LITERARY NOTICES. 



847 



Fundamental Problems. By Dr. Paul 

 Carus. Second edition, enlarged and re- 

 vised. Chicago: The Open Court Pub- 

 lishing Company. Pp. 873. Price, $1.50, 

 cloth ; 50 cents, paper. 



This attempt to present the method of 

 philosophy as a systematic arrangement of 

 knowledge is a collection of essays that ap- 

 peared originally as editorial articles in The 

 Open Court, revised in the light of the criti- 

 cisms they then drew out. The author has 

 endeavored to avoid originality ; that is, to 

 introduce as little as possible of his person- 

 ality and his private sympathies with, or an- 

 tipathies against, other solutions. Philosophy 

 is presented as the most practical and most 

 important science, because its problems lie 

 at the bottom of all the single sciences ; and 

 as furthermore the foundation of the rules 

 of our conduct. In this book is proposed a 

 philosophy of most radical free thought, un- 

 incumbered by the excrescences of negativism 

 and hedonism, " that is, no negativism, no 

 agnosticism, and no metaphysical mysticism, 

 but a systematic arrangement of positive 

 facts " ; and religion and modern science, 

 ethics and politics, industry, mercantile en- 

 terprise, and socialism, in their present ex- 

 istence, are regarded as alike based upon the 

 teaching of the positive school. In this 

 second edition of the work are inserted an 

 introductory chapter on Ontology and Posi- 

 tivism, and an appendix containing the au- 

 thor's replies to his critics. 



Electricity at the Columbian Exposition. 

 By J. P. Barret, Chief of Department. 

 Chicago : R. R. Donnelley & Sons' Com- 

 pany. 1894. Pp.501. 



The author modestly disavows claims to 

 originality in the composition of this work, 

 and characterizes it as nearly resembling a 

 compilation. He deserves credit for the ex- 

 cellent manner in which he has done his work. 

 The general introduction gives a brief ac- 

 count of the electrical expositions previous 

 to 1893. The introductions to the several 

 chapters present a scientific though cursory 

 survey of the various applications of elec- 

 tricity and their bearing upon the exposition. 

 The great extent of the department made 

 it impossible to describe all the exhibits ; 

 only the unimportant ones, however, were 

 omitted, and the book as a whole presents a 

 good general view of the electrical exposi- 



tion, together with a large amount of detailed 

 information concerning the various branches 

 of electric art as represented at the fair. 

 Arts and industries in general are dwelt 

 upon where they have any bearing on elec- 

 tricity. Everything is up to date, even 

 Moisson's process for the preparation of arti- 

 ficial diamonds being brought in in connec- 

 tion with electric furnaces. The various 

 branches of electric industry are so closely 

 allied to each other that it is often pretty 

 nigh impossible to draw a line of separation 

 between them ; and, though the matter is 

 is well arranged and classified, the specialist 

 will have to consult most, if not all, the chap- 

 ters in order to obtain full information in 

 any connection. The typographical appear- 

 ance of the book and the numerous illus- 

 trations deserve high commendation. 



The Psychic Factor. By Charles Van 

 Norden, D. D., LL. D. New York : D. 



Appleton & Co. Pp. 223. Price, $1.25. 



This volume, although intended as a 

 manual for students, gives in a very readable 

 form what is known of the working of mind 

 experimentally and physiologically, as well 

 as by introspection. 



Matter, life, and mind are stated to be 

 three ultimates which psychology can not 

 explain. The hypotheses which philosophers 

 hold in regard to them are classified as ma- 

 terialism, idealism, ideal realism, monism, 

 and the popular one of matter and mind. 

 The author considers that " there is no be- 

 ginning place for mind anywhere" in the 

 evolution of life, therefore the original cell 

 must be psychic. The unfolding of the 

 mental process is traced from the oxygen 

 sense of bacteria and the sunshine quest of 

 Desmids through plant life iind animal life 

 to the human brain. In this progress there 

 are three marked steps the appearance of 

 protoplasm, the specialization of cells, and 

 the co-ordinating of function. A study of 

 the nei-vous system generally, and of its de- 

 velopment in the various orders of life ac- 

 cording to increasing complexity, complete 

 the comparative view of the psychic factor. 



In man we come upon the fact of con- 

 sciousness. This is defined not as a name 

 for a series of mental states, but as a recog- 

 nition by mind of itself. It is held that even 

 in the lower forms of life there may be "a 



