27 JUNE 1931, Page 28

Nothing could be better or more interesting than the chapter

on the econorrile life of the Jukun-speaking-peoples of Nigeria, described by Mr. C. K. Meek in A Sudanese Kingdom (Kegan Paul, 25s.). Here we have concrete facts carefully observed and conscientiously recorded; . and if only the - same rigorous ' discipline informed the whole book, we should have nothing but praise for it.. Equally objective and satisfying is the account given of the family, which is the social unit, of the Jukun. Clans do not appear to exist any longer, and totemism has - broken down into a state of utter chaos. A great deal of the book, however, is taken up with speculations which have little or no tearing oR the text, or whIeh, like the chapter on the Divine King,. are more suited to a general thesis. than to the study of a specific people. Mr. Meek's marked bias towards. origins and the historical method • often leads him to very, dubious conclusions, which are made no more attractive by linguistic speculations of a more or less fantastic nature and by a not too critical use of earlier writers, themselves too speculative for scientific acceptance. The amount of material which Mr. Meek collected in under five months is remarkable, but so, short a period of investigation should surely have suggested to him the advisability of concentrating on actual facts rather than on hypotheses which many will consider fanciful. The facts could have been set down at half the length.