velopment of many to the high point of
organization and skill in which we know them is very recent. Basket
Ball was a deliberate invention, by Dr. James Naismith, then of
Springfield, Mass., in 1892; Base Ball and Tennis, as we know them,
were developed during the last half century from earlier and simpler
forms; Indoor Base Ball was devised by Mr. George W. Hancock, of
Chicago, in 1887; Battle Ball and Curtain Ball, both popular gymnasium
games, were devised by Dr. Dudley Allen Sargent, of Harvard
University.

In ethnology the study of the origin and distribution of games
"furnishes," says Mr. Culin, "the most perfect existing evidence of
the underlying foundation of mythic concepts upon which so much of the
fabric of our culture is built." The most scientific work on the
entire subject of games lies in this direction. As revealed by board
and other implement games the element of sport does not originally
inhere in a game, the procedure being a rite of magic or religion,
pursued mainly as a means of divination. In Mr. Culin's opinion, "the
plays of children must be regarded apart from games, being dramatic
and imitative, although copying games as they [the children] copy
other affairs of life, and thus often preserving remains of
ceremonials of remote antiquity."

From the folklore viewpoint Mrs. Gomme and Mr. Newell have brought to
bear on games a wealth of knowledge of old customs and beliefs,
discerning thereby a significance that might otherwise pass unnoticed
and unappreciated. Thus we have the recognition of old well-worship
rites in the little singing game "Draw a Bucket of Water"; of ancient
house ritual in some of the dramatic games; in others the propitiation
of deities that preside over the fertility of the fields; survivals of
border warfare; of old courtship and marriage observances, and many
other rites and customs. Sometimes this recognition is merely one of
analogy or association, leading to a surmise of the origin of a game;
sometimes it is supported by old records and drawings or references
found in early literature. While often not so exact as the strictly
scientific method, this folklore study throws a flood of light on the
heritage of games that passes from child to child, giving to the
subject added dignity and worth. One comes to appreciate that the
childhood bereft of this heritage has lost a pleasure that is its
natural right, as it would if brought up in ignorance of Jack the
Giant Killer,