rRANSACTIONS OF SECTION H. 529 
whether, that is to say, forms which are practically similar, occurring in widely 
separated regions, are referable to a common origin, or whether they have been 
independently invented in the various regions in which they are found. From 
this point of view the musical-bow series and the xylophone (marimba) group 
are of special interest, as illustrating in each case what may prove to be a 
phylogenetically connected series covering a very wide area of dispersal both 
within and without the African continent. 
The pulsatile instruments with vibrating tongues of bamboo or metal (sansa 
type) present a very wide and continuous distribution in Africa, but do not 
appear to occur elsewhere, except in the regions of the new world which have 
been affected by the negro immigration; nor does this form of instrument appear 
to have led up to any highly developed type, unless the graduated ‘comb’ of 
European musical boxes, which presents at least a close analogy, is to be regarded 
as a derivative from the African sansa, a matter which is open to doubt. 
The ‘ whizzing-blade,’ or, to give its popular name, the ‘bull-roarer’ of the 
Bushmen and some Bantu tribes, is uoticeable for its extremely wide though 
sporadic distribution over the world, as also by virtue of the mystery which 
either has been or is so constantly associated with the use of this simple instru- 
ment wherever it occurs ; and the question arises whether all these nearly iden- 
tical forms have been derived from a common stock, which must be of very great 
antiquity to account for their wide dispersal from a single centre, or whether the 
theory of two or more independent origins is the more probable. 
The noise-instrument known to the Germans as reib-trommel (‘ rubbing-drum’), 
and described by Holub as found in use among the Barotse, is another instrument 
having a peculiarly wide though apparently disconnected distribution. It has its 
counterparts in some other regions of Africa, both east and west; it is met with 
in Southern India, in Honduras, and Venezuela, and is a popular noise-making 
instrument in Western Europe, where it was known as far back as early in the 
seventeenth century, and probably earlier. 
The goura of the Bushmen and iseba (lesiba) of the Basuto and some other 
Bantu tribes, a bow-like instrument having a piece of flattened quill interposed 
between one end of the string and its attachment to the bow, is difficult to 
diagnose ethnologically and morphologically. In spite of its stringed structure it 
is essentially a wind instrument. Its presence in South Africa has not as yet been 
satisfactorily accounted for, since there is an absence of evidence as to the manner 
in which this peculiar and specialised instrument was developed in this region, 
supposing it to be indigenous ; nor are there any satisfactory clues as to whence it 
came, in the event of its having been introduced from elsewhere. It does not 
appear to be found anywhere north of the Zambesi. The instruments which in 
structure and use most nearly resemble the youra are the small bows with flat, 
ribbon-like strings, which in Kastern Asia are attached to kites in order that they 
may hum or buzz in the wind; but it is by no means clear that these are to be 
regarded as morphologically related to the gouwra. It is to be hoped that further 
detailed research into the varieties and distribution of types of the ruder musical 
instruments may help to render clearer their affinities, and the precise position 
which they occupy in the developmental history of higher forms, 
2. A Few Facts concerning the American Negro. 
By Miss B. Putien-Burry. 
In this paper an attempt was made to show that notwithstanding their trans- 
plantation to the Western Hemisphere, the hardships of 250 years of slavery, their 
ignorance when emancipated, and their incapacity to assimilate such civilisation as 
is implied in American citizenship, the Negroes now form one-seventh of the entire 
population of the United States. Statistics of 1900 show the race to exist in 
greatest density in the territory known as ‘The Black Belt.’ The injurious effects 
of urban life on the Negro are evidenced by information obtained from the Health 
Officer of Washington, D.C, The Negro’s criminal record, declared to be greater 
1905, MM 
