In a recent article, Westphal has drawn attention to two important points which are in danger of being forgotten in attempts at linguistic classification:

1. Phonetic and phonological, lexical, morphological, and other relationships may differ as between the languages being compared. ‘Thus if we say two languages are related, we usually mean something more specific, e.g. they are phonologically related, they are morphologically related, they are lexically related, etc.’

2. In attempting to determine ‘genetic’ relationship, we should be careful not to speak about any language as if there were always only one ‘parent’. Not only may there be more than one ‘ancient language’ involved, but these may have come into the ‘family tree’ at different historical periods, so that one language or group of languages may have evolved from the impingement of one or more other language types upon a substratum. Languages that are of mixed origin in this sense are probably more common than has been suspected, and it would be possible to classify any such language (or group) in a number of different ways according to the different criteria mentioned under (1) above. Even on the plane of lexical relationships, the recent discussions on the position of the ‘Nilo-Hamitic’ languages show that reasonable claims for the ‘Niloticism’ or ‘Hamiticism’ of these languages can be made, the point at issue resolving itself into a statistical one of percentages of words related to one or other of the two Larger Units, Nilotic and Hamitic.

A significant aspect of the newly developed towns of Central and Southern Africa is the degree to which social relationships in certain situations are being organized in terms of social strata. It is not always easy, however, to secure data on the nature of the system of stratification—there are, in fact, very few substantial studies available. One method of approach, which promises to be fruitful, is through the study of the ranking of occupations by their social prestige. This method has the advantage that the techniques are fairly simple. They can be applied at successive times, thus yielding some measure of change, and they can be applied at different places, thus yielding comparative material.

This paper describes a magico-religious practice among the Adanme of the southeastern plains of Ghana. The investigations were carried out during the period 1951 to 1957, mainly among the Krobo, who represent the largest division of the group. But references will also be made to the neighbouring Adarjme-speaking tribes, viz. the Osu, the Sɛ (Shai) and the Nīgo, from whom some comparative data were obtained. No specific information was collected from the coastal areas on this particular point.

Thonga migrant labour has played a strategic role in the development of the Union of South Africa's economy, especially its mining industry. In 1954 there was a known total of 173,433 Moçambique labourers at work in the Union. Of these, 110,716 were employed in the mines, while 62,717 were employed in other industries and services (Anuário Estatistica, 1955, p. 131). This army of workers is drawn almost entirely from the region of Moçambique south of parallel 22° S., from among the Tonga-Shangaan peoples and the ethno-linguistically related Chope, Lenge, and Tonga of Inhambane. Although many of the motives and consequences of the Thonga emigration are shared by the migratory streams which emanate from other areas of Southern Africa and flow to the industrial heart of the Union, there are a number of circumstances connected with the movement of the Thonga which are not duplicated elsewhere.

Mrs. Eva Meyerowitz's book, entitled The Akan of Ghana, is the third of a four-volume work on the Ashanti and their neighbours. The first to appear was The Sacred State of the Akan (1951), the second Akan Traditions of Origin (1952), and the fourth, not yet published, is to be entitled The Akan Divine Kingship and its Prototype in Ancient Egypt. They are the fruit of Mrs. Meyerowitz's researches in Ghana which began in 1943 when, as Art Supervisor at Achimota College, she was commissioned by the Burlington Magazine to write a series of articles on Ashanti gold ornaments. Since then she has engaged in field research among the Akan-speaking peoples, which has been supported by the Royal Anthropological Institute, by the Colonial Research Council, and, in her latest studies, by the University College of Ghana.