FROM THE PRECEDING examination of the spring and summer festivals of Europe we may infer that our rude forefathers personified the powers of vegetation as male and female， and attempted， on the principle of homoeopathic or imitative magic， to quicken the growth of trees and plants by representing the marriage of the sylvan deities in the persons of a King and Queen of May， a Whitsun Bridegroom and Bride， and so forth. Such representations were accordingly no mere symbolic or allegorical dramas， pastoral plays designed to amuse or instruct a rustic audience. They were charms intended to make the woods to grow green， the fresh grass to sprout， the corn to shoot， and the flowers to blow. And it was natural to suppose that the more closely the mock marriage of the leaf-clad or flower-decked mummers aped the real marriage of the woodland sprites， the more effective would be the charm. Accordingly we may assume with a high degree of probability that the profligacy which notoriously attended these ceremonies was at one time not an accidental excess but an essential part of the rites， and that in the opinion of those who performed them the marriage of trees and plants could not be fertile without the real union of the human sexes. At the present day it might perhaps be vain to look in civilised Europe for customs of this sort observed for the explicit purpose of promoting the growth of vegetation. But ruder races in other parts of the world have consciously employed the intercourse of the sexes as a means to ensure the fruitfulness of the earth； and some rites which are still， or were till lately， kept up in Europe can be reasonably explained only as stunted relics of a similar practice. The following facts will make this plain.
For four days before they committed the seed to the earth the Pipiles of Central America kept apart from their wives in order that on the night before planting they might indulge their passions to the fullest extent； certain persons are even said to have been appointed to perform the sexual act at the very moment when the first seeds were deposited in the ground. The use of their wives at that time was indeed enjoined upon the people by the priests as a religious duty， in default of which it was not lawful to sow the seed. The only possible explanation of this custom seems to be that the Indians confused the process by which human beings reproduce their kind with the process by which plants discharge the same function， and fancied that by resorting to the former they were simultaneously forwarding the latter. In some parts of Java， at the season when the bloom will soon be on the rice， the husbandman and his wife visit their fields by night and there engage in sexual intercourse for the purpose of promoting the growth of the crop. In the Leti， Sarmata， and some other groups of islands which lie between the western end of New Guinea and the northern part of Australia， the heathen population regard the sun as the male principle by whom the earth or female prínciple is fertilised. They call him Upu-lera or Mr. Sun， and represent him under the form of a lamp made of coco-nut leaves， which may be seen hanging everywhere in their houses and in the sacred fig-tree. Under the tree lies a large flat stone， which serves as a sacrificial table. On it the heads of slain foes were and are still placed in some of the islands. Once a year， at the beginning of the rainy season， Mr. Sun comes down into the holy fig-tree to fertilise the earth， and to facilitate his descent a ladder with seven rungs is considerately placed at his disposal. It is set up under the tree and is adorned with carved figures of the birds whose shrill clarion heralds the approach of the sun in the east.
On this occasion pigs and dogs are sacrificed in profusion； men and women alike indulge in a saturnalia； and the mystic union of the sun and the earth is dramatically represented in public， amid song and dance， by the real union of the sexes under the tree. The object of the festival， we are told， is to procure rain， plenty of food and drink， abundance of cattle and children and riches from Grandfather Sun. They pray that he may make every she-goat to cast two or three young， the people to multiply， the dead pigs to be replaced by living pigs， the empty rice-baskets to be filled， and so on. And to induce him to grant their requests they offer him pork and rice and liquor， and invite him to fall to. In the Babar Islands a special flag is hoisted at this festival as a symbol of the creative energy of the sun； it is of white cotton， about nine feet high， and consists of the figure of a man in an appropriate attitude. It would be unjust to treat these orgies as a mere outburst of unbridled passion； no doubt they are deliberately and solemnly organised as essential to the fertility of the earth and the welfare of man.
The same means which are thus adopted to stimulate the growth of the crops are naturally employed to ensure the fruitfulness of trees. In some parts of Amboyna， when the state of the clove plantation indicates that the crop is likely to be scanty， the men go naked to the plantations by night， and there seek to fertilise the trees precisely as they would impregnate women， while at the same time they call out for More cloves！ This is supposed to make the trees bear fruit more abundantly.
