This book is mainly a collection of superstitions and quaint customs relating to childhood, together with extracts from parish registers and various pamphlets. It is written in a popular and somewhat discursive style, and includes chapters on pre-natal conditions, education, play, religion and development. The many interesting customs and ceremonies which are described are, however, mixed up with much irrelevant matter, and the book would be of greater value to folk-lorists if it contained more exact information regarding the localities in which many of these practices and beliefs are to be found. For instance, when the author refers to a custom which, he says, is carried out "in Greece, China, and Japan," it is somewhat tantalising not to be told more about its geographical distribution in these regions. Another frequent omission is the source from which the writer has obtained his information. But he may have thought this would be of interest only to the expert, and not to the general reader for whom the book is obviously intended.
Anthropologists will be disposed to question his statement that—"The kiss nevertheless has its origin in cannibalism, some trace of which it is not uncommon to find, especially in women, who take a mild delight in playfully biting the baby's cheek" (p. 48). And such an interpretation of the play instinct would give it a dark ancestry indeed.
Short Notices.
Mr. E. A. Walford, High St., Banbury, has issued a pretty brochure, a reprint of an early book on weather lore, by John Claridge, Shepherd, 1827. The Shepherd's Legacy was published in 1670, and has been several times reprinted. The editor has
