woman always appears as a mean thing whom even St. Peter could not get out of hell, for she never did a good act. Songs connected with trees, animals, and other parts of nature are the most characteristic part of the collection. The Legend of Sweet Basil is familiar elsewhere; not so the Legend of the Cuckoo, who is a sister grieving for her stricken brother. The Confession of the Mother of God explains why the poplar has no shade, the ivy has sour fruit, and the fir has no fruit or blossom. Other pieces allude to marriage customs, to the adventures or the outrages of robbers, to historical personages (such as the Emperor Constantine), and above all to love and death. We are glad to say that a great deal of the poetical imagery is striking and of fine character; but here again we remember those fearless flights of imagination. This is a book which any one having a poetic taste will read with pleasure; we wish we could say that it might be also useful to students.
Continental Folk-lore Societies.
Volkskundliche Zeitschriftenschau für 1903, herausgegebefi ini Auftrage der hessischen Vereinigung für Volkskunde. Von Adolf Strack. Leipzig, 1905. 8vo. Pp. 281.
Hessische Blatter fur Volkskmide. Von Adolf Strack. Bd. IV., Heft I., Leipzig, 1905. 8vo. Pp. 96.
Mitteilungen des Verbandes deutscher Vereine filr Volkskunde, I and 2, Januar und Juli, 1905.
Schweizerisches Archiv für Volkskunde, IX. 3. Zurich, 1905.
Mitteilungen der Anthropologische7i Gesellschaft in Wien, XXXIV., 6; XXXV., i.
Sagenschatz der Stadt Weimar. Von Ellen und Paul Mitzschke. Weimar, 1904, 8vo. Pp. xviii., 152. Price 2 M. 40 pf
The Hessische Vereinigung should be a proud body, for it has performed three remarkable feats. It has reached a membership of over 1100; it has directed the energies of some of its members
