8 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.— SUPPLEMENT. 



series of monographics describing one and the 

 same social type at different epochs. By thus 

 observing in each walk of life the reflection of 

 the transformation of society, we should gain 

 much valuable instruction. Thus, for instance, 

 we should find that in carrying on the sea-coast 

 fishery, where but little capital is required, and 

 hardly anything but physical strength is con- 

 tributed to the common store, cooperation has 

 always been the rule, while in other occupations 

 it has no place. On the other hand, we should 

 find the system of rural communities has grad- 

 ually declined, and that this form of communism, 

 far from embodying the promise of the future, is 

 but an antiquated relic of the past. We might 

 find in the history of a family during several 

 generations a firm experimental basis for many 

 an interesting study. Thus, to quote one instance, 

 Mr. It. L. Dugdale has based on a monography 

 of a family of thieves, the Jukes, a very useful 

 inquiry into the subject of crime and pauperism 

 in the State of Xew York. 1 The author of this 

 essay on social pathology traces the genealogy 

 and the history of this unfortunate family: he 

 shows from facts what a fearful heritage of de- 

 bauch and disease, of misery and crime, was theirs 

 ever since the close of the last century ; finally, 

 he deduces from observation the reforms that are 

 needed, laying special stress on the extension of 

 the family system throughout all correctional in- 

 stitutions for the young. Many other aspects of 

 our social problems might be better understood, 

 were it possible to make inquiries of this kind 

 into the distant past. 



Fortunately, we can find in space what is de- 

 nied us in time. As was remarked by M. Charles 

 Dupin, in the " Report " already quoted, " the si- 

 multaneous study of the lot of the working-classes 

 in countries lying in the east, the centre, and the 

 west of Europe, is, in fact, equivalent to the study 

 of three distinct epochs — the ancient, the tran- 

 sition, and the modern states of those realms 

 Which to-day arc most advanced in industry, arts, 

 and sciences." Hence we can, without much risk 

 of error, discover in the present age most of the 

 social systems of the past : the patriarchal con- 

 stitution in Turkey, the regime of rural communi- 

 ties in Russia, feudal institutions in Hungary, and 

 so on. By analyzing the transjbrmations going 

 on before our eyes in different countries, we throw 

 light on the origin and history of modern soci- 

 ety. Sundry observers have described the " work- 

 ing people of two hemispheres," thus enlarging 



1 " The Jukes, a Study in Crime, Pauperism, Disease, 

 and Heredity; also, Further Studies on Criminals." 



on the plan of the monographics in the " Ouvri- 

 ers Europeens." In this way many curious types 

 — the miner of the placers of California, the Chi- 

 nese peasant, the freedman muleteer of Reunion, 

 the perfumer of Tunis, the Canadian farmer — 

 have been brought together ; but there is still 

 much to be done. Even in Europe many a mo- 

 nograph}' will have to be written before we can 

 be said to know certain regions ; in particular 

 Italy, a country so diversified in its natural char- 

 acters. And a knowledge of the family-life of 

 Slavs, Greeks, Latins, and Mussulmans, in the 

 provinces of European Turkey, would throw light 

 on the present situation and on the future lot of 

 those countries in which the fortunes of the world 

 are now undergoing the arbitrament of war. 



Still some writers of note have urged against 

 the generalization of the monography method 

 certain objections which we must notice. The 

 objection most commonly raised has reference 

 to the minuteness of the details of family ac- 

 counts. " Where is the use," it is asked, " of 

 knowing just what quantity of worthless utensils 

 is owned by each household ? What good is it 

 to know the exact weight of salad or of pepper 

 consumed in a year ? Why note down, one by 

 one, each article belonging to a bride's outfit ? " 

 Perhaps it might suffice, and certainly it were 

 easier, to be content with general statements and 

 to put down in one gross sum the total of each 

 kind of receipts or expenditures. But the au- 

 thor of " Les Ouvriers Europeens " is not a man 

 to be so easily satisfied. As a mining engineer arid 

 professor of metallurgy, he has long been famil- 

 iar with the precise methods of weighing em- 

 ployed in chemical analyses, and he would im- 

 port into the study of social phenomena a like 

 precision. It must be admitted that in arith- 

 metic there is no such thing as semi-exactness, 

 and that a balance-sheet loses all its value if it is 

 based on approximations. Besides, this descend- 

 ing to the minutest details necessitates on the 

 part of the observer scrupulous- exactitude in his 

 researches, saves him from many a mistake, and 

 not unfrequently leads to unexpected discoveries. 

 The make-up of the household furniture, the 

 preparation of the national dish, the description 

 of antiquated costumes, the ceremonies of be- 

 trothal, and other like pictures of national man- 

 ners and customs, serve to relieve the dullness 

 and dryness of statistics. Then, too, the com- 

 parative study of one and the same item of the 

 family accounts through different monojrraphies, 

 while it awakens the attention of the observer, 

 brings to light many an instructive fact — as, for 



