Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 15, 1904.djvu/135

 Reviews. 1 1 7

In view of the title chosen by the author I should have liked some discussion of the methodical side of our study. In a sense, all sciences have but one method ; nevertheless each branch of science has its specific technique ; what is valid in one kind of research is not necessarily valid in all. Much of the discredit that still attaches to folklore studies in the eyes of historians and philologists arises precisely from our (legitimate) disregard of canons to which they attach, rightly, the utmost sanctity. To distinguish the characteristic features of folkloristic method, to justify their scientific raisott d'etre, were a task germane to Pro- fessor Hoffmann-Krayer's purpose in placing before the educated public of Switzerland this sound exposition and hearty vindication of the nature and objects of folklore study. If my remarks induce him to essay it I shall feel I have rendered service to my fellow- students.

Alfred Nutt.

The Fundamental Principles of Old and New World Civilisations. A Comparative Research based on a Study of the Ancient Mexican Religious, Sociological, and Calend- rical Systems. By Mrs. Zelia Nuttall. Cambridge, Mass. Peabody Museum. 1901.

Star-gazing is somewhat out of fashion. The golden nails set in the heavens above have lost their influence upon the imaginative faculty of man. The romance of belief has given way to the romance of science, which draws totally different lessons from the information granted to it from the fathomless depths of the sky. Not so, however, in ancient times, when man lived in much closer contact with the phenomena of nature, and regulated his life and government by the example set from above. Mystical symbolism, administrative regulations and social prescription draw their origin and justification from observations made upon the stars and the constellations, some moveable, others apparendy immutable. Such is the result of the inspiration which Mrs. Nuttall received one evening in the month of February, 1898, when, "stepping to the window, [she] looked out at Polaris and the circumpolar regions of the sky, with a newly-awakened and eager interest." Proceedmg