regards it as an extension to the universe of early man's own
consciousness of life and personality. Dr. Tylor thinks that the opinion
rests upon 'a broad philosophy of nature.' {15b} M. Lefebure appeals to
psychical phenomena as I show later (see 'Fetishism'). At all events,
the existence of these savage metaphysics is a demonstrated fact. I
established it {15c} before invoking it as an explanation of savage
belief in metamorphosis.

(3) 'The Tuna story belongs to a very well known class of aetiological
plant-stories' (aetiological: assigning a cause for the plant, its
peculiarities, its name, &c.), 'which are meant to explain a no longer
intelligible name of a plant, &c.' I also say, 'these myths are nature-
myths, so far as they attempt to account for a fact in nature--namely,
for the existence of certain plants, and for their place in ritual.' {16}

The reader has before him Mr. Max Muller's view. The white kernel of the
cocoanut was locally styled 'the brains of Tuna.' That name required
explanation. Hence the story about the fate of Tuna. Cocoanut was used
in Mangaia in the sense of 'head' (testa). So it is now in England.

See Bell's Life, passim, as 'The Chicken got home on the cocoanut.'



The Explanation


On the whole, either cocoanut kernels were called 'brains of Tuna'
because 'cocoanut'='head,' and a head has brains--and, well, somehow I
fail to see why brains of Tuna in particular! Or, there being a story to