600 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. II., No. 39. 



to put upon paper the rather searching register of re- 

 plies. 



The narrowest scope of inquiry, to be of any value, 

 must embrace tliree generations; but the results will 

 be far more reliable when tliey cover four. The latter 

 would relate to at least thirty-six persons, which Mr. 

 Gallon reckons as follows : " On the side of the con- 

 tributor there are his two parents, four grand-parents, 

 an average of three uncles and aunts on each of the 

 two sides, three brothers or sisters, and himself: this 

 makes sixteen persons. There is another set of six- 

 teen for the relatives of his wife in the same degrees. 

 Lastly, I allow an average of four children." A sin- 

 gle family register of this size, therefore, at least 

 involves the filling-out of nearly thirty-six of the 

 schedules, which will be no light task, even with the 

 most favorable opportunities of obtaining informa- 

 tion. The persons whom Mr. Gallon anticipates will 

 assist him the most are young physicians, married 

 and with children. In case the grand-parents are liv- 

 ing, their field of information-will naturally be very 

 wide. Partly as an inducement to men of this class 

 to undertake such a task, partly as a pecuniary re- 

 turn for the time which it must necessarily occupy, a 

 series of prizes will be offered, amounting, altogether, 

 to £.500, including, probably, ten prizes of £25 each, 

 and others not to exceed £.50 nor fall short of £5. 

 The returns areto be sent with mottoes, but no sig- 

 natnre ; the name and address to be enclosed in a sep- 

 arate envelope bearing the motto. The merit of the 

 returns will be estimated by the clearness and ex- 

 bausliveness of statement, the number of generations 

 treated of, and the appendix (see beyond). 



The returns asked for are in abstract as follows : 



1. A separate and full biological history of each 

 member of the family in tlie direct line of ascent; 



2. A very brief statement of the main biological facts 

 in the lives of members of the collateral lines of 

 ascent, that is, of the uncles and aunts, great-uncles 

 and great-aunts, etc. ; o. A full description of the 

 main sources of information for 1 and 2; 4. An ap- 

 pendix which will include an analysis of the medical 

 history of the family, showing the peculiarities which 

 have, and have not, been, transmitted, and their iden- 

 tical or changed form. All communications to be 

 addressed to Francis -Gallon, 42 Rutland Gate, Lon- 

 don (S. W.), England. 



Mr. Gallon has reduced the collection of statistics 

 to a fine art, having arranged this schedule with the 

 greatest ingenuity. The near and remote relation- 

 ships are indicated by simple symbols; and, by means 

 of horizontal and transverse columns, the required 

 facts can be condensed into an astonishingly small 

 space. . Each schedule is intended to cover six peri- 

 ods in the life of the person described, from childhood 

 to late in life, and at each of these periods to give a 

 statement of, yl, conditions of life; B, personal de- 

 scription; C, medical life-history. Under .4 are such 

 topics as town or country residence, and sanitary 

 influences generally. Under B are descriptions of 

 feature and physique, of habits of work and mus- 

 cular force and quickness, keenness of sight and 

 dexterity, artistic and allied capacities, peculiarities 

 of character and temperament. Under C are dis- 

 eases, accidents, malformations, age at death, etc. 

 Other facts solicited are, order of hirth, age at mar- 

 riage, number and sex of children. All this is upon 

 one side of a double sheet, and relates to one person 

 in the direct line of ascent. Upon the reverse of the 

 sheet, similar inquiries are made in the collateral 

 lines, or among the brothers and sisters of the person 

 described. 

 Mr. Gallon believes that the interest in each family 



register will increase rapidly as the investigation goes 

 on, and family histories will result of far more ac- 

 curacy than could be collected in any less methodical 

 system. The scheme is so much more comprehensive 

 than any thing which has preceded it, that it certainly 

 promises us a much deeper insight into the laws of 

 heredity than we have at present. The moral value 

 of this, and, u\ fact, of much of the life-work of this 

 author, lies in the dissemination of the stern truth, 

 which is as old as the Mosaic law, that the character 

 of the next generation depends, perhaps, less than 

 we are apt to think upon the education and training 

 we prepare for them, and more upon the life-conduct 

 of the present and the preceding generations. 



IIexuy F. Osbohn. 



MAUDSLEY'S BODY AND WILL. 



Body and will: being an essay concerning will in ils 

 metaphysical, physiological, and pathological as- 

 pects. By Henuy Maudsley, M.D. London, 

 Kegan Paid, Trench, If Co., 1883. 84-333 p. 8°. 



CoNsiBERED with rcspect to its aniiounceci 

 purpose, this boolv is one of the most unfortu- 

 nate and disappointing that we have ever seen 

 bearing the name of an able man on the title- 

 page. The purpose, as set forth on the titlepage 

 and in the preface, seems indeed a noble one. 

 Of will, in its pathological aspect at least, 

 Dr. Maudsley has, one would suppose, the best 

 possible right to speak. And we all have sO' 

 much to learn about all its aspects, that we 

 come to the book, even after previous experi- 

 ence of the author's eccentricities, with hope- 

 of getting some real instruction. Tliat the 

 freedom of the will is to be discussed, we leara 

 without fear : for, old as the topic is, an in- 

 genious man maj- have something new to sa}' 

 about it ; and a straightforward statement of 

 the doctrine of determinism, made from the 

 ph_ysiological point of view, may well be useful 

 and instructive, even if it should fail to be new. 

 But, with much more interest than he feels in 

 the promised wrangle over the freedom of the 

 will, the student of p.sychology looks forward 

 to what is promised in the preface, where Dr. 

 Maudsley tells us that he has long been en- 

 gaged in dealing with " concrete minds, that 

 must be observed, studied, and managed;" 

 that he has been trying to find out " why indi- 

 viduals feel, think, and do as they do, how 

 they maj' be actuated to feel, think, and do 

 differently, and in what way best to deal wMth 

 them so as to do one's duty to one's self and 

 them." In consequence, he says, " I have no 

 choice but to leave the barren heights of spec- 

 ulation for the plains on which men live and 

 move and have their being." He desires, then, 

 " to bring home to mental philosophers the 

 necessity of taking setious account of a class 

 of facts and thoughts which, though they are 



