MC gee] anthropologic liter a ture 1 8 1
The republics of Santo Domingo — San Domingo and Haiti (the 44 Black Republic ") — are of peculiar interest to students of institu- tions ; they are described at some length, and the striking episodes in the history of the island are recorded summarily in such manner as to show the course of a forced institutional development through the several normal stages up to an apparently premature enlightenment — a government of primitive people, by primitive people, for primitive people. The author's impressions of the Black Republic are more favorable than those of some other travelers ; he does not hesitate to express the apparently just opinion that it represents " the most ad- vanced negro government in the world " (p. 288) ; and he finds fair indications of intelligent progress giving promise of future order and continued development. Much of Mr Hill's thirty- seventh
chapter is devoted to a general discussion of obiism, or witchcraft, in which he acknowledges assistance from Mr W. W. Newell. He traces certain phases of belief found in the West Indies, and also in southern United States, to European contact, pointing out that the voodoo or voudou (corrupted to " hoodoo " north of Mason and Dixon's line) is more correctly rendered vaudoux, a term derived from the province of Yaudois and the sect known as Waldenses. The volume is in
every respect a roost attractive specimen of book-making. It is an im- portant contribution to American literature of the substantial sort.
W J McGee.
Der Ursprung der Afrikanischen Kulturen. Von L. Frobenius. (Der Ursprung der Kultur, erster Band.) Berlin : Verlag von GebrUder Borntraeger. 1898. 8°, xxxi, 368 pp., 9 pi., 225 figures, 26 charts.
This is the first instalment of an extensive work on the " origin of culture" {Ursprung der Kultur) in all parts of the globe, and even a cursory inspection impresses one with the comprehensiveness of its scope. In examining this part of the work, which is devoted to the African aborigines, one is impressed by the completeness with which the results of recent exploration have been gathered and digested, and the familiarity of the author with the rich collections of African objects in European museums. In the opinion of Dr Frobenius, a study of the beginnings and the gradual development of the elements of African culture, and the observance of their equivalents or similarities in other countries, will go far toward revealing the political, social, cultural, and religious history of the people. He defines culture as by no means identical with civilization, but as the first step in the elevation of a brutish people toward a higher plane, while civilization is an aggrega- tion of cultural elements in one people. Those who attempt to trace
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