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NA TUKE 



[October lo, 1907 



SOClOhOQlCXL SCIEi\CE. 

 '(i) Sociological Papers. Vol. iii. (1906). Published 

 for the Sociological Society. Pp. xi + 382. (London : 

 Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1907.) Price lox. 6d. net. 

 (2) Heredity and Selection in Sociology. By G. Chat- 

 terton-Hill. Pp. xxxii + 571. (London : Adam and 

 Charles Black, 1907.) Price 12s. 6d. net. 

 (1) ' I "'HIS volume is quite equal in interest to either 

 -1- of its predecessors, .\mong the papers which 

 it comprises, those contributed by Dr. Archdall Reid 

 and Mr. .A. E. Crawley are of preeminent interest, 

 owing partly to the merit of the papers themselves, 

 partly to the discussions which followed, and the 

 written communications elicilcd from English and 

 foreign authorities. Dr. Reid took as his subject " The 

 Biological Foundations of Sociology." The present 

 evolution of civilised man is, he maintained, mainly 

 against disease. Intellectual power in a nation de- 

 pends almost entirely upon the environment of the 

 individuals that make up the nation — in fact, upon 

 education. Education ought to make the pupil think 

 instead of overtaxing his memory. In particular, 

 medical students should study heredity. Until doctors 

 as a body are masters of what is known on this sub- 

 ject, the medical profession will never occupy the place 

 that properly belongs to it. Dr. Reid's statement of 

 his case was at once trenchant and guarded, and the 

 criticisms fell mostly wide of the mark. But is there 

 not, in addition to the evolution against disease on 

 which he lays so much strees, a moral ev-olution going 

 on ? There is everywhere a great demand for honest 

 men. Steadiness and trustworthiness are the quali- 

 ties which modern civilisation most requires. In the 

 lowest stratum of society, from which the casual 

 labourers mainly come, such things are perhaps not 

 important enough to have survival value. But in 

 all the strata above the very lowest the qualities of 

 steadiness and trustworthiness are those which pay, 

 are those which enable a man to bring up a family ; 

 and men and women who are deficient in them sink 

 lower or are eliminated altogether. Dr. J. L. Tayler's 

 paper on the study of individuals (individuology) and 

 their natural groupings (sociology) is to some extent 

 an answer to Dr. Reid's. Instead of finding in dis- 

 ease an influence which strengthens the race, he holds 

 that slums favour barbaric types, whereas with higher 

 social conditions, while diseases testing physical en- 

 durance are destroyed by hygienic developments, 

 others arise that test mental tenacity and strength. 



Mr. A. E. Crawley's paper on the origin and func- 

 tion of 'igion is one of great interest. He holds 

 that the pioblem of religion is a psychological pro- 

 blem, and that the general culture of the savage is 

 entirely religious. Religion is a " psychic tone or 

 temper or diathesis." The religious emotion conse- 

 crates all such elemental concerns as birth, puberty, 

 marriage, sickness, death, and burial. It is, in fact, 

 the " affirmation and consecration of life." Religion, 

 therefore, rests on a basis of individualism, though 

 the heightening of the individual life leads to an 

 expansion of individuality, and so to sympathy and 

 altruism. 



In a written communication Prof. Starbuck points 

 NO. 1980, VOL. 761 



out that not only religion, but art, morality, and 

 philosophy, heighten and deepen life. The feeling of 

 awe in the presence of a supersensuous reality is an 

 essential part of religion. 



We have space for little more than a bare enumer- 

 ation of the other papers: — "A Practicable Eugenic 

 Suggestion," by Mr. W. McDougall ; "The Socio- 

 logical Appeal to Biology," by Prof. J. A. Thomson; 

 " .A Suggested Plan for a Civic Museum and its 

 -Associated Studies," by Prof. Patrick Geddes; 

 " Sociology as an .Academic Subject," by Prof. R. M. 

 Wenley — an interesting account of sociology in 

 .America; " The Russian Revolution," by G. de Wes- 

 selitsky; "The Problem of the Unemployed," by 

 Mr. W. H. Beveridge — a short, sensible paper fol- 

 lowed by a discussion in which Mr. J. A. Hobson 

 and Mr. Rider Haggard took part; "Methods of 

 Investigation," by Mrs. Sidney Webb; "The So- 

 called Science of Sociology," by Mr. H. G. Wells. 



(2) From beginning to end this is a very interesting 

 book. It is the result of much thought on great sub- 

 jects, and it is written in clear and forcible style. 

 But many of the questions discussed are highly con- 

 troversial, and it is only to be expected that among 

 competent critics there will be not a few who will 

 come to different conclusions or who will remain un- 

 convinced. 



Part i. is introductory, and consists of a general 

 account of evolution. The author is a strong believer 

 in Weismann, whose doctrines he vigorously cham- 

 pions. The criticism suggests itself, that since it is 

 a cardinal doctrine of Weismann, accepted uncondi- 

 tionally by our author, that, as soon as natural selec- 

 tion ceases to work, degeneration sets in, it would 

 have been better to give more evidence of this from 

 the organic world. On the other hand, too much, in 

 the opinion of the present writer, is made of germinal 

 selection — a hypothesis which rests on a very unsure 

 foundation. 



In part ii. we get to the heart of the book. Its 

 title is " Social Pathology," and in it our author deals 

 very ably with some of the most difficult problems 

 of modern civilisation. Among the most civilised 

 nations suicide, insanity and syphilis are increasing. 

 There is, besides, much inverse selection, elimination, 

 that is, of many who under more natural conditions 

 would be best fitted to survive, while, oh the other 

 hand, an artificial environment brings about the sur- 

 vival of the weak and sickly. No doubt there is much 

 reason for our author's somewhat desponding tone. 

 But is not suicide, however clumsy its operation, one 

 of the means by which the unfit are eliminated? And 

 does not drink remove thousands of the most weakly 

 before they have propagated their kind? Though it 

 degrades the individual, does it not keep up the 

 physical strength of the race? The survival of the 

 weakly has undoubtedly a deplorable effect. .Altruism 

 and science strive to keep every child that is born 

 alive until it attains to manhood or womanhood. 

 Here is the fountain-head of the physical degeneration 

 of civilised races. Still, Mr. Chatterton-Hill is, per- 

 haps, over-pessimistic. There is still an enormous 

 amount of elimination ; not far short of fifty per cent. 



