In what direction is the civilized world tending with regard to these matters? Will the number of celibates increase as hitherto, or will there be some backward movement in that respect? A definite answer cannot yet be given, since much will depend on economical conditions which it is impossible at present to foresee. * * * * * Before this chapter is closed, it may be worth while to glance at the curious notion that there is something impure and sinful in marriage, as in sexual relations generally. The missionary Jellinghaus found this idea prevalent among the Munda Kols in Chota Nagpore. Once when he asked them, “May a dog sin?” the answer was, “If the dog did not sin how could he breed?”[877] In Efate, of the New Hebrides, according to Mr. Macdonald, sexual intercourse is regarded as something unclean;[878] and the Tahitians believed that, if a man refrained from all connection with women some months before death, he passed immediately into his eternal mansion without any purification.[879] It is perhaps for a similar reason that the Shawanese have a great respect for certain persons who observe celibacy,[880] and that, among the Californian Karok, a man who touches a woman within three days before going out hunting is believed to miss the quarry.[881] Among several peoples, as the Brazilian aborigines,[882] the Papuans of New Guinea,[883] certain tribes in Australia,[884] the Khyoungtha of the Chittagong Hills,[885] and the Khevsurs of the Caucasus,[886] continence is required from newly married people for some time after marriage. The same is the case with several peoples of Aryan origin; and Dr. v. Schroeder even believes that this custom can be traced back to the primitive times of the Indo-European race.[887] In ancient Mexico, the Mazatek bridegroom kept apart from the bride during the first fifteen days of his wedded life, both spending the time in fasting and penance.[888] In Greenland, according to Egede, if married couples had children before a year was past, or if they had large families, they were blamed, and compared to dogs.[889] In Fiji, husbands and wives do not usually spend the night together, except as it were by stealth; it is quite contrary to Fijian ideas of delicacy that they should sleep under the same roof. Thus a man spends the day with his family, but absents himself on the approach of night.[890] Speaking of certain American Indians, Lafitau remarks, “Ils n’osent aller dans les cabanes particulières où habitent leurs épouses, que durant l’obscurité de la nuit; ... ce seroit une action extraordinaire de s’y présenter de jour.”[891] Moreover, in spite of the great licentiousness of many savage races, a veil of modesty, however transparent, is generally drawn over the relations of the sexes.[892]