gatschet] ANTHROPOLOGIC LITER A TURE 1 83
course of tribes which have been carried along by the above-mentioned currents of migration, is almost general. In the arts and manufactures the negro is assiduous, but he lacks originality in creating new forms or types. Inventiveness is not his specialty, and art in our sense of the term is unknown to him. The more primitive man is, the less he dis- tinguishes, in legend and story, between man and animal, or between these and certain inanimate objects, as the celestial bodies. In his myths the sun, the moon, and animals are personified, being endowed, equally with himself, with speech, mind, and shade or soul. A highly developed animism pervades all his mythology, and sorcery supplies the means of explaining mysterious natural phenomena.
The principal portion of Dr Frobenius' first volume is devoted to a description of certain classes of implements and artifacts, their genesis, history, uses, and areas of distribution. The numerous illustrations disclose many interesting details. In the north, shields are of leather ; in the west they are of wood and cane ; in the south, of hide ; and they vary greatly in shape according to the locality. Lances, darts, and javelins are found wherever shields are in use, but where bows are commonly employed shields disappear altogether. In the north the bows are covered with leather, and their forms indicate Asiatic origin. Knives, daggers, and swords are due to a thrifty iron and steel industry which has been in vogue from an early epoch ; asymmetric knives are frequently met with, the handles being of the most varied shapes.
Dr Frobenius presents a large body of information concerning other instruments and implements used by the native tribes, many of which are illustrated. With the multifarious forms of war-clubs and tomahawk-axes of hardwood and metal, throwing-clubs or boomerangs are treated, and also throwing-knives with one or several points or blades, some of which must have evolved from spearheads. Arrows are shown to have either flat or spiked points, as have the spears and darts. The native stringed musical instruments are numerous ; drums and bullroarers of wood are also prominent, and communication by means of drum-signals, so familiar to many travelers, is noted. Build- ings are erected of various materials, and are either hemispherical or conical, though the earthen houses form a class by themselves. The vases and smoking utensils show great diversity, as do also the sculp- tured objects, especially the statues and temples dedicated to gods and godesses.
Of the colored charts accompanying Dr Frobenius* memoir, five of them illustrate the distribution of shields according to the material used in their manufacture ; another chart illustrates the range of ma- terials from which garments are made, such as skins, cotton, palm- fiber,
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