No doubt it would have enlarged this volume beyond all reasonable bulk as an Introduction to Folklore if the writer had included even an elementary exposition of the principles on which society is organised in the lower culture. Still we cannot help thinking that her work would have gained in completeness without much increase of size if, adopting a wider definition, she had given some general hints as to the savage idea of kinship, the meaning of some birth, marriage and funeral ceremonies, and the rites of maturity. It might have been worth while to sacrifice for this purpose the fuller development of some of the other conceptions treated of in these pages.
However, we must not forget that we have here not a formal treatise on folklore, but an introduction; and in an introduction something like selection was necessary. The themes selected are certainly not wanting in fascination, nor their treatment in learning and judgment. They, if anything, ought to interest "the general reader"; and we hope they will make many converts.
It seems ungracious to continue our grumble about small matters. Still, if the opportunity occur of revising for another edition, as we trust it may, some of the statements may well be reconsidered. For example, it is more than doubtful that "the folk-song is probably older than the folk-tale." Savage songs are mere repetitions of a single phrase, or of two or three phrases, to a monotonous tune. Savage tales, indeed, are frequently incoherent; but they are tales, much more highly developed than the songs. Again, we think here and there too much weight has been given to the opinions of Mr. Herbert Spencer, as in the suggestion that a misinterpretation of names of persons who once lived has led to the identification of sun, moon and stars with heroes of the race, or has contributed to the belief in the descent of men from animals and plants. And the list of books at the end seems somewhat arbitrary. But these are details that cannot interfere with the main purpose of the book; and in any case they can easily be corrected.
Iamblichus on the Mysteries. Translated by Thomas Taylor. Dobell, 1895. A Reprint.
Most of this book is taken up with symbolical interpretations of the practices of ancient religion and superstition; by the irony
