PROGRESS OF ANTHROPOLOGY IN 1889. 601 



the former appearing in the trausceiidental conception of memory, 

 which has been tauglit by the German ideabsts, and appeared in mod- 

 ified form in the Scottish school, and later its ablest champion in Lotze; 

 the latter appearing' more or less in the empirical concei)tions of the 

 Associationists, Herbartian, as well as English, and in modern ])hysical 

 theories. Finally it mnst be plain that whatever be the relative merits 

 of the idealistic and the physiological theories of memory, the facts of 

 introspection have been pretty thoronghly worked over in tiie con- 

 tinued discussions of memory from the days of Plato and Aristotle 

 down to the last German student who has contributeci a theses Zur 

 Theorie der Eeproduction. After our historical orientation, the quar- 

 ter of the horizon that looks most promising is in the direction of em})ir- 

 ical study." The progress of empirical research is then comprehensively 

 sketched by Dr. Buruham. 



The value of language study in mental discipline has been questioned 

 in our day as compared with the pursuit of the natural sciences. From 

 a purely physiological side and in a most ingenious manner Dr. M. Put- 

 nam Jacobi exauiines the subject. A priori, the study of language must 

 be an extension, more or less complex, of the process of acquiring lan- 

 guage ; — the highest physiological acquisition that distinguishes the hu- 

 man race irom the lower animals. After noting the portions of the brain 

 whose activities are involved in so simple a i)rocess as the utterance 

 of a word so commonplace as " bread," Dr. Jacobi says : " It is plain, 

 therefore, that to learn the name of a thing and to learn how to use this 

 name, much more mental action is required than simply to acquire sense 

 perceptions about it. The acquisition of foreign languages in addition 

 to the native tongue multiplies the number of verbal signs which the 

 mind habitually couples with visual im[)ressions. In registering and 

 using these multiple signs, the min:i is compelled to more complex oi)er- 

 ations than when only one sign is used. When in different langimges 

 different primary Words or roots are used to represent the same object; 

 then the mind using them all becomes acquainted with the several as- 

 ])ects of that object which have im])ressed the minds of those among 

 whom these different names have sprung up. Thus a larger impression 

 of the obje(;t is formed, and the mind of the s])eaker, which is rendered 

 moie flexible and active by engaging in more complex internal i)ro- 

 cesses, is also enlarged by a richer store of extermil impressions. The 

 immense mental discipline to be derived from the study of the European 

 languages is likened to the delicate manii)ulation of the fingers as com- 

 pared with the gross movements of arms aiul legs. The ac^quisition of 

 language develo})s the mental sphere in which ideal conceptions arise, 

 combine with one another, and generate endless successions of new 

 ideas. The process of acquiring foreign languages, in addition to the 

 mother tongue, modifies the original ])rocess, by extending, refining, 

 and complicating it. Impressions are immensely multiplied and the 

 mind becomes accustomed to take cognizance of such subtle differentia- 



