Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 26, 1915.djvu/233

Rh beliefs were largely derived from that culture. It is possible, of course to trace, as Miss Davis does with elaborate detail, numerous anologiesanalogies [sic] between the doctrines of Greek philosophers, notably Plato, and those of Indian thinkers. This review of what she calls 'Asianism in Ancient Greece" is valuable even if we are not prepared to believe that it is due to direct borrowing from Eastern sources by Greek thinkers. At present, most people are satisfied to accept a Thrako-Phrygian origin of Dionysaic worship, and the difficulty in the Indian theory lies in the question of the mode of transmission. In early days the road was barred by Babylonians, Assyrians, Hittites or Phrygians, and the evidence of communication between Greece and India through the Persians does not seem quite satisfactory. Although the main thesis which Miss Davis supports may not meet with general acceptance, the wide learning and ingenuity displayed in this book establish her claim to be regarded as a valuable recruit to the ranks of students of Comparative Religion.

first volume of this valuable collection of Sinhalese folk-tales has already been reviewed in these pages. The work is now completed by the publication of these volumes. The contents are arranged partly according to the classes of the population among whom the tales are current, partly by locality. The second volume is devoted to "Stories of the Cultivating Caste," which are continued in the third volume. This also includes "Stories of the Lower Caste" and "Stories of the Western Province and Southern India," with some texts in Sinhalese as examples, and additional notes and corrections. Each volume is provided with an excellent index by means of which parallels to the incidents can be traced.