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and it was to be feared that by rejecting it we would fall behind the

times. If this Conference found itself unable to adopt it, it should have weighty reasons for such a refusal. ; Mr. Hussey asked the Conference to accept the Memorandum. Committees would have an opportunity of discussing its applicability to the various groups of languages, and the Conference could amend it if necessary.

ProrEssor WESTERMANN: It would be a great step forward if the symbols yn, ¥, €, and 9 were adopted.

ARCHDEACON SHaw: Before committing the Conference to the orthography proposed, he found it necessary to examine the history of the problem. He was of the opinion that the alphabet was based

- on that of the International Phonetic Association; that is to say, on an alphabet produced by scientists for the use of scientists, in which Greek letters were used and other letters were turned upside down, etc. In 1912 the Protestant Missions were conscious of the necessity of adopting a uniform alphabet for African languages. There was a meeting in Khartoum with officials of the Sudan Government, but this led to no decisive results. In 1918 the Missions studied the question of adopting the alphabet of the International Phonetic Association and some assent was given to it. Considerable doubts arose, however, and there was no expert available to solve these doubts. They therefore devised the simple system now used by them. They realized that it was not exhaustive, but the benefits resulting from its use were immediately felt. Before its adoption the system had been submitted to Professor Daniel Jones who, while feeling bound as a member of the International Phonetic Association to favour the alphabet of that Society, realized the practical difficulties involved in using it, and could suggest nothing better than the Mission system for their use.

The alphabet contained in the Memorandum was said to be practical, but he suggested that it contained the same difficulties as the alphabet of the International Phonetic Association, that it was only intended for scientists and not sufficiently practical for their needs. He had no desire to be dogmatic, and he was prepared to yield even on points which had proved successful in use, but on examining the new alphabet he could discover no scientific principle underlying the choice of the new letters proposed. Some of his objections he had already exposed in a memorandum attached to his reply to the questionnaire. He would here mention the absence of italic forms and the fact that letters which historically were only different shapes of the same symbol were here used as separate letters. It would have been desirable to take the advice of experts in calligraphy so as to arrivé at letters suitable not only for scientists but for ordinary people writing in an ordinary way. There was a danger of introducing into Native writing

_ the difficulties experienced in our own, as for example in the letters

wand mn, The history and evolution of calligraphy ought to be examined before choosing new symbols but circumstances appeared to be forcing a decision before this had been done. :