276 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



The Color-Sense: Its Origin and Devel- 

 opment. An Essay on Comparative Psy- 

 chology. By Grant Allen, B. A. Bos- 

 ton : Houghton, Osgood & Co. Pp. 282. 

 Price, $3.50. 



This is an interesting volume, on a topic 

 that has come lately into prominence as one 

 of the consequences of the theory of evolu- 

 tion. All pictorial art is of course based 

 upon the color-sense in man, and it is an 

 inquiry that can not fail to affect the theory 

 of art whether this color-sense is an unde- 

 rived and always perfected faculty, or has 

 grown through gradual stages to its present 

 condition. That there has been a progress 

 of taste capacity and art, founded upon the 

 color-sense, is of course well known, but 

 has the foundation itself been also devel- 

 oped? If it be admitted that it has, then 

 there arises a new interest in the subject of 

 color-sense as it exists among the inferior 

 grades of animals. If color-sense and the 

 color-perception are not to be taken as 

 things unchangeable if belonging to life 

 they are a part of life, and are subject to 

 the laws of life then the question of the 

 genesis of the color-faculty is legitimate, 

 and it is proper to inquire what may have 

 been the conditions of its origin. Profes- 

 sor Allen has entered upon this engaging 

 study not merely with the enthusiasm in- 

 spired by its novelty and freshness, but in 

 the genuine philosophic spirit, and well 

 equipped with the scientific data for the 

 investigation. The author's problem is, by 

 what agencies, and under what reactions 

 and conditions, the color-sense has origi- 

 nated in the grades of animal life. He finds 

 it to be a faculty continuous throughout, 

 but gradually unfolded and perfected, and 

 he concludes that "the highest aesthetic 

 products of humanity form only the last link 

 in a chain whose first link began with the in- 

 sect's selection of bright-hued blossoms." 



Professor Allen combats the notion of 

 Dr. Magnus, endorsed and popularized by 

 Mr. Gladstone, that the color-perception of 

 civilized man is a faculty of quite recent de- 

 velopment, and that so lately as some three 

 thousand years ago mankind was utterly 

 incapable of distinguishing between violet, 

 green, blue, and yellow. Rejecting this crude 

 and ill-digested theory, the author remarks: 

 "The few centuries which have rolled past 

 during that interval form but a single pulse 



of the pendulum whose seconds make up 

 the epochs of geological evolution. To me 

 it appears rather that the color-sense of 

 man is derived through his mammalian an- 

 cestry from a long line of anterior genera- 

 tions, and that its origin must be sought 

 for in ages before a solitary quadrumanous 

 animal had appeared upon the face of the 

 earth." This book is an outgrowth of those 

 studies which led the author to prepare his 

 little volume on " Physiological ^Esthetics" ; 

 but while that work was based upon human 

 psychology, the last one relates rather to 

 comparative psychology, or to the phenom- 

 ena of mind throughout the whole animal 

 world. 



Relation of Physical Exercise to Con- 

 sumption, 16 pages ; and Foul-Air-Con- 

 sumption, 13 pages. By R. B. Davy, 

 M. D. Reprinted from the " Cincinnati 

 Lancet and Observer." 



In the first of these pamphlets the au- 

 thor discusses the influence of muscular ex- 

 ercise on the more important organs of the 

 body, and on the system in general, as af- 

 fecting predispositions to pulmonary com- 

 plaints, and as a means for the relief of 

 such complaints when they have once ob- 

 tained a foothold in the organism. Whether 

 employed as a preventive or a remedy, he 

 regards properly regulated exercise as an 

 agent of the highest value ; and among the 

 several varieties described considers rowing 

 as probably the best, and the health-lift as 

 perhaps the worst, that can be adopted. 



The second pamphlet is devoted to the 

 subject of foul air as a cause of consump- 

 tion, and explains how man by his habits of 

 life and the conditions with which he sur- 

 rounds himself becomes the source as well 



as the victim of the poison. 



F. H. 



The Native Flowers and Ferns of the 

 United States. By Thomas Meehan. 

 Illustrated by Chromolithographs. Num- 

 bers from 12 to 24. Boston: L. Prang 

 & Co. 50 cts. per No. 



Volume II. of this elegant work is now 

 complete, containing forty-eight neatly exe- 

 cuted chromolithographs of our most inter- 

 esting plants and flowers. The character of 

 the work, text and illustrations alike, has 

 been not only sustained but improved. 



