Thus, Lubbock (Lord Avebury), in the Origin of Civilization, fifth edition, 1889, brings forward a number of references in evidence of this belief. More recently Finck, in his Primitive Love and Love-stories, 1899, seeks to accumulate data in favor of the unbounded licentiousness of savages. He admits, however, that a view of the matter opposed to his own is now tending to prevail.
See "The Evolution of Modesty" in the first volume of these Studies.
The sacredness of sexual relations often applies also to individual marriage. Thus, Skeat, in his Malay Magic, shows that the bride and bridegroom are definitely recognized as sacred, in the same sense that the king is, and in Malay States the king is a very sacred person. See also, concerning the sacred character of coitus, whether individual or collective, A. Van Gennep, Rites de Passage, passim.
Spencer and Gillen, Northern Tribes of Central Australia, p. 136.