We have seen that war, as the hardest form of the struggle for life, has needed, more than any other kind of work, the support which æsthetic stimulation affords to practical activities. And the art which has developed under its influence has, to a greater degree than is usual in primitive production, fulfilled the conditions of emotional community and emotional intensity. Moreover, the requirements of fighting have called forth æsthetic qualities of power and gracefulness in the physical type which seem to be reflected even in artistic creation. Thus the art-production of military tribes has everywhere, independently of racial and climatic influences, acquired some common qualities; their decorative arts, as well as their poetry and dramatic dances, are always characterised by an intense and forcible life, which is often combined with dignified power and graceful elegance. All these are, of course, only restricted merits, which correspond to some striking deficiencies. It is easily understood that art-life in a military state of society always tends to be circumscribed within the narrow boundaries of tribal sympathy. It may also be pointed out, at least as a curious and significant coincidence, that descriptive and figurative art, in the sense of realistic, faithful rendering of nature and life, has never attained any high development among the most military tribes. Such a sympathetic interest in the picturesque qualities of the human and animal body as that which characterises the art of the prehistoric European cave-dwellers, the Bushmen, and the Eskimo, does not seem compatible with the customs of war. In this connection it is not our business to estimate critically the comparative importance of these merits and deficiencies: we have only to point out the undeniable significance which, from an historical point of view, must be accorded to war as a factor in the development of art. CHAPTER XX ART AND MAGIC Sympathetic magic has in recent times become a favourite subject of scientific study. We may therefore proceed to trace the influence which this important factor has exercised on the development of art-forms without going through the labour of presenting and describing the evidence of its occurrence at the different stages of evolution. It is sufficient to refer to the copious and detailed researches of Hartland, Frazer, Béranger-Féraud, and others. What we need is only a psychological interpretation of all the facts which have been brought together by these authors.