THE CHILDHOOD OF FICTION.
The Childhood of Fiction. By J. A. Macculloch. (John Murray. 12s.)—Mr. Macculloch has chosen a title for his book which scarcely describes its contents, or, indeed, harmonises with his own view of the subject which he treats. He expresses in his preface a fear lest he should be offending the many who love folk- tales for themselves because he has "dared to show that some of the things which, in these old-world stories, form their fascination, have had their origin in sordid fact and reality." If "fact" and "fiction" are to be opposed, it is to the first rather than to the second that the folk-tales belong. In themselves they are full of extravagances which have nothing answering to them in the world that their readers or hearers know, but they represent real beliefs which go back to an immemorial antiquity. This is, how- ever, by the way. It must not be taken as depreciating Mr. Maeculloch's very valuable book. He has put together with a care and an industry which cannot be praised too highly a vast collection of facts, supplying at the same time the connecting- link of a common significance which the uninstructed reader sometimes finds it so hard to discover. His book will take high rank in the literature of the subject.
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