NEGROES 



429 



the relative working powers in field labour of 

 negroes, Chinese, and East Indian coolies. The 

 negroes performed twice as much labour as the 

 coolies and a third more than the Chinese, although 

 the latter were the most intelligent in their work. 

 It is usually held that the negro is not naturally 

 industrious ; but this seems to some extent 

 answered by the severe field labour of many tribes, 

 both men and women, in their native continent, 

 and by the official reports of the United States 

 government showing a greater acreage of land 

 under cultivation in the former slave states and a 

 larger crop of cotton than l>efore the civil war. 

 When under the control of a strong social organ- 

 isation, and with obvious motives for industry and 

 economy before his eyes, the American negro is 

 bot li industrious and provident, and the instances 

 are numerous where memliers of the race have 

 accumulated fortunes of respectable size. Their 

 viability appears on the whole to be alnmt the 

 same as the white*, except in the more northern 

 states, where it is unquestionably much less. Thus, 

 according to the census of the I'nited States in 

 1880, the total average annual mortality of the 

 white male population was 15-08, while that of the 

 black population was 17'19, a showing which might 

 fairly lie attributed to difference of social position 

 and consequent more careful observance of hygienic 

 laws by the whites ; but in the northern states of 

 the Union there was a contrast which could not be 

 so explained, but must be attributed to an inability 

 of the African to withstand the cold of a high 

 latitude. The proportion of deaths per thousand 

 in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire 

 was in 1880, among whites, 15, 19-06, and 16-23; 

 but among negroes, 22-41, 24*41, and 26'5. In 

 1890, in New England, New Jersey, New York, 

 Delaware, and District of Columbia, the highest 

 death rate amongst whites was 23'19 per 1000; 

 amongst negroes, 34-14 ; the lowest amongst whites, 

 15-60 ; amongst negroes, 18'78. See Vol. X. p. 380. 

 In New England and Canada negroes gradually 

 but surely perish. The diseases to which they are 

 especially subject are those connected with the 

 organs of respiration, as pneumonia, tuberculosis, 

 pleuritic affections, and bronchitis. On the other 

 hand, in the south they are less subject to malarial 

 diseases, to yellow fever, to hepatic derangement, 

 and to sunstroke than the white population. It is 

 generally conceded that they are .not so liable to 

 acute alcoholism (delirium tremens) as the whites, 

 which may be attributed to the inferior suscepti- 

 bility of their nervous systems. The special senses 

 are usually acute and correct : colour blindness is 

 four times commoner among whites than with 

 negroes, and the vocal powers of the latter are per- 

 Ofptihly greater. From a number of autopsies of 

 adult males carried out during the civil war, it results 

 that the lungs are relatively smaller and the liver 

 larger than in the whites. The assertion has been 

 made that the average weight of the brain in the 

 negroes of the United States is greater than that 

 of the true African negro ; but repeated dis- 

 sections tend to disprove this statement. No 

 change whatever has lieen observed in the colour 

 of the African in any part of America so long as 

 the blood has been unmixed. Olwervations con- 

 ducted in Guiana, however, would seem to show 

 that the hair may undergo some alteration, render- 

 ing it slightly less woolly; and it is stated posi- 

 tively that the odour peculiar to the negro is not 

 found in the wild negroes of that country who have 

 for generations lived apart in the woods. This is 

 certainly not the case in the negroes of the United 

 States, and it is likely that the Guiana tribes are 

 descendants of negroids from Angola, who have 

 little or none of the odour of the true negro of the 

 Soudan. There is a prevalent opinion that in- 



stances of uncommon longevity are more frequent 

 among the coloured than the white population ; and 

 according to some statistics which have been pub- 

 lished, the number of centenarians of this race in 

 the southern United States in proportion to its 

 membership is a hundred times that of the French ! 

 The explanation of this is simply that old negroes 

 very rarely know their own age and love to mag- 

 nify it ; in other words, no dependence is to be 

 placed on the statistics. There is no evidence of 

 exceptional longevity among them. 



The change from one continent to another does 

 not appear to have reduced the fecundity of the 

 race, which, it is well known, stands at a high mark 

 in Africa. It has been calculated that in the 

 United States at present the white race increases 

 annually at the rate of 2'9 per cent., while the 

 coloured population, including all shades, increases 

 :i'4 percent. This preponderance much more than 

 makes up for the slightly higher death-rate. It is, 

 however, not directly attributable to a greater 

 natural fertility, but to the fact that a coloured 

 woman very rarely remains unmarried, and does 

 not avoid nllspring. 



The disposition of the negro is usually pacific 

 and cheerful. He is not easily depressed by 



K>verty or thoughts of the future. Content that 

 s immediate wants are provided for, be rarely 

 prepares for a distant contingency. Eminently 

 gregarious in his instincts, he is usually to be 

 found in certain streets and quarters of the town 

 exclusively occupied by members of his own race. 

 His interest in the past is weak, and few or no 

 reminiscences of his ancestral languages, tradi- 

 tions, superstitions, or usages have lieen retained. 

 His religion is emotional, and exerts but a moder- 

 ate influence on his morality. Frequently it is 

 associated with superstitious beliefs and rites 

 known as Voodoo or Obi mysteries. It is believed 

 by some that these are relics of the fetichistic 

 worships of equatorial Africa, but the connection 

 has never l>een demonstrated ; on the contrary, 

 the tales of the sacrifice of children,- of ritual 

 c&nnibaljpm, and of obscene ceremonies alleged to 

 prevail in Havti, and to a less degree among the 

 negroes of other parts of America, have been 

 shown by W. W. Newell to rest on very doubtful 

 authority, and, if they occur at all, are the actions 

 of a very few superstitious fanatics. The word 

 Voodoo, or, as usually pronounced in the United 

 States, Hoodoo, is a Creole form of the French 

 Vaitdois, and is etymologically derived from the 

 period of the persecution of the Vaudois or Wal- 

 denses, who were represented by their opponents 

 as sorcerers and necromancers, whence tlie name 

 Vituilois came to be synonymous with ' witch ' or 

 'wizard.' By a similar Creole French corruption 

 the word Wtutga, which among the negroes of 

 Louisiana and Hayti means a philter or charm, 

 and as a verb, 'to bewitch,' is, in spite of its 

 African physiognomy, the French Ongnent, an 

 ointment or salve, such preparations being cur- 

 rently believed to possess magic powers. It is 

 argued, therefore, that both the words and prac- 

 tiees are of European origin. Nevertheless, it is 

 unquestionably true that among the negroes both 

 of the West Indies and the United States there is a 

 widespread faith in charms, philters, and fetiches. 

 In the latter country the employment of these 

 means to cast an evil spell upon, or, as it is called, 

 'to cunjer' (to conjure), a person is familiar to 

 every one at all acquainted with the folklore of 

 the coloured people. The maleficent influence can 

 be exerted by obtaining something lielonging to 

 the victim and doing some injury to it, or by 

 securing a little of his blood, or by burying certain 

 roots in the path where he is accustomed to walk, 

 or by scattering brown paper before the door of his 



