456 SECTIONAL TRANSACTIONS.—H. 
knowledge of the Anuak being very restricted. The Bari, though tall and 
dolichocephalic, differ not only in appearance and speech, but in disposition as well 
as in many cultural characters. 
The Shilluk form a nation under ‘a divine king,’ in whom the spirit of Nyakang, 
the founder of the nation and its first king, isimmanent. No such political organisa- 
tion is found among the other Nilotic tribes. The large Dinka units, which may 
fairly be called tribes, act independently of one another and differ considerably both 
in dialect and customs. The Nuer probably differ no more from the Dinka than do 
some tribes of the Dinka from each other. 
Among the Shilluk the strength of the central political and religious organisation 
dominates the social organisation. Rain ceremonies are performed by the king, who 
is not allowed to die or to become senile lest his weakness should affect the fertility 
of his people and their flocks. He is therefore killed ceremonially while still in his 
prime. The rain-makers of the Dinka are likewise divine chiefs and killed cere- 
monially, but much later in life and usually at their own request. The Nuer and 
Anuak—as far as our present knowledge goes—do not kill their rain-makers, about 
whose position we know relatively little, though among the Anuak there are regalia 
corresponding to the Shilluk insignia of kingship which go back to Nyakang, the 
founder of the nation. 
All these tribes are divided into exogamous clans. The Dinka and Nuer are 
definitely totemistic, the common legend being that the totem animal (when the 
totem is an animal) and clan ancestor were born as twins. Plants are also totems, 
and among the Dinka such phenomena as fire and thunder. Totemism, if it really 
_ exists among the Shilluk (for it clearly is not universal), may be due to old Dinka 
influence or modern Dinka contact, for intermarriage and even Dinka shrines are not 
uncommon in the southern part of the Shilluk country. 
Among all these tribes there is a cult of sacred spears, and, it is probably true to 
say, a high god—commonly otiose, but relatively active among the Dinka—associated 
with the sky. 
The kinship system of the Nilotes is peculiar ; it is descriptive in the true sense 
of the word. 
The Nilotes are resistant to foreign influence and culture to a degree that seems 
to constitute a definite psychic character, so marked, indeed, that it can scarcely be 
accounted for by the inhospitable nature of their country. 
In contradistinction to the Nilotes, their southern neighbours the Bari have chiefs 
who, though rain-makers, are not divine kings but rather medicine men, who, if they 
fail to produce rain, are threatened and even killed. Here the rain-making technique 
is associated with stones, usually of quartz. Totemism is well developed, and the 
kinship system has not the true descriptive character of the Nilotes. The Bari, 
though they have suffered considerably from foreign aggression, are quick to adopt 
foreign objects and culture, and psychically seem to stand entirely apart from the 
aloof Nilotes. 
Dr. E. E. Evans Prircuarp.—The Nuer of the Nilotie Sudan. 
EVENING. 
Huxtey Mremoriat Lecture of the Roya ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, 
by Dr. G. TuiLentus, on Some Biological View-points in Ethnology. 
(By the courtesy of the Institute, members of the Association were 
admitted to this lecture, which was purposely arranged to take place 
during the Association’s Meeting.) 
Wednesday, September 30. 
Miss M. A. Murray.—An Ossuary of the Bronze Age in Minorca (with 
preliminary note by Sir ArtHuR Kerrn, F.R.S.). 
