SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.
[Under this heading Ice notice such Books of the week as have not been reserved for review in other forms.1
The Early Traditions of Genesis. By Alex. R. Gordon, D.Litt. (T. and T. Clark. 6s. net.)—We must be content with saying that Professor Gordon's theories show great learning and ingenuity, and that the whole book is well worth careful study. This or that theory may fail to satisfy us, but the effect of the whole study is largely to widen our outlook. There is the story of Eden, for instance, a barren, uncultivated land, first made fertile by the mist that rose and "watered the whole face of the ground," and so made it fit for the home of man and beast. Where did this come from ? From the Bedouin tribe of the Kenites. The original Eden is the desert ; the watered and cultivated Eden is the oasis. One may doubt whether the Kenites were important enough to have so prominent a place given to their legends. They were the gypsies of Palestine. Could we find a gypsy analogy of the kind ?
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