162 A M E R ICA N ANTHROPOLOGIST [N. s . ~ 40, 1938

or the flair for interpretation-the kind of interpretation that makes intelligible a culture which has few homologies and not so many analogies with our own. The late Dr Berthold Laufer and Mr Carl Bishop are two names which come to mind in this connection. The author of the present volume must certainly be included in this select company.

THEODORE D. MCCOWN UOWNE, KKNT, ENGLAND

OCEANIA

Totenkult und Lehensglaaibe bei den Yolkern Ost-Indonesiens. THEO KORNER. (Studien zur Volkerkunde, Vol. 10. xv, 207 pp. Leipzig: Jordan and Gramberg, 1936.)

Eastern Indonesia, one of the areas most neglected by ethnology, undoubtedly contains the clues to many of the yet unsolved problems of Oceanic culture history. Dr Korner, in his doctoral dissertation, presents an exhaustive analysis of the published material dealing with the funerary practices and the prevalent ideas of life and death among the peoples of these islands. The entire work, including the extensive bibliographical appendix, bears witness to the author’s industry and con- scientiousness in seeking out and collating all the available sources. Moreover, very few errors of fact appear. The author sacrifices functional integration of the chapters describing the mortuary rituals of the several groups to what is perhaps over- meticulous analytical dissection of the ceremonial procedures, but this is a danger inevitably incurred in all “trait distribution” studies. Nevertheless, while this method devitalizes the descriptive presentation and even causes occasional con- fusion in the mind of the reader, and while the interpretative conclusions regarding the psychological and historical genesis of the eschatological concepts and practices in the area may be challenged by some, the work as a whole is a valuable com- pendium of information on a particular segment of culture in a little known region of the world. A map of Eastern Indonesia should have been included in the book for the convenience of readers unfamiliar with the area. Also regrettable is the omission of an index.

RAYMOND KENNEDY YALE UNIVERSITY

Huwverbod o p Grond van Verwantschapsposities in Middel-Java. C . TJ. BERTLING. (Indisch Tijdschrift van het Recht, Vol. 143, No. 2, pp. 119-33, 1936.)

The author of this article advances the theory that in ancient (pre-Hindu) times the Javanese possessed a system of exogamous patrilineal marriage classes with reciprocal spouse exchange, similar to the classic central Australian Arunta arrange- ment. He derives this inference from : (a) the occurrence in central Java of certain survivalistic marital taboos between specific grades of relationship; (b) numerous present-day indications of an underlying basis of reciprocity in various aspects of the Javanese social scheme, including marriage; and (c) some mythological evidence. Moreover, he points to the existence of more or less well defined reciprocating

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marriage classes in parts of Sumatra and Eastern Indonesia, which he regards as peripheral survivals of a system formerly widespread over the entire chain of islands reaching from Sumatra to New Guinea. He suggests the possibility that the diffusion of Hindu culture to Java caused the change to the bilateral, sibless organization now prevalent in the island. Although the argument of the essay is tenuous and fails to carry conviction a t certain crucial points, i t is stimulating and suggestive of numerous unexploited implications in Javanese marital regulations.

RAYMOND KENNEDY YALE UNIVERSITY

Die Frau im ojentlichen Leben in Melanesien. JOACHIM HENNING. (Studien zur Volkerkunde, Vol. 12. 171 pp. Leipzig, 1936.)

This recent dissertation presented a t Leipzig is a comparative study of certain aspects of the lives of women in New Guinea and Melanesia. I n two contributions which are to follow, the author will discuss (1) family life of women: betrothal, marriage, menstruation, sexual life, mourning, widowhood, etc. ; (2) women’s property and inheritance rights. The present volume summarizes tribe by tribe women’s part in the ceremonies of secret societies, in fertility rites, in cannibalistic feasts and war preparations; women’s part in economic life; prostitution; and rank as it affects women. As the author often remarks, the subject of his study is often not considered in the monographs upon which he relies or is referred to only casually. Nevertheless this regional survey is useful, particularly to those who know the cultural background of the tribes considered. The author makes no theoretical points and attempts no plotting of migrations or of areas of distribution.

It seems probable that the striking omissions in the author’s extensive bibliog- raphy are due to the lack of the necessary volumes in the Leipzig library, but the handicap is serious. There is no reference to Oceania, and Williams’ two volumes on the Orokaiva are not mentioned. The Mailu are discussed with no reference to Malinowski and the only volume used for the Trobriands is The Sexual Life in German translation. The author does not know of Mead’s volumes, nor of Fortune’s nor of Deacon’s. It is saddening to realize that international science is hampered to this extent even in such an honest and painstaking study as Dr Henning’s.

RUTH BENEDICT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

Aboriginal Australian and Tasmanian Rock Carvings and Paintings. DANIEL SUTKERLAND DAVIDSON. (Memoirs, American Philosophical Society, Vol. 5. xi, 151 pp., 6 pls., 62 figs. $2.00. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1936.)

In collecting under one cover for the first time the many scattered references to the rupestrian arts of aboriginal Australia and Tasmania, Dr Davidson has pro- vided a welcome addition to his useful series of distributional studies of culture traits in this area. The body of the monograph is devoted to a classified description