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This article discusses how the talking drum has been a viable cultural voice for many West and Central African cultures in the acquisition of literacy. Based on this discussion; the author proposes research questions regarding the function and use of music and language, cognition and the psycholinguisticfeatures of the drum languages, the psychological dimension of music production, and its link to acoustic phonetic symbols of the drum languages. Ofparticular concern is the musical character of tonal languages spoken in Africa and the use of the talking drum for literacy purposes. In addition, the article describes the important role of the talking drum in the maintenance of archaic forms of (tonal) languages through mnemonic code systems and the speech mode of drumming.

Experimental evidence is accumulating which indicates that male hormone counteracts the physiologic effects of estrogenic hormone. Ihrke and D'Amour1 reported suppression of the estrous cycle in female rats while being injected with male hormone concentrates prepared from bull testes. Similar results were obtained by Robson2 in mice and Browman3 in rats with testosterone. Zuckerman4 has reported that testosterone propionate inhibits follicle growth and luteinization in monkeys. The present investigation was undertaken to determine the effect of testosterone propionate upon the endometrial cycle of the menstruating human female.A group of 6 women were selected and preliminary control endometrial (suction) biopsies were performed in each case to determine the presence of a normal endometrial cycle. In all of the cases selected for this study, the control biopsies performed during the latter half of the cycle showed, on one or more occasions, an endometrium in the secretory phase, indicating a regular estrog...

Summary and ConclusionsTwo women with regular menstrual cycles were injected with testosterone propionate (925 and 1,225 mg), in order to determine whether ovtilation could be inhibited. In one patient, the ovaries, examined on the 34th day of the cycle, showed no evidence of a recent corpus luteum or mature graafian follicle. In the second patient, examination of the ovaries, on the 17th day of the cycle, did not reveal any evidence of ovulation. In the latter case, while ovulation might have occurred after the 17th day, it was deemed unlikely in an individual with a regular 26 to 28 day cycle.It appears from this study that testosterone propionate, if administered in adequate amounts to the cyclical human female, can inhibit full follicle maturation, ovulation and corpus luteum formation, associated with regressive changes in the endometrium and vaginal mucosa. The question arises as to whether the testosterone propionate acts directly upon the follicular apparatus or indirectly through inhibition of th...