November 30, 191 1] 



NATURE 



139 



capable of producing the observed pink colour. The 

 point was conclusively proved by infecting sound lace 

 with the organisms." 



Further, it was found that the presence of acid was 

 necessary to develop the colour, which only appeared 

 after about fourteen days. This explained how the 

 goods were passed as perfect by the finishers. Natur- 

 ally much space is devoted to the treatment of the 

 cloth before the actual bleaching and to the materials 

 and plant used in these processes. The importance 

 of securing purity in the materials used is insisted 

 on, and regular testing recommended. Full details 

 are given of the Kiers used for lye boiling and wash- 

 ing, and there are excellent illustrations of the most 

 improved forms of plant. 



Much attention is given to the various bleaching 

 agents, and particularly to bleaching powder. The 

 controversy as to its composition is carefully con- 

 sidered, but cannot yet be said to be finally settled. 

 Reference is made to the very recent work of R. L. 

 Taylor (Chemical Society's Journal, 1910, p. 2541), 

 who has shown that the action of carbon dioxide on 

 bleaching powder liberates chlorine only and not hypo- 

 chlorous acid, as had usually been supposed. On the 

 other hand, S. H. Higgins maintains that hypo- 

 chlorous acid does enter into the bleaching action 

 (Chemical Society's Journal, 191 1, p. 858). 



Limitations of space will not allow us to refer to 

 other portions of the book. Suffice it to say that the 

 use of other bleaching agents, such as sodium hypo- 

 chlorite ozone, sodium peroxide, potassium perman- 

 ganate, &c., is referred to, and there is a full account 

 of the bleaching by electrolytic solutions, and a dis- 

 cussion of the economy of the process. The book 

 will be of special use to bleachers who have a sufficient 

 knowledge of chemistry to understand the theoretical 

 portions. 



SYSTEMATIC PSYCHOLOGY. 



A First Book in Psychology. By Prof. Mary Whiton 

 Calkins. Pp. xvi + 419. (New York: The Mac- 

 millan Company; London: Macmillan and Co., 

 Ltd., 1910.) Price 85. net. 



Erkenntnistheorie. Von Prof. E. Diirr. Pp. viii + 362. 

 (Leipzig : Quelle und Meyer, 19 10.) Price 8 marks. 



MISS CALKINS is well known among psycholo- 

 gists for her treatment of psychology as the 

 science of selves rather than as the science of mental 

 processes. In her view, the science is best treated as 

 *' a study of conscious selves in relation to other selves 

 and to external objects — in a word, to their environ- 

 ment, personal and impersonal." The aim of the 

 present book is to give a systematic account of the 

 various psychological topics, ordinarily treated in intro- 

 ductory text-books, from this point of view. As might 

 be anticipated. Miss Calkins is least successful in her 

 method when dealing with perception, imagination, 

 memory, and thought, although the special point of 

 view gives an added significance to the facts, and 

 brings a new interest for those students who have 

 already become familiar with the ordinary descriptions. 

 When dealing with the more individualising and active 

 forms of consciousness - emotion, will, belief, and the 

 NO. 2196, VOL. 88] 



religious consciousness — the author is able to 

 benefit by her method to the full, and gives the im- 

 pression of concreteness and reality so often missing 

 in the descriptions of these aspects of conscious life. 

 There is no chapter specially devoted to the nature of 

 the self, but many facts generally given under this 

 head are very fully discussed in a section on "Ab- 

 normal Psychology " in the appendix. This appendix 

 forms quite a third of the entire volume, and contains 

 masses of detail the enumeration and discussion of 

 which might obscure the general line of argument. 

 It adds very greatly to the value of the book, and is 

 clearly arranged, and well provided with figures and 

 diagrams. The final section contains a large number 

 of good "review questions." 



Prof. Diirr's book, though written from the psycho- 

 logical point of view, does at least equal justice to the 

 metaphysical issues involved in the problem of know- 

 ledge. It is divided into three long chapters entitled, 

 " Die Psychologie des Erkennens," " Die Wertlehre 

 des Erkennens," and " Die Gegendstandslehre des 

 Erkennens " respectively, and under each of these 

 headings numerous subdivisions occur. The book 

 cannot be accused of lack of system, and in some 

 respects forms a compendium of philosophy with the 

 historical and critical methods about equally repre- 

 sented. Its first hundred pages on the psychology of 

 thought, however, lift it far above the ruck of ordinary 

 philosophical text-books, and make it of the greatest 

 value to the psychologist. The difficulties attending 

 the various possible theories of outer perception and 

 inner perception (introspection) are exhaustively dis- 

 cussed, though in small compass, and the peculiar 

 psychological problem involved in the case of memory 

 and recognition is clearly stated, and a solution of it 

 attempted. Under the sub-heading "Thought," 

 theories of abstraction, judgment, inference, and in- 

 duction are briefly considered. Several paragraphs are 

 devoted to the question of the relation of knowledge to 

 belief. Notes at the end of the volume give the 

 necessary references to current literature, and in many 

 cases continue the discussion in greater detail. The 

 one criticism to which the book is open is that diffi- 

 culties are treated in too summary and dogmatic a 

 fashion. For conversational classes or " seminars " in 

 philosophy and general psychology, the book should 

 prove invaluable. There is certainly no single book 

 in English of a similar kind at the present time. 



W. B. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 

 (i) Introduction to Science. By Prof. J. Arthur 



Thomson. Pp. vi + 256. 

 (2) Astronomy. By Arthur R. Hinks. Pp. V1 + 25O. 

 Home University Library of Modern Knowledge.) 



(London: Williams and Norgate, 191 1.) Price is. 



net each. 

 (i) Prof. Thomson has prepared an admirable intro- 

 duction to the scientific section of the series of which 

 he is joint-editor. He has an inspiring gospel to 

 expound, and has proved himself a worthy apostle of 

 it Science stands for truth and righteousness, for 

 exact observation, for progress at all costs, for that 

 divine discontent with existing knowledge which, 

 stimulates persistent inquiry into the unknown, and 



