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POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Boas, that Songish and Nootka Indian mothers press and rub certain parts 

 of the newborn infant's body in order to give it the shape that they deem 

 beautiful. Many are the modes of expressing affection for children among 

 different peoples, but it seems strange to find under this head the custom of 

 burying a live infant with the mother who has died in giving it birth, for 

 the pi'actice often has an element of vindictiveness. There is a considerable 

 mythology connected with childhood, including lore about guardian spirits 

 and bogeys, also the myths made to answer children's questions as to where 

 the latest addition to the family came from. The folklore connecting chil- 

 dren with plants and with animals is an especially delightful branch of the 

 subject. The firstborn child becomes a social factor among some peoples 

 the moment it sees the light, for its birth changes the status of its parents 

 in the community. Its rights of heritage, etc., and the marriage that is 

 contracted for it in its early years among some peoples — even in England 

 in the sixteenth century — are other features of its social importance. At 

 school and in the societies, secret or open, which they form among them- 

 selves, including the street gangs of large cities, children reveal the traits 

 that are brought out only by close association with one's equals. The 

 efforts of the child in learning and making language, and as an actor, 

 inventor, poet, musician, and judge, afford an instructive insight into his 

 mind, while his elevation to the position of oracle, weather-maker, healer, 

 priest, hero, and deity shows us the adult mind of many primitive peoples. 

 This volume is not absolutely restricted to lore in which the child is the 

 central figure ; thus three of the early chapters are devoted to motherhood 

 and fatherhood, while legends about the origin of certain peoples and the 

 admission of women to the priesthood among others have no obvious con- 

 nection with childhood. The author gives us a bibliography of five hundred 

 and forty-nine titles, and, with few exceptions, his lore and legends are re- 

 ferred to this list by volume and page. One of the evils attending the 

 great benefits that have been derived by Americans from the study of 

 Gerraan authorities is the practice of dividing iudexes that is beginning to 

 creep into Amei'ican books. In this respect Dr. Chamberlain out-Germans 

 the Germans. His collection of child-lore proverbs (which is a feature of 

 the book worthy of special mention) has two indexes — one of the peoples, the 

 other of the authors, from which they are drawn; his bibliography, which 

 follows these, is divided into three classes, each arranged in a separate 

 alphabet by authors, and each followed by an independent subject index; 

 then comes the general index to the volume, the entries of which are divided 

 into three classes, each arranged in its own alphabet. Obviously the user 

 must spend more time in getting at the right subdivision of such lists than 

 in finding his reference. But in spite of this systematic confusion at the 

 end there is not a dry page in the book nor one without scientific value. 



The art of depicting the successive positions passed through by animals 

 and other bodies in motion, which aroused much public interest a few years 

 ago, has not been allowed to stand still since that time. Great advances in 

 processes and execution have been made and more difficult problems have 

 been solved, so that the I'esults which M. Marey is now able to present to 

 the public are remarkable for their range and definiteness.* The camera 



* Movement. By E. J. Marey. International Scientific Scries, No. 73. Pp. 323, 13mo. London: 

 William Heineman. Price, 'is. Qd. New York : D. Appleton & Co. Price, $1.75. 



