ing things from
beast to man; the seasons and the planets. Industry, love and war,
fiends and deities, death itself and the hereafter, all pass in
review, for one who sees the hidden significance, like a panorama of
existence, as they passed, a plaything and a jest, before the gods of
Olympus. It would seem as though humanity, viewing in long perspective
its own experiences, had found them all at last fit subjects to

"Beget the smiles that have no cruelty."

* * * * *

One dares to hope that this little craft, bearing as it does such a
freight of gladness, may leave behind a wake of cheer, and laughter,
and happiness.

JESSIE H. BANCROFT.

MARCH, 1909.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Detailed acknowledgment is made throughout the volume to various
authors and publishers. A general assurance of most grateful
appreciation is here tendered to many who have responded with material
and suggestions in the research, and to the numerous teachers whose
resourcefulness has led to the adaptation of many games to school
conditions. The author regrets the impracticability of mentioning all
of these by name.

Especial acknowledgment is due Mrs. Marie Talbot Constant for most
valuable and varied assistance, particularly in bibliographical
research and cataloguing of games; and to Miss Lilian M. McConville
for testing and adapting many foreign games collected for the present
volume.

TO THE TEACHER OF GAMES

The following suggestions are made with a view to the use of games
under any circumstances, though many of them apply especially to large
numbers of players under the guidance of a teacher or leader, as in
playgrounds and schools.

The leader or teacher of a playground should approach his or her work
largely in the spirit of the host or hostess whose duty it is to see
that each individual guest is happy and has opportunity to share all
of the pleasures of the occasion. But much more than this is involved
in the relation of teacher and pupil. The teacher of games, or leader
of children's play, needs, like all teachers, to have a sympathetic
personal understanding of the players; a quick insight into character
and motive; a knowledge of what to look for in the child's development
at different periods, as indicated in the Introduction; and to be, in
short, guide, philosopher, and friend.

The teacher should never hesitate, from questions of personal dignity,
to participate in the