27 JANUARY 1917, Page 21

The Mythology of All Races. Edited by L. H. Gray

and C. F. Moore. Vol. X., " North American," by H. B. Alexander. Vol. I., "Greek and Roman," by W. S. Fox. (G. P. Putnam's Sons. 30s. net each voL)—This work, planned on a large scale and competently executed in detail, promises to be a valuable and interesting survey of the myth- ology of all races. The volume on the North American tribes, by a Nebraska Professor, is excellent. Longfellow's " Hiawatha " gave the unlearned public some idea of the Algonquin of New England, but Mr. Alexander deals at length with the strange beliefs of every tribe or group of tribes, from the Eskimo of the North to tho Navaho, Apache, and Zuni of the South-West, and illustrates some of the tales with curious native drawings, in colour, or with photographs of idols. He notes the general belief in a world above, the home of the Sky Father, and in a world below, the abode of the dead. The early Roman Catholic, missionaries were delighted to dwell on the primitive and unconscious Christianity of their charges. Mr. Fox covers familiar ground in the Greek and Roman volume, but he has treated his material in a scientific way and has chosen many admirable and pertinent illustrations from vases and sculptures.