Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 3.djvu/305

 9". 8. III. APRIL 15, '99.] NOTES AND QUEKIES.

299

/ istory of the Neiv World called America. By Edward John Payne. Vol. II. (Oxford, Claren-

< x years and a half after the appearance of the d -st volume of Mr. Payne's able and ambitious v\ork the second sees the light. At this rate of p -ogress the conclusion of the task is probably rt mote. Very far are we from complaining thereof. $- thorough is the workmanship and so all-em- biacing the scheme, that rapid execution is inconceivable. Over how many volumes the com- olated work will extend we know not neither, we jcnceive, does Mr. Payne. As we have previously said (see 8 th S. ii. 199), it is America as a whole, from Greenland to Cape Horn, with which our author is concerned. His first part dealt mainly with the discovery of the New World. In that volume the second portion, of which this volume is a continuation, began. This is 'Aboriginal America,' the development of which is treated from various points of view, linguistic, anthropo- logical, and other. How wide is the area of know- ledge that is therein covered is at once apparent, and one scarcely knows at what point to encounter a writer who moves our admiration by his daring as much as his erudition. Mr. Payne holds to the theory advanced in his first volume that Europe and America formed at one time a single continent. Man, however, he holds, is not autochthonic in the New World, which he reached as a stranger and an emigrant from the Old. The manner in which this conclusion is maintained must be seen in the volume (see pp. 57 et seq.). Man, in the general distribution of animals, is " as decisively a new-comer in America as he is in Australia," and has, though his presence in America dates back to extremely remote times, "intruded into a zoological province to which he does not belong." For purposes of practical inves- itigation, at any rate, man may be held coeval in the 'Old World and New, remaining in both at the same low level of savagery, above which ultimately he (elevated himself.

In dealing with the development of Mexico ind Peru, Mr. Payne regards the pueblo as the unit of aboriginal history. The word, like Its ail-but equivalent lugar, has scarcely found Its way into English use, but may be accepted as tractically equal to town or permanent village. lere the agricultural tribe, settled under its chiefs, ngaged within definite limits in what was its irincipal occupation, the quest of food. From the 'illage community in the Old World the pueblo liffered in the respect that, instead of being based . a combination of agriculture and herdsmanship, was established on agriculture alone. Our author ence proceeds to define the " Tribe " as a con- nguineous food-seeking group, the " Family," d the "Horde." Though possessing at the tset no historical importance, the pueblo obtains ch when it annexes or conquers neighbouring \eblos of inferior strength, driven not seldom to do by scarcity of food or of women, who, " in e state of endogamy which prevails in the rliest times, are probably born in fewer numbers an males." The struggles of the "dominant" \ieblos make up the only history, in the " ordinary nited sense of the word, which is met with in merica before the conquest." No other course open to us than to constitute ourselves Mr. .yne's interpreter so far as a small portion of s work is concerned, the knowledge necessary to >ntroversy on the points raised, and even to ap

proval, being the possession of a few specialists alone. We come now, for instance, upon an important section of the book, in which those most interested in the development of primitive life from any point, anthropological, moral, or social, are likely to find themselves at sea. This is the part dealing with the origin and progress of language, headings of which are " Material Aspects of Speech," " Adap- tation of Alimentary Movements to Articulation," "Mechanics of Language," and "Imperfect Signi- ficance of Early Vocalization." We are more than half way through the volume before Mr. Payne turns from the ethnological to the historical aspect of his subject. The Esquimaux are accepted as the true aborigines of the Northern zone. The language of this remarkable race, wanting as it is in power of analysis, is said to be, in its kind, the most perfect of American languages, and not destitute of literary cultivation. It is held, greatly to our surprise, to contain " a large and interesting body of standard fiction, much of which is under- stood to be at least a thousand years old." Some interesting pages are devoted to the relationship between the Algonquins and the Iroquois, the latter race, in opposition to opinion previously advanced, being held to be a decidedly progressive people. In the later pages of the volume will be found the matter of most interest to the folk-lorist. Espe- cially to be commended is the contrast drawn between the advancement of Mexico and that of Peru. From the worst features of Mexican life- its cannibalism, and its perpetual war, waged for the sole purpose of capturing prisoners to be sacri- ficed and eaten Peru, where the huanaco and vicuna abounded, is happily free. Its theology, however, no less than that of the Mexican, de- manded human sacrifices.

It is impossible within the space at our command to follow Mr. Payne further, or to do justice to the varied erudition he displays. His book has no element of general popularity, and appeals to the scholar alone. To such it needs no commendation. We can only express our hope that strength and opportunity will be accorded Mr. Payne to finish his vast and encyclopaedic task.

Shakespeare' sHandivriting. By Sidney Lee. (Smith,

Elder & Co.)

AT the request of the authorities of the Stratford- on-Avon Library and Museum, Mr. Lee has issued, in pamphlet form, facsimiles of the five authentic autographic signatures of Shakspeare, with com- ments extracted from the writer's recently pub- lished and admirable ' Life of Shakespeare.' All five signatures are in the old English mode of writing, a fact which Mr. Lee attributes to the poet's provincial education, he having learnt only the English character at school and having never troubled to exchange it for the more fashionable Italian writing. What is said about contractions also deserves to be carefully studied. As the result of his investigations, Mr. Lee holds that, of the many forms of spelling that have been adopted, Shake- speare alone has the sanction of legal and literary usage.

A Study in Philology. By Ernest Pearson. (Kegan

Paul & Co.)

COMPARATIVE philology will not be advanced by Mr. Pearson's little book. Indeed, it might well have been written in the last century, for he is a veritable Rip Van Winkle in the science of Ian-