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h e t i t l e is a misnomer for two reasons: first, this study is based almost entirely upon materials collected on only fifty families in the city of Bahia; and secondly, the designation " Negro family" has certain connotations for Americans which are misleading in regard to race relations in Brazil. Therefore, by way of introduction, I shall indicate first the nature and scope of the materials upon which this study is based and then give a brief account of the racial and cultural background of the population of Bahia. The data upon which our analysis is based consist of one to three interviews with each of fifty-five families during four and a half months residence in the city of Bahia. Forty of these families lived close to the seat or temple (o terreiro) of a religious cult, the Gantois Candomble, in a semirural area of Bahia, known as Federagao.* 1 Sixteen of these forty families formed a close community about the Candomble. In addition to these forty families, fifteen other families were interviewed in order to obtain comparative data on families occupying a different economic and social status. These families included three physicians, a teacher, a law graduate, two stevedores, a weaver, and three leaders of religious cults. Interview materials of a miscellaneous nature, which were obtained from many other persons, helped to give the investigator some general knowledge of the character of the family among certain classes in the population of Bahia. Bahia, or Salvador, as the city was originally named in 1549, is located in the tropical part of Brazil on a bay 700 miles north of Rio de Janeiro. It was originally settled by a heterogeneous population consisting of adven turers and criminals banished from Portugal, impoverished noblemen, Jews expelled by the Inquisition, Jesuits and Catholic priests, and some gypsies.2 The males among the indigenous Indian population were killed

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