MATRIARCIIATE.) Polyandry is common, and de scent is reckoned only through the mother. The father is frequently kept at a distance, and some times is not even regarded as a blood relative of his own children. A higher form is the patriarchal family, which is almost universally accompanied by polygamy. (See PATRIARCHATE.) This form has been widely extended, and prevails to-day over large sections of the earth. The third form is monogamy.
The life of the monogamic family centres about tire home, which has become a social and religious ideal. Under Christian influence the monogamic family attained a development and importance which it never enjoyed among pagan peoples. This development was gradual, as.Chris tianity gained its footing among the converted nations. The spiritual emphasis which Chris tianity placed upon the connubial relations with the strict obligation of mutual fidelity contrib uted to this elevation of family life. The home has continued to gain in popular esteem. Its in fluence in elevating woman, in establishing chas tity, in training children, in promoting religion, has given it deserved prominence. Modern chari table efforts seek to further home life. That the home is the best place for the child has become axiomatic. It is this conception of home which has given the modern family such superiority over all others. It seems decided that our civili zation will rise or fall with the home. Yet it
should be remembered that there are those who from the best motives advocate some scheme of regulated promiscuity. Their views, however, have found little acceptance. In industrial re lations the family has been important. In all times it has been the unit of production. Though modern industrialism appears to have changed this, the agricultural pursuits remain in the hands of the family: even inheritance seems to be founded on the idea of cooperation between members of the family. The family has also been a unit of consumption. Economic changes have always had a great, if not a determining, effect upon the family. The transformation of England, for example, into a manufacturing country threat ened to destroy the family life. The change from rural to urban conditions has caused great dis turbances, and the family is not yet adjusted to the new conditions. The increase of divorce, made easy in the United States by the diversity of State laws, is an indication of the gravity of the changes. (See MARRIAGE.) Consult: Le tourneau, Evolution of Marriage and of the Family (New York, 1S91): Westermarek, The History of Human Marriage (London, 1894) ; Stareke, The Primitive Family (New York, 1899) ; Thwing, The Family (Boston, 1887).