST, _Geschlechtsgenoss._, 31; SCHROEDER, _Das Recht in der geschlechtlichen Ordnung_, 244 ff.; BERNHÖFT, "Zur Gesch. des eur. Familienrechts," _ZVR._, VIII, 172-74; KOHLER, "Ueber das Negerrecht," _ibid._, XI, 419; WESTERMARCK, _op. cit._, 61 ff., 80, 81, who denies the inference of promiscuity from this custom and mentions many low tribes among whom chastity is observed. _Cf._ FRIEDRICHS, in _ZVR._, VIII, 374 ff.; SCHNEIDER, _Die Naturvölker_, II, 473, 474, who ascribes the custom to religious impulse--the consecration of virgins to the cult of Aphrodite. The custom, found among Egyptians, Tibetans, Wotjäken, American Indians, and other peoples, permitting girls freely to prostitute themselves before marriage is similarly put in evidence: HERODOTUS, II, 121, 124, 125, 126; IV, 176; V, 6; POST, _Grundlagen_, 187; _Geschlechtsgenoss._, 29-31; _Familienrecht_, 346; BUCH, _Die Wotjäken_, 45 ff.; KOHLER, in _ZVR._, V, 335 (Wotjäken); BERNHÖFT, _op. cit._, 165, 166; GIRAUD-TEULON, _op. cit._, 52, 53; UNGER, _Die Ehe_, 12, 13; HELLWALD, _Die mensch. Familie_, 220 ff., 343; WAITZ, _Anthropologie_, II, 112, 113 (Africa); RATZEL, _Hist. of Mankind_, II, 128 (Brazil and ancient Peru); PRATZ, _Hist. de la Louisiane_, II, 386 (Natches Indians); STEVENSON, in _XI. Rep. of Bureau of Eth._, 19, 20 (the Sia); TURNER, _ibid._ XI, 189 (the Innuit). [134] On the so-called "Probeehen" or "Probenächte," see BUCH, _Die Wotjäken_, 50, 51, 53, 57; KOHLER, in _ZVR._, V, 346, 351, 338, 339; POST, _Anfänge_, 21; DÜRINGSFELD, _Hochzeitsbuch_, 9; SCHMIDT, _Jus primae noctis_, 40; WEINHOLD, _Deutsche Frauen_, I, 261 ff.; FRIEDBERG, _Eheschliessung_, 84; and especially FISCHER, _Ueber die Probenächte der teutschen Bauernmädchen_, who gives a detailed historical investigation from the early Middle Ages onward, with interesting examples. _Cf._ KOVALEVSKY, _Mod. Customs and Anc. Laws of Russia_, 12, 13 (the _Kirchgang_ or _Dorfgehen_ of Switzerland, Baden, and Würtemberg). Among the Todas, after a marriage is arranged, the bride has a proof-time of a night and a day. On the "expiry of this brief honeymoon," the damsel is required to make up her mind "either to accept or reject her suitor."--MARSHALL, _A Phrenologist amongst the Todas_, 212.