Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 9, 1898.djvu/204

180 certain ritual purposes, must have father and mother living (iii. 573) is, perhaps, that that shows the special favour of the gods. Was there any such custom in Palestine as that described in iv. 178, where fire is used to get fertility, torches being tied upon goats' heads? And may not that have given Sampson the idea of tying brands to foxes' tails, thus at once destroying his enemies' crops and insulting his enemies?

In the note on the exclusion of male things from a sanctuary (vii. 27, 3), it would have been interesting to compare the rigid exclusion of all females, even hens and cows, from the sacred precincts on Mount Athos. In iv. 109, the sitting at meat of men with gods might be illustrated by Robertson Smith's theory of the origin of sacrifice; and in Bk. ix. 30, 6, the Lycomids reciting the Orphic poems might have suggested the Homeric rhapsodists, and a mention of the mnemonic feats of Brahman priests. Mr. Frazer has omitted the curious custom of New Year's Fire (ii. 392). The volumes of North Indian Notes and Queries furnish many interesting examples of ceremonial abuse, ghostly warriors, imprisoned gods, and disguise of the sexes. Finally, we add two or three misprints: ii. 412, on i. 31, 4, read acquisition; iii. 479, line 7 infra, read Naaman; v. 315, Euripides.

The Index to the text is probably complete, and will be extremely useful. The Index to the notes might with advantage be fuller. Mr. Fraser has been too modest in estimating the value of his contributions to knowledge. We think that an edition of the first volume, with the Index to Text, would be widely bought, and would not injure the sale of the whole work.

In conclusion, we wish to emphasise our sense of the value of this work. It is an encyclopædia of learning, full, careful, and reliable; and a great deal of it, especially those parts which touch on Mr. Frazer's special studies, entirely new to most scholars. We cannot simply call this the best edition of Pausanias; it is quite without a rival, and, though it may be improved, we venture to think it will never be superseded.