Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 22, 1911.djvu/281

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familiar, — the lack of differentiation on the part of the villagers in regard to animals, bat still more plants, unless they are of practical use in their daily life. Among plants we hear much of grass, hay, grapes, carrots, fir-trees, etc., but less than one might expect of even common wild-flowers, unless they have some medicinal use, or are associated with religious purposes ; e.g. box is used, as in England the catkin of the willow, on Palm-Sunday, and is afterwards of value for indicating the whereabouts of lost objects, a story being told of a recent occurrence. A girl subject to epilepsy disappeared, traces of her being found on the bank of the river. After long search, her relatives made a wreath of box, and begged the cure to bless it, which, after some protest, he did. It was thrown into the river, and floated down to a certain point, at which it stopped. The corpse of the girl was found at the bottom of the stream exactly at that point.

The folklore in regard to farm-animals is specially interesting, and very abundant ; it naturally deals largely with the evil eye, with taking away the milk, the laming of horses, riding horses by witchcraft, and the like. Holy water, blessed candles, and curious religious songs play an important part in the cure. Under certain circumstances also the farm-animals are required to observe fast-days, not eating till three hours after mid-day.

Either Franche-Comte must be extraordinarily rich in popular traditions, or Mons. Beauquier must have a rare gift of observation and collection.

A. M. Spoer.

Natursagen. Eine Sammlung Naturdeutender Sagen Marchen Fabeln und Legenden. . . . Herausgegeben von Oskar Dahnhardt. Band III. Tiersagen. ErsterTeil. Leipzig: Teubner, 1910. Large 8vo, pp. xvi -1-558.

This section of Dahnhardt's work is more difficult to arrange than the preceding two. The material is placed under subjects or "motives," so that the beasts are all scattered about. But the reader who wishes to follow the fortunes of any given beast can find him in the index, which is good. The present volume