The isolation of the individual families is never quite perfect, for man, being a social animal, takes necessarily a certain interest in the affairs of those around him, and this social duty is sometimes fulfilled by the weaker sex with more zeal than is absolutely indispensable for the public welfare; but families may live for many years in the same village without ever becoming conscious of common interests.

So long as the Jones family do not commit any culpable breach of public order, such as putting obstructions on the highway or habitually setting their house on fire, their neighbour Brown takes probably no interest in their affairs, and has no ground for interfering with their perfect liberty of action.

Amongst the families composing a Russian village, such a state of isolation is impossible.

The Heads of Households must often meet together and consult in the Village Assembly, and their daily occupation must be influenced by the Communal decrees.

They cannot begin to mow the hay or plough the fallow field until the Village Assembly has passed a resolution on the subject.