396 
NATURE 
[DECEMBER 4, 1913 
ian recombinations, but in which many of the 
characters have been modified. The most pro- 
minent achievements of the book appear to be in 
showing (1) that mutation as a process is not 
to be confounded with the mere recombinations 
of unit-characters, and (2) that various types of 
hereditary behaviour exist, only occasional char- 
acters showing the Mendelian type of segregation. 
Ro RAG. 
THE NEW PSYCHOLOGY. 
(1) Man and His Future. Part ii., The Anglo- 
Saxon: His Part and His Place. By Lieut. Col. ; 
William Sedgwick. Pp. 217. (London: Francis 
Griffiths, 1913.) Price 6s. net. 
(2) The Fate of Empires: being an Inquiry into 
the Stability of Civilisation. By Dr. A. J. Hub- 
bard. Pp. xx+220. (London: Longmans, 
Green and Co., 1913.) Price 6s. 6d. net. 
(3) The Science of Human Behaviour: Biological 
and Psychological Foundations. By Dr. 
Maurice Parmelee. Pp. xvii+443. (New York: 
The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan 
and Co., Ltd.) Price 8s. 6d. net. 
(4) Die Neue Tierpsychologie. By Georges Bohn. 
Autorisierte deutsche Ubersetzung von Dr. Rose 
Thesing. Pp. viiit+183. (Leipzig: Veit and 
Co., 1912.) Price 3 marks. — 
T may be stated as a truism that every new 
development of science modifies opinion as to 
the meaning and destiny of man himself. Well- 
intentioned sentimentalists, like the late Henry 
Drummond, try to “reconcile”’ science and reli- 
gion by a metaphorical interpretation of both. 
Such attempts illustrate the popular instinct for 
unification, which is itself a part of religion and 
the kernel of metaphysical philosophy. Such a 
volume as Lieut.-Colonel Sedgwick’s ‘Man and 
his Future ” (1) is thus a sociological phenomenon, 
illustrating the vitality and variation of popular 
philosophy. The Anglo-Saxon, he says, has insti- 
tuted the Age of Machines and Instruments; by 
‘means of these he is beginning to separate the 
component bricks of the universe (Clerk Maxwell’s 
metaphor)—the atoms. Man is therefore on the 
eve of a great development, which is the integra- 
tion of the whole universe (Herbert Spencer’s 
metaphor)—whatever that may mean—by the em- 
ployment of the forces of attraction against those 
of repulsion. The former and the men using them 
are, says this author, guided by Christ; the latter 
by Satan. A pre-occupation with the periodic 
theory of Mendeléeff and his school is the basis of 
these lucubrations. 
On a higher but equally metaphorical plane is 
Dr. Hubbard’s “The Fate of Empires” (2). This 
NO. 230I, VOL. 92| 
work, both in substance and in style, is an echo _ 
of Kidd’s “Social Evolution.”, The author is — 
struck by the simultaneity in civilisation of social- 
istic phenomena and a declining birthrate. First- 
hand acquaintance with the intensive population — 
and the family instinct (hiao) of China has inspired — 
an investigation into the causes of the fall of — 
Greece and Rome. The cure of the fate of em- 
Pires is religious motive, which, says our author, 
is the final social impulse, superseding reason, as 
reason superseded instinct. But, as has been done 
before, he confuses “reason” with the acquisi- 
tive instinct. 
The scientific student of man and his meaning, 
fate, or place in the universe may be thoroughly 
recommended to Dr. Parmelee’s study of his be- 
haviour, or, rather, introduction to the subject (3). 
The work of men like Jennings, Loeb, and Bohn 
has revolutionised animal psychology, and is now 
influencing human. “Animal Behaviour ” has in- 
spired “Human Behaviour.” Dr, Parmelee gives 
a clear and up-to-date account of the facts of 
tropism, sense of difference (Unterschiedsempfind- 
lichkeit of Loeb, sensibilité différentielle of Georges 
Bohn), ‘‘instinct,’” and the associational intelli- 
gence. His judgment is discriminating, and the © 
general student could not have a better introduc- 
tion to comparative psychology in its application to 
man and society. His anthropological discussion 
is confined to the impulses behind the social “in- 
stinct.” Preceding this is a good account of 
animal “societies.” 
The scope of the book may be illustrated by the 
following :— : 
“Tn all study of behaviour it is necessary to 
begin with the structural form upon which is 
based the action-system which determines the be- 
haviour... . Then were studied the direct reac- 
tions of the lower animals to external forces. But — 
when the nervous system developed, these reac- © 
tions became more or less indirect, so that we find 
new types of behaviour appearing. The funda- 
mental type of behaviour determined by the 
nervous system is the reflex action. These actions 
become in course of time combined into complex 
forms, which are usually called instincts. . . . 
There has been a tendency on the part of many — 
writers to regard instinct as a form. of 
behaviour which is not mechanically determined. 
The attempt has therefore been made in this book 
to render the conception of instinct more precise. 
... Intelligent behaviour . .. marks a new stage — 
. . . determined by individual experience.”’ 
Consciousness and mind are then discussed, 
Sherrington’s work being largely used. 
The second of Bohn’s classic handbooks to — 
modern animal psychology has now (4), like his 
“La Naissance de 1’Intelligence,” been translated 
into German. “La Nouvelle Psychologie animale ” 
