Looking at this position, I must now argue that the original interpretation of the couvade given by Bachofen in his great treatise in 1861, and supported by Giraud-Teulon, fits substantially with the facts, and is justified by them. He takes it to belong to the turning point of society when the tie of parentage, till then recognised in maternity, was extended to take in paternity, this being done by the fiction of representing the father as a second mother.²

²Tylor, E.B.n/an/an/an/a, "On a Method of Investigating the Development of Institutions . . . ," , 18: 255–256.