NEGRO (Sp.. Plot, It. it, nro. ldnrk, Lat. nig, r. Hark). The Bailie properly applied to a suhspecies of mankind of whom the chief eltaraeterist ie.: are a dark skin, woolly or frizzly hair. and ti dolichoeephalie skull. The negroid type Os many modifications and has cue tained a fairly wide dispersion, but is found in its purest state and in greatest numbers in Africa. and that continent must he considered its cent re of It is commonly held 111111 the type is best repre sented by the Sudanese tribes of Africa, who are regarded as true negroes. They are distinguished by a very dark brown or chocolate-eolored skin, black crisp hair which is that on section, a rela tively long head, with Bat, broad nose and pro jecting jaws with thick, everted lips. In stature they are tall, with long arms and slender legs.
The most important modification of this type is found in the Bantu group of tribes. which stretches southward in Africa from the Sudan to the Cape of Good Hope. This division is one based largely on linguistic grounds, and, present ing as it does many variations of slight extent, it is impossible to name any single physical charac ter Which distinguishes the Bantu negro from the Sudanese. In ggeneral. however, the Bantu face is less coarse than the Sudanese. the jaws less projecting, and the lips not so thick. In color of skin the Bantu shows all shades of dark brown, and in stature corresponds to the Sudanese.
A marked variation, and one iitiivnIt to ac count for, is seen in the dwarf races who are haunt in scattered groups across Central Africa surrounded by I3antu neighbors and extending far to the south, where they are represented by the well-klIONVII tribe of Bushmen. The Bushmen, with their somewhat toiler neighbors. the Hotten tots,, are usually regarded as forming an inde pendent stock not to be classed with the pygmies of the equatorial region. This problem is at present impossible to settle.
The dwarfs offer striking physical traits which differentiate them from the other negroid peoples of Africa. In stature the northern pygmies do
not average much over four feel, the Bushmen seldom range over five feet, while the TIottentots are somewhat taller. in color the skin is a light yellowish brown, and, in the true dwarf groups, said to be covered with a sort of down. '1'lle hair is crisp and in the central dwarfs of a rusty brown color, while in the Bushmen-Hotten tot group it is black and tufted.
tif the true negroes of the Sudan the most important tribes are, in the west. the Wolof. Mandingan. Eelup. Kra, Sierra T.eonese, Liberian, Tshi, Ewe, Yoruba. Igo. Eli k. Borgu, and Alossi. In the Central Sudan, the Sonrhay, Alosgu. Nancinlm. Kanuri. Baghirmi, and Vedina; and in the east. the ,Nlaba, Fur. :Cuba, Shilluk, Dinka. Bari, Abaka, Bongo. Nangbattu, Zandch. Moinfu, and Bari.
Of the Bantu tribes traced southward along the east coast and northward along the west, fol lowing their probable coarse of migration. the most important divisions are the Bonjo. Waganda, Wanyoro, Wapokomo, Wagiryama, Waswhahili, 'Zulu, :\lashona. Bechuana, Ova-Per Fero. Eshi-Kongo. I3ashilange, Manyuema. Bakalai. Fun, .3,Ipongwe. Dwala, and Botanga.
The dwarf races of Central Africa are little known. but the most familiar are the ,\kka, \N'echuo, ubongo, and 'Nitwit. In the south are the Bushmen and the llottentots, the chief tribes of the latter being the Namaqua, Griqua, and Damara.
These peoples include the bulk of the African negroids. The dark-skinned natives of the 1101111: viz, in and in nci phogirg regions, and along the Mediterranean. exhibit 511(11 differenees :Ind are so allied in other respects with Semitic and Ilamitie peoples that they are usually classed with The extra-African distribution of negroid stocks iiirrcdiately presents difficulties. We can disregard the negroes of the two Americas, who are almost invariably of West African descent and differ from their parent stocks only in the modifications due to mixture with Europeans and Indians.