On motion of Professor Boas, a vote of thanks was passed to the Secretary for his assistance to the Editor.

The following officers for 1917 were nominated by the Council:PRESIDENT, Robert H. Lowie.

FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT, G. L. Kittredge.

SECOND VICE-PRESIDENT, J. Walter Fewkes.

EDITOR, Franz Boas.

ASSISTANT EDITORS, G. L. Kittredge, A. M. Espinosa, C.-M. Barbeau, Elsie Clews Parsons.

PERMANENT SECRETARY, Charles Peabody, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY, A. V. Kidder.

TREASURER, A. M. Tozzer, 7 Bryant Street, Cambridge, Mass.

COUNCILLORS, for three years, R. B. Dixon, E. Sapir, A. L. Kroeber; for two years, Phillips Barry, C.-M. Barbeau, A. M. Espinosa; for one year, B. Laufer, E. K. Putnam, Stith Thompson.

The annual meeting of the American Folk-Lore Society was held at the same place immediately following the Council meeting, President Lowie in the chair. It was held in affiliation with the American Anthropological Association and Section H of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

A communication from the American Association for the Advancement of Science was read, offering special terms for new members who should be members of the affiliated societies.

The officers nominated by the Council were unanimously elected. The following communications were then presented: "Oral Tradition and History" (presidential address), Robert H. Lowie.

"A Prehistoric Wind-Instrument from Pecos, N. Mex.," Charles Peabody (discussed by Spinden).

"La Gui-Année, a Missouri New-Year's Custom," Anne Johnson (read by Peabody, discussed by Belden).

"Bible Stories among the American Indians," Stith Thompson (discussed by Sapir, Lowie, Michelson, Spinden).

"The Origin of Wampum; an Algonkin Tale," Harley Stamp. "Three Matrix-Tales, -'Big Klaus and Little Klaus,' 'Erdmänneken,' and 'Ali Baba,' among Bahamans and Cape Verde Islanders," Elsie Clews Parsons (discussed by Boas and Goddard).

The following were read by title:

"The Resources of Canadian Folk-Lore," C.-M. Barbeau.

"Fire-Origin Myths of the American Indians," Walter Hough.

CHARLES PEABODY, Secretary.

LOCAL MEETINGS.

MISSOURI BRANCH. - The tenth annual meeting of the Missouri Branch of the American Folk-Lore Society was held in St. Louis, in conjunction with the State Teachers' Association, on the 16th and 17th of November, 1916. The programme of the first session comprised the presidential address, "The Folk-Lore of Flowers that grow in Missouri," Miss Mary A. Owen; "Italian Folk-Lore in Missouri," Miss Rala Glaser and Miss Ellen Lawton; "Old Ste. Genevieve," Mrs. Edward Schaaf; "The Location of the Indian Heaven," Dr. W. L. Campbell; Round Table on children's games, Miss Leah R. C. Yoffie, leader. At the second session Dr. C. H. Williams of Columbia described "Ballad Conditions in Bollinger County," and Mr. E. E. Chiles of St. Louis presented a Missouri version of the ballad of "The Hangman's Tree." The officers for 1917 are: President, Miss Mary A. Owen; Vice-Presidents, Miss Lucy R. Laws, Mrs. Eva W. Case, Miss Jennie M. A. Jones, Mrs. Edward Schaaf; Secretary, Professor H. M. Belden, Columbia; Treasurer, Professor C. H. Williams, Columbia; Directors, Dr. A. E. Bostwick, Miss Jennie F. Chase, Miss Leah R. C. Yoffie.

KENTUCKY FOLK-LORE SOCIETY. The Kentucky Folk-Lore Society held an open meeting in Louisville on April 25, during the sessions of the Kentucky Educational Association. About a hundred people were present. The following programme was given: presidential address, "Folk-lore Work to be done," Dr. E. C. Perrow; "Rhymes from the Kentucky Highlands," Prof. H. H. Fuson; "Feuds of Eastern Kentucky," Miss Myra Sanders; "Remarks on the Philology of Current English in Kentucky," Dr. W. J. Grinstead; "Elizabethan Atmosphere in the Kentucky Mountains," Professor J. W. Raine. Interest in folk-lore is widening somewhat in Kentucky. More collectors of material are in the field than there were formerly, and a larger number of people show a general interest in the subject. Lack is felt, however, of an organ of publication in Kentucky that might print material of too distinctly local interest and of too small scope to seek admittance into the "Journal of American Folk-Lore." Since last October the Secretary of the Kentucky Branch Society has edited a column of folk-lore once a month in the feature section of the "Louisville Courier-Journal." This column serves as a small outlet of folk-lore expression, and advertises the work of the Society; but the space allotted for this purpose is not adequate. The officers for 1917 are: President, E. C. Perrow; Vice-Presidents, Miss A. A. Cassity, Mrs. Ewing Marshall; Secretary, D. L. Thomas, Danville; Treasurer, John F. Smith, Berea.

D. L. THOMAS, Secretary.

THE VIRGINIA FOLK-LORE SOCIETY. The fourth annual meeting of the Folk-Lore Society of Virginia met Dec. 1, 1916, at Richmond, Va. About fifty enthusiasts on the ballad were present; and new interest was aroused by the report of Dr. C. Alphonso Smith, the Archivist, who reported

a most encouraging year of ballad finds, numbering, in all, twenty-eight, most of them variants of those previously obtained. The most interesting event of the year from a ballad viewpoint was the visit to Virginia of Mr. Cecil J. Sharp, who has collected the words and music to more ballads surviving in England than any one else, living or dead. He spent several months in the mountains of North Carolina, where he collected about two hundred and sixty songs and ballads with their tunes. These are now being published in book form. The following officers were elected for 1917; President, Mr. John M. Stone; Vice-President, Miss Martha M. Davis; Secretary-Treasurer, Dr. W. A. Montgomery, Richmond; Archivist, Dr. C. Alphonso Smith.

VOL. XXX.-NO. 116.-18.

NOTES AND QUERIES.

Proverbs from ABACO, BAHAMAS. — The following proverbs were collected on Abaco, in the Bahama Islands.1

1. Hard head bud (bird) don' make good soup.

(Disobedient children don't turn out well.)

2. Beeg eye choke puppy.

(Equivalent to, " Don't bite off more than you can chew.")

3. Married got teet (teeth).

(Marriage isn't all bliss, and sometimes you get bitten.)

4. Better fer belly fer bus' en fer good wittles fer was'e. (Jamaica.) 5. Foller fashion kill monkey.

(Some people strain themselves to death trying to ape their neighbors.) 6. Too much sit-down break trousers.

(If you are lazy, you won't have any clothes to wear, as they wear out just the same.)

7. When cockroach have dance, he no ax fowl. (Jamaica.)

(Don't invite your enemies, they will only pick you to pieces.)

8. Loose goat do' know how tie' goat feel, but tie' goat know how loose goat feel.

(When a man is free and able to go about at will, he doesn't realize how blessed he is; but he soon realizes how fortunate he used to be, if he gets into trouble and is no longer free.)

9. God do' like ugly.

10. Do' t'row way dirty water till yer know where clean water dere. (Be content with what you have until you see your way clear to something better.)

11. Easy, easy, kech (catch) monkey.

(Go cautiously and you will succeed.)

12. E'ry John Crow t'ink 'im pickaninny white. (Jamaica.)

(The blackest man thinks his own children the finest, and that they can do no wrong.)

13. Some mans does dead befo' dem time.

(They make trouble for themselves.)

14. When man drunk, him stagger; when woman drunk, him lay down. (Women go to extremes more than men.)

15. Do' go da road, 'tis one bad road; de longes' road carry yer home safes'. (Short cuts don't pay.)

HILDA ARMBRISTER,

1 For Nos. 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 12, cf. Creole Folk-Lore from Jamaica" (JAFL 9: 38. Nos. 72, 44, 65, 13, 50, 28).-E. C. P.

RIDDLES FROM ANDROS ISLAND, BAHAMAS.

The following riddles slipped in as I was engaged in collecting the "ol' storee" of Andros. Had I collected the riddles more systematically, undoubtedly I should have gotten a very large number, as riddles are a favorite pastime of all Andros-Islanders.

1 The propounder of this riddle and of a few of the others referred to them as "sweet

riddles."