| 7. | Mother's brother's wife, | 7. | Mother's sister's husband, |
| 8. | Wife's father's sister, | 8. | Husbands father's brother, |
| 9. | Wifes mother's sister, | 9. | Husband's mother's brother, |
| 10. | Mother, | 10. | Father, |
| 11. | Step-mother, | 11. | Step-father, |
| 12. | Wife's mother, | 12. | Husband's father, |
| 13. | Daughter, | 13. | Son, |
| 14. | Wife's daughter, | 14. | Husband's son, |
| 15. | Son's wife, | 15. | Daughter's husband, |
| 16. | Sister, | 16. | Brother, |
| 17. | Wife's sister, | 17. | Husband's brother, |
| 18. | Brother's wife, | 18. | Sister's husband, |
| 19. | Son's daughter, | 19. | Son's son, |
| 20. | Daughter's daughter, | 20. | Daughters son, |
| 21. | Son's son's wife, | 21. | Son's daughter's husband, |
| 22. | Daughter's son's wife, | 22. | Daughter's daughter's husband, |
| 23. | Wife's son's daughter, | 23. | Husband's son's son, |
| 24. | Wife's daughter's daughter, | 24. | Husband's daughter's son, |
| 25. | Brother's daughter, | 25. | Brother's son, |
| 26. | Sister's daughter, | 26. | Sister's son, |
| 27. | Brother's son's wife, | 27. | Brother's daughter's husband, |
| 28. | Sister's son's wife, | 28. | Sister's daughter's husband. |
| 29. | Wife's brother's daughter, | 29. | Husband's brother's son, |
| 30. | Wife's sister's daughter. | 30. | Husband's sister's son. |
It will be observed that the second column is merely a statement in a different form of what is contained in the first column. Thus, No. 10 in the first column is the same as No. 13 in the second—prohibition of a man's marriage with his mother being the same as prohibition of a woman's marriage with her son. It thus appears that the number of distinct prohibitions in the two columns is thirty. Of these fifteen are expressly prohibited, and the other fifteen—those printed in Italics—by inference. That the inferences are good and necessary in most of the cases is generally admitted. Thus, Mr. Laing admits that they are all good, on various principles, with the exception of five, viz: a wife's aunts (Nos. 8 and 9), sister (No. 17), and nieces (Nos. 29 and 30). From the fact that a man is forbidden to marry his uncle's wife, he infers that he may not marry his nephew's wife, but denies that from a woman's being prohibited to marry her husband's nephew may be justly inferred the unlawfulness of marriage between a man and his wife's niece. The reason of his denial he extends to the case of a wife's sister. Let us endeavour to understand his Reason, and see whether it is a good one. He thinks a man is not so nearly, or in the same way, related to his wife, as the wife is to her husband. By marriage the wife becomes his blood relative, but he does not become her blood relative. She becomes consanguineous with him, but he does not become consanguineous with her. Hence, he is less closely related to her relatives than she is to his. It follows that he may marry her sister, aunt or niece; but she may not marry his uncle, brother, or nephew. He further asserts that, so far as marriage is concerned, a sister is not so near to a sister as a brother is to a sister. Therefore, a sister's relatives by marriage are not so near to a woman as a brother's relatives by
