the symbols of which we have been speaking agree in having originally been regarded, not as symbols, but as real acts possessing certain magical potencies. When an individual, who is acquiring a piece of land, picks up a bit of soil while speaking the appropriate words, he intends to produce a magical effect upon the land, such that disaster will come to any one who may seek to deprive him of it. He who offers his hand in sealing a compact signifies that he is prepared to lose his freedom in case he fails to keep his word. For this reason the shaking of hands is sometimes supplemented by the extension of a staff--a special use of the magical wand which occurs particularly when the pledge is administered by a judge. In a second stage of development, the act loses the status of reality, but it remains associated with religious feelings. At a third stage, it becomes a mere matter of form, though the solemnity with which it envelops the transaction adds to the impressiveness of the latter and fixes it more firmly in memory. Combined with the word, thus, is a gesture that faithfully reflects its meaning. Moreover, other individuals are summoned to witness the legal transaction. This is done, not so much that these persons may later be able to give definite testimony, as that they, too, shall hear the word and see the gesture, and so, in a sense, enhance the reality of that which is transpiring. Besides this oldest form of witness, who is not to testify regarding that which he has experienced, as occurs in later times, but who is merely present on the occasion of the legal transaction, there is the _compurgator_, who substantiates the oath of the man involved. The latter fortifies his statements by invoking the gods as witnesses. Now, the oath of the compurgator does not relate to the testimony of his companion, but merely to the companion himself; it is a pledge to share the punishment of the latter in case he swears falsely. As in battle, so also in calling upon the terrible powers whose vengeance is to fall upon the perjurer, companion stands protectingly by the side of companion. Thus, the oath itself is a ceremony both of cult and of magic. As a cult activity, the oath was originally given at the place where the cult was administered--that is, in the immediate presence of the gods; the method of procedure was to raise the fingers and to point them directly to the gods, who were regarded as witnesses of the act. The magical nature of the oath appears in the fact that the latter involved the conjuration of an object, which was to bring disaster upon him who took the oath in case he swore falsely. Thus, the Germans swore by their battle-steeds or their weapons, and, in so doing, they laid their hands upon these objects; or, instead of the latter, they used an oath-staff--one of the numerous metamorphoses of the magical wand--which was extended toward him who received the oath, whether the opposing party or the judge.