FOLK-LORE STUDY IN AMERICA. 



587 



Mathews, Captain Bourke, Dr. Fewkes, Mr. Mooney, Dr. Brinton, 

 Miss Fletcher, and others have been noticed by Prof. Frederick 

 Starr in his article on Anthropological Study in America.* 



Perhaps the most striking results have been obtained in fields 

 heretofore un visited and unworked. We refer particularly to the 

 lore found within the past four or five years among foreign-born 

 and English-speaking peo- 

 ples, both in thickly settled 

 districts and in out-of-the- 

 way places. Dr. Hoffman's 

 collection of the folk lore of 

 the Pennsylvania Germans ; 

 Prof. Fortier's account of 

 creole customs and super- 

 stitions, together with his 

 versions of creole nursery 

 tales ; Mr. Mooney's and Miss 

 Hoke's articles on the folk 

 lore of the North Caro- 

 lina mountain region ; Mr. 

 Culin's paper on Chinese 

 customs and superstitions 

 in Philadelphia and New 

 York ; Mr. Henry Lang's ac- 

 count of the Portuguese ele- 

 ment in New England ; Mrs. 

 Bergen's and Mr. Newell's 

 studies of current supersti- 

 tions in different sections of the United States — these contribu- 

 tions, to name no others, show that emigrants to America, if they 

 did not bring much material wealth, certainly carried with them 

 what Carlyle calls " old clothes philosophy." Every number of 

 the Folk-lore Journal has been a revelation to its many readers. 

 We predict that greater surprises than those already given are in 

 store for us. 



The greatest progress in folk-lore study in this country has 

 been made within the past six years, and it is significant to note 

 that the Folk-lore Society has grown during the same time. Prior 

 to 1887 the study of popular tradition in America was unorgan- 

 ized. Since then the investigations of special students in different 

 fields have been collated and systematized, and, above all, those in- 

 terested in the subject have been brought together. Thus to-day 

 there is a certain esprit de corps among American f olk-lorists that 

 was unknown some six or eight years ago. 



Pkof. Francis J. Child. 



* In The Popular Science Monthly for July, 1892. 



