ugly, but still a child, who has
been frightened almost into idiocy by white children. Finally Rachel's
ears are so filled with the sound of real wailing that her brain reels
with the thought of the crying children all over the land, and at last
voices come to her from the infinite spaces. Voices of unborn babies,
the little babies who were meant to be born unto her.... They were
begging her never to bring them into earthly existence. Now, like
Antigone, she makes her choice; to soothe a ghostly pain no matter
what may be her earthly doom.

Her lover leaves her. She cries after him once, as if to call him
back. Then she ceases that cry, knowing that her fate is fixed, and
her vow never to be a mother on earth is irrevocable. She begins to
talk as to the pre-existent ghosts of her unborn children, and all the
while the crying of her adopted child mingles fitfully with the
wailing that seems to come to her from the caverns of the unknown
regions.

The drama would probably have to be remoulded for use in the regular
theatre, yet it is the present writer's opinion that to create the
part of Rachel on the stage might well allure any actress who
possesses the most delicate and passionate genius.

LILLIE BUFFUM CHACE WYMAN.

* * * * *

_Songs and Tales from the Dark Continent, recorded from the
Singing and Sayings of C. Kamba Simango, Ndau Tribe, Portuguese
East Africa and Madikane Cele, Zulu Tribe, Natal, Zululand, South
Africa._ By NATALIE CURTIS BURLIN. New York, G. Schirmer, 1921.
Pp. 170.

This work as its title imports does not cover a wide field of
investigation and it was not done in Africa. The object of the author
is to introduce Europeans and Americans to the soul of the African,
who has too long been regarded merely as an object for exploitation.
Believing that in the folk-music of a people is imaged the real soul,
the author has made in this field researches, the results of which
have been herein set forth. The aim finally is to show that the human
family is near of kin and that basic emotions of love, of sorrow, of
rejoicing and of prayer, whether men be primitive or advanced, white,
yellow, red or black, are the same root-feelings planted in us all.

The book begins with a rather long introduction, discussing the
geography, history, and institutions of Africa. Much space is here
given to spiritual beliefs as a