Page:Journal of American Folklore vol. 12.djvu/315

 Bibliographical Notes. 303

In other places too, perhaps, Bugge's argument fails by excess of in- genuity, but this very quality has enabled him to make scores of compari- sons and combinations which would have eluded a less keen-sighted scholar. It is unnecessary to say that his work has contributed much toward a better understanding of the literary relations of the Celtic and Germanic peoples in the Viking age. Dr. Schofield in his preface disavows responsi- bility for the theories set forth in the book, but he has shown how highly he estimates its value by undertaking the long labor of translation. All readers of the English edition will share the translator's opinion in this matter, and will be proportionately grateful to him for having made the work accessible in such attractive form.

F. N. Robinson.

Harvard University.

Laos Folk-Lore of Farther India. By Katherine Neville Fleeson.

With illustrations from photographs taken by W. A. Briggs, M. D.

Fleming H. Revell Company: New York and Chicago. Pp. 153.

This little volume contains a number of tales, for the most part very brief, professing to be derived from Laos. The rendition is so free, and so wanting in local character, that the stories might belong anywhere, and give next to no instruction concerning the people they undertake to repre- sent. Names of informants and localities are wanting j of the manner in which they came into the possession of the author no explanation is given. There is in the narratives nothing to show that the collector is acquainted with the language, country, or population. So many books have appeared which may serve as examples to the student, that there is no excuse for such deficiencies, which are the more provoking in that a genuine gather- ing of folk-belief from Laos would be of extreme interest. In an Intro- duction, Dr. W. G. Craig informs us that the translator has had the advantage of long residence and an unrivalled opportunity for understand- ing the history, customs, religious ideas, and aspirations of the people. If this is the case, she has certainly made an unsatisfactory use of such advantages. The opinion of the writer of the Introduction, that the scholar may be assured that he has before him the Laos tales unobscured, cannot be indorsed. A few stories, versions of well-known popular tales, serve to show that a part of the book has a traditional basis. Thus the story called "The Faithful Husband " (p. 51) is a variant of the world-wide tale which has been called "The Bird-wife" (p. 2).

It is well that missionaries, who have such excellent opportunities, are interesting themselves in the observation of the peoples among whom they labor ; but it is desirable that they should pay some sort of attention to the conditions of a useful record.

IV. IV. Nnoell.

Folk-Lore in Borneo. A sketch by William Henry Furness, 3D, M D., F. R. G. S. (Privately printed.) Wallingford, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. 1899. Pp. 30. In a little publication entitled " Folk-Lore in Borneo," Mr. W. H. Fur-

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