NA TURE 



593 



m& 



SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1922. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 



Primitive Custom and Administration . . 593 



Applied Electricity 595 



Spitsbergen and its Wild Life. [Illustrated.) By 



W. E. C 597 



The Reopening of Europe By Prof. Grenville A. 



J. Cole, F.R.S 599 



History of Astronomy. By J. L. E D. . . 600 



Our Bookshelf 601 



Letters to the Editor : — 



Action of Cutting Tools. {Illustrated. !— A. Mal- 



lock, F.R.S 603 



One Possible Cause for Atmospheric Electric 

 Phenomena: A Reply. — Dr. G. C. Simpson, 



F.R.S 604 



The Green Ray at Sunset and Sunrise. — Capt. C. 

 J. P. Cave ; Prof. W. M. Flinders Petrie, 



F.R.S. . 604 



A Broadcast "Rainbow." — Piof. R C. McLean . 605 

 Colour Observations of the Moon. — A. F. Warth . 605 

 The Local Handbook of the British Association. — 



Bernard Hobson 605 



The Early History of the Land Flora. — I. By Dr. 



D. H Scott, F.R.S 606 



Solar Radiation and its Changes .... 60S 

 Obituary : — 



W. H. Wesley. By Dr. A. C. D. Crommelin . 609 

 Prof. C. Michie Smith 610 



Current Topics and Events ..... 610 



Our Astronomical Column 613 



Research Items ........ 614 



The Origin of Magnetism. By Prof. A. O. Rankine 616 



Man and the Ice Age ....... 617 



Generation and Utilisation of Cold. ( With diagram.) 



By E. A. Griffiths 61S 



Propagation of the Sound of Explosions . . .619 



The Whitworth Scholarships 620 



University and Educational Intelligence . . 620 



Calendar of Industrial Pioneers 622 



Societies and Academies 622 



Diary of Societies 624 



Editorial and Publishing Offices .■ 



MACMILLAN &• CO.. LTD., 



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Advertisements and business letters should be 



addressed to the Publishers. 



Editorial communications to the Editor. 



Telegraphic Address : PHUSIS, LONDON. 

 Telephone Number : GERRARD 8830. 



NO. 2766, VOL. I IO] 



Primitive Custom and Administration. 



THE Report of the Tanganyika Territory for the 

 year 1 92 1 , which has been issued as a White Paper 

 (Cmd. 1732), contains much matter of interest relating 

 to native affairs. It is evident that the Administration 

 by sympathetic treatment and by a patient hearing 

 of tribal grievances is winning the confidence of the 

 native population, while every opportunity is being 

 seized to remove hardships which have been inflicted 

 on them by the excessive alienation of land under the 

 German colonial system. As a census taken in April 

 last shows that there is a native population of 4,107,000, 

 the responsibility for the regulation of native affairs 

 is not light. It is satisfactory, therefore, to note that 

 a good beginning has been made towards establishing 

 sympathetic relations with the tribes. In the interests 

 of the Territory, it is vital that the administration 

 should be conducted with due regard to native customs 

 and institutions. It is even more important that the 

 native should have an opportunity of development 

 along lines in harmony with his own culture, and 

 ultimately, it is permissible to hope, of incorporation 

 as an essential and responsible element in the com- 

 munity. 



In this connexion a reference in the report to native 

 beliefs assumes a significance which might, perhaps, be 

 overlooked. It is stated that in the Mwanza region 

 the reigning chief has lost his authority through having 

 failed to live up to his father's reputation as a rain- 

 maker, and that witch-doctors are losing their hold 

 over the younger generation. These statements do 

 more than throw an interesting light on the religious 

 beliefs of the people. The combination of function of 

 chief and rain-maker is not uncommon throughout 

 Africa. It is one of the marks of " the divinity that 

 doth hedge a king " among primitive peoples. Its 

 special significance lies in the fact that not only is 

 the person of the king or chief sacred, but his authority 

 also rests upon his power as a sacred being, of which 

 rain-making is one of the manifestations. The magic 

 of the witch-doctor or medicine-man, like that of the 

 king, is on the side of law and order, notwithstanding 

 the, to us, sinister character of certain of his activities. 

 Some of the great secret societies of West Africa, which 

 are essentially religious in character, have, as one of 

 their more important functions, the policing of their 

 respective districts and the punishment of any trans- 

 gression of the moral or social code. It follows, there- 

 fore, that any change in attitude towards the religious 

 beliefs which form the basis of authority cannot fail 

 to have a harmful effect on the discipline of the com- 

 munity. Any indication of a weakening in the regard 



