Belief in witchcraft was a characteristic of the Middle Ages and earlier in Europe, and a witch was executed there as late as 1782. Belief in witchcraft does not therefore place the African automatically in a special category of mankind; it is the result of being born and brought up in a society in which it is inherent. Broadly speaking a belief in witchcraft is a belief in a theory of cause and effect. It is a species of logic to explain why certain events have occurred. More particularly it is a theory of the causes of misfortunes which the believer finds to have their origins in the enmity of people possessed of evil powers. Since the belief is conditioned largely by the society in which the African is born and lives in a tribal state there is danger in the often-uttered statement that every African without exception believes implicitly in witchcraft. That is a superficial observation which is certainly not true. The African brought up outside tribal society to a greater or lesser degree will have his faith in witchcraft modified accordingly since that faith is a social and not a mental condition. An African born and brought up, for example, in England would only know of witchcraft objectively as a belief of other people. In Africa to-day, although tribal society predominates, it is not static; on the contrary in many respects it is in a state of constant change and modification, some would even say of a disintegration. In the light of this it is not surprising to find some Africans whose belief in witchcraft is being modified too.

L'explication de l'apparition et du développement de l'arme et de l'outil est, chez les Bambara comme chez les autres peuples Noirs, contenue dans leur métaphysique. Ce n'est point ici le sujet que nous voulons traiter car il nous entraînerait à exposer le système du monde dans cette population. Mais encore faut-il faire allusion à son fondement pour ne pas réduire l'histoire de ces instruments à leur seul développement matériel, alors qu'encore aujourd'hui elle est tout imprégnée d'éléments religieux.

This article discusses the place of the vernacular and of vernacular literature in African education. It is written from the standpoint of Northern Rhodesia, and the Ila-Tonga group of peoples known to the writer have been particularly in mind. Many of the general principles enunciated, however, will be found to apply over a much wider area.

A Consideration of the marriage question in the Belgian Congo may well begin by stating that the law of the colony recognizes three kinds of marriage: viz. (1) mariage civil, marriage according to the civil law; (2) mariage coutumier, marriage according to native law or custom; (3) mariage religieux, religious marriage.

Very few Africans have availed themselves of the privilege of civil marriage for the simple reason that its existence is generally unknown. Several men known to the writer asked for civil marriage in the hope that it would add stability to their union. Almost without exception, however, they took other wives. The ceremony of civil marriage is performed by an officier de l'état civil.