POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



conditions, but the methods and degrees 

 of difliculty of the process are various. 

 " Liebeault distinguishes five degrees in 

 hypnotic sleep, Bernheim nine; but Wet- 

 terstrand thinks they may all be grouped 

 under three. Suggestive therapeutics is 

 regarded as by no means a panacea, but 

 it succeeds in cases where other methods 

 have failed," and, as Bernheim says, 

 " often it produces miracles." After an 

 outline of the general principles of the 

 subject the author passes on to describe 

 some diseases and morbid conditions in 

 which he has employed hypnotism with 

 the greatest results, culling from his 

 notes, as impartially as possible, both 

 successful attempts and failures. The 

 cases include insomnia, the list of nerv- 

 ous diseases, drug diseases, consumption, 

 rheumatic, heart, and other organic dis- 

 eases, and functional affections; with 

 the use of suggestive therapeutics in op- 

 erations, obstetrics, and on some other 

 occasions. Dr. Petersen's medical letters 

 on hypno-suggestion, etc., added to Dr. 

 Wetterstrand's work, are intended to 

 give a succinct idea of the present status 

 of practical psychic therapeutics, as 

 based on the observation of clinical facts. 

 They relate to suggestive treatment in 

 reform work, post-hypnotic responsibil- 

 ity, and music in hospitals. 



The original object of Mr. Henry Rut- 

 gers Mar.HhuU's essay on Instinct and 

 Reason * Mas to present a conception of 

 religion. In attempting to make his ar- 

 gument convincing he found it necessary 

 to deal with questions which did not at 

 first appear to relate to this subject, 

 whereby the study of religion, though 

 still the most important and interesting 

 matter considered, is made to appear sub- 

 sidiary to the treatment of instinct and 

 reason. Believing that activities so uni- 

 versal in man as those which express his 

 religious life must be significant in rela- 

 tion to his biological development, the 

 author has attempted to outline a theory 

 that will account for their existence and 

 explain their biological import. In order 

 to present this clearly he has made a 

 special study of instinct and the relation 

 of its activities with religious activities 



• Instinct and Roapon. An Essay concerning 

 the Kelation of Inxtinct to Keacon, with some 

 Special Study of tiic Nature of Religion. By 

 Henry Rutgers Marshall. New York: The Mac- 

 milian Company. Pp. 574. Price, S3. 50. 



in general. This has naturally led to the 

 study of impulse, and thus to a consider- 

 ation of moral standards. The study of 

 reason, too, has been found appropriate 

 in connection with the consideration of 

 the nature of religion. The genesis of 

 religious customs and beliefs is touched 

 upon only so far as seems necessary for 

 the eluciclation of other parts of the trea- 

 tise. Concerning the relation of religion 

 and morals, the author finds that religion 

 teaches us to listen to the past, and gives 

 enthusiasm to do the work commended 

 by the " voice " of that past; it gives us 

 the basis for the perfection of our moral 

 code, but it does not give us this per- 

 fect moral code itself. When reason and 

 the religious instinct are opposed we 

 should, after reverent and full considera- 

 tion, act in accord with reason, but 

 should be cautious in guiding others that 

 way, for the chances are decidedly that 

 we are wrong, and " the rule of action 

 which will best satisfy conscience, which 

 will produce the closest correspondence 

 between our action as viewed in retro- 

 spect and our most permanently efficient 

 impulse series, is one which is based upon 

 the religious instinct, and which involves 

 the presence in mind of the sense of 

 duty." 



INIr. Arthur Berry has undertaken, in 

 his ^liort History of Astronomy* to give 

 an outline of the history of the science 

 from the earliest times in a form intelli- 

 gible to readers who have no special 

 knowledge of astronomy or mathemat- 

 ics. Some compression having been ne- 

 cessary, it has been found possible to 

 omit a considerable number of details 

 which might receive treatment, and in- 

 deed would often require it in a treatise 

 on the science. The author has deliber- 

 ately abstained from giving any con- 

 nected account of the astronomy of the 

 Egyptians, Chaldeans, Chinese, and other 

 peoples who are usually supposed to 

 have had a share in the early develop- 

 ment of star-lore. Accounts of scien- 

 tific instruments, except in a few simple 

 and important cases, are omitted. But 

 little is said of scientific discoveries that 

 have to be described in technical mathe- 

 matical language, and of speculative the- 

 ories that have not been established or 



* A Short History of Astronomy. By Arthur 

 Berry. New York : Charles Scribner's Sons. 

 (The University Scries.) Pp. 440. Price, $1.50. 



