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76 is the chapter on the Solomonic legends, which, like the Alexander legends, have grown in the course of time from a small seed to a mighty tree covering the whole earth.

But, however fragmentary these chapters may be, the work will remain a standard book helping towards the understanding of many obscure and difficult passages in the Old Testament, and explaining many an incident which has baffled the ingenuity of commentators. It brings the Bible within the circle of the modern science of Folk-lore, and will be a powerful stimulant to the investigation of the relation which must have existed between the various nations of East and West. It is thus an invaluable contribution to Biblical Archæology and to the study of the Orient, as well as a widening of the perspective of the comparative study of religion and folk-lore.

A very full index (pp. 481-566) increases greatly the helpfulness of this book for which students can never fail to owe a debt of gratitude to Sir James Frazer.