POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



429 



lems, their statement, their condition, and 

 all the possible solutions. The literary fac- 

 ulty, the power of expression, was also of 

 great importance, as it necessitated clear 

 thinking and a grasp of the environment of 

 the question, with a due sense of the propor- 

 tion of its component parts, and of the forces 

 affecting it. 



Arabs of the Hadraniaat. Mr. Theodore 

 Bent read a paper in the British Association 

 on the Natives of the Hadramaut in South 

 Arabia. He began by giving a brief sketch 

 of the ancient history of this valley in the 

 interior of Arabia, and showed how it was 

 the great center from which frankincense 

 and myrrh were exported to Europe by cara- 

 van routes across the desert, particulars con- 

 cerning which are given us by Ptolemy and 

 Pliny. He then went on to describe the 

 modern inhabitants of this distiict, showing 

 how the Bedouins here were distinct from 

 those of northern Arabia, and in all proba- 

 bility formed an aboriginal race, with curious 

 customs and a religion of their own. He 

 then spoke of the extreme fanaticism of the 

 Arabs in the Hadramaut, a fanaticism fos- 

 tered by the Sayyids and Sherifs, who claim 

 direct descent from Mohammed and form a 

 sort of hierarchical nobility in the country, 

 and who have hitherto succeeded in keeping 

 foreigners out of their territory. The Arabs 

 not of this noble family could not inter- 

 marry with them. The Sayyids never en- 

 gaged in commerce or industry, but the 

 other Arabs were very commercial, and fre- 

 quently made fortunes in India and the 

 Straits Settlements. Mi". Bent gave a mi- 

 nute account of the men and women of the 

 Hadramaut and their peculiar customs and 

 dress, stating that he hoped to return again 

 next winter to continue his researches. 



Economics as a Branch of Education, 



It is highly desirable, said Prof. C. F. Bas- 

 table, in his British Association address, 

 that certain professions law, journalism, 

 and public administration may be mentioned 

 should have economics as a part of the 

 training necessary for their exercise. To ac- 

 complish this object, its combination with 

 jurisprudence, political and administrative 

 science in a common group seems the best 

 way. The strictly professional students 



would obtain a better and more suitable 

 training, and it might be reasonably ex- 

 pected that some with genuinely scientific 

 tastes would be ready to take up social sci- 

 ence as a regular pursuit and contribute to 

 its progress. But it is in dealing with the 

 practical problems that this wider mode of 

 treatment is most essential. Is it not true 

 that commercial policy must largely depend 

 on political and legal conditions.? Even in 

 carrying out the thoroughly wise and sound 

 principle of free trade, the British Govern- 

 ment finds itself involved in many curious 

 complications. Treaties and administrative 

 regulations have to be taken into account. 

 The political forces that guide the tariff poli- 

 cies of nations have their decided effects ; 

 and whether we desire merely to estimate 

 the actual character of any particular policy, 

 to form a rational forecast of the course that 

 nations will take in the future, or to give ad- 

 vice as to what should be done, we can not 

 limit ourselves to abstract economic theory, 

 or even to economic considerations. This is 

 equally true of the currency question. The 

 weightiest arguments for and against bimet- 

 allism are political rather than economic 

 while such social influences as habit and 

 custom powerfully affect the possibilities of 

 action that purely deductive reasoning from 

 economic premises might appear to suggest. 



The Insane Kings of the Bible. In a 



paper on the Insane Kings of the Bible, Dr. 

 D. R. Burrell publishes a study of the cases 

 of Saul and Nebuchadnezzar, in the light of 

 modern science. Of Saul's case he finds that 

 " his insanity was recognized, but, at a time 

 when secondary causes were ignored, it was 

 called ' an evil spirit from the Lord.' Judged 

 in the light of the present, it was but the 

 natural outcome of his character, a charac- 

 ter made up of unstable elements easily and 

 unfavorably affected by attending circum- 

 stances. In justice to him, it should be re- 

 membered that he was merely a herdsman's 

 son, upon whom were thrust royal dignity, 

 authority, and responsibility, without prece- 

 dent or guide, for he was ' the first king in 

 Israel.' " Nebuchadnezzar's insanity may 

 have been caused partly by overwork. His 

 treatment, in view of the sacredness of his 

 person, his delusions, the climate and the 

 private parks of Babylon, and the ideas of 



