378 



DISCOVERY 



which, Ukc any other scientific law, should be but an 

 epitome of observed fact ; how the genius of Darwin 

 inevitably nuidc the question of human progress but part 

 of a greater question, that of organic and indeed of cosmic 

 progress ; and then, in the epilogue, strangely enough, 

 he turns to contemplate with calm the possible future de- 

 thronement of the idea of progress and its replacement by 

 some other guiding principle. 



Too high praise cannot be given ti the book. The 

 style, the range of quotation, the method and the argument, 

 all conspire to render it invaluable to the histjrian, tlie 

 philosopher, and the scientist, and not to be missed by the 

 general reader. A few quotations may be allowed before 

 we pass to criticism. The idea of progress involves 

 advance " in a definite and desirable direction." " The 

 principle of duty to posterity is a direct corollary of the 

 idea of progress." " The idea of the Progress of Humanity 

 raises a definite question of fact." " The doctrine of 

 original sin is an insuperable obstacle to the moral 

 amelioration of the race by any gradual process of develop- 

 ment." "... For Comte, the coming society which 

 he adumbrated was the final state of humanity." We 

 would quote more, but space is limited. 



The only important criticism to be passed upon the 

 volume is that its author, in common with the Dean of 

 St. Paul's, Bertrand Kussell, and indeed most modern 

 thinkers on the subject, pays no adequate attention to 

 biological progress. This must be a corner-stone in any 

 doctrine of progress ; and its neglect can only be explained 

 if we suppose that the biologist's reaction against evolution- 

 ary speculation still dominates lay speculation, and that 

 the recent more hopeful and more constructive work has 

 not yet percolated through to the lay mind. 



It is impossible to discuss the matter here. We must 

 be content with reminding our readers of one fact — namely, 

 that if Evolution be a reality, man has been produced froni 

 unicellular organisms. This is a change in a " definite 

 and desirable direction " ; and the majority of, though not 

 by any means all, evolutionary changes are in the same 

 direction. It is common knowledge that all direction in 

 evolution has not been upward ; there has been degenera- 

 tion, parasitism, over-specialisation. But the upper level 

 attained by evolving life has steadily risen. Life as a 

 whole has moved in a progressive direction — towards 

 greater control of the external world, towards greater 

 independence, towards greater internal harmony, and 

 towards greater intensity of emotion. Not only this ; 

 but such changes have occurred in several separate 

 evolutionary- lines, and would have occurred even if man 

 liad never arisen. 



Through biology, we are not only given the assurance 

 that real progress has occurred, but are enabled to see 

 what its type has been. Biological progress, real but im- 

 perfect, is a touchstone for the theories of human progress. 

 The last step in evolutionary progress has been that 

 man, liimself a product of that process, has become aware 

 of it. The next step will be that (if he choose to exert 

 himself) he will, deliberately and of set purpose, bend 

 himself to control, to refine, and to accelerate it. 



J. S. Mlxlev. 



Mental Tests in tlic American Army. Compiled and 



edited by C. S. Yoakum and R. M. Yerkf.s. 



(Sidgwick & Jackson, London, 6s. 6d.) 



This is an important book primarily for psychologists 



and educationists, but also of great interest to everj-one 



interested in examinations, more particularly those 



which go by the name of mental tests, and to the important 



deductions respecting the mentality of those examined 



which may be made. It deals, of course, with Americans 



and with an army that is p;ist, but it would be a great 



mistake to neglect the book for these reasons. It is full 



of intellectual interest ; it is also what one might describe 



as a very human book. 



This book deals with a very important experiment. 

 The Americans came into the war later than we did, and 

 while we were busy in holding our own, they had time to 

 think and to look round. They hit upon the idea of 

 classifying their personnel in the army by mental tests, 

 so that they might have at least some guide in placing their 

 officers and men in the difjferent units. We, on the other 

 hand, had University professors frj-ing bacon as mess- 

 cooks merely because their spectacles prevented their 

 being in the trenches, and, in many cases, a man with little 

 more than the brain of a louse taking charge of highly 

 technical and administrative work merely because he 

 was of such-and-such a rank at the outbreak of war. 

 Occasionally, and oftener towards the end of the war, 

 the man and the job suited each other, and he could get 

 ahead with his work unmolested by some dead-beat who 

 happened to be a week senior in rank, or by unqualified 

 assistants who had wandered in from nowhere. 



The Americans had a better chance than ourselves to 

 classify men. They were under no illusions that brains or 

 cleverness, or whatever it is that was revealed by the mental 

 tests, were the only things necessary to make the efficient 

 soldier. But it was a very good way of sizing up people 

 pending further inquiries, and there is no question that 

 this method of classification was a success. The subject 

 has already been discussed iu DiscovnRY by Dr. Veazie. 



This book gives a full description of the work of the men 

 who organised the mental tests, carried out the examina- 

 tions, and made the classifications and deductions from the 

 results. The examination tests themselves are given in 

 full detail, with a description of the conditions under which 

 those examined were tested. The tests were of a very 

 varied nature, designed to test intelligence, common sense, 

 and resource rather than knowledge of facts ; but we, who 

 are not being examined, can see their human and at times 

 their humorous side. .\ few only will strike English 

 readers as being very .\mcrican. Devotees of parlour 

 games, lovers of guessing competitions and conundrums, 

 will find abundant material here to make them happy. 



Altogether a most illuminating and at the same time 

 enjoyable book. 



Handbook of Patent Laic of All Countries. By 

 W. P. Thompson. (Stevens & Sons, 6s.) 

 This is the eighteenth edition of a book that appeared 

 originally fifteen years liefore the present writer was 



