Of R. As. Soc., p. 277; Hudibras, Pt. III., canto I. 707; Fabliaus
et Contes par Barbazan, ed. Meon, I. 408-409; Indian Antiq. III. 151;
Mueller's Chips, II. 227 seqq.; many other references in TYLOR, and in a
capital monograph by Dr. H.H. Ploss of Leipzig, received during revision
of this sheet: 'Das Mannerkindbett.' What a notable example of the
German power of compounding is that title!)
[This custom seems to be considered generally as a survival of the
matriarchate in a society with a patriarchal regime. We may add to the
list of authorities on this subject: E. Westermarck, Hist. of Human
Marriage, 106, seqq.; G. A. Wilken, De Couvade bij de Volken v.d.
Indischen Archipel, Bijdr. Ind. Inst., 5th ser., iv. p. 250. Dr. Ernest
Martin, late physician of the French Legation at Peking, in an article on
La Couvade en Chine (Revue Scientifique, 24th March, 1894), gave a
drawing representing the couvade from a sketch by a native artist.
In the China Review (XI. pp. 401-402), "Lao Kwang-tung" notes these
interesting facts: "The Chinese believe that certain actions performed by
the husband during the pregnancy of his wife will affect the child. If a
dish of food on the table is raised by putting another dish, or anything
else below it, it is not considered proper for a husband, who is expecting
the birth of a child, to partake of it, for fear the two dishes should
cause the child to have two tongues.
