Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 9.djvu/887

 NOTES AND ABSTRACTS 853

civilization of the race, and so inevitable the perturbations of the course of the national and the individual life, that one has no right after a brief observation of its present unstable transitional stage to pronounce upon its natural and normal psychical organization. Only after a generation or two may one venture to pro- nounce judgment upon the Japanese character as a whole ; but naturally there are a number of characteristics and peculiarities which may be discerned at the present time.

The writer has based his estimate of the Japanese, for the reasons mentioned above, upon observation of the older generation and of the inhabitants of the more out-of-the-way districts, where what is characteristic of the race may be looked for. Artisans, coolies, pilgrims, servants, patients, nurses, the language, traditions, myths, customs, superstitions, have all been studied during more than a score of years, with a view to an intimate acquaintance with the " soul of the people."

As has already been suggested, if lack of individuality marked the Japan of a generation ago, it was due to lack of self-confidence in the face of the foreign models which were bewildering in their revolutionary novelty ; but this attitude has already been exchanged for a growing self-consciousness and independence of taste and judgment.

Far from being stupid and dull of apprehension, the Japanese artisan is quick, resourceful, original, and independent. A delightful variety, originality, and humor pervade Japanese art. Japanese servants and nurses are universally commended for their intelligence and efficiency. Self-control and unusual kindliness and regard for others are among the national traits, while a warlike spirit, admiration of bravery, a universal and intense patriotism, and the acceptance of the leadership of the yellow races, as of destiny, are well-known characteristics. E. BALZ, " Zur Psychologic der Japaner," in Globus, November 26, 1903.

E. B. W.

The Yellow Men of Central Africa. Surprise is often created, not only in popular, but in scientific circles as well, by the statement that out of a population of 65,000,000 people in central Africa at least 15 per cent., or a number equal to the colored population of the United States are not, strictly speaking, negroes at all, but belong to a yellow, copper-colored race whose skin resembles that of the American Indians more than the skin of the typical African. Yet such is the fact, and one sufficiently well known to those who have traveled extensively in the Dark Continent.

The origin of this strange circumstance, like the problem of the origin of the pygmies of the same region, is difficult of solution. Four reasonable hypotheses present themselves: (i) spontaneous evolution; (2) local variation; (3) recent admixture of foreign blood ; (4) ancient admixture of foreign blood. In regard to the first two hypotheses, a careful search fails to reveal any environmental con- ditions pointing to a gradual lightening of color. It is worthy of note that these copper-colored Africans do not occur as segregated communities, but are found scattered throughout the various tribes of the great Bantu region. The lighter skin is not the only characteristic distinguishing them from their neighbors. Greater dignity and keener intelligence, as well as a more sensitive nervous organization and a somewhat different cranial structure, are among their peculiarities.

The absence of traditions of white ancestry, their total unlikeness to Arabs or to Portuguese half-breeds of the east coast, their wide dissemination through- out central Africa, all point to a remote rather than a recent mixture of races. It is probable that these copper-hued Africans are the result of the mingling, centuries ago, of the three great waves of migration which peopled the continent, sweeping in at intervals from the northeast and extending gradually southward and westward. Of these, the first settled Egypt and may have passed southward ; the second built the Pyramids ; the third occurred after the rise of Muhammed and produced effects still discernible. Each migration-group was probably lighter in color than the preceding one, and the commingling of the descendants of later comers with the offspring of earlier groups would suffice to produce at least six distinct ethnic classes, with many more subsequently formed. All of these may be seen in the tribes of Africa today. SAMUEL P. VERNER, in American Anthro- pologist, July-September, 1903. E. B. W.