Page:The Folk-Lore Journal Volume 4 1886.djvu/220

 212 THE SCIENCE OF FOLK-LORE.

Societies — the Asiatic Society of Bengal — for our encouragement in this respect. Its Museum and Library were both commenced and kept going "when its funds were very low and its members far fewer than ours are now; yet the Museum grew to be valuable enough to be taken over by the Government of India as a nucleus for the present splendid Indian Museum at Calcutta, and its Library into the fine collection of books it now possesses.

A word as to general terminology. "Folk-lore" is a fine English compound, but we are sadly in want of an alternative, if only for** the sake of useful and necessary derivatives. "Folk-lorist" and "Folk-loric" are not pleasant forms, but we have been long ago driven to use both. I would suggest some such classically-formed synonym as demology, demosophy or demonomy, — the last for choice — capable of easy develop- ment into passable derivatives as being of practical use. Dogma has been appropriated already by religious disputants, or dogmology might answer, and demodogmology is rather long. Dokeology and dokeswlogy, as the study of fanciful opinions, might do, if we are careful to preserve the original k to prevent mispronunciation, for " doce-ology " would be dreadful. Doxology would answer exactly, if it had not been long ago, even in Greek, given a specialized meaning. Demology might also be objected to for a similar reason. Anyhow, I hope some con- venient term will be before long devised to meet the emergency.

And now, in thanking you for having patiently listened to this exposition of my views, I take occasion to repeat that I have no desire to dogmatize ; and that I have given my discourse the particular turn it has taken, because I understand it to be still desired that con- tributions be made towards the definition of the term " Folk-lore," and towards the settlement of the principles on which the Science of Folk- lore should be conducted, in order that it may become, what we must all wish it to be, a Science in something more than name.

R. C. Temple.