LITERARY NOTICES. 



123 



aggregate must inevitably depend upon 

 the character of the constituent units. 

 A biological and psychological analysis 

 of the human being was therefore an 

 essential preliminary to the study of 

 man in his social relations. Mr. Spen- 

 cer took up this problem in its widest 

 aspect in his " Principles of Biology " 

 and his " Principles of Psychology," to 

 each of which he devotes two elabo- 

 rate volumes. In these comprehensive 

 works the whole series of problems in 

 human nature, which are preliminary 

 to the science of society, is exhaustive- 

 ly treated ; so that these works are 

 nothing more nor less than broad sys- 

 tematic contributions to the science of 

 human character. 



More than this, the new point of 

 view assumed in all of Spencer's philo- 

 sophic books had explicit reference to 

 the true understanding of the consti- 

 tution of human nature. The law of 

 evolution, as postulated and developed 

 in " First Principles," and carried out 

 in the subsequent works, gave a new 

 interpretation of the nature of man. 

 He is there considered in his total 

 character as a product of slow-working 

 natural agencies, internal and external, 

 by which he has been developed and 

 modified so as to become adapted to a 

 progressive social state. This great law 

 was worked out as a key to the right 

 understanding of human character, and 

 in subordination to a development of a 

 true science of human society. Thus, 

 in the logical line of his inquiry, each 

 essential step in the elucidation of the 

 law of evolution, the exposition of the 

 laws of life and the laws of mind, had 

 a definite and positive bearing upon so- 

 cial problems, simply by extending and 

 giving greater method and validity to 

 the science of human character. 



But, although Spencer has contrib- 

 uted in this extensive way toward the 

 establishment of the principles of hu- 

 man nature, physical and mental, which 

 form the science of character, yet he is 

 the last man to make any pretense to 



the discovery of such a science. Only 

 an ignoramus devoured with egotism 

 could put forth the preposterous claim 

 that he had made the discovery of a 

 science which is in reality but the sum- 

 mation of the scientific labors of multi- 

 tudes of men in many successive ages. 



LITERARY NOTICES. 



Ideological Etymology ; or, a New Method 

 in the Study of Words. By Stephen 

 Pearl Andrews. 



Elements of Universology : Au Introduc- 

 tion to the Study of Philosophy and the 

 Sciences. With Special Reference to the 

 Science of Music. By Stephen Pearl 

 Andrews. New York : S. P. Lathiop 

 &Co. 



The first of these little works was no- 

 ticed by us when it first came out as a pa- 

 per read before the American Philological 

 Association at its Newport meeting. It 

 purports to be a demonstration that there 

 is a new and heretofore untried method in 

 glottological study, and that the meanings 

 of all the several hundred root-words of the 

 Indo-European family of languages are re- 

 ducible to no more than three mother ideas. 

 These views are a part of that extensive 

 system of thought which Mr. Andrews has 

 been engaged for many years in elaborating. 

 lie claims to have originated and developed 

 a universal science a science of the sci- 

 ences to which, as is generally known, he 

 gives the name of " Universology." Having 

 taken up this point of view, and arrived, as 

 he maintains, at that which is both univer- 

 sal and fundamental in science, Mr. An- 

 drews then proceeded to make this the basis 

 of a new language, equally scientific and 

 universal, which he names "Alwato." The 

 claim is put forth by the adherents of Mr. 

 Andrews Universologists and Alwatoists, 

 as they avow themselves that there is a 

 wonderful originality and an immeasurable 

 importance in this new system ; and they 

 hold that its immensity alone has repelled in- 

 vestigation and hindered the progress of the 

 new ideas and discoveries. But they insist 

 that, in the claims which have been made, no 

 exaggeration has occurred, and that we have 

 really in these works of Mr. Andrews noth- 



