Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 13, 1902.djvu/462

442 Odysseus (p. 144), where the potter's wheel reappears. There is no historical examination, as there should be, of the principles and limitations of symbolism, which, in western lands at least, plays a much smaller part than is usually assumed.

Mr. Hewitt also ventures on the dangerous ground of etymology. Eurytus, he says, comes from, Achæan from ; a, t, and z are "interchangeable letters"; is the "one-legged fire-drill"; and so forth. Again : the oldest Cyclopean walls are said here to be accurately fitted polygonal; and there are many other signs that Mr. Hewitt's general knowledge is insufficient for the building up of a universal theory such as this.

But when we come to Indian questions, the case is altered. Mr. Hewitt can tell us by first-hand knowledge of the village system, sacred groves and common halls, of priestly ritual revealed to him as a special favour (p. 159), and the customs of Chotia Nagpur. We cannot help wishing he had confined himself to these topics, and give us in detail what he hints at or sketches in tantalising fashion. There is much of value to be learned from the book by a discriminating reader; but the general impression is one of confused statement and rash inference.

has written a model book. He has packed into a short compass the greater part of the new knowledge which modern discovery has given us of the pre-Israelitish history of Palestine. And his exposition of it is so orderly and lucid as to afford no excuse for misunderstandings on the part of the most uninstructed reader. Maps, which give evidence of having been compiled with great care, have been added to the text, and a valuable feature of the volume is the very full, if not exhaustive, list of books and articles bearing upon the subject of it. The book, in short, is the best account that has yet appeared of the early history of Syria.

Naturally, it is confined to results rather than to the collection of materials. It is, moreover, a compilation; Dr. Baton does not