Reviews. 1 1 3
for the revelation of the secrets of religious and magical custom or belief.
In the book before us, Mrs. Jayne has brought together in sumptuous form a collection of string figures from many different races, including Europeans, American Indians, Eskimo, Poly- nesians, Papuans, and Australians, and there is one example learnt from an African pygmy. The mode of production of 97 figures is fully recorded, and the various stages in the formation of the figures illustrated by nearly 900 drawings. One of the most striking features of the figures is their similarity all over the world, though the means employed in their production may vary. Mrs. Jayne has brought out the similarities and differences by arranging her examples according to their nature, so that similar figures from different parts of the world are placed together.
The figures may be classified in various ways. In addition to the imitative examples already mentioned, there are some which may be called tricks, though these often have names which show that they have had the same origin as the rest, and have arisen through the imitation of movements, which is a frequent feature of the game. The majority of figures in different parts of the world begin with the string round the hand in one of two ways, and in his introduction to the book, Dr. Haddon has used this initial stage in the production of a figure as the basis of a classification into an Asiatic form found in Europe and Asia, and an Oceanic form found in America, Oceania, and, as we know from examples only fully recorded^ since the appearance of Mrs. Jayne's book, in Africa also. I'he Asiatic type resembles our own cat's-cradle, and can only be played by more than one person, while the Oceanic type can be played by a single person, though often two or more may co-operate in the production of a figure.
Dr. Haddon, whose enthusiasm for the subject has inspired most of those who have recorded string figures, gives in his introduction a full account of the distribution of the game, and there is a very complete bibliography at the end of the volume.
^ Journ. Anthrop. Inst., 1906, vol. xxxvi. pp. 121-149. H
