Chapter IV: Part 4

The cards of Austria succeed those of Italy. The pack exhibited from Trent is like those of Italy, but the distinctively German cards predominate among those made in Vienna and the northern cities.

The suit marks of old German cards consist of hearts, bells, leaves, and acorns, which they call respectively _Herzen_ (_roth_), _Schellen_, _Laub_ (_grün_), and _Eicheln_. The court cards of the German pack are usually three in number, the peculiarity of the true German pack being that the queen is omitted and an upper valet or _Obermann_ put in her place. They consist of the _König_ or “King,” the _Obermann_, and the _Untermann_.

Tarocchi cards are found in Germany under the name of _Taroks_, and a number of Tarok packs manufactured in Austria appear in this collection. Special names appear on their labels, as _Trieste Tarok_, _Kaffee Tarok_, etc., and the tarots proper bear a variety of emblems and designs different from those of Italy. They are usually numbered at top and bottom with Roman numerals from I. to XXI.

Willshire has pointed out that the Italians early suppressed the emblematic cards in a game which was termed _Trappola_, in which the true tarots were abolished, as likewise the three, four, five, and six of each numeral suit. This game, he states, was still in vogue in Silesia when Breitkopf wrote (1784). An interesting Austrian pack of this character is shown under the name of _Trappolier Spiel_, in which the shape as well as the suit marks of the Italian tarots are displayed.

The German cards manufactured in Germany are prefaced by a series of reprints of German cards of the last century exhibited by Mr. Macauley. They were obtained by him through the courtesy of the Bavarian National Museum in Munich, for which they were made from the original blocks of the old Munich card makers that have been conserved in the Museum.

CASE XI.
GERMAN CARDS (CONTINUED), SWISS, DANISH, SWEDISH, AND RUSSIAN CARDS.
SPANISH, MEXICAN, AND APACHE CARDS.

The collection of cards made in Germany comprises 53 packs, consisting chiefly of the current cards manufactured by card makers in Munich, Altenburg, Frankfort a. M., Berlin, Leipzig, and Breslau. Among these is an extremely beautiful pack by B. Dondorf of Frankfort, with pictures suggesting the four quarters of the globe, after designs by Haussmann. Toy cards, patience cards, comic cards, trick cards, and cards which are labelled “Gaigel cards” appear, as well as cards made for special games, as the _Hexen_ or “witch” packs. Many of the cards manufactured in Germany are seen to bear the French suit marks of _Cœurs_, _Carreaux_, _Piques_, and _Trèfles_, or “hearts,” “diamonds,” “spades,” and “clubs,” instead of the old German suit marks, and the court cards correspond at the same time with those of France and England. There are a number of packs with French suit marks, which bear pictures of Swiss scenery and costumes. The cards made in Switzerland are from Schaffhausen and Geneva, and comprise a variety of designs, including those which are especially designated as Swiss cards, German cards, and German Taroks. Belgium is represented by a German tarot pack, and imitations of English cards made for Oriental markets. Three packs of this character are shown, which were sent from Johore, in the Malay Peninsula, with another pack from Beirut, in Syria. The Russian cards in the collection, contributed by Madame Semetchkin, the representative on the Russian Commission of the “Institutions of the Empress Marie,” are similar to modern French cards. The manufacture of playing cards in Russia is a monopoly of the state, and the revenues accruing are devoted to the support of the great charitable institution of which Madame Semetchkin is the distinguished representative.

Tarots or Tarocchi cards are not used in Spain, nor are they found among Spanish cards. The regulation Spanish pack now consists of 48 cards of four suits, called respectively _Dineros_, “money,” _Copas_, “cups,” _Bastos_, “clubs,” and _Espadas_, “swords.” The numerals run from one to nine, the ten being replaced with the _Caballo_. The court cards comprise the _Sota_, or “knave,” the _Caballo_, or “knight,” and the _Rey_, or “king.” Cards manufactured at Vitoria, Burgos, Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Cadiz, and Palamos are displayed. Great antiquity has been claimed for cards in Spain, and it has been urged that this is the country through which Europe received cards from the East, but heretofore no Spanish cards of assured date earlier than 1600 have been known, and material evidence has been lacking. There was exhibited at the Columbian Historical Exposition in Madrid in 1892–93, a sheet of cards made in Mexico in 1583, which has been preserved in the Archives of the Indies at Seville, Spain, and which throw light upon the origin of Spanish cards. A copy made in water-colors by an artist in Madrid is shown in this collection. The original consists of an uncut sheet of about 11 by 17 inches, and bears on the back a pen and ink inscription with the date 1583. The face displays an impression from a wooden block of 24 cards each 2 by 3½ inches. They are colored in red, blue, and black, and represent the court cards and aces of the suits of money, cups, clubs, and swords, and ten numeral or pip cards of the suit of swords. There are but three court cards for each suit, instead of four as in the present Spanish pack. The marks of the numeral suit consist of crossed swords, instead of being arranged as on the Spanish cards now current, and strongly point to the Italian affinities of early Spanish cards.

Side by side with this early Mexican pack is a colored plate representing leather cards made by the Indians of South America, and an original pack of leather cards used by the Apaches. From the arrangement of the swords on both of these sets, which were copied from cards introduced by the Spaniards, it appears that they were initiated from the present type of Spanish cards. Such is not the case with the corresponding marks on a pack of native cards from the Celebes, which are also exhibited. Their Spanish origin is clearly indicated by their number, 48, and by the devices, which still bear a faint resemblance to those of Europe. The clubs and swords on both are represented by crossed lines which confirm the impression created by the Mexican pack. The Japanese “Hana Karuta,” or “Flower Cards,” are also shown here, as another pack of Oriental cards derived from those of Spain or Portugal. Their number, 48, and their name, _karuta_, from the Portuguese _carta_, clearly suggests their origin.

CASE XII.
FRENCH, ENGLISH, AND AMERICAN PLAYING CARDS. FORTUNE-TELLING CARDS, DR.
BUZBY, AUTHORS, AND MISCELLANEOUS CARD GAMES.

Tarocchi cards are called Tarots in France, and the French tarot pack is similar to the Venetian. The earliest specimens of French Tarots exhibited bear the name of Claude Burdel and the date 1751. There is direct historic proof that France possessed cards at a very early time in the accounts of the Treasurer of Charles VI., A. D. 1392. The earliest pack of French cards in this collection is one of which I have not been able to determine the date. It bears the name Pierre Montalan on the Knave of Spades and Claude Valentin on the Knave of Clubs. A variety of modern French packs are shown, including those made with Spanish suit marks and special cards for various games. The French suit marks reappear on English cards, and according to Willshire it is most probable that cards made their way into England through France. He states that the time is not known, but that we are safe in believing that cards were not in use in England until after the reign of Henry IV. (1405), and that they were certainly employed before 1463. The English cards here displayed consist entirely of those of the present day, but this deficiency in historical packs is compensated for in part by Lady Charlotte Schreiber’s folio volume on English and Scottish, Dutch and Flemish cards which she has loaned for this collection. The great work, of which this is but the first volume, contains fac-similes of the cards in Lady Charlotte Schreiber’s private collection, and reveals the wealth of historical suggestions to be found upon playing cards, and their value, as thus collected, to the antiquary and historian.

America early received playing cards from Spain, and Spanish cards are still made and imported into Spanish American countries. In the United States English cards were naturally adopted. No very early packs are shown, but some interesting cards are found in the North American series, including a variety of cards with patriotic emblems of the time of the Rebellion, as well as caricature cards of the recent political campaigns. The collection closes with the souvenir packs of the Columbian Exposition at Chicago. Mrs. J. K. Van Rensellaer’s work, entitled “The Devil’s Picture Books,” a copy of which is exhibited, contains many interesting particulars concerning cards and card playing in America. Several interesting card boxes are shown in this collection, with specimens of the old-fashioned “fish” or card counters of mother-of-pearl, among which are some that belonged to Robert Morris, the financier of the Revolution. Treatises on American card games, exhibited by Messrs. Dick & Fitzgerald, conclude the series of playing cards proper.

Among the notions concerning the origin of cards in Europe is one that they were first introduced by the gypsies, who used them in fortune-telling. It appears that they were early used for divinatory purposes in Europe, but according to Willshire their employment in fortune-telling gradually declined among the upper classes until the middle of the eighteenth century, “though it was prevalent, no doubt, among the lower grades of society frequenting fairs and the caravans of mountebanks. About 1750 divination through cards again became popular in Paris, at least, for in 1751, 1752, and 1753 three persons were publicly known as offering their services for this intention.” According to certain writers, the emblematic figures of the tarot cards are of very remote origin, stretching back as far as the ancient Egyptians, from whom they have descended to us as a book or series of subjects of deep symbolic meaning. The discovery and explication of the meaning of the tarots employed in modern times was claimed by M. Count de Goebelin in 1781, who in his “Monde Primitif analysé et compare avec le Monde Moderne,” gave a dissertation on the game of Tarots, in which he states that the tarot pack is evidently based on the sacred Egyptian number seven, and reviews the tarot emblems in detail.

The probable origin of the 21 tarot cards has already been suggested in connection with Chinese cards, and it is not surprising that the astrological notions associated with Tarots should find parallels in the speculations of the Kabbalists, who attached similar notions to the dice throws as are now found associated with them in China, from whence the 21 Tarot cards doubtless came to Europe. An explanation is therefore found for some of the resemblances upon which M. de Goebelin lays such stress. His fancies, however, never subjected to very severe examination or criticism, were seized upon by a perruquier of Paris of the name of Alliette, who combined with his ordinary occupation the practice of cartomancy. He read the dissertation of Count de Goebelin, and, thereby enlightened, changed the letters of his name and prophesied under the name of Ettillia. His writings furnish the basis of most of the treatises now extant upon the subject of fortune-telling with cards, and his name is found associated with several of the modern French tarot packs published especially for fortune-telling, in the present collection. During the exciting periods of the first Consulship of Napoleon I., there lived, according to Mr. Willshire, a well-known diviner named Madame Lenormand, whose predictions gained great repute. Her name, with that of Ettillia, appears on the French cards here exhibited, as well as on those made in America. Several French and German fortune-telling packs of an amusing character are to be found in the present collection, as well as others published in the United States, which are designed solely for purposes of amusement.

The entire northern side of this case is devoted to the card games other than regular playing cards, which owe their existence to the prejudice against cards or to the demand for simple and instructive amusements for children and young people. Mr. Milton Bradley has contributed some interesting notes on the history of such games in this country. In 1843 Miss Annie W. Abbott, a clergyman’s daughter of Beverly, Mass., offered to Mr. Ives, a publisher of Salem, Mass., a card game which she called “Dr. Buzby.” This game, which was the first of its kind, was reluctantly published by Mr. Ives and met with an astonishing success, no less than 50,000 copies being sold in the following year. It will be remembered by many of the parents of the present day as among the earliest games ever learned and possibly played upon the sly through fear of reprimand. A pack of the original Dr. Buzby cards will be found at the beginning of this collection. The game of “Authors” was originated by a young man living in Salem, helped by some of his female acquaintances. The method of play was copied from “Dr. Buzby,” but it contained an element of instruction and profit not found in the older game. He took it to a local publisher to see if he could have ten or a dozen packs printed, as it was too much work for him to print them. Mr. Smith, the publisher, saw the possibilities of the game and told him if he would let him make them, he would supply his needs gratis, to which he consented. This was in 1861, and the sale of this game has since been wonderful. Many modifications and improvements of the original game are shown in the collection.

Soon after the publication of “Dr. Buzby,” a teacher in a young ladies’ school in Salem devised a game of letters which has since become popular under the various names of “Spelling Puzzle,” “Word Making and Word Taking,” “War of Words,” “Anagrams,” “Logomachy,” “Words and Sentences,” etc. The publications of the Milton Bradley Company, McLaughlin Bros., and E. I. Horsman are here exhibited, and no less than 78 different card games are displayed. They are classified in groups according to the methods of play, which, in spite of the ingenuity displayed in the designs of the cards, are relatively very limited in number, the ideas in the main being derived from games already played with regular playing cards.

The collection has received many additions since its installation, notably a very complete series of Zuñi games from Mr. Cushing, and a series of Malayan and Chinese games from H. H. the Sultan of Johore, through Mr. Rouncesvelle Wildman, as well as an extremely important collection of East Indian games from the Provincial Museum, Lucknow, and of Burmese games collected by Mr. C. S. Bayne, Rangoon, both through the courtesy of the Honorable Charles H. T. Crosthwaite.

_Stewart Culin._

NOTES AND QUERIES.

FOLK-LORE AT THE COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION.—If the Anthropological Building has been late in completion, the display is now most interesting. The value and curiosity of the archæological exhibits will first attract attention; but those more closely connected with folk-lore are well worthy of notice. An account is elsewhere printed of the cases devoted to the presentation of objects used in games. A very curious and complete exhibition of objects connected with Chinese worship in America is made by the Archæological Department of the University of Pennsylvania; and the curator, Mr. Stewart Culin, shows in his own name an interesting gathering of books used by the same people in this country. The place which toys may be made to take in museums illustrating folk-lore is well shown by a collection of toys representing Chinese and Japanese musical instruments by the same exhibitors. Mr. G. F. Kunz of New York exhibits a collection of precious stones, or valuable objects, employed as amulets, or with superstitious purposes. The Australian display contains illustrations of the Bora initiation ceremonies, and that of Africa representations of disguises employed in sacred rites not yet explained. As connected with mythology, the totem poles and carvings of the Haida of British Columbia will be observed. In the Government Building, Mr. Frank Hamilton Cushing has constructed a model of a Zuñi priest engaged in the celebration of the creation-myth. Outside of the exhibition buildings, the Midway Plaisance offers a continued spectacle of various life. The Javanese theatre is especially to be mentioned, as worthy of description and study.

THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL CONGRESS.—In the end, the plan of this Congress was so far altered that the arrangement in separate sections was abandoned. The Congress devoted to Folk-lore but one afternoon, on August 29, given to the Collection of Games in the Anthropological Building, and one morning, August 31, when a certain number of papers were presented. As these papers will hereafter appear in the proceedings of the Congress, it will not be necessary here to give an account of them. The attendance at the Congress, as at most of the scientific congresses, was limited; but the occasion was found pleasant by those who took part. Persons desirous to obtain the printed proceedings may send the subscription price ($5.00) to Mr. C. Staniland Wake, Department of Ethnology, Columbian Exposition, Chicago, Ill.

ALDEGONDA, THE FAIRY OF JOY. AN ITALIAN TALE.—In a wellwritten editorial, or leader-review, in the “London Chronicle,” of the book entitled “Rabbit the Voodoo,” by Miss Mary Owen, the writer, in referring to my introduction to the latter work, intimated that I could probably not distinguish between what was American Indian and original Negro superstition or tradition, because savage races have the same bases of custom and belief. This view, like many others current among theorizing folklorists, is to a great extent deceptive. What were the absolute beginnings of anything in Nature, only Omnipotence can tell,—yet this is what folklorists for the most part seek, trying to dig a well with a needle, and neglecting what is for the time being their proper work,—namely, identifying, with given phases of culture, what belongs to each.

A tradition, when it has received color, and, as one may say, size and form, so that it manifestly belongs to a certain _cultus_, has to the mere beginnings, which men hunt so zealously through variants, exactly the same proportion as some beautiful cathedral to its deeply buried foundation or crypt. I have with my own eyes seen an English clergyman demolish the greater portion of a very fine and well-preserved Perpendicular church, because he had unfortunately dug out of the whitewash a solitary little, old, and unornamented Early English window, or rather peep-hole. The whole church was forthwith “restored” into Early English! He will not idly read this tale—_non modicam ex hoc demetes frugem_—who will reflect that any grubber can collect out of books and pile up variants, but that to grasp the grandeur and glory of tradition and to feel its spirit is the real mission of learning.

I have been lately reminded of this manifest impression of time on the form of a legend by examining several traditions which had been collected for me, in Florence, by a woman alluded to in my “Etruscan Roman Traditions.” She is ever impecunious, and when reduced to living on air, like the wolves of François Villon, waylays me in the road, when a few francs change owner, and a promise is passed that traditional folk-lore shall be collected and written, as an equivalent. Then my agent goes about, among old women, into Florentine slums, and out into peasant homes, and anon delivers to me sheets of note-paper on which, in very pronounced Tuscan, is written a tale or two, _cosa_ being given as _chavusa_, and many words divided, the first half tacked to its predecessor, and the last half to its follower, as certain worms, when dissected, amicably unite with pieces of their neighbors.

When I lately met my collector, she was, by her own account, going full speed to utter ruin,—_ad inopiam, velis remisque properat_,—with all sail set. She had been cited to be fined by the police, her landlord had warned her for a month’s arrears, all her clothes were in pawn,—she had in the world only a cent, and that was counterfeit. Result—five francs surrendered, and a week after sundry writings received.

One of these was called Oldegonda (Aldegonda), the Spirit of Joy. That there might be no mistake, the writer had put a real ivy leaf in the MS., partly to serve as an object lesson, and partly to aid in conjuring the Spirit, or in attracting her favor. And thus ran the legend of Oldegonda, _la fata della Ellera_ (_allegría_), or the Fairy of Joy:—

Oldegonda, or Aldegonda, fairy of the country (_della campagna_), was found in a field when but a few days old. One day a contadino, passing by a forest, discovered a little animal which clung to his leg, and this creature was a hedge-hog, which led him to a mass of ivy, in which he found sleeping a beautiful little infant girl. Taking it home to his wife, he bade her treat it as their own child, and also be kind to the little animal,—che non le maneba altro che la favella,—who needed only speech to show a human soul.

But the woman disobeyed her husband, and was wont to kick the hedge-hog, and neglect Aldegonda, as the foundling had been called. For the woman had a daughter of her own, who grew in ugliness with every year, even as Aldegonda grew in beauty and gentleness, so that the former hated the latter with all her heart. And one day, when they were in the woods, the little hedge-hog led Aldegonda to the piles of ivy, where she sat in state. But the daughter of the peasant, seized with jealous rage, that the hedge-hog was only attentive to the other, cried,—

Siete due stregone!
Tu sei le bella strega
La strega dell’ ellera!
E tu spinone,
Tu sei il stregone!

Ye be sorcerers twain, I trow:
Beautiful witch of Joy be thou:
And thou, great beast with many a thorn,
A wizard, same as I am born!

Saying this, she seized the hedge-hog and threw him into the stream.

Now the hedge-hog was a young prince who had been cursed by a sorcerer or witch to remain in the form of an animal, until some one should cause him a violent death. With his fate was linked the love of Aldegonda. Therefore, when he sank into the water, the spell was broken; he rose, and gained the green bank of the forest, as a beautiful youth in splendid attire. And addressing the peasant girl, he said,—

Thou among witches
Shalt be the most malignant,
Thou who couldst never do one good action
Shall be an accursed cat,
But my beautiful Aldegonda
Shall be the lovely fairy,
The Fairy of Joy,
(And he who wishes a favor)
Shall call her with these words:

O beautiful Aldegonda,
Fair fairy of Joy!
By all which thou didst suffer!
For the time of twenty years,
From these peasant women,
As did thy hedge-hog lover,
Now that this is over,
And he is thy husband,
Bestow, I pray, a favor!
As with this leaf of ivy
I make a sign of the cross,
Which thou wilt surely grant!
I beg thee of thy grace,
Make my love return unto me!
Which thou wilt not deny;
I pray for luck in my home,
Which thou also wilt not deny.

And the sign of the cross must thus be made thrice, and the invocation every time repeated.

This tale, I may observe, is not of the popular traditional type of Grimm and Perrault, but belongs to the dark lore current among witches and sorcerers, in which the story, although always ancient, is a mere frame for the ceremony and incantation. The marked difference between these narratives and mere _märchen_ is very striking, because the former are in all cases guarded jealously, as profound and even awful secrets or formulas. I know an English lady of Italian life, _i. e._, one born of Anglo-Italian parentage—who has for a long time been “in with the witches,” and she has never yet been able to get her most intimate _strega_ to converse on sorcery, or repeat a line of a legend, except in the open air, far away from profane hearing. One reason for this is that all such stories, especially the incantations, are generally sung. This is done in a very peculiar tone of voice. It sometimes requires years to get the right intonation which renders a certain incantation effective. Therefore, if one were to be heard singing _alla strega_, or in witch tunes, to a young lady, there would be a “difficulty.”

_Charles Godfrey Leland._

FLORENCE, ITALY, 1893.

THE BURIAL OF THE WREN.—I inclose a version of the song of the wren, a little different from the one printed in a recent number of the Journal. The variant is contributed by a young Irishman from Skibbereen. But why is the wren called the “king of all birds,” and what is the meaning of the song?

_Mrs. Lucien Howe, Buffalo, N. Y._

The wren, the wren, the king of all birds,
St. Stephen’s day it was caught in the furze;
Although it is little, its family is great.
Cheer up my landlady and fill us a treat,
And if you fill it of the best,
In heaven I hope your soul will rest;
But if you fill it of the small,
It won’t agree with the wren boys at all.
Sing holly, sing ivy, sing ivy, sing holly,
To sing a bad Christmas is all but a folly.
On Christmas day I turned the spit,
I burned my fingers, I feel it yet;
Between the finger and the thumb,
There lies a big blister, as large as a plum.
I hunted my wren five miles or yon,
Through hedges, ditches, briars, and bushes I knocked him down.
So here he is, as you may see,
Upon the top of a holly-tree.
With a bunch of ribbons by its side,
And the Cork boys to be her guide.
Shake, shake, shake of the box,
All silver and no brass,
Up with the kettle and down with the pot,
Give us our answer, and let us begone.
Come now, mistress, shake your feathers,
Don’t you think that we are beggars;
We are the boys came here to play,
So give us our money and let us go away.

[As to our correspondent’s request for information, reference may be made to the discussion of J. G. Frazer, in “The Golden Bough,” (Lond. 1890), ii. 140 f. The custom has been prevalent in France, as well as in Great Britain and Ireland. In the Isle of Man, on Christmas Eve, the wren was hunted, killed, and fastened on the top of a pole. It was then carried from house to house, the bearers, meanwhile, chanting an appeal similar to that above given, at the same time collecting money. The wren was then laid on a bier and buried with much solemnity. The rite, according to another account, is described as taking place on St. Stephen’s Day (December 26th). The bird, in the latter case, was hung in the centre of two crossing hoops, decorated with evergreen and ribbons. In the song, reference is said to have been made to boiling and eating the bird. The money collected appears to have been employed for a feast at night. English and Irish usages were substantially identical.

As to the significance of the custom, it is only clear that it must have been a survival of a sacred rite. Mr. Frazer gives Asiatic parallels, but these are not very close, nor indeed are the accounts complete or sufficient. His own conclusion is that the custom is the remains of a pastoral sacrament, in which the animal god is killed and sacramentally eaten. That the wren has in some degree a sacred character is made probable by the superstitions relating to the bird. But the whole subject is obscure.]

_W. W. N._

MODERN ADDITIONS TO INDIAN MYTHS, AND INDIAN THUNDER SUPERSTITIONS.—The following remarks were made by the undersigned at the Annual Meeting, 1892:—

1. On Mr. W. W. Newell’s paper, entitled Examples of Forgery in Folk-Lore: (_a_) Some of the myths obtained from the Omahas and Ponkas bear marks of European origin, _e. g._, one of the Orphan who had a magic sword and two magic dogs; rescued a chief’s daughter from a water monster; cut off heads of monster, took the seven tongues home; black man got heads, claimed chief’s daughter as wife; was detected and killed; Orphan won chief’s daughter (Contra. to N. A. Ethnology, vol. vi. pp. 108–131.) Some of the writer’s Omaha informants were French half-bloods. (_b_) There have been modern additions made to myths. An Omaha stated that he made up part of the myth of the Big Turtle who went on the war-path. (_c_) When the writer was revising his material before preparing his article on “Omaha Sociology,” he was furnished by one of the tribe (a prominent ex-chief, now dead,) with several riddles, that appeared in “Omaha Sociology” as genuine Omaha riddles. Not until 1888 did he learn by accident that the riddles in question were versions of some that the children of his informant had read in “The Youth’s Companion”(!) The informant was not a man to tell a wilful lie.

2. Remarks on Miss Alger’s papers, one being, Survival of Fire-sacrifice among Indians in Maine: (_a_) When the first thunder is heard in the spring the Thunder Being is invoked by the Omaha and Ponka Indians. In the case of the former people, the Black Bear people go to the mysterious war tent of the Elk people, whom they assist in the invocation of the Thunder Being, whom they call “Grandfather.” When the Black Bear people of the Ponka tribe invoke the Thunder Being on such an occasion, they say, “Ho, Grandfather, by your brandishing (your club) you are frightening us, your grandchildren, who are here. Depart on high.” (_b_) The chief of one of the two Kansas war gentes, Pa-ha^n-le ga-qli, gave the writer a copy of his mystic war chart, saying that in the middle should appear a representation of fire, but he dared not make it unless he had fasted and prayed for several days, lest he should be struck by lightning. (_c_) No respectable Omaha girl dare walk alone. She must go with another girl, when not accompanied by her mother or some other near relation. Any man, not a near kinsman, who spoke to young girls that he chanced to meet, was sure to be punished. (_d_) With reference to the worm killed by the Thunder, compare the Dakota belief as to the conflicts that have occurred between the Unkteqi or Water powers (the Waktceqi of the Winnebago) and the Wa-ki^nya^n (“Flying Ones”) or Thunder Beings. These water powers (the males) are supposed to dwell in rivers, while the females inhabit streams that exist beneath the hills. (_e_) The legend of the Moose Woman resembles two Omaha myths: In that of the Chief’s Son and the Snake Woman, the latter person warns her husband against courting another woman; when he does so, she disappears. In the story of the Man who had for his wives a Buffalo Woman and a Corn Woman, the Man pursues his fleeing Buffalo wife and her son; when he reaches a river, he takes a magic plume from his hair, blows on it, and, as it is wafted across the river, he becomes the plume, reaches the other bank, overtakes his wife and son, and finally recovers them. (See “Popular Science Monthly,” September, 1893.)

_J. Owen Dorsey._

WRITING TO THE RATS.—A member of my family remembers a case of writing to the rats. It occurred in Lunenburg, Mass., perhaps fifty years ago. One day a neighbor of my grandfather’s came in and triumphantly announced that at last she was going to be free of the rats; she had written to them. Her letter was as follows: “If you don’t leave this house, I’ll get a cat.” It seems to me as amusing, in its way, as that of the Maine man. It might be called a telegram to the rats, for these were exactly her words. The proclamation was posted up, I believe, in the cellar.

_H. D. Rolfe._

CONCORD, MASS., _June, 1893_.

ITALIAN FOLK-LORE SOCIETY.—In a private letter, Professor A. de Gubernatis states that by the month of November he expects to secure the five hundred subscribers necessary for the execution of his project of an Italian folk-lore society. In Calabria, Apulia, and Sardinia, especially, his appeal has been responded to. Her Majesty Queen Marguerita has particularly interested herself in these researches; and the minister of public instruction has issued a circular which recommends to professors and teachers the study of popular traditions. The society is to issue a journal, entitled “Rivista delle tradizioni popolari italiano,” and also a series of volumes, to be known as “Biblioteca del folk-lore italiano.” The annual subscription will be twelve lire ($2.40); members will be permitted to obtain volumes of the “biblioteca” at a reduction of fifty per cent. Local directors will be appointed in the various districts of Italy; every three years a congress, entitled “Congresso Nationale dei Folkloristi italiani,” will be held with a view of discussing questions which relate to Italian folk-lore. Subscriptions should be sent to Angelo de Gubernatis, Presidente Onorario, Professore nell’ Università di Roma, Rome, Italy.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.

NOTES ON PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

In the next number of this Journal, notice will be taken of the important publications, in the field of American mythology and tradition, which have appeared during the past half year. At present it will be possible only to offer remarks on publications entitled to comment, dealing with other than purely American subjects.

In a treatise entitled “Böhmische Korallen aus der Götterwelt,” Dr. F. S. Krauss discusses, in a humorous vein, apocryphal additions to the material of Slavic and Lithuanian mythology. “Bohemian corals” are imitations; but, as the writer remarks, these imitations had a considerable value, until in latter days they have themselves become the subject of imitation. There is a manufacture of folk-lore, parallel to the production of primitive implements. In some cases these spurious additions have been the products of misunderstanding. An amusing case is the comment of an expert in Celtic tongues on the inscription “Encina,” subscribed in uncial characters on a Gallo-Roman statuette, or rather on the engraving of the statuette. The inquirer, connecting the word with the Old Irish “ec,” death, presumed Encina to have been the designation of a Celtic Fate. In point of fact the name was the signature of the engraver. Among wholesale manufacturers of mythic material, Dr. E. Veckenstedt receives an apparently merited castigation. The latter has treated of eighty-two personages of Lithuanian mythology; of these forty are said to have been taken from the unreliable work of Lasicki, the other forty-two to be “original.” Pretensions of Croatian and Bulgarian enthusiasts, anxious to exalt the antiquity and independence of their national life, are rebuked by Dr. Krauss. Of wider scope is the review of a work of Dr. G. Krek, professor of Slavic philology in the University of Graz, entitled “Einleitung in die slavische Literaturgeschichte.” Dr. Krauss comments on the errors of method, with which the attempt is made to determine the original character of a race by philological discussion, and observes: “He (Dr. Krek) is not aware that the Slavic-speaking peoples are mixed races, which arose at the earliest about the beginning of our era, out of populations in a state of political dissolution, and which began to develop themselves on the ruins of the culture of these populations.” (Page 104.)

A very beautiful and excellently executed collection of popular Sardinian love-songs is furnished by E. Bellorini. The editor has prefixed a bibliography, and a preface containing an account of the forms of the verse. A literal prose Italian version is appended, while explanatory notes treat of difficult words and printed parallels, good indexes completing the work. The songs are divided into two classes, dialectically called “motos” and “battorinas,” each class being arranged in sections according to topics. The “moto” is a peculiar stanza, in lines usually of seven syllables, containing a theme or history (istérria), and a refrain (torrada), the latter relating, not directly to the theme, but to the feelings of the lover. Suppose the theme to consist of three lines, the first of these is repeated to form the first verse of the refrain, with which the fourth line of the refrain rhymes, while the second and third lines rhyme with the two remaining lines of the theme; and the refrain is thrice sung, so that each line of the “history” alternately begins a verse, while the other lines of the refrain are altered in place, and repeated. This, at least, is one of several ways of forming the “moto.” The “batterinas” consist of four lines, generally of eleven syllables, of which the first and fourth rhyme, as also the second and third. The first class of songs are preferred by women, the second, chanted to the guitar, are usual among men. The theme is not very closely connected with the refrain, and is often of an obscure and mystical character. The following are examples of the “moto:” The silver bird—Who flieth and doth not fall—with golden wings.—The silver bird—Thou art in my heart—Though a hundred approach. Another: On a snowy mount—An angel hath descended—To make peace in war.—On a snowy mount.—Heaven and earth took a pledge—When they made thee. A third: On the brink of the well—There is a stone—Inscribed with letters of gold.—On the brink of the well.—To give thee my heart—Because of thy desert—is my desire. The author makes just remarks on the age and character of the songs. The language is that of the dialect, here and there qualified by literary influences. There is nothing to prove any great antiquity of these productions, which continue to be composed. It is to be hoped that Mr. Bellorini may be able to continue his work, and publish the popular Sardinian songs relating to other subjects, a task for which he has shown himself admirably qualified.

“The Cries of London,” sixty-two in number, with wood-cuts, were printed in 1799. Mr. A. Certeux, having come across this rare little work in Switzerland, has reprinted it with the original illustrations, accompanied by a French translation. A few notes give comparisons with cries of Paris. What lends especial value to the book is a bibliography of the principal works on the cries of Paris, containing about fifty titles. This literature begins with the thirteenth century, Guillaume de la Villeneuve having written at that time his “Les crieries de Paris.” In 1887 V. Fournel published a work on the Cris de Paris, which had a considerable success. It would be interesting to learn what information exists concerning the streetcries of England, outside of the book here reissued.

Under the title of “Mélanges de Traditionnisme de la Belgique,” A. Harou offers gleanings of the beliefs and superstitions of Flanders, arranged as referring to astronomy and meteorology, the human body, popular medicine, animals, birds, plants, etc. A certain number of legends, formulas, and nicknames are added. The work is in part from printed sources, and is to be regarded as a suggestion of a more complete and systematic collection, rather than as filling the place of an exhibition of Belgian superstition. It goes without saying that many of the items have parallels in English folk-lore.

The richness of Finland in the material of folk-lore is well calculated to awaken the envy of collectors in other regions. The Swedish population in Finland has its share in this survival, having kept with great faithfulness its ancient character. According to the opinion set forth by Julius Krohn, the popular Finnish poetry of the Kalevala has adopted essential elements of Scandinavian mythology, while it has also been argued that folk-tales and popular melodies have passed from the Swedes to the Finns. However this may be, there is now a considerable literature devoted to the folk-lore and dialect of the population in question. A Society for the Study of Swedish Dialects in Finland, founded in 1874, is now in possession of large collections of songs, melodies, proverbs, and tales, as well as of a great mass of dialectic words. The literature of Swedish folk-lore in Finland is the subject of a bibliographical notice of E. Lagus, the citation of titles being accompanied with a descriptive notice of the books. The series begins in 1892 with the work of A. I. Arvidsson (Svenska Fornsånger), and includes about forty books or articles.

In a treatise on the subject of hieroglyphic calendars, “Les Calendriers à Emblèmes Hiéroglyphiques,” A. Certeux describes and examines portable calendars of the fourteenth century, a mural calendar in wood of the fifteenth, a Breton carved calendar of the fifteenth, etc. Observations are also made on an Aztec calendar, a Norse Runic calendar, etc. In the course of his remarks, the writer offers observations on the different divisions of time adopted by different races. The references are exclusively to French sources.

In a discussion of “The Thyrsos of Dionysos and the Palm Inflorescence of the Winged Figures of Assyrian Monuments,” read before the American Philosophical Society, Dr. C. S. Dolley of Philadelphia, Pa., considers that the drunken and riotous characteristics of the mysteries were probably an addition to the original cult. The primitive use of the thyrsus was that of a wand to be tossed about in the dance, a use to which the stalks of the giant fennel were adapted, the festoons representing the bindweed naturally attached to the fennel. With this garlanded rod was combined, as he thinks, the date inflorescence found on Eastern monuments, which was altered into the cone-like tip of the thyrsus, and by error identified with the pine-cone.

Dr. K. Weinhold, examining the various forms of the tale of the man who is turned into an ass, as recounted in Apuleius and in various German and Indian märchen, comes to the conclusion that the story was originally a novelette and not an alteration of a myth. He inclines to believe it original in Greece or Asia Minor of antiquity, and thence to have been diffused eastward and westward, and offers some remarks on the theory of transformation, as often mentioned in folk-tales.

The twenty-fifth volume of the “Journal of the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society” consists of a new instalment of the “Botanicum Sinicum” by E. Bretschneider, the first or general part having appeared nearly ten years before. The present volume deals with Chinese names of plants occurring in the Chinese classics and other ancient Chinese works, and their botanical identification. Plants mentioned in the dictionary “Rh ya” (sixth century B. C.) are divided into herbaceous plants and trees, and those mentioned in other works into cereals, vegetables, cultivated cucurbitaceous plants, textile plants, tinctorial plants, water plants, various herbaceous plants, fruits, and bamboos. The information from literature, thus brought together, contains a great variety of instruction respecting food, customs, costume, ritual, and the like. Mention of rites seems usually provokingly inadequate, as in the allusions to the use of rice as sacrifice for spirits, of the peach-wand feared by demons, of the male elm pierced with an elephant’s tooth and plunged in water as injurious to the spirits of the water, to the “shi” divining plant, the stalks of which were used in divination, etc. In appended general remarks, Dr. Bretschneider observes that the Chinese have never shown any inclination for exploring nature from a love of knowledge, nor any trace of a scientific tendency. Conspicuous is the absence of names of plants having powerful poisonous properties. Medicinal plants appear to have been known only to a few collectors, who kept their information strictly secret, a concealment which led to substitution and confusion. Appended are minutes of meetings in 1890 and 1891. These contain a brief report of a paper by Dr. J. Edkins, entitled “China Thirty-five Centuries Ago,” in which the writer sets forth his opinion that the true foundations of Chinese civilization were laid in the third millennium before Christ. He considered that in the Chow period (800 B. C.?) religious usages of a more polytheistic form were adopted in profusion, and the people in their customs deserted the simplicity of ancient life. This position was criticised by Dr. E. Faber, who remarked on the want of any reliable information respecting early Chinese civilization, and the worthlessness of Chinese chronology and literary criticism.

In a beautifully illustrated article, contained in the publications of the United States National Museum, Romyn Hitchcock treats of the “Ancient Burial Mounds of Japan.” Without touching on the strictly archæological matter, we may notice the account of the ancient practice of burying the retainers of a prince standing upright around his grave, an interment in which the partially buried persons seem to have been left to perish and be devoured by wild beasts. The custom was changed, according to Japanese records, in the first century of our era, and the devotion of the living man succeeded by images, examples of which are figured in the article.

In the same report, Mr. Hitchcock gives an account of Shinto mythology. The sources being especially Basil Hall Chamberlain’s translation of the Ko-ji-ki (A. D. 711?) and the review of E. M. Satow on the writings of Japanese scholars. Casually, Mr. Hitchcock makes observations on the connection of modern Japanese folk-lore with the old mythology; thus the dance of Usume before the cave of the Sun-goddess is represented by the pantomimic “kagura,” danced by young girls at the temple of Ise and elsewhere. The mask of Usume is frequently seen in Japanese homes.

The interesting exhibit of New South Wales in the Columbian Exposition displays a mass of material calculated to illustrate native customs and life, including a set of views showing the different parts of the initiation ceremony called the “bora.” To accompany the exhibit, the New South Wales Commissioners have caused to be printed a handbook called “The Aborigines,” compiled by Dr. John Fraser of Sydney. This excellent treatise gives in conversational style a variety of information respecting the habits, ceremonies, ideas, food, habitations, and costume of the “black fellows,” as the race has ungracefully been called. It is difficult to speak with patience of the absurdities and calumnies of the numerous writers who have represented this people as raised but one degree above the animal. It would appear, on the contrary, that the social and moral status of the Australian does not greatly differ from that of the wilder Africans. In spite of his cannibalism, and his low powers of numeration, on which a very unjustifiable emphasis has been placed, the native is yet a highly intelligent person, admirably adapted for his own method of life. Particularly to be noted is the account given respecting religious beliefs and observances. Dr. Fraser perceives that the “Karabari” or corroborees, the native dances, are, in part at least, religious usages, although Australian students of the native tribes have not as yet fully penetrated their secrets. Without doubt some of them will be found to be religious ceremonials, accompanied by an elaborate mythology, in that respect resembling the dances of other “primitive” races. It is on the practices of the “bora” that most light has been thrown: here we have the construction of moundcircles, the occasional erection of monoliths or carved pillars, the setting up of a sacred pole, the participation of women not admitted to the secret rites, the presence, as it would seem, of ancestral deities, severe trials of constancy, the reception of a sacred name, final emblematic painting with white, probably also a regular system of instruction in tribal religion, mythology, and ethics. Instead of being void of religious feeling and ideas, as many observers, including the late traveller Lumholtz, have described him, there can be no doubt that the Australian is a person continually influenced by religious conceptions. It seems a pity that such names as “Hamites” and “Shemites,” with corresponding ethnological speculations, should appear in this treatise, in which, however, these dubious theoretical elements have no important place.

A brief paper by Hon. Richard Hill, “Notes on the Aborigines of New South Wales,” is somewhat superficial in character. The writer does not understand that a belief in “evil spirits” must necessarily include a religious faith and worship, but bears testimony to the natural chivalry of the natives. The writer mentions that in case of a duel, or “fighting to the death,” as it is called, each of the combatants invites the other to strike, the orthodox challenge being “hit me first,” each at the same time offering his head to be struck.

Rev. W. W. Gill’s observations on “The South Pacific and New Guinea,” also printed for the Exposition, contains notes on the Hervey Islands, South Pacific, annexed by Great Britain in 1888. The observations on ideas and customs, although conceived in the unsympathetic spirit of the missionary, is of great interest as indicating the rich mass of material, and the profit to science which must ensue from a proper record of native traditions. Baptism, marriage, death, the spirit world, etc., are themes of comment. We hope hereafter in this Journal to find room for extracts. The ethnographic interest of the writer may be measured by his naïve remark that the prayers used in incantation are “happily lost”! Of ceremonial religion the notes give no account, although the existence of a ritual is clearly implied; but the presence of a faith full of mysticism, and parallel to the beliefs of European antiquity, is everywhere indicated.

The Hungarian journal, “Ethnologische Mitteilungen aus Ungarn,” directed by A. Herrmann, after a most honorable record, was obliged to suspend publication in its second volume. This periodical has now resumed issue, the Archduke Joseph assuming responsibility for its continued appearance. Dr. Herrmann will be assisted by Dr. H. von Wlislocki, Dr. A. Katona, and others. This publication will deal with the ethnography and folk-lore of the Magyars and connected races, and will also become the organ of the Gypsy Folk-Lore Society, which has ceased to publish an independent journal. An address prefixed to the new volume of the journal, signed by C. G. Leland and D. MacRitchie, recommends the “Ethnologische Mitteilungen” to the reception of all persons interested in Gypsy research. Price seven francs; subscriptions may be addressed to A. Herrmann (Budapest, 1, Szent-György utcza, 2).

PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

BELLORINI, EGIDIO. Canti Popolari Amorosi raccolti a nuovo. Bergamo: Stab. Frat. Cattaneo succ. a Gaffuri e Gatti, 1893. Pp. 336.

BELLORINI, EGIDIO. Folk-lore Sardo. (Note bibliografiche.) Cagliari: Tipografia G. Dessi, 1893. Pp. 14.

BOURKE, JOHN GREGORY, Captain U. S. A. The Medicine-men of the Apache. (Extract from the Ninth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology.) Washington: Government Printing Office, 1892. Pp. 451–617.

CERTEUX, A. Les Calendriers à Emblèmes Hiéroglyphiques. Paris: E. Leroux, 28, rue Bonaparte, 1891. Pp. 61.

CERTEUX, A. Les Cris de Londres au xviii^e siècle. Illustrés de 62 gravures avec épigrammes en vers. Traduites par Mlle. X. Preface, notes, et bibliographie des principaux ouvrages sur les cris de Paris par A. Certeux, membre fondateur de la Société des Traditions Populaires. 2d ed. Paris: Chamuel, 29, rue de Trevise, 1893. 12mo. Pp. ii, 183.

DOLLEY, CHARLES S., M. D. The Thyrsos of Dionysos and the Palm Inflorescence of the winged figures of Assyrian Monuments. (Extracted from the Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 1893. Pp. 8.) (From American Anthropologist, vi. 3, pp. 285–306, 1893.) Washington: Judd & Detweiler, 1893.

FRASER, JOHN. The Aborigines of New South Wales. Published by authority of the New South Wales Commissioners for the World’s Columbian Exposition. Sydney: C. Potter, 1892. Pp. 102.

GILL, WILLIAM WYATT. The South Pacific and New Guinea Past and Present. With notes on the Hervey Group, an illustrative song, and various myths. Published by authority of the New South Wales Commissioners for the World’s Columbian Exposition. Sydney: C. Potter, 1892. Pp. 38.

HAURIGOT, GEORGE. Literature orale de la Guyane française. Contes, devinettes, proverbes. (From Revue des Traditions Populaires, viii. 1, 2, 3–4, 6.) Paris: E. Lechevalier. 1893. Pp. 37.

HAROU, A. Mélanges de Traditionnisme de la Belgique. (Collection Internationale de la Tradition, vol. x.) Paris: E. Lechevalier, 1892. Pp. vi, 150.

Hemenway Expedition. Catálogo de los objetos etnológicos y arqueológicos. Madrid: Jaramillo, 1892. Pp. 115.

HILL, RICHARD, and THORNTON, GEORGE. Notes on the Aborigines of New South Wales. With personal reminiscences. Published by authority of the New South Wales Commissioners for the World’s Columbian Exposition. Sydney: C. Potter, 1892. Pp. 8.

HITCHCOCK, ROMYN. Shinto, or the Mythology of the Japanese. (Report of the United States National Museum, 1891. Pp. 489–507.) Washington: Government Printing Office, 1893.

HITCHCOCK, ROMYN. Some Ancient Relics in Japan. (Report of the United States National Museum, 1891, pp. 525, 526, plates liv.-vii.) Washington: Government Printing Office, 1893.

HITCHCOCK, ROMYN. The Ancient Burial Mounds of Japan. (Report of the United States National Museum, 1891, pp. 511–523, plates xxxiii.-lxiii.) Washington: Government Printing Office, 1893.

HOUGH, WALTER. The Bernadou, Allen, and Jouy Corean Collections in the United States National Museum. (Report of the United States National Museum, 1891, pp. 429–488, plates i.-xxxiii.) Washington: Government Printing Office, 1893.

KRAUSS, FRIEDRICH S. Böhmische Korallen aus der Götterwelt. Folkloristische Börseberichte von Götter- und Mythenmarkte. Wien: Gebr. Rubinstein, 1893. Pp. 147.