Peer review is a widely accepted instrument for raising the quality of science. Peer review limits the enormous unstructured influx of information and the sheer amount of dubious data, which in its absence would plunge science into chaos. In particular, peer review offers the benefit of eliminating papers that suffer from poor craftsmanship or methodological shortcomings, especially in the experimental sciences. However, we believe that peer review is not always appropriate for the evaluation of controversial hypothetical science. We argue that the process of peer review can be prone to bias towards ideas that affirm the prior convictions of reviewers and against innovation and radical new ideas. Innovative hypotheses are thus highly vulnerable to being "filtered out" or made to accord with conventional wisdom by the peer review process. Consequently, having introduced peer review, the Elsevier journal Medical Hypotheses may be unable to continue its tradition as a radical journal allowing discussion of improbable or unconventional ideas. Hence we conclude by asking the publisher to consider re-introducing the system of editorial review to Medical Hypotheses.

By LAURA THOMPSON APRIL~JUNE, 1938 American Anthropologist NEW SERIES THE CULTURE HISTORY OF THE LAU ISLANDS, FIJP "'-THE Lan Islands form the eastern border of Fiji. Lakemba in the-Center of the Lan group was formerly an independent chiefdom, holding all the central and southern islands in tributary relationship. The southern islands, partly of volcanic formation,2 partly of coral limestone,3' comprised the chiefdom's rich hinterland. Most of them lack garden land ut they produce raw materials used in making important articles of exchange. Outstanding are the hardwoods 4 used for large sailing canoes. Southern Lau supplied all Fiji and also Tonga with these vessels. The type of paper mulberry' used for the best barkcloth aud pandauus' used for the finest mats are also found here, and coconut of excellent quality for oil grows on all the southern islands. Based on these resources, specialized crafts have developed on the islands, which produce the finest canoes, barkcloth, and mats in Fiji. These commodities were traded with Tonga and also collected regularly as tribute to the high chief of Lakemba, who distributed part of them to other chiefdoms in Fiji through a system of gift exchange. Although of great importance in native"economy, the southern islands have offered little to attract the white man on account of their lack of 1 Thefollowing study is a translation of a lecture delivered to the Ethnological Colloquium of the University of Berlin in March, 1937. In its original form this has appeared in Archiv fUr Anthropologie, Vol. 24, No.2, 1937. It is part of the results of nine months field work in Fiji under a Yale University-Bishop Museum fellowship. A description of the ethnographic results of the field trip are being published as a Bishop Museum bulletin. The spelling of native ,words follows David Hazelwood, A Feejeean and English Dictionary (Vewa; Fiji, 1850). Place names follow British Admiralty charts. I express sincere appreciation to Bernhard J. Tuting for assistance in the field and particularly for his work on the native religion. 2; Mothe and Komo Islands. 3 Kambara (which has a volcanic outcrop), Namuka, Oneate, Fulanga, and Ongea Islands. (Also Ono and Vatoa, the southernmost islands, which are not included in this study.) 4. Especially vesi, called greenheart of India (Intsia. bi,Juga [Colebr.] Ktze.), also mbau (probably PiUorporum Brackenridge). , 5 Masi, masi ntchina, and ndrauthoka, forms of the paper mulberry (Broussonetia papy-'>rifera Vent.). The paper mulberry is found on every island but the best quality grows only 'on Namuka. 6 On Fulanga, Ongea, and Wangava. 180 A new series, M alerial C1,tlture N ales, has been inaugurated by the Ethnograp_ Laboratory of the Denver Art Museum. Faced with the scant attention now gi; to studies of material culture, it is announced that "Our plan is to prepare comp objective descriptions of types of Indian material culture which have received lit or no attention in print. Unique or exceptional specimens will not be discusse: The four leaflets issued t...

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This paper examines a small group of Niuean New Zealanders typical of their community; all have English as their primary language, and most only a passive knowledge of the Niuean language. The speakers are members of a lower socio-economic community, yet they lack most of the grammatical variation associated with similar communities which have English as a first language. The paper considers agreement in there existential constructions in the spontaneous and scripted spoken discourse of a Niuean interviewer and her 14 Niuean participants. This variable is of interest because singular agreement in existential constructions is widespread and relatively unstigmatised in most varieties of spoken New Zealand English, yet stigmatised in some written forms. The findings point to patterns of variation which are both similar to and distinct from that of the wider New Zealand speech community, and highlight the need for qualitative analyses of grammatical variation in immigrant communities.

This paper compares the vowel system of five New Zealand Niuean children to that of speakers of New Zealand English (NZE), via an acoustic analysis. The Niuean children’s vowel systems show a vowel inventory, triangular vowel space, and front vowel raising characteristic of New Zealand English. However, the analysis also found differences. In the monophthongs, the Niuean speakers retain the qualitative and quantitative distinction between /%/ and /a:/, whereas NZE retains only a quantitative distinction. Diphthongal differences are found in the degree and direction of movement, as well as the monophthongisation of /ei/ and /ou/. Such differences may be markers of NZ Niuean or a broader pan-Pasifika English.