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SCIENCE 



763 



to discussion, emphasized all this. So, here 

 too, transition is written large over much of 

 his work. This, more than aught else, ex- 

 plains the defense outlined by the Dean of 

 Westminster, when he refused to entertain the 

 proposal for a Spencer monument in the 

 Abhey. And, as Dr. Duncan does not see 

 (II., 244 f.), Hegel would have concurred, 

 would have trimmed, possibly, upon his 

 famous foot-note about the philosophy of hair- 

 dressing. Philosophically, Spencer was fated 

 to be a mighty Bahnhrecher; such an one 

 stood in need; and he accomplished the full 

 tale of bricks. Accordingly, it is nowise 

 astonishing that his appeal to philosophers von 

 Fach has not been very fundamental. How 

 could it be in the circumstances? Try the 

 case from the scientific side. What would 

 scientific men think of a colleague who com- 

 ported himself in like manner, and then per- 

 mitted acclaim as the sole high-priest? Not- 

 withstanding, no one can deprive him of his 

 rightful place as advance agent of evolution- 

 ary phenomenology; yet, for this very reason, 

 our generation hesitates to enroll him in the 

 apostolic succession of constructive thought. 

 Further, the same facts indicate why, to this 

 good hour, he has not received more than a 

 modicum of the recognition that he earned so 

 richly. They also account for some of his 

 life-long asperities. 



Pleasing glimpses are given of Spencer's 

 relations with his friends, which dispel the 

 wide-spread belief that he was a surly cur- 

 mudgeon, " aU intellect and no heart." 

 Among these, one of the most interesting to 

 Americans can not but be his unclouded 

 friendship with Toumans, the founder of the 

 Popular Science Monthly. But, beyond ques- 

 tion, the most impressive factor in the per- 

 sonality was the indomitable will whereby, 

 taking up arms against a sea of trouble, the 

 man conquered, and all for the purest of ideal 

 interests. To this battle the history of the 

 race presents few parallels, and it bears a 

 heartening message of encouragement to every 

 worker for the spiritually indispensable, as 

 Carlyle called it finely. 



Finally, for the benefit of American readers, 

 a word should be added concerning Dr. 



Duncan. He is an Edinburgh philosopher, 

 who acted as Spencer's secretary for several 

 years in the late sixties. In 1870, he pro- 

 ceeded to India as professor of philosophy in 

 the Presidency College, Madras. After four- 

 teen years' service, he became principal of this 

 institution. From 1892 till 1899, when he 

 retired, he occupied the important admin- 

 istrative office of Director of Public Instruc- 

 tion for the Madras Presidency. He is known 

 as one of Spencer's oldest collaborators in the 

 " Descriptive Sociology." He seems to me to 

 have performed a task of infinite difficulty, 

 due partly to the reasons outlined above, with 

 admirable spirit and skill. The extreme care 

 with which the book has been produced — I 

 have noted but three trifiing misprints — and 

 the thorough, workman-like index, are among 

 our least obligations to his pietas. 



R. M. Wenley 



Univeesity of Michigan 



Notes on the Development of a Child, Parts 

 1-4, Vol. I., 1893-1899. The Development 

 of the Senses in the First Three Tears of 

 Childhood, Vol. II., July 25, 1908. Uni- 

 versity of California Publications in Educa- 

 tion, Vols. 1 and 4. By Millicent Wash- 

 burn Shinn. Berkeley, The University 

 Press. Pp. (Vol. I.) 424. $2.25. VoL U., 

 pp. 258. $2.50. 



Dr. Shinn's first contribution to our knowl- 

 edge of " the ontogenic evolution of the facul- 

 ties of the human mind," which Professor Le 

 Conte, in an introductory note to Volume L, 

 describes as the " most important of all pos- 

 sible subjects," was published fifteen years 

 ago as Part I. of the "Notes." (Pp. 88.) 

 This part, after a page of biographical notes 

 and two pages giving measurements of growth 

 in height and weight, consists of data relating 

 to the development of sight in infancy, chiefly 

 during the first two years, and classified under 

 such headings as : sensibility to light, move- 

 ments of the eyelids and eyeballs, fixation, 

 direction of look, sensibility to colors, color 

 preferences, discrimination of forms geo- 

 metrical and other, understanding pictures 

 and other representations. 



Part II. of Volume I., pp. 89-1Y8, appeared 



