June 24, 1887.] 



SCIEJSrCE, 



615 



A Bayanzi execution. 



It may be interesting to ethnologists to give a 

 brief account of the mode of execution among the 

 Bayanzi, a large tribe of negroes inhabiting the 

 country between the Kongo and the river draining 

 Lake Leopold II., which empties into the Kwa, the 

 largest southern affluent of the Kongo. The Bayanzi 

 are said to be peaceful negroes, quite skilful in 

 agriculture, and to excel in wood-carving and work- 

 ing iron into weapons of various kinds. 



The executioner's sword is a short, heavy two- 

 edged weapon, blunt at the end, where it projects in 



BAYANZI SWORD. 



a spur on each side. The hilt is of wood wound 

 with brass wire, giving a very firm grip. The series 

 of shallow grooves through the middle are called 

 ' blood-grooves.' 



In executing, the condemned is made to sit down 

 on a block just behind a post, his limbs passing on 

 each side of it. The post reaches to the height of his 

 chin. His arms, legs, and body are tied to stakes. 

 A strong sapling is bent down, having at its extrem- 

 ity a collar suspended by cords. This collar is 

 placed around the victim's neck, producing so great 

 tension, that, when the executioner delivers the blow, 

 the severed head is thrown into the air with the force 

 of a bomb. In all probability, this device for mak- 

 ing the neck taut arises from the clumsy nature of 

 the sword employed, and the consequent difficulty 

 in using it for decapitation. The post in front of 

 the man's neck also facilitates the entire removal of 



the head. Previous to the execution it is usual for 

 the people — men, women, and children — to tor- 

 ment the prisoner with fire-brands, thorns, and all 

 sorts of devices, while he is in this uncomfortable 

 pillory. This execution shows an ingenious arrange- 

 ment of machinery to accomplish an end, resulting 

 in a queer combination of hanging and decapitation. 

 The circumstance which forms the subject of this 

 paper was witnessed in November, 1884, at Louko- 

 lela, by Mr. E. J. Glare. Lieiit. E. H. Taunt, U. S. 

 navy, collected the sword. Mr. "W. P. Tisdel sent in 

 a scythe- shaped sword said to have been used for the 

 same purpose. So far as known by the writer, this 

 is the first time that an account of the Bayanzi or a 

 similar execution has ever been published. 



Walter Hough. 

 Washington, June 9. 



An advance in educational advertising. 



The announcements annually made by the better 

 class of educational institutions in this country are 

 generally characterized by a wholesome modesty, 

 both as to style and substance. Indeed, one might 

 infer from their perusal that there existed among the 

 educational fraternity a code of ethics nearly as 

 rigorous as that of the medical profession. That 

 many exceptions to this rule have occurred, and are 

 occurring, has long been known ; and ten years ago 

 Prof. F. W. Clarke amused and interested the 

 reading public by the publications of some choice 

 selections from advertising literature issued by a 

 few schools in the west and south, where, as 

 Professor Clarke remarked, the people are ' un- 

 trammelled by effete conventionalities.' He also 

 explained the backward state of the art in some 

 other parts of the country by saying that "New 

 England and the middle states are too much tied 

 down by routine and tradition to produce such rare 

 developments of the intellect." 



It is gratifying to know that in one spot, at least, 

 of this benighted region, it begins to look as if some- 

 body had cut the string. The institution inaugurat- 

 ing a new departure is not found, as in the instances 

 cited by Professor Clarke, in an obscure country 

 town whose location is only revealed after a careful 

 study of the map, but it is in and a part of the very 

 ' Hub ' itself. With the keen insight and business 

 tact which is supposed to be inseparable from the 

 genuine down-east Yankee, the author of the new 

 idea has evidently stiidied the question of advertis- 

 ing with a determination to adopt that style which 

 experience has shown to be the most successful. As 

 might have been anticipated, the result of his in- 

 vestigations is apparently, that, in the present state 

 of our knowledge of the art, its highest development 

 is embodied in the methods of the vender of patent 

 medicines. 



Your New-Englander is nothing, however, if not 

 cautious, and it must not be assumed that the full 

 power of the new method has been brought into 

 play at once. The first output was observed in the 

 advertising columns of a well-known newspaper, a 

 copy of which recently fell into the hands of the 

 writer. The announcement of a widely known edu- 

 cational institution, everywhere recognized as one of 

 the first, if not the very first, of its type, began with 

 a display in large capitals of the words, ' Beware of 

 imitators P 



Had this phrase occurred in connection with the 

 advertisement of some western school, ' untram- 



