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Moslems, Buddhists, &c., so as to leave the native mythology 
as pure and genuine as possible. It would thus be a serious 
mistake to suppose the mythology of the lower races of little 
scientific value. Few studies throw more light on the early 
history of the human race and the human mind. 
i. Are mythic legends, fairy tales, &c., told habitually ? and 
is any special class of priests, bards, &c., concerned especially 
in preserving them ? 2. How far are they seriously believed, 
and stand in the place of history and religious teaching ? and 
how far are they told as nursery tales and popular jests, for 
mere amusement ? 3. Are the personages who figure in them 
considered to be real and historical ? and are there other 
traces of such heroes, chiefs, &c., having really lived? 
4. What stories come under the heading of nature-myths, 
being told of the sun, moon, stars, rivers, &c., as personal 
beings? 5. Do any of the heroes or heroines bear names 
which suggest such origin ? or do their feats seem to be sug¬ 
gested by natural phenomena ? 6. Are there, for example, 
myths relating to the sun, his birth, course, and death ; day 
and night ; eclipses ; the changes of the moon ? are stars and 
constellations imagined to be living beings ? are there stories 
of rainbows, thunder and lightning, winds, whirlpools, rivers, 
volcanoes, &c., as being animated beings ? 7. Are there any 
native riddles in connection with such subjects ? 
8. Are stories which seem myths told to account forevents 
such as peculiar customs, the invention of arts, the prevalence 
of certain plants or animals, &c. ? in short, are fanciful tales 
told to account for all sorts of things in nature and life ? 
9. Are there eponymic heroes, i.e., names of a mythic chief or 
ancestor, devised to account for the names of tribes, like 
Danaos as the ancestor of the Danaoi or Greeks, or Albion 
of our own countrymen ? 10. Are stories told to explain 
etymologically the names of places or objects ? 11. Are there 
geological myths accounting for large fossil bones as relics of 
giants, or for shells on mountains by legends of a deluge, or 
other philosophical myths of this class ? 12. Are there stories 
of men being descended or developed from apes or apes from 
men, of transformation of men into animals, of monstrous 
