31 OCTOBER 1896, Page 27

Legends of Florence. By Charles Godfrey Leland. Second Series. (David

Nutt.)—" Collected from the People and Retold," adds Mr. Leland. Very curious they are, as those who remember the first series will doubtless expect,—queer creatures, as, for instance, the beast which was half-serpent, half-cock, and which the priest shot with a wax-taper, and still queerer men, as Genzio the magician, who was a man by day and a woman by night. Every now and then the Medici, who must have left a profound impression on the Florentine mind, appear, not much to their credit. Some curious survivals of old Etruscan beliefs also are found, as, for instance, between the Etruscan .A.1pan, who holds a pen in his hand, and the Tuscan Bellaria, who is invoked to aid those who desire to become writers. The miscellaneous "Legends" are numerous, not always, it is true, very edifying, but certainly curious.