It is desirable that this Congress shall be so organized and managed as to result in the greatest possible good to the Science of Folk-Lore.
The work will therefore be divided into appropriate chapters, as indicated below, and separate days will be assigned for their respective sessions. The Chapters of the Congress will also be subdivided into convenient sections to facilitate the work, and rooms will be provided for the meetings of the several sections, apart from the main audience room.
It is deemed advisable that where Folk-Lore Societies are organized, an appeal be made to them to assist in this work, and such societies are therefore invited to appoint "Committees of Co-operation," with whom the General Committee may consult, so that, through such appeals to the Societies, their members may be reached and interested in the Congress.
This will not preclude personal appeals to all persons in and out of such societies, and kindred organizations, who may be interested in such studies. It is intended, therefore, that such societies as those below named shall be included in the invitation to participate in this Congress for the Study of Popular Traditions, namely: Oriental and Linguistic Societies, Ethnographical and Anthropological Societies, Indian, Egyptian, and Synologue Societies, and the Gypsy Society.
It is earnestly hoped that all these associations, and all persons interested, will give us their hearty co-operation and assistance, so that full advantage may be taken of this auspicious time, when scientific and literary men from all parts of the world will be assembled here.
It is not perhaps advisable in this Preliminary Address to do more than to indicate the general lines on which such a Congress will be formed, and the divisions into which the subjects to be considered may fall. The Committee will welcome suggestions in this matter, while believing that the arrangement proposed may be satisfactory in the main.
The subjects to be considered may find appropriate place in the following chapters:
| I. | Myths and Traditional Beliefs. |
| II. | Oral Literature and Folk-Music. |
| III. | Customs, Institutions, and Ritual. |
| IV. | Artistic, Emblematic, and Economic Folk-Lore. |
In the first may properly come the consideration of such subjects as these:
The Survival of Ancient Myths in Folk-Lore, and their influence on modern beliefs; Theories of the Origin of Myths; Survival of Myths in History; Nature Myths, and their Bearing on Scientific
