339 A. R. Brown, “Beliefs concerning Childbirth in some Australian Tribes,” _Man_, xii. (1912) pp. 180 _sq._ Compare _id._, “Three Tribes of Western Australia,” _Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute_, xliii. (1913) p. 168. M80 Some rude races still ignorant as to the cause of procreation. 340 Those who desire to pursue this subject further may consult with advantage Mr. E. S. Hartland’s learned treatise _Primitive Paternity_ (London, 1909-1910), which contains an ample collection of facts and a careful discussion of them. Elsewhere I have argued that the primitive ignorance of paternity furnishes the key to the origin of totemism. See _Totemism and Exogamy_, i. 155 _sqq._, iv. 40 _sqq._ M81 Legends of virgin mothers. M82 Procreative virtue apparently ascribed to the sacred stocks and stones at Semitic sanctuaries. 341 Jeremiah ii. 27. The ancient Greeks seem also to have had a notion that men were sprung from trees or rocks. See Homer, _Od._ xix. 163; F. G. Welcker, _Griechische Götterlehre_ (Göttingen, 1857-1862), i. 777 _sqq._; A. B. Cook, “Oak and Rock,” _Classical Review_, xv. (1901) pp. 322 _sqq._ 342 The _ashera_ and the _masseba_. See 1 Kings xiv. 23; 2 Kings xviii. 4, xxiii. 14; Micah v. 13 _sq._ (in Hebrew, 12 _sq._); Deuteronomy xvi. 21 _sq._; W. Robertson Smith, _Religion of the Semites_,2 pp. 187 _sqq._, 203 _sqq._; G. F. Moore, in _Encyclopaedia Biblica_, _svv._, “Asherah” and “Massebah.” In the early religion of Crete also the two principal objects of worship seem to have been a sacred tree and a sacred pillar. See A. J. Evans, “Mycenaean Tree and Pillar Cult,” _Journal of Hellenic Studies_, xxi. (1901) pp. 99 _sqq._ 343 As to conical images of Semitic goddesses, see above, pp. 34 _sqq._ The sacred pole (_asherah_) appears also to have been by some people regarded as the embodiment of a goddess (Astarte), not of a god. See above, p. 18, note 2. Among the Khasis of Assam the sacred upright stones, which resemble the Semitic _masseboth_, are regarded as males, and the flat table-stones as female. See P. R. T. Gurdon, _The Khasis_ (London, 1907), pp. 112 _sq._, 150 _sqq._ So in Nikunau, one of the Gilbert Islands in the South Pacific, the natives had sandstone slabs or pillars which represented gods and goddesses. “If the stone slab represented a goddess it was not placed erect, but laid down on the ground. Being a lady they thought it would be cruel to make her stand so long.” See G. Turner, LL.D., _Samoa_ (London, 1884), p. 296. M83 These conclusions confirmed by the excavation of a sanctuary at the Canaanitish city of Gezer. The infants buried in the sanctuary may have been expected to be born again. 344 See above, pp. 91 _sqq._