Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 29, 1918.djvu/179

Rh treatment of Islam in general is not very sympathetic, but he gives an excellent account of the so-called Arabian philosophy, through which the traditions and results of Hellenic philosophy were transmitted to the schoolmen. His chapters on Averroes and on the "natural theology" of Aristotle are especially noteworthy.

These outlines may give the reader some idea of the learning, the wide reading, and the varied interests which the book displays. Dr. Bussell's method is not always easy to follow, nor is the arrangement of subjects always what one would expect. Dr. Bussell doubtless had excellent reasons for the plan adopted, but the reader sometimes feels that he progresses, like Tristram Shandy, not in a straight line but by zigzags. The chief obstacle to the enjoyment of the book is its unwieldy size; and it badly needs a proper index. Some of the chapters have a useful bibliography, but in most cases this is wanting, although the specialist will easily recognise the authorities followed. Our author is sparing in references, and in one or two cases he appears to have taken them at second-hand. The book is an essay in a region and on a scale unattempted heretofore; and it is both stimulating and enjoyable.

book is to be welcomed because it approaches seriously some difficult questions of Irish pre-history and gives a careful collection of the materials, especially from Mac Firbis (MacFir Bisigh). It deals with Clanna Dedad, Conganchnes, Eochu Mac Luchla, Etar and Cóir Anmann; to these are added two interresting studies (Orgain Dind Ríg or Chariot Burial; the Black Pig's Dyke) which are reprints from the Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie.

Miss Dobbs' researches are to be encouraged because the questions she deals with are often discussed with little or no method; yet a careful collection of materials is the only method