Summary of the Proceedings of the Fourth Meeting of the Executive The Division of Work according to Sex in African Hoe Culture. Le Coton et l'Indigène. Henri Labouret Some Conclusions concerning the Bantu Conception of the Soul. Native Poetry in East Africa. A. Werner Grundsätzliche Fragen völkerkundlicher Bibliographie. M. Heydrich 381 Preferential Marriage. Werner Eiselen Aufgaben der Gemeinschaftsbildung in Afrika. Bruno Gutmann. The Dance. E. E. Evans-Pritchard. La Renaissance de l'Olivier et la Propriété foncière dans l'Afrique 1 JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF AFRICAN LANGUAGES AND CULTURES VOLUME I JANUARY 1928 NUMBER I THE INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF AFRICAN BY THE RT. HON. SIR F. D. LUGARD (Chairman of the Executive Council) HERE are at the present time so many societies and institutesare THE national and international-for the study of African questions that there would be no justification for the inauguration of yet another unless it had an object in view, different from, or at least not effectively met by, any existing organization. There are, as it seems to me, two directions in which the organizations at present in existence need to be supplemented, and the International Institute of African Languages and Cultures has been founded in the hope of meeting these two requirements. In the first place the Institute will be a co-ordinating agency, a central bureau and a clearing-house for information. It will make the experience and knowledge of the most distinguished workers in African subjects in different parts of Africa and in Europe and America available in increasing measure for all workers in this field. It will make it possible for those who are working at a problem in isolation to learn more quickly and clearly than they might otherwise be able to do the kind of help and suggestion that they may obtain from those who are dealing with analogous problems in other parts of the Continent. The Institute will thus be neither the counterpart nor the rival of any existing society, but on the contrary will offer 'Africa,' the Journal of the International Institute of African Languages and Cultures, is published by the Institute, but except where otherwise stated the writers of the articles are alone responsible for the opinions expressed. B its assistance-in so far as it may be able to assist-to each of these, in the particular sphere in which its investigations are being conducted. Evidence that such services by the Institute will be welcomed is furnished by the fact that twenty-eight different associations interested in African studies in ten different countries as well as the Protestant and Roman Catholic Missions, from whose knowledge of and association with the native races of Africa the Institute hopes to derive great assistance, have approved of the formation of the Institute and welcomed the invitation to appoint representatives on its Governing Body. Secondly, the distinctive characteristic of the Institute is that its aims will not be restricted exclusively to the field of scientific study, but will be directed also towards bringing about a closer association of scientific knowledge and research with practical affairs. All the work of the Institute will be based on strictly scientific principles and carried out by scientific methods. It will undertake and assist in anthropological and linguistic investigations. But it will at the same time attempt to relate the results of research to the actual life of the African peoples, and to discover how the investigations undertaken by scientific workers may be made available for the solution of pressing questions that are the concern of all those who, as administrators, educators, health and welfare workers, or traders, are working for the good of Africa. If the Institute fulfils its aim it will be a connecting link between science and life. It is an entirely non-political body and is precluded by its constitution from concerning itself with matters of policy or administration. There remains, however, a wide field in which, without infringing in any way this fundamental principle, the results of scientific study may be brought into closer relation with the practical tasks which are being carried out in Africa. Many instances of urgent practical problems for the right solution of which a much larger body of scientific knowledge is required than is at present available will occur to the reader. For example, investigation of native systems of land tenure may help to make clear certain definite principles common to a great part of Africa, and to explain the reasons why these principles are modified in any particular region or tribe. A thorough grasp of the African |