Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 10, 1899.djvu/334

294 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15th, 1899.

(Mr. E. S. Hartland) in the Chair.

The minutes of the last Meeting were read and confirmed.

The election of Mr. Hoey Dignem and Miss K. Schlesinger was announced.

The resignation of Mr. T. K. Hurlburt was also announced.

The President then read a paper by Mr. W. G. Aston, entitled "Japanese Myth," which was followed by a discussion, in which Mr. Crooke and the President took part.

Dr. Gaster then read a paper entitled "Two Thousand Years of the Charm against the Child-Stealing Witch."

Votes of thanks for these papers were passed.

JAPANESE MYTH.

In Japan, as elsewhere, the respective domains of myth, legend, and history merge into one another in such a way that it is often hard to say where one ends and another begins. The ancient annals give us continuous narratives in which all three are treated alike. It is generally agreed, however, that the mythical period comes to an end with the accession to the throne of Jimmu Tennō, the first Mikado, an event to which the date of B.C. 660 is usually assigned. Modern Japanese historians make history to begin from this point; but in reality legend predominates for many hundreds