are, and those that are not, primitive.  As Haddon truly points out in a book containing valuable detailed descriptions of dances, even among savages dances are so developed that it is difficult to trace their origin, and at Torres Straits, he remarks, “there are certainly play or secular dances, dances for pure amusement without any ulterior design.” (A.C.  Haddon, Head Hunters, p. 233.) When we remember that dancing had probably become highly developed long before man appeared on the earth, this difficulty in determining the precise origin of human dancing cannot cause surprise.

Spix and Martius described how the Muras of Brazil by moonlight would engage all night in a Bacchantic dance in a great circle, hand in hand, the men on one side, the women on the other, shouting out all the time, the men “Who will marry me?” the women, “You are a beautiful devil; all women will marry you,” (Spix and Martius, Reise in Brasilien, 1831, vol. iii, p. 1117.) They also described in detail the dance of the Brazilian Puris, performed in a state of complete nakedness, the men in a row, the women in another row behind them.  They danced backward and forward, stamping and singing, at first in a slow and melancholy style, but gradually with increasing vigor and excitement.  Then the women began to rotate the pelvis backward and forward, and the men to thrust their bodies forward, the dance becoming a pantomimic representation of sexual intercourse (ibid., vol. i, 1823, pp. 373-5).

Among the Apinages of Brazil, also, the women stand in a row, almost motionless, while the men dance and leap in front of them, both men and women at the same time singing. (Buscalioni, “Reise zu den Apinages,” Zeitschrift fuer Ethnologie, 1899, ht. 6, p. 650.)

Among the Gilas of New Mexico, “when a young man sees a girl whom he desires for a wife, he first endeavors to gain the good-will of the parents; this accomplished, he proceeds to serenade his lady-love, and will often sit for hours, day after day, near her home, playing on his flute.  Should the girl not appear, it is a sign she rejects him; but if, on the other hand, she comes out to meet him, he knows that his suit is accepted, and he takes her to his home.  No marriage ceremony is performed."[33] (H.H.  Bancroft, Native Races of the Pacific, vol. i, p. 549.)

“Among the Minnetarees a singular night-dance is, it is said, sometimes held.  During this amusement an opportunity is given to the squaws to select their favorites.  A squaw, as she dances, will advance to a person with whom she is captivated, either for his personal attractions or for his renown in arms; she taps him on the shoulder and immediately runs out of the lodge and betakes herself to the bushes, followed by the favorite.  But if it should happen that he has a particular preference for another from whom he expects the same favor, or if he is restrained