BOOK REVIEWS 505

unreservedly accepting a connection in the realm of the history of civilization. I cannot here go into details.

Cline has devoted a special chapter to wire-drawing (p. 109). To this may be added that the technique also occurs in northeastern Africa, in Abyssinia, and in Kaffa (draw-plate also of wood), and that according to Vernier everything points to its having been practised in ancient Egypt (draw-plate of stone). In 1926 I published an essay on Wire-drawing in Africa, but as it was printed in Swedish (in a journal named Rig) i t cannot very well be expected that Dr Cline would be ac- quainted with it. I n that paper I arrived a t the same opinion as he; namely, that the technique in question was originally introduced into Negro Africa from outside. On the other hand I take the liberty of raising a slight protest when he asserts that our only adequate account of the technique of chain-making-for which purpose the metal wire is largely used-is from the Akikuyu. I n The Akamba of Brit ish Easl Afr ica (1920) I have given a fairly detailed description of the method, andalso illustrated an apparatus for rolling wire, of which I have neither before nor since come across a counterpart. I n this book I also state as my opinion that the Akamba brought the technique of chain-making to greater perfection than the Akikuyu and other neighboring tribes. Nor I am inclined to agree with Dr Cline’s supposition that the chains of the Akikuyu are the best made by African natives. I n my work just referred to I have pointed out that the Kamba chains are superior to those of the Akikuyu, that their fame is widespread through East Africa, and that they find a sale among a great number of tribes, while the Akikuyu article is of the ordinary, plain East African type. For the sake of comparison I depicted a Kamba and a Kikuyu chain side by side.

In Cline’s work there is also a chapter devoted to the social and religious aspect of metal-working in Negro Africa. Lack of space prevents me from entering upon this interesting survey, but I may, however, mention the existence of the paper entitled Schmied z4nd Gesellschajt, together with a distribution map, found in Frobe- nius’ Atlas Ajricanus (Part 2%).

In this review I have somewhat disproportionately enlarged upon one or two details, and for this I feel I must apologize. I n conclusion I only wish to express the hope that Dr Cline may continue his researches in the domain of African ethnology where he has already given us so much that is of value, and that Dr Spier will also in the future keep his Series open to the publication of African material.

GERHARD LINDBLOM STATENS ETNOCRAFISKA MUSEUM, STOCKHOLM

Jabo Procerbsjrom Liberia. M a x i m s in the Life qf a Native Tribe. GEORGE HERZOG with the assistance of Charles Blooah. (xiii, 272 pp. $2.50. London: International Institute of African Languages and Cultures, Oxford University Press, 1936.)

The material presented in this volume was collected by the author during an expedition to Liberia on behalf of the Department of Anthropology, University of Chicago. Many contributions are made by Charles Blooah, a native of Liberia, who accompanied Dr Herzog on his journey.

506 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N. s., 40, 1938

Some four hundred Jab0 proverbs, addresses, honorary titles, etc., are presented in native text, accompanied by unilinear translation, and extensive remarks and explanations. This material has been classified in a convenient scheme, so that it is readily usable for purposes of comparison with other areas of Africa. The student of language will note that the phonetic recording of the text is representative of the high standards of the Sapir school. The author furnishes us with some insight into the tonal characteristics of the Jab0 language, by the inclusion of titles or “honorary addresses” which are intended for rendition on such musical instruments as the drum, horn, xylophone, and musical bow.

In Liberia proverbs assume an important socio-psychological function and as the author points out, “far from being the dead clichCs which proverbs are for us, they form a vital and potent element of the culture they interpret” (p. 15). These pithy sayings are used extensively in native legal and social life, as a means of interpreting new situations in terms of past occurrences. Since they are “drawn from the entire range of experience, past and present, from everyday happenings or from super- natural and mythological lore” (p. 2) , these proverbs reveal much concerning the life and thought of the natives.

Thus Jab0 conceptual images are used with implications wholly foreign to the European reader, i.e. “ ‘to eat’ may imply ‘to posses a quality,’ ‘to have controlof,’ ‘to exercise power over,’ etc.” (p. 7 ) . Such aspects are important for African lin- guists and ethnologists, particularly since the influence of Western European civilization is obscuring much of the native life of the past.

HEINZ WIESCHHOFF UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

A Tribal Survey of Mongalla Province. L. F. NALDER (ed.). (232 pp., map. 15s. Lon- don: International Institute of African Languages and Cultures, Oxford University Press, 1937.) The introduction reviews the work of Dr C. G. Seligman and his wife whose

minor studies were incorporated in a large volume entitled Pagan Tribes of the Nilot- i c Sudalz, which forms a companion volume to A Tribal Survey of Mongalla Province. The latter work provides a general description of the people and their principal institutions, and in addition gives some details of particular tribes.

The survey of Mongalla Province is a piece of team work by missionaries and district officers serving in that province, and the merit of the research is greatly enhanced by the fact that these investigators have a fluent knowledge of the Sudanic languages. To supplement the studies presented, students should consult not only Dr Seligman’s contributions but those of Dr Evans-Pritchard, Mr. J. H. Driberg, Fathers Molinaro and Crazzolara, also articles in S u d a n Notes and Records.

The geographical introduction makes a brief, perhaps too brief a presentation, of the main physical features that have affected local cultures. An extension of the brief notes concerning elevation, rainfall, and tsetse-fly belts would have been a valuable aid to a fuller understanding of differences in tribal habit and the influence of topographical conditions on culture patterns. An excellent map shows the dis-