December 29, 192 1] 



NATURE 



5«5 



the discussion on "The Origin of the Scottish 

 reople," neld in joint session with Section E (^Geo- 

 ^raptiyj. ihe third discussion — on totemism — was 

 initiated by Sir William Kidgeway. He said that 

 some years ago he had pointea out that vegetation 

 spirits and totemic beliefs were secondary to a primary 

 belief in the continued existence of the soul after 

 aeath and in its transmigration. The sacredness of 

 certain rocks, trees, plants, and the like depended 

 upon the belief that they were the abode of the 

 spirits of those who were buried under or near them 

 or were killed near them. Totemism arose from a 

 like belief. The bodies of the dead were left to be 

 devoured by wild beasts, and it was believed that 

 the spirits inhabited their devourers. In other cases 

 it was still believed that the spirits of the dead entered 

 or dwelt in certain animals or trees. Sir William 

 Ridgeway's theories appeared to be generally accept- 

 able to his hearers with the exception of Dr. Hart- 

 land, who, without entering into a detailed discussion 

 of the evidence in support of the theory, pointed out 

 that it made totemism later than, and dependent upon, 

 the belief in the .immortality of the soul, which is 

 not a primary or fundamental belief in primitive., 

 religion. On the other hand, Dr. Rivers gave whole- 

 hearted support to Sir William Ridgeway's view, 

 laying particular stress upon the element of re- 

 incarnation. Totemic peoples were averse from eating 

 their totem, as it would be cannibalism. The strong 

 impression made upon the community by the personality 

 of the ancestor with whom the totemic cult originated 

 suggested that he was the representative of a higher 

 culture coming from outside the community. Dr. 

 Haddon suggested that the hero-cult of Eddystone 

 Island, which had been mentioned as cutting across 

 the totemic cult, was probably a graft on an earlier 

 hero- or ancestor-cult. Dr. Donald MacKenzie 

 pointed out that beliefs connected with holy trees 

 and other objects did not necessarily connote a 

 totemic belief, and Mr. H. A. Migeod referred to the 

 absence of totemism among the peoples of West 

 Africa. 



Among other ethnographical papers considerable 

 interest attached to the two communications bv the 

 Rev. J. Roscoe, dealing with work of the Mackie 

 Ethnological Expedition to Uganda. Of these, one 

 gave a popular summary of the results of investiga- 

 tions among the peoples of Ankole and Bunyoro. and 

 described in detail the milk ceremonial of the dominant 

 pastoral tribes. He suggested that these peoples may 

 be connected with the Galla, and through them with 

 ancient Egypt. Wherever thev are found they are 

 the dominant race, having subdued and enslaved the 

 aborigines. In some districts they avoid inter- 

 marriage, and the two clearlv differentiated races are 

 found side by side. The expedition had succeeded in 

 finding a line of demarcation between the pastoral 

 people of the Lake region and the Somali, Nandi, 

 and Masai tribes, who are of the same origin. In 

 his second paper Mr. Roscoe dealt with the death 

 ceremonies of the tribes of the Lake region, which 

 are based upon the belief in ghosts — the only super- 

 natural being in which the native believed. The 

 Bagesu are ceremonial cannibals, and eat their dead 

 lest the ghost do harm to the young people of the 

 family. In Ankole, Bunyoro, and Buganda the ghosts 

 are propitiated bv various forms of offering. An im- 

 portant paper bv Mr. T. F. Mclhvraith also dealt 

 with African death rites. As the result of an anaK-sis 

 of the ceremonial of West Africa and the Congo, he 

 suggested that the sporadic custom of preserving the 

 bodies of chiefs, combined with the occasional use of 

 a coffin, the anthropomorphic figure, and sometimes 

 the use of representations of the deceased, point to 



NO. 2722, VOL. TO8] 



the possibility of influence from ancient Egypt, which 

 may have spread inland from the coast ; this would 

 account for the absence of similar practices in East 

 Africa. If, however, the diffusion took place by land, 

 their absence in that area would be due to the influx 

 of the pastoral tribes. An interesting paper by Mr. 

 F. W. H. Migeod dealt with the ceremonial avoidance 

 of contact with the ground as practised in different 

 parts of Africa on a variety of occasions. The author 

 was not, however, able to suggest any one general 

 reason for the practice. A communication presented 

 on behalf of Mr. M. W. Hilton-Simpson described a 

 primitive "water-clock" in the form of a bowl in 

 use among the Shawia of Algeria. In the bottom 

 of the bowl is a hole through which water penetrates 

 until the bowl fills and sinks. This "clock" is used 

 in connection with the regulations of the water-supply 

 for irrigation ; each landowner is entitled to a definite 

 number of "sinkings," after which the water is 

 turned off. The bowls, which are the property of 

 the community, are now often made of zinc, but old 

 specimens are of beaten copper. The author attributed 

 a considerable antiquity to this method of time- 

 measurement. 



Dr. W. H. R. Rivers described the Melanesian 

 system of land tenure, with special reference to the 

 customs of Ambrim and Eddystone Island. In the 

 patrilineal societies of these islands the system of land 

 tenure is essentially communistic, and agrees with 

 the type of tenure found in the matrilineal parts of 

 the archipelago. On the other hand, ownership of 

 trees may be assigned to incTividuals by a religious 

 ceremony, and is distinct from ownership of the 

 land. Dr. Rivers held that the system was a com- 

 promise-formation between the communism of the 

 indigenous population and the individualism of immi- 

 grants. Mr. Lew-is Spence discussed the sources of 

 our knowledge of the religion of ancient Mexico. 



Aspects of Scottish folk-lore formed the subject of 

 two communications. Can6n J. A. MacCulloch dealt 

 with the attitude of sixteenth- and seven teen th-centurv 

 folk-lore to fairies and witches, attributing the 

 common ban which the people placed upon fairies and 

 witches alike to the ecclesiastical attitude which 

 regarded them both as equally connected with the 

 powers of darkness ; and Dr. Donald MacKenzie 

 discussed the peculiar features of Scottish folk-lore, 

 with special reference to its differences from that of 

 Ireland, and the evidence which, in his opinion, it 

 exhibited of culture drifting. It is interesting to note 

 that whereas pork was eaten freely in Ireland from 

 the dawn of history, it was. and in certain localities 

 still is, tabu in Scotland. 



Apart from the discussion on ""The Origin of the 

 Scottish People," only two communications dealt with 

 the physical side of the science, but both these were 

 of considerable interest. Dr. Nelson Annandale ex- 

 hibited photographs of physical types, part of a series 

 which had been formed in the Zoological Department 

 of the Indian Museum at Calcutta, and suggested the 

 institution of similar series In other localities for 

 educational and scientific purposes; and Miss Fleming 

 discussed the necessity for recognising modifications 

 in the standards of race distinction in the case of 

 women, particularly in connection with the ages at 

 which alterations take place in skull form, in the 

 shape of the head, and in coloration. 



The archaeological papers presented to the section, 

 as Is usual, attracted considerable attention, and with 

 good reason. Prof. Baldwin Brown, in a paper of a 

 more philosophic t\pe than Is common In the pro- 

 ceedings of the section, discussed the rationale of 

 primitive art, with special reference to recent dis- 

 coveries, and pointed out that, being of practical use to 



