Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 29, 1918.djvu/103

 Reviews. 93

reading public without any reference to parallel literature. It is a pity that in his desire to interest the modern and probably youthful reader, he should have modernised the quaint old style which is not the least charm of the old tales.

In spite of these strictures I was bound to make in the name of our science of Folk-Lore, Mr. Friedlander's book deserves commendation as a contribution to the store of Jewish Medieval Tales and apologues, inasmuch as they have been translated directly from the Hebrew.

A special feature of this publication upon which I should like to lay stress, is the spirited illustrations of Miss Hirschfeld. They are taken from the symbolical and ceremonial life of the Jews, and reflect the oriental setting of the tales. The artist is to be heartily complimented on her clever achievement.

M. Gaster.

Short Notices.

Dreams : What they are, and what they mean, by J. W, WiCKWAR. A. F. Denny & Co., London. 2nd ed. 1917. This little book gives a clear survey of an interesting subject. The author explains the origin of dreams as follows : " By the automatic activities of the nerve cells of the brain, conscious and unconscious memories are worked up and visualised into new and startling combinations, and dreams are revivals of actual sensory impressions either in whole or in part." "Memory, including latent inherited ideas, temperament and environment, have some part to play in the control and quality of dreams. . . . Memory plays the most important part, inasmuch as a dream is, in most cases, simply a repetition, a re-formation, and a revealing of past cerebral conceptions." The brain, in short, "may be likened to a sensitised plate used in photography." The best- remembered dreams seem to be those which immediately precede the moment of waking, when the functions suspended by sleep have partially regained their power. A chapter is usefully devoted to demolishing the position of modern psycho-analysts, following the lead of certain German and Austrian writers.