Page:Journal of American Folklore vol. 12.djvu/492

 144 Journal of American Folk-Lore.

that the " musical bow " spread through the West Indies, Central America, and South America, by reason of the introduction* of slaves from Africa, its real home.

Myths and Legends. An interesting, if not an absolutely sci- entific book is Mr. C. M. Skinner's " Myths and Legends of our New Possessions and Protectorates" (Phila., 1899, pp. 154), where some little lore of the Caribs is to be found, some more of the races of the Philippines, and much more of the Hawaiians, etc. Like Mr. Skinner's other books, this one cannot be overlooked by the folk- lorist, but is a collection to be used, as such popular volumes so often need to be, with a harking back to the authorities.

Ornaments. What the so-called "bird stones" were intended for has not yet been discovered, but a plethora of theories about them has been set forth. In his "The Bird-Stone Ceremonial" (Saranac Lake, N. Y. 1899, pp. iv. + 3i, and 53 figs.), Mr. W. K. Moorehead has given us an interesting illustrated monograph on the subject. In the ultimate solution of the problem the folk-lorist not less than the archaeologist is interested.

Pictographs. Under the title, " Indian Pictographs on the Da- kota Sandstone," Prof. C. N. Gould, of the University of Nebraska, writes of the numerous pictographs still existing on the soft sand- stone cliffs (especially in the neighborhood of springs) in the Kansas- Iowa-Nebraska region (" Science," N. S. vol. xi. pp. 630, 631). The vandalism of man seems to have been more destructive of some of these relics than the ravages of time, the scrawling letters of some wayfarer's name often obliterating the older Indian inscriptions. Some of the best specimens of these pictographs are situated on the north bank of Smoky Hill River, near the mouth of Alum Creek, and near Belvidere, Kansas.

Symbolism. In the " American Antiquarian " (vol. xxii. pp. 83- 84) for March- April, 1900, Mr. Lewis W. Gunckel discusses briefly " The Symbol of the Hand," referring to the Indians of Utah, Cen- tral America, etc.

Sociology. To the " American Anthropologist " for July and October, 1899 (vol. i. N. S. pp. 475-509, 695-745), Major J. W. Powell contributes a characteristically suggestive discussion of " So- ciology, or the Science of Institutions," in which there are many items of interest to the student of American folk-lore. Particularly worth noting are the remarks on the old and the young in relation to social institutions and customs among the American Indians (pp. 700-702). And the discussion of Indian marriage customs, the stages of culture, aesthetics, ethics, etc. — The article of Prof. L. M. Keas- bey, of Bryn Mawr, in the " International Monthly " (vol. i. pp. 355- 358) for April, 1900, on "The Institution of Society," contains many

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