POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



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show that Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, "Wiscon- 

 sin, and the Dominion are busily stocking 

 their lakes ; while New York, with Ontario 

 and numerous smaller lakes adapted to the 

 raising of white-fish, is doing comparatively 

 little in this particular direction. " We 

 ought," they say, " to put out from thirty 

 million to fifty million white-fish per annum." 

 For this purpose we need regular and year- 

 ly liberal appropriations for stocking the 

 lakes ; stringent laws against netting or 

 fishing during the spawning season or on 

 spawning beds ; laws forbidding the use of 

 nets with a mesh smaller than is defined in 

 them, and the catching and marketing of 

 fish of less than a determined weight ; the 

 appointment of a first-class fish warden with 

 enough deputies ; and co-operation with the 

 national and Dominion Governments. 



The American Folk-lore Society. The 



Council of the American Folk-lore Society 

 reported at the recent meeting of that body 

 that it stood upon a more solid basis than 

 ever before, and its existence no longer 

 needed to be justified. It may be confi- 

 dently affirmed that no branch of American 

 historical research offers a field for original 

 investigation comparable to that presented 

 by the traditions, rites, beliefs, and customs 

 of the aboriginal races. On the other hand, 

 the rapidity with which these tribes are pene- 

 trated by the ideas of civilization is strik- 

 ingly illustrated by the movement now in 

 progress among the Indian tribes of the 

 United States. Every year, by increasing 

 the difficulty of research, adds to the likeli- 

 hood that many problems of primitive re- 

 ligion and usage will, in consequence of de- 

 ficiency of information, remain permanent- 

 ly unsolved a failure which, again, must 

 of necessity obscure the comprehension of 

 more advanced developments of human in- 

 telligence. It is therefore greatly to be de- 

 sired that to the task of collection shall be 

 devoted an energy in some degree commen- 

 surate with its importance, and that labors 

 in this direction should be extended and 

 systematized. As respects other branches 

 of the work, especially observations con- 

 cerning immigrant races, the material al- 

 ready printed in the publications of the so- 

 ciety has been sufficient to demonstrate the 

 various interest of the subject, the width of 



the field open to the collector, and the man- 

 ner in which existing habits and beliefs 

 serve to illustrate history. The Council 

 has decided, if the society consents, to begin 

 the publication of a Library of American 

 Folk Lore, of which two volumes may be 

 issued annually. While no member will be 

 required to subscribe for these works, they 

 will be obtainable for a subscription of two 

 dollars in addition to the membership fee of 

 three dollars, making the whole expense five 

 dollars for which all the regular publica- 

 tions of the society will be sent. The es- 

 tablishment of local chapters, which has al- 

 ready been successfully carried into effect 

 in Philadelphia and Boston, is recommended. 

 The society had four hundred and forty- 

 seven members, with applicants enough to 

 swell the number to more than five hundred. 

 The Journal of American Folk Lore, the 

 society's publication, is already, according 

 to the statement of Prof. Crane, one of the 

 editors, accepted as an authority in this coun- 

 try and in Europe. 



The Bath in the Middle Ages. An asser- 

 tion made several years ago by Dr. Lyon 

 Playfair, trusting to " worthless authorities," 

 that " for a thousand years there was not a 

 man or woman in Europe that ever took a 

 bath," which was laughed at at the time, has 

 been seriously refuted by the Rev. T. E. 

 Bridget in his historical essay on Blunders 

 and Forgeries. According to him, no one 

 who has read much of the mediaeval litera- 

 ture of any part of Christian Europe can 

 doubt that the bath was constantly called 

 into requisition. Among the accounts of 

 Queen Isabella, wife of Edward II, is an en- 

 try of a payment " for repairs of the queen's 

 bath and gathering of herbs for it." In a 

 narrative of the arrival of Louis of Bruges, 

 created Earl of Winchester in 1472, we find 

 among other comforts provided for him that 

 in the third chamber there " was ordered a 

 Bayne, or ij, which were covered with tentes 

 of white clothe." Mr. Dickson, the editor, 

 tells us in the preface to the first volume of 

 the Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of 

 Scotland, that " bathrooms were not uncom- 

 mon in the houses of the great, and even the 

 luxury of baths in bedrooms was not un- 

 known. The accounts show two payments 

 for broadcloth to cover a ' bath-fat ' that 



