682 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1912. 



In children's play, old traditions are often kept alive, and so we may 

 well consider whether the Waldteufel is not likewise brought down to 

 us from olden times, when magic was the highest world philosophy. 

 The name, alone, appears to indicate that the sound of this simple 

 mstrument can cast a spell over an entire forest, and this demoniac 

 power the Waldteufel still has to-day among some savages. In their 

 buzzing sound they hear the voice of a supernatural being. In New 

 Zealand whirring instruments were used until recently for weather 

 magic and in Western New Guinea they are indispensable in the 

 ceremony of circumcision and in the gatherings of men. ''Through 

 the whole of Australia," says Howitt, "the Waldteufel is one of the 

 most sacred and most mysterious of objects which is used in relation 

 to the sacred ceremonies. Neither women nor cliildren — I might 

 even say, in general, no uninitiated persons — dare see it, or they 

 would be threatened with death. Novices are enjoined that in case 

 they acquaint the women and cliildren with it, death will be their lot 

 either through violence or in consequence of magic. The reverent 

 awe with which the initiated regard one of these instruments, when it 

 is sent about to authenticate a message which calls them to a cere- 

 monial gathering, is very strildng." 



We will introduce an illustration here which has a psychological 

 significance. Lenz gives it in his "Sketches from West Africa" 

 regarding the influence of tom-toms: 



During the dance of the medicine men in Aschuka several young people became ill 

 from the sound of this instrument and the whole exciting scene. They rushed sud- 

 denly out of the circle, ran around in the field on all fours like animals, and began to 

 rave; only with difficulty could they be overpowered and taken away. But here in 

 the village, in the horrible dances of the Oganga, there la scarcely any end to these 

 occurences; wherever one looked one of these unfortunates was writhing on the ground, 

 and the old men and women had much to do in order to bring them into their huts. 



We are accustomed to find rhythm somewhat of a stunulant and 

 inspiration, and the number of work songs also goes to establish such 

 an opinion of it. But examples like those mentioned above show 

 us that, besides the stimulating rhythm, there is also a paralyzing 

 soporific one. The stimulatmg rhythm may be derived from any 

 regular sound, even such meaningless noises as handclapping and 

 the stamping of feet. For the hypnotic rhythm, on the contrary, the 

 quality of the tone and its mode of expression are of the utmost 

 importance. The stunulating rhythm belongs with a more developed 

 melody, which is either foreign to the hypnotic rhythm or destroys 

 it. We have in the former an art of tones, in the latter the art of tone. 



In tliinking of the strong contrast between these two kinds of 

 music, no doubt can exist that they are derived from enthely different 

 stages of development; the question also arises as to which of the 

 two kinds is the older — the stimulating music or that of hypnotic 



