hewiot] introduction 71 



All bodies of myths agree perfectly on one fundamental principle, 

 transformation, through which all things on this earth have become 

 what they are. 



This principle of metamorphosis indicates the mental process bj- 

 which these things Mere represented as becoming what they seemed 

 to be — animated things, subjectively endowed with human form, 

 thought, and volition, to explain the phenomena of life and sur- 

 rounding nature. 



I desire to record here my grateful acknowledgment of the assist- 

 ance rendered by Mr. F. W. Hodge, ethnologist in charge of the 

 Bureau of American Ethnology, in the form of valuable suggestions 

 in connection with the work and in other ways. I wish also to 

 express my appreciation of the courtesy of Messrs. Little, Brown & 

 Co., of Boston, in giving the bureau permission to use freely the 

 material contained in the instructive " Introductions '' written by the 

 late Jeremiah Curtin for his interesting books, published by that 

 company under the titles: "Myths and Folk-Tales of the Russians, 

 Western Slavs, and Magyars " ; " Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland " ; 

 " Hero-Tales of Ireland "' ; and " Creation Myths of Primitive 

 America." 



