By the nature of things this book falls under two divisions. The first eight chapters criticise the current anthropological theory of the origins of the belief in spirits. Chapters ix.-xvii., again, criticise the current anthropological theory as to how, the notion of spirit once attained, man arrived at the idea of a Supreme Being. These two branches of the topic are treated in most modern works concerned with the Origins of Religion, such as Mr. Tyler’s ‘Primitive Culture, ‘ Mr. Herbert Spencer’s ‘Principles of Sociology, ‘ Mr. Jevons’s ‘Introduction to the History of Religion, ‘ the late Mr. Grant Allen’s ‘Evolution of the Idea of God, ‘ and many others. Yet I have been censured for combining, in this work, the two branches of my subject; and the second part has been regarded as but faintly connected with the first.