268 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



which were prepared for that particular pur- 

 pose, and are published only at the solicita- 

 tion of successive classes of students. The 

 treatise is original in the sense that it 

 embodies the author's own independent 

 thoughts, with free criticisms of the writers 

 of the esoteric school who have preceded 

 him, and from whom he differs widely on 

 several important points. It usually, how- 

 ever, has those in view, and, however freely 

 his own theories may be presented, those of 

 the others are not far away t Among the 

 more important points of difference from 

 other standard works are the endeavor to 

 avoid the perplexity arising from the prac- 

 tice of formally accepting any given analysis 

 of the mind, and then practically disregard- 

 ing it in attributing to one faculty the func- 

 tions of another ; it rejects the doctrine of 

 complex faculties, complex feelings, and 

 complex action, and opposes to it the prin- 

 ciple that these features are all simple, 

 though interdependent ; it also rejects the 

 doctrines that consciousness is cognitive ; 

 that there are a voluntary consciousness, a 

 latent consciousness, and unconscious influ- 

 ences exercised over the mind by unknown 

 objects ; that there is an involuntary atten- 

 tion, and the mind can attend strictly to a 

 multitude of objects at the same time ; and 

 of the objectivity of time, space, beauty, and 

 sublimity in the form in which those phe- 

 nomena are generally stated. It differs 

 from the more common theories concerning 

 identity, memory, and the laws of associa- 

 tion or mental suggestion. The doctrine of 

 sensibility is discussed briefly ; and the text- 

 book presentation of the will is supplement- 

 ed by a review of the prominent teachings 

 concerning it of a number of the more popu- 

 lar authors from Augustine to the present 

 time. The study offered in this book is 

 wholly from the interior, the author hold- 

 ing, with all who have treated of the subject 

 prior to the rise of the evolutionist school, 

 that " in mental science the mind deals ex- 

 clusively with itself, or rather studies itself 

 through the facts given in consciousness." 

 We are not disposed to belittle the value of 

 the esoteric study. It has been well attended 

 to by the authors of the past, to whom Prof. 

 Burney often refers, and whom he often also 

 criticises ; but the publications of Spencer, 

 Maudsley, Sully, and Ribot have shown that 



the study from the outside is even more 

 valuable, and has already furnished a large 

 volume of data essential to a full knowledge 

 of the subject, and competent to answer 

 some of the questions which the esoteric 

 theories still leave open. While the adher- 

 ents of this school may not accept all the 

 conclusions of the evolutionists, they will 

 find that they can not be ignored, and that 

 no treatise can in this day be considered 

 complete that does not take account of 

 them. 



A SnoRT Course of Experiments in Physi- 

 cal Measurements. By Harold Whit- 

 ing. Part II. Cambridge: John Wilson 

 & Son. Pp. 305. 



The .present portion of this work, the 

 first part of which has been noticed in the 

 Monthly, is devoted to sound, dynamics, 

 magnetism, and electricity. The measure- 

 ments relating to sound are merely the con- 

 clusion of the subject. Under dynamics are 

 included experiments on the pendulum, the 

 measurement of force, elasticity, and cohe- 

 sion, and the determination of work done. 

 The measurement of the distance between 

 the poles of a magnet, the deflections of com- 

 pass needles, and magnetic dip are among 

 the experiments under magnetism. Several 

 methods of measuring electrical currents, 

 electrical resistance, and electro - motive 

 force are given. In the concluding pages 

 there are a few experiments for advanced 

 students in various departments of physics, 

 and the use of certain instruments of pre- 

 cision is described. The volume is illus- 

 trated with many diagrams and cuts of ap- 

 paratus. 



Principles of Social Economics. By George 

 Gunton. New York : G. P. Putnam's 

 Sons. Pp. 447. Price, $1.75. 



The author divides this treatise into four 

 parts, dealing respectively with the prin- 

 ciples of social progress, of economic pro- 

 duction, of economic distribution, and of 

 practical statesmanship. He defines social 

 progress as " the movement of society 

 toward the realization of the highest ma- 

 terial, intellectual, and moral possibilities 

 in human life," and states that it " consists 

 in a series of changes from a relatively sim- 

 ple to a relatively complex state of social 

 organization." Its cause is " man's con- 



