We have seen, too, what fatal
effects are supposed to follow, and do actually follow, from contact
with a sacred object in New Zealand. In short, primitive man
believes that what is sacred is dangerous; it is pervaded by a sort
of electrical sanctity which communicates a shock to, even if it
does not kill, whatever comes in contact with it. Hence the savage
is unwilling to touch or even to see that which he deems peculiarly
holy. Thus Bechuanas, of the Crocodile clan, think it "hateful and
unlucky" to meet or see a crocodile; the sight is thought to cause
inflammation of the eyes. Yet the crocodile is their most sacred
object; they call it their father, swear by it, and celebrate it in
their festivals. The goat is the sacred animal of the Madenassana
Bushmen; yet "to look upon it would be to render the man for the
time impure, as well as to cause him undefined uneasiness." The Elk
clan, among the Omaha Indians, believe that even to touch the male
elk would be followed by an eruption of boils and white spots on the
body. Members of the Reptile clan in the same tribe think that if
one of them touches or smells a snake, it will make his hair white.
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