LITERARY NOTICES. 



3 6 9 



point, must give rise to a period of infan- 

 cy, during which the career to be followed 

 by the animal's plastic intelligence is deter- 

 mined by early experiences, but during 

 which, also, the animal is unable to take 

 care of itself. The full comprehension of 

 this point depends ou the understanding of 

 as much of Mr. Spencer's psychological 

 doctrine as is expounded in Mr. Fiske's 

 work, and we have not space here to do 

 more than state it. It is, however, famil- 

 iar to every one that, as a matter of fact, 

 apart from all theory, the growth of intelli- 

 gence, as we rise in the animal scale, is at- 

 tended by the appearance of a period of 

 early helplessness, or infancy, which is long- 

 est in the highest animals, and is very long 

 in the case of man. It is also a very fa- 

 miliar fact that, where this period of help- 

 lessness occurs, there is an accompanying 

 appearance of parental affection and ap- 

 proach toward domesticity in the adult mem- 

 bers of the race. These facts give the 

 needed clew to the solution of the problem 

 about the origin of family groups. When 

 once we have have two or three children to 

 take care of, the later ones being born be- 

 fore the elder ones are able to shift for 

 themselves, we have the crude shape of a 

 primeval family group or clan, and have 

 passed from animality which is non-social 

 to animality which is social that is, to ru- 

 dimentary humanity. 



There appears to be no gap left in this 

 explanation. The intelligence, according to 

 Mr. Wallace's suggestion, is acted upon 

 more and more by natural selection, physi- 

 cal variation- taking a subordinate place. 

 By-and-by the growth of intelligence be- 

 comes so considerable as to extend beyond 

 the foetal period into the early years of life. 

 There results a period of helplessness 

 which, when sufficiently prolonged, causes 

 family associations to become permanent, 

 and thus gives rise to society. And it is 

 further observed that this period of help- 

 lessness is also a period of plasticity ; so 

 that each generation need no longer strictly 

 resemble preceding generations, but may 

 have a slightly different twist given to it in 

 youth, thus making possible a great accel- 

 eration of mental progress. 



This beautiful generalization, it cannot 

 be denied, throws new and important light 



upon the obscure and difficult question of 

 the intellectual and social development of 

 man ; and, if Mr. Fiske had done nothing 

 more, it would establish his reputation as 

 an original thinker in one of the highest 

 departments of philosophical investigation. 

 But the most interesting part of the work 

 to many readers will, no doubt, be the six 

 chapters of " Corollaries," which discuss the 

 bearings of the doctrine of Evolution upon 

 religion. Those who expect to find in every 

 upholder of development a materialistic 

 atheist, one who as the Nation said of 

 Dr. Biichner not only expects to die like 

 a brute, but congratulates himself that he 

 is going to die like a brute, will no doubt 

 be somewhat taken aback by the chapter 

 on " Matter and Spirit," in which it is as- 

 serted with emphasis that " the latest re- 

 sults of scientific inquiry, whether in the 

 region of objective psychology, or in that 

 of molecular physics, leave the gulf be- 

 tween mind and matter quite as wide as it 

 was judged to be in the time of Descartes. 

 It still remains as true as then, that, be- 

 tween that of which the differential attri- 

 bute is Thought and that of which the 

 differential attribute is Extension, there can 

 be nothing like identity or similarity." 



A notable point of originality is the 

 treatment of religion as the highest psychi- 

 cal phase of that life which consists in the 

 adjustment of-inner to outer relations. He 

 regards religion as the manifestation of 

 that striving after complete harmony of 

 psychical life with its requirements, stimu- 

 lated by the sense of sin or moral short- 

 coming, for which the analogy is furnished 

 by that striving for mere physical adjust- 

 ment throughout the animal world, to which 

 the sense of pain is the prompter. This 

 view, as Mr. Fiske maintains, detaches re- 

 ligion from theology, and enables philosoph- 

 ical speculation to proceed to the utmost 

 lengths without fear of detriment to that 

 which men really value in religion, and for 

 the sake of which they cling to the formu- 

 las, often absurd or inadequate, in which it 

 is enshrined. 



We cordially recommend this valuable 

 work to all who are interested in philo- 

 sophical questions ; and especially to those 

 who are desirous of knowing the latest cur- 

 rents and drifts of speculative inquiry. 



vol. vi. 24 



